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CHAPTER VIII.

Capture of Los Angeles-Expedition to the Laguna-Beautiful Scenery-Napa Valley-Singular History of Mr. Yount-Mr. Chiles' Rancho-Land Titles.

A FEW days after our return to Sonoma, we heard that Commodore Stockton had marched into Los Angeles without resistance; Castro, although strongly fortified, having "vamosed" with precipitation at his approach. The commodore had appointed Colonel Fremont governor of the Territory, and announced his intention to sail for the coast of Mexico, to carry on the war there. The government was partially organized, the battalion permitted to return to their homes, and the people informed that they might elect alcaldes and other municipal officers, or retain those already in officethe civil authority, however, to be for the present subordinate to the military power. The garrisons of Los Angeles, Monterey, San José and Sonoma were, however, to be retained in service, and also a small police force to protect the roads, and, if necessary, put down the Indians.

I took advantage of the seeming tranquillity in political affairs, to plan a visit to "THE LAKE," which lies north of Sonoma, the banks and islands of which, I was informed, were inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians. In the first place, I summoned such of the sub-chiefs belonging to the rancherias of the Lake as had come to work or superintend the labors of their subjects upon the ranchos at Sonoma. They accordingly appeared to the number of half-a-dozen goodlooking men, some of them ornamented and armed in savage

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style, some in shabby shirts and trousers, and one with nothing on save the very primary article of civilized apparel. I obtained also an Indian interpreter named Santos, not a "Gentile," as those wild fellows are called who are not instructed in the language of the whites, but a "Christiano," that is, an Indian educated at a mission. These neophytes, since they have lost the wholesome restraints imposed by the excellent padres, are a vicious double-dealing set of rogues, cheating and despising their red brethren, and in return are hated and envied by the "Gentiles." As I was bound on a peaceful expedition, it was not necessary to take a large force. I detailed Serjeant Chiles, a gentleman farmer, born in Tennessee, and a harum-scaram, half-horse, half-alligator sort of genius, and withal a right good woodsman. I also took a well educated young man from that famous county of Buncombe, in North Carolina, to which so many speeches are made in Congress, and in allusion to which my friend was familiarly called "Bunk."

Setting out from Sonoma, we struck out into the rough mountain-path which leads over the ridge, dividing the valley of Sonoma from that of Napa. After a pleasant afternoon ride across the hills, in the shade of noble trees, occasionally crossing on our way some pretty upland glades, we suddenly reached the crest of the mountain, and beheld the all-beautiful Napa valley spread out at our feet. These rapid transitions are characteristic of the scenery of California. After pursuing for some time a rugged and stony mountain-path, amidst guarled and stunted hard-wood trees, you attain, when least expected, the summit of a mountain from which you gaze with rapture-if you have an eye or a heart for nature-upon a broad and level valley, studded with clumps of verdant oaks, and dotted with herds of grazing cattle, which seem in the distance no larger than sheep. Or, emerging by a steep hill-side path, from a rocky and shaded glen, through which runs a streamlet shrouded and almost hidden by the undergrowth, the traveller is surprised

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by a glorious view of the bold outline of distant hills, of a rich greyish or purple hue—the middle ground of the intervening landscape being perhaps varied by a basaltic rock formation, broken into a hundred fanciful towers and battlements.

The scene now before me was one of surpassing beauty. The infinitely varied outlines of the lofty mountains lying beyond the valley; the grotesque appearance of the broken and rugged crags of basaltic rocks; the quiet river winding through the level plain at our feet, its banks distinctly defined by a long line of willows and other trees of larger growth; the gracefully undulating outlines of the smaller hills,* which, like the far-spreading plain itself, waved with a golden harvest of ripe grasses, made more golden by the “living light" of the setting sun; the scattered clumps of dark green oaks, and the miniature herds of grazing cattle-all combined to paint a landscape worthy of a country whose natural opulence is matched only by its natural grandeur.

The season had now advanced so far that the wild oats, “alfileria” (pin-grass), and burr clover, which chiefly compose the unequalled and fattening pasture of California, had dried up to straw, the spires still standing, while the seed had fallen to the earth. These seeds are very large and nutritious, and serve for food both for the cattle and the Indians. At this season the cattle grope along the ground for the seed, and are fatter than at any other time of the year.

Napa Valley is said to be the finest portion of this part of California. It is about thirty-six miles in length, and extends nearly north and south, the lower part lying on the Bay of St. Paul, from which a navigable estuary sets up and receives the waters of the Napa river, which traverses the whole length of the valley. It is bounded on each side by lofty Sierras, broken into every variety of Alpine

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scenery, the ravines of which are filled with the finest timber, and very probably contain gold. At the lower end of the valley the Sierras are six or seven miles apart, but the ranges gradually approaching each other meet at the upper end, a bold, well-timbered, serrated mountain lying directly across it and terminating the prospect in that direction. In the plain, at the foot of this mountain, are the " Aguas Calientes," the most famous of the many hot-springs in California, which possess powerful medicinal properties. The soil is of almost incredible fertility, the yield of wheat being as high as a hundred-fold, while corn and vegetables of all kinds, including the finest potatoes I ever saw, flourish most luxuriantly. The fruits of the temperate zone thrive here side by side with those of the tropics. Peaches, pears, apples, melons of all kinds, and rich luscious grapes, may be seen growing in the same garden with sugar cane, dates, figs, and bananas, leaving no room for doubt that all the other productions of tropical climates would, if introduced, flourish equally well. There is reason to believe that California will hereafter be dependent on no other country for the necessaries of life. She can grow her own tea, coffee, rice, vegetables and breadstuffs, and not only grow, but manufacture, her own wool, cotton, hemp, and flax. Her supplies of animal food are boundless, and the salt is at hand to preserve them. Indeed, it is difficult to name any product of the earth, whether it be to eat, drink, or wear, which California cannot yield, while her mineral wealth excites the astonishment of the world. The Napa Valley early attracted the notice of the first settlers on the north side of the bay, and was among the first grants made by the Mexican governors. The best lands, uniting every advantage, such as grazing, fertility, easy transit by land or water to market, fresh water, and a healthy and pleasant situation, are now taken up, the owners being Mr. Fowler, Dr. Bale, Mr. Yount, (owner of "Caymus"), Don Salvador Vallejo, (owner of "Napa" and "Los Francas"), Señor

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Higuera, and Don Gaetano Xuares, (owner of "Toluca.") The ordinary Spanish and Mexican measure of land is by the square league, a single league being equal to about five thousand acres. The lands of the Napa Valley are granted in tracts varying from one to four square leagues, the ranchos being wider or narrower according to the varying spaces between the Sierras. Don Salvador Vallejo is the largest proprietor, owning two adjoining estates, which make together six square leagues, a snug little farm of thirty thousand acres of the best land in the world. The climate is a perpetual summer, and the atmosphere is not obscured by the "neblina," (fogs), which prevail nearer the sea. In the rainy season ('t were treason against nature to call it winter) the rushing and picturesque cataracts descend from the Sierras on either side, over beds dry at all other times of the year, swelling the river Napa to its fullest dimensions. The exquisite views which abound in every direction, the complete seclusion of the spot, bounded at the broader end by the waters of the bay, and at every other point by jagged mountain crags, realize the ideal of a "Happy Valley," divested of the inconveniences attached to that inhabited by the Prince of Abyssinia. It is a characteristic of this neighborhood, that the sides of the Sierras abound with elevated table-lands, which are several degrees cooler than the plain, and are admirably adapted for sheep farms. The large estates will gradually be divided, and even before I left California, some of the ranchos in the the Napa Valley had been sub-divided into smaller farms, to meet the wants of emigrants from the United States.

On the north side of the bay there are valleys similar to that of Napa, having ranges of mountains on the sides, and extending to the bay, which receives the waters of their streams. Among these are the valleys of Sonoma, Petaluma, Novato, and San Rafael; none of them, perhaps, so fertile or so beautiful as Napa, but all famous in the legends and traditions of the Indians.

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