The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 5, 1896, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 5, 1896. 19 HE SAW THE. | FLAG RAISED Meeting of the Junta at Mr. Liarkin’s House HISTORIG NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN SWASEY The Most Gritical Period in the Turning Point of Galifor- nia's History, duly [ 7, 1846 Captain W. F. Swasey of this City was ficially connected with the preliminaries which led up to the occupation of Califor- nia by the Americans. He was present, in a semi-official capacity, at the raising of the American flag at Monterey on July 7, 1846. His position was that of clerk to Thomas O. Larkin, the United States Con- sul at Monterey. This enabled him to take part in the making of history. The communications forwarded by Consul Lar- kin to the Department of State, then pre- sided over by James Buchanan, who sub- sequently became President of the United States, were penned by Mr. Swasey. These communications informed the administra- tion concerning the state of affairs and the happenings in California, supplying the basis for action. Captain Swasey and W. P. Toler of Oakland are supposed to be the only sur- vivors of the official party who were gathered at Monterey when Commodore Sloat’s proclamation was read and the American flag was raised. The following account of what took place is thus told by Mr. Swasey, the narrative embracing also the happenings immediately preceding the flag-raisi “Rumors were rife of the intention of the leading Californians to throw off the yoke of the Mexican Government and seek protection under the flag of some foreign power. The dominant sentiment among the Californians was strongly in favor of the English Government. In the tatter part of March or early in April, 1846, a junta, composed of the leading Californians and citizens of alier birth, met at the house of Mr. Larkin. Among those attending that meeting I recall the names of General M. G. Vallejo, Don Pablo de la Guerra, General Jose Castro, Don Jose Abrigo; W. E. P. Hartnell, an Englishman, and David Spence, a Scotch- ma The meeting took place in a room adjoining one occupied by me, who, being anxiocus to know what was going on, lis- tened attentively to their proceedings, from which I gathered distinctly that the main subject of their discussion was the suggestion, or proposition, of throwing off the trammels of the Mexican Government and seeking protection of some foreign flag. Several speeches were made, mostly in favor of Pngland, but the meeting finally wound up with a speech made by General Vallejo, the pur- port of which was that when the time had arrived when it should be necessary for the well-being of the Cali- fornians to change their allegiance from their mother country, he would be most earnestly and emphatically in favor of ap- pealing to the United States, or, as he fre- quently termed it in his speech, ‘La Grand Republica del Norte,’ upon which the meeting broke up or adjourned without taking definite action. *In the afternoon of July 2, 1846, Com- modore Sloat, on board the frigate Savan- nah, entered the bay of Monterey. The s of war Levant end Cyane had been there at anchor some days. The ar- f Commodore Sloat created a sen- among the Americans, he being ico had already been circulating and hoped that he was in possession of knowledge as would justify him in taking decided action, especially in view of the fact that the anti- American feeling am. the prominent Californians and the French, including their Consul, was acrimonious and bitter. The expected ar- rival of a large English man-of-war also rendered the situation for the Americans one of anxiety. ““I regard this as the most critical period in the turning point of California’s his- tory. Had Sir George Seymour arrived before our flag was raised and entered a protest similar to that of the French Con- sul, backed, as it would have been, by the Collingwood, a line-of-battle ship equal in force to that of our whale squadron then present, 1 venture the assertion that our flag would not have been raised by Com- modore Sioat. It1s upon record that the English Admiral said to Commodore Sloat on receiving him: ‘Sloat, if your flag was not flying on shore 1 would have hoisted mine there.’ “The morning of Tuesday, July 7, 1846, dawned most auspiciously. The sky was without a cloud and the bay without arippie. The sun shone serenely, and all nature seemed to have donned her love- liest garb to welcome in an event that would be fraught with consequence of scarcely less importance than any that have occurred in the history of our country during the present century. “About 7 A. M. Captain Mervine came on shore to make a peremptory demand for t' e surrender of the town. By 9 most of the inhabitants of the village had gath- ered near the custom-house, watching the boats assembled about the ships Icaded with men and arms. When the order was given and they advanced to the shore, preserving perfect alignment, it was a magnificent sight that no American pres- ent will ever forget. “On landing the mearines immediately surrounded the custom-house and flag- staff. Midshipman W. P. Toler was the officer selected to boist the flag. As the wlorious flag gracefully rose and the gentle :ze revealed its lustrous stars and luminous stripes, amid the booming of cannon and strains of martial music 1 turned to look into the faces of my Ameri- can friends and found their eyes were as dim as my own.” Captain Swasey, after an adventurons career as trader, merchant, hunter and trapper, arrived in California, éverland, at Sutters Fort, September 23 1845, He remained for a time in a clerical position at the fort and then came to San Fran- ¢isco (then Yerba Buena), and here ne met Captain Fremont, who was on his way to Monterey to obtain permission from General Castro to take his whole perty to Monterey, to obtain supplies and Ber s '/ { V' R PR s IO, 3 Z > T 3 = = ») . K (i UR A= P A N ( o SEES L 5 : ‘\:':T\ - N R s S . RAISING THE STARS AND STRIPES AT MONTEREY ON JULY 7, 1846. clothing. Early in March Captain | District Legislature in 1849 and one of the | sented colossal female figures, writes | skull set exactly in the middle. She was | although such a thing is not unknown Swasey, having obtained an appointment as consular secretary to Consul Larkin, | started for Monterey. Arriving at San Jose, he was selected, at a meeting of | Americans, to go as a courier to Fremont, | news having been received that the latter was surrounded by Mexicans at Gavxlun} Peak. Before he reached Fremont Cnpmin‘ Swasey was taken before General Castro | first notaries appointed under the State | Fannie B. Ward in the Chicago Inter- | the wife of a former alcalde, and we were government. He entered the military | Ocean. Charney and Stephens and Le | told that the good busband arranged and service of the Uaited States in August, | Plongeon and Ober have written ali about | polished her bones himself, and . during 1861, as regimental quartermaster of the Second California Infantry, and in Novem- | extended it, so I will not add my poor mite to their researches. We turned our | his lifetime seemed to derive much pleas- ure from paying her remains these melan- | ber, 1862, was promoted by President Lin- | camera upon the remarkable ruins at the | choly attentions. In the choir of this coln to be captain and assistant quarter- | northern end and picked up a few broken | church and on all of the window ledges master, United States Volunteers. served until 1866, when he was honorably | sacredly as by their ancient worshipers. mustered out of the service. | Near the shore were immense flocks of He | bits of idols, which will be cHerished as | are more skulls, each labeled on the fore- head, and some of them bearing stariling | inscriptions. with some domestic herbivorous animals. | Digesfion is a much more rapid process | with the carnivora, and it is important | that it should not be delayed by the inges- | | tion of large gquantities of cold water. By | lapping the mouth and throat are thor- oughly moistened, while the water is sup- | plied to the stomach in small quantities, | properly warmed and mixed with saliva. | It may be fairly assumed that the carni- l | roud to the goldfields. A PROTESTANT MISSIONARY Rev. S. H. Willey Was the First One to Lland THE GUEST OF GOVERNOR BENNETT RILEY, He Had to Make His Own TJables and Ghairs as There Was No One to Liabor The first American missionary to set foot in Monterey was Rev. 8. H. Willey, who, for the past seven years, has been president of the Van Ness Seminary in this City. The first steamship that ever came up the coast, the California, landed him in what was then the capital of the Territory on February 23, 1849. The first Protestant services in Monterey were held in a parior of the house occupied by Gov- ernor Bennett Riley, and subsequently services were beld in the Governor's busi= ness office. ‘‘Monterey,” said the venerable clergy- man, ‘‘was a city which imoressed me with its disunciively Mexican character. I found the veople very cordial, and, al- though I was a stranger to the. Spanish tongue when I arriveaq, I got along admir- ably well. The fact is that Monterey’s population, early in 1849, was composed chiefly of women and children. The rea- son for this state of affairs was that every man who could buy, beg or borrow a mule had gone to the mines, for the gold excite- ment was then at its height. There was not a man in Monterey to do any labor, and, as there was no furniture for sale in town, I was in a curious predicament. However, by chance I discovered in Col« ton’s Hall a kit of tools that had been left behind by their owner, who was on the With the tools I made a table and a bench and a couple of stools, and thus furnished up a room at small expense. *I nad the honor to be the chaplain of the first State constitutional convention of California, which met in Colton’s Hall, Monterey, September 1, 1849. During my first six months in Monterey I preached to the soldiers on Sunday and taught school during the week. I gathered about sixty children around me in Colton’s Hall and taught them how to speak English. This was not a simple task, by any means, for I knew not a word of Spanish and my pupils coula not speak a syllable of Eng- lish. I used a blackboard, however, and conveyed my meaning largely by illustra- tion. Inthe parade at the approaching celebration of the flag-raising anniversary THE LastT RELIC OF THE OLD-TIME ARMAMENT AT MONTEREY. and presented his letter to Consul Larkin | to show that he was going only to Monte- | rey to act as consuiar secretary, and that Julius Martin, who accompanied him, was pointing out the way. He finally reached Fremont’s camp, the fires of which were still smoldering. Fremont had gone | CapPTAIN W. Ghastly Ruins on Wornan's Island. A little way north of Cozumel and about five miles from the coast of Yucatan is Isla de Mujeres (Womsan s Island), a tiny F. SwasEey. some hours earlier. Captain Swasey con- tinued to Monterey and assumed the duties of consular secretary. Later he became assistant commissary on Fremont’s staff. He'is the only surviving officer of that staff. He was the first Marshal of the Territory of California. He was successively secre- retary of the Town Council of San Fran- cisco in 1847, member of the San Francisco specx in the Caribbean Sea, only six miles long by half as wide. sea birds on the piles of a turtle inclosure and overhead hovered a cloud of white ibises. Alialong the beach were strewn the rotting carcasses of turtles, covered with swarms of flies and actually heaving with corrnption. Another excursion led us inland from Merida to the village of Tixkokob. The town does not amount to much, but it has a fine old church, back of which is the quaintest cemetery I have ever seen. All around its outer walls rows of skulls are ranged; skulls grin along the arms of every cross, with which the interior is thickly set, and several huge vases are piled high with the same ghastly relics. In the middle is a promiscuous heap of buman bones several feet deep. Inside the walls, dangling by cords fastened to the top, are baskets and boxes and bundles, each containing a skeleton, appropriately labeled. Everywhere are fragments of shrouds, shoes that have dropped from fleshless feet, arms, legs, and trunks to which driea flesh still adheres, and scores of skulls with hair chinging to them—some the long beautiful tresses of women. INTERIOR OF CARMEL MIsSION, AS IT APPEARED A QUARTER .OF A CENTURY AGOo, WHEN THE NaTives StiLL CamME THERE TO PRAY AND MEDITATE. &7 . Why Some Animals Lap. The reason that certain animals lap in- stead of drink seems {0 be an arrangement Zea <t SR [T, et % Wk THE OLD SPANISH BARRACKS AT MONTEREY, OPPOSITE THE CUSTOM- HOUSE, WHERE THE FLAG WAS RAISED. Inside the church horrors do not cease. But I will venture | The floor is series of trapdoors, each door to assert that more astonishing things are | covering a vault filled to tne brim with crowded upon it, suggestions of strange | former citizens of Tixkokob. Near the doings in far-away centuries, than can be [-altar is a glass case, in which repose the found in any other place of equal size. Cortez’s soldiers bones of a lady, bright and clean as named it Womans]though newly polisied. The arms and Island because in the four great temples | legs are Jaid atv the ]:ouom, the ribs dis- which they found here all the idols repre- | posed neatly in their natural order, the i of nature to prevent carnivorous animals, whose stomachs are comparatively small, from over:distending themselves with water. Most of the animals that suck when drinking are herbivorous and have large stomachs, or more than one, with a paunch or receptacle for unchewed fooa, and with them digestion is a slow process and there is little if any danger of overdistension, EXTERIOR VIEW OF CARMEL Mis- -SION, AS IT APPEARED TWENTY- FIVE YEARS AGO. vora are of more recent creation, for the herbivorous animals are their food, m\d{ that therefore lapping may be considered a more highly developed way of drinking than sucking.—Pittsburg Dispateh. | | in Monterey the marshal, I understand, will be a Mr. Leese. He was a little pupil of mine in 1849 and well do I remember how I taught him to speak English.” Rev. Mr. Willey has arrived av the good old age of 74. He is a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of Dartmonth Col- | lege, the alma mater of Daniel Webster, and came on his Western mission fresh ffom the Union Theological Seminary in New York. His name is indelibly associ- ated, it should be added, with the found- ing of our own University of Californis. “I am as proud of California as if she were a child of mine,” said Mr. Willey, smiling. “I have watched her grow from her infancy, from seed to fruit. In 1849, a pupil of my school brought me an apple from. the Mission. It was such & rare thing that I prized the gift and carried it home with me. It was so good to look at that I couldn’t bear to eat it. To-day the whole land is rich with fruitage.” The Rev, Mr. Willey carries a wealth of California history under his frosty locks. He is honored and respected far and wide.