Statewide County CA Archives History - Books .....General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo 1891
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of Northern California

GENERAL MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.

  A history of Northern California with General M. G. Vallejo ignored would be
like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. We visited him in 1888, and were
saddened by the evidences apparent on every hand of decayed gentility. That he
was the friend of the Americans is not a question of doubt; that the Americans
profited by his prodigality and are now indifferent to his needs is lamentably
true. But his name will reach farther down the annals of history than it is in
the power of gold to purchase name and fame.

  Mariano G. Vallejo was born in Monterey, July 7, 1808. His father, Ignacio
Vicente Ferrer Vallejo, was a native of Spain, who came in his youth to the
State of Guadalajara, Mexico. In 1774, when a young man, being of an adventurous
nature, he secretly joined an expedition under Captain Rivera for the
exploration of Upper California. He was probably with Captain Rivera's party on
the 4th of December, when the large wooden cross was erected on the peninsula of
San Francisco, which his son, General Vallejo, says he saw standing in 1829. At
all events, he was an eye-witness of the founding of the mission of San
Francisco, which event occurred October 4, 1776.

  On his arrival in Monterey, Senor Ignacio Vallejo saw for the first time his
future wife. It was the day of her birth. He then asked permission of the
parents of the infant to wed their daughter when she should become of age.
Subsequently, this proposition, made half in jest, was renewed, the senorita
then being a blooming young girl, and Senor Vallejo a bachelor of forty. The
marriage proved a happy one, and Mariano G. Vallejo was the eighth of thirteen
children, the fruit of the union.

  Young Vallejo availed himself of every opportunity to improve his mind by
reading and study during his minority. He got possession of a library when quite
young, which was of great service. From this source he probably acquired a fund
of information, which made him the peer of the learned and distinguished persons
from all parts of the world, with whom he was destined in after life to be
associated.
  
At the age of sixteen years he was a cadet in the army, and private secretary of
Governor Arguello.

  In 1829 he was placed in charge of the Presidio of San Francisco, which
position he held until 1834, organizing in the interval the first city or town
government of San Francisco.

  Governor Figueroa, the most popular of all the Mexican Governors, had control
of affairs in 1834. Having learned that a large number of colonists, some four
hundred odd, were on their way to California from Mexico, he determined to
locate them in Sonoma, partly with the view of shutting out the Russians, and
partly because it was one of the most inviting spots to colonize over which he
had ever cast his experienced eyes. He selected Lieutenant Vallejo as the most
suitable of his officers to command the frontier and execute his plans. Together
they visited the country, taking in their tour of observation the stronghold of
the Russian squatters at Ross. Returning to the Santa Rosa Valley the Governor
selected a site on Mark West Creek for the future colony, giving it the name of
"Santa Ana y Ferias," uniting these names probably because he could not tell
which of the rival political chiefs would be on top when he next heard from
Mexico. He left a camp of soldiers there who were under the command of General
Vallejo. The colonists were under the direction of Senor Hijas, who was a
quarrelsome, ambitious and avaricious man. Governor Figueroa had received orders
to turn over the control of affairs to Hijas. On his return from Sonoma he met a
courier with orders, countermanding the former instruction, and continuing the
direction of affairs solely in his own hands.

  The colonists arrived in March, 1835, and were temporarily quartered in
Sonoma. Hijas and his coadjutors among the colonists were much disaffected, and
threatened rebellion. Figueroa ordered their arrest. This order was executed by
General Vallejo with much skill and judgment, without bloodshed or any personal
collision. Hijas and his cosmopolitan company were taken to San Francisco, and
were soon after sent back to Mexico.

  General Vallejo remained in charge of the frontier. He removed his
headquarters from Santa Ana y Ferias, on Mark West, to Sonoma, when, by order of
Figueroa, he, in the month of June, 1835, established the town of Sonoma.

  General Figueroa died soon after these events. His successor, Governor
Carrillo, was deposed by Alvarado. The new governor appointed General Vallejo to
the position of Commandante-General of the frontier.

  In this position General Vallejo did all in his power to promote the
settlement of the frontier. Expeditions were sent out against the Indians,
agricultural industries were extended, and the raising of cattle, sheep and
horses was in every way encouraged.

  Between 1840 and 1845 a large number of immigrants came to northern
California. They were well received by the General, though the home government
was continually "nagging" him because he did not send the foreigners out of the
country, at the same time giving him neither men nor means to carry out their
order.

  In the early part of the year 1846, affairs in California were rapidly
approaching a crisis. In April, a junta was called to meet at Monterey to
consider the condition of affairs. Revere gives a summary of some of the
speeches made. That of General Vallejo was as follows:

  I cannot, gentlemen, coincide with the military and civil functionaries who
have advocated the cession of our country to France or England. It is most true
that to rely any longer on Mexico to govern and defend us would be idle and
absurd. To this extent I fully agree with my colleagues. It is also true that we
possess a noble country, every way calculated, from position and resources, to
become great and powerful. For that very reason I would not have her a mere
dependency upon a foreign monarchy, naturally alien, or at least indifferent to
our interests and to our welfare. It is not to be denied that feeble nations
have in former times thrown themselves upon the protection of their powerful
neighbors. The Britons invoked the aid of the warlike Saxons, and fell an easy
prey to their protectors, who seized their lands and treated them like slaves.
Long before that time, feeble and distracted provinces had appealed for aid to
the all-conquering arms of imperial Rome, and they were at the same time
protected and subjugated their grasping ally. Even could we tolerate the by idea
of dependence, ought we to go to distant Europe for a master? What possible
sympathy could exist between us and a nation separated from us by two vast
oceans? But waiving this insuperable objection, how could we endure to come
under the dominion of a monarchy? For, although others speak lightly of a form
of government, as a freeman, I cannot do so. We are republicans—badly governed
and badly situated as we are— still we are all, in sentiment, republicans. So
far as we are governed at all, we at least profess to be self-governed. Who,
then, that possesses true patriotism will consent to subject himself and his
children to the caprices of a foreign king and his official minions? But it is
asked, if we do not throw ourselves upon the protection of France and England,
what shall we do? I do not come here to support the existing order of things,
but I come prepared to propose instant and effective action to extricate our
country from her present forlorn condition. My opinion is made up that we must
persevere in throwing off the galling yoke of Mexico, and proclaim our
independence of her forever. We have endured her official cormorants and her
villainous soldiery until we can endure no longer. All will probably agree with
me that we ought at once to rid ourselves of what may remain of Mexican
domination. But some profess to doubt our ability to maintain our position. To
my mind there comes no doubt. Look at Texas, and see how long the withstood the
power of united Mexico. The resources of Texas were not to be compared with
ours, and she was much nearer to her enemy than we are. Our position is so
remote, either by land or sea, that we are in no danger from Mexican invasion.
Why, then, should we hesitate still to assert our independence? We have indeed
taken the first step by electing our own Governor, but another remains to be
taken. I will mention it plainly and distinctly—it is annexation to the United
States. In contemplating this consummation of our destiny, I feel nothing but
pleasure, and I ask you to share it. Discard old prejudices, disregard old
customs, and prepare for the glorious change which awaits our country. Why
should we shrink from incorporating ourselves with the happiest and freest
nation in the world, destined soon to be the most wealthy and powerful? Why
should we go abroad for protection when this great nation is our adjoining
neighbor? When we join our fortunes to hers, we shall not become subjects, but
fellow-citizens, possessing all the rights of the people of the United States,
and choosing our own federal and local rulers. We shall have a stable government
and just laws. California will grow strong and flourish, and her people will be
prosperous, happy and free. Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the hardy
pioneers who scale our mountains and cultivate our unoccupied plains; but rather
welcome them as brothers, who come to share with us a common destiny.

  Lieutenant Revere was in Monterey when the junta met; its proceedings were
secret, but he says it was notorious that two parties existed in the country,
and that General Vallejo was the leader of the American party, while Castro was
at the head of the European party. He says he had his report of the meeting from
documentary evidence, as well as sketches of the principal speeches. He also
says that so soon as General Vallejo retired from the junta he addressed a
letter to Governor Pio Pico embodying the views he had expressed in his speech
and refusing ever again to assist in any project having for its end the
establishment of a protectorate over California by any other power than the
United States.

  At last the long-threatened storm broke upon the town of Sonoma, and its
commandante and little garrison were captured by the Americans. General Vallejo
was kept as a prisoner for about two months, and released by order of Commodore
Stockton.

  General Vallejo, speaking of the condition of affairs in Northern California
previous to the taking of Sonoma, said:

  Years before I had urgently represented to the Government of Mexico the
necessity of stationing a sufficient force on the frontier, else Sonoma would be
lost; which would be equivalent to leaving the rest of the country an easy prey
to the invader. What think yon, my friends, were the instructions sent me in
reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country? These
instructions were that I should at once force the immigrants to recross the
Sierra Nevada and depart from the territory of the Republic. To say nothing of
the inhumanity of these orders, their execution was physically impossible;
first, because I had no military force; and second, because the immigrants came
in the autumn, when snow covered the Sierra so quickly as to render return
impracticable. Under the circumstances not only I, but Commandante-General
Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with letters of security, that they
might remain temporarily in the country. We always made a show of authority, but
were well convinced all the time that we had no power to resist the invasion
which was coming in upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I can assure you
that the American immigrants never had cause to complain of the treatment they
received at the hands of either authorities or citizens.

  General Vallejo, on his release, at once made his great influence as a friend
of the United States felt throughout the country. He took active interest in
public affairs, always on the side of order and good government. He was elected
a member of the Constitutional Convention which met in Monterey, and was a
Senator from the Sonoma District in the first Legislature of California. And
from that period down to the present he has been an enterprising, useful and
honored citizen of Sonoma. In priority of settlement, he is the first of the
35,000 inhabitants now living in Sonoma county.

  On the 6th of March, 1832, he married Senorita Benicia Francesca Carillo, who
still survives with her distinguished husband.

  In person, General Vallejo, even at his advanced age, is a strikingly handsome
man. He is tall and erect in carriage, with the military air of one disciplined
to arms in his early youth. He is a brilliant conversationalist, an eloquent
speaker, even in English, which he acquired late in life. To these
accomplishments may be added the grace of gesture and manner which he inherits
with his blood from an ancestor of Spanish cavaliers.

  In the first Legislature of this State, M. G. Vallejo told the following
story: "At that period (late in the last century) few families had emigrated to
this country, and any one of the female sex was an oasis in the desert. My
father was one of the many who emigrated in bachelorship, and while sojourning
in San Luis Obispo he unexpectedly met with a lady who was in travail. As there
was no one except her husband to assist her, he acted as her holder (tenedor).
The lady was safely delivered of a girl, whereupon the holder solicited the hand
of the child, and a formal agreement was made between the parties that if at
mature years the girl should willingly consent to the union the ceremony should
be duly performed. The marriage took place in the young lady's fourteenth year,
and the offspring of that marriage has now the honor to present this short
biographical sketch!"


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast
from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with
Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of
Prominent Citizens of To-day.

"A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendents." – Macauley.

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1891.


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