Collection: Books and Periodicals

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Title: A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Publisher: Lewis Publishing Company Published: 1891 Copyright: In the public domain or published before 1925 Source(s): Google Books # of Pages: 713 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-07-22 00:25:09 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 06:30:36

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 713  

44 HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. I B. Chiles presided and John H. Nash acted as secretary, and a committee of three was appointed to investigate and gather all the information possible in relation to the action of the Bear Flag party, and report at a eubsequent meeting. Semple, Grigsby and Nash were‘appointed the committee. Manuel E. Melntosh was now alcalde of Sonoma. From the Bear Flag conquest of Sonoma, down to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, there is little to note in connection with Sonoma. Grigsby, Revere, Missroon and Brackett were snecessive military commandants, and the Indians were easily held in subjection by Vallejo as sub-agent of Indian affairs. In 1848 Sonoma had a total population of about 260 souls. José de los Santos Berryessa under Mexican rule had been at the head of municipal affairs. There was then an interregnum of military rule, after which John H. Nash became alcalde, and was superseded in 1847 by Lilburn W. Boggs, who, aided by a council of six, administered the municipal government of Sonoma until 1848. THE BEAR FLAG: HOW MADE, ETC. R. A. Thompson published the following communication in the Sonoma County Democrat ot September 9, 1885: The Independents were very proud of their flag. The bear made an apt illustration of their situation. The grizzly attended strictly to his own business, and would go on munching his berries and acorns if you Jet him and his cubs alone. If you undertook to crowd him out, or to make him go any other way or any faster than he wanted to go he would show fight, and when once in a fight he fought his way out or died in his tracks. The Independents were here, had come in good faith, and come to stay; were quiet and peaceable if let alone. General Castro undertook to crowd them. His grandiloquent proclamations were harmless, but vexatious. At last the crisis came. The Independents, weary of threats and rumors of war, were forced, for the sake of peace, to fight, and having “ gone ip,” to use the identical words of one of them, they did not intend to “ back out.” The bear was typical of that idea. ‘ The difference of opinion about the make-up of the bear flag arises from the fact that there was more than one made. The first was a very rude affair. It is de. scribed in Lieutenant Missroon’s report to Captain Mont. gomery. Lieutenant Missroon arrived in Sonoma Tues. day, the 16th of June, about forty-eight hours after the capture. He reports to Captain Montgomery on the 17th that “the insurgent party had hoisted a flag with a white field, with a border or stripe of red on the lower part, and having a bear and star upon it.” The words “ California Republic” were not cp it at this time, or of course so important a feature would have been noted by Lieutenant Missiccn, who was on a gy ecial and exceedingly important mission from his commander. That these words were afte: warcs added is undoubtedly true. It is a matter of very little importance, but if any One wish«s an exact description of the flag as first raised, he can satisfy himself by an examination of the above-mentioned report. The flag with the bear standing is an after production, as is also the silk guerdon which Lieutenant Revere presented to the pioneers. The description of the flag given by Lieutenant Missroon accoids with the account of several of the party whom the writer bas personally interviewed. Of course, as there were several flags made; each differed from the other, in the materia), fiom whcm the material was obtained, by whom the flag was made, and just how the figures were placed upon it. Hence the confused and many diverse accc-unts of it. All are right as 10 What they Cescribe; Lut what they describe is rot the flag first raised by the Independents. That was rather a rude affair. In fact, the representation of the bear uj on it resembled the species gorcus as much as it did the Ursus feroz or horribilis. There were thirty-three men in the Bear Flag party, more than half of whom came from the Sacramento Valley. Among the latter was the brave and gallant blacksmith, Samue] Neal, and Ezekie) Merritt, the captain of the company. Following is the first list ever published of the names of all the party. A number c:me into Soncma the day afte the capture, and they continued tocome in forsome time. It is very difficult to separate these from the actual members of 4be party who rode into Sonoma on the morning of June 14th. The accompanying list has been a number of years making, and has been sevised meny times and corrected from written records and by personal interviews. There are, doubtless, still scme errors, which may be corrected upon a satisfactory showing: SACRAMENTO VaLLEy.—Ezekiel Merritt, R. Semple, William Fallon, W. B. Ide, H. L. Ford, G. P. Swift, Samuel Neal, William Potter, Sergeant Gibson, W. M. Scott, James Gibbs, H. Sanders, P. Storm. Napa.—Samuel Kelsey, Benjamin Kelsey, John Grigsby, David Hudson, Will Hargrave, Hairison Peirce, William Porterfield, Patrick McChristian, Elias Barrett, C. Griffith, William L. Todd, Nathan Ccombs, Lucien Maxwell. Sonoma.—Franklin Bidwell, Thomas Cowie, —— Fowler, W. B. Elliott, Benjamin Dewell, Jobn Sears, “Old Red.” GENERAL MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO. A history of Northern California with General M.G. Vallejo ignored would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. We vis-