The Forty-Niners Part 9

After the execution of the two men mentioned, the interesting trial of Durkee for piracy, the settlement by purchase of certain private claims against city land, and the deportation of a number of undesirable citizens, the active work of the Committee was practically over. It held complete power and had also gained the confidence of probably nine-tenths of the population. Even some of the erstwhile members of the Law and Order party, who had adhered to the forms of legality through principle, had now either ceased opposition, or had come over openly to the side of the Committee. Another date of adjournment was decided upon. The gunnybag barricades were taken down on the fourteenth of August. On the sixteenth, the rooms of the building were ordered thrown open to all members of the Committee, their friends, their families, for a grand reception on the following week. It was determined then not to disorganize but to adjourn sine die. The organization was still to be held, and the members were to keep themselves ready whenever the need should arise. But preparatory to adjournment it was decided to hold a grand military review on the eighteenth of August. This was to leave a final impression upon the public mind of the numbers and powder of the Committee.

The parade fulfilled its function admirably. The Grand Marshal and his staff led, followed by the President and the Military Commanding General with his staff. Then marched four companies of artillery with fifteen mounted cannon. In their rear was a float representing Fort Gunnybags with imitation cannon. Next came the Executive Committee mounted, riding three abreast; then cavalry companies and the medical staff, which consisted of some fifty physicians of the town. Representatives of the Vigilance Committee of 1851 followed in wagons with a banner; then four regiments of infantry, more cavalry, citizen guards, pistol men, Vigilante police. Over six thousand men were that day in line, all disciplined, all devoted, all actuated by the highest motives, and conscious of a job well done.

The public reception at Fort Gunnybags was also well attended. Every one was curious to see the interior arrangement. The princ.i.p.al entrance was from Sacramento Street and there was also a private pa.s.sage from another street. The doorkeeper's box was prominently to the front where each one entering had to give the pa.s.s-word. He then proceeded up the stairs to the floor above. The first floor was the armory and drill-room. Around the sides were displayed the artillery harness, the flags, bulletin-boards, and all the smaller arms. On one side was a lunch stand where coffee and other refreshments were dispensed to those on guard. On the opposite side were offices for every conceivable activity. An immense emblematic eye painted on the southeast corner of the room glared down on each as he entered. The front of the second floor was also a guard-room, armory, and drilling floor. Here also was painted the eye of Vigilance, and here was exhibited the famous ballot-box whose sides could separate the good ballots from the bad ballots. Here also were the meeting-rooms for the Executive Committee and a number of cells for the prisoners. The police-office displayed many handcuffs, tools of captured criminals, relics, clothing with bullet holes, ropes used for hanging, bowie-knives, burglar's tools, bra.s.s knuckles, and all the other curiosities peculiar to criminal activities. The third story of the building had become the armorer's shop, and the hospital. Eight or ten workmen were employed in the former and six to twenty cots were maintained in the latter. Above all, on the roof, supported by a strong scaffolding, hung the Monumental bell whose tolling summoned the Vigilantes when need arose.

Altogether the visitors must have been greatly impressed, not only with the strength of the organization, but also with the care used in preparing it for every emergency, the perfection of its discipline, and the completeness of its equipment. When the Committee of Vigilance of 1856 adjourned subject to further call, there must have been in most men's minds the feeling that such a call could not again arise for years to come.

Yet it was not so much the punishment meted out to evil-doers that measures the success of the Vigilante movement. Only four villains were hanged; not more than thirty were banished. But the effect was the same as though four hundred had been executed. It is significant that not less than eight hundred went into voluntary exile.

"What has become of your Vigilance Committee?" asked a stranger navely, some years later.

"Toll the bell, sir, and you'll see," was the reply[8].

[8: Bancroft, Popular Tribunals, 11, 695.]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

California has been fortunate in her historians. Every student of the history of the Pacific coast is indebted to the monumental work of Hubert H. Bancroft. Three t.i.tles concern the period of the Forty-niners: The History of California, 7 vols. (1884-1890); California Inter Pocula, 1848-56 (1888); Popular Tribunals, 2 vols. (1887). Second only to these volumes in general scope and superior in some respects is T.H. Hittell's History of California, 4 vols. (1885-1897). Two other general histories of smaller compa.s.s and covering limited periods are I.B. Richman's California under Spain and Mexico, 1535-1847 (1911), and Josiah Royce's California, 1846-1856 (1886). The former is a scholarly but rather arid book; the latter is an essay in interpretation rather than a narrative of events. One of the chief sources of information about San Francisco in the days of the gold fever is The Annals of San Francisco (1855) by Soule and others.

Contemporary accounts of California just before the American occupation are of varying value. One of the most widely read books is R.H. Dana's Two Years before the Mast (1840). The author spent parts of 1835 and 1836 in California. The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie (1831) is an account of six years' travel amid almost incredible hards.h.i.+ps from St. Louis to the Pacific and back through Mexico. W.H. Thomes's On Land and Sea, or California in the Years 1843, '44, and '45 (1892) gives vivid pictures of old Mexican days. Two other books may be mentioned which furnish information of some value: Alfred Robinson, Life in California (1846) and Walter Colton, Three Years in California (1850).

Personal journals and narratives of the Forty-niners are numerous, but they must be used with caution. Their accuracy is frequently open to question. Among the more valuable may be mentioned Delano's Life on the Plains and among the Diggings (1854); W.G. Johnston's Experience of a Forty-niner (1849); T.T. Johnson's Sights in the Gold Region and Scenes by the Way (1849); J.T. Brooks's Four Months among the Gold-Finders (1849); E.G. Buffum's Six Months in the Gold Mines (1850)-the author was a member of the "Stevenson Regiment"; James Delevan's Notes on California and the Placers: How to get there and what to do afterwards (1850); and W.R. Ryan's Personal Adventures in Upper and Lower California, in 1848-9 (1850).

Others who were not gold-seekers have left their impression of California in transition, such as Bayard Taylor in his Eldorado, 2 vols. (1850), and J.W. Harlan in his California '46 to '88 (1888). The latter was a member of Fremont's battalion. The horrors of the overland journey are told by Delano in the book already mentioned and by W.L. Manly, Death Valley in '49 (1894).

The evolution of law and government in primitive mining communities is described in C.H. s.h.i.+nn's Mining Camps. A Study in American Frontier Government (1885). The duties of the border police are set forth with thrilling details by Horace Bell, Reminiscences of a Ranger or Early Times in Southern California (1881). An authoritative work on the Mormons is W.A. Linn's Story of the Mormons (1902).

For further bibliographical references the reader is referred to the articles on California, San Francisco, The Mormons, and Fremont, in The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition.