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lie, and how unblushingly deny it when detected. What ingenious schemes he devised to transfer coin or its equivalent from my pouch to his, and how he did cheat those whom he traded with! Still, Clah was a good man-for a backslider.

George was an Indian, nothing more nor less. If he had peculiarities, I did not enjoy his society long enough to find them out. On the 14th of July, we arrived at the village of Kis-py-aux, on the river of that name, near its junction with the Skeena. The inhabitants were in a great state of excitement over the death of an old woman two days before. She and a younger squaw had been picking berries, and were returning home with well filled baskets on their backs, when a huge bear issued from the brush and set upon them. The younger escaped by flight, but before the elder could clear herself of her load, she was seized and torn to pieces. All of the men of the tribe turned out, tracked Bruin to his lair, killed him, hacked his car cass to bits, strewed them near the spot where his victim died, and were now conducting a grand dance in memory of the departed, and in honor of her avengers.

Fort Sleger, on the Skeena, near Kis-pyaux, established in 1865 by the Telegraph Company as a base of supplies, had been burned by the natives the previous winter. To this point-about one hundred and seventy miles the river is navigable for canoes. Above, it had never been explored. One branch of the Grease Trail follows its banks inland, and another crosses and extends southward to the head-waters of Frazer River. Hearing from the Indians that a party of

white men had come through from Peace river to the "Forks," sixteen miles below, I hurried thither on the following day. There I found Mr. Moss, a gentleman from Victoria, and learned that the main party consisting of about twenty, had gone down the stream a short time previously. They had entered the Peace river country from the south, via Frazer river, and were astonished to find the Skeena route so much easier. Indeed, the following year it became the favorite way of reaching the Ominica mines.

After resting at the "Forks" awhile, I resumed my journey-this time down stream in a canoe. As the region traversed is comparatively well known, I shall have little to say about it. The Skeena is a broad stream, with a swift current, having rapids at fre quent intervals, and an almost impassable cañon at Kit-se-loo, some ninety miles from its mouth. The steamer "G. H. Munford" ascended nearly to the cañon several times in '65. The river flows through a valley in places twenty miles in width, well timbered, and containing much fruitful soil. Many large, well built villages are to be seen upon its banks. Near its mouth it passes between great mountains of granite, some with faces perpendicular, and thousands of feet in height. Borne on its broad bosom, we floated lazily along the quiet reaches, sped swiftly over the boiling rapids, and dashed through the foaming cañon, stopping to hunt or fish when the desire seized us, and on again when the mood was over. Reaching the sea-coast, we loitered along until my leave drew to its close, and sailed into Fort Tongass harbor the day that it expired.

George Chismore.

THE SUCCESSFUL RIVAL.

To love the loveliest one, and so to be
One among many worshipers; and she

Less than them all loves thee: what help can fall
For such defeat? Ah, know thy victory:

Thou lovest her more greatly than they all.

M. W. Shinn.

JUAN BAUTISTA ALVARADO, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.—II.

[This and the preceding paper upon Governor Alvarado are from the manuscript of the author's forthcoming History of California.]

ANOTHER danger, and a more serious one, perhaps, than any which Vallejo, Pico, or Carrillo could have occasioned, threatened Alvarado from Branciforte and its neighborhood. An American backwoodsman, named Isaac Graham, one of the numerous trappers who had found their way across the country into California, had settled down at the edge of the forest near that place. Being tired of hunting, and not fond of agriculture, he had turned his attention to the making and sale of aguardiente. Though a man entirely without education, he had enterprise and intelligence. He also possessed a considerable amount of personal magnetism, and by degrees assumed the position of a leader among the rough characters of the vicinity, composed mostly of trappers like himself, deserters from whalers and merchant ships that had visited the coast, and vagabonds of every description. All these men were not only expert with the rifle, but were good woodsmen, and perfectly able, if so disposed, to suffer fatigue and endure hardships. They had formed themselves into a sort of military company of riflemen, and named Graham their captain. When Alvarado raised the standard of revolution against Gutierrez, he negotiated with them; and, though they do not appear to have been at any time actually called into action, except perhaps a few who marched with him in his campaign against his rival Carrillo, it was understood that they were on his side; and the moral influence of this understanding throughout the country was almost equal to their real presence under his banner.

Notwithstanding the fact that none of the crowd had passports or licenses to live in the country, it is exceedingly unlikely that any of them would ever have been disturbed, if they had otherwise conformed to the laws

and remained quiet. But they were a disorderly crew, and when excited with Graham's liquor (a kind of whisky made out of wheat) were continually creating disturbances. As they grew in numbers and observed themselves to be becoming a factor of importance in the country, and especially in view of the late achievements of the American settlers in Texas who had declared their independence of Mexico and maintained it by force of arms, they began to assume self-sufficient and arrogant airs, and render themselves exceedingly disagreeable to the authorities. Whether they ever, in fact, contemplated attempting a revolution and seizure of the country is a matter of considerable doubt; but it seems certain that their conduct was very reprehensible. About the beginning of 1840, Alvarado was informed and believed that they contemplated a revolution; and on the strength of this information he immediately ordered José Castro, the prefect, to arrest them, convey them to Monterey, ship them to Mexico, and there deliver them over to the supreme government to be dealt with as it might deem proper.

Castro proceeded with celerity to execute the orders he had thus received. He surprised Graham and his associates in their houses, and marched them off in short order to Monterey. There the national bark, "Joven Guipuzcoana," under the command of José Antonio Aguirre, had been made ready for their reception. They were marched on board at once. Castro took passage on the same vessel for the purpose of prosecuting them before the Mexican government, as well as of guarding them on the way; and, as soon as the necessary arrangements could be completed, the ship sailed.

Upon its departure, seven of Castro's comrades, headed by José Maria Villa, thought proper to issue an extraordinary proclamation bearing date May 8, 1840. Their object seems to have been to recommend and

endorse their chief. They commenced with the words: "Eternal glory to the illustrious champion and liberator of the Department of Alta California, Don José Castro, the guardian of order and the supporter of our superior government." They then de clared that that day was, and forever would be, held glorious by the inhabitants of California, as the one in which their fellow countryman had gone to present to the supreme government of the Mexican nation a grand prize of American suspects, who, filled with ambition but under the dark mask of deceit, had been enveloping the people in the web of misfortune and disgrace, involving them in the greatest dangers and confusions, threatening to destroy the lives of their governor and all his subalterns, and to drive them from their asylums, their country, their pleasures, and their hearths. The vessel, they went on to say, in which the valorous hero was carrying out his great commission, was covered with laurels, crowned with triumphs, and went ploughing the seas and publishing in loud tones to the waves the vivas and rejoicings which would resound to the uttermost extremes of the universe. In view of the distinguished services thus rendered by their chief, it was their duty, they continued, to treasure him in the center of their hearts and in the depths of their souls, and to make known, in the name of the inhabitants, the exceeding joy with which they were filled; at the same time giving to the superior government the present proclamation, made in honor of that worthy chief, and assuring the governor that, notwithstanding the well-deserving Castro might be absent, there still remained subject to the orders of the government all the subscribers, his compatriots, friends, and companions in arms.

As has been said, it is a matter of considerable doubt whether any regular plan of revolution had in fact ever been formed by Graham. Alfred Robinson states that there were no facts to prove anything of the kind. He reports Alvarado as saying: "I was insulted at every turn by the drunken followers of Graham; and when walking in the garden, they would come to its wall and call

upon me in terms of the greatest familiarity, 'Ho! Bautista, come here, I want to speak to you'-' Bautista here'-'Bautista there' and 'Bautista everywhere!'" All this, or something like it, may have been true; and yet the inference, suggested by Robinson and drawn by some of his readers, that the arrest and expulsion were therefore instigated by offended dignity, does not by any means necessarily follow. Such a supposition hardly comports with Alvarado's known character, shown during a long life and exhibited on many trying occasions. Nor is it likely that a man who wielded, as he did, almost unlimited power, whose dixit in his sphere was equal to that of a Cæsar, could have found any difficulty in preserving all the dignity he desired. Unlettered men, like Graham and his associates, feel a natural respect for their superiors, and particularly for their superiors in high official position. The supposition, consequently, that offended dignity was the motive that induced Alvarado to order Graham's arrest, is scarcely entitled to consideration. In fact, Robinson himself admits that Alvarado was firmly persuaded of an intention on the part of Graham to revolutionize the country. On the other hand, it appears from a proclamation, issued by Cosme Peña at Los Angeles in May, 1840, that the Branciforte ill-doers had resisted the alcalde of that place; that the alcalde had complained to the government; that the government had cautioned them; that instead of obeying they had armed themselves and defied the authorities, and that it was in consequence of this and their threats that they had been arrested. Antonio Maria Osio also states that when William Chard, one of Graham's associates, was arrested, he exhibited abject fear; confessed that he had conspired against the government; begged not to be shot, and offered to inform on all his associates.

About thirty days after the sailing of Castro and his prisoners, the United States corvette St. Louis, Captain J. B. Forrest, arrived at Monterey from Mazatlan. On June 14, Captain Forrest addressed a letter to Alvarado, stating that he had been informed of

a very cruel outrage committed in the country against the persons and property of certain American citizens; that they had been seized, put in irons, thrown into a horrible prison, confined there from ten to fifteen days, and then placed on board a vessel under strict guard, and shipped to San Blas; that of these persons Mr. Isaac Graham and Mr. Henry Naile, both respectable and peaceful citizens of the United States employed in extensive commercial business, had been seized by armed men at night, in their private chambers, and haled forth like criminals; that Naile had been seriously wounded; and that the house in which they had their residence and property, being left without protection, had been sacked and robbed of everything of value. Captain Forrest further stated that, according to his information, the authors of this inhuman and atrocious act had been allowed to go free, without any legal proceedings being taken against them. Under the circumstances, he considered it his duty to request his Excellency to cause their immediate arrest, and to institute a full, impartial, and public investigation as to their conduct.

Alvarado answered a few days subsequent ly. He said that within a few years past a number of foreigners had entered the country without the formalities required by law; that most of them were deserters from vessels which had arrived on the coast, some belonging to one nation and others to others; that by the laws of Mexico the government was authorized to remove all such persons from the territory, and had exercised legitimate powers in sending them to the disposition of the supreme government of the nation; that, in the absence of war vessels or authorized agents of the nations to which such persons belonged, and to whom they might otherwise have been delivered, such removal to Mexico was the best disposition that could be made; that some of the persons so removed were thieves and robbers, and were found in possession of large numbers of horses, which had been stolen; that Isaac Graham, to whom particular reference had been made, had been arrested by com

petent authority on an accusation of conspiracy, in connection with three other individuals, to overthrow the government; that his arrest had been resisted by himself and his companions, and it was only in making such resistance that Naile had been wounded; that the property of the arrested persons had been secured and inventoried in the presence of witnesses, and what had not already been restored was only held because no properly authorized person had asked for it; that Graham was neither a peaceable nor a respectable citizen; that his business, instead of being such as Captain Forrest had been informed, was none other than an illegal traffic in aguardiente, which gathered around him a crowd of vicious neighbors and daily occasioned the most scandalous disorders; that he had been cautioned by the justices of the peace, but only answered with threats, and in every way abused the hospitality he had received in the country; and that, so far as a judicial investigation was concerned, the charges against Graham and the other accused persons had been regularly made out and transmitted with the prisoners for trial before the supreme tribunal of the republic at Mexico. The facts, he continued, would convince Captain Forrest that there had been no such outrage or attack upon the persons or property of citizens of the United States as he had been informed; and if the government had been provoked to enforce the rigor of the law, it was only against a pernicious class of vagabonds, deserters, and horsethieves. There were numerous citizens of the United States, as well as other foreigners, in the country; and as long as they pursued any honest industry, there was no disposition on the part of the government to disturb them, even though they had no licenses; nor would Graham and his associates have been disturbed if they had been of the class thus represented. In conclusion, he protested that he was as desirous as any one could be to respect and protect the citizens of the United States, as well as all others, in their rights of person and property; to comply in all particulars with everything prescribed by treaty or the law of nations, and to pre

serve undisturbed and uninterrupted the relations of friendship and reciprocity hitherto existing between Mexico and the United States.

This answer seems to have ended the correspondence between Forrest and Alvarado. But about the beginning of July, Alvarado went to San José and while there he received a communication from David Spence, who, as alcalde, had been left in charge of Monterey, stating that Captain Forrest desired to know when he would return. Spence further wrote that there had been rumors current of an intended attack by Forrest upon the town, and a seizure of the person of the governor; but that Forrest himself had assured him that there was not a word of truth in the rumors; that he not only had no intention, but no authority to make any attack; that, on the contrary, he was about to depart with his vessel from Monterey, and that he desired, before leaving, the pleasure of an interview with the governor, to personally manifest to him his friendship and give him proofs that the injurious reports that had been circulated were entirely without foundation. Alvarado replied, that, as Spence very well knew, the disturbed state of the interior required his presence at San José and other more remote points; that he ought to have left Monterey much earlier than he did, but had delayed twenty days for the purpose of answering any further communication that Captain Forrest might have desired to make, and that if he had waited longer, the consequences of neglecting the interior might have been disastrous. He begged Spence to inform Captain Forrest of the facts; to tender his regrets at not being able to meet him as proposed; to make a ceremonial visit in his name; and to assure him, that, so far as the rumors to which reference had been made were concerned, he did not consider them worthy of notice.

The Graham party, so-called, which had been arrested by Castro and his soldiers, consisted of about sixty persons; but not more than forty-five had been placed on board the "Joven Guipuzcoana," and sent to San Blas. Of these, only Graham himself

and three or four others were charged with conspiracy; the others appear to have been sent off as general bad characters, dangerous to the peace of the territory. But in each case regular charges were formulated and transmitted to the minister of the interior. Alvarado also wrote a very lengthy document explaining the charges; and for proofs reference was made to the testimony which would be furnished by Castro who had been duly accredited as a commissioner to the supreme government.

When the "Joven Guipuzcoana" arrived at San Blas, the comandante of that place, on account of some misunderstanding, or dered the arrest of Castro; and he was for a few hours thrown into prison. News of this arrest reached California by the bark "Clarita," in July, and caused great excitement. But in September, upon the return of the "Joven Guipuzcoana," it was ascertained that the imprisonment had not only not been made upon the order of the government, but that on the contrary, as soon as the government at Mexico had been informed of Castro's arrival, it had invited him to come directly to the capital. His prisoners, in the meanwhile, were removed to Tepic and incarcerated there. As soon as the government could look into their cases, it ordered Isaac Graham, Albert Morris, William Chard, and Jorge José Bonilo, who were charged with conspiracy and attempted revolution, to be kept in close confinement; while of the others, such as were married with Mexican women should be released on giving bonds, and the rest expelled from the country, care being taken that they should not return to California. Subsequently, however, at the solicitation of the United States envoy-extraordinary, this sentence was modified as to Louis Pollock, John Higgins, William Boston, George Fraser, and Charles H. Cooper, who were granted letters of security and allowed to return to their former residences.

In December, Alvarado addressed several other communications to the minister of the interior, setting forth the events which had occurred in California after Castro's depart

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