* ^*^

, J-

SCRAPS

OF

CALIFORNIA HISTORY

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

•

A

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

OF

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE :

,x
WITH

A MINUTE AND INTERESTING ACCOUNT OP ONE OP THE LARG-
EST EMIGRATING COMPANIES.. (3000 MILES OVER LAND),
PROM THE EAST TO THE PACIFIC COAST.

AND

WHAT IS CLAIMED AS THE MOST AUTHENTIC AND RELIABLE

ACCOUNT OF " THE VIRTUAL CONQUEST OF CALL

FORNIA, IN JUNE4 1846, BY THE BEAR

FLAG PARTY," AS GIVEN BY

ITS LEADER,

THE LATE HON. WILLIAM BROWN IDE.

PUBLISHED FOR THE SUBSORIBEBa

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1880, by

SIMEON IDE,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

PREFACE.

WHEN the present writer, at the request of ^the sur-
viving children of the subject of the following memori-
al pages, commenced the work assigned him, it was not
expected that sufficient material suited to its publica-
tion, in BOOK-FOKM, could be found. Indeed, the orig^
inal arrangement with his employers contemplated his
compiling and putting in type some fifty pages — then
strike off from his proof- press a few copies, and send
such proof-slips, only, to them. Under this arrange-
ment he proceeded with the work until, some 70 or 80
pages of it were in type, and impressions from it were
thus sent; when, for various reasons, his labors, (me-
chanical and otherwise) on it were suspended for the
greater part of a year. The principal cause of this sus-
pension, however, was, that at that stage of his progress
the WAMBOUGH LETTER then first came to light, the con-
tents of which put a new phase on the manner of fur-
ther proceedings. Whether or no it was u written for
the press", is unknown, as even its existence was before
unknown to any of the living members of its writer's

4 PREFACE.

family or their kindred. Its perusal prompted them to
make liberal subscriptions towards the expense of a
small edition of this book.

The contents of this Letter unravels and explains to
them the mystery : why, or how it has happened, that
the devoted, self-sacrificing, patriotic labors of Judge
It>E remained so long unknown to them and the reading
public generally. Yet so it is. Thousands of our best
citizens go down to their last resting-place "unheralded
and unsung", who, in their humble sphere of labor, have
become real "benefactors of their race", by living so-
ber, honest and industrious lives. Therefore, say we, in
the words of WEBSTER'S favorite poet:

11 Let not AMBITION mock their useful toil —
Their homely joys and destiny obscure ;
Nor GRANDEUR hear, with a disdainful smile,
The short and simple annals of the poor."

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Page.
A Chronological Sketch of William B. Ide's Ancestry, 9

CHAPTER II.
Some few incidents of his sojourn in the States of Ver-

mont, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois, 1 8

CHAPTER III.

Mrs. Healy's account of their journey from Illinois,
through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Decota, Ida-
ho, Utah and Nevada, (as now organized), to the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, 28

CHAPTER IV.

Their tedious ascent over the Nevada Mountain— de-
scent into the American River Valley, and encamp-
ment near Fort Sutter, 37

CHAPTER V.

Who made the " Bear Flag : by W. M. BOGGS, Esq. —
Some account of the party who took up arms in
defence and protection of the early pioneers, 51

CHAPTER VI.

The " Bear Flag Government" organized. — Some ac-
count of Proceedings under it. — The raid upon
Gen. Castro's camp. — Narrow escape of Fremont's
party, 61,

O CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

Page

Formal, if not legal transfer and change of Government*

— Mr. Ide's tour under Fremont, down the Pacific
Coast. — His contract for a passage home, t2

CHAPTER VIII.

California, — before its virtual Conquest by the " Bear
Flag Party", in June, 1 846.— Editorial Remarks,
Introductory to William B. Ide's History of that
Party, 88

CHAPTER IX.

Mr. Ide's explanation of the situation of affairs in Cal-
ifornia, on his arrival there in 1845, 100

CHAPTER X.

First uprising of the Emigrants. — Capt. Fremont's plan
" Neutral Conquest." — Interview with the Captain
and comments thereon, 111

CHAPTER XL

The Party largely re-enforced by new recruits — their
mistaken notions explained. — What happened on
their arrival at Sonoma. — Mr. Ide made Command-
er-in-chief " by Acclamation", and takes the Fort,
" instanter". — His incipient movements under the
44 Independent Bear Flag Government," 120

CHAPTER XII.

How the Bear Flag was made. — The Commander's Ad-
dress to his men — his reasons for issuing a Proc-
lamation— its Text entire. — Notice of its publica-
tion addressed to Commodore STOCKTON, as a U.
S. commanding Officer, then daily expected on

^ that coast, 130

CONTENTS. 7

CHAPTER XIII.

Page

Articles of Agreement and Treaty Stipulations arrang-
ed.— Symptoms of discontent among the men of
the Garrison — a change of Commander talked oC
The Letter to Commodore STOCKTON forwarded. —
Capt. J. Montgomery, of the U. S. Ship Ports-
mouth, sends the Commander a friendly Letter by
Lieut. Missroon, 143

CHAPTER XIV.

The Lieutenant interviews the Garrison, and finds it still
distrustful. — The Commander a little despondent.
— The men approve the Proclamation, and all are
jubilant. — An attempt to draw a fight. — Castro's
second Proclamation — two young men inhumanly
murdered by his men. — The first and only fight
with the enemy, 157

CHAPTER XV.

Capt. Fremont's first visit — is a bit censorious — changes
front and becomes a trifle laudatorious — his where-
abouts from the llth to the 25th of June. — The
general aspect of their affairs seriously considered
by the Commander. — Narrow escape of Fremont
and his party. — The murderers of Fowler and
Cowey escape due punishment, through Fremont's
interference, 175

CHAPTER XVI.

Capt, Fremont again in the field— The Commander's or-
ders disobeyed. — The Bear Flag Government " in
quiet possession of all California1'. — The U. S. Offi-
cers' plan — the Bear Flag Government to be made

O CONTENTS.

Page

over to them. — The " General Assembly and Coun-
cil" convene on the 5th of July — vote to wipe out
all previous doings of the Bear Flag Government,
and raise the U. S. Flag, under Capt. Fremont's
command, 191

CHAPTER XVII.

Editorial Remarks. — "The Conquest of California", un-
der the Bear Flag Government, an assured fact. —
Mr. IDE'S business habits and Public Employment. 206

CHAPTER XVIII.

Extracts from his Circular to Californians, — and from
several of his private Letters. — A few words, (in
1 conclusion'), to the Friends and Relatives of the
subject of this "Biographical Sketch." — The In-
scription, 217

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP THE LIFE OP WM. B. IDE.

CHAPTEB I.

A CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OP WILLIAM B. IDE'S ANCESTRY.

WILLIAM BROWN IDE was born in the
town of Rutland, Worcester Co., Mass., March
28, 1796. His ancestry, as far baok as tradi-
tion has reliably traced it on his father's side,
emigrated to this country soon after the land-
ing of the Mag-Flower at Plymouth — about
the year 1620. The theory has been handed
down in one branch of this Ide-family to the
present day, that about the year 1630, two
brothers, Josiah and Daniel Ide, came to this
country from England, settled in Rehoboth,
Mass., and that the subject of this memoir is
a descendant of one of those brothers. A son
of one of them, (Daniel, it is stated), was en-
gaged as an officer in the noted King Phillip
war, and took from that Indian chief a small
tin cup, which has been handed down as an
heir- loom in the several succeeding generations

10 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

of bis family to the year 1874 ; when Mrs.
EUNICE IDE, widow of the late Daniel Ide of
Croydon, N. H., deposited it, accompanied with
an account of its history, in the archives of
the New Hampshire Historical Society.

The present writer refers to the subject of
lineage or descent, in this connection, more par-
ticularly on account of the fact, that we have
grounds for claiming those two enterprising
emigrants above named (who, about 240 years
ago, when New England was, comparatively,
a wilderness, planted themselves as farmers on
the then productive soil of the ' old Bay State')
as the progenitors of the entire race of the
name of Ide in this country. There is reason
to believe that no one of this name, now in-
habiting this c land of the Free and home of
the Brave', can produce a well authenticated
line of descent from any other ancestry, since
the landing of the "pilgrims" in the "May-
Flower" in 1620, than from one or the other
of these two brothers.*

* During the past 12 or 15 years, (the Editor is informed),
a genealogically inclined member of this Ide-family has made
it a point of inquiry, by letter, of all persons bearing this
name, whose address he was able to obtain : " To what
part of this country do you trace the first landing of your

THE LIFJJ OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 11

We have wandered somewhat from the sub-
ject in hand, presuming that if these memoirs
should fall into the hands of any considerable
number of this " race" or progeny of those two
" emigrants/' it might be interesting to those
of them who are much given to genealogical
research: (and who, of the present generation,
will rise up and say to any of his kindred, how-
ever distant his relationship, " / am not" ?) —
But to proceed with the genealogy of WILLIAM
B. IDE :

His grandfather, DANIEL IDE, is understood,
by a careful study of chronological incidents,
to be a descendant of one of the "two broth-
ancestry, on your father's side ?" or in terms of that import.
The answers to this inquiry — numbering some dozen or so —
refer to Massachusetts or Rhode Island, and the greater part
to Providence or Rehoboth. And furthermore : it is pretty
evident that the race has not been a very prolific one — for
the same genealogical interviewer says that in the fall of
1874 he found but two persons of the name in the New York
city Directory — and, in 1877, but six in the Boston Directo-
ry ; and one of these whom he called on said he was "the
head-man" of the other five: and this "Interviewer" infers
from these statistics, and from his long and extensive ac-
quaintance with" business-men indifferent parts of the coun-
try, that "all persons of this name, now living in the United
States, are descendants of the two emigrants, Josiah and
Daniel Ide."

12 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ers" before referred to. He spent his days in
Rehoboth — had three sons and two daughters.
His first son's name was Simeon, his second,
William, and his third, Lemuel. The two first
died early : Simeon married Hannah Kollock,
by whom he had one daughter, Abigail K.,
born April 19, 1789 ; and one son, Daniel, born
Dec. 19, 1791 — both of whom died unmarried ;
their father in 1793, their mother in 1792.

LEMUEL IDE, the father of William B., was
born in Rehoboth, R. I., July 22, 1770— died
at Newfane, Vt., Sept. 18, 1825. He was bred
to the joiner and carpenter's trade, which oc-
cupation, in connection with that of farming
on a small scale, he followed for a livelihood
during his after life. He resided a short time
in Shrewsbury, Mass., after commencing house-
keeping, soon after his marriage in 1793. In
'95 he removed to Rutland, Mass. ; and from
there to Clarendon, Vt., in '98, where his twin
daughters, Sarah and Mary F. where born, arid
where his eldest sister, Mary, who married Zi-
ba French, Esq., tavern-keeper, and lived with
him there some forty years — and, after his de-
cease, with her children, to the advanced age
of about 85. — From Clarendon, in '99, he re-
moved to Reading, Vt. ; left his wife and three

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 13

of their children with her brother Zenas Stone,
(his second son, Wm. B., then in his 4th year,
having been, at least temporarily, adopted by
the Rev. ISAAC BEALS, the first settled minis-
ter in C., with whom he lived till about 1805.)
Having heard of his brother William's death
at his residence in one of the Southern States,
(S. C., we think) Mr. Ide proceeded there by
water conveyance to look after and take care
of the small estate left by him, and was gone
about one year. Soon after his return he took
a small tenement of two rooms of Isaac Bald-
win, near the south line of Reading, in the
town of Cavendish, Vt., and applying himself
to his trade, he began to lay by a part of his
earnings ; and, in 1803-4, being assisted by a
friend, he bought a 20-acre lot, having a mere
hovel for a house upon it. Having now before
him the prospect of being able to provide for
the support of his family, his son Wm. B. was
returned from the kind care and protection of
the Rev. Mr. BEALS, to that of his parents, and
remained with them till " of age/' His fath-
er, however, continued to rove from place to
place, despite the apothegm that " A rolling
stone gathers no moss" — owning, as he did in
after life, one after another, three different farms

14 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

in Beading, two in New Ipswich, N. II., and
a few acres of land, with a gristmill thereon,
in Newfane, Vt. — He possessed an active, in-
quiring mind — was much given to reading and
the discussion of the political party issues of
that day ; and, in 1809, was elected by the
^Republican party to represent the town of
Reading in the Legislature of Vermont ; and
lacked but one vote of a re-election the fol-
lowing year. He was not an " open professor
of religion" ; but his "life and conversation"
gave satisfactory evidence to his " professing"
'friends, that he was a "believer" in the es-
sentials of practical religion. As indicative
of a prominent trait of his moral character,
his son William B. caused the inscription :

""An Honest Man 's the noblest work of GOD,''
to be engraved on his tomb-stone.

To continue on in this genealogical line :
The writer is in possession of data going no fa-
ther back, on William B. Ide's mother's pater-
nal side, than the birth-day of his great-grand-
father, Lieut. ISAAC STONE, which was on the
3d of September, 1697, in Framingham, Mass.
He married ELIZABETH BROWN * of Sudbury,

* The initial letter (B), in Win. B. Ide's name, was in hon-
or of this great- grandmother.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 15

July 24, 1722 — settled in Shrewsbury, Mass.,
in 1727, and was a member of the first board
of selectmen of that town. He died April 22,
1776, aged 78 years, 8 months. His widow
lived to the great age of 96, and died in 1794 ;
the same year that one of her great-grandsons
now (1880) living, (a brother of Wrn. B.) was
born — thus showing, in this instance, the lives
of two individuals extending through five and
a half generations, or the average age of man-
kind, as computed by statisticians of the pres-
ent day.

Mr. IDE'S grandfather, JASPER STONE, was
born in Shrewsbury, April 30, 1728. He mar-
ried GRACE GODDARD, daughter of Dea. Ben-
jamin Goddard, April 17, 1755. He owned
and lived on a farm of about 250 acres, in the
south-westwardly part of that town, on which
one of the first two-story framed dwelling-
houses built in that town now stands in good
order — which farm is now owned and occupied
by a grandson of him who bought and cleared
it over a hundred and twenty years ago, and
lived on it all the days of his wedded life. He
died Oct. 20, 1802, aged 74 years and 6 mos.
—his widow, Oct. 31, 1815, aged 80.

\Ve have but little more to add in this an-

16 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

cestral line. The mother of William B. Ide,
SARAH, daughter of Jasper and Grace Stone,
was born Oct. 16, 1767, — married Nov. 24,
1793, — died at the residence of her oldest son,
in Claremont, N. H., January 4, 1859, aged 91
years, 2 mos.. 19 days. Mrs. Ide was a pattern
of industry and economy, in the management
of her domestic affairs. Her early days were
spent happily, and in comparative ease under
the paternal roof ; yet she was not exempt from
the common lot of the daughters of farmers
of those primitive times. Household duties —
the hum of the spinning-wheels, and the rat-
tle of " the weaver's shuttle/' afforded the
kind of instrumental music that was the most
familiar, if not the most charming, to her ear.
But all along through the lapse of twenty sub-
sequent years, the rearing of seven children (one
dying in its infancy) she had an unusual share
of a mother's cares, anxieties and labors to con-
front her, till her children were all comfortably
settled in the married state. She spent the
last thirty-three-or-four years of her useful life
among her dutiful children, in comparative
ease and comfort — and, at the close of a long
and well-spent life, departed in the enjoyment
of a well-grounded hope of a happy re-upion

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 17

with them in the New Jerusalem — whither two
of her daughters, and one of her sons, besides
the subject of this memoir, had "gone before."
Her only surviving daughter informs me, that
in her 91st year, she read her Bible through
twice, without the use of glasses — was for some
forty years an exemplary and pious member of
the Baptist church.

The writer has thought the preceding sketch
in relation to the birth, residence, etc., of such
portion of Mr. IDE'S ancestry as he could find
the material for, would be interesting and in-
structive,— if not to the present generation,
yet to the generations that will succeed it. —
His ancestry on both parental sides were of
the humbler walks of life — dependant on their
daily labors for their " daily bread/' On his
mother's side, so far back as we have gone in
these researches, they were a benevolent and
pious people. " zealous in every good word and
work."

18 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTEE II.

SOME FEW INCIDENTS OF MR. IDE'S SOJOURN IN THE STATES
OF VERMONT, KENTUCKY, OHIO AND ILLINOIS.

WILLIAM B. IDE worked at the carpenter
and joiner's trade with his father a greater part
of the time till of age. His " schooling" priv-
ileges were limited to the common schools of
those days, which were seldom kept in the sev-
eral districts where he lived more than two
months, each season, summer and winter. In
1819 he built a dwelling-house for his brother
SIMEON, in Windsor, Vt. ; and afterwards fol-
lowed building operations in Winchendon and
Keene, N. H., and Newfane and Woodstock,
Vt., to the year 1833.

At an accidental interview with President
HAYES' uncle Burchard of Fayetteville, New-
fane, in 1876, the old gentleman, who is quite
deaf, inquired of the writer about " one Wil-
liam B. Ide" — said he knew him well some 50
years ago — that he built the house in which he
(Mr. B.) then lived : and he assured me that
Mr. Ide was a good and thorough workman —

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 19

that although his house had stood the test of
the Vermont climate, exposed to rapid changes
of wet and dry, heat and cold, for so long a
time, it was then " about as good as new/'

April 17, 1820, Mr. IDE and Miss SUSAN G.
HASKELL were married by her uncle Grout, at
his house in Northborough, Mass., and not by
the Rev. Joseph Sumner, D. D., pastor of the
first Congregational church in Shrewsbury for
about sixty years, as stated in " Ward's Histo-
ry of Shrewsbury," (from which the writer has
gathered several other " items/' in his progress
thus far), and the fact that " Their mothers
were daughters of (their grandfather), Deacon
Jasper Stone."

Although he had had full employment at his
trade in Vermont, yet Mr. IDE'S adventurous
turn of mind, (which he came honestly by)"
made him a " victim" of the then prevailing
" Western Fever.'' [His first objective point
was Canton, in Kentucky ; whither, in June,
1833, he directed his steps — and where, with
his young family, (a wife and six children,) he
remained about three months ; then removed
to Madison, Montgomery Co., eight miles from
Dayton, Ohio, in 1834— and, in 1839, he re-
moved to Jacksonville, Illinois.

20 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

During several months residence at Madi-
son his health did not permit his working at his
trade, except occasionally in the warmer sea-
sons; and he spent most of the winter months
as a teacher in the district schools. And we
will here give an extract from one of his let-
ters to his mother, then living with her eldest
son at Windsor, Vt., dated " Madison, Ohio,
Feb. 23, 1835," which will show something of
the troubles attending the pioneers of the new
settlements of our. country:

"And now, ray dear Mother, I will, in answer to
your request to SUSAN, (for she seldom gets time to
write), proceed to give you some account of our little
ones : and I will begin with the eldest. James M. is,
as you know, pretty well advanced in his 13th year;
and it is time to begin to expect some small develop-
ment of mind. He is still very small of stature— not
above the size of most boys of 9 or JO years old.

" When I first arrived in Ohio, and commenced teach-
ing, James was sick ; and I was scarcely able to walk.
I could not look after and take care of my children at
school — was frequently under the necessity of being
carried home. So the first quarter James attended only
about 25 days. As I was about attending my second
quarter, James had the misfortune to inflict .a severe
wound upon the ancle of his left leg. The accident oc-
curred as follows: I had just put a handle to, and ground
very thin and sharp, an axe for my own use, and laid it

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. i4i

on a high shelf — saying to Susan, at the same tLiio, chat
I was going to a raising about a mile^ff, and that the
boys were not to meddle with this axe, as I had made
it very sharp. Scarcely had I left the house, when
James came in, and began to climb up the logs of the
house to get the axe. His mother told him he must not
have it; but James answered: i Why, marm ? father
allows me to use it.1 So, like a good, easy mother, she
said no more, and James went out into the orchard to
chop some dead peach trees.

44 Directly Susan heard some one hollering ; but as
the girls and William were playing about the house,
and making much noise, she thought no harm; when,
a little while after, she discovered that James had cut
his ancle, and was bleeding very fast— the axe having
entered nearly half of the blade, severing some of the
leaders of the toes, and opening one of the arteries. —
His mother finding him in this situation, held the wound
together, while William ran after me. Understanding
about the case by William, I sent a man for a surgeon,
and then hastened home. But recollecting that the
man had seven miles to go, and that the road was ex-
tremely bad at that time — and the wound continuing
to bleed, it was evident he could not survive the loss of
blood that must be occasioned by waiting for the sur-
geon. * * * I went immediately about dressing it.
I tied up the blood-vessels, then sewed the parts togeth-
er. James fainted, and afterwards became very sick;
but soon began to recover.

"In the evening the said man returned without the
doctor. In about 8 or 10 days James began to sit up
on his couch— and by the first of June (2 months after)

22 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

was able to hobble to school; since which time he has
been very steaAy. He is a very excellent reader —
understands the English very well — has studied his ge-
ography once through— has gone through Adams' New
Arithmetic, and is now engaged in defining some of the
more intricate words in the English language.

** William had about the like opportuv ity, but has not
improved so well. He is some larger than James, and
stout. He is not much troubled by care of any kind.

Mary is a good girl; helps her mother a good deal ;
reads and spells well; studies ^grammar and makes her
own clothes, pretty much : is as tall as Jarnes, and gen-
erally stands at the head of the first class, of late ; since
each scholar has to define, as well as spell the word.

44 Sarah is the baby, and is therefore her father's dear
child;' and, therefore, I will say but little about her — •
only that she reads with Mary, and thinks she can do
any thing as well as she does!"

The foregoing extracts from one of the nu-
merous letters of WILLIAM B. IDE to bis " Be-
loved Mother", (as he uniformly addressed her)
which are in the writer's possession, are intro-
duced here, as evidence of his wonderful sagac-
ity and presence of mind in a trying emergen-
cy; and we shall have occasion, in our succeed-
ing pages, to notice many more noteworthy in-
stances of this rare inate endowment. And it
will show that parents may learn their child-
ren, at the tender age of eight or nine years,
how to " help their mother a good deal," and

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 23

to "make their own clothes, pretty much" —
while, at the same time, they "generally stand
at the head of the first class."

We give extracts from another of his letters,
dated " Madison, 0., Sept. 13, 1S35," to show
the filial affection with which he ever regarded
his parents.

"I have a little plan of operations which I will com-
municate to you. If it succeeds, it will unite again the
largest half of my Father's family, in or near one vil-
lage.— I have now in my trunk iny Father's letter of
advice, written Feb. 20, 1817, [39 days before William
became of age], which I have often read with renewed
interest, since I have lived in the great valley of the
Mississippi. Though it may be true that I have not
been able to find a country exactly, in all thing?, to
answer the u picture of my youthful fancy," yet I have
by far "bettered myself;" and my Father's injunction
was, (after having done so) u next to seek to better my
friends of my Father's house." I have sought so to do.
Here is a wide field for industry and usefulness; and
although you, dear Mother, may be too old for much
labor, yet your presence will cheer the hearts and en-
liven the countenances of those that can labor. Think
it not too much : I have commenced this letter express-
ly to persuade you to come and live with me. I have a
plenty. We are not now in Vermont, eating flour at
' eight dollars per barrel, and corn at one dollar a bushel.
Yet the price of labor is not diminished — nor am I be-
set, on either hand, by duns and unpaid accounts — by

24 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

notes over- due, while I have little or no cash to spare
I do not now anticipate the errand of every stranger
who approaches me to be the collection of some pote
he has bought against me. But now, when I see an un-
expected neighbor or stranger coming, I begin to antic-
ipate— he comes to ask a favor, not to claim justice —
he comes to borrow money, or to pay what he owes —
to solicit conditions, not to enforce them.

" Yet, blessed as I am in worldly matters, I do not
feel entirely independent. No! the few streaks of ad-
versity that have come over me since I saw you, dear
Mother, I trust have had their due effect. I do not now
argue against the cause of CHRIST, or preach Universal-
ism. No: I have seen something of the value of
Christian submission and of Christian example and in-
fluence among men. * * * But I have little or no
Christian fortitude to boast of. I feel that my obliga-
tions are great ; and had it not been for the rniss-spent
opportunities of my youth, and for that unwillingness
of mine to rely on the Spirit of CHRIST for aid, I might
have been greatly useful in the sphere of my acquaint-
ance to the cause of humanity and truth. The past is
gone!"

While living in Ohio and Illinois, from the
year 1834 to '44, while his health would per-
mit, Mr. IDE worked at his trade a considera-
ble part of the spring, summer and fall months,
— when not engaged in farming operations —
and taught in the district schools a portion of
the winter months.

THE LIFE OP WILLIAM B. IDE. 25

His only surviving daughter, Mrs. SARAH E.
HEALY, represents his farm in Madison, Ohio,
as "a very good one — having good buildings,
being well fenced, and under a good state of
cultivation : he paid a part down for it, and
the balance in less than two years, which we
made off the farm — Father and brothers (as
well as the rest of the family who were old en-
ough) all working ; for we did not hire any
help, and were soon out of debt. This was a
comfortable and pleasant home, with kind and
intelligent neighbors.

" In the fall of 1838 Father sold that farm,
with the intention of removing to Missouri.
In October we started on our journey thither,
with two wagons comfortably fitted up. The
weather was changeable — sometimes cold and
rainy, and the roads very bad. As nearly as
I can remember, we spent about four weeks
traveling to Jacksonville, 111. We spent the
winter there — father working at his trade. In
February, 1839, he moved onto the farm near
Springfield, 111."

Mrs. Healy, in her note to the writer from
which the above is taken, says her Father held
no public offices in Ohio or Illinois, " but took
great interest in politics ; and, while in Mad-

26 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ison, 0., be wrote a great many articles of
agreement for his neighbors, and was often con-
sulted by them on occasions of disputes occur-
ring between them, about rights to land and
division-lines, and other missunderstandings.
Even our Justice, of the Peace consulted him a
good deal" — thus acting, as a genial and mu-
tual friend, without fee or reward, as a " peace-
maker" among them.

The year 1845 was a more eventful one
than any that had preceded it in his checkered
life hitherto. During his stay in Kentucky,
Ohio and Illinois he had not added largely to
the means he took with him on leaving New
England. His active spirit did not brook the
tedious process of farming which he had resort-
ed to in those States, to make provision for the
support of his family in his declining }^ears.
He had not realized the fond hopes inspired by
the glowing newspaper accounts of "the West."
And he had heard of a still more promising
field of enterprise in the far off — still farther
off " land of promise" — and thither he conclud-
ed to direct his steps. And, notwithstanding
the hardships, difficulties and loss of property
attending the adventure, we have the authori-
ty of his daughter for stating, that if he could

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 27

have foreseen them all, it would not have de-
tered him from making it : for, says Mrs. H.,
in a note to the writer : " My Father was not
sorry, but proud of being among the first to
open the way here/'*

In the winter of '44-5, MR. IDE made ample
preparation for his advent into the Pacific sol-
itudes, by the purchase of a large and well-as-
sorted herd of cattle, — a competent outfit (as
he supposed) of provisions and other necessa-
ries, for a six-months tour ; with his wife and
five children, and the necessary assistants, to
accompany him — Oregon being then his objec-
tive point.

* Mrs. HEALY now resides in Santa Cruz, Gal.

28 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTEE III.

MRS. HEALY'S ACCOUNT OF THEIR JOURNEY FROM ILLINOIS,
THROUGH MISSOURI, KANSAS. NEBRASKA, DECOTA, IDAHO,
UTAH AND NEVADA, (AS NOW ORGANIZED), TO THE SIER-
ERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.

THE writer is indebted to a brother of Mr.
IDE for many of the incidents of his life nar-
rated, thus far, in this memoir. He will now
avail himself of the kind assistance of Mrs.
HEALY, to whom he applied fora detailed ac-
count of their journey from Illinois to Califor-
nia, in 1845. At that date Mrs. H. was in her
18th year. She depends on her memory chiefly
for the minute circumstances she relates ; and
I believe it is generally understood that at the
age of fifty years and upwards we remember
the pominent, exciting events of youth — say,
between our 6th and 18th year — more distinct-
ly than we do those that occured at a later
period of our lives. We give the greater part
of Mrs. H/s narrative in her own words :

" In 1838 my Father sold his farm in Ohio,
and moved to Jacksonville, 111. We lived there
but one winter. In the spring of 1839 he mov-

THE LIFE QF WILLIAM B. IDE. 29

ed onto his farm eight miles east of Spring-
field, where we resided until 1844. In the fall
of that year he sold his farm, and removed
his family into uncle Harrison's house, where
we lived till April 1, 1845. On that day we
bid our good friends farewell. It was a sad
day to us. All our old neighbors came to help
us pack our things into our three wagons, a?nd
to see us off. My Father sheeted the timber
for two of these wagons, and had them made
to order during the winter. He also made the
beds, bows and covers at our home — Mother
and I sewing the canvas covering ; which, be-
ing fastened to the bows and side-boards of
the wagons, were painted a light slate-color,
the same as the bed or body of the wagon.

" Our wagons were very neat looking, and
attracted a good deal of attention while pass-
ing through Illinois and Missouri. Many ques-
tions were asked as to our destination, &c.

"We had a sale the morning we started, and
sold off the greater part of our furniture. We
packed our cooking utensils, tin cups, tin plates
— with provisions to last us six months. Moth-
er, my little brothers — Daniel, aged 10, and
Lemuel, aged 8, and Thomas Crafton, (a little
boy that had been given to my Mother), all

30 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

rode in a wagon, I rode on horseback 3 days,
to help drive the cattle; riding on a side-saddle.
The drove of cattle numbered 165, including
28 working oxen. We camped the first night
10 miles from our old home — cooked our sup-
per by a camp-fire. Mother and I slept in a
wagon all the way to California. Some of the
men slept in the tent, when not too tired to
pitch it. Brother William came with us and
drove an ox team from Fort Hall to Butter's
Fort, and drove cattle the rest of the journey.
Our number, all told, young and old, was thir-
teen— five of these were young men, who drove
the teams " for their board and passage/'

" The journey to Independence, M<5., was
accomplished in four weeks, without any severe
accident, but was attended with great care and
anxiety to my dear parents. I remembar my
brother James, (then in his 24th year) was
away from us buying cows, and was gone so
long, that it caused them great anxiety, He
had been taken suddenly with bleeding from
the nose or lungs, among strangers, and his
health was so much impaired, that he could
not for some time afterwards help take care of
the stock, or of himself. We were thankful
that his life was spared.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 31

"We camped one week within one mile of
Independence, Mo., to lay in ammunition, guns
and pistols — clothing for the men, and many
little things needful on so long a journey. —
Father made an iron to brand his cows with
his name (IDE) on the right-side horn. This
was hard work for him, but very necessary.

" On the 10th of May we left Independence
and traveled to the ' Big Camp', where we spent
a week or two/' — organizing, it would seem, a
large company of emigrants to the far West,
(in accordance with their previously concerted
plan) consisting of 100 wagons, and the neces-
sary team-cattle, horses and other appliances.
They chose a Mr. Meek, a Mountaineer, Pilot.
This large company, Mrs. Healy thinks, was
sub-divided into "three bands", who chose
a " captain over the three" — whose name she
does not remember ; but recollects he rode
ahead of the entire train — had a fine team of
grey horses, which was driven by a Mr. Buck-
ley. She remembers the names of others in
the train, viz : Capt. James Taylor and Capt.

Smith. She says " The companies took

turns traveling in advance, so that each might
have the privilege of being out of the dust
one week out oY every three.

32 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

" A company or firm styled ' J. Smith, Kis-
ley & Taylor/ owned and drove a large herd
of cattle to Oregon. My Father started to go
to Oregon, and ' OREGON' was painted in large
black letters on the back curtain of our hind-
most wagon.

" The cattle of this large emigrant company
was so numerous that it was difficult to find
grass for them ; and it was a great deal of
work to control them — also dangerous. After
several weeks it was given up, and a e cattle-
guard' organized. My Father was captain of
this ' guard', and chief herdsman. Any one
losing an ox or cow came to him at once, and
lie would send a man or go himself in search
of the lost, — after supplying an ox, if an ox
of a team were missing — so that the train could
moye on : for it was moving so slow, it was
necessary for us to keep moving.

" At one time when Father remained behind
to look after the missing cattle, the report
came to the company, that he was last seen
surrounded by Indians. The train halted quite
a while : but Mother and I did not know why;
all being careful not to cause us alarm. A
number of men went back, who met him com-
ing in, driving the missing cattle. They said

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM §. IDE. 33

•

Father saw an Indian partly hid in grass and
willows, with arrow on bow, ready to shoot
him : on which he raised his gun and took aim
at the Indian, who immediately took to his
heels and ran. No doubt, they said, if Father
had been frightened, and had started to run, he
would have been killed ; for there were several
Indians seen in the bushes near him. This oc-
cured on or near the banks of the Humblold
River, I think.

" We traveled in one of the three companies
having a camp-guard — a captain and sergeant
on guard every night — until within a few days
travel of Fort Hall. Then there was a general
stampede, to see who would get to the Fort
first. We found a good camping ground there,
and also Indians to trade horses with. One of-
fered a very pretty poney for two calico dress-
es. Here was a company of mountaineer trap-
pers, enronte for California, who told us of a
good route, and plenty of good grass.

"While there Father changed his plan — con-
cluded to go to California : but first, before
definitely settling, the question, put it to vote
of his company, and they voted for California
instead of Oregon.

" A party of young men concluded to 'pack

34 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

I

through;' that is, to go on horseback — pack
themselves and their baggage on horses. This
party consisted of Messrs. Knight, R. C. Keyes,
Jacob R. Snyder, Lewis, William Black-
burn, George McDougal, and several others,
whose names I have forgotten.

aA few days travel, west from Fort Hall,
brought us to where we bade our Oregon friends
good-by. I was sorry to part with those with
whom we had become acquainted. It reduced
our company so much, that we all felt lonely
for some time. I believe I can remember the
names of nearly all the men of our small par-
ty who had families. These were Messrs. E*
Skinner, J. Elliot, Rolett, Keeny, M. Griffith,
Grigsby, Scott, Bonner, Potter, Seeres, An-
derson, Thomas, Meeres, Davis, Tustin and
Baffin. -All these men took their families with
them. There may have been one or two more
who had no children with them.

" The names of those without families I re-
member, as follows : William Cooper> Win.
Todd, Scott, B. Grant/Beal, Old Harry, Wm.
Swasey and Wilmot. Our Pilot's name was
'Old Greenwood' ;* and his son John, (whose

* "This old man", says Mrs. HEALY, "died in California,
in the mines, somewhere near Or^ille. I heard a report that

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 35

• •

mother was a Crow Indian). They were moun-
tain men, and dressed the same as Indians.

"After we started for California, the Pilot
said there was no longer any danger from the
Indians, and our company began to scatter. I
remember one night in particular, my Father,
with one other family, camped alone, with no
other guard than a faithful watch-dog we were
so fortunate as to bring with us from our old
home in Sangumon county, 111. This dog would
not allow an Indian to come near the camp. —
None of our company were killed by the In-
dians ; but John Greenwood, son of the Pilot,
shot down an Indian by the road-side, and af-
terwards boasted of it.

"6Thus far there were no very steep moun-
tains climbed. The course we traveled was
through passes between high mountains, or up
gradual ascents on long spurrs, until after
passing the 40-miles descent, and crossing the
Truckee River thirty-two times, we came to

he insisted on lying out of doors, with his rifle by his side,
and would not allow even a tent over his body to obscure
the sky — threatening to shoot the man who should attempt
to put a shelter over him. And thus he died, out of doors,
more than 18 years since. I was. more afraid of these two
meii than of the wild Indians."

36 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Truckee Lake : then, after traveling along the
Lake — some of the way being obliged to drive
our wagon on the edge of the Lake ; some of
the time the water coming almost up to our
feet — keeping the women in constant dread of
being drowned. It was a fearful time for the
timid female passengers, both young and old.
At night we camped at the foot of the rocky
mountain — the Sierra Nevada ; and were told
by the Pilot that we would have to take our
wagons to pieces, and haul them up with ropes.
Father proposed to build a bridge, or a sort of
inclined railroad up the steep ascent, and over
the rocks ; but few of his companions would
listen to any such scheme. So he went to
work with the men and fixed the road."

[Here we substitute for the daughter's ac-
count of this most difficult of the many trying
emergencies with which Mr. IDE and his asso-
ciates were confronted, during their six or sev-
en months pilgrimage to the "promised land/'
what the writer recollects to have been told
about it by Mr. IDE, on his first visit to his rel-
atives in N. E.j after his settlement in Califor-
nia.]

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 37

CHAPTER IV.

THEIR TEDIOUS ASCENT OVER THE NEVADA MOUNTAIN — DE-
SCENT INTO THE AMERICAN RIVER VALLEY, AND ENCAMP-
MENT NEAR FORT SUTTER.

ABOUT the year 1849 we had an interview
with Mr. IDE; in which he gave us an account
of his " trip over-land" to California, in 1845.
He did not go minutely into detail, but dwelt
more particularly on the manner in which he
ascended the Nevada Mountain ; as that per-
formance was the most laborious and difficult
of the many difficulties they had to encounter.
And not the least of these difficulties was the
task of convincing the men with him that his
plan of operations to accomplish the hard task
then in prospect was practicable. Their g\iide
had told them the only way was, to " take the
wagons to pieces, and haul them up with
ropes •!" Our Yankee adventurer thought he
would find and try a better way. He took a
survey of the premises, on foot — climbing up
the rugged " cliffs of the rocks" till he reach-
ed the plane above, and finally concluded there
was a " better way."

38 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Mr. IDE found on the line of the ascent sev-
eral abrupt pitches, between which there were
comparative level spaces, for several rods dis-
tace, where the team might stand to draw up
at least an empty wagon. Accordingly, he
went to work, with as many of the men as he
could induce, by mild means, to assist him —
removing rocks, trees, &c., and grading a path
6 or 7 feet wide, up the several steep pitches
and levels to the summit. The next thing for
them to do, was to get a team of 5 or 6 yoke
of cattle up onto the first inclined grade or se-
mi level. This was a tedious process. The
first pilch was longer and more abrupt than
any of the others. I think Mr. IDE told me
they had to take one ox at a time, and by the
help of men, with ropes assist him up the first
steep grade. After having, by this process,
their ox- team of 5 or 6 yoke in order, on the
first " level," (as we call it) they then, by the
use of ropes and chains, attach a wagon to it,
haul it up one "hitch," then block the wheels,
" back" the team, take another hitch and an-
other start forward, — and they thus continue
the operation till the wagon is ^on the first
"inclined grade." It was then, by a similar,
but less tedious process, drawn up over the re-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 39

maining steppes or " pitches/' to the level plain
above — and the same operation was repeated
with all their wagons. And at the close of
the second day after their arrival at the foot of
Sierra Nevada, these then well educated moun-
taineers found their entire retinue of wagons,
" goods and chattels" safely landed at the sum-
mit-level. Mr. IDE told me'these were the two
hardest days' labor he experienced, for himself,
men, women and children (and cattle, even), of
the train, during the entire journey. Nothing
short of Yankee pluck could have conceived
and have accomplished such an undertaking.

We will add Mrs. HEALY'S version of a little
more she remembers about this enterprise :

" It took us a long time to 'go about 2 miles
over our rough, new-made road up the moun-
tain, over the rough rocks, in some places, and
so smooth in others, that the oxen would slip
and fall on their knees ; the blood from their
feet and knees staining the rocks they passed
over. Mother and I walked, (we were so sor-
ry for the poor, faithful oxen), all those two
miles — all our clothing being packed on the
horses' backs. It was a trying time — the men
swearing at their teams, and beating them
most cruelly, all along that rugged way.

40 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

" Not long after this we met a pack-train on
their way to some fort. They told us that the
Spaniards would take us all prisoners as soon
as we should arrive in California, and that all
the Americans who then were there were ord-
ered to leave, or they would he imprisoned.

" Some of our company wanted to stop and
build a fort, and spend the winter there; but
on further consideration it was thought better
to risk the Spaniards, than to be shut up in the
midst of those high mountains to starve. So
we hastened on our way, losing no time to
meet our fate, be it what it might.

" We camped one night on a level place near
a lake of very clear water ; also very deep.
During the night we were startled by a loud
report that shook the ground under us like a
heavy clap of thunder. We were terribly
frightened. It 'proved to be an explosion of
gun-powder — a keg or can of it in one of the
the wagons, which it set on fire. At the time
it was supposed to have been accidentally set
on fire ; but afterwards circumstances led to
the conclusion, that the man having charge of
the wagon set it on fire, with the object in view
of getting possession of a sum of money in a
trunk, the owner of which having gone to Cali-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 41

fornia with the company that 'packed' from
Fort Hall.

"In driving down into ' Steep Hollow/ the
men cut down small trees to tie to the hind
end of each wagon, to keep it from turning ov-
er or slewing, and also to Bold it back. In at-
tempting to ride my poney down, the saddle
came off over her head. She was so gentle as
to stop for me to alight, and lead her the rest
of the way down.

" We camped one night in ' Steep Hollow/
Our best milch-cow died the next morning.
We did all we could to doctor her. We sup-
posed she was poisoned by eating laurel leaves
— grass being so scarce.

"Traveling though the Sierra Nevadas, up
hill and down ; fording streams in the small
valleys, with muddy bottoms, and small rivers,
with large boulder rocks at the bottom ; so
large as to almost upset the wagon ; driving
over rocky roads — all this, though it might be
considered healthy exercise, was somewhat fa-
tigueing : and our Pilot wanted to stop a day
or two to rest ; ' but Father did not think it
best to, and drove on.

" The next morning we continued our march
without a pilot ; and, after traveling all day.

42 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

we camped, as usual, for the night. Soon after
getting quietly at rest, our Pilot came up, and,
swearing as he came, said he was not responsi-
ble for our 'driving into a Canon that we
could not get out of!' My Father seemed per-
fectly cool — said scarcely a word, for he knew
that he was right. While Greenwood was
scolding, I saw the stump of a small tree that
was cut down the year before, which showed
that we were camped on a road made last year
—so all that needless alarm was soon ended.

" Somewhere near the summit we came to a
place where a company of ten or twelve wag-
ons had camped the year before, and emptied
their feather beds. They left their wagons and
6 packed' their oxen into the valleys. We
could see the tracks of these wagons very plain-
ly— there^ having been no rain since the melt-
ing of the snow last spring. These were the
first wagons that ever crossed the c Plains/ on
their way to California, but were not brought
into California till 1845. Our Emigrants, on
coming, to this Plain, all made a rush for the
long sought for California; am'bitious to be first
— not much waiting one for another ; the best
teams leaving the rest ; every one looking out
for himself, only. Some went to one part of

<

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 43

the country, and some to another. I have since
met but few of our first company, except those
who passed our house on their way to Oregon.

" The rest of the way we traveled very slow ;
our cattle — the small remnant of the flock we
started from Illinois with being poor, and near-
ly worn out — having lost so many oxen as to
be obliged to work cows in their place. While
on the way, near the Humbold, the water was
very bad. Some of our best oxen became poor
and unfit for work, and were left on the sandy
desert, some 40. miles this way of it, to shirk
for themselves ; and they probably died, or were
' cared for' by the Indians. An ox would lie
down in his yoke, and could not be got up ; so
we would unyoke and leave him. Some of
them were able to walk, after the yoke was
taken off: these we drove on as long as they
were able to go, hoping they would hold out
till we came to good water. Our cattle, all
told, numbered only 65, when we moved onto
our Rancho, in April, 1846.

" On the 25th day of October, 1845, my Fa-
ther drove down into the American River val-
ley, and in a few days more we camped near
Slitter's Fort, where Sacramento City is now/'

Thus we have given Mrs. HEALY'S graphic

44 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

and interesting account of their seven months
journey from Illinois, through the States and
Territories now seen and described on a modern
made map of the United States, as Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, Decota, Idaho, Utah and
Nevada, "to where Sacramento City is now"
— an air-line distance of about 2350 miles, but
a distance of not less than 3,000 miles, on the
path traveled by MR. IDE'S company.

When we consider the state of the roads —
the fact that a great part of the way was an un-
inhabited plain, or an unbrokep wilderness, in-
habited by wild beasts and Indians ; and con-
sider, also, the obstacles to be overcome by such
a retinue — composed, as it was, of an unwieldy
herd of cattle ; of women and children unac-
customed to traversing deserts, fording rivers
and scaling mountains — in view of all these
impediments that were overcome, it would seem
that by hardly less than the interposition of a
miracle, as in the case of the Israelites on their
way to the " promised land/' could they have
surmounted them. Mrs. HEALY'S account of
some of the (to her) most exciting incidents
of the tour are none the less interesting to the
sensible reader, from having been given in an
unstudied, plain,' eyery-day style of writing. It

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 45

must% be borne in mind that she is not writ-
ing a sensational made-up story, but is treat-
ing of incidents and facts that were too deeply
impressed on the mind, at that early period of
her life, to be easily eradicated from her mem-
ory— and therefore her account is reliable.

We have, by " the mind's eye," witnessed
many scenes of hardship and suffering by these
pioneer emigrants ; but from what we have in
store to say further about them, it will be seen
that, so far as relates to Mr. IDE and family,
they had yet many hardships to encounter.
By a few more extracts from Mrs. HEALY'S nar-
rative it appears that, although they had been
providentially preserved to reach the end of
their journey, further toil, anxiety and hardship
awaited them. -They had not yet realized the
promised boon of " A land flowing with milk
and honey" — the " Eldorado" which has, in lat-
er years, attracted thousands upon thousands
of enterprising, well-to-do citizens of the New
England States to the Pacific coast.

" While encamped near Sutter's Fort, where
Sacramento City is now," (Mrs. H. continues,)
".Father met a Mr. Peter Lassen, who owned a
large tract of land 130 miles up the Sacramento
valley, on Deer Creek, who told him that he

46 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

was the very man that he wanted to build him
a sawmill. Lassen having the water-power,
and Father a circular saw and some mill-irons
which he had brought across the Plains, he told
Father to go right up with his family to his
Rancho, and tell Mr. Sill to clean out one of
his tenements, and that he (Lassen) would be
home soon, and show him the mill-site and
set him to work. In just one week after we
had moved into this small house of one room,
Mr. Lassen came home, and brought another
family with him, (one of his own countrymen,
a German) ; and the first thing he said to
Father was, that he wanted hisjhouse !

" This was about the middle of November,
1845. We packed every thing into our wag-
ons ; and, getting our cattle together, started
up the river and forded it. After going about
seven miles, we came to a camp of one family,
(a Mr. Tusting) who had bargained to take care
of a Mr. Chard's cattle, and live on his Eancho
— had camped near Sacramento River, on H. R.
Thome's Rancho, in order to have the compa-
ny of Mr. Thome's man who had charge of his
(Mr. T's) cattle. We camped near them, they
being very anxious to have us remain with
them all winter As the rainy season had al-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 47

ready commenced, the weather was stormy.
Father, with two other men, built a log-cabin.
All of us lived in it until April, 1846. During
the winter, which was a very wet one, we were
surrounded with high water-floods — our cattle
swimming from one bank to another — Indians
yelling night and day, while the river was at
its height — we living on beef, butter and milk,
with but little bread and no vegetables. Per-
haps 100 Ibs. of flour was all we had during the
winter and spring, or until the wheat grew.
A little boiled wheat was a treat to us. These
privations, (not to mention many others), made
us somewhat homesick.

"We could get but little wheat to sow,
which was bought of Capt. Sutter. We could
not buy flour at any price : it was not in the
country. There were eight in our family, in-
cluding a Mr. Tustin, his wife and child. —
Three young men — a Mr. Boker, having charge
of Mr. Thome's cattle and horses — a Mr. Bel-
den, an Eastern gentleman, and a Mr. Pitts,
who were weather-bound, and were of course
some company for us, all lived in a log-cabin
several months. They made themselves a ca-
noe, and the two last named men put into it a
supply of meat, their fire-arms, ammunition,

48 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

&c., left us, and made their journey by water
to some point down the river where they could
embark on a larger craft. * * * One of
these men (Mr. Josiah Belden) owned the farm
now known as the ' IDE EANCHO/ Mr. Bel-
den gave father one half of it for living on and
taking care of his (Mr. B's) cattle three years.
Alter the discovery of gold, Mr. B. sold his
half to my Father, my husband and my brother
JAMES ; each paying him $2,000 — Mr. B's
cattle being included. * * *

" In April, 1846, we moved from the first
cabin ever built in Tehama Co. into our partly
finished cabin on Mr. B's farm. We had not
been there long before a young man, Mr. L. H.
Ford, came to tell Father that Gen. Don Cas-
tro was on his way from Monterey to drive all
the Americans from the country. Father left
home the same day, — I think about the last of
April or first of May, -1846, and went, with
other American settlers, to Fremont's camp.
F. told them he could not assist in attacking
the Spaniards, except in self-defence. Then
the settlers organized, and chose Capt. Mer-
ritt their commander. They hastened on to
Sonoma. The Captain appointed two of his
men to go into Gov. Vallejo's mansion and take

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 49

him prisoner, while the rest of the company
were guarding the building outside, mounted
on their horses." — [Here Mrs. H. refers the
writer to other sources of information relating
to the capture of the Spanish Fortress by the
"Bear Flag" party, etc., and proceeds to say:

" How sad for Mother and I to see Father
and Mr. Henry Ford ride off on such an expedi-
tion ! Would they ever return ? Should we
ever see them again? Fright from the Indians,
distress and grief from hearing rumors of Fath-
er's and William's death by the hands of the
cruel Spaniards, and weeks passing before we
could hear or know to the contrary. No post-
offices or mails; no neighbors but wild Indians!
not hearing from them, direct, for months ! —
Thus all that long summer passed !

" Finally, sometime in November, after an
absence of between six and seven months, Fa-
ther and William came home. Oh, the joyful
day ! I wonder that I cannot recall the exact
day of the month."

Mrs. H. then adds to her account of their
"over the Plains" excursion, a few more items
of interest :

" We had no deaths in our train ; in the
large company, I mean. In it there were two

50 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

births, detaining it but two days. One lady
(a Mrs. Eolett) was so feeble when we first saw
her at Missouri line, as to be carried on a bed,
and lifted in and out the wagon like a helpless
infant ; and at our journey's end she was a well
woman.

" We began to lose cattle the first week after
leaving Illinois, and kept on losing all the way
— some dying from the want of grass and want
of good water ; others, and perhaps the great-
er number, being lost and killed by the Indians.
Palmer was the name of the large company's
Captain. He went to Oregon — had no family
with him. There were a few families who did
not wait to organize with the large company,
but drove on and kept in advance all the way.

" To me the journey was a c pleasure-trip' —
so many beautiful wild flowers, such wild scen-
ery, mountains, rocks and streams — something
new at every turn, or at least every day. I was
with my dear parents then. To them it was
quite different. They had care and toil all the
way. My Father was broken of his rest and
sleep a great deal — taking charge of the cattle
early and late ; yet his health was good all
the way/'

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 51

CHAPTER V.

WHO MADE THE " BEAR FLAG :" BY W. M. BOGGS, ESQ. — SOME
ACCOUNT OF THE PARTY WHO TOOK UP ARMS IN DEFENCE
AND PROTECTION OF THE EARLY PIONEERS' RIGHTSi

WE have now come to that period in the life
of MR. IDE, when man's faculties for usefulness
to himself, his family and his fellow-men are
generally most fully developed. On his arrival
and first encampment in California, he was in
his fiftieth year : and, according to his daugh-
ter's recollection, soon after his arrival there
he was confronted with the solution of an im-
portant problem, regarding the rights and priv-
ileges of himself and his fellow-emigrants who
had so recently taken up their abode in this
(then) " desolate wilderness/' He had built a
cabin for the temporary protection of his fam-
ily, until he could provide more comfortable
quarters for them. In so doing, with the view
of making this new country his future abode,
he supposed he had conformed to all the legal
conditions entitling him to all the privileges,
rights and immunities of a citizen of his new-
ly adopted country. The question to be settled

52 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

was — whether he should be forcibly ejected
from his humble abode, and driven back again
to ' the States'; or whether he would unite with
his fellow-emigrants in resisting the threat-
ened "war of extermination", as put forth in
a Proclamation of the then reputed Governor
of the country. It took but a moment's reflec-
tion for him to decide the question.

There have been many different accounts
published of the proceedings of the citizens
(principally emigrants from the East), who
banded themselves for the protection of their
lives and property, in 1846. These accounts
varying in some important particulars, we shall
rely mainly on the statements of those who
were eye-witnesses of the transactions they re-
fer to. Of course the events cannot be narrated
in the consecutive order in which they occurred
— and, income cases, repetitions will occur of
accounts of the same transactions, from differ-
ent sources.

Soon after the writer concluded to comply
with the request of the only surviving daugh-
ter of WM. B. IDE, that he would collect the
material for this memoir, he addressed a note
to one of the party who (a newspaper article
informed him), had had a hand in getting up

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 53

the renowned " Bear Flay" : to which note he
received a letter in reply from W. M. BOGGS,
Esq., dated "Napa City, Gal, Jan. 18, 1878,"
from which we propose to make liberal extracts.
Mr. B. explains by saying : " Your letter to
the late PETER STORM, dated Jan. 7, '78, was
handed me by a friend of Mr. S., with the re-
quest that I would answer it. Mr. Storm died
recently at Calistoga, Napa county, and was
interred by a delegation of Pioneers of Napa,

" I will undertake to answer some of the in-
quiries of your letter ; as I was, perhaps, as
well acqainted with Wm. B. Ide as any of the
pioneers of 1846. I became acquainted with
him at Sonoma, in 1846 or '47. But first I
will answer as to ' who made the Sear Flag/

" A party of Americans had organized them-
selves in Napa Valley for the purpose of capt-
uring the garrison of Sonoma, (or, Puebqdo y
Sonoma). The place was occupied by Mexican
citizens, and was the residence of Gen. Vallejo,
who was commandant General of the northern
di&trict of California. His brother, Don Sal-
, vadc^ Vallejo, who was a Captain in the Mexi-
carn service — Col. Victor Prudshon, (a French-
man), but who became a Mexican citizen ;
Jacob P. Leese, an American, but who had

54 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

married Gen. Vallejo's sister, Dtfna Rosalia x
Vallejo.

" The aforesaid party of Americans, (of which
Mr. WM. B. IDE was a member), afterwards
known as u The Bear Party/' proceeded to So-
noma and captured the place by surprising the
General and his brother officers in bed at break
of day. This party was headed by Capt. Mer-
ritt, an old bear-hunter. The prisoners were
sent under an escort to Butter's Fort, to be
held as hostages by Col. Fremont, until releas-
ed on parole. Fremont had been recalled, and
was at Butter's Fort, awaiting further orders
from the U. S. authorities ; but in the mean
time indirectly cooperated with the Independ-
ent or Bear party — holding the prisoners for
some weeks at Butter's Fort. The Californi-
ans, in the mean time, were rallying their forces
to drive the handful of ' American marauders/
as they termed the Bear party, out of the coun-
try. They having possession of the barracks
at Sonoma, held the place, and proceeded to or-
ganize an Independent Government, by elect-
ing WILLIAM B. IDE governor and command-
er-in-chief of ' the Independent forces/ as they
were styled, and JOHN H. NASH Chief Justice
(commonly known as the Alcalde, under the

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 55

Mexican government). — It was thought by
some, that they should adopt a Flag to repre-
sent their Government ; and most of them be-
ing hunters and adventurers, the idea was sug-
gested by one Capt. FORD, that a Grizzly Bear
should be the motto.

" A young man named William Ford, who
had been held in their Fort, as a prisoner, by
the Californians, and re-captured in the first
fight with them at.Camillo's Eancho, near the
present city of Petaluma ; William Todd, (a
Norwegian), of Illinois, assisted by old PETER
STORM, painted the ' Bear Flag". It was sim-
ply a piece of unbleached, domestic-made cot-
ton cloth, about a yard and a half long by one
yard wide, A rude figure of a bear, standing
on his hind legs, was sketched and painted by
Todd and Storm, as above stated, in the. pres-
ence of a number of the Bear party/'

Mr. BOGGS kindly adds : " A number of the
Bear party still live in this vicinity, and I am
personally acquainted with many of them. My
nearest neighbor, Mr. WM. HARGRAVE. is one
of them ; and he is the person who gave me
your letter to answer — knowing that I was ac-
quainted with the facts.

" I arrived in California in 1846 — in time to

56 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

take part in the Mexican war ; which I did by
serving in a battalion of Mounted Riflemen,
commanded by Capt. MADDOX, a marine officer
under Commodore Stockton. I left my family
— that is, my wife and father, Ex-Gov. L. W.
BOGGS of Missouri — at Petaluma Rancho,
where my eldest son, Gaudaloupe V. Boggs,
was born ; the same boy you mention in your
letter as the first American born in California
— which I think is a mistake. He is probably
the first American white child, born under the
American Flag, on this coast. I was in the
U. S. service at the time ; and on my return,
after my discharge at Monterey, I found my
wife and boy at Petaluma Rancho — the prop-
erty of Gen. Vallejo, who had kindly tendered
my father and family the use of the house, and
generously furnished beef and other necessaries
in the way of living. The seven months jour-
ney across the Plains and ov.er the Mountains,
at that time, had nearly exhausted our sup-
plies. The ill-fated Donner party was a part
of my train most of the way across: I say a
part of my train, because I was elected Cap-
tain of the emigrant train of 1846, at Ash-
Hollow, on the Platt River, and conducted my
party safely over the Plains and Mountains

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 57

into California : and had the Donners remained
with us, they would have escaped the suffering
and starvation that they experienced in their
snow-bound camp in the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains. I knew them all. * * *

" Mr. IDE had kept a journal, and wrote a
large volume, in book-form, of these proceed-
ings,'-' and I saw and read a portion of it at
his Eancho, in May, 18^, when on my way
to the mines. He thought Fremont had not
treated him right in the interchange of gov-
ernments. I never learned whether his writings
have been preserved or not ; but think they
were lost in the great gold excitement, f

" The ' Society of California Pioneers' has
collected many interesting facts connected with
California's early history : but such facts as a
personal acquaintance with such men as Wil-

*The "Proceedings" of the "Bear Flag party" are here
referred to.

f It had escaped the recollection of the surviving members
of Mr. IDE'S family, until this notice of these writings in this
kind letter of MR. BOGGS, was written them, that such writ-
ings were in their possession. After diligent search, since
that notice came to their hands, they were found among the
effects of Mrs. HEALY'S brother JAMES M., who died a few
months before. We expect to find in that ' book-form' man-
uscript much valuable material for this work.

58 A BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH OF

liam B. Ide, Capt. Grenill, P. Swift, Capt.
Ford, Capt. John Grigsby, and a few others
who were prime movers, and the leading spirits
who struck out boldly at the commencement
of the Revolution that gave California to the
United States, almost free of cost, so far as
local operations were concerned — such facts, I
say, can only be obtained by or through those
who were active participants in them, or were
intimately acquainted with those brave men
— the most of whom are now no more/'

In a subsequent letter to the writer, Mr.
BOGGS says : uln the work of forming the In-
dependent, or c Bear Flag' party, MR. IDE took
a prominent part. You may rely on his state-
ments to you as being more correct than those
of any of the newspaper correspondents, who
gather from different sources, and add their
own conclusions besides. Scarcely any two of
them give the same version of affairs. What
I know about our history is from personal ex-
perience and personal acquaintance with nearly
every man engaged in the war of 1846-7, on
this coast — both land and naval officers, volun-
teers and regulars, marines and sailors : having
served and associated with many of them since
—more especially with the leading men ; many

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 59

of whom were my old neighbors for many years
since.

" My lamented Father arriving here in time
to participate in the closing of the Mexican
war by appointment of the Military Governor,
Col. Mason of the U. S. Army, aided in estab-
lishing law and order, and in carrying out the
laws of both Mexico and the United States,
pending the hostilities, and during the settle-
ment of them according to the treaty of peace;
which position he filled to the entire satisfac-
tion of all concerned, for a considerable period
of time ; and for which service rendered his
government his bill remains, unpaid, in Wash-
ington. A more just claim, perhaps, has never
been presented to Congress. But, for want
of funds to fee agents, the claim has been, up
to this time, ignored."

Mr. BOGGS concludes this second letter by
saying : " I hope you will succeed in obtaining
the information concerning the events alluded
to in your letter to Mr. Storm — authenticat-
ing, as no doubt it will, the statements to you
by a brother of the lamented WM. B. IDE con-
cerning this part of his history, for which no
man was better qualified to give a correct ver-
sion than himself. My Father often spoke of

60 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

him as being a man of superior intelligence ; a
very competent and useful citizen — a patriotic
co-worker in establishing law and order where
none before existed. Such men as he and my
Father rarely receive justice at the hands of
their country. Those who render IT the most
important services, are often the least com-
pensated/'

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 61 '

CHAPTEK VI.

THE " BEAR FLAG GOVERNMENT'' ORGANIZED. — SOME ACCOUNT
OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER IT. — THE RAID UPON GEN. CAS-
TRO'S CAMP. — NARROW ESCAPE OF FREMONT'S PARTY.

IN 1849, during Mr. IDE'S residence several
months with one of his brothers, he gave said
brother a verbal account of his six or seven
months services in the Bear Flag enterprise,
and, (as he understood the case), as a U. S.
soldier under the command of Col. Fremont.
We give, this brother's statement : and it will
be borne in mind by the reader, that this broth-
er relies entirely on his memory for what he
told him ; and that the incidents of this nar-
rative were related to him some 28 years ago —
at a period of his life when a detail of such in-
teresting events makes an abiding impression
upon the memory. But should the volumin-
ous manuscipt Journal of Mr. IDE, referred to
by Mr. BOGGS, on page 57, come to light before
this memoir goes to press, it will be corrected,
wherein its statements may materially conflict
with those of that journal, as it may seem nee-

62 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

essary to insure accuracy, in giving an account
of what transpired under the a administration
of Governor IDE."

" My brother Wm. B. told me that he left
his family about the first of May, 1846, and
rode around among the early emigrants from
the States, to arouse them to action in self-de-
fence. He had seen the Proclamation of Gov.
Don Castro, warning those emigrants to leave
the country in a given time, or they would be
driven into the mountains, or made prisoners
of; or they would be shot, in case of resistance.
This, he said, ' stirred them up to the quick/
They very soon rallied a company of about
one hundred mounted men, armed as best they
could be, with hunting guns, rifles and pistols.
They rendezvoused at or near Butter's Fort,
and organized by choosing a Captain Merrit
as their commander. They then proceeded to
Sonoma, the headquarters of Gov. Castro, who
had issued the aforesaid threatening proclama-
tion, and of Gen. M. G. VALLEJO. They sur-
prised the Garrison at day -break, captured Gen.
Vallejo, his brother Don S. Vallejo, Jacob P.
Leese, Col. Victor Prudhon and two others,
took them prisoners ; and Capt. Grigsby, with
a small guard, escorted them to gutter's Fort/'

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 63

And here the Editor will suspend the broth-
er's narrative for a moment, to make room for
a few items of interest obligingly furnished him
by Mr. Boggs, who informs me that the individ-
uals captured as above stated were officers of
the Mexican Government, and that

" Gen. Mariano Gaudaloup Vallejo was the
highest military officer in the northern depart-
ment of Upper California, in the Mexican gov-
ernment— was the first native Californian to
embrace the cause of the United States/ under
its flag. Don Castro was the Governor, and
retreated before the Bear party captured Sono-
ma. It was Capt. Grigsby, with only a guard
of five or six men, who took the prisoners from
Sonoma to Sutter's Fort ; a distance of about
100 miles.7'

Mr. BOGGS adds : " Gen. Vallejo's family was
not molested at all, but were assured by the
Bear party that he and his friends should only
be held as hostages for the future good behav-
iour of the Californians ; who had, without
the sanction of their superiors, caught and bar-
barously murdered two young Americans, near
the Santa Eosa Rancho, sometime previous to
the capture of Sonoma by the Bear party/'
These young men, (Mr. B. says), " were las-

64 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

soed, dragged alive, their tongues cut out, and
other portions of their bodies mutillated while
fastened to trees. The Americans, (not the
Bear party), to their shame be it recorded, by
way of retalliation for this shocking barba-
rism, killed three peaceable Californians at San
Raphael, who had not taken up arms against
them, neither had they taken any part in the
massacre of the two young Americans. This
was done, in would seem, under the eye of Col.
Fremont, who was then at the Mission of San
Raphael, not far from Putaluma. The cele-
brated Kit Carson, Fremont's guide, killed the
first one. He discovered and reported them to
Fremont, his superior officer, as prisoners his
squad had taken, and asked him what he should
do with them ? F/s reply to Carson was, that
he c had no use for prisoners ; but do your du-
ty/ Kit returned, and, in company with one
or two others of Fremont's command, killed an
old Mexican and his two sons. " This circum-
stance (says Mr. B.), was related to me by Car-
son himself, in my house at Sonoma, where he
visited me. I knew Kit Carson in the Rocky
Mountains, and he and my Brother were inti-
mate friends at Beut's Fort, on the Arkansas
River, where thev were traders with the vari-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 65

ous tribes of Indians on the Plains ; their traf-
fic being in buffalo robes and other peltries.

" Carson was a bold and daring man, when
an emergency required, and gentle as a lamb,
when engaged in peaceful pursuits. I told him
I did not approve of that act of retaliation ; —
that he should have pursued the guilty ones,
who had escaped across the Bay, as no punish-
ment within the rules of war would have been
too severe for them. But Kit Carson had been
trained to Indian warfare, and its customs were
deeply impressed on his mind at an early age.

" These were the type of men who were en-
gaged in making the first move towards acquir-
ing a Territory for the Union, that has since
added hundreds of millions to its wealth : and
now that a few of them are left, broken in con-
stitution and health, ask a pittance from the
best government the world ever saw, in the
way of a pension — I mean, a pension to the
few destitute survivors of the orphans and wid-
ows of those engaged in the Mexican war — it
seems a fitting time to inquire whether or no
the old adage, 4 Republics are ungrateful', will
not apply to ' Uncle Samuel'. "

Mr. B. elsewhere says : " Capt. Men-it re-
mained at Sonoma with the remainder of the

66 * A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Bear party, until they were disbanded. Fre-
mont afterwards placed Capt. Grigsby in com-
mand at Sonoma. Merrit was lost sight of.
He was merely an e old Hunter'; very brave
and resolute, but somewhat rude." — [We now
resume the " brother's" narrative :

" At the time of the assault on the Fort, I
think my brother told me that he had the com-
mand of their party. The case was this : not
long after the first organization of it, or while
on their way to Sonoma, it was noticed that
their Captain, from some cause, had lost the
full confidence of his men, and they elected my
brother to take his place. But whether it was
before, or after, the surrender of the Fort, I do
not distinctly remember.

" After getting somewhat quietly established
in the Fort — putting its cannon and small arms
(of which they found a pretty good supply) in
order for service, in case of annoyance from the
enemy, they began to consider what steps it
was next best to take for self-preservation. As
then situated, brother said they would be con-
sidered and treated as rebels and outlaws, if
overpowered and taken prisoners by Don Cas-
tro and his men. It was finally concluded that
' While among the Romans, they must do as

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. '67

the Romans do' — that they must inaugurate
an Independent Government. The authorities
they were under arms to combat derived their
governmental status by the Mexican Pronunci-r
amento process ; and they decided to adopt the
same process for organizing a new civil govern-*
ment for the Californians. They accordingly
elected WILLIAM B. IDE their Governor, and
JOHN H. NASH, Chief Justice, or Alcalde, to
conform themselves to the Mexican laws and
usages for the time being.

^ It will be remembered, that up to the day
•of the uprising of the emigrants in self-defence,
they knew nothing of the war operations be-
tween the United States and Mexico. They
were, in Yankee pharse, ' fighting on their own
hook/ But my brother told me he had no
other object in view, in accepting the office of
Governor, than that of doing all in his power
to protect the emigrants, and establish their
Indpeudence of Mexico,

" The account my brother William gave me
of their < war-like' proceedings, after getting
up their National Flag, and issuing his c Pro^-
nunciamento' proclamation, and while they so
bravely ' held the Fort/ has much of it escaped
my memory, except two or three prominent in-

68 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

cidents, which I will endeavor to relate substan-
tially as he gave them to me.

" I have never seen a copy of this proclama-
tion ; but I understood brother to say that it
briefly recited the grounds for their revolution-
ary movement — among them the threatening
missal from Don Castro, and the right of self-
preservation; — the fact that they had been in-
vited by the home Mexican authorities to come
and take up land and settle among them : and
closing with the promise of protection to all
law-abiding citizens of California, who would
remain peaceably at home.

" My brother recited to me some of his mili-
tary operations — new, and somewhat exciting
to himself and the greater part of his men who
had never before seen actual service, 'in the
camp or upon the tented field' : one or two of
which I will relate.

" He had not been long in command, before
word came to him through one of his scouts,
that the enemy under Don Castro was encamp-
ed at a small settlement, distant about twenty
miles from Sonoma. He selected a squad of
twenty of his 'sharpest shooters', had them
mounted on his fleetest horses, and supplied
with the best rifles and guns in the Fort, put

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 69

them in charge of p trusty officer, with orders
to proceed leisurely to the enemy's camp ; and
when within easy gun-shot distance of it, to
dismount, give an Indian war-whoop to attract
the enemy's attention; and, as they made their
appearance, each one of the party, in turn, to
take deliberate aim, fire a single charge, re-
mount his horse, and return with all speed to
the Fort. The order having been faithfully
executed by the squad, brother said he after-
wards ascertained that a number of the Don's
men were made to ' bite the dust/

" Not long after this rather unique military
exploit of the Bear Party, one of their men
picked up, on the street, a letter addressed to
one of the citizens of Sonoma, notifying him
that Don Castro's party was preparing to make
a raid upon the Fort very soon. This notice
coming to the Governor in an apparently au-
thentic shape, he set about making preparation
to give the Spaniards a warm reception. Fre-
mont, with a small company of his survey-
ing party and a few other emigrants, was at
that time located at Sutter's Fort, and broth-
er was not expecting assistance from him.

" In the mean time every thing in the Fort
was put in order. The cannon and small arms

70 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

were loaded with cannister, balls, or buck-shot,
as it was thought would render them, respect^
ively, of most service. Scouts were sent in
different directions to bring back to the Fort
early notice of the approach towards it of any
hostile force ; and, with these and other pre-
cautionary measures, the officers and men of
the Bear Flag party patiently awaited on their
arms a short time, to see what would next turn
up. Precisely how long they waited, I dont
recollect that my brother told me : but he said
that quite late one evening, one of his scouts
came hurridly up to the Fort on horseback, and
announced the enemy's approach within a short
distance ; it might be half a mile or more :
when the cannon were drawn out and put in
position in front of the Fort, matches lighted ;
the men inside of it formed in ' battle array',
with loaded arms in band, and all things ready
for action,

" Thus prepared, (brother told me), he gave
orders to his men not to fire until, by a given
signal, he ordered them to fire ; he then went
some ten, or twenty rods towards the coming
foe, ajjd he soon heard a voice from among them,
call out — r{ See ! their torches (ire lighted !
Ve going to fire upoy, us ! !' He

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE, 71

the voice— it was KIT CARSON's, and inst*
antly threw up his arms as the signal for them
not to fire; saying to his men, at the top of his
voice : ' Dont fire ! It is Fremont !' Thus,
(said my brother) Kit Karson, who I knew was
with Fremont, probably saved us from a pretty
bad disaster : which, had it happened, would
have resulted from Fremont's failure to give us
seasonable notice of his coming. His excuse
for not doing so was, that he sent a man ahead
who, being a foreigner, did not understand his
order. And, as showing that Fremont took in
readily the perilous situation of his squad, he
hastily ' switched himself off on a side track',
out of harm's way, even if we had fired upon
his party."

72 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTEE VII.

FORMAL, IP NOT LEGAL TRANSFER AND CHANGE OF GOVERN-
MENT— MR. IDE'S TOUR UNDER FREMONT, DOWN THE PA-
CIFIC COAST. — HIS CONTRACT FOR A PASSAGE HOME.

WE omit his brother's statement of the rea-
sons why, and the manner how, the ' Bear Flag'
was inaugurated — Mr. BOGGS having furnished
us with that item : (see ante pages 56-7), and
continue his account of what he remembers in
relation to Mr. IDE'S further movements.

" Soon after the commencement of hostili-
ties between the United States and Mexico,
and the arrival of Commodore Stockton around
on the Pacific coast, in pursuance of orders
from his Government to receive the transfer
of the Californias, by the then nominal Govern-
or, to the United States, my brother told me
that ceremony was formally, if not legally per-
formed on board the Commodore's ship, in the
presence of its officers and men, and a number
of the respectable citizens of the place near
whieh his ship lay at anchor.

" Soon after this ceremony was over, there

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 73

was a collation on board the ship prepared in
honor of the occasion : and brother said ' it
was the happiest day of his life to be relieved
from the responsible position of Governor, and
at the same time to feel assured that the day
was not far distant, when California would be-
come one of the States of the Union/ And,
although he died at just about the meridian of
man's life, fitting him for usefulness in the peo-
ple's service, he lived to see that ' day/

" This transfer having been made, Commo-
dore Stockton, having been authorized by the
U. S. government to do so, gave Col. Fremont
command of a small force, to drive the hostile
Mexicans from the territory. Although this
turn of affairs relieved brother from much care
and anxiety, it did net satisfy him that there
was no further need of his services in the case.
It devolved on Fremont to drive Castro and
his adherents out of the territory, and to or-
ganize a ' small force' for that purpose. To do
this the Bear Flag Company, which had seen
1 some service/ would be an important acquisi-
tion. Aware of this, he tried to enlist them in-
to his service ; but a large number declined, un-
less their late Commander would go with them.
Though his private affairs, and the care of his

74 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

family urgently required his presence at home,
still, in view of these appeals from his brave
comrades who had also left their homes to serve
their country and for the protection of their
own firesides, he thought it his duty to contin-
ue still in its service ; as, by so doing, he would
secure to Col. Fremont his needed assistance
in driving Gen. Castro and his horde down the
Pacific coast : in view of this state of the case
he thought it his duty to go with them.

" And here I may be permitted to inquire,
— as I did of brother, when he related his expe-
rience under Fremont during the 3 or 4 months
novel campaign — if he was not a little im-
provident (as the sequel will show), in not hav-
ing an explicit understanding with his com-
mander, as to his position in the company of
men he had been of so essential service in pro-
curing for the expedition, who had for a brief
period been under him as their commander.
He said that, during their entire tramp of sev-
eral months, down the westwardly coast of
Lower California, he occupied the post, and
was subjected to all the hardships of a common
soldier — at times being on foo t for miles, while
nearly all his comrades were mounted, and while
an officer rode a horse of his, which accompani-

TH£ LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 75

ed him from Illinois. Ris reason for submitting
to this indignity was, that he consented to the
sacrifice of personal interest and comfort, in
consenting to go with his men, to assist his
commander in driving the enemy out of the
country, by the best way and means he could ;
and if his superiors thought he would be most
useful to them as a private, it was his duty to
serve in that capacity : although he did expect
when he enlisted, to occupy a different position
in the service. This is the sum and substance
of my brother's reply to my inquiry.

" But I have not yet come to the finale of
the peculiar experience of my brother during
this long and tedious excursion. The most
novel and interesting part of what I have to
add in relation to it, I obtained though a dis-
interested party, (so far as blood-relationship is
concerned.) He merely told me that when he
was ' mustered out', he found himself without
money, some four or five hundred miles down
the coast away from home, and that he took
passage aboard a ship that carried him within
about 75 miles of it ; where he arrived, after
an absence of more than six months. When
discharged from this U. S. service, he was not
only ' without money', but also without decent

76 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

clothing, and without credit, c into the bargain/
He applied to the Captain of a vessel (I think
my informant told me it was that on which
Commodore Stockton was aboard of) for a pas-
sage up to San Francisco ; saying he had no
money with him to pay his passage ; but that
he had a plenty at home. The Captain eyed
his would-be-customer's ragged and uncouth
garb with a rather suspicious look, and said it
was his custom to recieve his passage-money in
advance. Mr. IDE then proposed to ( work his
passage/ ' Can you saw wood ?' the Captain
asked. 'Yes, Captain, I have sawed lots of
it in my day'. ' Well, step aboard, and the
Steward will set you to work', said the Captain.
So he then took leave of a few of his f Bear
Flag' associates, and went aboard the vessel,
not much encumbered with baggago, but cheer-
ed with the prospect of soon embracing the dear
ones he had so abruptly left in his hastily and
rudely constructed log-cabin, soon after his six
or seven months' journey across the Plains and
over the Mountains : cheered, also, with tbe
conscious rectitude of his intention to serve his
fellow-citizens by the best way and means in
his power, and nowise disheartened in view of
the prospect before him, of a few more days'

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 77

endurance of toil and privation. He eared lit-
tle for the honors and emoluments of office, or
the pomp and pride of high station ; for he be-
lieved, with the Poet; that

" Honor and Fame from no condition rise :
Act well your part — there all the honor lies."

"It is true that sawing wood aboard ship
was new business to him ; and it was also true,
as he told the Captain, that he had* sawed lots
of it in his day', while engaged in the employ-
ment to which he had been bred in early life.
But before the ship had got under way, Com-
modore Stockton, (then around on that coast
with the U. S. ship Princeton, who had called
to pay his respects to the Captain), while walk-
ing arm-in-arm with him on deck, saw my
brother at his new vocation, and said :

" Captain, do you know who that old man
there, (pointing to Mr. IDE), sawing wood for
you, is ?" " No ; I did n't ask his name/' re-
plied the Captain. " Well, that is Governor
IDE, of the Bear Flag party." " Can that be
so ? do you know him ?" asked the Captain.
" Yes, I know him/' was the reply. Where-
upon the Captain called his steward and said
to him : " Here, Steward, go tell that man

78 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

sawing wood, yonder, that the Captain wants
to see him at his office."

" The above incident and coloquy came to
my knowledge through a different channel, as
I have before remarked. It was told to a friend
of mine by the said Captain, to whom the Com-
modore introduced Mr. IDE : c and on his said
introduction, he (Mr. I.), was made welcome,
not only to his passage, but to as good fare
and accommodations as the ship afforded/

"At that time this Captain was on his way
to San Francisco, in the merchant service. In
1855 he had retired from a sea-faring life with
c a competency/ (as sea-faring captains some-
times do), and settled in a town near Boston,
where my said friend had an interview with
him in '55, during which the Captain related
the above incidents, — adding: that ' during
the passage he had frequent interviews with
Wm. B. IDE, and had formed a very favorable
opinion of him/ And my informant added,
that this Captain, about that time, furnished
an article for the ' Boston Journal/ in which
he gave a short account of the Bear Flag en-
terprise, and dwelt particularly on what he
considered the important service Mr. IDE had
rendered his country, in the part he took in

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 79

( the conquest of California' at so trifling ex-
pense to it of blood and treasure,

^ My brother was a plain, unpretending,
matter-of-fact kind of man-— not much given
to outside show and parade. This peculiarity
of habit and turn of mind sometimes subjected
him to neglect — or what, in * high life', might
be regarded and resented as insult; but, con-»
scious of honesty and integrity of purpose in
whatever he undertook, such sligffts did not
annoy him ; they passed by him unheeded, as
6 the idle wind, which availeth naught/ This
trait of character was strikingly illustrated by
hie forbearance of resentment towards Col Frer
mont. In the course of his conversations with
me, in alluding to his official and subsequent
intercourse with him, the hardest words he ever
used in relation to his (F's) treatment of him
were, that he thought he c had not treated him
right;' but never, in my hearing, made use of
words that indicated feelings of resentment or
ill-will towards him, on account of what he
considered his unfair treatment.

We have now concluded the brother of Mr.
account furnished us at the commence-,
of this undertaking p,n our part : and,
here add some further reminjsencesi of his

80 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

daughter, which have come to hand since her
previous articles were in type.

During Mr. IDE'S long absence from his fam-
ily, while in the U. S. service in 1846; many
trying and exciting scenes and privations were
witnessed and endured by Mrs. Ide and her
children. Mrs. Healy gives us slight sketches
of some of them. It will be remembered that
soon after their arrival from " across the Plains
and over the Mountains/' and before engaging
in the Bear Flag enterprise, Mr. IDE built a
log- cabin, and Mrs. Healy says :

" While there, in our little sunny home sur-
rounded by Indians, we were accosted by an
Oregon Indian Chief, who inquired of us by an
interpreter, if we belonged to Capt. Sutter ?
and I replied : ' No ; we belong to our Fa-
ther/ He then asked how many men Sutter
had — how many horses ? how many cattle ?,
etc., and I then answered all his questions as
well as I could. Then the Interpreter took
down, carefully sighted and minutely examined
each of the four or five guns and carbines which
hung upon wooden pegs driven into the logs
composing the ceiling of our f drawing-room'.
While they were doing this, the suspense and
anxiety of my Mother and myself may be im-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 81

agined, but cannot be described ; but we re-
mained silent and listless, till the examina-
tion was over ; " when, after a little conversa-
tion in their own language, between the Chief
and his men, they all mounted their ponies, and
started off into the woods, singing as they went.
Their tune rang in my ears, 0 how long ! They
were soon out of sight ; for they rode in a gal-
lop, raising a cloud of dust. But we were not
greatly relieved of our fears. My oldest broth-
ers, James and William, were away. I mount-
ed my horse to go for James, who was at where
Tehama is now, distant about seven miles from
our cabin. The sun had set, and in the twi-
light I looked back to see Mother — I thought
perhaps for the last time — as she ran out and
motioned to me to return. I did so, and found
it was unnecessary for me to take that long
ride in the night, all alone ; for, said Mother,
'Mr. Meadows is on the opposite side of the
river, and perhaps Tie will go/ So my young
brothers, Daniel and Lemuel, crossed the river
in their canoe, and came back with Mr. Mead-
ows, who told us that these Indians would not
hurt us — that a lady who lived near him had
recently come from Oregon, where these Indians
lived ; that she understood Jorgon, a dialect

82 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

spoken by them and the Hudson Bay Compa-
ny. She said they came from Oregon to get
satisfaction from Capt. Sutter for the death of
the Chiefs son, who was shot the year previous
while trading at Sutter's Fort. The Chief was
determined to have one of Slitter's men to
shoot : and, in case he would not give up a
man, he must have 100 horses, or 200 or 300
cattle. This Chief of the Walla Walla tribe
came prepared to enforce his claim.

" Mr. Meadows staid all night at ' our house,*
and in the morning went down the river about
7 miles, and from there a messenger was sent
post-haste to Sutter's Fort, to warn them of
the coming of an unfriendly visitor." Wheth^
er the irrate son of the forest got his man, or
his horses, or his cattle, by way of " satisfac-
tion" for the death of his son, Mrs. H. does not
inform us ;* but continues : " This was in the

*Mr. BoGGS, on returning the proof- slip of this article,
says : " I can corroborate the story of Mrs. HEALY about
the Indians. "When I arrived at Sutter's Fort, in 1846, there
was a small band of the "Walla Walla Indians there, who
came over from Oregon to demand satisfaction of the whites
for killing one of their tribe, Toy an American named Grove
Cook. I knew Cook — an old mountaineer, and brother in-
law of the celebrated Bill Sublette, from St. Louis, Mo., of
Trapper fame out "West. Cook lost two horses, while en-
camped near this band of Indians. They were bold and in-
solent—were well mounted and armed — were good horse-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 83

summer of 1846, while my Father and brother
William were in the war : but William was
not with, and had not seen his Father since
November, 1845. Being just about that time
of age, he went to work for Capt. Sutter awhile,
and from there to the Santa Cruz Mountain to
make Redwood-shingles — was there when Gen.
Castro tried to take him prisoner. To escape

meii and expert hunters. I met one of the band on the
West side of the Sacramento River, after I had crossed over
with my wagons and family. I had gone ahead, as usual, to
look out for good camping; and, near sun-sent. I espied a
large badger lying in the road. Having a good rifle, I dis-
mounted and put a ball through the neck of the animal —
killing it. Just as I was turning it over to examine the cu-
rious looking creature, a Walla Walla Indian warrior rode up
and asked me to give him the badger. I did so; and he
expressed real satisfaction, and galloped away on the plain,
with his badger strapped behind his saddle. These animals,
I afterwards learned, were hard to find, and the Indians priz-
ed them for their beautiful striped sknis, and for their oil.

" I learned that Capt. Sutter protected Grove Cook from
these Indians, and compromised with them in goods or oth-
er valuables. They soon returned to Oregon satisfied, and
Cook was allowed to go free. He settled near San Jose, Cal.,
and at one time was interested in the Grant of land on which
the celebrated New Alnoden Quick Silver mines are located.

" I knew Subietto & Cook, when a boy, at Independence,
Mo. — when that place was the frontier town of * the West'.
He was of the firm of 'Sublette & Campbell', American Fur
Traders on the Upper Missouri. Sublette accumpanied Sir
William Stuart, an English nobleman, as guide to the Rocky
Mountains, in 1842 or 3."

84 A' BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

being so taken, he had to leave his work, and
secrete himself in the woods, alone, living on
raw venison ; as he dared not make a fire, lest
the smoke should show the place of his con-
cealment. Thus he lived about a week, when
his partner in the shingle business (who was a
foreigner) came to him, and advised him to go
and surrender to Castro ; saying, it would be
safer for him to do so than to be taken — as he
might, otherwise, be shot by Castro's men, who
were hunting for him. So, William went and
gave himself up a prisoner of war. Castro
gave him a comfortable room, and set a guard
over him : telling him he should be treated like
a gentleman. He asked him by an interpreter
many questions about his Father — how many
sons he had ; where he was, &c., &c. In a few
days he told William he was at liberty to go ;
but advised him to stay under his body-guard,
lest he should be shot by his (C's) men. He
did so, for some time, and until Castro and his
men all mounted their horses in great haste,
and suddenly left Santa Clara i for good/

" Brother William being thus set at liberty,
went out with a company to fight the Indians
in the San Joaquin Valley. I cannot tell how
long he served. He then knew no more about

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 85

his Father's movements than did Don Castro,
nor so much.

" Now, during this time, Mother and I had
heard that William had been a prisoner — had
been released ; and, while walking away, had
been lassoed by a Spaniard, and dragged to
death : and that Father was a prisoner, and
likely to share the same fate. Mr. Meadows
told us this sad news, and we mourned, night
and day, many long weeks over it, before it
turned out to be a false report — as we had no
means of ascertaining the truth.

" When Father came home from the War,
late in November, 1846, William came with
him. He had earned two good horses, and
Father rode home on one of them ; leaving his
own faithful horse, which he brought with him
from Illinois, in a pasture to recruit : a U. S.
officer had rode him, and, for want of proper
care, had made his back so sore, that Father
could not bear to put a saddle on him. Through
this means he lost this valuable animal : for,
while thus necessarily recruiting in the pasture
he was stolen, and never recovered. On loan-
ing the use of this horse to ' Uncle Samuel',
the ' U. S/ brand was put on the top of Fath-
er's c W. 1: '', and afterwards the horse was claim-

86 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ed as U. S/s property ; but Father proved it
to be his.

"My brother James/' Mrs. Healy contin-
ues, " was away several months, saving the
wheat Father had sown at Tehama. The un-
settled state of the country made him think it
necessary to cache* a portion of the wheat, so
that he might have some to sow another year.
So he alone at night, after all the Indians were
asleep, dug a deep hole in the ground, which
he covered with straw during the day-time ;
and, in the night-time he put 12 or 15 bushels
of wheat into this hole, covered it with earth
enough to be safe, in case the stack of straw
he put over it should be burned by the Indians.
No one but James knew the place of this de-
posit. I mention this to show you to what
shifts the early settlers here were driven, for
want of the necessary places to store their pro-
duce, and almost every thing else, and also, how
hard my brother worked, day and night— how
thoughtful he was o£ our necessities and com-

* " A Rocky Mountain Hunters phrase, meaning to con-
ceal or hide, in pits or caves, goods or valuables — such as
the hunter or traveler cannot carry with him. Such is a
cache, in hunter's parlance, on the Plains and in the Moun-
tains,"— as a friend informs the Editor.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 87

fort. He was a faithful and dear good brother/'
Mrs. H. here gives another item about the
Indians, in addition to what she said on pages
80 and 81. " A week or so after the Walla
Walla company left our place, a company of
Nesperces came one day to visit us — two chiefs
with their wives, who were Delaware Indian
squaws. Mother gave them a dinner. It was
quite amusing to the children to see them eat.
I presume it was the first table that they ever
sat down to ; and their c manners' were rather
odd — one of the chiefs fanning his squaws with
a large eagle's wing, frequenly, during their re-
past. They were dressed in buckskins cloth,
profusely ornamented with beads and porcu-
pine quills — also with buckskin strings inserted
in each seam of their garments."

88 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTER VIII.

CALIFORNIA, — BEFORE ITS VIRTUAL CONQUEST BY THE " BEAR
PARTY," IN JUNE, 1846. — EDITORIAL REMARKS, INTRO-
DUCTORY TO WILLIAM B. IDE's HISTORY OF THAT PARTY.

NATIONS, like individuals, in the course of
their history, pass through certain great crises
or epochs, which have an important bearing on
their future character. These epochs are not
regular, but intermittent ; and are often the
result of; what looks like accident ; though
doubtless, as in the phenomena of vegetation,
they have their hidden laws of growth and de-
velopment. Hence, on perusing the history
of a people you will find periods of expansion
which have their origin, to some extent, in the
restless, impulsive life of society, and the thirst
for acquisition.

An epoch of this character largely affecting
the industries, the wealth and the commerce
of the American people, occurred in the year
1848, on the discovery of gold in California,
Previous to that time emigration to the Far
West had been going on, but confined to com-
paratively small limits ; not assuming a gen-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 89

eral character stimulating large bodies of men.
But the marvellous stories spread abroad by
the accidental dicovery of gold on the Ameri-
can Fork, as it was 'called, of the Sacramento
Kiver, caused the wildest excitement through-
out the country. People everywhere, of all
classes and conditions of society — artizans, ag-
riculturalists, mechanics, merchants, doctors,
lawyers, and even ministers of religion, — were
suddenly arroused by dreams of untold wealth.
Vessels, crowded with enthusiastic adventur-
ers, sailed from every port in the United States
for the newly discovered Eldorado ; and hun-
dreds who registered their names for the voyage
full of hopeful and cheerful anticipations of
the future, went forth only to encounter hard-
ship, disappointment, disease and death.

The course of history takes us back to the
local conflicts of the two or three years preced-
ing this period of excitement, which was no
doubt hastened in its development by the oc-
currence of events which form the topic of dis-
cussion in this and in several of our succeeding
chapters. And, for the better understanding
of what is to follow, it may be well for us to
take a hasty glance at the civil and political
condition of California, at the time when these

90 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

events occurred. It is well known, that from
its first settlement by Spanish adventurers from
Mexico, no well-ordered system of national or
provincial government had been established.
Aristocratic " Dons," originally from Spain,
formed a self-constructed oligarchy, by which
the few emigrant and native laboring popula-
tion were oppressed. This lordly race owned,
or laid claim to, almost the entire domain of
arable land — parcelled out as it was to them
in 3-miles-square sections, known among the
inhabitants, then and now, as ranches. The
laboring people there were in a condition but
little better than that of the serfs of Russia,
or the slaves of Virginia, in by-gone times.
Common schools and the higher institutions of
learning, and houses of public worship (unless
there were here and there found at a Romanist
"Mission",) were unknown to them.

One of the peculiar grievances to which the
emigrants from the States were subjected, was
the inhuman and arbitrary exaction by their
"Alcalde*," or sole civil magistrates, of a cap*
ita tax from said emigrants, on taking up their
residence among them : and a correspondent
of high standing in California, who took a con-
spicuous part in the troubles of '45, writes the

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 91

Editor, that Gen. Castro's threatened raid up-
on them was to compel the payment of this tax.

Hence it will be seen that a state of anarchy
and misrule confronted them at every step, and
that they could do no less than rise as they
did, for self-preservation, and attempt a " Rev-
olution," by which they could " establish law
and order where none had existed before/'

In the historical course of events, it is now
in order to invitte the reader's attention to " the
large manuscript volume" seen and partially
examined by Mr. BOGGS — -referred to on page
57. This was probably written during the win-
ter of '46-7 ; as, during the " gold excitement"
of '47-8, Mr. IDE'S time was too much occu-
pied at " the diggings" to admit of his atten-
tion to such matters. When it was written is
immaterial. After it had lain over 30 years in
obscurity — until nearly all the preceding pages
of this work were in type— and after the re-
cent decease of his eldest son, James M. Ide,
it was found among his (J. M.'s) effects, in a
good state of preservation, and a correct copy
of it has been placed in the hand of the Edit-
or, and nearly all of it will be found in the suc-
ceeding pages.

We have a reasonable guaranty, in the repu-

92 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

tation of its writer for honest integrity in all
his dealings, of its truthfulness of statement :
and it is confidently believed that those of his
personal acquaintance who are still alive, and
who may be favored with its perusal, will do
his memory the justice to disabuse it of any
sinister or unworthy motive, in taking the part
he and his compeers deemed it necessary to
take in their " Kevolutionary" movements of
'46. We entertain the opinion, furthermore,
that when the general reader, unbiased by
class, sect, or pre-national prejudice or attach-
ment, shall have thoroughly perused this docu-
ment, and will take into consideration the sit-
uation of the country — the state of anarchy
then existing — he will cheerfully admit, that
however unmilitary, in the eye of gentlemen
skilled in warlike movements, their modus op-
erandi for the accomplishment of the object
in view — he will admit, I repeat, that they did
accomplish it. And we beg leave to make a
further suggestion — viz : that it might have
been a problem of difficult solution, for the
wisest adept in military science, or even in
"path-finding", to inaugurate a different line
of proceeding, by which that heterogeneous
population of Spanish, Mexican, Indian and

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 93

Yankee origin could, in less than one month's
time, by the well-directed labors of a handful
of men under the direction of an experienced
military leader, even, liave been brought from
a state of bitter antagonism, into that of peace-
ful subjection to the United States' authority
— and that, too, at so trifling a " sacrifice of
blood and treasure/'

Suppose, for instance, there had been no or-
ganized resistance to Castro — that, as would
naturally in that case have been the result,
had not Mr. IDE, or some one else, promptly
moved " among the emigrants," and got up
the celebrated, justly " celebrated, BEAR FLAG
PARTY" organization, setting at defiance the
exterminating Proclamation of Gen. Jose Cas-
tro ; and that there had been a cowardly shrink-
ing from self-defence — a "fleeing to the moun-
tains for safety" by some, and a sort of goril-
la, hand-to-hand warfare between pioneers and
Castro's scouts by others, until they knew of
the war between Mexico and the United States;
what would then have been the condition of
the contending parties ?

That such a state of warfare between the
natives and emigrants then existed, we respect-
fully refer the reader to ante- pages 65 and

94 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

for ample proof — where Mr. BOGGS tells us of
the barbarous murder of two young Americans;
and that Americans, (not of the Bear Flag par-
ty), by way of retaliation, killed three peace-
ful Californians, " who had not taken up arms
against them, neither had they taken part in
the massacre of the two young Americans/'
And what is added seems unaccountable : this
act of " retaliation" was performed by Kit
Carson, with Capt. Fremont's approval.

Had Gen. Castro remained a month or two
longer than he did, in the undisturbed possess-
ion of his fort, arms and military supplies, is
it to be doubted that he would not have used
them somewhat successfully in his threatened
exterminating process ? and thus have arous-
ed the retaliatory energies of the U. S. govern-
ment ; so that, when the actual state of war
between it and Mexico arrived, much " blood
and treasure" would have been expended on
both sides in California, before the return of
peace. Had there been the Bear Flag move-
ment, or an organized opposition to Castro, and
no formal state of war between the U. S. and
Mexico, is there any reason to doubt the event-
ual erection of an Independent Eepublic on the
Pacific Coast ? That war existed between

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 95

the two nations was not known in California,
until, by comparatively peaceful measures, this
province had been prepared, without the " loss
of blood or treasure", to become an "jlndepend-
ent Nation". The " Bear Flag Proclama-
tion", (every word of which, Mr. IDE remarks
in his Letter to SENATOR WAMBOUGH, was
penned by him on the 15th of June, 1846, be-
tween the hours of 1 and 4, A. M.) was the
entering wedge, so to speak, that separated a
down-trodden people from allegiance to an op-
pressive oligarchy under which they had groan-
ed from time immemorial. It annunciated
principles of government new and attractive.
It contained no vindictive or coercive threat :
but, on the contrary, was persuasive and concil-
iatory. It approached the people as breth-
ren, rather than as enemies. It was sought for,
circulated among and read by them so earnest-
ly, that copies of it could not be written fast
enough to supply the demand. Its circulation
in Castro's camp, it is stated, had the effect to
withdraw from it one half (300) of his follow-
ers, and convert and transform them into peac-
able ctizens, under the new order of things.

After due consideration of these and other
circumstances connected with " the conquest of

96 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

California", it is submitted to an honest, dis-
passionate and appreciative posterity to pass
upon the validity of William B. Ide's claim to
the merit of upright intention, at least, in do-
ing what he did do, towards the " Conquest of
California", and the " wisdom or unwisdom"
of the measures he adopted to accomplish that
object. If he had been an aspirant for fame and
high place in governmental affairs, would he
have quietly yielded to the adroit manoeuvre-
ing and contriving of his " successor, in that
General Assembly" he refers to, at the close of
his narrative ? — by which a " change of Ad-
ministration" was effected, and "We, who are
out of office, may have a chance to get in."

It is deeply regreted that his narrative of
those proceedings ends so abruptly. Mrs. Hea-
ly thinks her Father gathered the main facts
and dates it treats of from a memorandum he
kept of events as they occurred, which he car-
ried in his pocket. This memorandum-book,
(she says), her brother JAMES was robbed of,
— together with a sum of money — on his way
to Utah, several years before his decease, and
does not doubt that it contained an account of
his experience in Fremont's expedition " down
the coast", in July, August, September, Octo-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 97

her and November, 1846 : allusion to which by *
one of his brothers will have been noticed in
our preceding pages. And this suggests the
idea, that inasmuch as that that " brother's"
statement of what Mr. Ide told him about the
occurrences under the " Bear Flag Govern-
ment", during its brief existence, does not es-
"sentially differ from the version of the same
transactions in his SENATOR WAMBOUGH LET-
TER, we may conclude that said brother's ac-
count of said " expedition" is substantially cor-
rect. Therefore we may give credence, also,
to his statement that Commodore STOCKTON,
as an authorized officer of his government,
formally received the transfer of the Califor-
nias to the United States, aboard his ship, by
the only governmental authority he then found
there ; and, in recognition of Mr. Ide's author-
ity as Governor and Commander-in-chief, the
Commodore gave him the compliment of a re-
ception, collation, etc., as before stated. And
we cite this circumstance as evidence that his
services in the cause of order and good govern-
ment were duly appreciated by that noble of-
ficer.

The Compiler of this memorial sketch of an
unpretending citizen and early pioneer of Gal-

98 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ifornia has deemed it due his memory, that
his " Letter to Senator Wambough," giving a
minute account of the " Bear Flag enterprise/'
should be placed before the American people,
that they may be able to decide the question,
whether he, or Capt. Fremont, originated and
conducted this ' enterprise' to its successful is-
sue. We believe the generally received opin-
ion is, that the credit of it is due to Fremont.
This theory we recollect to have heard very
unreservedly advanced by a distinguished pub-
lic speaker, the Hon. JAMES WILSON, an ex-
member of Congress from New Hampshire.
He had just returned to resume his residence in
his native town, (Keene, N. H.), after an ab-
sence of four or five years during the war of
the great rebellion, in California, where he no
doubt imbibed his views on this question. He
gave, in several towns in N. H., very interest-
ing lectures on California — geographical, min-
eralogical and historical — soon after his return;
and, while on the latter named branch of his
subject, he stated distinctly before a large audi-
ence among whom this writer was an interested
listener, that John C. Fremont was the origin-
ator and leader of the " Bear Flag Party", and
conqueror of California.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM R. IDE. 99

After having attentively read the circum-
stantial statement of the moral, industrial and
political aspect of affairs, and the account of
that short-lived " embrio Republic", from the
pen of Mr. IDE — written, as it undoubtedly
was, within a year of its " rise and fall" — the
unprejudiced and candid reader will find little
ground on which to base said lecturer's theory,
except on the presumption that Mr. IDE inten-
tionally misrepresents the whole concern. And
we leave it to the dispassionate judgment of
posterity to settle the question, as to which of
the two most conspicuous " Heroes", the un-
pretending mechanic, or the renowned " Path-
finder", did the country the most valuable ser-
vice in the "Conquest of California" ?

100 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTER IX.

MR. IDE'S EXPLANATION OP THE SITUATION OP AFFAIRS IN
CALIFORNIA, ON HIS ARRIVAL THERE IN 1845.

TO THE HON. SENATOR WAMBOUGH :
DEAR SIR :

BEING ever willing to contribute to the pleas-
ure of those with whom I aui associated, I am
persuaded, although somewhat reluctantly, to
comply with your request, by furnishing a de-
tailed account of what is called the " Bear
Flag Enterprise" or Kevolution — embracing a
copy or rehearsal of what was then written, or
may still be among my papers ; and in such
manner as truly to represent any matter or cir^
cumstance that may have led to its origin, un-
exampled success, sudden overthrow, and

total eclipse.

It will be with much diffidence that I engage
in giving an account of the past ; which at
best can serve but little other good than to
awaken curiosity in the mind of some, with
scarce the hope of its gratification ; while in

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 101

the mind of others it will not fail to renew the
memory of those scenes, and sharpen regret,
that time has blunted and robbed of power to
sting : but if duty require, I will sacrifice the
happiness I choose and enjoy in hidden retire-
ment ; and, regardless of consequences, frank-
ly relate occurrences that may lead to a just
estimate of the motives and designs of those
concerned as actors ; being aware that if in
aught I am mistaken, the means of correction
are at hand.

Then permit me, Sir> to call in requisition
your general knowledge of the situation of the
two parties in their relation to each other, who
were immediately concerned in, and affected by
the " Independent Bear Flag Nation" — for in
fact it was nothing short of National Inde-
pendence to which it aspired — I say the two
parties, native Mexican citizens and natives of
other countries — including, more particularly,
recent American emigrants.

Being, on one side, excited to jealousy by
the then recent events in relation to Texas,
and a manifest disposition of certain American
gentlemen to re-enact the like scheme in Cal-
ifornia ; and by a determined resolution on the
part of the other side, to assert and maintain

102 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

the unalienable right of all men to the enjoy-
ment of life, liberty and personal security, and
to attain the right of honorable acqusition, use
and enjoyment of the comforts of life ;— there
were, apparently, two parties ; but, in truth
and in verity they were one people. They were
made enemies by their prejudices and jealous-
ies ; but it was as apparent as the face of day
that they could be bound in the bonds of mu-
tual friendship by their common interest and
common consent and fellowship.

Let us appeal to your own heart, dear Sir :
Is it not the interest of all men, everywhere,
to be protected by an honorable, just and lib-
eral government ?

And again : Do not all men desire for them-
selves exemption from oppression, and the lib-
erty of justly acquiring, enjoying, possessing,
appropriating and bestowing the honest avails
of their labor, according to their own pleasure ?
If so, then men are made enemies by oppres-
sion, injustice, jealousies or ignorance. But
those who love true Liberty, and abide by the
unchanging law of justice,' will subdue enemies
without protracted violence.

The above -granted, it will be more easy, (or
less painful), to proceed through the tame and

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 103

lifeless narrative of simple matters of fact neo
essary to the formation of an opinion in rela^
tion to a matter, now no longer of the smallest
moment, only as the everlasting, self-evident
principles of self-government were concerned,
whereby universal peace can only prevail j al-
though the rehearsal can awaken to recollection
arid measurable endurance, the cares and sleep-
less solicitude, the far distant hope that prom-
ises peace and glory to a Nation as extended
as the race of man, because built amid the
foundations of that liberty that delighteth it-
self in the Balance of Truth.

I would, Dear Sir, that another pen than
mine might gratify the curiosity, and subserve
the interest that has been awakened : but thus
to desire is but to shrink from the task your
favorable consideration has imposed upon me.

Then be pleased to bear in mind, that prior
to the year 1846 the peace, prosperity and qui-
et of the good citizens of California had been
deranged by eight successive Military Revolu-
tions, which had devastated almost entirely the
whole country, from San Piego to its northern
extremity.

It will be unnecessary to describe in partic-
ular this general ruin. It was everywhere ap^

104 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

parent — presenting itself sorrowfully, and forc-
ing its consideration upon the minds of all who
were capable of perceiving the extent of that
cruelty — of that depraved spirit of injustice,
tyranny and theft, which had tempted a portion
of its most enterprising citizens to abandon the
path of common honesty — -to listen to the sug-
gestions of the deceptive policy of foreign ar-
tifice, and to seek wealth and distinction by
seizing, diverting and changing the fatherly
care of government to an engine of rapacious
piracy.

Thus, on an occasion like the one I am call-
ed on to describe, it was easy to imagine that
all good, honest and intelligent citizens of Cal-
ifornia were tired of this state of continued vi-
olence, injustice and misrule.

But, dear Sir, before we bring ourselves to
the consideration of the events which gave
birth, unexpectedly, to the " Independent Bear
Flag Nation*', it will be well that we consider
the situation, origin and character of the few
that were destined to be crushed and annihilat-
ed by the fears and jealousies of an apparently
well appointed, overwhelming military despot-
ism. Then, Sir, let us remember that the

then recently arrived American emigrants were

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 105

no Cuban volunteers ! They were not enlisted
from the lounges of dissipation, nor drilled in
the school of political intrigue and dishonesty.
They came not to provoke the Mexican au-
thorities to "strike the first blow", in a loar
sought for the acquirement of that fair and
shining land to which they journeyed. They
came not equipped and provided with military
stores. In short, they came not as enemies ;
but AS FRIENDS' CAME THEY, with hearts burn-
ing with love of liberty — of that liberty that
is founded on the immutable principle of equal
justice ; that gives an equivalent for what it
receives.

They were not, like your modern gold-hunt-
ers and squatters, prepared for "fight m flight" ;
but bearing with them their wives, their child-
ren, their flocks and herds — their home, their
all at stake ; prompted by no groveling desire
to obtain something for nothing — to rob, to
plunder those they might find possessed of
wealth, happiness and peace.

They were collected and banded together,
not by any preconcerted scheme of any kind,
but by individual enterprise, — by long cherish-
ed love of that pure, unadulterated freedom,
known only to the just and the brave; to those

106 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

who, for the sake of peace, plant their foot and
build their habitation beyond the reach of po-
litical oppression, where nature smiles in holi-
est loveliness — where there is naught to entice
those vile miscreants who prey upon the rights
of others.

Then, kind Sir, please imagine the disap-
pointment of those brave men, who, having con-
quered the difficulties of the untrodden, path-
less Sierra Nevada ; after having maintained
their peace, unstained even by the blood of the
untaught savage ; and having with toil, priv-
ation and watchfulness, known only to those
who have endured similar privations — who,
having pierced the trackless wilderness, had ar-
rived within sight of the ever shining vales
they had thus sought ; when, by the interven-
tion of a self-constituted government, heated
to madness by jealousies excited by designing
emissaries, we were forbidden the usual hospi-
talities of the country, and " ordered to re-
turn"!

It is in vain to trouble you further to con-
sider the situation of the newly arrived emi-
grants, when you remember that 13,000,000 of
dollars had been offered and refused for the
possession of the Bay of San Francisco, and

? HE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 107

that the acquisition of the same had been un-
successfully sought by negotiation for more
than fourteen years*

But there was another class of citizens
concerned, who were principally of American
origin, and constituted about one-tenth of the
citizen population of California. They had,
in many instances, intermarried and become
associated with the native citizens, and enjoyed
their common advantages. Indeed, a portion
of them had become the merchants and finan-
ciers of the country ; and thus failed not, in
the genuine spirit of Yfiukeedom, to direct and
profit by those political impositions, change of
administration, and continued increase of tar-
iff duties, by which, during ten years of in-
creasing distress and ruin, the main body of the
people were made miserably poor.

But of this class the mass had fallen among
the oppressed ; and it appeared to be the pleas*
ure of the more successful, to set the whole
community at variance — to increase public ex-
penditure and t tariff duties, which constituted
their principal stock in trade. Whatever
scheme the merchants proposed became the rule
of action ; for it was claimed they "paid all
the people's taxes" !

108 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

You cannot fail to remember the preconcert-
ed seizure and ironing of every American, ex-
cept T. 0. Larkin and a very few others — the
plot to scuttle the vessel and throw them all,
while in irons, into the Bay of San Diego — the
failure of the plot by the humane interposi-
tion of the better disposed portion of the na-
tive citizens — -their subsequent five months' im-
prisonment at Mexico ; and, withal, that those
favored merchants, (at least their leader), im-
proved this favorable opportunity to collect
inflated demands against these prisoners. It
is quite impossible to trace, in written charac-
ters, the reflections that crowd the mind, in
view of their hypocritical and murderous acts.

While the aforementioned causes, and num-
erous others of like character, were producing
their legitimate fruits — fruits which were pro-
prolific of seeds of new dissensions — Captain
Fremont came among us ; who, after having
provoked the assumed authorities of the coun-
try, left us to experience the wrath and retali-
atory vengeance his acts had engendered.

Immediately after, (about the first day of '
April, 1846,) Gen. Jose Castro, naturally hu-
mane and generous, caused to be issued and
posted up at Sonoma and various other places —

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 109

the temporary residences of the newly arrived
emigrants — a proclamation, ordering u All for-
eigners, whose residence in the country was less
than one year, to leave the country, and their
property and beasts of burden, without taking
arms/' on pain of death.

It may well be supposed that this proclama-
tion . produced »no little consternation among
the recent emigrants. But the prudence and
sagacity of some of the resident (American)
citizens prevented much alarm, by proposing
to the authorities to call the said emigrants to-
gether, and to instruct them orally. This was
agreed to, and the citizen Americans were vis-
ited, and persuaded their new neighbors to
dress themselves decently in California fashion,
as far as possible, without loaned articles of
clothing, and to attend respectfully and sub-
missively the meeting. Thus cautiously was a
meeting and separation effected at Sonoma,
without producing a general rupture. But
notwithstanding every effort, a large party of
young men and two or three women, to escape
•the much expected scene of blood, left the
country for Oregon.

Next came Lieut. Grillespie, who failed not to
give cautionary advice in relation to a state of

110 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

preparedness, on the part of all of U. States
origin, but dissuaded from any kind of organ-
ization ; no, not even in the externals of an
"Agricultural Society"; " for such", he said,
" is the watchful jealousy of the Spaniards to-
wards the last emigration, that the slightest
attempt at organization in any shape, or by
any name, would be but the signal for the mas-
sacre of the whole of the last emigration/*
He made known that he should, as soon as
possible, recall Capt. Fremont ; and suggested
that his camp would be the means of tempo-
rary protection : or, if matters came to the
worst, to effect a retreat to the States.

THE LIFE OF WHLIAM B. IDE. Ill

CHA.PTEE X.

FIRST UPRISING OF THE EMIGRANTS. — CAPT. FREMONT'S PLAN
OF " NEUTRAL CONQUEST". — INTERVIEW WITH THE CAP-
TAIN AND COMMENTS THEREON.

ANOTHER month rolled on, and Capt. Fre-
mont came not ; for the snows were not yet
fully melted in the mountain gulches of the
Sierra Nevada. The Oregon company were
long gone. Forces were every day increasing
under Gen. Jose Castro at San Juan Baptista.
Six hundred armed men were known to be
foaming out vengeance against a few foreign-
ers. Everybody spoke of and felt the impend-
ing danger — admitted that organization and
resistance was desirable ; but all agreed that
it was impracticable. A want of confidence in
the ability of any man among us to conduct
such an enterprise was everywhere apparent
and fully expressed, and a — a " certain fearful
looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation,
that would devour the adversary", should we
fail of success, bound and paralized the ener-
gy of that portion of our friends who were so
miserable as to possess more wealth than they

112 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

•

could swallow at a meal. " What was to be
done ? Were they to risk their lives, and the
lives of their wives and children in the fath-
omless snows of the Sierra Nevada ?" Oh,
no, Sir, no. This was impossible : the snows
were melted. It was the 6th of June, and all
eyes were turned to watch the approach of

Fremont He came ! — the glorious era ! —

memorable day ! — when it was determined, as
we were informed nearly a year after by Col.
Benton's letter to Congress, to " Overthrow the
government, and conquer California at once /"
But pardon me, my dear Wambough, for thus
darting away to the consummation of such a
scheme, witKout describing the modus operan-
di whereby this was t<5 have been, before com-
ing to the subsequent plan of operation by
which it was accomplished.

I am requested to give such papers, among
my cast-off memoranda, as may be in point :
then read : "Notice is hereby given, that a
large body of armed Spaniards on horseback,
amounting to 250 men, have been seen on their
way to the Sacramento valley, destroying the
crops, burning the houses, and driving off the
cattle. Capt Freemont invites every freeman
in the valley to come to his camp at the Butts,

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE 113

immediately; and he hopes to stay the enemy,

and put a stop to his" (Here the sheet

was folded and worn in-two, and no more is
found). This document was not signed by
Capt. Fremont, nor by any person in his legal
company ; else it would have been legal evi-
dence of unwarrantable interference in the dif-
ficulties brewing in the country, which he uni-
formly and unequivocally declared he should
refrain from. This letter came to hand by an
Indian " agent", on the 8th of June, between
the hours of 10 and 11, A. M.

You may be assured there was no hour of
deliberation — not a moment; the horse bound-
ed back to the cabin ; the rifle, pistols and
ammunition were, by every inmate of the
house, produced at the door ; one brief sen-
tence gave the parting advice to the fond wife
and listening, excited and wondering children,
while the blanket was being lashed to the sad-
dle. Every house in the valley was visited ;
but not one was found willing to leave his
goods, not his wife, (for there were only two
within the valley) — and we hastened to the
camp of Capt. Fremont, where we arrived at
break of day on the 10th, and, by dint pf ap-
parent acquiescence, learned " THE PLAN OF

114 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CONQUEST"; which was quite simple and easy
of accomplishment — and here it is : First, se-
lect a dozen men who have nothing to lose, but
everything to gain. Second, encourage them to
commit depredations against Gen. Castro, the
usurper, and thus supply the camp with horses
necessary for a trip to the States. Third, to
make prisoners of some of the principal men,
and thus provoke Castro to strike the first blow
In a war with the United States. This done,
finish the conquest by uniting the forces, and
" marching back to the States."

The foregoing constituted the whole of the
" first edition" of Capt. Fremont's plan of neu-
tral conquest of California.

And here I would beg a moment's indulg-
ence, that I may the more fully show the true
position of the " Bear Flag nation", so far as
relates to any influence Capt. Fremont may
have had in its origin or organization.

I do not wish to impugn his motives or con*
duct, but have no doubt he acted honestly
in accordance with what he conceived to be
the will of his superiors. Nevertheless, we
must speak the whole truth, and say that the
aforementioned plan was fully presented to us,
with the advantages it would bring ; to wit ;

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 115

a war between Mexico and the U. S., and the
conquest and union of California with them,

Capt. Fremont, while we were alone in his
markee, on the evening of the 10th, rehearsed
the above plan, humanely providing that none
who had anything to saorafice should be impli-
cated therein ; and asked the opinion of his
auditor, who said in reply, that i( it would be
a long time ere he would consent to, or join
with, any set or company of irresponsible per-
sons, who first commit an outrage, and then
dishonorably leave the country and others to
settle the difficulty, or endure its consequen-
ces." 'Capt. F. remonstrated against this re-
ply ; and especially against the reflection of
dishonor cast on himself — went on to show that
the emigrants had received great indignities,
from Castro, and would be justified in any
measure they might adopt for their safety—
went on to say, that if the emigrants waited
to receive the first blow, all hope in resistance
would be in vain ; and cited, in support of his
argument, the seizure of all Americans that
had taken place, as herein before mentioned.

I then informed him thq,t no personal re-
proach was intended ; that he, (Fremont), as
an accredited American officer, was supposed

116 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

to act in obedience to his instructions from his
superiors ; but that we, although beyond the
protecting shield of the U. States' flag, still
cherished the memory of the AMERICAN NAME,
the honor of which was yet dearer to us by far
than any rewards of falsehood and treachery
dishonorably won. Whereupon Capt. F. be-
came exasperated. Rising hastily he said : "/
will not suffer such language in my Camp ; it
is disorganizing /" and went immediately out.
Thus ended all intercourse, on our part, with
Capt. Fremont, until the 25th of June, when,
in due course of events, his next salutations
will be given. A few minutes after his de-
parture Mr. King came into the markee, and
politely invited us to another tent, and very
soon commenced asking : " Suppose the men
succeed in taking the horses, what will you in
that case propose to be done?" The reply was,
" When the breach is once made that involves
us all in its consequences, it is useless to con-
sider the propriety of the measure. We are
too few for division. In for it, the whole man!
Widen the breach, that none can stand outside
thereof. Down on Sonoma ! Never flee the
country, nor give it up while there is an arm
to fight, or a voice to cry aloud for Independ-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 117

ence. But let truth and honor guide our
course. The United States may have cause of
war against Mexico ; but that is nothing to
us. We have cause of war and blood — such
as it is impossible for the United States to
have received/' " Good !" cried Mr. King,
and ran out to repeat the sentiment. " Good !
Hurrah for Independence !" cried the whole
camp ; and several persons, among whom was
KIT CARSON, begged of Capt. Fremont their
discharge from the service of the exploring ex-
pedition, that they might be at liberty to join
us. This was peremptorily refused. Fremont,
in my hearing, expressly declared that he was
not at liberty to afford us the least aid or as-
sistance; nor would he suffer any of his men
to do so; that he would not consent to dis-
charge any of them, as he had hired them ex^
pressly for, and needed their assistance on his
journey over land to the States; that he had
not asked the assistance of the emigrants for
his protection; that he was able, of his own
party, to fight and whip Castro, if he chose,
but that he should not do so, unless first as-
saulted by him; and that positively he should
wait only for a supply of provisions, — two
weeks at farthest, when he would, without fur-

118 A BIOOAP HICAL SKETCH OF

ther reference to what might take place here,
be on his march for the States"

Scarcely were these statements made, ere it
was reported and acclaimed : " The horses are
coming !" — and on they came ! Ail was ani-
mation in the camp. Capt. Merritt (for it was
understood it was he who was to be the leader
of this little band of heroes), made report that
he had followed his instructions, as given by
the " advice" of Capt. Fremont, and had sur-
prised the guards and captured the whole band
of 250 horses — had offered to give back the
arms of the guard ; and, for " fair play", to
fight the battle over again, at 50 or 100 yards
distance. This favor being refused, he had gen-
erously given each man his arms and two hors-
es ; and boldly directed the released prisoners
to tell Gen. Castro " if he wanted his horses,
to come and take them/'

This conduct was highly applauded by Capt.
Fremont, (who, a moment before, would not
and dare not, on his honor, offer us the least
protection or assistance). The said horses were
acknowledged to be the rightful property of
the twelve men who so valieutly had captured
them, and were delivered over to the care of
Capt. Fremont for safe keeping, while their

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 119

new owners might acquire new spoils in the di-
rection of Sonoma.

It was 12 at night, and all possible haste was
made to be off, as it was known that the men
who had been imprudently released would, in
all probability, separate and spread intelligence
of the rising of the emigrants, and of the tak-
ing of government horses, in every direction ;
and it was more than probable, th^t the gar-
rison at Sonoma might be alarmed, rather
than surprised.

120 A BIOGAPHICAL SKETCH OF

GHAPTR XI.

THE PARTY LARGELY RE-ENFORCED BY NEW RECRUITS — THEIR
MISTAKEN NOTIONS EXPLAINED. — WHAT HAPPENED ON
THEIR ARRIVAL AT SONOMA — MR. IDE MADE COMMAND-
ER-IN-CHIEF, il BY ACCLAMATION", AND TAKES THE FORT,

INSTANTER. — THEIR INCIPIENT MOVEMENTS UNDER THE
" INDEPENDENT BEAR FLAG GOVERNMENT".

JUST about sunrise on the llth of June, '46,
thirteen mounted men, armed with rifles and
pistols, crossed the Sacramento River, a little
below, or at the mouth of Feather River.
Much time was spent in procuring, fresh horses,
and no accessions were made to our forces that
day. We supped at Gordon's, on Coche Creek,
who gave us a bullock ; but was too deeply in-
terested in our enterprise to join our party just
then. At- night we groped our way over the
mountain pass, and ere the sun haft become op-
pressive, we were safely at the Rancho of Ma-
jor Barnard. He, also, allowed us to kill and
eat a fat bullock, but like the other dear friends,
was too fond of the goods of this life, seriously
to think of dying in defence of others.

Here o& hereabouts were a considerable num-

THE LIFE 'OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 121

ber of newly arrived emigrants, and the day
was spent in obtaining recruits. Much time
was spent in procuring as many as swelled our
number to thirty-two; and on the 13th, at 11,
p. M., sleep and drowsiness were on the point
of delaying, if not defeating our enterprise.
We were 36 miles from Sonoma. The sleep-
less energy of some arroused their companions
by representing the danger of delay, and half
an hour's debate turned the scale in favor of
immediate action, and all put for Sonoma for
dear life, as fast as our jaded horses could car-
ry us, so, if possible, to arrive there by a rough
path away from the traveled road, before the
day-light gave notice of our approach.

And now, dear Sir, as it will be some little
time before we get there, I will improve the
time to state the views of the party as to the
object of their intended visit.

It will be borne in mind that none of this
party, save myself, were present when the sen-
timent of INDEPENDENCE was so heartily cheer-
ed in the camp under the Nevada mountains ;
nor was it reasonable to suppose that any of
them were informed by any of Capt. Fremont's
men, that his plan was to provoke an attack
on Castro's camp, before he left for the States,

122 A BIOGRAPHICAL TKETCH OF

to take along with him the offenders, to save
them from certain destruction. It was known
that Capt. F. possessed the unbounded confi-
dence of those twelve men, and also that most,
of them desired to avail themselves of the op-
portunity for a safe return to the States, in the
service of the United States, at $ 60 per month
for the trip. The subject of Independence was
only talked of as an event that might occur ;
and no one of them seemed to understand that
the taking of Sonoma formed any part of our
errand there.

And, moreover, Capt. Fremont, who is al-
lowed to be proverbially cautious and prudent,
gave his directions — or rather "advice", — in
such manner as to avoid legal testimony in any
matter of interference in California politics,
(which he invariably and solemnly disavowed)
that it was impossible to prove, authoritative-
ly from him responsibility for any line of con-
duct by our party ; but every one, (especially
those of the " twelve''), seemed, as if by intu-
ition, to undertand that our only business was
to capture and convey to Fremont's camp Gen.
M. G-. Vallejo, Don Salvadore Vallejo, Col.
Prudshon and Capt. Jacob P. Leese, if practi-
cable, and if not, to drive off another band of

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 123

horses, or commit any other act of violence, in
its nature calculated to provoke pursuit and
attack in the proper quarter.

Fully impressed with the importance of this
mission of benevolence and good will towards
the sleeping and unsuspecting gentlemen to
whom we were about to pay our respects, we
took timely precaution to swear certain of our
number against the commission of violence
against either of those gentlemen. This step
was considered proper, as we were aware there
were certain breathings of vengeance against
some of them, in the minds of a few of our
party.

It was known that Doct. Semple, who was
an active and conspicuous leading man of the
host, was in favor of Independence, instanter;
but we knew of none willing to push the meas-
ure. Under these circumstances it was thought
prudent not to broach the subject generally,
until some crisis should call the principle into
immediate action.

Thus circumstanced, we arrived at Sonoma;
and, after reconnoitering the place, and notify-
ing our friends of our object in seizing the
aforesaid gentlemen, and having secured the
captain of the guard whom we found a little

124 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

way out of town, we surrounded the house of
Gen. M. G-. Vallejo just at daybreak, on the
14th. William Merritt. Doct. Semple and
Mr. Knight, (who took wise care to have it
understood on all hands that he was forced in-
to the scrape as an interpreter), entered the
house to secure their prisoners.

Jacob P. Leese, an American by birth, and
brother-in-law of Gen. Vallejo, who lived near
by, was soon there, to soothe the fears, and oth-
erwise as far as possible assist his friends.
Doct Salvadore was also found there, and Col.
Prudshon was also soon arrested and brought
there. After the first surprise had a little sub-
sided, as no immediate violence was offered,
the General's generous spirits gave proof of
his usual hospitality — as the richest wines and
brandies sparkled in the glasses, and those who
had thus unceremoniously met soon became
merry companions ; more especially — the wea-
ry visitors.

While matters were going on thus happily
in the house, the main force sat patiently
guarding it without. They appeared to un-
derstand that they had performed all the duty
required of them, and only waited, that the
said prisoners might be prepared and brought

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 125

forth for their journey , and waited still.

The sun was climbing up the heavens an
hour or more, and yet no man, nor voice, nor
sound of violence came from the house to tell
us of events within : patience was ill, and ling-
ered ill. " Let us have a captain," said one — a
captain, said all. Capt. Grigsby was elected,
and went immediately into thp house. The
men still sat upon their horses — patience grew
faint ; an hour became an age. "Oh ! go in-
to the house, Ide, and come out again and let
us know what is going on there !"• No sooner
said than done. There sat Doct. S., just mod-
ifying a long string of articles of capitulation.
There sat Merritt — his head fallen : there sat
Knight, no longer able to interpret ; and there
sat the new made Captain, as mute as the seat
he sat upon. The bottles had well nigh van-
quished the captors. The Articles of Capitu-
lation were seized hastily, read and thrown
down again, and the men outside were soon in-
formed of their contents. Pardon us, dear Doc-
tor— we will not make an exposition. It is
sufficient to say, that by the rule of opposition,
they gave motion and energy to the waiting
mass, and all that was necessary was to direct
the torrent and guide the storm.

126 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

No one hitherto in authority had thought of
seizing the fortress, or disarming its guard.
Capt. Grigsby was hastily called, and the men
demanded of him that the prisoners should be
immediately conveyed to the Sacramento val-
ley. Capt. G-. inquired, " What are the orders
of Capt. Fremont in relation to these men ?"
Each man looked on his fellow, yet none spake.
" But have you not got Capt. Fremont's name
in black and white to authorize you in this
you have done ?" cried the enraged Captain —
and immediately we* demanded, that if there
were any one present who had orders from him,
either written or verbal, he declare the same.
All declared, one after another, that they had
no such orders. Thereupon the Captain was
briefly but particulary informed, that the peo-
ple whom he knew had received from Gen. Cas-
tro, and others in authority, the most insolent
indignities — had been, on pain of death, order-
ed to leave the country ; and that they had

* The modest writer of this Letter, it will be observed,
invariably useft the pronoun we, instead of /, in referring to
what he had said or donej; and the Editor has not felt him-
self at liberty to change his phraseology in these cases, as
it may be necessary for the reader to do. mentally, in order
to a correct understanding of what he said or did.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 12?

resolved to take the redress of grievances into
their own hands ; that we could not claim the
protection of any government on earth, and
were alone responsible for our conduct ; that—
(Here the Captain's " fears of doing wrong"
overcame his patriotism, and he interrupted
the speaker by saying, " Gentlemen, I have
been deceived; I cannot go with you; I resign
and back out of the scrape. I can take my
family to the mountains as cheap as any of
you" — and Doct. S. at that moment led him
into the house. Disorder and confusion pre-
vailed. One swore he would not stay to guard
prisoners — another swore we would all have our
throats cut — another called for fresh horses,
and all were on the move — every man for him-
self ; when the speaker [Mr. Ide] resumed his
effort, raising his voice louder and more loud,
as the men receded from the place, saying :
" We need no horses ; we want no horses.
Saddle no horse for me. I can go to the Span-
iards, and make FREEMEN of them. I will
give myself to them. I will lay my bones
here, before I will take upon myself the igno-
miny of commencing an honorable work, and
then flee like cowards, like thieves, when no
euemy is in sight. In vain will you say you

128 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

had honorable motives ! Who will believe it ?
Flee this day, and the longest life cannot wear
off your disgrace! Choose ye ! choose' ye this
day, what you will be ! We are' robbers, or
or we must be conquerors!" — and the speaker
in despair turned his back upon his receding
companions.

•

THE LAST WORD — NOW THE BATTLE !

With new hope they rallied around the des-
ponding speaker — made him their Command-
er, their Chief ; and his next words command-
ed the taking of the Port. Joy lighted up
every mind, and in a moment all was secured :
18 prisoners, 9 brass cannon, 250 stands of
arms, and tons of copper, shot, and other pub-
lic property, of the value of 10 or 1200 dol-
lars, was seized and held in trust for the pub-
lic benefit.

Arrangements were immediately made for
putting the garrison in a complete state of de-
fence. Tools suitable for fortification, and for
supplying a well of water within our walls ;
and a liberal stock of provisions were procured
On contract — pledging the public property now
in possession for future payment. But that
portion of our forces who still adhered to the

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 129

" neutral conquest" plan, with the four gentle-
men, the aforementioned prisoners at Sutter's
Fort, were allowed to remain under the protec-
tion of Capt. Fremont, where every comfort was
granted them that their situation allowed.

Thus and so was the " Independent Bear
Flag Republic" inaugurated. Other circum-
stances might be given ; but not to change its
character. What dear friend of Capt. Fre-
mont will hereafter claim that the taking of
Sonoma, or the hoisting the Independent Flag,
or any other act that grew out of the same,
constituted any part of his plan for the con-
quest of California ? If any of those twelve
men who took the horses had have had any
idea that Fremont desired the seizure of the
garrison, think you they would have sat on
their horses more than two hours, within pis-
tol shot of the Fort, and never thought of tak-
ing pssession of it ? Or think you that if Capt.
F. had designed the capture and hoisting the
Independent Flag, he would not have so in-
structed his three champions, who were the
leaders of this force, up to the very moment
of the recalling the scattering soldiers, and the
appointment of the Commander by the people,
who ordered the taking of the Garrison ?

130 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTER XII.

THE COMMANDER'S ADDRESS TO HIS MEN. — HIS REASONS FOB
ISSUING A PROCLAMATION — ITS TEXT IN FULL — NOTICE

OF ITS PUBICATION ADDRESSED TO COMMODORE STOCKTON
AS A U. S. OFFICER, THEN DAILY EXPECTEED ON THAT
COAST.

NEXT, (if you will be pleased to exercise- pa-
tience enough), we will consider the circum-
stances tending to its unexampled success, as
we trace, step by step, its history to its first
acquaintance with Capt. Fremont, and thence
to its finale.

After the return of the three leaders of the
party of the primitive plan of neutral con-
quest, and seven others had " left us alone in
our glory/' the said " Bear Flag" — made of
plain cotton cloth, and ornamented with the
red flarmel of a shirt from the back of one of
the men, and christened by the words " Cali-
fornia Kepublic," in red-paint letters on both
sides — was raised upon the standard where had
floated on the breezes the Mexican flag afore-
time. It was on the 14th of June, "46. Our

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 131

number was twenty-four, all told. The me-
chanism of the flag was performed by WM.
TODD of Illinois. The grizzly bear was chos-
en as an emblem of strength and unyielding
resistance. The men were divided into two
companies of 10 men each. The 1st artillery
was busily engaged in putting the cannon in
order, which were charged doubly with grape
and cannister. The 1st rifle company was bu-
sied in cleaning, repairing and loading the
small arms. The Commander, after setting a
guard, and posting a sentinel on one of the
highest buildings to watch the approach of any
one who might have the curiosity to inspect
operations, directed his leisure to the establish-
ment of rules of discipline and order, and of
a system of finance, whereby all the defence-
less families might be brought within the lines
of our garrison and supported. Ten thousand
pounds of flour were purchased on the credit
of the Government, and deposited within the
garrison ; an account was opened for the sup-
ply of beef, on terms agreed upon : and a few
barrels of salt constituted our main supplies.
Whiskey was altogether a contraband article.*

* MR. IDE was a life-long " Te-totaler" and " Temperance
Advocate,'' of the straightest sect. — ED.

132 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

After the first round of duties were perform-
ed, as many as could be spared off guard were
called together, and the situation fully explain-
to the men by the Commander of the garrison.
It was fully represented that our success, nay
our very life, depended on the magnanimity
and justice of our course of conduct, coupled
with sleepless vigilance and care.

(But ere this we had gathered as many of
the surrounding citizens as possible, and plac-
ed them between four strong walls : they were
more than twice our number.) The Command-
er chose from these stangers the most intelli-
gent— by the aid of an interpreter went on to
explain the cause of our coming together ; our
determination to offer equal justice to all good
citizens ; that we had not called them there
to rob them of their liberty, or to deprive them
of any portion of their property, nor to dis-
turb their social relations one with another —
nor yet to desecrate their religion. He went
on to explain the common rights of all men,
and showed them that those rights had been
shamefully denied them by those heretofore in
authority ; that the Missions had been robbed,
and the general prosperity of the country de-
stroyed ; that we had been driven to take

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. ] 33

up arms in defence of life and the common
rights of man ; and that we had pledged our
lives to the overthrow of injustice, and the es-
tablishment of such government as should give
freedom to commerce, and that should collect
its revenues of those who, by their improper
conduct, make governments necessary for the
protection of all good citizens.

He went on further to say, that although he
had, for the moment, deprived them of that
liberty which is the right and the privilege of
all good and just men, it was only that they
might become acquainted with his unalterable
purpose : and, that having made them thus
acquainted, " without waiting to know wheth-
er you approve or disapprove — whether you
are disposed to regard us as friends or enemies
— we will restore you the liberty of which we
have deprived you, after we have convinced
you" — (and here he assumed all the fierce, de-
termined energy of manner that such an [em-
ergency was calculated to inspire) — " that as
enemies we will kill and destroy you ! but as
friends we will share with you all the blessings
of liberty, and all the privileges that we our-
selves can hope to enjoy.7' " Now, dear Sirs",
he continued to say, " go and prepare your-

134 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

selves for the battle ! We are few, but we are
firm and true. We have not come to hold
forth deceitful appearances. Go. You are
free as the air of heaven. Receive us as friends,
and assist us to give liberty to your country
and countrymen ; or, meet us like brave men,
according to your own time and pleasure/'

Although the address was not the twentieth
part interpreted, yet the importance of success
in the measure, to persons circumstanced as we
were, gave expression that would have been un-
derstood by every nationality and tongue under
heaven ; and the Spaniard, even, embraced
the Commander as he pronounced the name of
WASHINGTON. There was a glow of feeling
beaming from his eye, that defied all hypocra-
cy, as he said, " Suffer my companions to re-
remain until we complete a treaty of peace
and friendship, and then go and come as friends
— only that we be not required to take arms
against our brethren/'

By the unanimous vote of the garrison all
the powers of the four departments of govern-
ment were conferred, for the time being, upon
him who was first put in command of the fort;
yet Democracy was the ruling principle that
settled every measure — Vox Populi, our rule.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 135

On the evening of the 14th, after every pre-
caution for security for the night coming had
been taken, the subject of issuing a Proclama-
tion was discussed ; and, notwithstanding ar-
guments were used tending to show that we
were bound by a proper respect for the rights
and interests of all honest and good citizens of
California, to represent ourselves as to our do-
ings and purposes, yet a very large proportion
of our men were against making any public
representation of our situation and intentions,
until our numbers should have been increased
to something like a force adequate to the un-
dertaking. But how were our forces to be aug-
mented, and who would come to the assistance
of those who were only represented as robbers
and rebels ? Would our enemies be pleased to
represent us truly, and in such a character as
would induce others to incur the like respon-
sibilities? Or, would Capt. Fremont volun-
teer for us such kindly assistance, after having
pledged his honor and the honor of his coun-
try to remain neutral ? — and, besides, he had
declared his intention to leave the country
within two weeks, and that in our own hear-
ing. Were we to believe that Capt. Fremont
would hold out, publicly, false pretentious ?

136 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Those who would have entertained such an
opinion, without cause, of an officer of a gov-
ernment they delight to honor, must have been
virtually destitute of any just sense of honor
themselves. But all would not do. It was
contended by some, notwithstanding all his
pretentious to the contrary 3 that he would yet
consent to become our leader. So it was urg-
ed that no proclamation should be made until
Capt. Fremont, Doct. Mearch, or some other
person of distinction, could be persuaded to
join us.

So, here we were ; by our flag proclaimed
" The California Kepublic" ! twenty -four self-
consecrated victims to the god of Equal Bights
— unknown by any mortal being, except ten
men who had dissented from our plan of oper-
ations, and fled to the protection of Fremont's
eamp, (except 30 or 40 Spaniards, who had,
from a brief acquaintance, sworn fidelity to our
cause), exposed not only to the wrath of 600
armed men, whom we were compelled, in order
to avoid the just imputation of violence and
crime, to defy in open fight, but to the unrnin-
gled scorn and contempt of all honorable men,
whether Mexicans or Americans, if we failed
to represent our true character, and the cir-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 137

cumstances which compelled us to assume such
an unusual position. Was it prudent to delay
a just representation to the public ear? to that
community which had equal rights with our-
selves to a representation in any system of gov-
ernment we might establish ? Was it prudent
thus to delay what it immediately concerned
everybody to know, until the happening of an
event which might never occur ? Who or
what circumstance was to call to our aid that
august personage capable of duly and honora-
bly representing to the public favor our benev-
olent designs ?

Under these circumstances, and impressed
with these views, it was believed that any rep-
resentation was preferable to none ; and our
Commander [invested with "all the powers of
the four departments of the government", it
will be remembered], JACKSON-like, " assumed
the responsibility" of performing his duty, "as
he understood" his obligations to all concern-
ed, and drew up, on the morning of the 15th,*

* This was the morning of the EIGHTH DAY, since he had,
"between the hours of 10 and 11, A.. M.," left his family to
arouse the emigrants to action in sel-defence ; but they fled
to Oregon. The two days thus spent, and then four or five
more days and sleepless nights, in organizing the " new Gov.
ernment", (his relatives believe) was a strain upon his phyic-
al powers of endurance, materially shortening his useful days.

138 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

between the hours of 1 and 4 o'clock, the fol-
lowing

"PROCLAMATION,

*' TO ALL PERSONS, INHABITANTS OF THE COUN-
TY OF SONOMA AND COUNTRY AROUND. RE-
QUESTING THEM TO REMAIN AT PEACE ; TO
PERSUE THEIR RIGHTFUL OCCUPATIONS,—
WITHOUT FEAR OF MOLESTATION.

" The Commander-in-chief at Sonoma gives
his inviolable pledge to all persons in Califor-
nia, not found bearing arms, or instigating oth-
ers to take up arms against him, that they
shall not be disturbed in their persons, proper-
ty, religion, or social relations to each other,
by men under his command.

" He hereby most solemnly declares the ob-
ject of his movement to be, — first, to defend
Our women and children, and his brave com-
panions in arms, who were first invited to this
country by a .promise of lands on which to set-
tle themselves and families ; who were prom-
ised a Eepublican government ; who, when
having arrived in California, were denied even
the privilege of buying or renting lands of their
friends ; who, instead of being allowed a par-
ticipation in, or of being protected by a Ke-
publican government, were oppressed by a mil-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 139

itary despotism ; who were even threatened by
proclamation of one of the principal officers
of the aforesaid oppressive government, with
extermination, if they would not depart out
of the country, leaving all their property —
their arms and their beasts of burden ; and
who were thus to be despoiled of the means of
defence or of flight—and were to have been
driven through deserts inhabited by hostile
savages to certain death.

" To overthrow a government which has
robbed and destroyed the Missions, and appro-
priated the properties thereof to the individu-
al aggrandizement of its favorites ; which has
violated good faith, by its treachery in the be-
stowment of public lands ; which has shame-
fully oppressed and ruined the laboring and
producing inhabitants of California, by their
enormous exactions of tariff on goods import-
ed into the country : — this is the purpose of
the brave men who are associated under his
command.

" He also declares his object, in the second
place, to be, — and he hereby invites all good
and patriotic citizens in California to assist
him — to establish and perpetuate a liberal, a
just and honorable Government, which shall
secure to all, civil, religious and personal liber-

140 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ty ; which shall insure the security of life and
property ; which shall detect and punish crime
and injustice ; which shall encourage industry,
virtue and literature ; and which shall foster
agriculture, manufactures and mechanism, by
guaranteeing freedom to commerce.

" He further proclaims that he relies upon
the justice of his cause — upon the favor of
Heaven — upon the wisdom and good sense of
the people of California, and upon the bravery
of those who are bound and associated with
him by the principle of self-preservation, by
their love of Liberty and by their hatred of
Tyranny — for his hope of success.

" And he further premises that a Govern-
ment, to be prosperous and ameleiorating in its
tendency, must originate among its people :
its officers should be its servants, and its glory

its COMMON REWARD \"

" (Signed) WILLIAM B. IDE,

Commander.
44 Head-Quarters at Sonoma,
June 15th, A. D. 1846."

A letter was also written, during the night,
addressed to Commodore STOCKTON, who was
daily expected to be at the Bay, informing
him — and intended, by the earliest possible

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 141

means, to inform the world in general, so far
as it was interested, and the Government of
the United States, thnnigh its officers, in par-
ticular— that we had been compelled in self-
defence to appeal to arms ; that we had pos-
sessed ourselves of the fortress of Sonoma —
had set up a Flag of Independence, and were
determined, whether victorious or otherwise,
to approve ourselves not unworthy the sympa-
thy, at least, of those who labor for the glory
of the American name.

And let me remark, dear Sir, that this let-
ter (a copy of which I still have, and have no
doubt of the present existence of the original)
did not, in the remotest manner, ask for or in-
timate that we desired assistance ; but it was
intended to notify, in due season, the officers
and Government of the U. S., that we had,
agreeably to the universal and immutable right
of all men, claimed the right of self-govern-
ment for the good citizens of all California ;
that we had solemnly, by an appeal to the last
resort, abjured all connection with the govern-
ment of Mexico, its protection and liabilities ;
— that although other nations might have just
claims upon Mexico, they could have no claim
upon the sovereignty of the people of Califor-

142 A BIOGAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ma ;— that we had recorded our establishment,
and notified our seizure and possession. And
farther : lest the well known desire, on the
part of the United States* Government, to pos-
sess itself of the Bay of San Francisco should
tempt the officers of said Government to com-
mit an unwarrantable and inglorious interfer-
ence in our affairs, in violation of the one prin-
ciple that hath given peace to the ivorld, we
had, in a timely manner, incorporated in this
same "notice", most sincerely and unequivo-
cally, that we would embrace the earliest hon-
orable opportunity to unite this fair land with
the land of our birth.

It was honestly and implicitly believed on
our part, that the U. S. officers, whom we were
proud to believe were men of deathless honor,
would rejoice to acknowledge our right to In-
dependence, and so far become our friends as to
conquer any inward aspiring after individual
renown as conquerors of California, and still
continue to adhere tenaciously to that just
sense of national honor which prompted the
Reply to the above mentioned Notice.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 143

CHAPTEK XIII.

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT AND TREATY STIPULATIONS ARRANG-
ED.— SYMPTOMS OF DISCONTENT AMONG THE MEN OF THE
GARRISON — A CHANGE OF " COMMANDER7' TALKED OF. —
THE LETTER TO COMMODORE STOCKTON FORWARDED BY
WILLIAM TODD — CAPT. J. MONTGOMERY, OF THE U, S. SHIP
PORTSMOUTH. RETURNS BY LIEUT. MISSROON A FRIENDLY
LETTER — CAUSING THE COMMANDER, HOWEVER, NOT A
LITTLE DISQUIETUDE.

BUT it is proper to return to the history of
events, in the order in which they transpired.

Every moment that could be prudently spar-
ed from the duty of overseeing the guards, at
very short intervals, (as most of the men had
been deprived of sleep, and some of us for five
days and nights in succession), was devoted to
writing — as we had no clerks or printing estab-
lishment. The remainder of the night was
spent in drawing up such articles of agreement
and treaty stipulations, as were most likely to
enlist the good will of all good citizens of Cal-
ifornia, without respect to the circumstance of
any peculiar origin of its inhabitants.

These treaty stipulations were based on the

144 A BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH OF

independent right, self-existent in every indi-
vidual, to cast off at pleasure any former obli-
gation to governments, that experience might
demonstrate as unproductive of the best good
of the governed ; and to remain isolated, if
consistent with their circumstances and pleas-
ure : or, if necessary to secure protection and
peace in the enjoyment of that just Liberty
which is, ever was and ever will be the immut-
able birth-right of all men, to associate them-
selves voluntarily for the present necessity, un-
der such regulations as may best guarantee the
protection sought. * * *

But not to stop to make our last appeal in
behalf of equal Liberty, we will simply inform
you that, in addition to the preceding state-
ment, the stipulations provided, First : That
no individual division of the public property
should be allowed, but that such should be sa-
credly held as security for the faithful payment
of the just value of such articles of provisions
as necessity demanded for the common support
of such as should, without pecuniary consid-
eration or hope of other reward than the con-
sciousness of having freely given their devoted
services to the cause of Independence, and the
the establishment of such government as the

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 145

good sense and wisdom of the people of Cali-
fornia might desire. Secondly : That Com-
merce should be free — thai no impost should
be levied or collected — that frauds and crimes
only should be taxed, and that without license!
Thirdly : That, the supreme direction of the
affairs of Paternal government should be en-
trusted to those alone, whose generous philan-
thropy and patriotic regard for the welfare of
their children, in common with the rest of their
fellow-countrymen, and the race of men in gen-
eral, would enable them willingly and cheerful-
ly to do so, without enlisting the corrupting
influence of the love of money. That no gov-
ernor, president, legislator, member of assem-
bly, council-man, or Senator, (if you please),
should ever be enticed to corruption, fraud and
dishonor, by the love of money. Fourthly :
That all involuntary taxation of the virtuous,
industrious, self-governing freemen of Califor-
nia, or any other people whom we would ac-
count worthy of our fellowship, should never
be allowed or practiced — that whenever taxa-
tion shall be necessary, (except as punishment
for the infraction of the moral principle of hon-
esty, justice and equal rights) it shall be be-
tween contracting parties equally free to choose

146 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

or refuse. Fifthly : No persons shall ever be
compelled, contrary to their free will, to bear
arms, or otherwise to serve the cause of Liber-
ty : for that would prove that its people were
unworthy of its blessings ; or, that those bless-
ings were no longer worth enjoying. And, last-
ly : All good friends, (Spaniards and native
Californians), who had taken a solemn oath
that they were pleased to support our Inde-
pendent principles and Flag, were on their
part, according to their request, excused from
bearing arms against any of their brethren who
might not understand, or believe in the sincer-
ity of our professions, or our determined reso-
lution to make a virtue of the stern necessity
which had compelled us to assume responsibil-
ities so unusual and unlooked-for ; and volun-
tarily promised that they would write to their
friends and acquaintances throughout all the
country, and inform them as to the nature of
our intentions, and persuade them not to re-
sist us ; and they further voluntarily agreed
to furnish us with any supplies of provisions,
or other articles we might stand in need of for
the public service, on the conditions we had
proposed ; — and, further, it was stipulated and
agreed that receipts should in every case be

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 147

given, signed by the Commander of the garri-
son ; and that no gift, not even the smallest
trifle, should be accepted by any of the sold-
iers, individually or collectively, lest it should
be infered that, in some event, extortion,
through fear of violence, should have been
practiced.

It was not without the greatest difficulty
that these stipulations could be interpreted to
the understanding of the first Alcalde of the
District of Sonoma ; and still more difficult
to make him see how and by what magic the
wheel or postule of government was to be made
to operate without the aid of the love of mon-
ey. It became necessary to dissect each sen-
tence, and reduce it to its simplist form, ere it
could be interpreted into Spanish, and by an-
other interpreter changed back to English
again, which was considered necessary in order
to any certainty of understanding.

There was another difficulty of no inconsid-
erable magnitude, which was a want of proper
understanding on the part of many of our own
men, of the policy or principle of action neces-
sary for success. * That portion of our little
band of heroes who at first enlisted for plunder
and flight to the States, who proposed to tear

148 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

down and pillage the house of Gen. M. Gr. Val-
lejo (as it was known that he had charge of a
large amount of money in his house) still earn-'
estly contended that a Spaniard had no right
to liberty, and but very little right to the en-
joyment of life.

You will not, therefore, dear Sir, be surpris-
ed to incredulity, we hope, when you are in-
formed, that after a portion of the men had
exhibited the most surprising vigilance in cap-
turing all the Spaniards, and even some others
whose love of freedom was considered question-
able, and thrusting them indiscriminately with-
in the walls of the callaboose ; that after the
Alcalde had been taken from thence by the
Commander — not without the most earnest re-
monstrance on the part of a large portion of
our " Independent Freemen" — that after they
had witnessed the assurance that the said Al-
calde gave of his approbation of our cause ;
after they had refused their consent to the pub-
lication to the world of our intentions, lest it
might be the means of hastening our indis-
criminate destruction ; when you are informed
that the release of one man'was sufficient to
fill them with consternation — to fill their minds
with distrust as to the sagacity and ability of

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 149

their leader to conduct an enterprise fraught
with such terrible consequences ; — we add,
when you are also informed that it became
necessary to . conduct these friendly negotia-
tions without the camp, and without the full
knowledge of the garrison, you will not be sur-
prised that it was by a great sacrifice of feel-
ing on their part, that the garrison continued
their Commander in office.

But on the other hand it was acknowledged
that no fault could be found with his watchful
care in providing for the maintenance of that
security of "persons", now become so appar-
ently necessary ; and, as he was the only man
then present that could command with that
determination and decision necessary to insure
obedience, it was again agreed, that until a
more suitable man could be found, he should
be sustained.

Early in the morning of the 15th of June it
was deemed necessary to send an ambassador
to the Bay, to carry the letter heretofore spok-
en of to Commodore STOCKTON, if he were
then arrived ; and if not, to deliver it to him
who should be highest in command in the U.
S. Navy then present. But as no man might
be found willing to risk his life in going to the

150 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Bay of San Francisco (to Yerba Buena) sim-
ply to carry a letter, it became necessary to
make other and more important business. It
is necessary and right, sometimes, to take ad-
vantage even of the fears, as well as of the
bravery of those with whom we have to do.
That the fears of the men of the garrison, af-
ter the first moments of excitement had sub-
sided had prevented, and would continue to
prevent desertion, and to bind them close to
the loaded cannon, and to the 250 loaded mus-
kets, was easy to understand ; but how to
compel an individual, by the same fear, to trav-
el 50 or 60 miles through an enemy's country,
was a problem not so readily solved.

The men of the garrison were accordingly
summoned to attend, and the circumstances of
our situation were recited ; — positions upon
the neighboring hills were pointed out, where
Gen. Castro might plant his cannon ; and, in
case of the want of a sufficient supply of pow-
der, we might be greatly annoyed : and the
men of the garrison were informed that a let-
ter had been prepared for Commodore STOck-
TON, and a volunteer was necessary to carry it,
and take charge of anything that might be
sent back in return.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 151

William Todd,' whom circumstances after-
wards proved to be a brave man, volunteered
to go — who was conducted on his way imme-
diately by the Commander of the garrison, be-
yond the guard lines, where he received the said
letter and full information in relation to the
existence of the Proclamation and treaty stip-
ulations, which had been partially made known
to the Alcalde before refered to, and the hopes
of the Commander were communicated ia re-
lation to the same. He was then charged in
relation to his journey ; and, withal, to be sure
not to ask for anything from the men or offi-
cers of the ship where he delivered the letter,
as the letter contained all the business of his
mission ; but simply to take whatever (if any-
thing) was put into his hand, and be sure to
make his way back by another route than the
one he pursued thither.

The balance of the 15th, the 16th and 17th,
was spent in translating and re- translating the
simple elements of the articles of the treaty
of peace and amity, and of the Proclamation,
by so many of the men as could be spared from
the general oversight of the garrison.

The men were divided into 4 night guards
of 6 men each, and into 8 day guards of 3 men

152 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

each. One half of the men were at all times,
by day, employed in camp duty — the other
half guarded and slept ; and the Captain, who
was never counted anywhere, served as officer
of the day and night. The camp service con-
sisted in cleaning the muskets, providing wood
for cooking, bringing in provisions and cooking.
Eoast beef, fried pan-cakes and cold water serv-
ed us for rations.

We received no intelligence from abroad the
first four days ; and such had been the vigi-
lance with which our camp was guarded, that
none were known to approach it near enough
to be at all acquainted with our means of de-
fence, and to escape. Every opportunity was
embraced to make ourself and our plan of gov-
ernment known and approved by our prison-
ers ; for which purpose we took occasion to
make them understand it was necessary to de-
tain them a few days.

On the evening of the 17th came back Wm.
Todd, and with him Lieut. Missroon, of the U.
S. ship Portsmouth, bearing a letter from his
Capt. J. Montgomery. He was bearer of ver-
bal dispatches, which for prudent reasons were
not written, but refered to and authorized by
written documents from Captain Montgomery.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 153

It appeared on investigation, that our mes-
senger, after having delivered the letter, and
waiting some time, and nothing was said about
any powder, thought it necessary, notwith-
standing his orders not to ask for anything, to
inquire if any powder was to be sent ; and the
letter, which was written to be read before the
garrison, contained the following sentence : —
"Although we have ample means to defend
ourselves from any attack that can be made on
us by Castro, by the use of small arms, we
have not a sufficient quantity of powder to
withstand for any considerable length of time,
an attack by the use of cannon".

Thus, under these unfortunate circumstanc-
es, it was easy for our good Capt. Montgomery
to mistake the real design of the letter, (which
it is true was written in haste, but with care),
and which contained no intimation that we de-
sired of him the slightest assistance — no, not
" so much as one charge of powder" — which to
have asked would have been the begging our
own destruction, and inviting that unwarrant-
able inteference we feared, and which after-
wards ingloriously arrested our progress, de-
feated our plans — caused disobedience of our
orders, and ourself to be bitterly, and, else,

154 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

justly reproached by more than a hundred of
our companions who knew us only by our
Proclamation — who had secretly organized un-
der Weaver, Bird and others on the south side
of the Bay — waiting in vain, because of the
disobedience of our orders, for that assistance
which it was abundantly in our power to have
given — whereby Castro's main army would
have been suddenly and wholly defeated.

But to reserve this part of our history for
the leading subject of another division, we will
rehearse from recollection Capt. Montgomery's
answer to our said " Letter of notice", which
he unfortunately not only failed to understand,
but failed, for nearly six months, to deliver to
Commodore STOCKTON.

Capt. Montgomery's letter bore date June
16th — and, after the usual compliments, went
on to say, that he was " here as the legal rep-
resentative of the Government of the United
States of America — having in charge the prop-
er interests and peace of its citizens engag-
ed in commerce," etc., and it was more than
his gallant ship was worth to give us so much
as one charge of powder. He responded, very
handsomely, to the sentiment that it is right,
on every proper occasion, to resist oppression

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 155

by all honorable means ; and that it was the
settled policy of his Government always to ac-
knowledge any authority they might find in
power, without considering the 'legitimate
rights of the contending parties — said he was
happy to learn by my messenger, that we had,
by Proclamation, secured the proper rights and
peace of the inhabitants of Sonoma and coun-
try around, and hoped that the same humane
course of conduct would characterize all our
future operations.

Capt. Montgomery closed his letter by say-
ing he had not time to communicate all he
would say in answer to my letter ; that he was
in expectation of important news from Mexico
or the United States, and refered us to any ex-
planations Lieut. Missroon might make, which
were thereby made a part of his communica-
tions to me.

Lieutenant Missroon, after we were quietly
seated in a room by ourselves, read the said
letter, and went on to explain and say that, as
officers of a Government at peace with Mexico,
to assist, or in any way to interfere in any rev-
olution that might be going on in any country
where they might be present, would justly sub-
ject their Government to dishonor, and them-

156 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

selves to be disgraced and driven from the ser-
vice of their country : but that, in the event
of war with Mexico, his Captain had instruct-
ed him to say that he would supply any am-
ount of ammunition we might be in need of,
and would also place the half of his men un-
der my command, and cooperate with his ship
against the common enemy. He then asked
for a copy of the Proclamation of the 15th.
He was informed that we had no clerks to per-
form our writing, and that one would be hand-
ed him at the time of his return. He thanked
me, and said he would direct the clerk of the
ship to copy and circulate it. He took his
leave, and agreed to meet me at sunrise, at my
room next morning.

I gave charge of the guards, for the first time,
to Capt. Sears and Lieut. Ford : after writing
until 11, went quietly to rest for the first time
since the 8th of June, and slept until sunrise.
These matters are of trivial importance ; but
they show how much labor was performed in
order to avoid what was conceived to be a dis-
honorable act.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 157

CHAPTER XIV.

THE LIEUTENANT INTERVIEWS THE GARRISON, AND FINDS IT
STILL DISTRUSTFUL. — THE COMMANDER INDULGES A LIT-
TLE DESPONDENCY, FOR A MOMENT. — THE MEN APPROVE
THE PROCLAMATION, AND ALL ARE JUBILANT IN VIEW OF
THE SITUATION. — AN ATTEMPT TO DRAW A FIGHT. — CAS-
TRO'S SECOND PROCLAMATION.— TWO YOUNG MEN INHU-
MANLY MURDERED BY HIS MEN. — THE FIRST AND ONLY
FIGHT WITH THE ENEMY.

A LITTLE after sunrise came Lieut. Missroon,
whose every expression indicated that a sad
change had come over his mind in relation to
the subject of our Independence. He said,
sorrowfully, that he had been talking with the
men of the garrison, and it was thought best
not to put out any proclamation ; and that
something might be done by way of relieving
us from our disagreeable situation — but as he
continued to speak in sad, sorrowful tones, we
tossed the copy of the Proclamation of the 15th
we held in our hand, which by its dangling mo-
tion caught his eye, despite his sorrowful ab-
straction of mind. "What have you got in
your hand, Sir?" said he — his voice a little

158 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

elevated by curiosity. " It is a copy of the
Proclamation, Sir ; and as it is already pub-
lished, and as the men of the garrison so seri-
ously disapprove thereof, it is very proper that
they should know what it is, that they may
be able to provide a timely remedy for the evils
it may otherwise cause. Will you be so kind
as to take it up to the garrison and read it to
them ?" Lieut. Missroon very gravely reached
out his hand, without saying a word, and took
the copy ; his countenance indicating more of
sadness and pity than before, as he slowly
opened it and began to move his eye along the
lines.

This was a moment of horrid apprehension !
Was it possible that the men of the garrison
were to be taken on board the ship, and all our
labor in proving to the world, that we scorned
death and danger in any shape, rather than
be shown up to the world as a band of Moun-
tain thieves and robbers ? With what inde-
scribable anguish did we trace each kindling
emotion in the mind of the Lieutenant, as he
slowly and carefully passed his eye to the end
of it. But this horrible suspense was of short
duration : it required no word of promise, nor
word of any kind— nothing but the language

'THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 159

of the soul, the life of men, was capable of re-
moving the apprehensions which had prompt-
ed our mind to the endurance of sleepless vig-
ilance,— which was first quieted the evening
before, by the assurances of Capt. Montgom-
ery's letter, that the U. S. officers would not
interfere, — to be thus horribly renewed !

Hitherto not a single voice (except Mont-
gomery's) had spoken encouragement — not a
man of influence came to our assistance. Four
days had passed, and the men of our little gar-
rison were only brave when wound up by the
melodious sounds of Liberty aud Ifidepend-
ence. to become cold and desponding again, as
soon as the excitement of action was past, If
left to ourselves we would at least prove by
our blood poured out, and by our written doc-
uments sent abroad, that we were " no base
band of robbers, bent on mischief."

But, my dear Wambaugh, we had cherished,
in our more cheerful moments, a brighter hope
than this. We knew with positive assurance,
that the whole country was groaning to be de-
livered from that excessive tariff taxation that
had reduced our exports to less than nothing,
and had left us to clothe ourselves, our wives
and children, in skins or fig-leaves? if we would

160 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

maintain independence of lordly merchants.
We also believed, in all sincerity, that if some
man, even an entire stranger, would present
us even the hope of a desirable change before
the public mind, that one general crowding to
the uplifted standard would render all " indi-
vidual" entreaty and persuasion to adopt our
cause unnecessary.

It was therefore that we neither importuned
nor begged of a single individual, even to lend
a listening ear to our plan ! If the whole mass
moved not^ in answer to our appeal, it was
more honorable to die singly and alone, rather
than involve others in our fate.

The men of the garrison were already equal-
ly involved with ourself— (only, as, perhaps,
the head of their leader might ransom them) ;
but not one single man had thus involved him-
self through any persuasion of ours. Other
persons and other motives had tempted them

to enter the vortex. But stop ! — We must

confess our guilt, as well as plead our inno-
cence ! Truth, like the diamond, is always
bright and clear ; and the darkest crimes are
deprived of half their turpitude by frank con-
fession, and the other half is more than can-
celed by unfeigned contrition and forsaking.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 161

One solitary man (and others may have been in
his situation) vehemently, in the anguish of
his soul, accused us of having deceived him,
and of having thus involved him in rebellion.
What have we said, what have we done, thus
to deceive ? was the ankious inquiry. You
were along with them. Guilty, we plead.
But we were involved in the consequences we
could not suppress. If we could not " gather
up the flood in a basket", we might, perchance,
run along before it, and, at some favored point,
direct its course, and change the evil — the
"partial evil" — to "universal good."

Now we were so simple as to suppose that
he, whom chance and necessity had placed in
the brief and uncertain command of the enter-
prise— he who had conceived and unwaveringly
sustained it — would encounter the applause,
the stupid gaze of all the world, by such an
act. It was well known that he was charged
with entertaining designs more base, more hos-
tile to the interests and wishes of the good peo-
ple of California, than even the plundering and
robbing the house of Gen. Vallejo ! He had
been charged by Capt. Fremont with being a
Mormon, and his scheme was denounced as an
artifice to betray the whole country into the

162 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

hands of the Mormons ! and it was known
that most of the garrison believed the foul
slander !

It was fully known, also, that the men of
the garrison had the most unbounded confid-
ence in these United States officers, and that
they looked to them for protection ; and it
was also known that, if the plan of Independ-
ence could be suddenly presented to the public,
it would enlist the bone and sinew — and it was
fondly hoped — the minds of all such as were
capable of understanding the difference in fa-
vor of conquest, by extending just and benev-
olent principles of government, and that of vi-
olence, bloodshed and political murder. And it
was fondly hoped there would at least be found
one of noble and upright intentions, who might
be willing to wear the honors, while we might
still be permitted to perform some part of the
labor necessary to the establishment of a gov-
ernment more humane, more honorable, more
just and more enduring, and less oppressive,
than any government that had hitherto arisen
and fallen here in California. We had indeed
promised, in behalf of its citizens, union with
the land of our birth, at the earliest honorable
Opportunity— not by the devastation of blood,

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 163

nor by the more ignoble system of purchase,
but by the more exalted principle of universal
and equal liberty and freedom of choice by the
people; which remains to be more fully ex-
plained as we proceed in our narrative.

1 ' Hope springs eternal in the human breast ; "

And hope sprang up in our mind, the moment
hope seemed to rise in the mind of the Lieu-
tenant ; and hope spake thus : "If he reads
it before the garrison, and approves it himself,
(and he will read and approve), it will make
no difference whether they discover merit in it
or not : if h^ approves they will approve, and
we shall find means to circulate it: and when
the people begin to flock to the standard, there
will be a time for action ; the mass will be in
motion, and it will be easy to direct it, if no
counter current springs up— if no vile interfer •
ence defeat our aim/'

— But the Lieutenant has finished the read-
ing. With the smile of joy he says : " I will
read it to them"! He hastened with a long
and bounding step back to the garrison — which
said to us, (mentally), " The battle 's won ;
we '11 triumph still, in spite of 'fears of Mor*

164 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Not long after the Lieutenant returned and
said : " Every man has approved the Pro%la-
mation, and has sworn to sustain its princi-
ples !" — and from this moment that instru-
ment became the test by which to approve our
friends and condemn our enemies. Joy and
animation were enkindled in every heart :
even he who had denounced "the damned Mor-
mon as less deserving of respect than a dog",
smiled again, and yielded service with cheer-
fulness and joy, and furnished incontestable
evidence that it was best not to have punished
ivith death so trivial an offence as ' Mormon-
ism.'

The first business was to send out the Proc-
lamation, and also a Letter written by our
friend, the liberated Alcalde; and a trusty
man of known ability was dispatched south-
ward with said copies and letters. Brooker
penetrated successfully his way as far as Mon-
terey ; gave copies to known and faithful men;
spread the copy of the Alcaldes's Letter even
within Castro's camp, and the Proclamation
was written and re- written, and sent as far as
San de Angelos.

It was a fact worthy of note, that within
^iree days of the arrival of the Alcalde's Let-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 165

ter and the Proclamation at Santa Clara, then
the Head Quarters of Gen. Castro, more than
half of his army deserted. Men were sent in
every direction with the Proclamation, and it
was not until our men were reduced to nearly
one half our original number, that we received
the first accession to our force.

A party, on the 19th in the afternoon, ar-
rived from the neighborhood of Napa Valley
and Cash Creek, and as Jose Castro had, as
early as the 18th, sent out a proclamation call-
ing on all good Californians to unite, and with
one bold effort, " fall on and kill the Bears of
Sonoma, and then return and kill the whelps
afterwards", it was deemed prudent to collect
all the unprotected families, and support them
within the garrison at the public expense, so
long as the services of the husband or father
were required for the common security.

It was known that a party of 70 or 80 of
Castro's men were " cruising" about our neigh-
borhood, and the danger to unprotected families
was imminent ; and therefore it became neces-
sary to divide our forces in such manner as that
the safety of the garrison should not be endan^
gered. Accordingly, Capt. Sears, of the " 1st
Artillery", and Lieut, Ford, commander of the

166 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

"1st Eifle Company", were left in charge of the
Fort, with about 20 men, in addition to those
expected and known to be making prepara-
tions to join us. Selecting the husbands, fath-
ers and relatives of those defenceless families,
the " General in Command" started before the
dawn of day, with an escort of 10 men, for the
aforementioned purpose. Proceeding cautious-
ly along we discovered, a little after sunrise, a
party of about 25 or 27 Spaniards, and made
preparation for a meeting, by improving a path
on the opposite declivity of the hill, so as ap-
proach unobservedly ; but our wary opponents
disappeared. This circumstance convinced our
leader that any attempt to get a fight, (just
for a sample of what could be done, so as in
the main to avoid bloodshed), could not be ef-
fectual, unless the enemy were allowed to have
an advantage of ' five to one' : and even then a
retreat must be feigned. This conclusion he
formed from the fact, that he knew that not
more than one-third of his small force had
been seen by the enemy. The next day (21st)
the families were returned in safety.

Gen. Castro's proclamation, which breathed
out death and slaughter against even the in-
fant that had a drop of American blood in its

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 167

veins, greatly assisted us in getting together
our forces. Even those who a few days before
were unwilling to leave the care of a few calves,
were not only ready to leave their stock and
ranches, but their houses and household stuff,
and to bring their families, instead of " taking
them to the mountains", by by-paths, and in
the night-time, to the protection offered by our
garrison.

On the 19th of June Thomas Cowey and
George Fowler, two young men of peaceful
dispositions were sent to Doct. Bails, a dis-
tance of about 20 miles, to obtain a keg of
powder which had been purchased. They re-
ceived particular instructions as to the manner
of proceeding, and of avoiding danger : but
having proceeded more than half way very
cautiously, and meeting no enemy, they took
the main road, and traveled as at other times.
They were discovered and captured without re-
sistance— having trusted the promise of the
enemy, that if they would give up their arms,
they should receive no harm. They gave them
up, and died like martyrs! They were tied to
trees and inhumanly cut in pieces, in a man-
ner too horrible to relate. This was the first
Hood shed in the Conquest of California — an

168 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

exemplary measure of the consequence await-
ing all who might be weak enough to think of
retaining life by the surrender of their arms,
in a conflict with such an enemy. But this
vile act of his gave strength to our nerve, and
sharpness to our flint.

On the 21st our force was hourly increasing.
All our prisoners in the callaboose had signed
the " treaty stipulations", and been discharg-
ed ; and it is not yet known that any of those
Spaniards who made treaty with " the Bear-
Flag-Men", ever after violated their engage-
ments.

As our numbers were now somewhat increas-
ed, and there were men who had families de-
pendent upon their daily labor for their sup-
port, an effort was made to establish some sys-
tem of monthly pay for the service : but as we
had no other means than the securities of the
public properties, and none of these were in any
manner immediately available, it was foreseen
that any system of monthly pay would serve
but to increase our financial difficulties : it
was resolved that there should not be made
any distinction between one man's services and
another's, and that no one should be allowed
an individual perquisite, except rations for

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 169

himself and wife, and children under the age
of twelve years.

It was further resolved to recommend and
pledge ourselves, that there should be given to
each man who had not already that amount of
land, at least one square league of choice land,
as a bounty for which he was to consider him-
self always bound to defend his Tights, in com-
mon with his fellow-countrymen ; or, to ac-
knowledge himself unworthy of citizenship.

And again : it was resolved that the Mission
property should be considered public property,
except so much of it as had been properly
vested in the several churches ; and that all
persons who were known to have received any
portion of these properties be required to ac«-
count for the same ; and that every transfer of
any of this property, wherein a valuable and
complete consideration had not passed to some
authorized agent of the Mexican Government,
shall be considered void. It was considered
that these means would be quite sufficient to
defray expenses.

On the 23d of June we learned that another
of our messengers, (William Todd), had been
captured by means of the treachery of a guide
that had been employed to conduct him to a

170 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

settlement on the coast ; and great fears were
entertained that he would also be cut in pieces,
(as the two American young men had been)
by the Spaniards who had Todd in custody —
they being 88 strong.

Now it was certain that the only way to res-
cue Todd, was to get a fight and whip the en-
emy, and thus- enable him to make his escape
at the same moment that the enemy should
make his escape. At this time we could have
met him, man to man, besides guarding our
Fort ; but to have sent such force after them
would have caused the death of our comrade.
So, as the only means of the thing sure, our
Commander selected, one by one, until there
were 18 men in the row. Capt. Ford, then 1st
Lieut, of, and in command of the 1st company
of Riflemen, was selected to carry into execu-
tion the especial Orders of (not " General Fre-
mont", for he knew nothing of the matter), but
of another man who was understood, at this
time, not to be on the most friendly terms im-
aginable with that noble officer.

This little band of 19 men, after having
been made up, as nearly as possible, on the ra-
tio of 1 to 5 men of the garrison, was especial-
ly charged as to the importance of understand-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE, 171

ing and obeying orders. The design in partic-
ular was to save the life of Todd ; but the
practical utility and importance of properly
conducting this manoeuvre was set forth in un-
mistakable terms. The Lieutenant received
Orders to " conduct his men cautiously along,
without fatiguing the horses, until he should
discover himself to the enemy ; then halt, and
as soon as the enemy began to be in motion,
retreat to the nearest clump of trees, and every
man get down and tie his horse fast. Then
mark out the distance of 100 yards, and let it
be understood by every man where the line of
the circle shall be, that there may be no mis"
take. Then let no man fire before the enemy
reach the well-known line. Then be careful to
take, each one, your man---but be cautious not.
all to fire at once, lest they rush upon and cut
you to ^pieces before you can re-load. Make
no calculation for mounting your horses, nor for
running away. The Spaniards can outrun you,
therefore don't fight them by running. Ke-
rne mber that this day is to decide the fate of
every one of us! If you do your duty like
men this day, and we be faithful to ourselves,
and follow up its advantages, you wiU not be
again called on to engage in fight, until the full

172 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

conquest of all California is achieved. But if,
on the other hand, you yield like cowards this
day, not a man of us can save his life! And
now, if there is a man among you in whom I
have been mistaken in thus putting your brave-
ry and good conduct to this severe test, let him
speak, and I will fill his place. Will you carry
out these orders at the expense of your life, if
need be ?" " We will do it!" said the gallant
Ford. " Have you a man with you that you
cannot trus.t your life with ? Are you all sat-
isfied ? Is every man ready to go and do his

duty ? Then go ! and not a man of you

will be harmed" — and they bounded away.

There was felt no little anxiety as to the re-
sult ; especially as we thought the life of Todd
was at stake, and his release depended on an
entire rout of the enemy. We had heard that
Gen. Castro had already crossed the Bay,
and as he was allowed, even by his enemies, to
be a wiley adversary, it was fully believed that
the operations of his advance party, whom Lt.
Ford was sent to encounter, were intended to
draw out our forces in a western direction,
while Castro, with his host (for we were not
yet informed of the fact that half of his men
had deserted him), would, in that case, sud-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 173

denly fall upon our defenceless garrison from
the east. Therefore it was, that the " Com-
mander-in-Chief" remained at the garrison,
and made all necessary preparations for such a
movement by Castro : but (as we soon after-
wards learned) he had sufficient occupation for
his tact at generalship, to keep down and over-
come a formidable party that had organized in
support of our Proclamation of the 15th, on
the south side of the Bay, under the superin-
tendence of Weaver and Bird. Capt. Grigs-
by, who was first elected Captain before the
taking of the Fort, and who resigned through
fear of being found in a state of u unauthoriz-
ed rebellion", came back from a visit to Capt.
Fremont's camp, and begged of the men to be
reinstated ; and was elected captain of the 1st
Company of Riflemen ; which office he held
until the 5th of July.

On the afternoon of the 24th Lieut. Ford
came back, bringing Todd with him, and made
report to the Commander, in these words :

"I have done exactly as you ordered. We
have lohipped them, and that without receiv-
ing a scratch. We took their whole band of
horses, but owing to the fact that about one
half of the men retreated with all possible

174 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

haste, I did not think best to encumber our-
selves by taking the whole band. So we only
picked out each one a good horse, and thus
supplied the place of the horses we had killed,
and have come back without bringing the
whole- band/' " Very well done ! I did not
order you to bring the horses : I only told you
that you never mind the killing a few horses,
for you would easily get more. You have done
all that I expected of you. You have given
tone and character to the Revolution. We
have only to follow up this example and the
work is done "

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 175

CHAPTER XV.

CAPT. FEEMONT'S FIRSP VISIT — is A BIT CENSORIOUS — CHANG,

ES FRONT, AND IS A TRIFLE LAUDATORIOUS. — HIS WHERE-
ABOUTS FROM THE llTH TO THE 25TH OF JUNE. — THE
GENERAL ASPECT OF THEIR AFFAIRS SERIOUSLY CONSIDER^
ED BY THE COMMANDER. — NARROW ESCAPE OF FREMONT
AND PARTY. — THE MURDERERS OF FOWLER AND COWEY
ESCAPE DUE PUNISHMENT, THROUGH FREMONT S INTER-
FERENCE.

ON the 25th of June, at 2, p. M., came Capt.
Fremont with the whole of his forces, amount-
ing to 72 men. Doct. Semple hailed us with
joyful greeting, and frankly confessed that a
few days since he had no confidence in any
man among us capable of conducting the enter-
prise ; but since the event of the 24th he was
willing to risk his life anywhere that such a
man as Lieut. Ford might lead the way.

Amid the general congratulations of the oc-
casion, £!apt. Fremont came up to me, and,
without any other salutation, in a sarcastic and
commanding tone, (looking me steadily in the
face), said, " Who wrote that Proolamation for
you ?" and continuing his " stern gaze" a mo-

176 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ment, and perceiving that not the least notice
was taken of his insolence, he indignantly said,
" H-ah !— your name was to it I" and left me
as abruptly as he came. The inference to my
mind was instantaneous, and to the effect that
however I might refuse to expose an accom-
plice in that offensive act, if there had been
one, he was determined that / should not es-
cape his wrath. But in a very few minutes he
re-appeared, changing his whole line of attack,
and I have every reason to believe that ere this
he had changed his whole plan for the " Con-
quest of California" ! But as, in the events
of warfare, plans, and especially indefeasible
purposes,' are subject to alterations and change,
no farther notice would have been taken of
these trivial demonstrations, had a tithe of his
professed devotion to the cause of Independ-
ence been genuine.

But to proceed, dear Sir. If you will be
patient, I will tell you the whole tale, so far
as it came to my personal knowledge; although
we have somewhat difference of version from
what has been published instead of the truth,
about this matter : and if in aught there is
exaggeration or mistake, as I said before, the
means of correction are at hand. It has been

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 177

said that " truth should not at all times be
spoken"! But we consider the path of truth
the only path of safety — ah, and of glory, too!
But we will not contend for glory, since, like
a shadow, it fleeth from its pursuer.

We were about to say, that after a few mo-
ments Capt. Fremont came in again, and ac-
costed us in a most civil and graceful manner,
this time, (as it became a gentleman) — said he
was happy to see and understand that the
Proclamation was all it could have been ; that
every word was as he would have it, so far as
it went ; that we had. done ourselves immortal
honor ; that in style of diction it would com-
pare favorably with the best writers in the
States ; and only regreted that we had not
made the insult and abuse he* had received a
part of our grievances : — and went on to say

* The u insult" here alluded to happened in this manner :
As Capt. Fremont, with his surveying party, on the 3d of
March, 1846, was encamped' at Hartwell's Rancho, he receiv-
ed a threatening missive from Gen. Castro, " by the hands
of a Mexican officer, who was backed by 80 lancers, well arm-
ed," ordering him to " return with your party beyond the lim-
its of this Department" — warning .Fremont if he did not im-
mediately comply, Castro would take measures to compel him
to quit the country. This mandate was thus officially com-
municated to Fremont on the 5th of March, and on the 6th

178 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

that he would receive it as a great favor, in
case Gen. Castro should write or do any act or
thing that might call forth another Manifesto,
that we would not forget to do him^ (Fremont)
the justice to set forth the insults he had en-
dured at Castro's hand. To this we agreed,
and we separated in mutual friendship; at least
as sincere as were his unbounded professions
of friendship for the success of our labors for
unalloyed INDEPENDENCE !

Seeing that we had succeeded in saving the
life of William Todd, and as we had learned
that about 80 of Castro's men were on duty,
this side the Bay, we determined to send a suf-
ficient force to hunt them down so closely as to
prevent their re-embarkation across the Bay.
Lieut. Ford was sent in command of this ex-
pedition, with orders not to turn to the right

he entrenched himself, with his little band of assistants, on
the summit of Hawk's Peak, 30 miles distant from Monterey.
This place — 2200 feet above the level of the sea — he fortified
with fallen trees, &c., and stripped one of them of its limbs
and foliage, and suspended on it, 40 feet from its base, the
American Flag. Castro raised a force of abount 200 men,
and marched them off t© dislodge his disobedient visitor;
but he took especial care not to go within rifle range of his
fortified encampment, and finally abandoned the undertak-
ing.— [From a California newspaper. — ED.]

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 179

or left from pursuit, so as to suffer them to es-
cape. Capt. Fremont said in our hearing that
he had come down, not to take any part in the
matter; only to see the sport, and explore about
the Bay : and that he would be pleased that
our party should accompany him — or, that he
would be pleased to accompany our party —
which, we cannot certainly say — but so it was
they all set out together, and so anxious were
all hands to " see the sport", that it was with
difficulty we could persuade 75 men to remain
to guard the Fort.

On the morning of the 26th this " pleasure"
party left — in number amounting to about 134
men! — Large numbers continued to flock to our
standard, and to record their names in support
of Independence — pledging themselves to sup-
port the principles of the Proclamation of the
15th of June.

Before entering upon the doings of the said .
" pleasure party", it may be well to give an ac-
count of all we knew (by report) of Capt. Fre-
mont's operations from the llth to the 25th of
June. And here, as we knew nothing by per-
sonal observation, you will compare it with
other testimony.

We were informed that Capt. Fremont con-

180 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

tinned his preparations for his journey to the
States until the 17th, when he learned that a
party had seized the Fort at Sonoma ; and, as
it was not reasonable to suppose that Gen. Cas-
tro would pass by so small a force as that at
Sonoma, to attack the larger force at Johnson's
Kancho, more than 100 miles further off, the
only chance to provoke that attack, which was,
according to his instructions from the Ex-
ecutive Departmeat, to constitute and be, in
effect, a Declaration of War, on the 'part of
Mexico, against the United States, was to move
down nearer to the liabilities. So, on the 18th
he moved to Sutter's Fort, and informed Capt.
Sutter that it was necessary to take possession
of his Fort, and if he thought fit to yield
peacable possession, it would save the disagree-
ble necessity of taking it by force. Capt. Sut-
ter gave possession, and Gen. Vallejo and his
companions were put under guard there.

Here Capt. Fremont waited for a few days,
expecting that the garrison at Sonoma would
soon be overthrown, and that the much desired
assault upon the United States' Flag would
soon be made, to rescue the much loved and
esteemed Gen. Vallejo and his friends.

But while preparations for the said attack,

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 181

and further provision for his journey across the
Plains were being made, he received a letter
from Lieut. Ford, informing him that the men
of the garrison had no confidence in the abili-
ty of Mr. Ide to manage matters at the Fort
at Sonoma ; that they were in great danger of
being betrayed into the hands of the Span-
iards ; that such an inference was drawn from
the supposition that the Commander had erred
in his conditions of peace with the neighboring
Spaniards. (At the time this letter was sent
we had no knowledge thereof, as it was sent by
that weekly messenger that was provided by
the hospitality of the Americans, to convey let-
ters from the families of the said prisoners to
Gen. Vallejo and companions, and from said
prisoners to their families, weekly.)

Intelligence of this was soon communicated
to the Commander, and every effort was made
to convince the men of the garrison that our
interest, as well as moral obligations, forbade
that we should refuse to others the same rights
and liberties that we claimed for ourselves, and
that we must not, if we desire the best good
of the inhabitants of California, think of lay-
ing hold of the right to govern by the iron hand
military force, but by the might of such equit-

182 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

able principles as we could plainly show were
calculated to unite the masses in one common
effort to extend the knowledge and blessings of
true Liberty.

Lieut. Ford, (as we were informed by an of-
ficer who had seen the said letter) begged Gapt.
Fremont, by all means, to come down and
make his camp in the immediate neighborhood
of Sonoma. Whether this letter had pith and
pathos sufficient to dissuade Oapt. F. from all
his public protestations against involving him-
self, his men or his Government, in any un-
warrantable and dishonorable interference in
the internal difficulties of the people of a na-
tion then at peace with his Government, (as far
as was then known by us), or whether a desire
to avail himself of the honor of provoking the
Mexican authorities to open the floodgates of
that war which fate had destined to be the
messenger of peaceful Liberty to so much of
the Mexican domain as it might be desirable
to "annex" to the Union, in order to obtain,
or rather to retain the balance of political
power in favor of " the cherished institutions
of the South", we will not presume to affirm ;
but will state distinctly, that up to the 25th,
and even to the 5th of July, he had adhered

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 183

strictly to his neutral plan of provocation, ac-
cording to what was fully understood among
the knowing ones to be in accordance with his
private instructions : and what course of con-
duct could be better calculated to exasperate —
to induce some unthinking agent of Mexican
authority (a subaltern of a friar, perchance), to
throw an unlucky shot at one of Capt. Fre-
mont's "neutral and unoffending men", and
thus to have struck the chord discordant — that
had rung the tocsin of war, involving in its
consequences a hundred thousand lives! If
he who, by the favor of Heaven and persever-
ing study, has seized the lightnings and direct-
ed their course, shall be thought worthy the
admiration of his surviving race, in how much
higher estimation shall he be held, who may
introduce a successful mode of conquest, with-
out the shedding of blood — of extending Lib-
erty to the suffering sons of civil oppression
and slavery ?

But pardon me, dear Sir, and I will return
to the narration of another series of events as
they occured, and which imperceptibly produc-
ed our overthrow.

Perhaps you would have considered the 5th
of July the zenith of our glory! Not so, dear

184 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Sir. It is true that numbers came pouring in
up to the 5th. This continued increase of
numbers was the effect of that quiet influence
of motives, designs and principles, silently set
in motion, which could not be supposed to
cease to act, on the commission of the first er-
ror, nor yet on any change of the general plan.
But you will recollect that no action was had
reflecting the least credit to our enterprise, af-
ter the arrival of Capt. Fremont at Sonoma :
and if we had been ten days in establishing a
reputation for our cause, which was capable of
enlisting the whole energy of the country in its
support, and which did enlist hundreds who
had no knowledge of us, except by the one com-
mon appeal made to all alike — to enemies as
well as to friends — ten days more were fully
sufficient to effect an entire revolution, and to
divert and change the current of that general
interest which none other had power to awaken.
These prefatory remarks bring us to consider
the events and circumstances which changed
the character of our enterprise, and presented
California to the United States as a trophy of
that species of conquest that wallows in the
blood of murder, or of that ignoble traffic that
makes the price of Liberty the price of blood

'

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 185

— instead of presenting the same fair land on
terms of honorable compact and agreement, —
such as all the world can participate in with-
out loss or dishonor, by the free, frank expres-
sion of voluntary consent and good will of the
pafties.

We will now refer to a little incident illus-
trative of the feeling of all California, at that
time, on this subject. The native Californians
were democratic in feeling, scorning subjuga-
tion by conquest ; but not ignorant of advant-
ages that might have been secured to all Cal-
ifornia by an amicable union with the United
States. After taking the garrison at Sonoma,
and after confidence had been established by
the equitable course pursued, the highest offi-
cial officer of the District of Sonoma, on see-
ing our flag, said to me : " Why did you not
raise the United States' flag ?" I said we had
no right to do so ; that the United States'
Government would justly punish us should we
do so, and return within its jurisdiction : but
that we would raise an Independent Flag, and
become a united and free people ; and then,
by peacful agreement, unite ourselves to the
United States by treaty — and then, (and not
till then) we would hoist the United States'

186 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Flag. He heartily replied, " Buena ! then will
my people dance all day ! !" But such a day
of glory to the free institutions of America

was not then at hand. Yes, we would have

gladly " danced", also, rejoicing — " Old men
and maidens, in the dance together", if *we
might have been allowed to behold the peace-
ful triumph of just principle, rather than the
triumph of Buena Vista and Sierra Gorda !

On the evening of the 28th one of our men
intercepted a letter addressed to certain citizens
of Sonoma, giving intelligence, that early on
the morning of the 30th Gen. Castro would in-
vade Sonoma, and put to death every soul
found there, without distinction, except the
" Grande Oso", whom they intended to chain
and convey to the other side of the Bay, for
the amusement of their women and children.
All the Spanish people came and requested of
me permission to leave the town, which was
positively refused. After much unavailing per-
suasion they ceased to importune ; but a short
time after a request was presented, that all the
women and children, both American and Span-
ish, might be allowed to congregate in one
house, and that the Spanish men might be al-
lowed to take shelter in the callaboose. To

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM. B. IDE. 187

this we agreed. The women and children were
hived in the back apartment of Gen. Vallejo's
house ; and as the night came on, all were ready
for the expected attack. The two 18-pound-
ers, double charged with canister shot, guarded
the main entrance, and 7 other pieces of artil-
lery were in using order, and so arranged as to
be available at short notice at any point whith-
er an attack might be made. The 250 loaded
muskets were divided among the men, and so
"placed as to be within convenient reach. The
rifles/all fresh capped, were ready — the guards
were strictly charged, the matches were always
burning at night.

About 4, a. m., or a little earlier, our guards
came in and reported having heard the tramp-
ing of horses in the distance. Every man was
called to the position intended. The signal for
the fight, the onset, was agreed on. The 18-
pounders were first to answer the report of my
rifle — each officer had his orders at what par-
ticular distance the enemy should be allowed
to approach, before he might engage in the
fight. And as we well knew that if the enemy
were to succeed at all, it would be by a sudden
charge ; therefore we placed a trusty guard,
whose duty it was to reserve each a loaded

188 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

musket, only to be used in such an emergency.
Thus prepared, in less than one minute from
the first alarm, all listened for the sound of
the tramping horses — we heard them corning !
— then, low down under the darkened canon,
we saw them coming ! ! In a moment the
truth flashed across my mind : the Spaniards
were deceiving us ! In a moment orders were
given to the captains of the 18-pounders to re-
serve fire until my rifle should give the word ;
and, to prevent mistake, I hastened to a posi-
tion a hundred yards in front of the cannon,
and a little to the right oblique, so as to gain
a nearer view. " Come back ; you will lose
your life 1" said a dozen voices. " Silence \"
roared Capt. Grigsby ; " I have seen the old
man in a bull pen before to-day !" The blank-
ets of the advancing host flowed in the breeze-
They had advanced to within 200 yards of the
place where I stood. The impatience of the
nxen at the guns became intense, lest the ene-
my came too near, so as to lose the effect of the
spreading of the shot. I made a motion to lay
down my rifle. The matches were swinging—
"My God ! they swing the matches !" cried
the well known voice of Kit Carson. " Hold
on, hold on ! we shouted — 'tis Fremont, 'tis

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 189

Fremont !" in a voice heard by every man of
both parties, we cried — while Capt. Fremont
dashed away to his left to take cover behind an
adobe house ; and in a moment after he made
one of his most gallant charges on our Fort :
it was a noble exploit ; he came in a full gal-
lop, right in the face and teeth of our two
long 18's!

Thus ended this * glorious* battle ; and thus
were our plans defeated ; and thus escaped
those very men who cut in pieces George Fow-
ler and Thomas Cowey, through the disobedi-
ence of our orders, else had they have paid the
penalty justly due to so inhuman an act. But
the officer in charge, on being interrogated the
reason why he had not left the Fort to the care
of him whose duty and privilege it was to have
defended it, until he had punished the murder-
ers of Fowler and Cowey ? said "the advice
of Capt. Fremont had induced him to forsake
the path of duty/' The party were immediate-
ly ordered back to the pursuit of the flying
murderers of Fowler and Cowey ; and, after a
hearty breakfast, they departed and arrived at
the Bay in season to witness the embarcation
of Castro's men.

It appeared on investigation, that — First, a

190 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

letter had been addressed to Sonoma, intended
to fall into the hands of the garrison, in the
hope that I wonld recall the men under Ford
for the protection of the Fort ; but this hav-
ing failed, the flying Spaniards drew lots among
their number, and three men, prepared with
letters in their boots, put themselves in the
power of their pursuers, threw away their arms
and fell on their knees, begging for quarter :
but the orders were to take no prisoners from
this band of murderers, and the men were shot
and never rose from the ground. But not-
withstanding one of the men declared with his
dying breath, that he expected death — that he
came on purpose to die for the benefit of his
countrymen ; yet Capt. Fremont was either
deceived by the letters found in their boots, or
he deceived our men, by advising them to for-
sake the pursuit; — in either case the strata-
gem took effect, and the murderers escaped.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 191

CHAPTER XVI.

CAPT. FREMONT AGAIN IN THE FIELD. — THE COMMANDANT^
ORDERS DISOBEYED. — THE BEAR FLAG GOVERNMENT " IN
QUIET POSSESSION OF ALL CALIFORNIA." — THE U. S. OFFI-
CERS' PLANS — THE BEAR FLAG GOVERNMENT TO BE MADE
OVER TO THEM. — THE " GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND COUN-
CIL" CONVENE ON THE 5TH OF JULY— VOTE TO WIPE OUT
ALL PREVIOUS DOINGS OF THE BEAR FLAG PARTY, AND
RAISE THE UNITED STATES* FLAG, UNDER CAPTAIN FRE-
MONT'S COMMAND.

ON the 1st day of July came three men from
the opposite side of the Bay, and informed us
that all the Americans and other foreigners
were up and doing to spread our Proclamation,
and that a company of 100 were already col-
lected in its support, and requested us to send
ftiem arms. A boat was provided, and ar-
rangements made to mount a small piece of
artillery on board the boat, so as to secure the
safe conveyance of a party of 12 men in charge
of 100 muskets ; but before these arrange-
ments were complete, Capt. Fremont returned

192 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP

to Sonoma, and so advised as to defeat the
measure.

It now wanted only two or three days to the
4th of July, and our order for the immediate
embarkation of the 12 men with the arms, to
the assistance of our friends, at the head of
whom was Weaver, Bird and others, could not
be enforced, because Capt. Fremont was op-
posed to it, and the measure was postponed
until after the 4th. The 4th came like other
days.

Two hundred and seventy-two men had sign-
ed our roll. We were in quiet, and for the
time, in undisturbed possession of all Califor-
nia north and east of the San Joaquin Kiver.
We had taken possession of Yerba Buena and
spiked the cannon there. All that was neces-
sary was to have pursued our victory, to have
made it complete.

It may have been considered very important
to the interests of the United States, to have
prevented the crossing of the Bay by our forc-
es, and the consequent union and cooperation
with our friends there, who had assembled in
support of our Proclamation of the 15th of
June, as such an event would have rendered
the immediate conquest and success of princi-

THB LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 193

pies inevitable ; and that, too, before any safe
plan could be devised for getting up the United
States' Flag. Although this conquest would
not have in the least retarded the union of Cal-
ifornia with the States ; yet it would have giv-
en the citizens of California the right of being
consulted as to the TERMS of the union ; and
what was and is of equal importance to those
who delight to cherish the honor of the Insti-
tutions of Liberty — it would have prevented
that foul stain of disgrace that attaches to that
very institution of liberty which we delight to
honor.

As relates to the next consideration of mo-
ment— which, indeed, may with truth be said
to have had more influence in determining
events than any other consideration whatever
— it is of inconsiderable importance who were
to be the renowned ' Conquerors cf California/
One thing was reduced to a moral as well as a
physical certainty : that if the current of pop-
ularity our cause had acquired, thus suddenly,
were allowed to proceed, it would have been
quite impossible for any force of the United
States authority, then within using distance,
to have kept up with it ; and, consequently,
all that glory which had so manifestly inspired

194 A BIOGAPHICAL SKETCH OF

the hopes of its officers present would have
been lost ! To prevent a catastrophe so ap-
palling, it became necessary that the greatest
exertions should be used to hurry up a pretext
for hoisting the U. S. Flag, and, Commodore
Jones-like, take possession of the whole coun-
try. Now, dear Sir, at what particular date
this new plan of Conquest was matured, is
more than we know ; but, nevertheless, we are
able to leave it between ten days next preced-
ing the 5th of July, '46. We were now no
longer, in case of war with the United States,
to be considered a free people, and regarded as
allies ; but we were soon to be told that it was
the policy of the United States Government
(officers) to treat those as enemies, whom they
might find in an enemy's country !

But before it was prudent to throw such an
insult square in our face, it was necessary to
place one of their number in command of our
military forces ; and not only so, but it was
also imperatively necessary to rely much on
our love of country, and devotion to the best
interests of the people with whom we were as-
sociated, else had they learned more of the na-
ture and consequence of such an unwarrantable
and uncalled for abuse.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 195

If it is still necessary to state, in concise lan-
guage, this second edition of the plan for the
conquest of California, < revised and corrected'
by the joint labors of Lieuts. Gillespie, Missroon
and others, we will give it without fear of con-
tradiction. First, secure the command of the
Independent forces of the Bear Flag Eepublic.
Secondly, hoist the U. S. Flag, and follow up
to the entire conquest. Thirdly, if no war be-
tween Mexico and the United States ensue, sell
out all the military stores of the U. S. to the
Government of California, and obtain Califor-
nia by treaty with the new Government. But
in the event of a war, to seize and acquire the
whole by the right of conquest. And it was
admitted by all that the Government of the
United States would, as a matter of course,
cashier whoever might consent thus to violate
its honor, by becoming the leader of the said
Independents. Yet as a solace for his dishon-
or, (to use the language of our informant, who
was one of said U. S. officers), " he will be in
town with a pocket full of rocks."

Further to explain how, and in what man-
ner, this plan was made successful, I will now
copy from my Journal written at the time, and
as I have hinted before : " Capt. Fremont op-

196 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

posed the sending men and arms across the Bay
— advised us not to believe every report — that
as one of our informants was an Englishman, it
might be a plan to entrap us : it was not best
to push our success too rapidly, as we would
endanger the safety of Sonoma. Only delay a
day or two — you may receive more informa-
tion/' Further on it is added : " From the
foregoing advice and other inducements con-
nected therewith, it became impossible to con-
vince our men of the danger which threatened
our unarmed associates on the other side of the
Bay : and delay ensued which caused their en-
tire dispersion : while four of their number
were made prisoners — three of whom suffered
extreme cruelty ; but the fourth, who was my
second son, was released with the gift of a horse
and a passport, with the following expression of
Gen. Castro : 1 1 will not punish you ; I have
released you to convince your Father that I,
too, know how to perform a generous aet. —
When I meet you on the battle-field, I will
ask you for your passport/ "

You will recollect that that portion of the
men who were opposed to making themselves
responsible for their own acts, at the time it
was determined to take possession of the Gar-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 197

risen of Sonoma, departed to join Capt. Fre-
mont. These men were again returned to So-
noma, and seeing all the good citizens of Cal-
ifornia were fast falling into the same fatal er-
ror which had well nigh involved themselves in
rebellion — from motives of prudence, and by
the advice of certain naval officers, resolved to
effect by artifice what could not have been
done by a fair expression of the voice of the
whole. They argued that if Capt. Fremont
could be placed in command of our forces, it
would amount to an alliance with the United
States ; or at least that he would be cashier-
ed, and would remain with us. They seemed
fully to understand, that if Capt. Fremont
could be placed in command, we should at
once come under the protection of the United
States : while it is more than supposable, that
our very attentive friends of the'U. S. marine
authority, in connection with their " Civil En-
gineers3', had quite another object in the ma-
noeuvre— which may be more fully understood
from the narration of what follows :

Early on the 5th of July Capt. Fremont re-
quested the " bear men", as the " Independ-
ents" were designated, to assemble ' without
arms', within a large room at Don Salvadore's

198 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

house, adjoining which, was a smaller room ca-
pable of convening the Captain's Company —
who assembled there, under arms, to the num-
ber of 72 of his men, and 8 or 10 gentlemen offi-
cers from the U. S. ships then in the Bay. The
number of the Independents, in contradistinc-
tion, was about 280 men, without arms — a cit-
izens' assembly, convened to deliberate on some
proposition expected to be made by Capt. Fre-
mont.

The business was before the Independent
citizens, as a matter of course : but the Coun-
cil was composed of their friends, and an arm-
ed sentinel, from Capt. Fremont's guards, kept
the door between the private Council-room and
the hall of the Representatives of the People.

This large assembly might properly be as-
similated with the Legislative Assembly of
Vermont, in* its first organization (the more
efficient arm of the government), while the as-
sembluge of armed friends might prefigure the
Governor and Council of Vermont ; yet they
do not enjoy the veto power, but simply the
power of suspension.

Capt. Fremont, accompanied by Lieut. Gil-
lispie and two or three others — officers in the
U. S. Navy — presented himself before the 'gen-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 199

eral assembly', and opened the business of the
session by declaring — (not his determination to
conquer California, to be sure ; for he said he
should not, in any manner, intermeddle in the
affairs of California politics) — but his already
d-e-c-i-d-e-d resolution to conquer G-en. Jos6
Castro, whom he violently denounced as an
usurper in the California government. He
went on to say that his meditated expedition
against him could not be considered a violation
of the amicable relations existing, between the
United States and Mexico. He continued to
say : " I shall proceed to take Castro, and take
him with me to the States, whether you coop-
erate with me or not" : and, in justification,
refered to the manner in which he had been
insulted by Gen. Castro.

After having sufficiently guarded himself
against any futtire imputation of unwarranta-
ble interference, on his part, in those matters
which exclusively belonged to the citizens of
California, he said, that as we (connecting his
party with the assembly of citizens), have one
common enemy, he would state the conditions
on which he whould agree to make common
cause with us.

The advantages he proposed to confer on us

&00 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

were : First, his unwavering support of our
Independence, and of the principles and pur-
poses set forth by our Proclamation of the
15th of June. Secondly, he offered us every
facility his well supplied camp afforded, — that
we would be allowed to share with himself and
men the military stores and provisions sup-
plied by the U. S. Government ; and. most of
all, we might rely on his friendly advice in con-
ducting all our purely military operations.

The two first conditions were scarcely nom-
inal. They only required that we should sign
a pledge that we would " abstain fr,om the vi-
olation of the chastity of women", and that
we would conduct the Eevolution honorably.
The third simply required a pledge of obedi-
ence to the orders of our properly constituted
officers.

He insisted at some length on the imperious
necessity that all should solemnly pledge im-
plicit and unconditional obedience to the prop-
er officers, which now became essentially nec-
essary to success ; and after expatiating on
the vast importance of conducting honorably
the enterprise that was destined to become a
brilliant example to the oppressed throughout
the world, of a people though few, who have

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 201

by the mighty impulse of Equity's inspiring
principle, overthrown the rapacious powers of
usurpation, avarice and governmental oppres-
sion ; and, by instituting equal liberty of as-
suming a higher and more honorable system of
government among the enlightened and free.

After having again pledged his honor to
stand by us, at least until Gen. Castro should
have been overcome, he closed his propositions
and remarks by politely bowing to the soon-
to-be ex-commander, as if he would say, ' Will
you now have the magnanimity to second my
propositions'?

In reply to the Captain's proposition he said
that he believed the past honorable and unim-
peachable conduct of the men of the garrison,
which had the esteem and confidence of even
many of our enemies, and the responded appro-
bation and support of all present, could not be
refused, even by Captain Fremont, as a suffi-
cient guarantee for the future, so far as the first
and second conditions were concerned. But
since we had but recently suffered the defeat of
all our well devised plans, through a want of
confidence in the ability of our highest officer
in command — and, too, through disobedience
of orders given, whereby our enemy had es--

202 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

caped an otherwise certain overthrow, and our
friends collected south of the Bay had been dis-
persed, and their leaders made prisoners, it was
admitted to be of the highest importance that
those to whom we had committed, or to whom
we shall hereafter commit the responsibility of
directing our combined efforts, might possess
so much of the confidence of the governed, as
would enable them to carry into effect at least
their commands. And inasmuch as Capt. Fre-
mont had prepared a solemn pledge, calculated
by its provisions to give confidence to those in
command, and to bind us closer to the fixed
and publicly declared object of our Revolution,
a motion was made, in conclusion, to appoint
a committee to draft an appropriate PLEDGE,
to be subscribed by every man before he might
further participate in the perils or honors at-
tendant upon the establishment of such a sys-
tem of government, as shall secure to all the
free enjoyment of rational liberty*

The generous feeling of the assembly imme-
diately responded by electing the last speaker
their said committee ; whereupon the prudent
sense of the privy council suggested the pro-
priety of electing two persons more to join said
•commit tee, /row the council of friends, in ar-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 203

ranging an affair upon which so much depend-
ed. Thus strengthened, the said committee
retired to consider the subject of their charge,
under an injunction of brevity from the privy
council.

At the committee's assembling and proceed^
ng to business, it appeared that the adjument-
ative portion thereof were decidedly in favor
of setting aside all that haxl been done in the
cause, and for making the era of the Independ-
ence of California to commence with the com*
mand of Capt. Fremont. It was true that
two of the three composing this committee
were selected from Capt. Fremont's Company,
neither of whom had hitherto taken any active
part under our Flag — who had each been nom-
inated by the other — who were in no manner
interested in anything that had been done un-
der our Flag, farther than any other of Capt,
Fremont's men ; neither of whom had signed
our articles, or otherwise identified themselves
with our cause.

Under these circumstances it was easy to
conceive and to understand the motive of these
representatives of the secret council : and, also,
it was easy to understand why they were elect-
ed by a body of men to which they at the time

204 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

did not belong. And it was easy, also, to rep-
resent the wishes and interests of that body,
whose right it was to be represented in a mat-
ter that only concerned themselves, to wit :
what shall be the form of that pledge which
they were disposed, of their own free will, to
offer to Capt. Fremont, in exchange for his
proffered three overtures — in ratification of the
proposed treaty of alliance, " offensive and de-
fensive", by which, according to his own state-
ment verbally made, we were to make joint ef-
fort against " the common enemy."

Therefore it was worse than useless to furth-
er argue any difference that might exist in the
views of the primitive portion of the commit-
tee and its adjunct portion, than to understand
the position of each ; as it was reasonable to
suppose that the original assembly of " Bear
Men, wlw were Bear Men", would be at liber-
ty to sustain such a report as would truly rep-
resent their wishes and interest.

Accordingly each of the component portions
of the committee drafted a resolution and
pledge suiting the views of each, which were
forthwith reported by its Chairman to the re-
assembled convention, in accordance with the
established rules of conventional assemblies ;

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 205

although not without a serious attempt, on the
part of the adjuncts, to seize the chair. They
appeared satisfied, however, with the impar-
tiality of the Chairman, in the discharge of
his duty as reporter of the committee's doings.

The Keport of the majority was first read,
and their views, as far as expressed in the sit-
ting of the committee, were fairly represented.

It was proposed by the first article of the
majority report, to annul and wipe out all that
had been done up to the 5th of July. The
reasons urged in defence of this article were :
1st, the 5th of July immediately follows the
4th day of July, the anniversary of American
Independence ; and, 2dly, as Capt. Fremont
was to be our advisor ary leader, it would ena-
ble him to " begin with the beginning", and that
his name and influence would add more advan-
tage to the cause by being thus associated ;
and, 3dly, it was proper that, in changing the
e administration', there should be a new organ-
ization throughout : or, more definitely, that
we who are out of office may have a chance to
get in.

After followed the Eeport of the minority,
which [Thus abruptly " ends the chapter.

206 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

CHAPTER XVII.

EDITORIAL REMARKS. — "THE CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA" UN-
DER THE BEAR FLAG GOVERNMENT, AN. ASSURED FACT. —
MR. IDE'S BUSINESS HABITS AND QUALIFICATIONS. — HIS
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT.

THE WAMBOUGH LETTER brings this " His-
tory of the Conquest of California" down to
about the commencement of hostilities between
the United States and Mexico, in 1846. Be-
fore this state of war between us and his own
government was known by Gen. Castro, then
the actual head and commander of the Mexi-
can authorities in California, (it appears by
Mr. IDE'S statement), Castro had taken him-
self and his dilapidated military forces across
the Bay, on his way to Mexico, and had thus
" escaped due punishment for the murder of
Fowler and Cowey". Thus it also appears,
that on or about the 5th of July, when the
new " administration" took possession, and the
" change of government" was accomplised, the .
civil and military authority of Mexico had been
thoroughly " wiped out" — California was not,

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 207

and had not been, from the 15th of June to
the 5th of July, under Mexican rule. She tvas,
what her rude " national" Flag had from day
to day proclaimed, " THE CALIFORNIA REPUB-
LIC." During these twenty days there was no
obstruction, by a conflicting party, to the ex-
ercise by the Bear Flag Government, of its en-
tire functions and prerogatives of National In-
dependence. For a greater part of this time,
and especially at its close, it was, as Mr. IDE
truly remarks, " in quiet, and for the time, in
undisturbed possession of all California north
of the San Joaquin River. All that was nec-
essary was to have pursued our victory, to have
made it complete." These facts andc onsider-
ations (we think, from our stand-point), war-
rant the conclusion, that on the 4th of July,
1846, the " Bear Flag Government" had effect-
ually conquered California — had, to all intents
and purposes, wrested that province from the
mother country ; and would have maintained .
that stand with " complete success," had there
been no " uwarrantable interference" from out-
side quarters, and without a change of ' admin-
istration' or Flag, until she had voluntarily
applied, as she eventually did, for admission as
one of the States of the American Union.

208 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Those who were well acquainted with the
subject of this memoir well know, that he was
not the man to " put his hand to the plow and
look back/' As in scaling the Nevada Moun-
tain, the year before, on his way with his em-
igrating train to the " land of promise", he un-
dertook a job which his companions thought
impracticable, but which proved a notable suc-
cess, so did he succeed most wonderfully in an-
other far more adventurous undertaking, which
not only his boon companions, but his outside
friends at first view deemed impracticable. —
Although better qualified by education and ex-
perience to wield the broad-axe and hammer
than the sword and helmet of the " command-
er", yet, when by accident the latter were put
into his hand, what he lacked in skill for their
use, he made up by sleepless vigilance and in-
domitable courage, resolution and perseverence
— such as initiated the command, " Now take
the Fort !"

AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN,

Mr. IDE was respected by his neighbors and
acquaintance. He took a lively interest in
their welfare, as by reference to pages 25-6 of
these ' Sketches' it is stated that he ' took great

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 209

interest in politics ; and, while in Madison,
0., he wrote a great many articles of agreement
for his neighbors, and was often consulted by
them on occasions of disputes occuring between
them about rights of land, division-lines, and
other misunderstandings' — thus acting as a ge-
nial and mutual friend, without fee or reward,
as ' a peace-maker' among them.

He started in the race of business-life, at the
age of twenty-one, with no other 'capital' than
a pair of stalwart arms and hands, and by the
use of them, and a judicious investment of
the fruit of their labors, at the age of about 56
he was in possession of what he considered a
"competency of this world's goods", for him-
self and family — as he then stated in a letter
to one of his brothers at the East.

But it was 'otherwise ordered' than that he
should remain here long to enjoy this " compe-
tency." He died at Monroeville, Cal., on the
19th of Dec., 1852, aged 56 years, 7 menths
and 12 days, after an illness disabling him for
the duties of his office of only about one week.
He held, at the time of his decease, the office
of County Judge for Colusi Co., by electicn,
and, by appointment, he officiated as Judge of
Probate, County Treasurer, County Surveyor,

210 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

County Clerk, — and, exofficio, as County Re-
corder and County Commissioner. We under-
stand the sallary and perquisites attached to all
these offices amounted to about $ 2,000 per
annum.

His county, (I am informed by a California
correspondent) was at that time nearly as large
as the State of New Hampshire. He held
these several offices, (or a great part of them)
about 20 months, to the day of his decease.—
My correspondent adds : " By the exercise of
his influence, sound judgment and financial
tact, he kept the county free of debt, at a time
when extravagance and misrule, in most of the
other counties, were piling up debts which are
burdens upon the people's shoulders to this
day. The County of Colusa had no jail at the
time Judge IDE was appointed,pand no money
with which to build one. There was no very
convenient way for confining persons brought
there, for trial, in criminal cases, without the
expeuse of day and night keepers. In the
spring of 1852 Mr. Ide related to a friend who
called on him, what he did to obviate this in-
convenience, somewhat as follows : ' I have
tools which I brought with me over the Plains,
some I brought by steamer, on my last trip

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 211

from the East. %I will get some good bar iron
from San Francisco, and some bolts, and will
build a cage with my own hands."' And this
writer adds : " He did so, with some assist-
ance by the local smith, perhaps. He drilled
the bars and bolted them together ; thus mak-
ing a safe and durable cell for the confinement
of prisoners. He placed this cage under the
dense and comfortable shade of a monster oak
in front of a building which, at that time, and
for that place, was a ' first-class Stage Hotel,
and the county Court House'. No guard was
required, and it needed no ventillation. It was
a healthy as well as a secure place for detaining
the accused while awaiting trial. It was a suc-
cess— a necessary and inexpensive structure,
saving the County much expense in the line of
public buildings. Some years afterwards, when
the County Seat was removed from Monroe-
ville, this cell or cage was also moved ; and
even now, after the lapse of so many years, it is
doing duty as a cell in the splendid new brick
Jail, at Colusi, Colusi County."

In further response to the Editor's inquiry,
this correspondent writes : " Some thought
Judge IDE'S death was hastened to give oppor-
tunity for robbery. I do not think so. It is

212 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

true there were suspicious circumstances in re-
lation to his last sickness, which gave credence
to such a belief in the minds of some of his
friends. He was living away from his family:
his wife having died about two years previous-
ly, and his children residing at a great dis-
tance on his Kancho, were none of them with
him during his short confinement with the
small pox. He had the key of the county safe
under his head at the time of his death, I have
been told. The man who attended him during
his sickness took said key and robbed the safe.
It was known at the time how much money
there wras in the safe belonging to the County.
The thief was pursued — finally caught, and all
the County's money recovered — but no more.
Mr. Ide was known to have money of his own
in the safe, but how much no one knew. None
of his money was recovered ; and the thief, by
the connivance of some one who was, perhaps,
his confederate in the plunder, escaped the sec-
ond time, and was never re-taken.

" Mr. IDE was buried at Monroe ville, where
was once the site of Coiusi Co. Court House ;
but at the present day there are no buildings
there, and the land they stood on is occupied
as a wheat field."

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE.

Mr. IDE'S plan for " civil service" rules, un-
der his " administration", as explained by his
third stipulation of principles, (see page 145),
which were to prevail under the new govern-
ment, for the time being, at least, viz : that
its prominent public offices should be occupied
by that class of philanthropic, patriotic citi-
zens who could not be enticed by the love of
money " to corruption, fraud and dishonor",
shows that he was a full-blooded radical poli-
tician, of the strictest sect of. the present day:
but with this difference of developement : while
the modern ' radicals' preach high-toned pat-
riotism, and practice the contrary, he practiced
what he preached — for we are credibly inform-
ed that, for his month or more indefatigable
labors while organizing the " Bear Flag Gov-
ernment", and superintending its operations,
and for his four or five months' services under
Capt. Fremont, in his expedition down the
coast in pursuit of JDon Castro and his hand-
ful of men — for all these public services, " civil
and military", he never asked or received of
the Californian or of the United States' govern-
ment, any compensation for his timey if, in-
deed, his necessary personal expenses while in
the U. S. service were provided for him.

X

214 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

Mr. IDE was a man of temperate, industri-
ous and frugal habits, and of an enterprising
business propensity . Soon after his arrival
in California he purchased a three-mile-square
tract of land, situated in the pleasant valley
"at the head of navigation7', on the Sacra-
2 £mento Kiver^ some <fr miles above the city of
Sacramento, on which he afterwards made ex-
tensive improvements. During the early stage
of the "gold excitement", he and his oldest
son and a son-in-law spent a few months " in
the mines"; and they then retired " for good''
from that branch of industry — satisfied with
an amount of about $ 25,000, as the result of
their labors therein.

We have not at hand the data from which
to gather much information as respects his pri-
vate pecuniary affairs ; but will, on this point,
quote a few sentences from a letter of his to a
brother, in 1851, then living in Illinois. " I
do not seek more wealth ; but simply wish to
exchange what I have for cash, that I may
leave California once for all. I sell slowly —
not half as fast as my stock increases. I have
collected about $6,000 since I came home.*

* Prom a nine or ten month's visit among his relatives and
friends at the East.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 215

I have tried to sell out all, at once ; but few
persons have the means to buy 1000 head of
cattle, 150 horses, and 30,000 acres of land.
My cattle are appraised at $ 30, ' oxen $ 75,
each, horses at $ 70, and land at 25 cents per
acre* — making some $ 50,000. The tax is one
per cent — the snug little sum of $ 500, which is
more than one- tenth the revenue of the Coun-
ty— from all of which not a farthing's benefit
is derived by any person except office-holders —
two-thirds going to defray State expenses."*

We have now about concluded these " bio-
graphical skeches of the life" of a useful citi-
zen, whose premature death was a severe loss to
his surviving children, a large circle of relatives
and friends, as well as, (prospectively), to any
community in which his future lot might have
been cast. He was the poor man's friend and
adviser — and, in every sense of the word, a sin-
cere Christian.

We propose to devote a considerable portion
of the remaining pages of this volume to ex-
tracts from Mr. IDE'S letters to his friends, af-
•

* In 1878 the occupant of this Rancho wrote the Editor
that it was appraized for the assessment of taxes at $50,000,
—was valued at $70,000, and his taxes on it amounted to
between 16 and 17 hundred dollars.

216 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ter he had been sometime a resident of Califor-
nia. The casual reader — not a relative, or an
acquaintance of his — will find many interest-
ing incidents of pioneer life briefly treated of,
in these extracts — always bearing in mind, that
the letters they are taken from were written
for the friendly eye of the recipient, only.

But we will first introduce, as more partic-
ularly connected with his relation to California
as a devoted advocate of its " Freedom and In-
dependence", extracts, at considerable length,
from an " Address to the Citizens of Califor-
nia", which, on account of his previous connec-
tion with them in their privations and strug-
gles, he thought it proper and incumbent on
him to send them.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. JDE. 217

CHAPTEK XVIII.

EXTRACTS FROM A CIRCULAR ADDRESSED TO CALIFORNTAN8,
— AND FROM SEVERAL OF HIS PRIVATE LETTERS. f

In his Address to the " CITIZENS OF CALI-
FORNIA", dated at the City of New York, May
28, 1850, which he had printed in circular form
and distributed among his acquaintance and
friends in California, then engaged in inaugur-
ating a State Constitution and Grovernment,
Mr. IDE makes an earnest appeal to their pat-
riotism, magnanimity and self-respect. It is
too long for insertion entire here ; yet it is too
characteristic of the man — who had been charg-
ed (by men of so high standing, we are inform-
ed, as to require some attention by way of ref-
utation), with iqant of fealty to his own patern-
nal governrnent.\ We therefore give the few
extracts from it that follow :

" Do you still hesitate to secure the appointment from
among yourselves, by your own free suffrage, of such
servants as may be employed among you for the gen-
eral benefit? * * * Will you still linger, that your
country's dearest interests may be longer merged be-
neath the party strifes of a far-off people, who have

218 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

little knowledge of, and less interest in the prosperity
of your own homes?"

"It does not become your humble servant to recount
his services, nor to ask anything, individually, at your
hands. He was not introduced into a responsible posi-
tion by any contrivance of his own. But amid confu-
*sion and want of order, he chose to stand — to die — by
a fixed resolve, rather than to prolong — to forfeit exis-
ence, by the degradation of the spirit of FREEMEN — the
profanation of the Temple of Liberty. .

" When the voice of the half-lingering sons of Free-
dom, by united acclamation, uplifted that rude ensign
of Unity and Equity — then were broken the manacles
of usurpation : then, as it were, was a NATION born !
By no premeditated conspiracy was it designed ; by no
stealthy fraud was it sustained; by no unhallowed am-
bition was it propelled. It shrunk not from the per-
formance of duty from fear of the consequences. The
heart of every freeman was given to it; the peaceable
citizen received its protection. The vile usurper of
the authority of Mexico and of your rights fled from
the first touch of its constancy : yet designing artifice
and insatiable avarice quaked, and plotted its ruin. It
bowed in respect to the l Father of Liberty'; yet it en-
veloped its dignity amid the folds of the parental robe.
It is now reported back to you for safe keeping.

41 Which of your towns or villages did not surrender
to your citizens, for the establishment of your own in-
dependent sovereignty? When the last act of the dra-
rna was l played',— the taking of De Angelos — it was a
proper expression of your sovereignty.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 219

14 Will any of your opponents (if there may be any),
instance the taking of Monterey ? So did that honora-
ble Commodore [Stockton] frankly acknowledge, that
he found no other government than yours in the coun-
try; adding, * to you, sooner or later, must the country
be surrendered."1 Neither was there a vestige of Mex-
ican authority found afterwards in your whole country ;
especially within any comeatable distance of your con-
stituted authority : for Mexico had ceased for a long
time to maintain her authority among you. You have
iiHver, in an organized capacity, or otherwise, alienated
your sovereignty. Your whole country has possessed
a name and an identity ; with laws, customs and usages
long established, and peculiar to the interests of its cit-
izens, which cannot be changed to the slightest diminu-
tion of the properly "vested rights of the former inhab-
itants, without the grossest violation of common justice
and national law.

"Mexico never claimed to exercise a property right
in your soil, your mines or your unoccupied lands. She
never sought to enrich herself by selling l acres' not her
own — all were the rightful inheritance of the citizens.
She gave, in compliance with such laws and usages as
still constitute a part of your personal property-rights,
those lands to such citizens (or strangers as might de-
sire citizenship) as were pleased, in accordance with
their vested rights in those laws and usages, to ask for
the same. Nor were those laws and usages subject to
change or alteration by the Mexican government, being
founded in the nature and fitness of things — on the self-
evident fact, that the earth is the common heritage of

220 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

MAN, to be acquired by possession and USE, instead of
arrogance, force or fraud.

" What of the ' Fifteen Millions' ? Mexico could not,
under any circumstances, have sold you. Had the
strongest governmental ties, cemented by the most am-
icable relations, have existed, the bare conception of
the thought of such falsehood would have been a suffi-
cient quitclaim and transfer to you of INDEPENDENCE.
Will any Californian sacrifice his interest in the AMER-
ICAN NAME ? — his exhiliarating hope in the proper exten-
sion of equal liberty, which can only be based on a
proper regard for the just rights of individuals; of in-
dividuals associated in communities ; of individuals
composing the densely inhabited district, or the sparcely
peopled desert; of individuals composing a sectional
State, delegate, or c Confederate^ government? INDI-
VIDUAL EIGHTS! for the want of a clear and compre-
hensive knowledge of which, THE AMERICAN UNION,
even now, hangs trembling, like the scathed leaf to the
fruitless bough, amid the frosts of winter!

u Mexico received no money on account of your de-
pendence. Let not your country now pay tribute to a
distant and dissimilar land, whose people neither know
nor regard your interests. What interest have you in
the quarrels of Mexico ? Or, what interest had Mexi-
co in the matter of disposing of your sovereignty ? Are
you to be bought and sold l like sheep in the shambles' ?

" Eather encourage the settlement of your own coun-
try, and reward your own patriots, who pledged their
lives for the support of your common liberties ; and
give those Kanchos, and the 100 varas of mining lands

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 221

to such as ask for them, as all your sons have the right
to claim and receive, according to long and well estab-
lished law and usage ;— and thus encourage your sons
to protect, defend, enrich, beautify and populate your
OWN country — your children's HOME!"

DESCRIPTION OP THE CALIFORNIA INDIAN CUSTOMS.

In a letter to one of his brothers; dated at
Sonoma, June 25, 1847, Mr: IDE gives the fol-
lowing account of the habits and mode of life
of the native inhabitants of the land, as he
then found them :

I have a hundred Indians to employ and to clothe :
and one half of them are now unemployed. Their la-
bor is to cultivate the soil, to ditch, fence, build and im-
prove the same lands over which their fathers have
spent their lives in idleness and nakedness for thousands
of years. They have hitherto increased beyond the
ability of the country, by its natural productions, to
support them. They have, apparently, never cultivated
the smallest plant, tree or shrub. They have subsisted
on fish, acorns, roots, clover and many other kinds of
grass — berries, and the flesh of the elk, deer, antelope,
rabit and smaller quadrupeds— and quails, which are
very numerous.

They live, in the rainy season, in conical tents, about 10
feet in diameter, covered with thatched mash of leaves,
sticks, reeds or rushes. They make floats or rafts [bal-

222 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

sies] of bull-rushes [tnla]. The women wear an apron,
or bunch of willow bark, like a mop, which is made fast
about the hips by a cord of the same material, and
extends downward from a foot to 18 inches, in a profuse
pile of strings before and behind.

The men are entirely naked, except they sometimes
throw an antelope skin over their shoulders. They still
exist, as in former times, in small tribes [Ranchorees] of
from 100 to 4 or 500 men, speaking different dialects,
and are frequently enemies to each other. They look
to the white man who owns the land they inhabit as
their ' Great Chief,' and expect him to defend them troin
the attacks of their neighbors, and also from their nat-
ural enemy, the Grizzly Bear, whose flesh they refuse
to eat — for the reason, as they believe, that he was once
human, but became beastly in consequence of his dis-
position to eat human flesh.

In the time of the year for clover, (of which Califor-
nia prodnces spontaneously 12 different kinds), they re-
sort to the most favored spots, and dwell in booths
made of bushes. In the season for fish they dwell in
thick willow groves, on the low banks of the rivers,
and sleep in beds of sand. In time of oats -harvest the
squaws gather large quantities by swinging a basket
made of the bark of roots against the tops of the ripe
grain, a part of which falls into the basket. In time of
acorns, the squaws gather immense quantities, which
they put in store-houses made of small sticks interwov-
en with willow bark, which they keep for winter use.
These acorns are their corn, which is pounded, sifted,
and made into various kinds of bread.

These Indians are required by a law of California to

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 223

clothe themselves, and their services belong to the man
who furinshes them with the means for clothing, till all
arrears are paid. We generally employ the hoys, and
when they prove faithful we clothe their fathers, who
only work in the wheat harvest. The word of the land-
holder is the Indian's law ; but the owner is not to do
him any injustice. He is the Indian's governor, and
may punish him according to certain rules : but he can-
not sell him, or take away his children without his con-
sent. These Indians are voracious eaters. They have
nothing to sell that will command spiritous liquors, and
consequent!}7, they are not drunkards ; but they are
" the slaves of tobacco" !

I have given you this concise history of the natives
of the laLd, in part for the purpose of explaining my
own situation. I have now two* farms which I have
purchased and paid for. The first is situated at the
head of steamboat navigation on the Sacramento Kiver,
which I selected as the most favored site for a "city of
the Sacramento valley", on account of its beauty, and
the sandy nature of its soil, which renders it dry and
free from mud in the winter, and green and fertile in
the summer — on account, also, (and more especially),
of the vast amount of pine timber in the vallies above^
on the River, which can be most conveniently sawed
there, and of the fertility of the Upper Valley, which
must be supplied from some point near this by land-car-
riage. But it is not yet time to talk of building cities,
where families are from five to ten miles apart!

* A few years subsequent to the date of this letter, Mr. IDB inform-
ed the Editor that he did not get "a valid title" to the second " Farm"
he here refers to.

224 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

THE PEACEABLE INDIANS, AND LYNCH-LAW.

We have before us another letter from JUDGE
IDE to a nephew of his, in his off-hand racy,
and familiar style, from which we give a few
extracts, showing how Indians can be civilized
by kind treatment, easier than by the " shot-
gun"; and how " Lynch-law" has been organiz-
ed, and how it has operated in times past. It
was written to a young man who, in 1861, en-
listed in Captain AUSTIN'S company of Sharp-
shooters in the war of the great Rebellion, and
was killed in the battle at Yorktown, Va., April
5, 1862. This letter was in answer to his in-
quiries respecting California, as a place for his
future residence.

"Monroeville, April 20, 1851.

"Not having room enough in the " Main Sheet," I
put up a "jib", just to finish my story, and sign my
name on.

" The Indians that come from the Mountains say that
they could not live with their mountain companions, un-
less they would join them to steal horses and cattle ; so
they came down to live with our Indians, that we
might know that they were good men. They say that
they have often seen us while we were hunting in the
mountains, and were afraid of us ; so they hid in the

\

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 225

thick bushes : but after we were gone, they went back
to their house, and found that we took nothing away
with us, nor did we injure anything of theirs; therefore
we were friends and good men. They say that -their
companions laugh at them, and call them cowards.

" They asked us to let them see us shoot, and went
off a hundred yards and set up a cane in the ground,
and said they wanted to see if we could cut it down so
far off. So William took his rifle and cut their cane
down with a ball. This pleased them much — giving us
to understand that they would not join the mountain
Indians, but would tight for us, and work for us, and —
wal-o-men ki-nnor bb-hok hbrnen — i. e., they would
live with us, on hire, a long time.

" Now dont be alarmed about the 'Indian difficulties7.
We have not been in the least terrified. I have, alone,
chased a hundred of them : but now the leaders of the
war party are dead, and many of their followers are
crippled, and I think they will not again disturb us.

" But I must close : this is Court-day, and as I am
one of the Associate Justices, it is somewhat necessary
that I should attend. I suppose that some of the nabobs
of your country will be 4 horrified' to hear, that such a
person as myself should be ' dubbed1 with the title of
* JUDGE' ; but strange things happen in California. It
is undoubtedly very improper ; but so it is, and we must
put up with it the best way we can.

"Well, we must 'live and learn.' Judge Lynch was
becoming very popular in the northern mines, and men
were quite often hung. Stealing the value of twenty
dollars is now made, by legislative enactment, grand

226 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

larceny, and grand larceny is punished by hanging. —
And further : a jury of twelve qualified voters are made
4 judges of the law and of the facts' ; so there is not
much for Judge Lynch to do, but just call the Court to
order, by appointing the officers — as it is impossible, in
such a floating population as we have here, that any lo-
cal officers should exist.

"It is thought that the new law, called the 4 hanging
law', is beginning to restore order by establishing disor-
der. How that is to be brought about we shall soon
see. The hanging goes on bravely, and none appear to
be hung amiss. When they come to the hanging point
they confess more than is laid to their charge. But this
is an unsocial subject. * * * [He then gives an ac-
count of his financial, farming and mechanical opera-
tions, and closes with]

u Fare-thee-well. Love to all who inquire for
" WILLIAM B. IDE.

"JOHN S. M. IDE, Olaremont, K H."

u Ide's Rancho, July 23, 1851.

" I am very lonely, James and Daniel are absent on
an expedition against the Indians, who are becoming
very troublesome to white people.

" At my nearest neighbor's at the east, across the Sa-
cramento, about one mile distant, a man named James
McKenney was shot while lying asleep in his bed, on
the 17th inst., at 10 o'clock at night, and died on the
19th. The arrow entered the lower part of the abdo-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 227

men, a little forward of the left hip joint, and ranged
so as to lodge the point of the arrow against the inside
of the pelvis. The only remedy decided upon by the
attending physician, was to cut open the body, take out
the entrails, wash them, sew them up and put them
back, after having removed every foreign substance;
— then sew up the body, and cover the wounded part
with some light, adhesive plaster to exclude the air and
water — then bathe constantly with cold water, and ap-
ply glysters, as they did for two days ; and if these op-
erations could not save the man, there was no remedy.
A surgeon was also called, who said it c was too nice a
job for him* : but I was in hopes he would recover, as
he was free from pain. This is the fifth man who has
fallen by the Indian's arrow, this summer, within a
short distance of my house — four of them died and one
recovered. Three Indian thieves have been shot by
white men, within the same distance and time.

u The Indians are gathering together from all quar-
ters at a place east of the River, about six miles north
of my house, as we are told by a man who came down
last evening — in numbers aggregating some 7 to 10 hun-
dred men, women and children. Another man reports
having seen 150 or 200, on their way thither .from the
south of this. All these are understood to be valley In-
dians, who have for three or four years been friendly to
the settlers ; but the conduct of the foreign miners has
been such toward them, in common with that of the
Mountain Indians (their enemies), that little or no de-
pendence can be placed on their friendship, if they
become enemies, they will be far more dangerous than,

228 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

the Mountain Indians, as they know all about our busi-
ness, occupation, &CM and where they can most success-
fully lie in wait for us.

• " James and Daniel have been gone five days. I heard
from them two days ago. They had had a battle, but
owing to their party having got divided, only five of the
men were engaged in it. They had the advantage of a
good piece of ground, where they could charge on the
Indians with their horses. The fight lasted an hour or
more. Jt was difficult to say how many opposed them
— probably from 50 to 100. They were quite sttngnine
in the attack — came up knife in hand ; but soon took
to the bush. Our men brought off one prisoner, and re-
reived a slight scratch of an arrow.

THE BOYS' FIGHT WITH THE INDIANS.

" A few weeks ago we had another battle, in which the
Indians were beaten, with the loss of 8 or 10 killed, and
15 or 20 wounded. But the most ludicrous was the
4 war' declared expressly against myself, by a Rancheric
of Indians, living on the low hills back of my farm. —
This war was contrived and headed, if not declared, by
one of n>y neghbor Shareid's bu^kerjes [horse-riders],
He ran awav from his employer and joined the aforesaid
Rancho of Indians, and made known his plan. He said
that two men should go down to my place — find me, —
go close up and shoot me; but lie would not go, because
I should know him. Others would not go, for the same
reason. At length two Indians were found who did not
know him they intended to kill, and very safely con-

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 229

eluded that I did not know them. After having taken
the necessary directions thejr set off. * * * Our
heroes came down, and finding a man encamped near
my house, they shot two arrows into his back and fled.
Learning their mistake, a few days after they sent five
others who said they knew me, and would kill me sure.
So they came, and were discovered by my little Indian
boys, who gave the alarm. I was not at home; but
Daniel and Lemuel (being all the white folks at hand),
armed for the fight and went out— but the Indians had
fled. The next night, between daylight and dark, they
came again. So Lemuel, Daniel and Thomas Crafton*
took the fiekl — and, sure enough, this time they got into
a fight. Lemuel and Tommy lost all relish for the fun
when the arrows began to whiz, and fell back in the
rear, and took shelter behind Daniel, holding on to his
clothes, in order to prevent his dodging away from be-
fore them ; but Daniel succeeded in wounding one of
the enemy, and in inducing Lemuel to fire his gun, which
he did without taking aim, and Thomas fired his in like
manner, without effect, except to encourage the enemy,
who, (taking advantage as they supposed of the unload-
ed guns^, rushed on to the charge with knife in hand :
but Daniel had his gun loaded again, and Lemuel and
Tommy, seeing the Indians were about to hiy hold of
them, took their former p'are in. the rear, and so dis-
turbed Daniel, that he missed his aim, threw down his
rifle, shook off the boys at his back, and sprang forward
upon the enemy— drawing his revolver, he put it right

* The boy mentioned in Mrs. Healy's account of the emigrating com-
pany of 1845.

230 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

to them, discharging his five shots so suddenly, that the
hindmost one of the retreating enemy felt the search-
ing influence of the little weapon on his naked knife,
before he had time to finish his triumphant hurrang! —
Thus ended that war.

" The boys, seeing the Indians turn their backs, did
not pursue, but returned to the house, one fourth of a
mile from their a glorious field of battle." The next
morning the Indians were all gone. They were all
wounded, to say the least — either in body or mind."

A MULTITUDE OP PUBLIC OFFICES.

" Monroeville, Colusi Co., Gal., Nov. 9, 1851.
" DEAR BROTHER :

" I am seated in the office of the County Clerk of
Colusi county, where I am at present, by virtue of the
elective franchise been made Judge of the county Court,
civil and criminal, President of the Commissioners'
Court or court of Sessions for said county, and Judge
of Probate ; and, by appointment duly recorded, I am
made the County Clerk — Clerk of the District Court,
(9th district) Clerk of the County Court and of the court
of Sessions, Clerk of the Probate Court, county Record-
er and county Auditor. These several offices at present
limit my official duties: but I suppose I shall, just to
accommodate our floating population, be compelled to
serve as 'Treasurer, Deputy Sheriff, Dep. County Sur-
veyor'— and very probably as Coroner and Justice of
the Peace — and, possibly, as Dep. Notary Public.
"This account may excite some surprise; but I will

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 231

explain: nine-tenths of our population are here to-day,
and, to-morrow — are somewhere else. Our county is
about 75 miles in extent on the Sacramento River, and
about 30 miles wide. Our population are like birds of
passage, except their migrations are not exactly period-
ical. All the circumstances which make it difficult to
obtain responsible and permanent county officers com-
bine to make these officers necessary. At present ten
individuals pay more than three-fourths of the taxes
paid within the county, and comprise nearly all its per-
manent residents. These men, as a general thing, re-
side on their Ranches, to attend to their private affairs,
and are the only residents of the county who are able
to give the requisite bonJs. At the polls the non-resi-
dents (when they unite), have the elections as they
please; and the usual result is, that transient, irrespon-
sible persons are elected, and bonds of the Wee character
are filed. Last year the 'sovereign' people' elected for
County Judge, (who is by law the acceptor or rejector
of all official bonds), a dissipated lawyer who, of course,
accepted such bond? as came to hand; and the admin-
istration of public affairs, financially, went on swim-
mingly for a few months — all the offices were promptly
filled— bonds filed, and gin, brandy and wine-bottles and
glasses occupied the place of stationery. The records
of the courts became unintelligible to sober people; not
a court of any kind, except justice of the peace courts,
was held within the county, (except the Court of Ses-
sions, and that was uniformly conducted by the Senior
Justice, while the presiding Judge was otherwise em-
ployed.)

232 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

tc The ' property -holders', as we are called here, refus-
ed to pay their taxes, on the ground of the insufficiency
of the official bonds ; and the good Hcst at the county
seat hecame tired of his boarding customer in the po?t
of County Judge. Next followad a proclamation from
the Governor, ordering the election of a person to fill
the office of Judge. Judge resigned, and the elec-
tion resulted in the choice of one of the ' property-
holders', [your brother]. And a further result was, that
LEGAL bonds are required, which transient persons can-
not procure.

" Another provision of the law is, that all public of-
fices, except that of justice of the peace, shall be kept
open at the county seat, from 10 o'clock until 12, and
from 1 to 4, each day, except Sundays, new-years, Christ-
mas and eleotion-days ; and none of the county offices,
separately, will pny a person who can furnish the requi-
site bonds, for keeping these office hours. But ten or
twelve county offices, combined, will serve to amnse for
awhile the present incumbent — and will also interest
him not a liftle to keep down expenses; or at least to
prevent profligacy in the public expenditure.

THE BEAUTIFUL CALIFORNIA SCENEBRY.

u Thus and so are my public duties explained. Mon-
roeville is in the heart of the largest valley in Califor-
nia, about 20 miles from my lower Rancho. It is sur-
rounded by rich and fertile lands on all sides, extending
far and wide. The little valley of the Connecticut af-
fords no such scenery. It may be said to surpass ours in

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 233

beauty. The hills, the valleys, the mountains are there
contiguous, and are seen and contemplated at one cir-
cumscribed view ; but here at Monroeville is one ex-
tended view of fertile, alluvial intervale bottom. In the
distance beyond, arise the indistinct hills, and further
on are successive ranges of mountains, towering one
above another, until the lofty forests are seen capped by
ever-present snows — which in winter rush down to the
verge of the hills and invigorate the grateful breezes ;
while Flora paints the earth at our feet. The wild geese
have come from the north !o feed upon our valleys, and
the bears have come from the mountains to feed upon
the grapes that entwine the trees along the streams of
the valleys.. The antelope still bounds upon the plains ;
the deer scud amid the foliage of the leafy trees, and
the elk herd in the valleys between the hills. Such are
the rural scenes on this 4 Pacific Slope/

THE DARK SIDE OF THE PICTURE.

"But now for the 'dark side of the picture.' — No
Church-bell calls together its solemn assemblies! la
fine, nothing but the rude haunts of dissipation supply
the place of schools, academies and colleges. Ox-te;irns
and mules make up the locomotive power, in the main.
But improvements are being made. We have already
passed some of the evils attendant, more or less, upon
all newly organized governments: still there is nothing
very flattering in the civil and political prospects before
us, and less in the moral aspect ahead. Nearly all the
enterprise of the country serves to corrupt and demor-
aliza our transient population. 'Transient'! in that one

234 A BIOGAPHICAL SKETCH OF

word ranch is lost: but as it respects morals, much is
gained — as, when nothing but vice is learned and pro-
moted in a community, the oftener that community is
changed the better.

" Last night, while the rain was pattering against, —
not the window, but against — the rawhide hung up to
keep the storm out of my sleeping-room, a good old
man whom I had known for two or three months past,
came to my door and awoke me from a quiet sleep —
saying, 'Judge, I must leave you; I am going home:
here are the books you gave me. I have recorded but
one case therein : I must resign the Justiceship: where
shall I lay the books and papers ? the stage is waiting.'
On the table, I replied. l Good-bye, Judge', said he-^-
Good-bye, dear Sir, and may peace and prosperity go
with yon, said I. Sad were the reflections of the hours
that followed! My peace was indeed gone! The blear
contrast was full before rny mind — while in my ears
sounded the harsh and tumultuous voices of the schol-
ars of intemperance and crime, as they at that moment
issued from their gaming haunts, pistol and knife in
hand — screaming vengeance unearthly ! But while the
noise gradually died away in the distance, as the weak-
er party fled, long were the hours that intervened, e'er
the morning light gave other scenes to enliven the
sleepless mind. But I will content myself a* well as I
can, until April, 1853, when I shall (if I live), be free
again. And, in the mean time I hope to improve my
mind somewhat by the study of Law. I hnve'nt a very
high regard for lawyers, generally. Nevertheless I can
study their books by way of amusement, and, perhaps,

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 235

qualify myself a little better for my present employ-
ment.

" About thirty days ago sentence of death was passed
upon a horse-thief tried before the Criminal Court of
Colusi County. This morning was laid upon my table
an Order of Commutation from the Governor, to fif-
teen years service ill the State's Prison. The same man
is charged with highway robbery, and will in all. proba-
bility be brought up by writ of habeus corpus for trial
again at Colusi."

THE CONDITION OP PUBLIC AFFAIRS. — EXTRACTS FROM TWO
LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER.

41 Monroeville, Dec. 3, 1851.

"Last year the whole interior of Colusi county fell a
prey to lawless marauders and thieves, to suppress
which * lynch-lawvwas resorted to, to supply the defects
of such systems of law as were, in the exigencies of the
case, imported from, and a]one applicable to, other com-
munities— differing as widely from ours as light from
darkness.

" And again : the attempt to remedy this second evil
of hanging through the impulse of passion, instead of
the former tardy imported system, by organizing gov-
ernment among ourselves, has given rise to another se-
rious evil. The salaries of officers, it was thought,
should be such as would pay our best men for their ser-
vices— especially, as ordinary men frequently obtain in
the mines a great remuneration for their labor. 80,
the offices became more lucrative than the mines. And

236 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

as all American citizens were allowed to vote in our
Democratic State, on the first day of their arrival here,
the whole business of legislation, and the execution of
our laws, became a matter of speculation, and was forth-
with, in most counties, seized by the hordes of Eastern
fortune-hunters, who failed not to apply the power thus
obtained to their own advantage. There are thousands
of worthless men seeking office for its emolument, who
have not the slightest interest in the welfare of the
country: and the consequence is, that the resident cit-
izens are ruined by taxes, besides being saddled with
debts. All our adjoining counties are in debt, some
twenty to fifty thousand dollars. But we are better
oif. Since I have been elected to the office of County
Judge, I have abated, in a great measure, these evils in
our county. I have declared the proceedings of former
officers illegal, and have withheld payment of sallaries ;
and, so far as I know, or have reason to believe, I am
sustained by legal men in the courts above. By these
means, and a rigid economy in county expenses, our
county is out of debt."

" Monroe ville, January, 17, 1852.
u I am engaged at the county seat, and have not been
home for three months. I have the whole management
of our county affairs. I hold two Courts per month,
besides Justice Courts. I have consented to serve my
county as their Probate and County Judge, and Presid-
ing Judge of the Court of Sessions, that I may have it
in my power to counteract that system of speculation
in public affairs that has nearly ruined some of the

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 237

counties. Ours is the only county in the State that is
not in debt more tlwn three-fold its yearly revenue. — •
The scale of taxation is the same throughout the State,
and I hope to save over one thousand dollars of our
yearly public revenue for some public utility. I am re-
garded with all that respf^t I can desire — all classes pay
due deference to their Judge ; but I have few confi-
dential friends, and no adviser in whom I can confide.1*

A PEW WORDS (IN ' CONCLUSION*), TO THE FRIENDS AND RELA-
TIVES OF THE SUBJECT OF THIS "BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH."

We are in possession of a large package of
Mr. IDF/S letters to his friends, from which ad-
ditional and equally interesting extracts might
be made. And yet we have made greater use of
these, even, than we should have done, had we
not been dependent on them, chiefly, for in-
formation respecting his business affiiirs, and
his official duties. By correspondence and oth-
er means, the Editor has sought access to the
contemporary public workers of ' Governor'
IDE, and others who were among his personal
acquaintance ; and he has done so, only to be
assured that almost all of them have, with him,
" passed that bourne from whence no traveler
returns." Under these cirumstances, (it being

238 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

now about twenty-eight years since his decease)
these letters are our only available resource for
the due performance of this part of our duty.

At the time, (about two years ago), when we
commenced our labors on this work — and, in-
deed, not until some eighty pages of it were in
type — we knew nothing of the existence of the
Wambough Letter, which occupies so large a
portion of these pages. Our friends will there-
fore please excuse our seeming missuse of a few
of those pages, by refering in them to events
which are amply discussed in said Letter.

But it is useless for us to undertake to enu-
merate, arid apologise for, all the discrepances
and blunders, (typographical or otherwise) that
some of our qicksighted criticising friends may
discover. If we were to do so, the only hon-
orable course would be to shoulder them all, by
informing them that the EDITOR, alone, is re-
sponsible for them, so far as the compilation of
the material, setting the type, reading and cor-
recting the proof-slips, and making the type
ready for the press, is concerned : and, if he
was inclined to study out an apology or excuse
for any short-corning of duty in these several
employments, the only one he could offer would
be, that the frosts of eighty-five winters may

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. IDE. 239

have somewhat impaired his mental and phys-
iscal capability for such employment.

As this little book is intended as a memori-
al offering to the memory of a beloved Father,
by his only surviving Son and Daughter,* and
by his two surviving Brothers, to be placed in
the hands of so many of his other relatives and
their friends as may obtain copies of it, but a
small edition of will be printed : it being, in a
degree, devoted to a subject, as its title imports,
in which the general reader was not expected
to tieel much interest. Yet, could he become
well aware of the fact, that it contains many
"Scraps of California History never before
published", the case might be different.

* Children of WILLIAM B. and SUSAN Gr. H.
IDR.

WHERE BORN. WHEN BORN.

James Madison, In Keene, N. H., May 2, 1822,

William Haskell, " February 10, 1824.

Mary Elizn, " October 29, 1825.

Sarah Elizabeth, " November 1. 1827.

Ellen Julia, " January 14, 1830.

Susan Catharine, in Woodstock, Yt., August , 1832.

Daniel Webster, in Madison, 0., March 6, 1835.

Lemuel Henry Clay, " December 24, 1837.
John Truman, " near Springfield, 111.," February 28, 1840.

THE INSCRIPTION.

To the Relatives of the late William B. He
and their posterity, of the " third and fourth",
and succeeding " generations", this book is re-
spectfully inscribed. One, two, or more hund-
reds of years hence, should it be so long pre-
served in their family archieves, it will be read
by them with greater avidity and satisfaction,
than by any of their anticipated ' ancestry' of
the present greneration. With this suggestion
it is submitted to their perusal in the hope that
they will charitably overlook or condone any
short-comings of duty they may have discover-
ed in the course of its perusal.

S. I.