The country lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific
Ocean, and bounded at the north, though somewhat indefinitely, by
the Oregon Territory, and at the South by the Lower California,
confined by the late treaty of the two neighboring Republics to the
line three miles south of San Diego, is known as Upper California, a
country now engrossing the attention of the civilized world with its
future importance. There is no other instance known in history
where a country just emerging so to say, from obscurity, immediately
acquired such complicated and multifarious relations, not only to
the nation of whose territory it is only a small portion, but to the
whole civilized world, as California has. In view of these various relations,
we propose here to consider the subject of Upper California.
Before California can answer all those expectations, the realization
of which the world with good reason looks for, an increase of
population must be secured for her. To effect which it will not be
very difficult, if to its natural advantages, the government of the
Union will add its efforts to promote by every legislative and administrative
measure the influx of new settlers. But in all its proceedings,
liberality should be its motto, and none of that miserly policy
that is afraid of losing an acre from its lands or a dollar from its
treasury.
California holds in its bosom resources that no other country
can boast of comprised in so small a territory—its mineral wealth,
its agricultural capacity, its geographical position, conspire to make
it in time one of the most favored lands. And it will lie in the power
of the government either to accelerate or retard the unfolding of
its future importance. When considered in point of mineral productions,
if allowed to be developed by capitalists, California is capable
of becoming an important centre of the commerce of the Pacific.
Here we find in the neighborhood of the Clear Lake, about a hundred
and twenty-five miles north of Sonoma, Lead, Copper, Sulpher
and Saltpetre; on the South side of San Francisco Bay, Silver-mines
have been found in the vicinity of Pueblo de San Jose; Quicksilver
mines which are pronounced to be richer than those of Spain, are already
being worked to a great profit in the same region; Coal strata
have been also found in the coast range of mountains near Santa
Cruz, in the neighborhood of the Mission of San Luis Obispo, and near
San Diego. California Coal seems to be in the intermediate state between
the anthracite and the bituminous; it is not as hard as the former
nor so soft as the latter; it burns more easily than the first,
and does not give out so smoky and unpleasant a flame as the second;
it ignites easily and burns with a very pleasant flame without much
smoke. Iron is scattered through the mountains of the country,
and we have no doubt that a workable mine of it will before long be
discovered. We mention not the gold washings that are being
worked so successfully at present, for as respects their duration and
the developement of the industry of the country, they scarcely deserve
the attention of the economist be they ever so rich; as all
other mines are more beneficent in their influence to the progress of
a country than gold mines. These will become the means of advancing
the prosperity of the country only when a regular system of
mining by sinking shafts into the rocks shall commence, which it is
to be hoped will be done ere long.
The labor expended in working these various mines would give a
firm support to the agriculture of the country, which at this day is
totally neglected. There is no country, probably, where the soil is so
grateful to the hand that cultivates it. There is almost no plant,
grain, or fruit that cannot be raised here. Rye grows wild on the
skirts of the gold region towards the Sierra Nevada; oats cover completely
the coast range of the mountains; wheat and corn grow luxuriantly
on all the plains, notwithstanding it rains only in the winter
season; potatoes, onions and every other kind of garden vegetables
with very little care grow to a very large size and of excellent flavor.
Some of these vegetables can be kept growing all the year
round, such as onions, peas, and some others. Every description
of fruit trees seem to be natural to the soil, for they attain here a
great perfection. The apple, the peach, the pear, the apricot, the
fig, the cherry, the plum, the grape, the pomegranate, the citron,
the orange, the olive, the currant, the gooseberry and various other
berries are found here either cultivated or in a wild state. The
inhabitants of the country have not done much towards the culture
of any fruit trees or shrubs; and that is the reason the quantity of
any fruit is very limited, when compared with the wants of the population
and the capacities of the soil. Knowledge and industry
with very little exertion would increase the quantity not only to supply
the wants of the country but even to a super-abundance. The
pear and the olive seem to have been the favorite fruit with the
Priests of the Missions, as they have raised them in large quantities
and of excellent quality. The California olive is among the largest
known, and in flavor surpasses that of France; the varieties of
the pear are numerous and delicious in quality. The grape vine
grows throughout the country, from the extreme north down to San
Diego. Excellent grape is produced at Sonoma, at the Mission
of San Jose, and some other points. The best however, or where
it was made the best use of, is that of the Pueblo de los Angeles.
The wine produced there by several vine growers is of excellent
quality; in the opinion of many judges in the matter, it is superior
to any wine that Spain or Portugal can produce. Its color, its flavor
and its strength are sui generis; it wants only to be known to be
sought after by amateurs; and there is no doubt but its culture and
the exportation of it will extend rapidly with the increase of commerce
on this coast. The most celebrated wine at present is that
made by M. Vignes, a French gentleman who settled in the country
some fifteen years ago and was the first to plant a vineyard in this
region. There are two qualities of it, red and white; the latter is
more inviting than the former by the very beauty of its color. The
growing of the grape vine and of the olive may be made a very
profitable branch of foreign commerce, if there were men to attend
to the business; settlers from the South of Europe could develope
this branch of industry to great advantage, and could not fail to
make themselves opulent. There are in the country appropriate
spots for the culture of rice and the sugar cane: the former could
be easily raised on the overflowed lands of the San Joaquin and on
the creeks of San Francisco Bay. Cotton even might be raised
here, but we think one could employ his time more profitably in
some other business, as cotton is so cheap elsewhere. Hemp grows
wild in different parts of the country.
There is yet another branch of industry at which we have not
heretofore so much as hinted, but which would prove for California
one of the richest mines of which she could boast; we mean the
raising of sheep. The climate of the country and much of its
surface are admirably adapted for the purpose; in fact, as it proved
a source of wealth to New South Wales, it would be equally so to
California; a great similarity of climate of the two countries guarantees
the result. In this way every portion of the country would
be turned to advantage; the mountains now lying barren would
be a grazing ground for the sheep; and the valleys now trodden
exclusively by cattle and horses would be given up to the plough,
and there would be no more livestock raised than the actual wants
of the country require. Merino rams could be easily procured
from Oregon, Peru, or even New South Wales, to improve the
native breed of the sheep. He who enters upon this business the first
will lay the foundation for a colossal fortune which he can realize
in a few years.
The face of the country being broken up into mountains and
having large valleys separating the two coast ranges of mountains
into the sea coast range on the west, and the spurs of the Sierra
Nevada on the East, offers an ample ground for the shepherd and
agriculturalist. The valleys south of San Francisco Bay lie almost
parallel with the sea coast, gradually receding with it in a South-east
direction. This gives an opportunity for the North-west winds,
which prevail on the coast, to sweep over them, and thus temper
the heat of the sun, renovate the air, and carry away over the snowy
mountains any miasmata that might be suspended in the atmosphere,
and which if left undisturbed might prove a prolific source of
disease. This accounts for the extreme healthiness of the sea
coast of California. The portion of the country that is less salubrious
than the rest of it is confined between the Sacramento and
the San Joaquin; fevers seem to be dominant there, yet even there
people can get acclimated and enjoy good health for years. In
point of climate San Francisco and San Diego present a striking
contrast. The former being so much exposed to the North-west
winds has a very disagreeable temperature; but it is nothing more
than disagreeable, as fogs and winds have their periods there; it is
however, far from being unhealthy; with ordinary care and
prudence, one in a few months gets acclimated, and cannot but
enjoy perfect health. Its winter, notwithstanding the rains, is
more agreeable than its summer, when fog and chilling winds prevail.
This climate extends only the length of the bay; it improves
as we recede farther south. On the contrary, in San Diego the
climate is most delicious and equable; neither enervating by excessive
heat, nor disagreeable on account of Northern blasts. Rains
are scanty, yet vegetation is luxuriant wherever the soil is good.
We may observe here in regard to the climate of California in
general, that for the sake of health, summer dress should be entirely
dispensed with; the nights throughout the coast are cold, and every
new comer is more liable to suffer through neglect of this precaution
than even the natives. Woolen dress is never oppressive here,
but always beneficial. Strangers, if they suffer, owe their illness
to the oversight of this fact, together with the excesses that some of
them commit.
The agriculture of a country should be made the basis of every
branch of industry and trade; these latter should, so to say, feed
the springs of the former. In California every facility is offered
to the farmer. The working of the various mines will guarantee
him a profitable sale of all his productions. The exterior commerce
naturally following the working of mines, will equally
contribute its share in favor of the agriculturalist. The American
whalers scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean to the number of
nearly 700, will come to California for fresh provisions if they have
the security that they will run no risk of losing their crews on their
arrival there. It will be the duty of the Federal Government, as
well as of the local authorities, to devise measures that will give
this security to all shipping. The government squadron that will
be constantly stationed in the Pacific, will also draw its provisions
from California as soon as she shall be able to furnish them, since
it will be less expensive to the Government, and more beneficial for
the service; for much of the stores that are now shipped round
Cape Horn at considerable expense, become unfit for use by the time
they are wanted by the Navy.
Such are the unfailing sources from which the labor of the farmer
will be liberally paid; but they are not the only ones. Every year
will see them expand and always working for the advantage of the
agriculturalist. It is not necessary to be gifted with an extraordinary
foresight to predict that as soon as the industry and enterprise
of the Americans take a fair footing on this soil, the commerce of the
country will grow daily; the trade with China, with the Islands of
the Pacific, and with the whole western coast of America will be
ere many years, in the hands of American citizens resident in California,
which will be made a depot of the industry of the whole
Union. To swell this commercial tide beating against the shores of
California comes the railroad that must inevitably be built across
the territory of the Union, and whose terminus must be on the Bay
of San Francisco. It may take many years before this work will
be accomplished, but we have no doubt of its being sooner or later
entered upon. We have a particular right to express our faith in
the accomplishment of the work, as we were the first, at least to our
knowledge, who, five years ago, prophesied on a public occasion,
the union of New York with San Francisco by means of the iron
bars laid across the continent. At that time it was more difficult to
foresee than it is now, and probably those who then smiled at our enthusiastic
visions of the future, will now agree with us that the time
is not far removed when the Pacific shore railroad will pass into the
facts of history. The accomplishment of this work will appear less
difficult when we consider that one half of the proposed railroad is
already built—we mean the distance from New York to Natchez.
Now, combining all the results of the different branches of industry
above spoken of, and which can and will be exercised in this territory
whenever there shall be a sufficient number of inhabitants for
the work, is it difficult to foresee the part California is to perform in
the civilized world? And all this will ultimately turn to the especial
benefit of the tiller of the soil. The country can sustain several
millions of inhabitants with the greatest ease possible. The apparent
drawback upon the agriculture of the country in the eyes of
a farmer from the States is the comparative scarcity of timber and
water; and he is more disagreeably impressed, if, arriving by land,
he beholds, first of all, the extensive plains of the Sacramento.—Should
he come from Oregon he feels home-sick, and is willing almost
immediately to turn upon his heels for his well wooded home.
But the Sacramento plains are not the best representatives of the
country; they are good only for a scanty population; the want of
an abundant supply of wood and water is only apparent at first
sight, and particularly to those whose first idea of farming is to clear
away the woods from the land they are to settle upon. The same
time which the farmer in Oregon devotes to the clearing of land can
be, if necessary, devoted to looking for and securing a lasting spring
of water that may answer for all farming purposes—a thing very
easily done, if one possesses a little knowledge and industry. We
can say safely, that there is hardly a spot in California on which
water cannot be found if looked for; although frequently on the
surface there may be no signs of it, yet the ground, notwithstanding
this, is so percolated with it that it needs, comparatively speaking,
but little labor to strike upon a lasting spring. We doubt not that
those who have means would find it profitable to sink an artesian
well, if the land require it, which work would not be very expensive
here, because there is never an occasion to go very deep in
search of water in California. By what we have said we do not
mean to imply that the necessity for these wells will be felt throughout
the country; far from it—there are not only numerous streams
in the hills that never dry up, offering fine mill sites, but others that
wash the plains can be turned to agricultural purposes with all ease.
At one time, when California was under the direction of the Spanish
priests, it was like a garden; but the Mexican misrule blasted it
like the Northern wind when it breathes upon a budding flower.
Those who have not seen such things before, would be surprised at
finding wheat and corn, the principal grains that are raised here,
growing luxuriantly in plains where there are but scanty rains. We
have seen excellent potatoes grow on a slope of a hill in the Bay of
Monterey. This is undoubtedly owing to the moisture brought
from the sea by winds, nightly dews, and to the fact that the sub-soil
is always more or less moist. There is a remarkable advantage in
the climate of California for the farmer; the seasons and their peculiarities
are so well known that he can count almost with certainty
upon the results of his rural labors.
Although timber cannot be found on every spot that is arable, yet
we may safely assert that there is a sufficient quantity of it through
the country to satisfy all the wants of the inhabitants that are yet
to settle here. The coast range of mountains from Oregon down,
is quite plentifully wooded; particularly near Botega on the North
and Santa Cruz on the South side of the Bay of San Francisco.
There are already from six to eight saw-mills in the country, and
there is yet room for more. In fact, in our opinion, if the American
farmer get rid of his stereotyped notions of farming, and using his
intelligence, adapts himself to the climate and the state of the country,
he will reap a golden harvest much more abundant than anywhere
else; and even we would go farther and assert that he will
do so with much less labor than in any of the States.
In connexion with the farming interest we cannot overlook the excellent
state of natural roads throughout the country. A good road
enables the farmer to dispose of his produce and greatly diminishes his
rural labors. There are but a few, if any, countries that can boast
of so good natural roads as California. From San Francisco down
to San Diego, a carriage may pass along the valleys almost upon a
beaten track, although everything in relation to roads is at present
completely neglected. In Spanish times they were in a better state,
for the Priests then used to make their journeys to San Diego in carriages
all along the coast. A very little labor would make them
even now all that roads need be.
Not less important to the farming interest, as to every interest in
the country, is a railroad uniting the States on the East side of the
Rocky Mountains with the Pacific shores. The advantages of such
a National work are numerous, and if the people and the government
of the Union understand fully its importance, they will lose no
time in undertaking it. The practicability of the work is not to be
questioned; the country through which it should pass, and the energy
and enterprise of the American citizens are sufficient guarantees
for its feasibility. The immense advantages in a commercial point
of view to be derived from such an enterprise are indisputable. The
trade of China, of the Islands of the Pacific and the whole Western
coast of America, will be brought so much nearer the Union that it
will not fail to pour immense wealth into her lap. She will become
really a formidable commercial rival of Great Britain, and a common
carrier to the whole of Europe. It will bind the whole Union
with more indissoluble ties; the sectional interests of each State will
be mingled and merged in the common interest made fast to the Pacific
shore. To California individually, such a railroad will be of
great consequence, as it will make it a centre of an extensive commerce,
and will bring to her a sufficient population to develope all
her internal resources.
Once before we have indicated the route for such a railroad, and
we will take this opportunity to enforce it upon the public still more,
as farther reflection and information upon the subject enables us to
do even with more reason than before.
The projected railroad across the continent should start from the
Mississippi near the mouth of the Ohio, or at such a point that the
navigation will never be liable to be interrupted by ice; thence to the
vicinity of the Arkansas; thence along the prairie ridge which separates
the waters that flow into the Arkansas from those which flow
into the Mississippi and Missouri, to the point where the road passes
from Missouri to New Mexico, and by San Miguel to Santa Fe;
thence up the valley of the Rio del Norte to the mouth of the Abaca
creek; thence up the creek to the town of the same name, and thence
through a pine forest of low sandy hills ninety miles in length to the
Rio de la Plata, which is a tributary of the San Juan. The latter
is a tributary of the Colorado. It should cross the Colorado to the
Northwest side and proceed along the trail from Santa Fe to California
to a point between the Mahahve river and the San Bernardino
mountain; thence through about ten miles of low hills to the great
valley of the San Joaquin; thence down that magnificent and fertile
valley, about five hundred miles on a level, to the tide water of the
Bay of San Francisco. By this route the road will pass over a dead
level of about eight hundred miles at the eastern end, and about five
hundred miles at the western; it will have no mountains to cross, will
be nearly free from snow in all parts, will afford, for New Mexico,
an outlet to both Oceans, and terminate at the best part of the western
coast of America.
The point of the terminus of the railroad is by an accident, so to
speak, already selected with a good deal of discernment; it is called
the New York of the Pacific, situated at the upper part of the Bay of
San Francisco, known here as Suisun Bay. An enterprising company,
at the head of which is Col. Stevenson, have bought a tract of
land at the mouth of the San Joaquin, where it mingles its waters
with those of the Sacramento, and are already building a town. Its
situation for the terminus of the railroad is very advantageous; it is
level; has abundance of land to expand upon; it is in the neighborhood
of grazing farms; its climate is healthy, as is the rest of the
south bank of the San Joaquin; well-water can be found there within
a few feet of the surface; the river is deep enough to admit large
vessels close to the shore, and its water here is fresh and sweet;
ships can water here with the greatest facility. The vessels going
up the Sacramento pass within sight of it. It is a spot very judiciously
selected for a town, and we have no doubt it will grow, as
the proprietors spare no efforts to make it acceptable to new settlers.
But the railroad should not stop here; it should branch away
along the shore to the point where now the town of Martinez is being
laid out,—a very pretty site facing the straits of Carquinez; thence
it should strike the valley of San Jose—one of the richest spots in
California and which would support, a million of industrious inhabitants—and
following along the coast terminate at San Diego.
The advantages of uniting the two opposite points of the country
by means of a railroad, will not only help its speedy settlement—an
important consideration in many respects—but will be equal to gaining
a free port on the coast of Mexico for the exclusive benefit of
American citizens. By the means of Santa Fe and San Diego,
should the railroad be constructed as indicated above, the Union
will have the command of the largest share of the Mexican trade.
So far as we know, and we have taken considerable pains to ascertain
the fact, we may assert that there is no better route for a
railroad from the States to California. No other passage through
the Sierra Nevada can be found but the one we have indicated.
There is none to be found between the heads of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin rivers. We have rambled over that region, and the
conformation of the country gives us confidence in saying that it is
not at all favorable to such a passage; and besides, supposing that
such a passage could be found, a single fact in relation to the subject
will destroy all hopes of effecting the object; we mean that
from the line where the auriferous region terminates, to the very
ridge of the Sierra Nevada—the region of granite, occasional limestone,
and Masses of sand-stone—snow lies for six months, accompanied
with intense cold; the depressions of the mountains are filled
up with it to such a degree that the tops of the highest trees only
peep through it as if they were but so many insignificant bushes.
In fine, the snow levels the tops of the mountains into a continuous
plain, as it were, through which the melting sun alone, by degrees,
can effect a passage towards the end of June or the beginning of
July. This is the time when the Snowy Mountains can be traversed.
The government a few weeks ago sent an expedition in
search of such a passage through the Northern portion of the gold
region about the head of the Sacramento river. We feel sure that
the attempt will be fruitless.
It would be well, on the part of the government, to look for passages
for military roads leading from the States to the Pacific, or to
take advantage of those already discovered. There ought to be at
least three such roads; one leading to Oregon, another to the north
of California, striking at the head of the Bear Creek, and the third
taking a southerly course to San Diego. These roads would offer
great facilities to the emigrants from the States, who never should
take the same track in large companies, on account of the scantiness
of grass. The military posts thus established would keep in check
the roving tribes of Indians, offering security to the emigrants.
There is already, considering the character of the country through
which it passes, a very good road made by the renowned mountaineer,
Greenwood, leading by the head of Yuba and striking at
the Bear Creek valley, till it reaches Johnson’s farm on the confines
of the plains. This road may be made better and much shorter, if
it should follow from the ridge at the head of Bear Creek valley,
striking at the head of the north fork of the same creek, and following
it along a little towards the Yuba side, then again turning towards
the Bear Creek, and continuing so till the hills acquire a more
confused outline, and finally striking Johnson’s farm. By this route
the journey would be shortened several days, and the difficult descent
at the junction of the North Fork of the Bear Creek with the
same creek would be avoided.
The military roads thus disposed would give a security to the settlements
from horse thieving Indians, who now frequently make incursions
upon them, carrying away herds of horses and mules, and
sometimes even pick up an unaware traveller on his journey. The
present disposition of the troops is of no real service to the country.
They are stationed in comfortable and quiet quarters in towns where
they are the least wanted, and the thieving Indians are allowed to
make nightly excursions into the settlements, and to infest the roads.
Under the Spanish government there were different military posts
established in the country, and the troops in detachments were made
constantly to traverse the country in different directions from post
to post, thus keeping always on the road, they kept in check the predatory
Indians, who, by the way, are neither very brave nor formidable
in numbers. According to our notions, soldiers are not kept
for the purpose of meddling with politics and living always in towns;
they should perform the service that the country may need at their
hands, although that service may lead them into camp life.
Since the occupation of the country by the American forces, the
inhabitants complained bitterly of the frequent depredations of the
horse thieving Indians, but the powers that be listened with indifference
to them, and offered no effective remedy for the evil, and it
does not seem probable that the present military authorities will do
any better for the country, judging from the disposition they have
made of the forces. The inhabitants, if they can combine, will have
to take the subject into their own hands, for it is even doubtful whether
the highest authorities of the Union will deign to look into the
wants of the benighted ranchero of California. However, we will
not lay the faults of the past government at the door of the present
one; we will hope still a while longer for the best at its hands.
It is of no small importance to those who wish to settle in California
to know the state of landed property in the country; it will be
but following their wishes if we offer a few pertinent remarks upon
the subject, which we will do after a few preliminaries. A line
drawn from the coast eastward that would pass at the southern edge
of the Clear-lake valley; then another that would go north and
south, intersecting the former, touching the western side of the auriferous
region, and following it down to the frontier line south of San
Diego, may be considered as enclosing the inhabited portions of the
country. There is very little public land within the above described
lines, as it is almost entirely occupied by proprietors or covered by
titles.
The government, therefore, cannot expect to find much in the settled
portion of the country that should come under its immediate control
in the shape of public lands. The land on the north and east
sides of the imaginary lines we drew, is either unoccupied or inhabited
by rambling tribes of Indians. We may say that the whole auriferous
region is occupied by Indians in its whole extent, and the
oak is the frontier line of the Indian dominions; beyond that line the
undisputed possessions of the pine and the bear commence. The
wild Indians of California are probably the most inferior race of all
the Aborigines of the continent; they lack energy and spirit; they
live on roots, acorns, pine-nuts, insects, and occasionally on game,
when they can catch it, or on horse or mule flesh when they can
steal it. North of the Bay of San Francisco, and between the Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers, some of the Indians live in the
families of the settlers, or near their farms, working for their subsistence
and an occasional blanket. These are called in Spanish, very
properly, Indios manzos—(tame Indians.) The others live in the
woods, rambling frequently from spot to spot and sustaining themselves
in the way we have already mentioned.
On the south side of the Bay of San Francisco and the San Joaquin
rivers, the Indians are more numerous, and particularly as we go
further south they are more spirited and enterprising in thieving
than those of the north; and those particularly on the southern frontier
of California are brave and formidable. The Indios manzos are
sufficiently numerous in the settlements here, and some thousands of
them were living at the Missions. The wild Indians in this portion
of the country occupy the mountains back of the settlements;
amongst them are now found in large numbers, those who, after the
Mexican government succeeded in ruining the Missions, fled into
the mountains and resumed their former life. In these mountains
are found numerous beautiful valleys, well watered and full of game
of every description; the climate is said to be very benign. It would
be very difficult to estimate accurately the number of Indians, both
tame and wild, in the country; we therefore will not offer any supposition
of our own on the subject.
The government at Washington will find itself somewhat embarrassed
in selecting a course of conduct with these Indians; they
have been accustomed to a different system of management than that
of the United States. They cannot be removed, in justice and humanity,
from the country, for there is no place to remove them to
where they could subsist; it would be dooming them to destruction;
and it would be more humane to butcher them outright than expose
them to a slow but sure extinction. The system that the Spanish government
pursued with them seems to suit, at least the Indians of this
country, better than the American way. It acknowledged no rights
in them to the soil, but it sends out missionaries to gather them into
the folds of the church, and to make settlements of them under the
directions of the Priests. In our opinion, the only safe and humane
mode of bringing them within the pale of civilization, would be by
establishing Protestant Missions, if you like,—but modeled somewhat
after the Spanish fashion,—in those mountains on the spots fit for agriculture
and grazing, where they could be brought to an industrious
and peaceable life by persuasion, which could be easily effected, as
they are sufficiently docile, and in this manner their services might
be secured for the country as heretofore; they are, when engaged
with settlers, those who generally perform the labors of the field or
about the house, without losing, however, their freedom. In these
occupations they seem quite contented, if they have enough meat to
eat, which of course never fails in California. There can be in California
no other but free labor hereafter, as it has been heretofore.
The new settlers, as well as the old ones, are extremely opposed to
any other. It is in vain that the gentlemen from the Southern States
of the Union, in their dreaming hours, try, or have tried, to introduce
their black institutions through the legal doors, as they think,
of Congress into the territory of California. Whether Congress
may please, in its wisdom, to think that it has a right to introduce
slavery into its new territories or not, it matters not for California;
she cares very little what Congress may do in forgetfulness of its
duty towards her, but she is resolved to resist any such measure;
and whoever entertains the question for a moment, either in the legislative
halls or before the public, shows his ignorance of the disposition
and unanimous determination of the inhabitants of California.
The slave-holder who would come here with his legalized chattles,
would find his sojourn very uncomfortable, and would lose completely
on his speculation. The inhabitants of this country feel already
indignant at the intrigues of the Southern gentlemen who
prevented, in the last Congress, the passage of necessary laws for
California. We may state here once for all, that if Congress wish
to govern this country, it must be just and paternal in its care of it;
if it pass any laws it must not pass them in ignorance of the state
of things in California; it must not imagine that this country is only
inhabited by semi-barbarous tribes that can be co-erced into obedience.
The inhabitants are very easily governed by justice, and
there are no more loyal citizens in the whole Union than the California
settlers; but they think they understand their rights, and
would not be downtrodden by any legislative bodies. At this moment
the larger portion of them are Europeans and Americans, and
the rest are Mexicans either born in California or in other States of
that Republic. It is the interest of the Union to keep them in good
humor, and consolidate the new territories by just and liberal laws.
Judging from the specimens of the laws proposed in Congress for
the benefit of California, and which, thanks to the knowledge, wisdom
and eloquence of Hon. T. H. Benton, Senator from Missouri,
failed to go into effect, we fear that that honorable body is in danger
of running on shoals in its legislative measures relating to this country,
and particularly in laws affecting landed property. The gentlemen
in Congress apply their American ideas of the value of landed
property to a country that has been, so to say, born and raised
under Spanish system of laws, and is totally different from any of
the States in its domestic and civil arrangements. It would be impossible
by any legislative act to change suddenly the character of
former civil institutions of the country without committing outrageous
injustice to its inhabitants, and even running the risk of raising
their opposition. California, as well as New Mexico, comes into
the Union as a full-grown man, whose habits are already formed,
connects himself by ties of matrimony with another family; his new
relations, if they be wise, do not wish him to be like themselves in
every particular, but gradually by gentle influences, try to assimilate
him to themselves, in which, in the long run, they will succeed.
This is precisely the position of the government of the Union in regard
to these newly acquired territories. To assimilate them by
degrees without doing violence or injustice to their habits and possessions,
should be the rule of a wise legislation. They are not to
be punished for what, in the eyes of American legislators, appears
to be defective in the Spanish or Mexican laws; if so, it would be
doing violence to justice, to the laws of nations, and to the very late
treaty by which the American government bound itself to respect
their rights of property precisely as the Mexican government would
have done or did do. The plain meaning of this is that the government
of the United States is bound to recognize and legalize after
its fashion to suit its system of laws, the present possessions of the
Californians as it finds them, and has no right to go behind the fact
of actual possession and scrutinize and invalidate them. The Mexican
government has left them so, as we find them, and if it had
continued its sway in these countries, there is no possible doubt but
it would not have disturbed them. These people who were brought
up to tend their cattle on a large surface of land, as their grazing
farms are, without any knowledge of any other mode of getting a
living, if cut down to the American idea of a farm, of a hundred and
eighty acres, or supposing even a section of 640 acres, would be reduced
to beggary, nay, worse, to servitude. Would such a step be
creditable to an enlightened, Christian nation like the United States?
Tending cattle is their only occupation and only knowledge; it
will take some time before they be trained to a different mode of
life. The Spanish and Mexican law does not know a fee-simple
title,—in the meaning of the U. S. laws it is a grant of perpetual
lease, on some conditions. To suit its own practice, the American
government should recognize the titles as it finds them in the country
by giving the proprietors a fee-simple title, after its own fashion,
on the top of the former one by which the land was held.
The Spanish and Mexican governments were liberal in giving facilities
to acquire land, particularly in California. It was a common
practice of the Mexican government that when a foreigner
married a native he was recognized as a citizen, and by applying,
could obtain a grant of land for a grazing farm of from a league to
four leagues, or sometimes even more. As a general rule, the
largest grazing farm that could have been granted under Mexican
government, consisted of eleven leagues; there are, however, individuals
that possess as many as thirty and forty leagues of land.
Such large possessions are open to suspicion in regard to their being
legal possessions, and into such the American government may inquire
with more justice, as they are larger than even the necessities
of California farmer’s life could require. But small proprietors
cannot have more than is absolutely necessary to their maintenance.
The landed possessions in California may be arranged into three
categories, which sprang very naturally from the system of the
colonization of the country. There are Mission lands, Pueblo lands
and ranchos, as they are called here, but in better Spanish they
would be called haciendas, and in plain English, grazing farmlands
of private individuals.
The settlement of California was owing to the will of a pious
Countess in Mexico, who left an immense fortune to christianize the
heathen inhabitants of this country. About the year of 1670, an
expedition, led by a missionary priest, and escorted by a company
of soldiers and settlers, landed on the shores of California. The
first attempts at colonizing the country were not successful, but by
perseverence in repeated efforts the Spaniards at last succeeded in
getting a foot-hold in this land. They gathered Indians about them,
christianized them after their fashion, and made them manzos; soon,
with their labor, Mission buildings were erected, farms put in order,
cattle raised, and the Indians were instructed in various handicrafts.
Finally, in course of time, through the whole length of the land,
Missions were planted, and flourished; the Priests grew fat and
rich, and the Indians became tame and industrious, and were well
taken care of. The country smiled with abundance and the people
were happy. Soon, settlers came into the country and planted
themselves, very naturally, near the Missions, on which, at first,
they depended for their worldly goods; but by degrees they sprung
into Pueblos, viz. towns. These towns had lands alloted to them
by leagues, which were to be used in common by all the inhabitants
for their cattle; or if any of them wished to till a piece of land, by an
application to the alcalde, if there were no objections by the inhabitants,
he received a permit from the judge so to do, and as long as he
or his heirs occupied it, no body had a right to disturb them. In this
way it followed that the inhabitants of towns acquired small portions
of land for their houses and tillage, while the rest of the town land
was used in common for grazing. Under this arrangement of town
property there was always enough land for all new settlers that
might come to inhabit these Pueblos. This manner of disposing of
town land, sanctioned by Mexican law, served as a precedent to the
town authorities of San Francisco, Pueblo de San Jose, Santa Cruz
and Monterey, when they, in 1847, disposed of a portion of the land
belonging to those respective towns, giving perpetual leases to their
possessors. This measure was particularly favorable to foreigners
recently arrived in the country, as thus they were enabled to buy
the rights of the natives who were not disposed to put much value
upon so small parcels of land, and thereby the American interest was
much promoted.
The land of the ranchos was always either a royal grant of Spain
or of the supreme government of Mexico, or latterly of the Governor
of California; all these grants practically had the same effect; the
possessor of the tract of land thus granted was always in the full enjoyment
of his rights and privileges, and no authority could disturb
him in his possessions. As the country was frequently disturbed by
revolutions, when it was not uncommon for one of the contending
parties to burn up or carry away or destroy the archives of a town
or even of the country, the land proprietors were not molested in
their possessions, although they could not show their property enregistered
in the records. Besides the officers of the Mexican government
being proverbially negligent of their duties, may not have
paid sufficient attention to proper order in these matters. Under
such circumstances it would not be surprising if some proprietors
should find their property unregistered in the archives of the country.
Whatever land is left that has not been disposed of in one of
the ways aforesaid, is public land at the disposal of the government.
Such being the disposition of landed property in California, the
American government, if it be just and does not wish to create a
general disaffection among the people towards itself, must recognize
the actual possessors in their possessions by a summary act of legislation
recognizing the rights they claim, and to prevent all future
difficulties, giving them the fee-simple title to their possessions. The
ranchos must be acknowledged to be the property of private individuals;
the towns must have their rights to their town lands, and
the Missions, if they yet have any Indians, ought to retain their
tracts of land; or if these exist no longer, the church and public education
have the next and best right to them. The lands of the Missions
were always considered as Indian lands, or lands devoted for
the benefit of the Indians living at the Missions; the priest was but
a steward of the Mission. When the riches of the Missions excited
the envy of some high persons in office, they set themselves to work
to secularize them—and they succeeded under the Mexican government.
The Missions were secularized and circumscribed, and received
laymen for their administrators, who superintended and administered
them so well that the riches of the Missions fled, their
buildings were ruined, their Indians scattered, and at present scarcely their
shadow is left; yet they do exist just to remind the world of their
former opulence. With the exception of two or three, on all of them
there are yet some Indians and a Priest left shorn of their former
glory.
In view of the state of landed property of the country, there are
three methods by the means of which California may receive an increase
to its population without any violence to justice or law being
committed. Supposing that the American government has recognized
all titles to lands as it found them, then those who have no
means of buying land from private individuals should receive liberal
donations from the government, or settle in one of the towns where yet
town lands exist, and taking advantage of the Mexican law by petitioning
the alcalde, the settler could get land for his house and tillage,
and being more industrious than the natives, he could even
grow rich soon and enjoy his possessions as if they were his in fee
simple. Those who have means could find tracts of land to buy,
either enough only for themselves, or larger than they actually
need, to be divided into farms of sufficient size and induce new settlers,
by offering them liberal terms, to settle around them; by this
arrangement both parties would be gainers.
In our view of the subject, we think the interest of the whole
country would induce the government to use all means at its disposal
to favor a prompt settlement of California, since the sooner it will be
densely settled the sooner its vast resources will be developed, and the
sooner the whole Union will reap advantages resulting from such a
developement.