community had ever had knowledge or experience. It is not intended to defend or palliate what may be designated as the common run of lynchings, of which California in its excesses has had entirely too many; no words can be too severe in condemnation of most of them; but the vigilance committee referred towhich though in direct violation of law was designed only to guard and protect the spirit and real life of the law, clean out its polluted sanctuaries and clear away the noxious elements that stifled and threatened its extinction-and the People's party, which followed and into which it developed, with its government unparalleled for good, was not only its fruition but at the same time the proof of its excellence.
Another main circumstance, illustrative of the Californian character, has been the remarkable changes in the vote of the people from one election to another. For a time after the Mexican war, everything was Democratic, and for a time after the breaking out of the civil war, everything was Republican; but since then there has been a strange rotation-the administrations changing nearly every term from one party to the other and usually by from twenty to thirty thousand majority. Commencing for instance with Low, Republican, in 1863, the next was Haight, Democrat; followed by Booth and Pacheco, Republican; then Irwin, Democrat; followed by Perkins, Republican; next Stoneman, Democrat; followed by the divided administration of Bartlett, Democrat, and Waterman, Republican; and succeeding them Henry H. Markham, Republican, and after him James H. Budd, Democrat. These significant and unusual facts, hardly paralleled in any other community, are only explicable by a consideration of the independent and what may be called "thinkingfor-itself" character of the people, which has always been accustomed to get up more numerous distinct parties and do more "scratching" of tickets than any other aggregation of voters in the United States.
A third main circumstance, and the last that will be here adverted to in this connection-and the one that is the most important and constitutes the greatest glory of the Californian character-has been the uniform and unbroken thread of practical good sense and unmistakable sincerity that has pervaded
every step of its progression from the days of the mining camps to those of the literary, scientific, fine-arts and social advances of the present time. This has been especially made manifest in the stand taken and consistently maintained by California on the slavery question in every stage of the war for the Union, and by the manner in which it has met the labor troubles, the communistic agitations of the sand-lots, and the boycotting and other violences of the strikes. No community has had a greater respect for labor and the genuine laborer; none greater willingness to listen to their complaints, and none has been more ready to extend sympathy and lend a helping hand to deserving men out of employment. But for Workingmen who have never worked, it has had no use; and for self-constituted leaders, who have merely fomented discontent and threatened the torch and dynamite bomb, it has had no patience, but has put them down with a powerful, though at the same time gentle, hand. No other state has had a more difficult part to play in its advance, particularly of late years-handicapped as it has been by a larger number of tramps, vagrants and disorderly classes in general in proportion to its population than any other state and trammeled and hampered by the conditions and anomalies impressed upon the constitution and laws by the transitory but malignant influence of the sand lots. But at the same time, owing to those fundamental principles of right that underlie and those traits of untiring energy and unconquerable courage that permeate the Californian character, no state has ever more successfully wrestled with and overcome the monsters that for the time threatened to retard, if not destroy, its development and growth.
Abell, Alexander G., commissioner of emigra-
tion in 1858, IV, 189.
Abella, Father Ramon; opposes Mexican con-
stitution in 1827, II, 87.
Abrego, José, treasurer at Monterey in 1845,
II, 395; against Americans in April, 1845, 397;
in departmental assembly of 1845. 399; pro-
nounced a perjurer by Judge Hoffman in
Limantour land case, III, 698.
Academy of Sciences, California-see Califor-
nia Academy of Sciences.
Accessory Transit route in Nicaragua, William
Walker's filibuster interierence with, III, 773-
788.
Accolti, Father Michael, attends Charles Cora
at execution by San Francisco vigilance com-
mittee of 1856, III, 515, 518.
Accumulative voting in corporation elections,
IV, 713.
Acevedo, Pedro Alvarez de, I, 244, 245.
Acorns, how preserved by Indians in Yosemite
Valley, III, 850, 855.
Adams, Alonzo W., state senator in 1851, ex-
posures of state printing extravagances, IV,
66; result to himself, 66, 67; resignation, 67.
Adams, Alvin, III, 444.
Adams & Co., banking house, III, 443; origin
and composition of, 443-445; affected by fail-
ure of Page, Bacon & Co., 446; failure of and
effect, 446, 447; how failure differed from that
of Page, Bacon & Co., 447-449; insolvency
proceedings, 449, 450; Henry M. Naglee, re-
ceiver, and proceedings against Cohen, Ro-
man and Jones, 450; books in the bay, 451;
action of supreme court, 452; bad business,
453; employment of James King of William
in 1854, 464, 465; King's publications about
gold-dust transactions, 465.
Adams, John Quincy, candidate for vice-presi-
dent of United States in 1872, IV, 516, 517.
Adams' trained grizzly bears, II, 561.
Address to voters about constitution of 1879,
IV, 638.
Admiral Atondo, 1, 155-161.
Admission of state into Union (for particulars,
see Contents, II, xl, xli), 88-823; effect, II!,
332, 333; rejoicing and celebration, 333-335;
IV, 99.
Adobes, sun-dried bricks, II, 485.
Ætna Springs, III, 862.
Agriculture and Horticulture, grain and seeds
sent with first settlers in 1769, I, 309; La
Pérouse introduces potatoes from Chili and
French seeds, 470; Governor Felipe de Neve's
encouragement, 522-525; Pedro Fages' in-
structions, 532; Governor Borica's encour-
agement, 591, 592; hemp and flax at San
José, 597; Borica's report of progress in 1799,
598; at missions in 1815, 641; California pro-
nounced unfit for anything but agriculture
and stock-raising, 663.
Of Russians in California, II, 174-176; at
missions in 1834, 207; William Wolskill and
Jean Louis Vignes' interest in fruit and
vines, 279; of old Californians, 472-475; effect
of gold discovery upon, 737; rights of miners
to occupy agricultural land, III, 266; rights of
agriculturalists, 270, 271.
Progress of under American occupation
(for particulars, see Contents, III, xxxvii,
xxxviii), 864-883; acres of land under cul-
tivation in 1853, 133; Governor Bigler on,
176-179; Governor Stanford on, IV, 368, 369;
Low on, 406; Perkins on, 648; state board of
horticulture, 676; abundant production and
unsatisfactory prices in 1885, 689; act of 1885
to prevent fruit-tree pests and diseases, 691;
Stoneman on, 708.
Agriculture in Lower California, at Loreto, I,
190; at Vigge Biaundo, 191-193; irrigating
canals, extent of cultivation and harvests,
281; plow, how fields planted, fruits, other
productions and wine making, 282; domestic
animals, and uses made of them, 283.
Agua Caliente, Warner's rancho, frontier set-
tlement in 18:6, HI, 613.
Agua Fria, town, included in survey of Mari-
posa grant, III, 134.
Aguardiente-see Liquor.
Aguila, Spanish brig, at Santa Barbara in 1823,
II, 69, 79.
Aguilar, José Simon, executed at Monterey in
1831, II, 131.
Aguilar, Martin de, I, 144; river of, 144.
Aguirre, José Antonio, captain of Mexican bark
Joven Guipuzcoana in 1840, II, 267.
Aguirre, Juan Bautista, second pilot of ship
San Carlos in 1775, 1, 391; survey of San
Francisco bay, 392.
Agustin I., emperor of Mexico, I, 503, 663, 664;
recognized in California, 665, 666; example
of execution followed by Indians near San
Diego, 734-
Ahwahne and Ahwahnechees, original names
of Yosemite Valley and its inhabitants, III,
848.
Aiken, Dr. C. D., experience with lynch-law
proceedings, lil, 308.
Ainsa, Agustin, arrested in Sonora for com-
plicity with Henry A. Crabb's expedition,
III, 812; translator of public documents into
Spanish in 1856, and practices, IV, 199.
Ainsa family, daughter of house, wife of Henry
A. Crabb, III, 807; connection with Crabb's
filibuster expedition against Sonora, 807.
Ajax, first steamer to Hawaiian Islands, III,
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.bs/books/content?id=h_VLSdOLjN8C&output=html_text&pg=PA723&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&q=editions:LCCN04001603&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U3H78g1U9T6DvjliCL-LmTUQVcAsw&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=473,1253,401,145)
Alameda County, vigilance committee of, in
1856, III, 494: indorses San Francisco vigi-
lance committee of 1856, 550; squatters' league
of, in 1853, 683, 684.
Alameda creek, followed by Pedro Fages and
Father Crespi in 1772, I, 388.
Alameda, town, indorses San Francisco vigi-
lance committee of 1856, III, 550.
Alarcon, Hernando de, voyage, 1, 69-71.
Alaska, Governor Low on purchase of, IV, 406;
purchase of, price, boundaries and extent,
418, 419.
Albatross, American schooner seized by Gov-
ernor Sola in 1816, II, 70.
Albatross, the man that shot the, I, 113.
Alberni, Pedro de, lieutenant-colonel of Cata-
lonian volunteers at San Francisco, 1, 575;
assists in founding Villa de Branciforte, 576-
578; survey with Córdoba of San Francisco,
582, 583: comandante of San Francisco, in
charge of Monterey in 1799, 604; death and
burial, 609.
Alberoni, Julio, prime minister of Spain, I, 212-
217, 227.
Albuquerque, Duque de, viceroy of New Spain
in 1704, 1, 198, 199; enmity to California, 199-
Alcaldes, early, at San José, I, 413, 531; under
Plan of Pitic, 579; Governor Borica's troubles
with, 592, 593; what Borica required of, 594;
jurisdiction of, under Mexican law of 1836,
II, 258, 259; how authorized to hold courts of
first instance, 367; jurisdiction in quarrels
between husband and wife, 494, 495.
American alcaldes, extensive jurisdiction
and common law notions, II, 590, 591; Walter
Colton's experience, 590, 591; questions of
authority and jurisdiction, 656; Governor
Kearny's views, and control over, 656-658;
Governor Mason's views and actions, 658-
661, Alcalde Blackburn, 659, 660; claims of,
to solemnize marriage opposed by Catholic
church, and Mason's views, 660, 661; Mason's
orders in reference to jury trials, 664; control
over, 665; Stevenson's experience with, 666;
Lippitt's experience, 667; in mines, 736; com-
plaints against alcalde of Sonora in 1849 and
why Governor Riley refused to interfere, 777;
how appointed judges of courts of first in-
stance, 778; specimens of Alcalde Field's
cases and judgments, 780-783.
Characters of, and specimens of cases be-
fore, Alcaldes Ham, Fraser, Sullivan and
others, III, 222-226; jurisdiction of, under
mining laws, 26; Alcalde Graham of Ford's
Bar, 275, 276; general respect paid to, in
mines, 276, grants of lots in San Francisco
by Mexican alcaldes, 381; sales in San Fran-
cisco by American alcaldes, 381.
Alcatraz Island, fortification of, III, 431, Liman-
tour's claim to, 697; Modoc Indians sent to,
in 1873, 978, 981; secession orators sent to, in
1864, IV, 389.
Aldrich, Daniel, III, 483; on black list of San
Francisco vigilance committee of 1856, 520;
exiled from state, 616.
Alemany, Father Joseph S., Catholic archbishop
of California, III, 511; visits Casey and Cora
before their execution, 516.
Alert, bark, carries followers of Raousset-
Boulbon from Guaymas back to San Fran-
cisco, in 1852, III, 738, 739.
Aleutian Islands, included in Alaska, IV, 419.
Alexander VI., Pope, I. 82.
Alexander, Cyrus, arrival in 1827, land in Alex-
ander valley, II, 278, 428.
Alexander, David W., arrival in 1842, I, 332.
Alfilerilla, pin-grass, II, 559.
Algerine, mining town, III, 124, 130; killing of
Kittering at, by W. H. Worth in 1855, 299.
Aliens, Workingmen's proposed constitutional
provision against, IV, 617.
Alisal, Governor Alvarado's rancho at, II, 343;
pronunciamiento of, in 1844 against Michel-
torena, 344.
Alleghany City, mining town, III, 82, 91.
Allegiance, statutes of 1863 requiring oaths of,
IV, 333-
Allen, George (José Jorge Tomas), arrival in
1822, I, 717.
Allen, Paul, writer on Lewis and Clarke's
journal as published by government, I, 717.
Allen, Robert, IV, 76.
Almond, William B., judge of special court of
first instance at San Francisco in 1849, II,
778; character and manners, 778; specimens
of judgments, 778, 779; III, 223, 248: acquaint-
ance of Peter H. Burnett in Missouri, IV, 44.
Almonte, Juan N., Mexican minister at Wash-
ington in 1845, II, 375; part in bringing on
Mexican war, 397.
Alpine County, II, 117; attempt to re-locate
county seat, IV, 511.
Alsop & Co., commission merchants of San
Francisco in 1855, III, 449.
Alta California-see California.
Alta California newspaper, II, 722; burned out
in 1851, III, 358; when and why printed on
small sheet, 410.
Altar in Sonora, Henry A. Crabb's letter to
prefect of, III, 808, 809.
Altgeier, Nicholas, arrival in 1840, II, 281; set-
tlement at Nicolaus in 1842, 735-
Altimira, Father José, connection with San
Francisco Solano mission, I, 496-499; opposes
Mexican Republic and escapes from country
in 1828, 505 II, 85; application of name of
Sonoma, 795.
Alva, Dr., physician, miscellaneous and scien-
tific books burned by missionaries at Mont-
erey in 1824, II, 237, 496.
Alvarado, Francisco Xavier, member of con-
gress at Santa Barbara in 1837, II, 241.
Alvarado, José Francisco, father of Juan B. Al-
varado, II, 236; description, 313.
Alvarado, Juan B., eleventh Mexican governor
of Alta California and afterwards of Depart-
ment of Californias, boy at Monterey in 1815,
1, 635; secretary of territorial deputation in
1827. II, 90; opposition to Governor Victoria
in 1831 138; member of territorial deputation
in 1835, 213, 214.
His revolution in California in 1836 and
opposition to Governor Gutierrez, II, 228, 229;
how compelled surrender of Gutierrez and
sent him out of country, 230, 231; proclama-
tion against centralism, and Californian dec-
laration of independence, 231; "El Estado
libre y soberano de la Alta California," 232;
constituent congress, with José Castro presi-
dent and Alvarado secretary, 232; how peo-
ple stirred up in support of new government,
232, 233; regulation of offices and decree for
enrollment of citizen soldiery, 233, 234; gov-
ernor, powers conferred, division of state
into cantons and apportionment, 234; how
and why California left to work out revolu-
tion in its own way, 235.
Administration as governor (for particu-
lars, see Contents, II, xv-xviii) 236-314; ad-
ministration of affairs of Lower California,
310, 311; first discovery of gold in California in
his time, 311-515; personal appearance, mar
|