San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Biographies.....Price, John M. 1810 - 
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Author: Thompson & West (1883)

CHAPTER IX.
BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN M. PRICE.

John Michael Price—Sails for the Pacific—Arrives in California-Lands to Kill Sea
Elephants—Runs from the Ship—Kind Treatment at Colima—An Opportunity to go to
California— Safe in Monterey—Making Him Their Prisoner—The Graham
Insurrection—Sketch of Graham—Arrested by Alvarado—The Prisoners Sent to San
Bias—Alvarado's Cruelty—The Prisoners at Santa Barbara—Alvarado's Short-lived
Triumph—Alvarado's Incentive—Justice Accorded the Prisoners—Fremont Appears—Gold
Mining—Public Services—A Celebrated Case —Marriage and Family.

JOHN M. PRICE was one of those whom fate in its waywardness snatched from
misfortune and distress and cast, apparently helpless and deserted, upon this
peaceful shore, where wealth and honors and happiness were to reward his future
efforts. Born in Bristol, England, September 29, 1810, and growing up in that
seaport town, he found the most available vocation for a boy without a fortune
to be that of a sailor. When but fifteen years of age he became a sailor boy,
going on a three-year voyage as a whaler in the Southern Ocean.

SAILS FOR THE PACIFIC.

Returning from his first voyage, after a brief stay on shore he shipped on the
bark Kent, Captain Lawton, for the South Sea, as the Pacific Ocean was then
called, again in search of whales. On this vessel was a hard master, and the
life of the sailor was not a happy one. An adventurous youth who had made the
acquaintance of the world in the seaport town of Bristol, and at eighteen was on
his second voyage along the pleasant shores of the Pacific, was not the one to
submit tamely to the brutalities so commonly reported of sea captains. Although
he was exacting of his men, working them severely, and very rough, he was
considerate of their health, and in case of accident was energetic in their
protection.

ARRIVES IN CALIFORNIA.

  The Kent, sailing along the Spanish coast of South America and Mexico, entered
the harbor of Monterey. There three sailors deserted, whose names, Mr. Price
thinks, were Thomas Cole, Wm. Malthus, and Anderson. A few kanakas were
obtained, but the bark sailed away, short-handed, for the coast of Lower
California in search of whales, and sea elephants, or whatever yielded oil.

LANDS TO KILL SEA ELEPHANTS.

  While sailing close to land along the coast of Lower California, large numbers
of sea elephants were seen on the shore; as Mr. Price says, "millions and
millions of them." Four boats with men were sent on shore to kill the elephants
for their blubber, but the boats capsized in the surf, losing most of the
implements, and one man drowning. With such implements as they could get the
slaughter began, and an immense number were killed and the blubber heaped in
great piles like hay-stacks. The ship sailed off and on for a week or more,
making repeated efforts to aid and rescue those on shore. At last a kanaka swam
through the breakers with a line, and a boat was pulled through.

  An effort was made to get the blubber to the ship, but the sharks were so
numerous and so voracious that they tore it from the lines, and the work was
abandoned until the vessel could go to some Mexican port and obtain a supply of
fresh water and wood. The bay of Manzanillo was the port sought. It was then a
wild, uninhabited region. On the southern shore of the bay was a hut where the
Custom House officer stopped when at the port. The city of Colima was at some
unknown distance inland.

RUNS FROM THE SHIP.

  Young Price had agreed with another apprentice who had been subjected to
ill-treatment to run from the ship at the first opportunity. Here was the
promised chance. All had to go ashore for wood and water. A large river enters
the bay on the north side. To this the Captain went with a boat, taking Price
with him. They had to fight alligators to get up the stream, and then, finding
the water bitter and the alligators so numerous, they left it for another stream
on the eastern side of the bay. This was favorable for the project of desertion.
As many men and boys as could be spared were put on shore to cut wood and carry
it to the boats, and others took water to the ship.

  After working very hard for several days, and the wood all on board, Price and
his mate concluded their time to run had arrived, and so slipped away unobserved
and hid themselves in the dense thickets of brush that covered the neighboring
hills. Night was approaching and the Captain could not wait to hunt for the
deserters, who lay concealed until the ship sailed away. The two boys then made
their way toward the interior, and soon were overtaken by the customs officer on
his way to Colima. He gave them directions, and they afterwards fell in with a
party of Indians who provided them with an abundance of food and assisted them
on their way.

KIND TREATMENT AT COLIMA.

  In due time they arrived safely at Colima and were taken in charge by the
people, who expressed the utmost solicitude for their health and comfort. Mr.
Price says: "They made babies of us. They couldn't do too much for us. My hands
were, like sailors', well covered in the palms with tar, and from handling tarry
ropes were as hard as leather. This excited their pity, and they would take hold
of our hands and examine them, constantly saying, "Pobre muchachos; pobre ma
nos!" until I got tired of being so pitied and petted. It was a thing I wasn't
used to. I never can forget how kind the people were to us, wanting us to stay
with them forever. I could talk a little Spanish, and here learned to talk
better. I had been on the coast before, and in sailing up touched at Valparaiso
and other ports, and the Captain called on me to interpret for him in doing his
business, so I was a little acquainted with the ways of the people."

AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO CALIFORNIA.

  Mr. Price remained at Colima, enjoying the hospitality of that kind people for
nearly a year, when a German gentleman came there on a visit. He had a vessel at
the port and was going to Monterey, in California. Thither Price wished to go,
and his newly-formed acquaintance was glad to take him as a sailor and as an
interpreter familiar with the country.

  While at Colima the cholera prevailed to an alarming extent. The city had a
population of about 3,000, and the dead cart was going constantly. Those most
subject to the attacks of the disease were the young people from fifteen to
twenty-five years of age, and seldom survived the attack more than twenty-four
hours. Mr. Price suffered from an attack of cholera, but after a severe
struggle, aided by good care and a strong constitution, he recovered.

SAFE AT MONTEREY IN 1830.

  The vessel on which he sailed for Monterey arrived safely at her point of
destination in the year 1830, and since that date California has been his home.
About the ancient capital and in the Salinas Valley, riding horses and herding
cattle, and doing such other work as the rancheros of that period required, the
ci-devant sailor remained for six or seven years, and then came to San Luis
Obispo and engaged as vaquero for Capt. W. G. Dana on the Nipomo, receiving
$15.00 per month wages. There he was peacefully engaged, excepting an occasional
skirmish with the raiding Indians from the Tulare Valley, until, in 1840, he was
one day surprised by a party of soldiers riding up to him and

MAKING HIM THEIR PRISONER.

  For what cause he did not know. He had never taken any part in politics, or in
the question of who should bear the high-sounding titles, or divide the revenue
exacted from the ships that came to Monterey. Little did he care whether
Gutierrez, Carrillo, Castro, Vallejo, or Alvarado bore the titles or gathered
the customs duties, so that he was left alone with his horses and cattle in the
oak-covered hills and grassy valleys of quiet Nipomo.

  But he was soon made aware that the foreigners in the north had risen in
insurrection, and that he was one and must go as prisoner. The great story of
the valiant Governor Alvarado was told him; how the treacherous foreigners had
arisen and had been put down and captured after a terrific struggle, and were
now prisoners en route from Monterey to Mexico for trial and execution. The
vessel taking them would stop at Santa Barbara to take others who would be
arrested. Price was charged with being a revolutionist, although he protested he
knew nothing of what had occurred. His protestations were unavailing and he was
taken along to Santa Barbara, no other foreigner in this region being disturbed.

  As this so-called insurrection formed so important an episode in the life of
Mr. Price, and is also a noted chapter in the early history of California, we
will interpolate the story in this biographical sketch of the veteran pioneer.

THE GRAHAM INSURRECTION.

  The name of Graham has been mentioned in the preceding chapter, and the part
he took in overthrowing the Government of Gutierrez and placing Alvarado in
power. for this service Alvarado had promised him and the other foreigners that
he would cause the repeal of the laws prohibiting their holding land without
naturalization, and would make them grants of land. Graham had also become
offensive from his familiarity, and exacting the fulfillment of his promises.
For these offenses Alvarado determined to get rid of all by a coup de main, at
the same time accomplishing a coup d'etat.

  Whether anything like an insurrection was contemplated is extremely doubtful;
that none was attempted is quite certain, but as the affair was generally known
as the Graham insurrection, it may as well be described under that name. The
reader will recollect that when Alvarado was threatened with arrest, he fled to
the cabin of Isaac Graham, and with him planned the affair which terminated in
making Alvarado the recognized Governor of California.

SKETCH OF GRAHAM.

  Graham was one of those characters that could have been raised nowhere except
on a frontier. He was a native of Tennessee, and at a very early age left the
civilized part of the United States and struck into the vast wilderness which
formed the western half of the American Continent. He was of immense physical
strength, with endurance and persistence that knew no failure. Whether making
his .way across lofty mountains, trackless deserts, or fighting a horde of
Indians, he was always the same self-reliant and persistent character, destitute
of fear. Thrown in early life into scenes where his own prowess was his reliance
for the protection of his life and property, he had come to regard his own
notions of right and wrong as his guide, and the law as a mere cobweb to be
brushed aside as of little account; hence Alvarado had little difficulty in
inducing him to engage in a revolution.

 When that revolution was accomplished, and Alvarado was Governor, Graham had as
little reverence for the man he had assisted to office, or his authority, as for
any other. It is said that, forgetting the high and mighty title with which
Alvarado decorated his name, Graham would slap him familiarly on his back and
pass some joke, as he would to a fellow-trapper who slept under the same
bearskin in the cleft in the rocks, in the Sierra Nevada. He had accumulated
considerable property in distilling grain and raising cattle. He had a famous
race-horse which had won for him many thousands of dollars, much of which was
still due him from those who had matched their horses with his. Alvarado had
promised him land for the services he had performed, which promise he had
neglected to fulfill, though repeatedly reminded of it. Graham and his friends
were getting persistent, impertinent, and troublesome.

ARRESTED BY ALVARADO.

  Alvarado conceived the plan of getting rid of the "whole tribe" at one swoop.
He charged them with having formed a conspiracy to overturn the Government, and
ordered the arrest of nearly all the Americans in and around Monterey, or within
several hundred miles of the place. The arrest had to be done quietly or the
sturdy old hunters would get alarmed and put themselves on the defensive, and
Alvarado well knew their fighting qualities. They were, by twos and threes,
privately informed that Alvarado wanted to see them, and, when confronted with
him, were charged with conspiracy and chained up to be shot. So quietly had this
been carried on that 160, nearly the whole number, were inveigled into town
before the alarm was raised.

  They did not try to entrap Graham in this way, however.  He was too wary to be
caught that wray, and would be likely to make a big fight when they attempted to
put chains on him, even if the Governor was present. They undertook to kill him
outright. Six of them went to his bedside in the night, when he was asleep, and
he was awakened by the discharge of a pistol so near his head that the flash
burned his face, the ball passing through the collar on his neck. As he arose to
his feet, six other pistols were discharged so near him that his shirt took fire
in several places. One shot only hit him, that passing through his arm. After
this firing, the party fell back to reload, for old Graham was on his feet, and
no one cared to meet the old man, who was now thoroughly aroused. He had
concluded that discretion was the better part of valor when the assailants were
six to one, and commenced retreating, which so encouraged the arresting party
that they made a rush and succeeded in overthrowing him. One of them undertook
to stab him, but the dirk passed into the ground between Graham's arm and his
body. Before the assassin could repeat the blow, Graham was dragged away to
where Jose Castro, who was the leader of the party, was standing, whereupon
Castro struck him on the head with the flat of his sword so severely as to bring
him to the ground, at the same time ordering him to be shot, which, however, was
not done. The whole party connected with Graham in farming and distilling were
carried in chains to Monterey and thrown into the adobe prison on the mud floor,
which, as it was during the rainy season, April, 1840, was in reality a mud floor.

THE PRISONERS SENT TO SAN BLAS.

  Here the whole number were detained several days with insufficient food and
water, while the authorities debated the question of shooting all of them. At
this juncture a merchant vessel, the Don Quixote, came into the harbor, and
succeeded, by some pretensions of authority, in inducing the authorities to send
the prisoners to San Bias for trial. Some of the names of the parties arrested
and the localities from whence taken were, Lewis Pollock, John Vermillion,
William McGlone, Daniel Sill, George Frazer, Nathaniel Spear, Capt. James
McKinley, Jonathan Fuller, and Captain Beechay, of San Francisco; William
Blirkin, George Fergusson, Thomas Thomas, William Langleys, Jonathan Mirayno,
William Weeks, Jonathan Coppinger, William Hauts, Charles Brown, Thomas
Tomlinson, Richard Westlake, James Peace, Robert McAlister, Thomas Bowen, Elisha
Perry, Nathan Daily, Robert Livermore, William Gulenack, Jonathan Marsh, Peter
Storm, Job Dye, William Smith, Jonathan Warner, and two Frenchmen, of San Jose;
Wm. Thompson, James Burnes, F. Eagle, Henry Knight, Jonathan Lucas, Geo. Chapel,
Henry Cooper, Jonathan Herven, James Lowyado, Francisco La Grace, Michael Lodge,
Joseph Whitehouse, and Robert King, of Santa Clara; Isaac Graham, Daniel Goff,
Wm. Burton, Jonathan Smith, and Henry Niel, of Natividad (Graham's
neighborhood); Wm. Chard, James O'Brien, Wm. Bronda, Wm. Malthas, Thos. Cole,
Thos. Lewis, Wm. Ware, Jas. Majous, of Salinas; Leonard Carmichael, Edward
Watson, Andrew Watson, H. McVicker, H. Hathaway, Henry Bee, Wm. Trevavan,
Jonathan Maynard, Wm. Henderson, Jas. Meadows, Jonathan Higgins, Mark West,
George Kenlock, Jeremiah Jones, Jonathan Chamberlain, Daniel _____, Joseph
Bowles, James Kelley, James Fairwell, Walter Adams, Mr. Horton, James
Atterville, Mr. Jones, Jonathan Christian, Wm. Chay, Wm. Dickey, Charles
Williams, and Alvan Willson, from Monterey, and John Michael Price was arrested
as above stated, and added to the prisoners aboard the ship Roger Willams, of
Boston, which had been chartered for the purpose of taking them from Monterey to
San Blas. Forty-five prisoners were taken to that port, of about one hundred and
sixty arrested.

ALVARADO'S CRUELTY.

  While at Monterey the treatment of the prisoners was most inhuman. Mr. Thomas
J. Farnham, an American traveler who happened to arrive in Monterey at the time,
and wrote a book on California, gives a most vivid account of the affair. The
prison, a dungeon with a mud floor and one small hole for air, was crowded to
suffocation. No bedding or seats were provided, and not much provision was made
for food. Thomas O. Larkin, the American Consul, was permitted to feed the
prisoners occasionally, otherwise they would have suffered for food. Some could
not stand up, and all were emaciated and pale. No conspiracy could be proven
against them, except by the testimony of a worthless character, whose name does
not deserve to be remembered.

  Nevertheless a number were condemned to be shot, but this sentence was
suspended through the energy of Mr. Farnham and the action of the vessel, the
Don Quixote, on which he came, which, instead of anchoring, would sail out and
in, leading Alvarado to fear that an American fleet was outside, and it was
concluded to send the prisoners to San Bias for trial.

  The result of the whole matter was that forty-four were retained for trial at
San Blas, and the rest liberated. The forty-four were placed on board a ship,
and started south with the intention of putting in at Santa Barbara, where Price
was added to the list, Jose Castro being in charge.

THE PRISONERS AT SANTA BARBARA.

  The bark Don Quixote, the merchant vessel spoken of, followed the course of
the vessel containing the prisoners, They had a most disagreeable trip, being
treated much as they were in the prisons of Monterey. Farnham gives the
following account of the prisoners coming from Monterey to Santa Barbara:—

THE PRISONERS AT SANTA BARBARA.

  On the first day of May, 1840, the American (Farnham) made application to see
the prisoners and was refused. He had heard that they were in want of food, and
proposed to supply them, but was forbidden by Jose Castro, the officer in
charge. The prison-ship had arrived at Santa Barbara on the 25th of April, and
landed forty-one of the prisoners. Four others were retained on board to work.
(These forty-one men, during the whole passage from Monterey, had been chained
to long bars of iron, passing transversely across the hold of the ship. They
were not permitted to go on deck, nor even to stand on their feet. A bucket was
occasionally passed about for particular purposes, but so seldom as to be of
little use. They were furnished with a mere morsel of food, and that of the
worst quality. Of water they had scarcely enough to prevent death from thirst,
and so small and close was the place in which they were chained that it was not
uncommon for the more debilitated to faint and lie some time in a lifeless
state. When they landed, many of them had become so weak that they could not get
out of the boat without aid. Their companions in chains assisted them, though
threatened with instant death if they did so. After being set ashore they were
marched, in the midst of drawn swords and fixed bayonets, dragging their chains
around bleeding limbs, one mile and three-fourths, to the mission of Santa
Barbara. Here they were put into a single room of the mission prison, without
floor or means of ventilation. The bottom of the cell was soft mud. In this damp
dungeon, without food or water, these poor fellows remained two days and nights.
They had not even straw on which to sleep.

  At the end of this time it came to the ears of the friar in charge of the
mission that one of them was dying of hunger and thirst. He repaired to the
prison and inquired of Pinto, the Corporal of the guard, if such were the fact.
The miniature monster answered that he did not know. The friar replied: "Are you
an officer and a Catholic, and do not know the state of your prisoners? You,
sir, are an officer of to-day, and should not be one of to-morrow." The good man
entered the cell, and found one of the Englishmen speechless; administered
baptism and removed him to the house of a kind family, where I found him on my
arrival, still speechless, and incapable of motion. The friar extended his
kindness to the other prisoners. He ordered Castro to furnish them food and
water, but, evading the direction so far as was possible, he gave them barely
enough of each to tantalize them, until the arrival of the American in the Don
Quixote. . . . From the first of May, therefore, they had plenty of food and water.

  On the fourth the American was permitted to see the prisoners. They had been
scrubbing themselves at the great tank, and were allowed, at his suggestion, to
take their dinner in the open air. They had been suffering exceedingly since
they left Monterey, for their countenances had lost the little color which the
dungeons of that place had left them. Their hands looked skeleton-like; their
eyes were deeply sunken in their sockets. They tottered as they walked. Poor
men! For no other fault than their Anglo-Saxon blood, they fared like felons.
They had a long voyage and slavery in the mines of Mexico before them, and were
sad. They asked the American if he would lead them in an attack against the
guard. He pointed out the hopelessness of such an attempt in their enfeebled
condition, and comforted them with the reiterated assurance that he would meet
them at San Blas.

  The Englishman before spoken of, died with his last wants administered by some
of the hospitable and kind ladies of the town.

ALVARADO'S SHORT-LIVED TRIUMPH.

  For the time being Alvarado had triumphed, as the prisoners had, been sent
onward to San Blas, in Mexico. There was great rejoicing among his friends, and
of so much importance was it considered that a general thanksgiving was ordered
in May, 1840. Two months later a French ship and the American ship-of-war St.
Louis entered the harbor of Monterey to inquire into the circumstances. Alvarado
left immediately to attend to some Indian disturbances in the interior, and as
Castro was in Mexico with the prisoners, there was no military man or person in
authority to hold responsible for the affair, and after a few days the ships
sailed away, and Alvarado returned to his post.

  Mr. Price says the prisoners were well used after leaving Santa Barbara. After
arriving at San Bias they were sent to Tepic and consigned to the quartel.

ALVARADO'S INCENTIVE.

  The true incentive of Governor Alvarado's treacherous conduct was now made
apparent. His accusation against the foreigners in California and their arrest
and deportation to Mexico for trial was to proclaim his devotion to the
authorities in power—a penitential offering. Alvarado, a few years previously,
had rebelled against the central Government, deposed, or defied, Carrillo, who
had been appointed to the office of Governor, and assumed the position himself.
He now wished to make an exhibition of his zeal in his country's cause, to show
his great valor and the mighty power that he wielded in that distant Mexican
Territory, and how he had grasped in his hand all the foreigners in his
dominions who had assisted him to gain office on that former occasion, and now
offered them as a sacrifice.

  The country was then at war with Texas, which State had seceded, and, winning
some battles, had sent an expedition to New Mexico which Governor Armijo had
captured and sent in chains to the central capital. Alvarado thought this a good
occasion to conciliate the Government of Mexico, to gain great applause, and
emulate the grand feat of the Governor of New Mexico. For this he fabricated the
charges against Graham and the foreigners, seeking in the most ungrateful and
treacherous manner the one who had been the most useful to him, first attempting
his death, then causing him every possible suffering and indignity, thus to the
better exhibit his deep repentance and devotion to the superior Government.
Under the pretense of a threatened uprising which had no foundation whatever,
and in the name of patriotism, he committed the foulest of crimes, exhibiting a
treachery of the most contemptible character, and a cruelty consistent with a
low order of manhood in a semi-civilized people.

JUSTICE ACCORDED THE PRISONERS.

  At Tepic the prisoners appealed to the American Consul to present their case
and obtain release and redress. But that official appeared to be of very little
force and availed them nothing, and they therefore asked the aid of Mr. Barron,
the British Consul. Through that gentleman's influence the condition of the
prisoners was at once ameliorated, and steps were at once taken to repair, as
far as possible, the wrong done. They were released from the quartel, and an
allowance of $3.50 a week was given them to pay their current expenses. This was
much more than necessary, as living was very cheap at Tepic, ten cents a day
being sufficient to purchase all the food required.

  Negotiations were continued to settle the difficulties to the satisfaction of
the prisoners. These had continued for several months when $400 was offered each
as liquidated damages, and all to be set free at San Blas. All but fifteen of
the party accepted these terms. These fifteen, among whom were Price and Graham,
declined, but demanded to be returned to their homes in California, and to be
compensated in the full amount of their losses and sufferings.

  Price had been peaceably engaged at what were regarded as high wages, and was
the owner of 200 or 300 head of cattle and horses in California. At last
satisfactory terms were agreed upon, and a Mexican vessel carried the released
prisoners back to Monterey, where they landed in high glee after an absence of
six months. Those who accepted the $400 and liberty at San Blas scattered to
various parts of the world, and but a part of them returned to California.

  Mr. Price returned to his old place on the Nipomo, and soon thereafter engaged
as major-domo of the Huasna Ranch for Mr. Isaac J. Sparks, at $20.00 a month, in
which position he continued for several years.

FREMONT APPEARS.

  In 1846, he was residing on the Arroyo Grande, at the old ranch house, a short
distance below the site of the present village, and had in his service eight
Indians. The Mexican War was in progress, and it was understood that California
had been taken by the Americans, but all was quiet on the Arroyo Grande, save
the lowing of the cattle, the neighing of the horses, the excitement of the
rodeo, and the occasional slaughter of a beef for the consumption of the people.
Suddenly, about the last of the year, he was surprised by the appearance of an
armed body of Americans, who quickly surrounded his house and demanded his
surrender. Mr. Price, in his bluff manner, asked what they wanted him to
surrender; they had everything already and were welcome to what they wished.

  This was the American battalion under Fremont, en route to Los Angeles to
co-operate with Commodore Stockton and General Kearny. The valley of the Arroyo
Grande was then a dense monte of willows, and into this the Indians had fled and
concealed themselves. Fremont ordered his men to arrest them. Price asked, "Why
do you want to arrest them, they are but a few unarmed Indians who are working
for me." Still Fremont insisted on having them caught, and Price said, "Go
ahead, but you might as well try to arrest a lot of quail as to find them in
that monte." Fremont at last seeing the futility of the search and the
uselessness of the capture, desisted, and went on his way. That was about all
Mr. Price saw of the war which transferred the country from the domain of Mexico
to that of the United States.

  In the harbors of San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego, ships of war came
and went. Sailors and soldiers were seen on the streets and plazas, and
garrisoned the castillos and presidios of the larger towns, but the quiet of San
Luis Obispo was not disturbed, and the war passed and the great revolution was
consummated, while the cattle grazed over the hills of Nipomo and the vaqueros
sought their herds through the monte of Arroyo Grande.

GOLD MINING.

  Peace reigned in California long before the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo was
made, and before the news of its ratification at Queretaro rumors of the
discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada spread through the land. That wonderful
discovery excited everybody, and Mr. Price, accompanied by his brother-in-law,
Mr. F. Z. Branch, went over to the Stanislaus and tried their luck in washing
for gold. After a practical experience sufficient to take off the glamour of the
gold-mining enthusiasm, and with a fair degree of success in accumulating the
brilliant scales, they returned to their ranchos on the coast.

  On their return journey they made the discovery of the dead bodies of the Read
family at San Miguel, and raised the party which went in pursuit, the
particulars of which are related in the record of the crimes of San Luis Obispo.

PUBLIC SERVICES.

  Under both nationalities, Mexican and American, in public and private, Mr.
Price has been intrusted with important offices. Alcalde and Juez de Paz under
Mexican rule, and Alcalde, Justice of the Peace, County Judge, Supervisor, etc.,
after the change of flags. In the archives of San Luis Obispo are many of the
old documents in the Spanish language bearing the signature of Juan Miguel
Price, being ordinances, proclamations, and decisions, of a very interesting
character. The Alcaldes, Prefects, and Sub-Prefects, then had power exceeding
that of the Legislature of the present time, and some orders were made
respecting the conduct of individuals that would hardly be submitted to by the
Americans of to-day, as long as there is a high Appellate Court to "whip in" to
constitutional limits and throw its shield of technicalities over criminals. The
good, fatherly Alcaldes made rules for the people as for children, and their
authority was obeyed.

  Mr. Price had been continued in the office of Alcalde, but by what authority
after the Americans took possession of the Government it is unnecessary to
inquire. There appears to have been an election as indicated by a letter from
Colonel Mason, then Military Governor, dated Monterey, January 25, 1848, to J.
M. Bonilla, also an Alcalde of San Luis Obispo. Colonel Mason writes: "I send
this appointment of J. M. Price as Alcalde, but not on account of the election
that was held, for that was unauthorized."

A CELEBRATED CASE.

  Several letters are on file in reference to a decision of Judge Price in the
case of taking possession of a pair of millstones at the mission. The following
are sufficient to explain the matter:—

HEADQUARTERS 10TH MILITARY DEPARTMENT,   )
      MONTEREY, California, May 16, 1848 )
SIR:   Padre Gomez, the Catholic priest of San Luis Obispo, through his friend
Don Manuel Jemino, complains that at the instance of Vicente Felis, you have
taken from him a pair of millstones that have been in his possession for three
years, and which he acquired by purchase. Whilst I do not at all doubt the
correctness of your motive in taking those stones from the priest, yet, from the
circumstances of the case, and all the information can gain, I am of the opinion
they should be returned to him, which I desire you will do. And this will
relieve you from any responsibility in the transaction.

  I am respectfully your obedient servant,
                             R. B. MASON,
       Colonel 1st Dragoons, Governor of California.
John M. Price, Alcalde of San Luis Obispo.

  To this order the following reply was sent, evidently under the effort to be
as formal and respectful as the curious-looking Spanish paper used would permit.
                             SAN LUIS OBISPO, May 21, 1848.
  RESPECTED SIR: I have not, as your Excellency says in yours of the 16th inst.,
at the instance of Vicente Felis taken from the priest, Padre Gomez, a pair of
millstones, which you desire that I should put in his possession again. I am
well aware that the priest bought the millstones, but the Indian sold what was
not his, consequently I took those stones from the priest on account of its
being sufficiently proved in this juzgado by the under-named individuals, namely
Don Mariano Bonilla, which is the person that sold the millstones to Ve Felis
for cattle to feed the Indians belonging to this mission in the year 1842, also
Don Jose Maria Villa, who was Alcalde in the year 1843, likewise an Indian named
Majin. If your Excellency will not admit, or do not approve of my proceedings in
this case, or make null what has been proved in this juzgado to be just, your
Excellency will much oblige by naming another individual to relieve me from this
most disagreeable situation that I now fill. An answer from your Excellency by
return mail will unquestionably decide a case that has been before every Alcalde
of this pueblo up to the present date.

  I am respectfully your most obedient servant.
                                JOHN M. PRICE.
To his Excellency R. B. Mason, Gov. of California.

HEADQUARTERS 10TH MILITARY DEPARTMENT,    )
           MONTEREY, Cal., May 26, 1848.  )
SIR : I am in the receipt of your communication of the 22d inst., which informs
me that the case of the millstones was regularly tried and decided by proof in
your Juzgado. That being the case, it certainly is not my intention to disturb
that decision.

  My communication of the 16th was written under the impression, as therein
expressed, that you had taken them from the priest at the instance of Vicente
Felis; by which I meant to convey the idea, that you had taken them upon the
representations of Felis, without due course of trial; and it was under that
view of the case I advised them to be restored.

  I am respectfully your obedient servant,
                                          R. B. MASON,
                      Colonel 1st,Dragoons, Governor of California.
  Mr. John M. Price, Alcalde of San Luis Obispo.

  The return letter from Governor Mason acknowledges the correctness of Mr.
Price's action and motives, and continues him in the office of Alcalde. The
position, in the disturbed condition of the country, without law or precedent,
was one of great responsibility and the most experienced jurists would have been
much perplexed, but Mr. Price, aiming at simple justice, gave satisfaction as
Alcalde. His subsequent political acts, as County Judge, Supervisor, etc., will
be further noticed in the political history of the county.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.

  Mr. Price was married in 1844 to Senorita Dona Andrea Colona, a native of
California, and thirteen children have been born to them, five sons and eight
daughters. The home is distinguished for its hospitality, the visitor being
always welcomed with the kindness and polite attention that so distinguishes the
native Californian. Mr. Price is devoted to his family as they are devoted to
him, and he has taken great pains in giving each of his children a first-class
education. Throughout life he has been active and public spirited, in early days
fighting the Indians in protection of the settlements and stock, and in later
years serving the public as one of its most prominent and influential citizens.
His life has been one full of adventure and interest. Cast upon the world to
depend upon himself when a mere child, and upon a strange country and among
strange people when a boy, he has made his way by the inherent qualities of his
nature and by his unaided energies to wealth and honor in his old age. This
venerable gentleman still resides upon his grand estate of 7,000 acres of the
Pismo Rancho, within sound of the beating waves of the Pacific Ocean, enjoying
the rest and dignity of a wealthy farmer, and held in the highest esteem by all.




Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
CALIFORNIA

WITH

Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
OF ITS
PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS.


OAKLAND, CAL.
THOMPSON & WEST

1883.


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