Kern County CA Archives History - Books .....The Founding Of Fort Tejon 1934 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 19, 2006, 7:02 am Book Title: Where Rolls The Kern CHAPTER IV. The Founding of Fort Tejon. AFTER the coming of the White Man the Indians of the South San Joaquin Valley had been none too peaceable, and as a result of their warlike activities the United States Government opened negotiations for treaties of peace. On June 10, 1851, the Government signed treaties with the eleven tribes around Kern Lake, and G. W. Barbour was placed in charge of Indian affairs in the San Joaquin Valley. However, the United States Senate failed to ratify the treaty. In the Spring of the following year—1852 —Lieutenant (later General) Edward Fitzgerald Beale was made Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada; and he shortly thereafter assembled the Kern County tribes at El Tejon, where he cared for them in a most able manner. From that time on General Beale was to become a figure of outstanding prominence in the affairs of Kern County. When he assumed his duties as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, he had already earned national fame for blazing the Santa Fe trail, and for taking the first California gold to Washington and for other daring exploits in behalf of his government. It was Beale who conceived the idea of employing camels for the transportation of supplies across the American deserts. On his recommendation the government imported a number of these animals from their native haunts, and under Beale's personal direction these "ships of the desert" were formed into pack trains, and for a time performed service across the great wastelands of the Southwest. Although the animals never lost their popularity with their American sponsor, they never gained general popularity, due chiefly, it is said, to fear on the part of pack train operators, and finally the Government ordered them sold at auction. Beale, himself, bought the last remnant of the camel herd and brought it to El Tejon, and thus Kern County became the last home of the only American herd of camels outside of a circus. Some ten years after assuming his duties as Indian Agent, Beale purchased three Spanish grants, totaling 150,000 acres, and combined them all in El Tejon Rancho. Although he accomplished much for the Indians, and did much toward solving the Indian problem, which was a difficult one at best, there was criticism of the expense involved in his operations along this line, and after a few years of faithful and efficient service he was replaced by Col. T. J. Henley. Finally in 1863 El Tejon was abandoned as an Indian headquarters. It was to be some years, however, before Beale was to be entirely freed from his connection with California Indian affairs. When he arrived in Washington to make final settlement with the Interior Department, he found that he had inadvertently left his accounts in California. The Department refused to make settlement with him, and for a matter of three or four years his administration was under somewhat of a cloud, but eventually he produced satisfactory vouchers, and was finally given "a clean bill of health." The following historical sketch of Fort Tejon was prepared by Mr. Herman A. Spindt, Principal of the Kern County Union High School and Junior College, and President of the Kern County Historical Society, who has devoted long and careful study to the history of this interesting Kern County point: The mountain passes at the South end of the great San Joaquin Valley have an interesting history. Through the Grapevine, 1772. came Don Pedro Fages, the first white man to see the South San Joaquin; four years later, by the way of Tejon Creek, came that American rival of Marco Polo, Padre Francisco Garces on his great individual exploration from Yuma to the Mojave River, to San Gabriel, to the San Joaquin and back to Yuma through the great Mojave Desert. Beginning in 1826, with the advent of Jedediah Smith, the Tehachapi saw many fur trappers, as did the other passes; and a little farther North Walker's Pass carries the memory of Zenas Leonard, Joseph R. Walker, and Edward R. Kern from the exploration period—and what a host of travel since! No one of these four passes from Antelope Valley on the Mojave to the San Joaquin has a more interesting story to relate than the Canada de las Uvas, better known by its English name of Grapevine Canyon. Today there pass thousands of motorists through this canyon every day, sometimes stopping to admire the great oaks and rounded hills, more often driving straight through, seeing a roadside sign only "Old Fort Tejon." The coming of the nations to the gold fields in 1849 and after, created an extremely difficult situation over all California. Men who could not make a living by gold mining had a tendency sometimes to turn to other less honest methods of making a living; this was especially true of lower class Californians and Mexicans who were frequently mistreated by American miners—Joaquin Murietta is an illustrative but by no means single case. The situation among the Indians was also bad; driven from their homes in the foothills by the miners, some starved, others turned bandit, many died martyrs by the hands of whites bent on complete extermination of the California Indian. To deal with the problem of bandits and cattle thieves, it was necessary to organize rangers, sheriff's posses, and military posts at strategic points such as Fort Yuma, Fort Mojave. Fort Tejon and Fort Miller. In 1852 Edward Fitzgerald Beale had been appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs and inaugurated the system of semi-military, semi-agricultural reservations, of which the one organized at the present Tejon Rancho in the Southwest corner of San Joaquin Valley was the first. Near each reservation was planned a military post, and the post for the Tejon reservation was fixed in the Canada de las Uvas, about five miles South of the entrance to the canyon and seventeen miles from the reservation. Here, at Fort Tejon, was established a company of the First Dragoons of the United States Army; here for a period of ten years, from August 10, 1854, to September 15, 1864, centered the political, social, and economic life of the South San Joaquin. One of the first visitors to the Fort to leave a written record was Bishop Kip of the Episcopal Church, who, in the Fall of 1855, traveled by army wagon to San Fernando, through the San Francisquito Canyon to Elizabeth Lake and Antelope Valley. Let him tell his own story from his camp in Antelope Valley: "Thursday, October 11, 1855—-The stars were shining when we arose, and as there is no dressing to be done, it does not take us long to prepare for our journey. Before we set out, 'Irish John' cooked a breakfast for us out of doors. In a few miles the plains ended, and then wound through the valleys dotted as the day before, with frequent bands of antelopes. About noon Ave reached Tejon Pass, a valley hemmed in by mountains, and having at its entrance a large dry lake of salteratus glittering in the sun. [The lake near Lebec] The wind wafted up the loose powder from the surface, and it hung over it like a white cloud. The valley here is several miles wide, and as we drove up we saw on the soft earth, through the whole length of our way, the tracks of large grizzlies who had preceded us. As we approached the military post our driver gave an increased crack of his whip and urged the tired mules to a spasmodic effort as we dashed up to Captain G's quarters, wher [sic] he was ready to receive us. "The Fort at the Tejon is on a little plain, entirely surrounded by high mountains, which gave it a confined appearance. It is, however, a beautiful place, surrounded by oak trees. Under one of these, which stands on the parade ground, in 1837, Peter Lebec, an old hunger, was killed by a bear, and his companions buried him at its foot. They then stripped the bark for some three feet from the trunk of the tree and carved on it an inscription, surmounted by a cross, which remains to this day, though the bark is beginning to grow over it on all sides. "The barracks—handsome adobe buildings—are being erected around the sides of the parade grounds. None of them are yet finished, and the soldiers were living in tents. The officers, too, were living in canvas houses, except one who had a small adobe building which is soon to be demolished. There are ordinarily about six officers and one hundred and twenty dragoons stationed here, besides the numerous civilians who are storekeepers and employees of the post. About a dozen of the dragoons are kept seventeen miles off, on the Reservation, to watch the Indians." The next Sunday, October 14, Bishop Kip conducted church services, including communion, of the Episcopal Church. "At noon I baptized at one of the officer's quarters his child, which could not be brought out to service; in the afternoon I baptized the child of another officer. In the evening I visited the family of a soldier who had died that day. He was buried early the next morning, his comrades firing their volleys over his remains, after I had read the burial service at the grave." Military activities of the soldiers at the Fort may well be illustrated from the news items that found their way into the columns of the Southern California News and the Los Angeles Star during the year of 1859. On February 5 a squadron of dragoons was ordered to Beale's Crossing of the Colorado River at the Needles, there to await other forces sent by boat from San Francisco up the Gulf of California. On April 9, Colonel Beall (not Edward Fitzgerald Beale), the commander of the Fort, accompanied by Captain Davidson and Lieutenant Chapman, visited in Los Angeles. On April 30, a detachment of Company K, with Major J. H. Carleton in command, and Lieutenant C. H. Ogle as adjutant were sent to Los Angeles to serve as a guard to Paymaster Prince, who was taking.£147,000 to pay soldiers in the Salt Lake region. On June 5, an Indian named Tomas, living on the Reservation, murdered his wife and child, seemingly because he resented their following him to work; Captain Davidson of Company B brought the murderer to Fort Tejon to Colonel Beall, in order to protect him from the wrath of Indians at the Reservation. On July 18 a man was murdered in Antelope Valley, and Sergeant Fitz of Company K was sent after the murderer; the trail was lost in the San Fransquito Canyon North of Saugus. On August 27, an expedition under Captain Davidson and Lieutenant Chapman was sent to Owens Valley to search for stolen horses among the Indians. The expedition traveled into the San Joaquin Valley, to Walker's Basin by way of White Wolf Grade near Arvin, thence to the South Fork of Kern River, over Walker's Pass to Owens Lake. The Indians disappeared before the soldiers, but through a crippled woman who could not get away relations were established; the Indians were absolved of any recent stealing. Captain Davidson comments on the mineral character of Owens Lake. Early in 1857, also, fifty troopers had been sent to Los Angeles to assist in the capture of Pancho Daniel and his bandits, who had murdered Sheriff James R. Barton and two of his constables near San Juan Capistrano. With the opening of the Civil War, most of the regulars were transferred to Wilmington, to help overawe Southern sympathizers living in and around Los Angeles. Their places at the Fort were taken by California Volunteers and until its abandonment in 1864, the garrison was largely made up of militia. The importance of the Fort may be illustrated in other ways. Before 1854, the' main line of travel into the valley was straight North from Elizabeth Lake across Antelope Valley, entering the San Joaquin by way of the original Tejon Pass, at the head of Tejon Creek, above the present headquarters of Tejon Rancho. The establishment of the Fort diverted this general travel to the West almost 29 miles to the present Tejon Pass, then known as Fort Tejon Pass. As the Tejon Creek Pass was abandoned, the name Tejon Pass came to be used solely for the pass leading into Canada de las Uvas. The route pursued by the Butterfield Overland mail from 1858 to 1861 ran North from Los Angeles by way of Cahuenga with stations between Visalia and Los Angeles as follows: Distance STATION Between Present Location Stations Packwood 12 Southeast of Visalia Tule River 14 Porterville Fountain Springs 12 Southeast of Porterville Mountain House 12 West of Woody, Kern Co. Posey Creek 15 North of Bakersfield Gordon's Ferry 10 Kern River Kern River Slough 12 Southeast of Bakersfield Sinks of the Tejon 14 10 miles Northeast of Grapevine Station Fort Tejon 15 Reeds Station 8 Near Gorman French Johns 14 Antelope Valley Widow Smiths 24 San Francisquito Kings 10 San Francisquito Harts 12 Near Newhall San Fernando Mission 8 San Fernando Cahuenga 12 Northeast of Los Angeles Los Angeles 12 The Telegraph Stage Line of the late Sixties and early Seventies followed the same route, but the stations were further apart; Fort Tejon was no longer a station, but stops were made near the present Gorman Station and at Rose Station, about a mile out in the San Joaquin Valley, North of Grapevine. The reader may have noticed in Bishop Kip's narrative the reference to the Peter Lebeck tree which stood on the parade ground of the Fort. Two years before his visit, in 1853, the United States Army surveyed the passes out of the San Joaquin to find the best pass for railroad purposes. Lieutenant Williamson comments that the carving was an "enduring monument." Bishop Kip comments that the "bark is beginning to grow over it from all sides." I have seen no further refrence to the inscription until early in 1890, when a group of Bakersfield citizens, who facetiously called themselves the Foxtail Rangers, were picnicking at the Fort and rediscovered the inscription on the reverse side of the bark; that is the bark had grown over and into the inscription, showing the carving in reverse. The wood underneath had then rotted away. In the summer of 1890, the Foxtail Rangers again visited the Fort, and dug down East of the tree and found the remains of a large man. Reverently they recovered the remains of this early trapper. Subsequently someone chopped off the bark and left it at the Beale Memorial Library in Bakersfield, whence it was taken to the County Library, where the shaded portions of the restored inscription may be seen. With the assistance of Mr. E. J. Symmes, Bakersfield architect, the inscription was restored in facsimile by the author. Kern County should preserve by appropriate restoration in bronze the epitaph of this pioneer of Tejon. Only a few of the buildings now stand on the site of the Fort. A broken headstone, commemorating the death of an officer, the Lebec tree and some adobe remains mark the site of this spot so rich in the traditions, romance and lore that are so much a part of California history. It may be hoped and expected that steps will be taken to acquire for the public as a memorial park and historical museum this place on the Golden State Highway where thousands pass daily, and where in a natural and beautiful setting, a bit of California of the Fifties could be preserved at but small expense. Erwin W. Owen, Judge of the Superior Court of Kern County, has contributed the- following bit of verse to the literature of the South San Joaquin. I think it is a fitting conclusion: Beneath the living oaks he sleeps alone, This trooper boy at fort Tejon. Four score And more the years have flown since taps were blown And vollied tribute paid in musket roar. I pause beside the broken marble slab, And think of Arlington. There, other Boys who wear the blue and olive drab Lie gloriously enshrined. Here, a brother Lies 'neath fallen stone. He answered call Where duty led, and has eternal hills for bier, No salute is his at dawn or evening fall!— Just the oaks and lupins, and at last a tear. The story of the selection of the Tejon Pass as the site of a military post and an Indian reservation is a most interesting one, and is best told in the correspondence that passed between Beale and the Department of the Interior, and between himself and those whose advice and assistance he sought. For that reason the correspondence is reprinted here in full, just as it was copied from the Government records. It follows: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, April 13, 1853. SIR: The act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, approved 3d March, 1853, contains a clause in the following words: "That the President of the United States, if upon examination he shall approve the plan hereinafter provided for the protection of the Indians, be, and he is hereby authorized to make five military reservations from the public domain in the State of California, or the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, bordering on said State, for Indian purposes: Provided, That such reservations shall not contain more than twenty-five thousand acres in each: And provided further, That said reservations shall not be made upon any lands inhabited by citizens of California; and the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to defray the expense of subsisting the Indians in California and removing them to said reservations for protection: Provided further\ If the foregoing plan shall be adopted by the President, the three Indian agencies in California shall be thereupon abolished." The President of the United States has examined and approved the plan provided for in said act, and directs that you be charged with the duty of carrying it into effect. For this purpose you will return to California without delay, and by the most expeditious route. The selections of the military reservations are to be made by you in conjunction with the military commandant in California, or such officer as may be detailed for that purpose, in which case they must be sanctioned by the commandant. It is likewise the President's desire that, in all other matters connected with this "plan." you will, as far as may be practicable, act in concert with the commanding officer of the military department. The $250,000 appropriated by the act of 3d March. 1853, is to be devoted exclusively to the removal and subsistance of the Indians, and not applied to any other purpose whatsoever. The expenses of your journey to California, (which will be limited to the sum of two thousand dollars), and those' incidental to the selection of military reservations, will be defrayed out of the appropriation of thirty thousand dollars, made by same act, "for general incidental expenses of the Indian service in the State of California." You are authorized to draw upon the collector at San Francisco, from time to time, as funds may be required to meet the expenses incident to the duties with which you are charged; but as twenty thousand dollars is deemed a sufficient sum to have on hand at any one time, your drafts should only be for such sum as, with the balance on hand, will make that amount. For all monies advanced to you detailed accounts should be rendered to this department quarterly. In your journey to California, and other movements connected with the execution of the plan adopted in relation to the Indians in California, their security, subsistence, and protection should constitute your sole object, and no other subject must be permitted to engage your time or attention. You will take care that your expenditures or liabilities do not exceed the sums appropriated by Congress; and as soon as practicable, after the reservations shall have been made, you will forward to the department plats and surveys thereof, with full report of all your proceedings. You will lose no time, after your arrival in California, or before, if you deem it advisable, in notifying the agents in that State of the fact of their agencies having been abolished; and you will at the same time, require them to turn over to you all public property and money in their possession, or under their control, and to settle their accounts without delay. I am, sir, very respectfully, vour obedient servant, R. McCLELLAND, Secretary. EDWARD F. BEALE, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affairs. * * * DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, April 14, 1853. SIR: As I understand that you have obtained and transmitted to California a treasury draft for $250,000 appropriated by the act of Congress approved 3d March last, I have to request that, upon your arrival at San Francisco, you will deposit the amount with the collector of the port of San Francisco, to the credit of the treasurer of the United States. This course is necessary now in order to enable you to comply with the instructions sent to you on yesterday. I will add, that the modifications made in the instructions originally prepared for you, was not the result of any want of confidence whatever in your prudence and discretion, but was solely with a view to guard against the establishment of a precedent, which might result in evil consequences in other cases, and to avoid locking up unnecessarily so much of the public money on the Pacific. The Secretary of the Treasury will direct the collector at San Francisco to honor your drafts, in accordance with the wishes of this department. You are authorized to draw upon the department for such portion of the $30,000 appropriated for general incidental expenses of the Indian department in California, as you may be in immediate need of, and upon the collector at San Francisco for such further sum as may be required to meet the expenses incident to the selection of the military reservations to be accounted for under that head. I am, sir, verv respectfully, your obedient servant, R. McCLELLAND, Secretary. EDWARD F. BEALE, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, present. * * * LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. August 22, 1853. SIR: I have the honor to report my arrival in this State on the 9th instant, and, in obedience with my instructions, I have been occupied since then in the examination of lands from the State line to this place, which might be suitable for the occupancy of the Indians within my superintendency. Under the many difficulties and perplexities attending the establishment of an entire new system of government, which is to change the character and habits of a hundred thousand persons, I cannot as yet in my communications to the department, give, as my instructions require, a detailed account of all my transactions. In fact, to this date nothing of interest has been accomplished. The country of the Mohaoi river, lying to the southward of Walker's pass, on which I have hoped to establish at least two reservations, after a careful examination I find to be utterly unfit for that purpose, and I am now about to examine a tract near the head of the great Tulare valley, in the hope of meeting with better success there. Since my arrival here I have been constantly in consultation with the most experienced men of the State on Indian matters, and as I approach more nearly the practical operation of my plan, I find numerous obstacles obtruding themselves which had not previously occurred to me. One of the principal of these is the peculiar wording of the act of Congress making the appropriation, which embarrasses me more than I can express; and at times it seems to me that I must either assume responsibilities which might bring me into serious difficulties with the accounting officers of the treasury, or else abandon the whole system I have proposed; for the purpose of carrying out of which. Congress has made that identical appropriation. A single instance of this is sufficient. My plan proposed the abandonment of three agencies, and the substitution of six sub-agencies— the latter being a most important feature of the proposition. Owing, I presume, to the haste with which the law was framed, the agencies were abolished; but no provision was made for the substitution of sub-agencies. Now, sir, without the assistance of such subordinate officers, it is impracticable for me to control the entire Indian policy of this State—to scheme, devise and arrange for, and to carry into execution an almost entire change in the hereditary mode of life of one hundred thousand persons, scattered over a distance of seven hundred miles, and living, for the most part, in mountains difficult of access. Yet I almost fear to appoint sub-agents, although the President told me, in a conversation, to do so. Again, the same difficulty presents itself in the employment of blacksmiths, farmers, carpenters, &c, since the law reads "for subsistence and removal;" for the construction put upon "subsistence" might be such as to make me pecuniary accountable for moneys disbursed in paying their wages, although expended in direct accordance with the views of those who framed and voted for the appropriation. In regard to my own accounts, it is impossible to keep them with the precision and regularity of other superintendents, who have certain fixed routines of duty, from which they are not compelled to depart. With me it is different. I am obliged to be continually in the field, forever actively and actually employed, to the almost entire exclusion of office business, unless I neglect that for which I am sent here—the establishment of a new order of things. At this time I see no probability of being able to return to San Francisco until the month of December; consequently it will be impossible for me to send in my quarterly returns and accounts, and ask the indulgence of the department for this delay. I respectfully request the department to take these matters into consideration, and to make due allowances for the difficulties of my position. I am not here to continue a business already traced out and known, but have to frame and direct a new policy, which it is hoped will produce the most beneficial results; and I wish the department to feel, that as the President and Congress have approved and adopted my plan, I have entered into it with my entire energy and whole heart. Moreover, I feel sure of accomplishing all I have promised. But it cannot be done in a month, or a year; but if I am allowed five years, without interference and with proper assistants, I shall not only be able to support the Indians by their own labor, but their surplus produce will be sufficient to pay the expenses of all those whom it will be necessary to employ to aid and instruct them. As soon as I have selected the localities of the reservations, I shall open contracts for the removal of Indians to them, and request the sanction of the department to the appointment of such sub-agents as I shall be obliged to make in pursuance to the plan proposed. To enable me to travel within the limits of my instructions, I made a contract for the transport of myself and escort from Westport to this place; and, whenever it is practicable, I hope I may be allowed to continue to do so, as it will save me much trouble, and will relieve me of at least a portion of my many embarassments. My instructions render it imperative that I should abolish the present agencies, and I shall therefore issue the requisite notice to Mr. Wilson at once, though I shall be obliged to employ him in some other capacity, as it is impossible to dispense with his services at present. He is perfectly indifferent as to holding office—a gentleman of great wealth and high standing here—and would only consent to serve from a sincere desire to benefit that portion of the country, in which a long residence has made his influence with the Indians extremely great. I would add also that he never sought the position of agent, but was appointed by the last administration without knowing it until I sent him his commission. I shall employ him as a temporary assistant to superintend the removal of Indians and to aid in locating reservations, his knowledge of the country being perfect, and to use his paramount influence to induce the Indians to remove in peace. Mr. Wilson will only consent to give his assistance in any capacity for a short time, not to exceed next spring. Mr. Edwards, as I informed you some time since, I had employed under authority of previous instructions, as farming agent, and to collect, instruct, and protect the Indians of the Joaquin valley, whom I had brought together on a small reserve commenced last fall, which I intended to serve as an experiment, to be followed, if successful, on the larger system now about to be attempted. For these actual and necessary appointments—none of which can be dispensed with, and for such as I may be obliged to make as the further development of the plan may show to be requisite —I beg the department's sanction, trusting that after having reposed so much confidence in me, it will believe that all due economy in the number of employees will be practised. In this part of the State, and in fact throughout California, except in the extreme north, the Indians are perfectly quiet, and I hope to be able to keep them so. I shall go at once to the northern portion of the State after concluding my work here. I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. F. BEALE, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. G. W. MANYPENNY, Esq., Commissioner of Indian Affairs. * * * OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS, San Francisco, September 30, 1853. SIR: In pursuance of the intention which I communicated to you in my letter of the 26th ultimo, I left Los Angeles on the 30th, and arrived at Tejon pass on the 2d instant. I found the Indians in that quarter quietly engaged in farming, but anxious to know the intentions of the government towards them. Mr. Edwards, whom I had employed as farming agent, had been unable to assure them anything permanent in relation to their affairs. He had, however, with great tact, and with the assistance of Mr. Alexander Godey, by traveling from tribe to tribe and talking constandy with them, succeeding in preventing any outbreak or disturbance in the San Joaquin valley. I immediately collected together the headmen and chiefs, and deputations from every quarter of the mountains and plains lying between the "Four Rivers" and that point, a distance of about one hundred and fifteen miles in length by about the same in breadth. With these Indians I held council for two days, explaining to them the intentions of the government in relation to their future support. After long deliberation and much talk among the headmen and chiefs, they agreed to accept the terms I had offered them, which were as follows: The government should commence with a system of farming and instruction, which would enable them in a few years to support themselves by the produce of their own labor. That for this purpose the government would furnish them with seed of all kinds, and with provisions sufficient to enable them to live until the produce of their own labor should be sufficient to support them. I pointed out to them the impossibility of their remaining any longer a barrier to rapid settlement of the State, and of the necessity which existed that they should leave their old homes in the mountains, and settle at some other point where the government would be able to watch over and protect them from the whites, as well as the whites from them. I pointed out to them, also, the difference between themselves and those who had embraced this new mode of life, as farmers at the Tejon, and endeavored to make them sensible of the difference between those certain and reliable means of support from the produce of their own labor, and the exceedingly precarious one of dependence upon the spontaneous productions of the soil; and that even this mode of existence, precarious as it is. was becoming still more uncertain by the rapid increase of our white population. To all this I had no difficulty in bringing them to assent. A difficulty, however,, arose here, which it was very hard to overcome. This was their disinclination to leave their old homes and hunting-grounds and to settle so far away from them; and I found it utterly impossible to overcome this difficulty until I had promised them that the reserve selected for them should be somewhere in the vicinity of the place where the conference was held. On my promising this, they consented unanimously to my proposition; and I have no doubt that they are all, by this time, on the spot awaiting my return. Before I determined however, upon locating the reserve at that point, I called upon Lieutenants Stoneman, Parke and Williamson, of the United States army, who had been surveying the country carefully with a view to the location of the proposed Atlantic and Pacific railroad, to know whether, in their opinion, there was any other point north as far as the Sacramento river where an Indian reservation containing the requisites of good land, wood, and water, and also sufficiently accessible to admit of the establishment of a military post, existed within their knowledge. The reply of these gentlemen, coinciding as it did with my own knowledge of the country, and with- the views of Mr. Wilson, late Indian agent, on whose experience I placed great reliance, determined me in the selection of that point as one of the reservations authorized by the act of Congress. A copy of the letter of the gentlemen above referred to will be forwarded by next mail. The Tejon valley, or at least a large portion of it, is said to be covered by a Spanish grant; but as I found no settlers on it, or any evidence that it had been settled, and under the fact that there was no other place where the Indians could be placed without the same objection, I concluded to go on with the farming system at that point, and leave it to Congress to purchase the land should the title prove good, or remove the Indians to some less suitable locality. It is almost impossible to find at this time any extent of country either unclaimed by Spanish grants or free from white settlers, who hold under pre-emption, rights. And this has proved a most serious difficulty in carrying out the intention of Congress, as expressed by the law in relation to Indian affairs in California. The law gives me no authority to purchase lands for the United States for Indian purposes; it having been supposed by myself, as well as everybody else, that there was a sufficiency of vacant public lands for all such purposes. But since my attention has been directed by necessity to that subject, I have discovered the fact, that between the southern boundaries of this State, as far north as I have any knowledge, there is not sufficient land for a single reservation of the quality required. I say of the quality required, because I esteem it indispensable that if the system I propose, of farming with the Indians should be carried out, the land on which the system is to be commenced should be of the best quality, since the failure of the first crops might so far discourage them as to render subsequent efforts abortive. It is also right and proper that this land should be well watered, well timbered, and adjacent to a mountainous country, for it is not to be supposed, that the habits of a race who have been for ages accustomed to a certain mode of life can be suddenly and entirely changed. The rapid settlement of the northern part of this State, and the fact that the richest mineral region known to the world lies in this portion of California, leads me to the belief that it would be a wise policy to commence now the removal of the northern Indians to the Southern part of the State, which is thinly settled and possesses little or no mineral wealth. To do this it will be necessary to purchase from the claimants a sufficiency of land on which to place them; and I recommend that authority for the purchase of Spanish grants, in the localities which may be found suitable for Indian reservations, be given. Inquiry into the matter enables me to say that these purchases can be made at the government price, and in many cases for much less. In connection with this subject I have consulted the congressional delegation of this State; and after discussing the matter verbally I addressed each one a letter, which, with its reply, will be forwarded by next mail. I shall be in a great measure governed in all my operations by the advice of those gentlemen. It may be necessary to adopt some other plan of colonization with the tribes inhabiting the extreme northern border, as they differ materially from those living further south— being bolder, more warlike, and less disposed to agricultural pursuits. I have already informed the department of the experimental farm which I established late last fall on the San Joaquin river. This experiment, so. preeminently successful and gratifying in its results, has placed beyond all doubt the question whether Indians can be made a self-supporting and useful class of population. This farm, commenced with Indians of the wildest and most uncivilized character, has enabled me not only to support, by their own labor, those tribes engaged in it, but has been forcible beyond all other means of persuasion, in inducing others to accede to the propositions I have made them on the part of the government; and what is still more important is the fact that, by its example and through the means of those I have employed, I have been enabled to preserve peace throughout that extensive region. Those Indians, but a year ago so completely wild and untamed, are now free from the necessity of robbing for food, and have laid the foundation of their own future comfort by a life of honest labor. I enclose to you herewith a copy of the report of the farming agent. The war now existing with the Indians at the north is, properly speaking, within the borders of Oregon; and I am creditably informed that very few California Indians have joined the hostile tribes. In conclusion, it gives me pleasure to state, that I have entire confidence in the ultimate success of the plan I have proposed for the support of the Indians of California; and that if this plan is pursued, that they will ultimately form industrious and useful communities. The small experiment I have already made proves that they are worthy of the parental care of the government. It is impossible at present to enter into a detailed estimate of what this plan will cost to carry it into effect; but judging by the high rates of everything in this State, and the number of Indians to be provided for—variously estimated at from 75,000 to 100,000—the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), in addition to what has already been appropriated, will be required. I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. F. BEALE, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Hon. GEO. W. MANYPENNY, Commissioner Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. INDIAN RESERVATION, San Joaquin River, September 20, 1853. SIR: The ploughs and other farming implements which you had purchased for the Indian department arrived at this place about the first of February last. In accordance with your directions I immediately came here, and brought with me the men, women and children belonging to the different tribes of the Fregno Indians. I proceeded at once to start twelve ploughs and put in wheat. All the work, with the exception of the sowing, was done by Indian boys from twelve to twenty years of age. Everything went on well; in fact, better than could have been expected from Indian lads, none of whom had any previous experience in ploughing. In three weeks' working time, about three hundred and fifty acres were plowed and sowed with wheat; and, while the Boys were engaged in ploughing, the men dug a ditch four feet, wide, four feet deep, and about two miles in length—to enclose the field, and to protect the grain from the encroachments of wild horses, cattle and other animals—not being able to obtain a sufficient quantity of timber without hauling it a considerable distance. After sowing the wheat I commenced planting potatoes, of which we put in seven thousand pounds. We finished this job about the first of March; we then proceeded to prepare another field of about two hundred and fifty acres for corn, pumpkins, water- and musk-melons, &c. The manner in which it was ploughed and. planted was-very creditable to the Indians who did the work: We enclosed it with a ditch of the same dimensions as the one enclosing: the wheat-field. This was completed about the last of March. I then commenced making a coral, for keeping and branding the cattle until their removal below the farm. It is one hundred yards in diameter, and surrounded by a ditch seven feet wide and six feet deep, and was dug by the Indians in one day. This piece of work has been pronounced by all who have seen it to be the most extensive in the ditch line that has ever been done in California in the short space of one day. It served to brand several hundred head of cattle without any serious damage being done to it. Another coral for securing beef cattle at night, on the grazing ground eight miles below, on the river, was made by setting posts in the ground close together, and then filling in between them with poles, and it took about one hundred wagon loads to complete it. By this time the wheat, corn, potatoes, and other vegetables were up, and promised to yield an excellent crop. The Indians appeared delighted with the work they had done; and the prospect of reaping a rich harvest to reward them for their labor, besides having a surplus for the coming winter, instead of living upon acorns, as they had hitherto done, was a source of much gratification. At this period I gave permission to all, with the exception of the plough boys, to leave for the Fregno river, where they could dig for gold, and purchase clothing with the proceeds of their labor. I retained the plough boys on the farm, to cultivate the corn and other vegetables, and to do any other work which might be required on the place. In addition to the other work which was done at this time, we made two corals for threshing grain. They had to be made very large and strong, to hold a large number of cattle, and prevent their breaking out. These corals were made by setting posts in the ground two feet apart, and then poles were lashed on them, one above the other, six inches apart, till it reached a sufficient height to hold a large amount of unthreshed straw, and to keep the cattle from jumping over it. About this time the weather became very warm, and we found that our tents afford us but little shelter; and I therefore found it advisable to build a brush house, which I did by setting poles in the ground, forked at one end, and then extending poles across the top from one fork to the other. We then covered it overhead and the sides with fine willow brush, and thus made an excellent summer house. It was about forty feet square. After this time, for about a month, we employed our time in making hay. I found excellent grass and clover about six miles from the farm, and we cut, cured, and hauled in about one hundred tons of superior hay. Up to this time I had hoped to make a splendid crop of wheat; but I now discovered it had been attacked by a green bug, which proved very destructive. For several acres there were three or four in each head of wheat, and appeared to suck the sap out of the stalk, which soon turned yellow and withered. In the course of a few days they had committed so much destruction that only a few acres were worth cutting, and the whole amount harvested was not more than two hundred and fifty bushels. However, I think there is a sufficient quantity of wheat on the field that came to maturity to yield a second crop without resowing. It will only require ploughing this fall to give up a good crop next season. In addition to all this, there was farming done, on quite an extensive scale, by the Indians living at the Tejon. There were about two hundred families engaged in it, and the result of their labor proved very different from that at this place; all the crops having produced abundantly, and yielded sufficient to many large feasts, besides creating a great desire among them to go into more extensive operations during the coming season. They, like the Indians here, found the use of our farming utensils a little awkward at first; but they soon got accustomed to and work with them quite well. The nature of the land at the Tejon is much preferable for farming purposes to that on this river, and the great ease with which it can be irrigated (a most desirable object to be obtained) makes it one of the best locations for an Indian reserve I have seen in my travels through the southern country. I have visited all the various tribes, both in the valleys and in the mountains south of Stockton, and find them all more willing to live there than any other place that could be selected. With much respect, I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant. H. B. EDWARDS. Supt. BEALE, San Francisco. OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS, San Francisco, October 10,1853. SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, the letters of the congressional delegation of this State on the subject of the purchase of Spanish grants for the purposes of Indian reservations; also, the letter of Lieutenants Stoneman, Williamson and Parke, in relation to the reservation at the head of Tulare valley. I forward also an estimate for the removal of five hundred (500) Indians from Feather river to Indian reserve at the Tejon. From this estimate, I find that to attempt any removal on a large scale during this season would be unwise and impolitic. The appropriation would be exhausted in the removal of a comparatively small number of Indians, leaving nothing for the support of those already on the reservation, and what is still more important, crippling my means for the establishment, on a secure basis, of the agricultural system of self-support, which I have proposed to government, and has been sanctioned by Congress. I have drawn on the collector for this port for the sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) of the appropriation of 3d March, 1853. This will be immediately disbursed as follows: For 1,000 head of cattle, about $65,000 For agricultural implements, provisions, clothing for the Tejon reservation $10,000 For freight to the reserve, 390 miles $10,000 For purchase of mules and horses $20,000 For wages of laborers, mechanics, &c $10,000 For Removal of Indians, and incidental expenses $10,000 __________ $125,000 When it is remembered that these supplies are for two reservations of 25,000 acres each, and to support all the Indians between the San Joaquin river and the Tejon, estimated at 10,000, these estimates will not be found extravagant. In addition to this, it is my intention to draw for the remainder of the appropriation, in order to establish the other reserves contemplated by the act. In purchasing supplies for the Indian department, I have to furnish the persons whom I employ to make the purchases, and who have to go into the country for that purpose, with the necessary amount of money. From this cause I am obliged to depart from suggestions of the department as to the amount I should keep on hand at any one time, although I endeavor to do it as little as possible. I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. F. BEALE, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Hon. GEO. W. MANYPENNY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. * * * SAN FRANCISCO, September 27, 1853. GENTLEMEN: In the execution of the laws of Congress in relation to Indian reserves I have met with great and unexpected difficulties, and as it is important to me that I should be supported in my movements by the delegation in Congress from this State, I beg to submit the following fact: That, so far as I can discover, there is no land of the proper character and sufficient quantity south of Stockton on which to locate the reservations anticipated by Congress, except such as are covered either by pre-emption claims or Spanish grants, and these of course cannot be applied to public use without previous purchase. I have therefore thought of making a conditional purchase of the necessary lands from the claimants; and as there is no time to be lost, if the plan already sanctioned by Congress is to be put in execution this winter, it is my wish to do so at once, on receiving your sanction to that measure. I would propose to make these purchases, subject to their ratification by Congress, at a sum not to exceed the government price of public lands, or at an appraised value, by disinterested persons, if desired by the government. In connection with this subject, I enclose copies of letters of Indian agent D. B. Wilson, and of Lieutenants Stoneman, Williamson, and Parke, who have fully explored the country as far as the Tejon pass, and whose statements fully sustain all I have said. Permit me to beg a reply to this at your earliest convenience. Very respectfully, &c, E. F. BEALE, Superintendent Indian Affairs. Hon. WM. M. GWIN and Hon. M. S. LATHAM. * * * In view of the case as presented by the superintendent of Indians in the above letters and accompanying documents, I do not hesitate to say that he should make such conditional arrangements, subject to the approval of Congress, as in his opinion are indispensable to the successful operation of the law under which he proposes to locate the Indians, care being taken to so locate the reservations that they cannot interfere with or be surrounded by white settlements. I am authorized by Mr. Latham to give his concurrence to the above. WM. M. GWIN. * * * SAN FRANCISCO, October 2, 1853. DEAR SIR: In the multiplicity of other engagements I have had some difficulty in finding a moment to respond to your letter of the 27th ultimo in relation to Indian reservations in California. I should regret very much to find that you were unable to execute the act of Congress passed on the 3d March last. The plan contemplated by that law is in my opinion the only practicable o-»c for preserving the Indians of this State from destruction. Unless they can be gathered together, and placed under military protection, we shall have a bloody war, which will result in the extermination of the race. The Indians should be withdrawn as much as possible from the white population, and taught to rely upon their own labor and industry for their support. The supplies which nature has heretofore furnished them will soon be cut off and an attempt to sustain them otherwise than through their own labor would be impolitic. It is well known to you that whilst the plan you are endeavoring to carry out received my warm support, yet I was utterly opposed to making the reservations as large as they are now authorized by law. Whilst we have some of the richest agricultural lands in the Union, the fact cannot be disguised that we have a large body of land in this State which cannot be cultivated. The greater portion of our population are engaged in commerce and mining. They are consumers, and in order to feed them all of our agricultuarl [sic] lands should be put under cultivation. We should not depend upon other States or foreign countries for our bread-stuffs. If five reservations are made in this State, and to the extent authorized by law, great injustice will be done to our citizens; withhold, for the use of the Indians, 125,000 acres of agricultural land, and a serious blow will be struck at the farming interests of this State. Such a policy would be unwise in every particular; no reservation, in my judgment should be made containing more than 8,000 acres. In each of them you could readily find a sufficient quantity of land susceptible of cultivtaion [sic] to produce enough to sustain 5,000 Indians; and this, I apprehended, will be as many as you can assemble or settle upon any one of your reservations. In regard to the difficulty to which you refer I can only say, that if you find a sufficient quantity of land at any point desired which is unoccupied, although persons might claim it under Mexican grants, I would not hesitate to take it. If the grant is in the end sustained by the courts, the government, having taken private property for public use, will have to make compensation therefor. When there are only a few settlers upon the lands which you may desire to reserve for the Indians, the better plan will be to make contracts for the improvements, subject of course to the confirmation of the department or Congress. These reservations should be made so as to interfere as little as possible with the settlements that have been made by our people. Sincerely hoping that you may succeed in all your efforts to ameliorate the condition of our Indians, I am, very respectfully, &c, JOHN B. WELLER. E. F. BEALE, Esq., Supt. Indian Affairs. * * * SAN FRANCISCO, October 14, 1853. MY DEAR SIR: Since the receipt of your note of the 27th September last, I have given the suggestion made by you a careful consideration; and I have also taken occasion to consult upon the matters suggested with several of our best-informed citizens from different portions of the the [sic] State. I have been for some time aware of the serious embarassments you would have to encounter in executing the act of Congress; and I can think of no other plan than the one you suggest at all consistent with either the policy or duty of the government. If the locations selected should prove the property of the government, no liability would be incurred; if they should prove private property, the government would be secured the privilege of acquiring them at a fair equivalent, if their acquisition should appear desirable. This would be infinitely better than a temporary location, subject to the chances of a forced removal, or an imposition upon the government by the demand of exorbitant terms. Permit me to assure you that my knowledge of your familiarity with the business you have in hand, and of your entire devotion to the duties of your office and the public interests, command of me complete confidence in such policy as you may hereafter suggest with regard to our Indian affairs; and I shall, with great pleasure, lend my aid to carry out such course as you may dictate. With great respect, your friend and servant, J. A McDOUGAL E. F. BEALE, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affairs. * * * TEJON PASS, CALIFORNIA, September 4, 1853. DEAR SIR: We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date in relation to an Indian reservation in that section of California south of Sacramento valley, and to the establishment of a military post upon that reservation, and asking our opinion upon several points connected therewith: 1st. "Which do you consider the most suitable locality south of the Sacramento to this point for an Indian reservation?" Judging from the fact that the whole country south of Sacramento, and as far as latitude 37 degrees north, where the San Joaquin breaks out of the Sierra Nevada, is thickly populated by American citizens, there can be no point within this limit that would be available. The only other points where a reservation could be located, which would fulfill the conditions of your instructions as stated in your communication, are on King's river, and the Four Creeks and this point. Most of the land on King's river is occupied by American citizens; and the same may be said in regard to the Four Creek country. This fact is an objection to either of these two points, but there being no occupants at this point, a like objection does not obtain; and beside, the Tejon possesses many other advantages over either of the other two. It appears to be a point to which the Indians in the San Joaquin and Tulare valleys might, with the most facility, and at the least expenditure of time and money, be induced to join with those living on the east side of the Sierra Nevada; and if the reservation extended as far north as Kern river (latitude 35 degrees 30') would be sufficiently ample to accomodate all the Indians you might find it necessary to bring together in that portion of California you designate. It is a point the most remote from white settlements that can be selected, and is so situated that settlements cannot be made to the eastward, owing to the fact of the location being on the confines of an almost impassable desert in that direction. There appear to be fewer inducements for miners to locate near here than in almost any other portion of California. The amount of arable land is neither too great nor too small, and would be located in different parts, or at different points in the reservation, thus allowing each family, ranchero, or tribe, a spot by themselves. These and other reasons induced us to think that portion of country in and about the Tejon pass by far the most preferable location of any we have seen, or of which we have any reliable information. 2d. "Do you know any other place within those limits where one could be made, embracing the requisites of good land, wood and water:" We know of none other than King's river and the Four Creeks. 3d. "To what point south of the Sacramento do you think the Indians would be most willing to remove, or could be removed by government at least expense?" If the Indians are to be removed from their homes at all, we have no doubt but that they would, as a body, be more willing to concentrate at this point than at any other, and to take them all from both sides of the Sierra Nevada, (and which we presume will be the case), that they can be collected, fed and protected at much less expense here than at any other point with which we are acquainted. 4th. "Where do you consider the most important point for the establishment of a military post for the protection of both whites and Indians?" We answer decidedly, the Tejon pass. 5th. "Do you consider it practicable to remove them to the eastward of the Sierra Nevada; or, if removed there could they subsist themselves by cultivation?" If there existed an absolute necessity for removing them east of the Sierra Nevada, it might, under these circumstances, be considered as practicable; but as far as our personal observation goes, we should say that they could subsist upon the agricultural productions of the soil, but with extreme difficulty. The country is quite elevated, and during many months of the year the cold is quite intense—to withstand the effects of which the habits of the valley Indians but very illy fit them; and besides if a military post is to be established upon the reservation, it would require a very great outlay of money and labor to establish and supply a post on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. In conclusion, we beg to congratulate you upon your safe arrival in California, and to express the pleasure it gives us to meet you after your arduous journey across the continent. We are, very respectfully &c, GEORGE STONEMAN, Lieut. 1st Dragoons. R. S. WILLIAMSON, Lieut. U. S. Tp. Engineers. JNO. G. PARKE, Lieut. Corps. Top. Engineers. E. F. BEALE, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Where Rolls the Kern A History of Kern County, California By Herbert G. Comfort MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA: The ENTERPRISE Press 1934 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/kern/history/1934/whererol/founding270nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 62.3 Kb