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up and down the coast during the following spring and summer. was while on one of these trading excursions, to buy furs from the Indians, that Captain Gray, on the 7th of May, 1792, discovered the Columbia river, which he named after his ship, the first that ever sailed up its stream. The report of this discovery, and the valuable collection of furs Captain Gray brought from this country to Boston, created considerable excitement; and a number of expeditions were planned for making a settlement on this coast.

In 1810, the ship Albatross, from Boston, commanded by Captain Smith, arrived with a number of hunters and trappers, who landed and formed a settlement at a place called Oak Point, on the south bank of the Columbia river, about forty miles from its mouth, where they established a trading post, which was the first settlement of Americans on the Pacific Coast.

In 1810, the Pacific Fur Company was organized at New York, under the leadership of John Jacob Astor; and in 1811, Astoria, Oregon, was founded by this Company, at the place where it stands at the present time. It was soon after captured by the British, who drove all the Americans out of the country. Many of these managed to find their way into California. One of the most successful of these pioneer California fur-traders, was Captain William Sturgis, who, in some half-dozen voyages, between Boston and the California coast, between 1800 and 1812, realized so large a fortune as to become one of the richest merchants in the city of Boston. He died at Boston, in 1864, aged seventy-five, and left property valued at three millions of dollars.

From 1813 until 1822, there were no Americans on the Pacific coast, except those connected with these trading posts, or deserters from vessels that visited them.

The following sketch of the "California trade" in those early days, will be interesting. From 1825 until 1834, the whole of this trade was in the hands of a few Boston merchants. A voyage to this coast and back, during that time, was an enterprise of very uncertain duration, generally occupying two or three years. The outward cargo, which usually consisted of groceries and coarse cotton goods, had to be retailed to the missionaries and settlers, as there were no "jobbers" in those times, and neither newspapers, telegraphs, nor stages, through which to inform customers of the ship's arrival. The crew had to travel all over the country to convey the news, which occupied considerable time. It was this portion of their duties that caused so many of them to desert their ships. They saw so much of the

country, became so charmed with the freedom, ease, and plenty, that prevailed everywhere, that they preferred to remain on shore. Each of these vessels generally brought several young men as adventurers, who worked their passage out for the privilege of remaining. Many of the early settlers, whose children are now among the wealthiest citizens in the State, came to California in this manner. It was in one of these California hide-ships, the Alert, that R. H. Dana served his "two years before the mast," in 1835 and '36, in the book concerning which, he gives some interesting scraps of information of early California society.

The outward cargo being disposed of, the homeward one had to be procured. Sometimes, when the season had been too dry, or too wet for the lazy vacqueros to drive the cattle into the missions to kill, there were no hides or tallow to be had. On such occasions the vessel was obliged to remain till the next season, when a sufficient number of cattle would be slaughtered to pay for the goods purchased, as there was no "currency" used in the country, except hides and tallow.

It was rough travelling in California, in those days, there being no places for the traveller to obtain food or shelter, except at the missions. In 1822, there was neither bread, butter, fruit, nor vegetables, to be had at Monterey, the capital of the territory. In fact, there was not a hotel or public table in the whole country, when it came into the possession of the United States in 1846. San Diego, being the general depot for this trade, where the hides and tallow collected from all the other missions along the coast were stored until a vessel was ready to leave, it was necessary to make several trips up and down the coast before the cargo could be collected. As there was no lumber or barrels to be had, the tallow was enclosed in green hides, sewn up in packages of one hundred and fifty to seven hundred pounds in weight, according to the size of the hide.

A number of stragglers from the Hudson Bay, and other companies-men of all nationalities-had found their way into California before 1812, and caused considerable trouble to the missionaries, by taking the best looking squaws for housekeepers.

It is known that several of the crew of Vancouver's ship deserted, while that celebrated navigator lay at anchor in the harbor of Monterey, in 1793. These men lived among the Indians for a number of

years.

In 1803, the American ship Alexander, Captain John Brown, and the Aser, Captain Thomas Raben, entered the harbor of San Fran

cisco, and increased the number of settlers by deserters from their crews. Captain Brown, of the Alexander, it appears, had lived among the natives for several years before his arrival on that occasion, and had caused so much trouble to the missionaries and military authorities at San Diego, in 1803, by contraband trading, that he was denied permission to remain in the harbor, longer than was necessary to obtain a supply of wood and water. These were the first American vessels that entered the Golden Gate, but not the first that had visited California. Captain Cleveland, on board the brig Delia Byrd, of Salem, (Mass.,) arrived at San Diego on the 17th of March, 1803.

In 1807, the ship Juno, of Rhode Island, which had been purchased by the Russians at Sitka, arrived at San Francisco, having on board Count Von Resenoff, ambassador from that country to Japan. This individual remained several weeks in California, and became so charmed with the country and its inhabitants, that he made arrangements for founding a colony of Russians in what is now Sonoma county, and engaged to marry the Donna Concepcion Arguello, the beautiful daughter of the Spanish commandante at San Francisco; but, being accidentally killed in Siberia, while on his way to Russia to obtain the Emperor's permission to settle in California, the marriage never took place. The beautiful donna, on learning the fate of her lover, renounced the world, became a Sister of Mercy, and devoted her life to alleviating the sufferings of the sick, and educating the children of the poor, until she died at Benicia, in 1860. The death of Count Von Resenoff also deferred the establishment of the colony till the year 1812, when one hundred Russians, and one hundred Kodiac Indians, arrived from Sitka and settled on a spit of land, about thirty miles from the shore of Bodega Bay, in latitude 38° 18'-fifty-eight miles north-west from San Francisco. They came for the purpose of catching seal, otter, beaver, and other animals, the fur of which was very valuable; and the animals that produced them abounded on all the rivers and creeks on the coast at that time. They were unwelcome guests to the missionaries and Mexican Government, but appear to have ingratiated themselves into favor with the Indians, a great many of whom they employed trapping and hunting, and cultivating the land around their fort.

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In 1820, they formed another settlement on the river Sebastian, forty miles north of Bodega, which they named Slawianska; Fort Ross, as it was called by the settlers; or Mount Ross, as it is present. They also had a settlement on the Farralones. these settlements contained eight hundred Russians, and nearly two

In 1841,

thousand Indians. They exported a large number of skins, and considerable quantities of grain and meat to the Russian settlements at Sitka.

In 1835, the British Government, which had already begun to make arrangements for the acquisition of California, made objections to these Russian settlements on Mexican soil; and, as the Mexican authorities appeared to be unable or unwilling to molest them, called upon the United States Government to require their removal, in compliance with the stipulations of a treaty made between Russia and the. United States in April, 1824, by which Russia was bound to prevent its subjects forming settlements at any point south of latitude 50° 40′. It was in compliance with a request from the United States Government, that the Russians left California in 1841. They sold all their real and personal property to General Sutter, taking payment in wheat and meat, as required by the settlement at Sitka. Among the personal property thus acquired by Sutter, were 2000 cattle, 1000 horses, 50 mules, 2500 sheep, and a number of brass guns, one of which, now preserved in the museum of the Pioneer Association of San Francisco, rendered important service during the war for the conquest of California.

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The first permanent settler in California, of whom we have any record, was John Gilroy, a Scotchman, who was landed from an English ship belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, which put into Monterey for supplies, in 1814. Gilroy, at that time a youth of eighteen, was so sick with the scurvy that he was left ashore, to save his life. It was six years after the ship that brought him had left, before another entered the harbor of Monterey, except a pirate from Buenos Ayres, which arrived in 1819, captured the fort, destroyed the guns, plundered the inhabitants, and burnt the town. Gilroy, who is still living at the thriving town which has sprung up within a few miles of his homestead, in the beautiful Santa Clara valley, about thirty miles from San José, says there were not half a dozen foreign settlers in the whole country at that time, except the Russians, at Bodega, and only eight ranchos belonging to Mexican settlers, between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Monterey contained but six houses, besides the presidio; San José contained about twenty. There was no foreign trade, except once a year a Spanish vessel took a cargo of tallow to Callao. Hides had not begun to be of any value, as the American traders did not commence to buy them until about 1820. There was not a flour mill in the country; the wheat intended for flour was ground in rude stone mortars, or metates. There was not a vehicle, from San

Francisco to San Diego, that had wheels with spokes. All the lumber required for any purpose was hewn with axes by the Indian carpenters-but, as nobody except the Governor or missionaries had wooden floors or doors to their houses, nor chairs, nor tables, it did not require much lumber to supply the demand. The missionaries owned the whole country, and controlled all its inhabitants. The Indians. did all the work required, as blacksmiths, carpenters and weavers. Potatoes were unknown; a few cabbages and other vegetables were cultivated, on some of the missions, as luxuries. The natives at the missions lived entirely on boiled wheat, maize, and beef, seasoned with Chili peppers and salt. Poor Gilroy, like so many other pioneer settlers who owned miles of fertile land when California became a State in the American Union, is now penniless, living in the same old adobe house he built before an American citizen had set his foot in the territory. Improvidence, and want of experience in the ways of the money lender, have ruined nearly all of the old settlers.

In 1818, Antonio M. Suñol, whose name is for ever connected with a charming valley in the coast range, arrived at Monterey, and resided in California until March 18th, 1865, when he died, near San José, at the age of sixty-eight. This worthy old pioneer, and his friend General Sutter, are fine specimens of the generous, refined and chivalrous adventurers of a nearly extinct type, whose histories show what an active part such men play in the drama of life. Though born at Barcelona, in Spain, he was in the naval service of France, and was present when Napoleon the Great surrendered as a prisoner, before the hero's exile to St. Helena.

In 1821, F. W. Macondray, the founder of one of the most extensive and substantial mercantile firms on the Pacific Coast, arrived at Monterey, from Chili, on board the ship Panther, and was so impressed by the beauty and fertility of the country that, in 1850, he brought out his family, and settled at San Francisco, where his sons are at present, among its wealthiest merchants.

In May, 1822, W. E. P. Hartnell, an Englishman-the first inspector and translator of the Mexican archives, for the United States Government-arrived at Monterey; in August of the same year, W. A. Richardson, an Englishman, who became the first Harbor Master, landed at San Francisco.

In May, 1823, J. B. R. Cooper, a half-brother of Thos. O. Larkin, arrived at Monterey, from Boston, (Mass.,) and soon after married a sister of M. G. Vallejo, a prominent native Californian of pure Castilian descent.

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