A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) (713 pages)

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 39 Montgomery of the Portsmouth in an unofficial way, and in obedience to the dictates of humanity, sent Lieutenant Missroon to Sonoma, to counsel moderation and kindness on the part of the revolutionists toward the vanquished; but in neither case was there aught said or done that could be construed into leaving the door ajar for a safe retreat of the Bear Flag party out of their difficulty should their rebellion prove abortive. To stand their ground and successfully maintain their position nnder such adverse circumstances required not only nerve but real heroism. That they knew that they were acting outside of the pale of any responsible authority is apparent from the fact that one of the very first matters to claim their consideration was the adoption ofa flag. There is little question that the bear flag was made on the day of the taking of Sonoma, althongh it is quite possible it was not completed so as to be hoisted until the morning of the 15th of June. As there has been much controversy as to how and by whom that flag was made, we give place to the following, which we believe to be authentic: Wm. L. Todd, in a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Hapress, under date of January 11, 1878, gives the following version of the construction of the bear flag: Your letter of the 9th inst. came duly to hand, and in answer I have to say in regard to the making of the original bear flag of California at Sonoma, in 1846, that when the Americans, who had taken up arms against the Spanish regime, had determined what kind of a flag should be adopted, the following persons performed the work: Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford and myself; we procured in the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of new unbleached cotton domestic, not quite a yard wide, with stripes of red flannel about tour inches wide, furnished by Mrs, John Sears, on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper lefthand corner was a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a gizzly bear passant, 80 common in this country at the time. The bear and star were painted with paint made of linseed oi! and Venetian red or Spanish brown. Underneath the bear were the words “California Kepublic.” The other person engaged with me got the materials together, while I acted as artist. The forms the bear and star and the letters were first lined out with peo and ink by myself, and the two forms were filled in with the red paint, but the letters with ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittell with the bear rampant, was made, as [ always understood, at Santa Barbara, and was painted black. Allow me to say, that at that time there was not a wheelwright shop in California. The flag I painted I saw in the rooms of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, in 1870, and the secretary will show it to any person who will call on him at any time. If it is the one that I painted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out the words “California Re ublic.” The letters were first lined out with a pen, and left out the letter I, and lined out the letter C in its place. But afterward 1 lined out the letter I over the C so that the last syllable of “ Republic” looks as if the two last letters were blended. Yours respectfully, Wa. L. Topp. On the occasion of the Centennial exercises, held at Santa Rosa on the 4th of July, 1876, General M. G. Vallejo made the following statement in reference to the capture of Sonoma in 1846 by the Americans: I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugurated a new era for this country. A little before dawn on June 14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with some foreign settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doctor Semple and William B. Ide, surrounded my resideuce at Sonoma,and without firing ashot, made a prisoner of myself, then commander of the northern frontier; of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo, and Jacob P. Leese. I should here state that down to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own expense a respectable garrison at Sonoma, which often, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaign against the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the Mexican Government never refunded, I disbanded the force, and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma. Thus in June, 1846, the Plaza was entirely unprotected, although there were ten war pieces of artillery, with other arms and munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the bear flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and lost no time in taking advantage of this fact, and carrying out their plans. Years before I had urgently represented to the government of Mexico the necessity of stationing a sufticent force on the frontier, else Sonoma would be lost, which would be equivalent tu eaving the rest of the country an easy prey to the invader. What think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country? These instructions were that I should at once force the immigrants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the territory of the Republic. To say nothing of the inhumanity of these orders, their execution was physically impossible—first, because the immigrants came in autumn when snow covered the Sierra so quickly as to make a return impracticable. Under the circumstances, not only I, but Commandante General Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the country. We always made a show of authority, but well convinced all the time that we had had no power to resist the invasion which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or citizens, They carried us as prisoners to Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose for sixty days or more, until the United States made itself respected, and the honorable and humane Commodore Stockton returned us to our hearths. On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once took steps to appoint a captain who was found in the person of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt wished not to retain the permanent command; a meeting was then called at the barracks, situated at the northeast corner of

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 39 Montgomery of the Portsmouth in an unofficial way, and in obedience to the dictates of humanity, sent Lieutenant Missroon to Sonoma, to counsel moderation and kindness on the part of the revolutionists toward the vanquished; but in neither case was there aught said or done that could be construed into leaving the door ajar for a safe retreat of the Bear Flag party out of their difficulty should their rebellion prove abortive. To stand their ground and successfully maintain their position nnder such adverse circumstances required not only nerve but real heroism. That they knew that they were acting outside of the pale of any responsible authority is apparent from the fact that one of the very first matters to claim their consideration was the adoption ofa flag. There is little question that the bear flag was made on the day of the taking of Sonoma, althongh it is quite possible it was not completed so as to be hoisted until the morning of the 15th of June. As there has been much controversy as to how and by whom that flag was made, we give place to the following, which we believe to be authentic: Wm. L. Todd, in a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Hapress, under date of January 11, 1878, gives the following version of the construction of the bear flag: Your letter of the 9th inst. came duly to hand, and in answer I have to say in regard to the making of the original bear flag of California at Sonoma, in 1846, that when the Americans, who had taken up arms against the Spanish regime, had determined what kind of a flag should be adopted, the following persons performed the work: Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford and myself; we procured in the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of new unbleached cotton domestic, not quite a yard wide, with stripes of red flannel about tour inches wide, furnished by Mrs, John Sears, on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper lefthand corner was a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a gizzly bear passant, 80 common in this country at the time. The bear and star were painted with paint made of linseed oi! and Venetian red or Spanish brown. Underneath the bear were the words “California Kepublic.” The other person engaged with me got the materials together, while I acted as artist. The forms the bear and star and the letters were first lined out with peo and ink by myself, and the two forms were filled in with the red paint, but the letters with ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittell with the bear rampant, was made, as [ always understood, at Santa Barbara, and was painted black. Allow me to say, that at that time there was not a wheelwright shop in California. The flag I painted I saw in the rooms of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, in 1870, and the secretary will show it to any person who will call on him at any time. If it is the one that I painted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out the words “California Re ublic.” The letters were first lined out with a pen, and left out the letter I, and lined out the letter C in its place. But afterward 1 lined out the letter I over the C

so that the last syllable of “ Republic” looks as if the two last letters were blended. Yours respectfully, Wa. L. Topp. On the occasion of the Centennial exercises, held at Santa Rosa on the 4th of July, 1876, General M. G. Vallejo made the following statement in reference to the capture of Sonoma in 1846 by the Americans: I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugurated a new era for this country. A little before dawn on June 14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with some foreign settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doctor Semple and William B. Ide, surrounded my resideuce at Sonoma,and without firing ashot, made a prisoner of myself, then commander of the northern frontier; of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo, and Jacob P. Leese. I should here state that down to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own expense a respectable garrison at Sonoma, which often, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaign against the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the Mexican Government never refunded, I disbanded the force, and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma. Thus in June, 1846, the Plaza was entirely unprotected, although there were ten war pieces of artillery, with other arms and munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the bear flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and lost no time in taking advantage of this fact, and carrying out their plans. Years before I had urgently represented to the government of Mexico the necessity of stationing a sufticent force on the frontier, else Sonoma would be lost, which would be equivalent tu eaving the rest of the country an easy prey to the invader. What think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country? These instructions were that I should at once force the immigrants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the territory of the Republic. To say nothing of the inhumanity of these orders, their execution was physically impossible—first, because the immigrants came in autumn when snow covered the Sierra so quickly as to make a return impracticable. Under the circumstances, not only I, but Commandante General Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the country. We always made a show of authority, but well convinced all the time that we had had no power to resist the invasion which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or citizens, They carried us as prisoners to Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose for sixty days or more, until the United States made itself respected, and the honorable and humane Commodore Stockton returned us to our hearths. On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once took steps to appoint a captain who was found in the person of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt wished not to retain the permanent command; a meeting was then called at the barracks, situated at the northeast corner of