Contra Costa-Santa Clara County CA Archives Biographies.....Brown, Elam June 10, 1797 - August 10, 1889
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Author: Unknown

“BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Elam Brown, of Contra Costa County – An Old Pioneer of California – A Sketch of 
his Life and Trip across the Plains in 1846.

Mr. Brown was born in Herkiman county, New York, on the 10th day of June, 
1797.  His father was a farmer and married a Miss Lyons, both of whom were of 
Scotch descent.  They had three sons and four daughters, and Elam, the subject 
of this history, was the oldest of the sons. When Elam was about one year old, 
his parents moved to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and when he had reached 
the age of seven years, they moved from that State to Ohio, which was then a 
wilderness.  While traveling through the Alleghany Mountains, and as they 
immerged from the forest and looked down, beneath their feet, upon the 
beautiful Ohio river, that gently flowed by the little village of Wheeling, 
young Elam was so deeply impressed with the scenery that he ever afterwards had 
a longing desire to see more of his native country, America, until he finally 
reached the Pacific coast.  From Wheeling the family crossed the river to where 
there was only one house on the Ohio side, and journeyed on through the 
wilderness to Zanesville, the first settlement, and from thence to New Ark, 
which contained only a few houses.  From New Ark they went to Granville, six 
miles off, where there was only one house.  They then cut a road twenty-four 
miles through the forest to what was called the Berkshire Settlement, inhabited 
principally by people from Massachusetts, there being one family from 
Pennsylvania and one from Kentucky.  After they had built suitable houses to 
live in, the people of the settlement erected a log cabin school house, and 
employed female teachers during the summer and male teachers for the winter at 
a salary of about $15 per month including their board.  But the vacations 
consumed much the largest portion of the year.  Here is where Elam and his 
brothers and sisters learned their first rudiments at school, but the former 
being the oldest son had to devote so much of his time to the farm that at the 
age of twenty he could not read well.  After he had reached that age he became 
exceedingly fond of history and geography, and made those two branches of 
education his chief study.  His father died when he was 18 years old, when he 
became sole manager of the estate until 1818, when he left that county and went 
to St. Louis, then a French village of a few families, where the United States 
Government had established a recruiting office.  From St. Louis Mr. Brown 
traveled on foot up the Missouri river one hundred miles to see the country, 
and returned.  But still having that old roving disposition, he started to 
Illinois in company with a Mr. Charles Gregory, uncle to the one now living 
near Mount Diablo, and remained in Madison county a year, when he went to a 
settlement on Apple Creek, forty miles north of Madison, and afterwards named 
Green county.  Here he married a daughter of Thos. Allen, living on Apple 
Creek, and after having lived there for four years purchase and cultivated the 
first farm he ever owned, but sold out and moved his little family thirty miles 
into a section of country organized afterwards into Morgan county.  Here be 
lived for fourteen years.  In 1836 the Government of the United States 
purchased from the Indians a gore [?] of land lying between the western 
boundary of the State of Missouri and the Missouri river, called the Platte 
Purchase, and Mr. Brown when he was forty years old, moved to this part of the 
country and cleared a farm of 180 acres.  After having remained there for nine 
years he sold out and started to Oregon Territory, in company with ten families 
(16 wagons), and left St. Joseph, Mo., on the 1st day of May, 1846, to try 
traveling on the Plains, which in those days tried men’s souls.  There was no 
road at that time to California, and only a difficult one to Oregon, and not a 
bridge over any of the streams, great or small, which they had to cross.  One 
of the main objects with emigrants when they start on such a journey is to find 
a good and safe camping place every night where there is a plenty of wood, 
grass and water.

When the train had camped one night on the South fork of the Platte river, 
their cattle “took a stampede,” supposed to have been caused by buffaloes and 
the company lost sixty two of their oxen, which they never found, although they 
spent a week in looking for them.  This was a very serious loss, but they 
succeeded in purchasing from other immigrants a sufficient number to continue 
their journey, including cows.  Mr. Brown was here compelled to leave one of 
his wagons and work four cows in his teams, the balance of the journey, and 
they stood the trip equally as well as oxen.  After the train had crossed the 
South Platte and passed a band of Paunee [sic] Indians retreating from the 
Sioux who had been at war with the former, the emigrants met with no incidents 
of importance until they arrived within 14 miles of a French trading-post, now 
called Fort Laramie, when Mr. Brown and five others of the company were sent on 
ahead, early in the morning to the Post to purchase more cattle, as their teams 
had been considerably reduced, and make preparations to have some blacksmith’s 
work done by the time the train reached there.  These six men had left the 
train but a short distance, when an Indian fell in company with them and spoke 
in a language which they could not understand.  After they had reached an 
elevated position, they discovered in the distance of about two miles, a large 
body of Indians, three hundred strong, mounted on horse-back, when this Indians 
waved his blanket as a signal to his comrades, and the latter immediately 
commenced a rapid march towards them in good order in a trot and in a solid 
column while their arms could be seen glittering in the sun.  Mr. Brown 
believing that the train was in great danger, sent back one of his companions 
requesting the emigrants to hurry up, to look well to their arms and 
ammunition, and to send him some tobacco.  In the meantime, the Indians had 
advanced within 24 feet of Mr. B. and his little party when he waved his hand 
for them to stop.  The chief immediately commanded his men to halt, and 
dismounting from his horse made a speech to them, after which, he approached 
Mr. Brown with eleven others who had also dismounted from their horses and 
shook him by the hand commencing with the chief.  Mr. Brown now sat down upon 
the ground and motioned the Indians to do likewise, which they all did forming 
themselves into a ring.  He now handed the tobacco to the chief, which had been 
sent from the train, who filling his pipe and gave one whiff then handed it to 
Mr. Brown and when the latter had smoked the presented it to the next and it 
was passed around until all had smoked the pipe of peace.  By this time, the 
train had come up, and the oxen becoming so much alarmed and unmanageable from 
seeing the Indians, that Mr. Brown beckoned to the Indians to give way, when 
the chief gave the command and a lane was formed for the emigrants to pass 
through which they did – the Indians following in the rear to the next camping 
place.  The way the Indians carried their baggage was on two poles fastened to 
each side of the horse like shaves to a buggy except the two hind ends dragged 
the ground.  That night, complaint was made that the Indians had become 
troublesome in the emigrants’ camp, and when the chief was informed of it he 
went there and, mounting a wagon, made a speech to them when they all dispersed 
and went to their own quarters.  On the next day, Mr. Brown was informed by an 
interpreter that the Indians wanted the emigrants to give them a feast.  He 
requested the company to cook some provisions for them and after a place was 
cleared and the good put upon some large logs near by [sic], the Indians were 
invited to eat, but only the chief and eleven others came forward and partook 
of it.  They then bid the emigrants a friendly adieu, crossed over the river 
north and were never seen any more by the Americans.  Mr. Brown is firmly of 
the opinion, from the circumstances above related that if the old pioneers and 
first settlers of America had have adopted a similar course of pacification 
among the Indians while traveling through their country we never would have 
heard of half the massacres that have taken place upon American soil in the 
last century.  It is almost invariably the case, that the white man is the 
first aggressor.

It is true that Indian is a savage but he has some noble traits of character.  
He is brave, generous and hospitable but cruel and vindictive to his enemies, 
and are not, it might be asked, some people and nations esteemed civilized, who 
are possessed with this same vindictive spirit and devilish propensity to take 
revenge.  Witness the war now raging between the Russians and Turks.

The next incident occurred one evening after the train had left Fort Laramie 
when it was discovered that the cattle were taking another stampede and one of 
the men, faster than the rest in pursuit of them found out that they had gone 
down the bank of the river and were swimming over to the Island 80 rods from 
shore after having passed through some willows.  Joseph Stilwell of San Jose 
and George March swam the river in pursuit of the cattle notwithstanding it was 
a cold and frosty night, and brought them all back, from the head of the island 
where they had wandered, to camp that night about 12 o’clock.  This was a noble 
and generous act of these two brave young men and it deserved the gratitude of 
the whole company.  Nothing of interest occurred after this circumstance except 
sickness until the train got to Fort Bridger where Mr. Brown had to leave his 
son Warren who had been sick for 20 days with typhoid fever.  George March and 
Wm. Scott were kind enough to remain with young Warren and accompany him 
afterwards to Oregon.  This separation was a sore trial to both father and son, 
while the train was compelled to go on.  It proved to the best course to pursue 
for both parties in the end.  Warren left the Fort a month after his father, 
and was so weak when he started that he had to be helped on his horse for the 
first two hundred miles on his way to Oregon which country he reached that 
fall.  When the train reached Fort Hall they met a company of road hunters from 
Oregon, who informed them that they had found a new and better route to that 
Territory than the old one, in which they might avoid crossing the Columbia and 
Snake rivers.  The road hunters traveled faster, and went along back ahead of 
the emigrant train, but promised the latter that they would leave a sign at the 
forks of the road where they could take the new route on Mary’s river.  The 
train found this sign stating that it was 15 miles to the next water, and at 
the latter place they would get further information; but when they reached 
there they found no water to do any good and a note stating that the next 
watering place was 22 miles, and from there 28 miles to where they would find 
both grass and water.  They now became so disheartened, believing that their 
wearied teams could never travel 65 miles without water, and fearing that they 
might miss the water again, they returned the 15 miles to the forks of the 
road, and pressed on for California, having buried four heads of families of 
the company from the time they left the Humboldt Wells.  It was so sickly in 
the train that they had to hire drivers for some of their teams from other 
teams, and some of the women had to drive their own teams.  Mr. Joseph 
Stilwell, son-in-law of Mr. Samuel Young, of San Jose, drove one of Mr. Brown’s 
teams from Missouri to California, and proved faithful to the end.  The same 
man that swam the river with Geo. March.  There was very little improvement in 
the health of the company until they reached the Truckee river, where the sick 
began to improve rapidly from drinking the pure water that flows down from the 
Sierra Nevada mountains.  From that time forward they had no new cases of fever 
on the route.  When they got to the mountains with their wearied and wabbling 
[sic] teams, and looked up toward the high and steep summit which they had to 
cross while each one of the company was worn out by sickness and fatigue from 
such a long and tedious journey their hearts almost gave way.  But winter was 
approaching, it had already snowed upon them, and they knew that their only 
safety was to push on and get into California.  It was so steep in reaching the 
summit that each wagon was drawn up with fifteen yoke of oxen by letting down 
chains some 200 feet long over a log fastened to the wagons below.  They had to 
fix two props or drags to the hind axles of their wagons to hold them when the 
chains broke, lest the wagons should be dashed to pieces, the mountain was so 
steep.  Three times, the chains broke but the props held the wagons securely to 
their places and all reached the summit with their 14 wagons that evening about 
sundown when there was great rejoicing that night in camp.  The Donner party 
was only four days behind them, and Mr. Brown believed that they could have 
crossed the mountains had there not been so much contention and contrariness 
among them.  Captain Joseph Aram an old friend of Mr. Brown says that they had 
lost some of their oxen which may have caused some detention.  But they lagged 
behind, says Mr. Brown, and got caught in the snow when [where?] a large 
portion of them perished.  Some of the party crossed over the mountains in 
spite of the snow which, in some places was 20 and 60 feet deep, and reached 
the valley to get assistance for the sufferers behind, and when they returned, 
they found that one of the men left there, had rendered himself odious by the 
diabolical acts which he had perpetrated during their absence.  The evils that 
men do, live after them, the good is often interred with the dead.  But it 
would be much better for the world if this order of things was reversed oftener 
than it is.  It is deemed best for the sake of the family of this unfortunate 
man and others, that we draw a vail [sic] over the sad and revolting scenes 
that transpired at the cannibal camp, and remember that “charity covers a 
multitude of sins.”  But it should be also borne in mind, that it is the duty, 
in a majority of cases, for this the greatest of all virtues to unmask the 
criminal and bring him to justice, to deter others from following in his 
footsteps and for the preservation of society.


The train in which Mr. B. was a member now proceeded down to the [Sacramento] 
valley, and his sympathies were sometimes deeply excited for those faithful old 
servants, his oxen, that had hauled his family for so many miles over mountains 
and deserts when they would fall to the ground on the way, completely worn out 
and exhausted and were left for the wolves to devour.  It was like parting 
forever with old friends.  They passed Sutter’s Fort and found only two houses 
from there to the Mission of San Jose.  One on Cosumne[s] River, and the other 
in Livermore valley.  Mr. B. remained at the Mission of San Jose one week, and 
then proceeded with his family to the Mission of Santa Clara for safety where a 
few Americans had assembled to protect themselves from the natives.  The U.S. 
at that time, was engaged in a war with Mexico, growing out of the annexation 
of Texas to the Union, and Colonel Fremont had just started, when Mr. B. 
reached the Mission, with his company to Los Angeles after Castro who was then 
supposed to be on the Salinas plains, and ordered Captain Weber to follow after 
him as soon as Weber could raise a company, who had already gone on his march 
to Mr. Murphy’s ordering his Lieutenant, Capt. Jas. Williams, (deceased) whose 
family was stationed at the Mission of Santa Clara, to come on the next morning 
by day.  When Lieutenant Williams came to the Mission, where only about ten men 
had been left for defence [sic].  The evening before starting, to take leave of 
his family, Mr. Brown met him and said: “Williams do you intend to desert your 
wife and children at such a critical time as this, when there are so few 
Americans to defend them, and while the natives are hovering around ready to 
pounce upon them at any time?”  Whereupon he declared to Mr. B. that he would 
never desert them, and sent word that night by an Indian to Captain Weber of 
his determination.  The latter gentleman then came back to San Jose where he 
had been stationed and informed Mr. Brown that he also would remain in the 
country to defend them, contrary to the orders of Fremont, and marched down 
[up] to Yerba Buena (S.F.) to procure more volunteers.  He formed a junction 
with 50 marines and 10 gunners, at that place, under Captain Merrin of the U.S. 
Navy, with a six pounder hauled by oxen, and started back on his march to 
relieve them at the Mission of Santa Clara.  In consequence of the capture of 
Lieut. Bartlett and ten marines by the enemy, Capt. Montgomery, commanding the 
naval forces, willingly sent out Captain Merrin along with Captain Weber to 
recapture his men.  Captain Weber was enabled by the influenced of Julius 
Martin and Wm. Smith, while at Yerba Buena, to increase his little force to the 
number of sixty volunteers, and Captain John M. Murphy of San Jose stood 
manfully in support of the American cause and exerted himself to the utmost in 
their behalf, although great influences were brought to bear upon him to take 
sides with the natives.  The little band of patriots at the Mission Santa 
Clara, now numbering some 12 or 15 men commanded by Captain Joseph Aram, with 
30 families to protect, were looking for the enemy and had stationed spies in 
the belfry to keep watch, when one day some 300 of the enemy under Captain 
Sanchez were seen crossing the Gaualoupe [sic] bridge two miles below marching 
in double column to attack the Mission, and when they had arrived within a 
quarter of a mile of that place, they filed off to the right into a body of 
timber and took up their position where their camp fires could be seen that 
night from the Mission.  The Americans were all expert with the rifle and no 
double kept the enemy at bay for awhile with their sharp-shooters.  But Mr. 
Brown while keeping guard one very rainy night, some 60 or 80 Indians at the 
Mission were howling over their departed friends, he was almost overwhelmed by 
such reflections as these.  He had left a sick son at Ft. Bridger whom he never 
expected to see again, one in Oregon who might lose his life in looking for his 
father while the balance of his family might at any time be massacred before 
his eyes, for he could never forget the treachery displayed by the Mexicans at 
the fall of the Alimo [sic] in San Antonio, Texas, and the slaughter of Fanin’s 
little army who had surrendered as prisoners of war.  This gloom however was 
dispelled one morning about sunrise when it was quite foggy, they heard not far 
from the Mission a platoon fired, and the effect was so cheering that it caused 
many a big tear to trickle down the faces of the poor emigrants.  They knew by 
that mode of firing that their friends with Captain Weber from below had come 
to their rescue, and there was great rejoicing.  When the fog dispersed, they 
could see from the Mission, the charges and repulses of the Mexicans, and their 
confusion until about 11 o’clock when the Americans marched into the Mission 
with colors flying, having dispelled the enemy like chaff before the wind.  
When the battle was going on, there was one old tory in the belfry, who every 
now and then would say to himself: “O, they can’t shoot – they can’t fight.”  
About this time Lieut. Mattox of the Navy, stationed at Monterey was 
reconnoitreing [sic] with forty marines and volunteers about Santa Cruz where 
he had been informed the Mexicans were stationed, but found that the enemy had 
gone to Santa Clara when he pushed on and reached here two days after the 
battle.  Mr. Brown was walking in one of the streets of the Mission shortly 
after these occurrences when he heard a Mexican woman talking very loud and 
saying in Spanish: “Where did all these Americans come from.  Fremont and his 
men have gone to Los Angeles, they must have rained down from the clouds.”

After the arrival of Lieut. Mattox, the natives became so much alarmed that 
they came into the Mission; and gave up their arms and proposed a treaty of 
peace.

When peace was finally declared, and the Mexicans found that they could not 
whip or drive the Americans out of the country, they refused to sell them any 
of their lands or inform them where the public lands were located thinking by 
so doing, that they would starve them out.  This ungenerous conduct on their 
part proved to be of much trouble to the Americans and people of foreign birth, 
except those who had taken sides with the natives.  Mr. Brown was urged by his 
friends to settle in the valley of Santa Clara, but he was under the impression 
that the valley would finally be divided into quarter sections, and as he was 
fond of raising stock and agricultural pursuits he wanted a larger range, and 
finally succeeded in purchasing a grant of 3,300 acres of land, three-fourths 
of a Spanish leave, from Wm. Leedsdorf  [William Alexander Leidesdorff] who had 
bought the same from Valencia the grantee, situated in Contra Costa county.

At that time 1847 there were no American families within the present boundaries 
of Contra Costa and Alameda counties north of the Mission of San Jose, except 
five families living at the San Antonio redwoods, opposite San Francisco.  From 
this place, Mr. Brown was elected a member of the Convention held at Monterey 
in the year 1848 to form the Constitution of California, and in the same year 
was elected to the first Legislature which was held at San Jose and was also a 
member of the succeeding Legislature having served two terms in that body.  
General Mason the first military Governor of California, sent Mr. Brown a 
commission to act as magistrate north of San Jose, which position he filled up 
[to] the organization of the State.  After the adjournment of the Legislature 
in 1850 Mr. Brown retired to private life, to which he was devotedly attached, 
upon his ranch twelve miles east of where Oakland now stands, but held himself 
in readiness, like Cincinnatus, to quit the labors of his farm and respond to 
the call of his country whenever she required his services.  His residence is 
in the little town of Lafayette from whence can be seen Mount Diablo looming 
up, majestically in the distance some 8 or 10 miles off.  There are some fine 
valleys under a high state of cultivation reaching up to the base of this 
beautiful mountain.

If any once would mount its summit on some clear day and view the grand and 
extensive scenery around, he would form the conclusion that it was an excellent 
position for an observatory.  Mr. Brown is now in his eighty first year.” END


Additional Comments:
The Pioneer (San Jose, California).  January 26, 1878 (Saturday).  Front page.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/contracosta/bios/brown1005gbs.txt

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