The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 11, 1900, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL. . i g I i o \ — OLb RyNs AT FORT' ROSS SPANISH ADoEeE distine- : dpan- “ign ry and The key his ade w v soldier. ; 5 had been intrusted to he was there to zuard the doors \ his life if need be. The ships of CONCE PCION DEARBUELLO < @ A Heroineof Californian Romance Reing the Love Stery of Qoncencion de Arguellc and Nikclai Petre- vigh Rezancfs /1sc the History of California’s Oldgst and Mest Intgresting Russian Sgitlement. only as his guests. Anything else was im- possible. During the days of feasting which fol- loweéd Governor Arellago came up from Monterey to meet the distinguished stranger, and the Russian tried him with flattery and bribes, only to meet with the same stern r 1. Disheartened by these repeated 1 Rezanof had nearly given up his project in despair when an unexpected turn of events changed the aspect of things and brought him a valu- able ally in the shape of General de Ar- guello’s daughter. At the age of seventeen the Senorita Dona Concepcion de Arguello wa ceded to be one of the most beav women in all of New Spain. She pos- sessed the lustrous black hair and lan- guld eyes of her race; a skin of pal- est olive, w T even the California sun could not harm, and a matchless fig- T Y ure. These charms which kad foermed the theme of many a serenade, united to a remarkably swest and tender disposition. made her-a favor- ite with all who knew her. During the first few weeks of the Russtan's visit in her father's house had kept what aloef, but pity for his inabi speak her language made her | entreaties that she would Spanish, and the lessons were beg Rezanof. although along in middle age, and a widower. was a handsome man f strong personality, well versed in y manners of the court, gnd skilled in af HOME oF CONCEPCIONDEARGUELLG NOW DESTROYED fairs of the heart. Many women hal loved him, and as he sat with Cone>peion day after day, under the cloudless blue of the California skies, repeating afier her the liguid words of her native tongue, and finding it so often necessary to u-e the language ef the eyes alone, it was small wonder that he won her love. the same time, ambition ways his m dominant passion, was evolving a sclhe which, though selfish, was none the a brilliant one. Concepcion was her father's darling, and he could refuse her nothing. Throu, her Rezanot could cbtain great influence witi the General who. in turn, was Governor Arellago's most trusted friend and selor. Through a marriage with Concep- clon he saw the consummation of Lis hopes. The much desired trade might be established. Russian colonies would spring up along the coast, and in time California itself. withall its weaith of treasure. might belong to the Czar, and then who should reap the reward. if not the man who had brought it all about? These were the dreams of an ambitious man, but Rezanof had been a successful diplomat and fore- u saw a brilliant future for cordingly he made a f proposition for the hand of Dona Concepcion Had the bomb of a Nihilist exploded in the hitherto peaceful household of Don self. Ac- Jose, it would hardly have caused more consternatio request. Rezanof was a heret such ineligible. The church hurr rotection of Dona Concepeion, and threw its arms about her. The idea of his daughter being transplant- ed to the snows of Russia filled the gen- eral with horror. All the pressure possi- ble was brought to bear upon the girl to induce her to give her lover up. But in vain. She loved with the ardor of a Span- ish woman, and she would have Rezanof or none. The wilds of Siberia or the-loss of paradise were one to her, so long as he shared them with her. Her tears and entr finally won the fathe sent, and having yielded he celebrated the betrothal in a state which was long rémembered by those who sh tivities. Re e after the gayeties at he had not beer ise. As he wrote t¢ part of hi Trade was and Alaskan p: his object Rezan again, plann the way of Sibe back to ¢ and no tic would sit eyes over the stra ne. Her idence nce- against brought the anxious | Kk he dared s of the apparently faithless n of h d the many suitors who have consoled her, she re- to the man who had won her mained tru t love. She led a for the poor of and the dvin earth and hope dren whom she thirty-one then entered St. Cathar i A five years later an American t eier. happening to pass thréugh heard the story of Concepcion, ar peculiar coincidence it was through him gentle and hol the settleme w in her in ine that she learned the details of Rezanof's h. He had perished miserably in a fliness a Yakut hut, in Siberia, of a fatal while on b home. The A had been traveling for a short in his company. and after his de: gone on and carried the news and a few of his personal effects to the dead man's tamily in Russia. He had almost for- gotten the circumstances, until hear; the story of Concepcion de Argueli brought it back to his memory. And se, In this roundabout way, the faithful wo- man at last knew the truth. Notwith- standing the long years of trial w stretched between her an youth, this news proved to be her deathblow. Almost jmmediately after hearing it she to fa), and a few years later quietly awa The Gover confidant tempted to carry them out. way passed ka had been s plans, and 3 The colony or Fort Ross was started, but for many asons proved a failure. With Rezanof energy necessary to per- and it can be easily un- derstood that General de Arguello was net careful to fulfill his part of the bar- All that remains now of the bril- had died the fect the proje gain, liant scheme: f the ambitious Russian is a ruined church, a few dilapidated houses. a graveyard in which repose the bones of the colonists and the sweet mem- ory of Concepeion de Arguello. whose pa- awakens a thrill of pity and thetic stor; i in thé heart of even the most careless listener and forms one of the many romances which are all that Is now left of the picturesque life which once graced the shores of the Pacific Slope. BEATRIZ BELLIDO DE LUNA. ————————— . One of the latest triumphs in the en- gineering world consists in the construe- tion, shipment by steamer and subsequent transfer te railway transportation ox a steamer of 1200 tons displacement, which was finally put afloat in Lake Baikal, Si- beria, not less than 3000 miles from St Petersburg.