The Story of El Tejon
by HELENS. GIFFEN
and
ARTHUR WOODWARD Director of History Los Angeles County Museum
DAWSON'S BOOK SHOP LOS ANGELES 1 9 4 2 THE FINE ARTS PRESS Th.omas E. Williams Santa Ana, California •• _,,-..,,., ..
View of Fort Tejon, showing Officers' quarters and Barracks.
THE STORY OF EL TEJON
One of the two remaining buildings on the Tejon Ranch, dating to Reservation Days. -Photo by Guy J. Giffen, 193 7
Beale adobe on the La Liebre Rancho, Canon de los Osos. -Photo by Guy J. Giffen, 1937
PART ONE
The Rancho, the Passes, and the Indian Reserve by Helen S. Giffen
PART TWO
Fort Tejon-A Nursery of the drmy by Arthur Woodward Director of History Los Angeles County Museum
PART ONE
THE RANCHO, THE PASSES, AND THE INDIAN RESERVE
The history of that portion of the South San Joa quin Valley which embraces the region known as El Tejon, provides an interesting chap.ter in the annals of- California. The name Tejon or Badger, applies to the rancho whose expediente contained pro visions for a military post; to the Indian reserve, which became the pattern for all such future government projects; to the passes that gave access to the San Joa• quin from the south; and to Fort Tejon, "a Nursery of The Army," and the only military post in southern California located where snow fell. Pedro Fages was the first Spanish explorer of record to enter the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. He called this great unexplored section Llano de San Francisco, a region of rushing streams, fertile acres, and desert lands, the refuge of runaway Indian neo phytes and deserting so/dados de! cueros. It was while hunting the latter that Fages, entered the San Joaquin in the year 177 2. Accompanied by Father Juan Crespi, Fages and his company had been some time in the field. "Coming from San Diego" wrote the leader of this expedition, "in pursuit of deserters, I went and struck the plain fifty leagues toward the east. Lack of water farced us into the sierra, but when we were parallel with the 1 Mission San Gabriel, we went about fifty leagues to strike the plain again; and we went along the plain toward the north, keeping close to the sierra on account of water, traveling about twenty five leagues until we reached the Pass of Buena Vista."1 From the foregoing, it is evident that Fages ap proached the valley from the south and that the pass he called Buena Vista corresponds to the present Tejon Pass. From this vantage point Fages' party looked down upon the oak dotted valley and the shores of Castiac Lake which were passed by the explorer as he entered the Canada de las Uvas ( Grapevine Canon), which he traversed ori his way to the San Joaquin Valley. Four years later, in April, 1776, Father Francisco Garces entered the San Joaquin while on a visit to the Tulares, crossing the Tehachapi mountains by way of the original Tejon Pass.2 In the opening years of the nineteenth century, more than one expedition entered this same region. Father Juan Martin, in 1804, left Mission San Miguel, forthe San Joaquin Valley, but his journey stopped short of the Tejon. Governor Arrillaga was particularly in terested in taming this wild region, hoping to extend the influence of Spain inland by the establishment of missions and presidios in this area. The Governor sent Gabriel Moraga from the Mission San Juan Bautista, in 1806. Moraga led his party into the upper reaches of the San Joaquin River, and traversed the valley from north to south, going through the pass known as Tejon, and ending his travels at Mission San. Fernando. Lieutenant Francisco Ruiz, in July, 1806, was in charge of an expedition sent out from the Mission Santa Barbara. His company, undoubtedly, went as far north as the southern boundary of the present 2 Fresno county, and then turning back, stopped at the rancheria at Tulare Lake and "on the following day discovered a caiion called cajon de las Uvas. 3 In later years a soldier who had accompanied this expedition was prompted to relate his impressions of this trip: "Our orders were not to proceed much further north than this, so Captain Ruiz crossed over on the other side of the plain, passing by the way of a long Canada which we called the Canada de las Uvas, from the great quantity of Cimarron grapes found in its vi cinity. After traveling for several days with the Cap tain, we turned up another opening in the mountains, f ram which ran a small stream, further east and south of Las Uvas, which, from finding a dead badger at its entrance, the soldiers named Canada de/ Tejon, a name that it has al'tNays since borne. "4 It is interesting to note that this nameless soldier's account of his trip with Lieutenant Ruiz, contains the first known mention of the origin of the name Tejon. According to A. L. Kroeber, Anthropologist at the University of California, and author of the Handbook of Indians of California, "The hom.e of the Y okuts was the San Joaquin Valley, the entire floor of which they held from the mouth of the river to the foot of the Tehachapi Pass. In addition they occupied the ad ja cent slopes of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada up to an altitude of a few thousand feet, from the Fresno River south, but nowhere north of the stream. "-5 The Indians who occupied the Tejon region be longed to two different territories. The Tejon rancho, Tejon Creek, and the old Tejon reserve were in Kitane muk territory; while the Tejon Pass and Fort Tejon, were· in the Chumash habitat. The· Kitanemuk com posed the southern California branch of the Shosho neans; "The Kitanemuk belonged to the northern 3 ~ tc ~ ~ ~ 0 '-< .., (') ~ 0 ~ ("') 0 -· 8 U'J ~ =r ~ ~....,_ ..,~ ...... ("') Q. n-· > 0 c::l.. (1q '\56 = ~ n 9 < .., ~ W.KEE::..ER. ll.Ill'GE 'JClN~"'l ....,_ ~ • A..."""'1J.T
II# 0 section of southern California, to which the generic appelation Serrano has been applied . . . the name means Mountaineers-those of the Sierra. The Kit anemuk lived on upper Tejon and Paso Creeks, whose lower courses are lost in the Y okut plains, before reach ing the Kern River ... The Americans are content to call them the Tejon Indians, which would be satis factory but for the fact that the former Tejon Reserva tion contained a little babel of tribes. Most of the neighbors of the Kitanemuk, today, frequently refer to them as Haminat . .. a nickname-What is it?"6 El Camino Viejo, the old inland route from San Pedro to San Francisco, skirted the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley long before any land grants were made in that locality. In 1852 Jose Antonio Dominguez received the first grant, the Rancho San Emigdio, which lay along the foothills over looking the plain of the Tulares. This later became the home of Alexander ( or Alexis) Gorley, the frontiersman who accompanied Fremont on his western trip in 1843. The scout was born in St. Louis in 1800 and has frequently been called a French Canadian voyageur. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in California in 1846 and was present at the Battle of San Pascual in December of that year. In later years he operated a ferry on the San Joaquin River and made the San Emigdio rancho his home in the 1870's. Godey married Maria Antonia Coronel, sister of Antonio Francisco Coronel of Los Angeles, but this marriage lasted only a short time. Gorley lived in Bakersfield after 1884, and died in Los Angeles January 19, 1889. During Lieutenant Ed ward F. Beale's administration of the Tejon Indian Reservation, Gorley was superintendent of farming operations, and later, during the regime of J. H. P. Wentworth, was Superintendent of Indians. 5 Prior to Beale's control of Indian affairs in Cali fornia, Godey frequently received consignments of cattle from James Savage. These were intended for the Indians under the agreements made by the Com mission appointed for that purpose by the United States government; but they were conveniently side tracked by Godey who sold the beef to the mines for a neat profit. The second grant in this region was Castec, derived from the Yakut word Kashtuk meaning "my eye". Governor Micheltorena granted;_ this land to Jose Maria Covarrubias of Santa Barbara, November 22, 1843. The Canada de las Uvas and the shores of the Castiac Lake were within the boundaries of this grant. The expediente of this rancho did not carry a provision for a military reserve as did that of the Tejon, nor did it provide for the care and succor of the Indians. Covarrubias came to California in 1834 with the Hijar Colonists. He was a Frenchman by birth, and a teacher by profession. Settling in Santa Barbara he married Maria Carrillo, daughter of Domingo. Car rillo, and became a powerful figure in California politi cal life. He never lived on the Castec, but "in 1844, this rancho was stocked with horses, cattle and twenty In dian laborers who cultivated large fields of corn and rnelons."7 Covarrubias disposed of the Castec to 1).1- bert · Packard of Santa Bar hara, and Packard, in turn, conveyed it to Samuel Bishop, although when the title was confirmed by the Land Commisison in 1866, it was still, according to the records, in the name of Covar rubias. This rancho was surveyed in 1862, and the survey notes filed and accepted in November of that year by Edward F. Beale who at that time held the post of Surveyor General of California and Nevada. There were two other grants in this same region, the 6 Los Alamos Y Agua Caliente, granted to Pedro Car rillo, an·d regranted to Francisco Lopez, May 27, 1846, as Carrillo had not complied with the law governing occupancy of the land. This grant was confirmed No vember 9, 1866, to A. Olivera, et al. The La Liebre Rancho was granted to Jose Maria Flores ( not to be confused with the general of the same name) in 1864. This property was next in size to Rancho El Tejon. The Rancho El Tejon was the third grant in the south San Joaquin Valley. It was given to Jose An tonio Aguirre and Ignacio del Valle in 1843. Aguirre was a Basque who came to California in 1834, via Guaymas. He settled in Santa Barbara after 1838, marrying a daughter of Jose Antonio Estudillo of Old Town, and after her death, her sister. A famous and ,vealthy merchant, Aguirre's ships were a familiar sight in every port along the California coast. Ignacio del Valle was the son of the soldier Antonio del Valle, who- received the San Francisco Rancho in 1839. Ignacio inherited his father's famous Cainulos adobe, and made it his home after 1841. In petitioning for the Tejon lands, May 14, 1843, Aguirre and del Valle claimed ownership of large herds of cattle and wished land upon which to establish them. In their search for vacant land they had come upon the Tejon, situated in the tulares of the south San Joaquin Valley, and this they immediately decided was an ideal situation for their herds; and although it was situated in an uninhabited and somewhat desolate re gion the petitioners felt that by doing their bit to im prove the area it would soon become popular with other settlers. When the Aguirre-de! Valle petition reached Gover nor Micheltorena he made a 11:ote on the margin dated May 30, 1843, which said: "Let the Prefect of the 7 Second District report taking the necessary steps." On this same document appeared a second notation bearing the same date: "Let this record of proceedings be placed before the Justice of the Peace of Santa Bar bara for the reason the land petitioned for lies in that district, and let him report minutely whether it belongs to any particular person or community; and let him return it to the prefecture." This was signed by M. Dominguez and N. Botello. On June 13, Joaquin Carrillo reported to the Prefect of the Second District as follows: "The parties inter ested in this instance have all the requisites to be attended to ... The land they solicit is entirely vacant, and does not belong to any private person or com munity, and I think it may be adjudicated to them." This was fallowed by the prefect's report to the Gover nor: "From the foregoing information asked for by this Prefecture of the Justice of the Peace of Santa Barbara, the result is that' the land requested is vacant, and as well for this, as because the parties asking, are persons of activity, and there is no doubt that they would give the best cultivation and advancement to said lands should Your Excellency deem it well to grant it to them." All preliminaries having thus been disposed of, and the authorities being properly impressed by the influ ence and standing of the petitioners, the following ex pediente was issued September 26, 1843: "Ignacio del Valle for himself and Aguirre have petitioned for the land called Tejon, bounded by the Canada de los Alamos, the Sierra of the Rincon, and the place called Castec, having as its line from the Canada in the direction of the Laguna de los Tulares, the Rio de la Por ciuncula, under the conditions following: 8 "1st: They can neither sell, alienate, hy potheca te or place any burden on the land. "2nd: They must not prevent the culti vation and other benefits the Indians have established in the place. "3rd: They will leave free such lands as ma) be necessary for the military estab lishments, which at some future time it is expected will be established here. "4th: They can enclose it without preju dice to the crossing roads, and servi tudes; enjoy it freely and exclusively, destining it to the use of cultivation which to them may seem agreeable, but within one year they must build a house which shall be inhabited. "5th: They will request the respective judge to give them judicial possession by virtue of this dispatch, by which he will mark out the line in the limits of which they will place beside the land marks, some fruit trees or plan ts of utility. "6th: The land of which donation is made is 18 sit ios de r.anad o mayor, a little more or less, according to the de sign accompanying the exp.ediente. The magistrate who gives possession will have it measured in conformity ,vith the ordinance, the excess results remaining in the nation.8 "7th: If they contravene these conditions they ,viii lose their right to the land, and it will be denounced to another. " 9 No doubt the partners were delighted to have the land. of El Tejon granted to them._ However, their pleasure was somewhat dimmed by the trouble they had in obtaining the required legal possession. Al- 9 tho-ugh the grant was approved December 17, 1843, it was June, 1845, before the necessary formalities were complied with. The chief hindrance to occupation of the land was that no Justice of the Peace would go out and perform the necessary ceremonies. The owners first applied to Jose Maria Covarrubias alcalde of Santa Barbara to go out and perform the duties of his office. This he refused to do, giving as his excuse that the Indians were hostile in the vicinity of Tejon. Fail ing here, the gr ante.es approached Joaquin Carrillo, who declined for the same reasons as Covarrubias, and it began to look as if Aguirre and del Valle were going to lose their right to the Rancho El Tejon for lack of the required legal approbation. However, in the early summer o_f 1845, the Tejon actually became the property of the grantees. They immediately established Manuel Jacinto Fogo10 as mayordomo. He lived on the rancho from July 9, 1845, to September 5, 1846, occupying a tule house and building a corral, cultivating a small garden in which he raised corn the first season, and corn, b_eans and melons, the second. He also had a few head of stock and several Indian helpers; but the large herds of cattle which the petitioners had mentioned as being their reason for desiring the Tejon, did not make their appearance. It is said that one thousand head of cattle were to be sent to the rancho about the time Fogo left. According to the latter's testimony before the Unied States Land Commission, his reason for leaving the Tejon was that it had been rumored that Fremont was on his way there with a large force of men, and he had no intention of placing himself in the way of arrest. Juan Gallardo, a shoemaker of Los Angeles, who held the position of alcalde in 1846, also testified before the Commission, stating that he had known the Tejon 10 since August, 1845, when he and three others went there in search of a silver mine. At that tim.e he found Fogo on the property, in company of several Indians who were building a corral. It appears that Gallardo had been approached by del Valle and Aguirre in the summer of 1846, to go out to the rancho and protect the Tejon stock in his official capacity; but he refused to do so, since he was not certain in which jurisdiction the Tejon lay. Following Fogo's departure activity on the Tejon seems to have ceased and from 1846 to 1850 there is little to be found concerning the property. In the spring of 1850, or· possibly a little earlier, Doctor E. D. French settled on the Tejon and built himself an adobe dwelling. Doctor French was born in the State of New York in 1822. He enlisted as a hospital steward at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1845 and came to Cali fornia the next year with General Stephen W. Kearny, and took part in the Battle of San Pascual. . After the war he was discharged, and took up his temporary resi dence on the Tejon not l_ong afterwards. He later removed to San Jose, and married Cornelia S. Cowles, daughter of Judge Cowles of San Diego. The San Diego country beckoned to him and he acquired a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres in Poway Valley where he took up permanent residence. He also owned prop erty in Coronado and was a member of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County at the tim.e Old Town was forced to give way to the booming city of San Diego.11 French cared for stock on shares, while living on the Tejon, but did not remain in the region after 1851, as Indian uprisings on th~ Four Creeks and in the vicinity of the sierra foothills drove him out. In May, 1852, the rejon was again occupied, this time by David McKenzie and Alonzo Ridley who 11 came to trade with the Indians. Ridley later became Indian Agent at the Tule River Farm, and went to Los Angeles at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was a Southern sympathizer and was captain of the party who escorted General i\lbert Sidney Johnston out of California. He joined the Confederate Forces and after the war refused to take the oath of allegiance, be coming a self-styled "unreconstructed rebel". Ridley spent many years in Mexico, after the war, and was active in the construction of the Vera Cruz railroad. He visited the United States from time to time, and ,vas a good friend of Antonio Varela whose cousin, Serbulo, played such an active part in the Californian revolt of 1846. It was while Varela and Ridley were paying a visit to Camulos, the home of the del Valle family, that he discovered the existence of his half breed daughter whose mother had been one of the Tejon Indians. This daughter, Guadalupe, became very dear to him, and he wrote to her frequently during his trips into Mexico. Ridley is buried at Tempe, Arizona. As no locality is likely to progress unless it has roads leading to and from it, it seems not out of place here, to insert a brief resume of the roads leading to the Tejon from the south. D"Qe to the fact that there have been two passes, in widely separated areas, bearing the name Tejon, some confusion has resulted. The name Tejon was origin ally applied to the extreme southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. In the eastern section thereof is a narrow defile through the Tehachapi12 mountains watered by Tejon and Cottonwood Creeks. This could be called a road only by courtesy, but it was the sole route to the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles prior to 1855, unless one takes into consideration the Indian 12 pack trail that wound through the Canada de las Uvas, some fifteen m.iles to the west. In 1853, Lieutenant R. S. Williamson led the rail road survey party through the rocky and precipitous Tejon Pass, on their way across the Tehachapi range, seeking a suitable route for the rails. Lieutenant Willi amson afterwards called this the "worst road" he had ever encountered. As the surveyors extended their explorations westward they came to the Canada de las Uvas and its narrow trail. However, the Lieutenant found this cafion so much easier to negotiate than the Tejon Pass that he immediately made plans for a future wagon road through this cafiada. When this was com pleted and Fort Tejon established, the old Tejon Pass was abandoned and its name transferred to the new route. Before 1855 there were no roads worthy of the name leading from the Pueblo of Los Angeles to Tejon and the San Joaquin Valley. Finally the citizens of Los Angeles, realizing the value of a traversible road sub scribed to a fund to be used to better traveling condi tions; and work was begun at San Fernando Hill where a cut was made through the rock. From this point the road proceeded north through Turner's Pass ( San Francisquito Canon) to Lake Elizabeth and Fort Te jon and thence to the Tejon Indian Reservation. In 1854, before the improved road was open to travel, William A. Wallace, editor of the Los Angeles Star, accompanied Lieutenant Edward F. Beale and his party to the Tejon. He kept a journal of the trip which was published in the Star, July 1, 1854. In his account of the trip Wallace has incorporated what is undoubtedly the first botanical survey of the region. The first entry in the diary, dated June 1, is as f al lows: "In company with Judge Hayes, Mr. D. B. 13 Wilson and Mr. Foster13 we started for the '"fejon with Mr. and Mrs. Beale, escorted by twelve drago~ns . . . "June 2. We started early and rode through the San Francisco Rancho to the mouth of Turner's Pass, where we halted near a little arroyo ... This rancho is inac cessible except by a trail over the mountains. At first is seemed to open out into a single plain. But there are numerous vallics 1naking up into mountains. It is clain1ed by del Valle and Salazar and embraces prob ably fifty leagues of land.14 It is well stocked with cattle and horses, with good water and abundance of timber. To the right of Turner's Pass is Williamson's Pass, which is not yet considered of much practical value inasmuch as it is more difficult and not so dirct as Turner's. It is related that heading out in this direction are extensive vallies in which are grazing thousands of wild cattle "rithout brands. They have been seen at intervals for m.any years past and fly at the approach of an intruder. "About noon we left camp and traveled through to near the top of the pass, seventeen miles. Through the whole length of it tuns a little stream of clear water, which someone whn had the curiosity to count, said we crossed eighty seven times ... Through the pass is an abundance of fine timber. On the left the mountains have the red appearance and conformation of the gol~ region at the north ... The road through the pass is very bad, winding through the sandy .bed of the arroyo, with many steep pitches and the wagons were much retarded. In the dry sand we found the Mexican Horned Poppy.15 About a mile from the top the pass widens out into an extensive plain and here we camped for the night. Dr. Hope16 and Mr. Foster started out for game and soon came upon a grizzly m.aking for camp. They instantly took to a tree and fired at the 14 General Edward 'Fitzgerald Beale bear, who came up and attempted to climb the tree, but not succeeding left in disgust with a growl. The night was cold and frosty. "June 3. Early in the morning the Doctor- went out and brat in a deer, just as we were ready to start. About a mile from camp we found a new variety of Leptisi phon17, large, white, of which we gathered the seeds. 18 10 Fields of Eschscholtzia , Alcea , etc., are in blossom, plants which have long been in seed near the coast, showing that the season here is much later than below, probably because of its greater altitude. The sides of the mountains through the pass are adorned with a 20 new variety of Sempervivum , covered with satin down, al)d forming large white rosettes against the sides of the mountains. This plant is much eaten by the Indians. The Chea21 , the rhubarb, both good for food are very common. The Islay ( cerasus illicif o lia) 22 is very frequent. The fruit of this is very delici ous, the thin pulp like a cherry. The pit like an almond. The Indians, it is said, make a red paste of the kernel, resembling almond paste, very palatable. The tree is an evergreen of an oval form and ought to be cultivated both for its fruit and for ornament. The 23 Spada Palm ( Spanish Bayonet) is also very common, having the appearance of immense white plumes rising upon the mountain sides. The young stalk of this is a great luxury, and forms a large portion of the food of the Indians. The wild fruits, plants, and nuts of the mountains are various and abundant. "From the top of the pass we came into a beautiful valley, some three miles wide and ten long, which is represented as good for grain and for grazing. This is the lovely valley of Elizabeth Lake, embosomed be tween hills, just at the entrance of the Great Desert one of the most delightful spots in nature ... 15 "June 4. This morning on waking, a grizzly was seen making his way back to the mountains from the lake. We saddled up and at a gentle elevation crossed the Sierra Nevada, and winding a few miles among the low hills, came into a bay of the Great Desert. Away in the east loomed up the Lost Mountains, and on our right, forty miles, was the Mohave ... After a ride of twelve miles we came to a belt of Palmas24, with pointed foliage like the Spadn. This belt is about three miles wide and it is said to extend more than a hundred miles toward the Colorado. Upon this por tion of the desert we found a large red variety of the Morning Glory, and a brilliant crimson Calchorta25, which we named C. Deserta. "At noon we turned into a beautiful little green valley with good water and timber,-La Liebre, the former abode of a rancher ia of Indians ... "June 5. Our journey today was partly through Castec ... We entered, through a gap in the mountains, the Castec region which is a narrow valley with many salt lagunas and cienegas. The Sierra and Coast ranges are covered with grass and flowers to the top. Con siderable snow falls in this region, consequently the vegetation is much later than nearer the coast. We passed the dividing ridge at a gentle ascent, with the wind blowing cold. Descending through a sandy bot tom, at the far end of which was Lake Castec, em bosomed in grass and green timber. Keeping to the left of this lake we entered the Cajon de las Uvas, one of the loveliest valleys in the world. It lies between the two ranges of mountains with an average width of half a mile. The edges are fringed with a belt of mag nificent white oak ... Our camp was in the shade of the largest trees we have seen. Two oaks measured near the ground, one 45 the other 35 feet in circumference. 16 On one of the trees is an inscription cut into the wood as follows: I. H. S. Peter Lebeck, killed by a bear, Oct. 17th, 1837. 20 The inscription is now some four inches within the bark. Two stones and a slight ele vation of earth mark his grave,-Peter is supposed to have been a French trapper ... The nights are cold and frosty. In the Castec country the prevailing shrub is one which Judge Hayes has in his yard, the seed of which he obtained in San Pedro, and which has never been described. We named it Castekia Multiflora.27 A distance of twenty five miles today. "June 6. Left camp this a. m. traveled through the mountains at a rapid descent by a narrow pass divided by the waters from the cienegas above, forming a deep arroyo. Cottonwood, Willow, Oak, and Buckeye abound ... At the mouth of the cajon in front, we had a grand view of the Tulare Valley and Kern and Buena Vista Lakes. Turning to the right ten miles, is the Commissary's Post, and five miles further, the abode of Mr. Beale, which may be seen for thirty miles up the valley. We arrived here at 10 o'clock. The Indians were rejoiced to see their friends and mani fested much curious deference toward Mrs. Beale." The name of Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale became more closely associated with the fortunes of the Tejon than those of the original owners. From 1852 until the time of his death, a period of nearly fifty years, Beale was actively interested in the development of this region. Born in the District of Columbia, February 4, 1822, he was the son of George and Emily (Truxton) Beale. In December, 1836, he was appo.inted midshipman from Georgetown University, and his career on land and sea was a distinguished one. He was with General Stephen W. Kearny, at San Pascual in December, 1846, 17 where he acquitted himself with distinction. Five years later he resigned from the Navy, and on November 11, 1852, his appointment by President Fillmore, to the post of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, was given the official sanction of Congress. Beale's appointment came as the result of the Indian uprisings that swept through the San Joaquin Valley and the foothills of the Sierra in 1850-1851. In J anu ary 1851 the hostilities led to the forming of the Mari posa Battalion under the leadership of James Savage; and while this organization "patrolled the east side of the San Joaquin and Tulare Valleys, from the Tuo lumne to the Tejon Pass,"28 a Board of Peace Com. missioners had been appointed to treat with the warring tribes. Its members were Indian Agents Doctor 0. M. Wozencraft, Colonel George W. Barbour and Redick McKee.29 These men based their policy on the theory that inasmuch as tribal lands had been overrun by miners, the Indians should be compensated by allot ments of land in the valley, together with sufficient food and· clothing. The treaties were signed by the Indians who trusted the "Great White Father" in Washington, to see that the terms of the agreements were carried out. Soon, however, it was apparent to whites and Indians alike that the food, they had been promised was being side tracked to make a neat profit for suc.h men as Wozen cra"ft, Savage, Godey and others. According to reports made to Beale in 1852 the grafting in beef cattle, alone, was enormous. Godey had accepted delivery of seven ty eight head, ostensibly for Indian consumption. How ever, these were sold to the miners for "side money". This was only the first of many such transactions where in the Indians were cheated of their beef and Godey and his partners received the profits. 18 This was the situation confronting Beale when he be came Superintendent of Indian affairs in California. He arrived in September, 1852,30 two months before his position was officially ratified by Congress. His was the gigantic task of bringing order out of chaos, of establishing reserves and removing the Indians from their old homes to their new habitations. As money is an ever present necessity in the develop ment of any project, one of Beale's first acts as Superin tendent was to submit to Congress his estimate of the cost of maintaining the California Indian Agency. For the fiscal year 1851-1852, .he submitted a tentative budget of $35,092.35, and for the following year a sum of $42,500. . Congress, however, in its deficiency bill of July 21, 1852, cut the sum to $4,818.68, of which $1,318.68 was for the salary of the Superintendent, $2,500 for his traveling expenses and $1,000 for pres ents and provisions for visiting Indians. Congress did, however, appropriate an additional $100,000 to be used to keep peace with the Indians, this amount being for the establshing of reserves as the Superintendent saw fit. Beale in his report setting forth his policies in con nection with his postion said : "In the first place I pro pose a system of Military Posts to be establshed on reservations for the convenience and protection of the Indians, these reservations to be regarded as military reserves, or governmental reserves, the Indians being invited to assemble within these reserves. "A system of discipline and instruction to be adopted by the agent who is to live at the post. "Military troops at the military establishments to be in proportion to the population of the Indans."81 Since the Indians Reservations were to be tied closely to the military Genearl E. A. Hitchcock, who was then 19 in charge of the Pacific Division of the United States Army, hastened to extend a welcome to Lieutenant Beale. In a letter from San Francisco the General emphasized the fact that as "some measures of a mili tary character were contemplated", his cooperation as military commander was undoubtedly necessary. He awaited word from Beale as to the choice of sites for reservations, and when this was received he would pass upon their "practicability of defense." General Hitchcock added the good advice: "I will venture to suggest that you would do well so as to make your calculations as not only not to exceed your means, but to have something left for contingencies ... I would, on no account, begin with the Indians on a scale beyond my ability to carry it through the year, and· would hold the power of going beyond my promises, rather than falling short of them." Lieutenant Beale began an immediate survey of the field in which his activity lay, going over all possible reservation sites, and conferring with the Indian agents, among them. Benjamin (Don Benito) Wilson, who had been appointed to the southern district. After due consideration Beale came to the conclusion that it would be best to devote the $100,000 appropriated by Congress "to keep peace with the Indians", to one section, instead of spreading it thinly over the entire state .. Beale favored the south San Joaquin for a reserva tion site, because it was here that the ·greatest protection was needed. The central and northern areas were more thickly populated with whites than the southern district, and as Benjamin Wilson pointed out "the main southern immigrant route passed through the Tulares, and was also the principal thoroughfare for the ran cheros and up-country drovers. They were all exposed 20 to depredations and massacre."82 H. B. Edwards, farming agent in charge of the southern end of the valley as far as Tejon Pass, prob- - ...... i..•·· ably influenced Beale in his choice of location. Ed- wards had been favorably impressed by the country near the pass, and he had found two hundred Indian families raising crops in this vicinity. He lost no time in acquainting the Superintendent with the advantages of this locality over the San Joaquin River site which had, heretofore, been the one most strongly favored. It is evident that Beale at once hastened to inspect this region, for the San Francisco Herald on September 22, 1853, carried the note "E. F. Beale and Benito Wilson arrived in San Francisco on September 21st, after a tour of the Tulare Valley . . . and announces sites for two Indian Reservations in the lower part of the Tulare Valley, near the Tejon Pass." Beale, before making his final decision on a loca- tion, sought the opinion of the railroad survey party headed by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson. In a ques tionaire submitted to Lieutenants George Stoneman, John R. Par ks and R. S. Williamson he asked for sug gestions as to sites that were, in their opinion, best suited for Indian Reservations to be located "south of the Sacramento to this point." The consensus of opinion among the surveyors was " The Tejon is best situated for wood and water . . . and acceptable to largest number of Indians." Beale's own judgment having thus been sustained, there was no obstacle in the way of his declaring the Tejon an Indian reserve. In a letter to C. W. Many penny, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C., he said: San Francisco, September 30, 1853 "To Superintendent of Indian Affairs: 21 Sir: In pursuance of the intention which I communicated to you in my letter of the 26th, I left Los Angeles on the 30th, and arrived at the Tejon Pass on the 2nd inst. "I .found the Indians in that quarter quietly engaged in farming, but anxious to know the intentions of the government towards them.. Mr. Edwards, whom I had employed as a farming agent, had been unable to assure them of anything permanent in relation to their affairs. He had, however, with great tact, and with the assistance of Mr. Alexan der Godey, by traveling from tribe to tribe and talking constantly with them, succeeded in preventing any outbreak or disturbance in the San Joaquin Valley. "I immediately collected together the head men and chiefs ... With these Indians I held council for two days explaining to them the intentions of the government in relation to their future support. After long delibera tions . . . they agreed to accept the terms I had offered them: ... That the governm.ent should commence a system of farming instruc tion ... That for this purpose the government would furnish them with seed of all kinds ... I pointed out to them the impossibility of their remaining any longer a barrier to the rapid settlement of the State, and of the neces sity which existed that they should leave their old homes in the mountains and settle . . . where the government would be able to watch and protect them from the whites as well as the whites from them ... 22 "The Tejon Valley, or at least a large por tion of it, is said to be covered by a Spanish Grant; but as I found no settlers on it, or any evidence it had been settled; and under the fact that there is no other place where the Indians could be placed without the same objection, I concluded to go on with the farming system at that point and leave it to Congress to purchase the land should the title prove good, or remove the Indians to some less suitable locality. E. F. Beale, Superintendent of Indian Affairs.'' It is perhaps interesting to note that Beale was at _least partially a\vare. of the fact that the Tejon was a "S'panish Grant" as he termed it. Some rum.or had undoubted! y come to his ear to that effect, but he chose to ignore it if possible. He also appears to have over looked the adobe house that Doctor E. D. French had erected on the Tejon about 1850; and to have totally ignored both McKenzie and Ridley who had traded with the Indians in this vicinity for several years, and whose residence was on the Tejon. That the Superintendent_ did not care to assume the full responsibility for establishing an Indian reserve on the lands in the south San Joaquin is further evi denced in the fact that he sought the opinion of certain members of Congress, before proceeding with his plans. Senator William. M. Gwin, who had come to Cali fornia on ·the Pacific Mail Steamer Panama, June 4, 1849, and who was United States Senator from 1850- 1855 and again from 1857-1861, replied to Beale's query by saying "I do not hesitate to ·say that he should make such conditional arrangements, subject to the approval of Congress, as in his opip.ion are indispens- 23 Sketch accompanying the Boschulte Report on the Tejon Reservation, 1862 Courtesy Bancroft Library able to the successful operation of the law under which he proposes to locate the Indians." Senator John B. Weller, who was a United States Senator in 1852, and Governor of Calfornia in 1858, said: "If you find a sufficient quantity of land at any point desired, which is unoccupied, although persons might claim it under Mexican grants, I would not hesitate to take it. If the grant is, in the end sustained by the courts, the government having taken private property for public use, will have to make compen sation there£ ore." Thus encouraged, Beale went ahead; and in the October 17, 1853, issue of the Daily Alta California appeared an article stating that a "deputation of young men from the tribes about Grass Valley arrived by boat. Leave for Los Angeles by boat, to go to the re serve set apart for them." This was a long and some what roundabout journey to reach their destination. Why these Indians were not taken directly to the San Joaquin via the Camino Viejo or some other more direct valley route is a matter for conjecture. It is possible that transportation by water might have served some particular political purpose at even so early a date in the administration of Indian affairs in Cali fornia. The Daily A /ta California, November 1, 1853, said: "Superintendent Beale is pushing forward Indian ar rangements with great energy. The Tejon has been selected for one of the Indian Reserves. By those acquainted, this ~s pronounced to be one of the most suitable localities for that purpose that could be found in all of the southern portion of the State ... The cli mate is good, the soil surpassingly fertile. · "Superintendent Beale is now on his way to the Tejon with several .wagons loaded ~ith farming imple- 25 ments, etc., where he intends to make a large collection of red m.en the present season. We understand it is his intention to bring all the various tribes, as far north as the Yuba and Feather Rivers and settle them on the Tejon. A large shipment of grain has been received at San Pedro which will immedjately be forwarded to that point. Besides this, a lot of beef cattle will be started in a few days." As Superintendent Beale continued to go ahead with his establishing of the Tejon reserve, without waiting for the proper authorization by Congress, he was, un wittingly, storing up difficulties for the future. Diffi culties that were to cause hin1 to be removed from the position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Cali fornia. Governor John Bigler, of California, opposed Beale's plans; and Senator John B. vVeller, who was a politician of the first water, on October 2, 1853, wrote to Beale reversing his approval of Beale's action in creating an Indian reserve on the Tejon, his change of heart having been brought about by opposition from his constituents to any plans that might create agricul tural competition. Senator Weller now took the stand that the reservation system would injure private agri cultural enterprise, and that too much valuable land would be usurped by the Indians. Weller did not favor the ·holding of more than eight thousand acres in any reserve. This opposition, together with the fact that Beale did not hesitate to remove incompetent poli tical appointees without fear or favor, earned him the displeasure of many so-called friends, "who had been longer in political circles and had lost the moral cour age which characterized the sailor who had left his ship to become a pilot of the plains. "33 The Tejon Reservation, when officially established, was named after William King Sebastian, United States 26 Senator from Arkansas, 1853-1861. Sebastian was a
staunch supporter of Beale1 as well as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This gave the Superintendent a strong representative who did not hesitate to take up the cudgels in his interest. "Lieu tenant Beale finds these simple people anxious to work and easily adapting themselves to the changed condi tions of their affairs", he told Congress. "All the Superintendent asks is to be allowed a sufficient amount of money to extend the system all over California." The Los Angeles Star, of June 24, 1854, carried the following notice: "Mr. Washburn, United States De puty Surveyor, left Los Angeles for the Tejon on Tues day. His contract extends from the point of the Tejon east 97 miles, and embraces 5 townships." The area surveyed by H. D. Washburn was 75,000 acres. This was later reduced to 25,000 acres to bring the reserva tion within the limits of the act passed by Congress, March 3, 1855. The Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology has this to say about the reduction: "The Tejon Indian Reservation, also known as the Sebastian Reserve, located by survey of H. D. Washburn, 1853, contained 75,000 acres. This was reduced November 23, 1856, to 25,000 acres to bring it within the act of 1855. Boundaries of the reserve were never resurveyed. Subsequently Super intendent Beale and others obtained patents under old Spanish Grants for most of the land covered by the original reserve." The Daily Alta California, November 23, 1853, pub lished a letter from one of its correspondents dealing with the removal of Indians to the .Tejon Reservation. ~'On Sunday, October 30th, we took our departure with the Nevada Indians, from Sublette and Thomp son's ranch, eight 'miles ,vest of Los Angeles, for the 27 Tulare Valley, by way of the 1"'ejon Pass. The only incident worthy of note was that in crossing the moun tains on the San Fernando Pass. About eight<-..: miles from the Mission of that name, one of our mules slipped and fell three hundred feet ... "Our party was composed of twenty men besides the Indians, and 53 riding and pack animals. San Fer nando Pass is 45 miles north of Los Angeles, Tejon Pass is 35 miles in a westward direction, and thence it is ten miles easterly to the adobe house in the valley ... The adobe house34 as it is known to all who have passed along the road from Los Angeles to the Tulare Valley, is now the headquarters of Lieutenant Beale . . . "The valley is a beautiful one ... in the northern part is a beautiful lake, and the whole valley is finely watered by springs and streams from the mountains. It would sustain a population of 50,000 Indians. The Superintendent is already preparing winter quarters for the Indians; and it is his intention to set them to work to build a large adobe house for their residence, to be larger than the Mission buildings at San f"'er nando. Messers. Sublette and Thompson delivered at the adobe house, on the 7th, 6000 lbs. of wheat and barley, which was a portion of the supply contracted for. It is the intention of Lieutenant Beale to put 4000 acres in wheat and barley and in less than twelve months a portion of the valley will bloom like the rose." In January, · t 854, a Mr. Millmore; who had visited the Four Creeks and Tejon regions reported that Beale had sown two square miles of grain on the reservation and was keeping twenty four plows running. A day's labor for the Indians was to plow nine furrows forward and back, of a mile each, which made one long furrow eighteen miles in length. At this time Millmore said the Superintendent :had concentrated six or eight hun- 28 dred Indians on the Tejon reservation, and that with the establishment of a miltary reserve the entire south ern end of the San Joaquin Valley was filling with emigrants. In February, 1854, Lieutenant Beale rendered a re port to G. W. Manypenny on the condition of the reser vation. He stated that 2000 acres were planted to wheat, and 500 more were to be planted to barley and 150 to corn. There were 2500 Indians and 12 white employees. Beale and his men worked with the Indians to set an example, coi;nmencing one hour before day light. "I have endeavored,'' he reported, "to trans plant here a system and regularity acquired by eighteen years experience in the strict school of naval disci pline." Beale cut the Tejon reservation up into allotments or rancherias under the supervision of Indian chiefs. 4 report published in the Los Angeles Star, January 17, 1854, listed the following rancherias and their super- . visors: "JUAN VIEJO-Chief of Reservation is from Chum-tache, and has been on the Reserve two months. His title is Big Chief, and is recog nized by all from the fact that in other times his rule extended from Tejon to Four Creeks. Under him is Mateo. The people number 500, and others are expected to join him. Before he came, Juan Viejo sent his brother, Calistro, who planted 25 acres in corn and 10 acres in melons and vegetables. "VICENTE-A native of Tejon, has 101 of his own people under him. Jose from the Sierra; Andres from headquarters of Kern River, and Felipe from the mountains, have in all 400 people, with corn 50 acres; wheat 20 acres; melons and beans, etc. 25 acres. "METARIA-From Laguna . in the Tulare 29 Valley, with sub-chiefs Chico and Joaquin from the Tulare River, 300 people, corn 30. acres ; wheat, 20 acres ; melons, etc., 10 acres. "JOSE-Native of 'Tejon, 100 people. This rancheria includes a tribe recently arrived from Kern River under Obrano, whence they have been induced to move in consequence of threats against them by Mr. Vice36 who ac cused the1n of stealing his cattle. Corn, 50 acres; wheat, 15 acres; melRancho La Liebre while visiting the Court house in Monterey, where a man who had been hired by the owners of the property was testifying as to his residence thereon. "I bought this forty thousand acre tr act," said Beale, "and started to raise cattle". This transaction is said to have been the first sale of land in the Antelope Valley. There was a silver mine on the La Liebre, which was discovered in 1859. It was called "The Trinidad", but it never seems to have amounted to anything.37 Colonel Vineyard ran sheep on the Tejon Rancho before 1860, when he sold his interests to Solomon and Philo Jewett who were at that time considered the most prosperous sheepmcn in the San Joaquin Valley. After Beale acquired the Tejon and other adjacent holdings, he continued in the sheep business, 46 first with Samuel Bishop and later with Colonel Robert S. Baker of Los Angeles. The Colonel was from Rhode Island, and came to San Francisco in the gold rush of 1849. He and a partner later built a warehouse in Marysville. In 1872 he purchased the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, thinking it a good cattle range. He sold a two-thirds interest in this property to John P. Jones in 1873. Baker mar ried Arcadia Bandini de Stearns, widow of Don Abel Stearns, and the Colonel built the famous Baker Block in Los Angeles in 1877. In 1864 Colonel Baker was pasturing his sheep on lands of the Providencia Rancho; but a severe droug~t forced him to seek fresh grazing ground, and he there fore found it expedient to enter into an agreement with Beale,. and sh'ipped his stock to the San Joaquin Valley. On January 9, 1864, Beale posted the following notice at Fort Tejon: "The undersigned desire to notify the public that they have associated themselves for the greater convenience of sheep raising, but have formed no partnership, neither party being responsible for for the debts contracted by the other. E. F. Beale, R. S. Baker." This notice appeared just a month before Beale's withdrawal from the office of Surveyor General, Feb ruary 3, 1864. It has been said that President Lincoln gave as his reason for not reappointing Beale to this position "because he became monarch of all he sur- veyed." · It might also be noted here that at the time the Tejon Indian Reservation acreage was cut from 75,- 000 to 25,000 acres, the boundaries were never resur veyed; and it is further stated that when Truxtun Beale inherited the Tejon at his father's death, in 1893, the lands of the ranch.a were still uns~rveyed. 47 Following his retirement from public office Beale turned all his attention to the managing of his hold ings, and by 1874 the great flocks of the Baker-Beale combination were the largest ever recorded in the history of Kern County. Charles Nordhoff visited the Tejon in 1872; and in his book, California for H ea/th, Plea·sure and R'esidence, he said: "The rancho from which I write this-the Tejon it is called-seems to me ... the finest property in the United States in a single hand. It contains nearly 200,000 acres, and lies at the junction of the Sierra Nevada with the Coast Range ... You may ride for 80 miles on the country road upon this estate. It supports this year, over 100,- 000 sheep, and here I saw the operation of shearing eight or nine weeks are required to shear the whole flock-as well as the various details of the management of a California sheep ranch ... On such an estate as the Tejon there is, finally, a general superintendent and a book-keeper, for here in the wilderness a supply of goods of various kinds must be kept for the use of the people. "A blacksmith, teamsters, ploughmen, gardeners and house-servants make up the compliment of the Tejon company ... "Besides these numbers fed f ram the home place, there are on this estate about three hundred Indians who have been allowed to fence in small tracts of land on which they raise barley and other provisions, and in some cases plant fruit trees and vines." It may be seen from. the above description that the Tejon was an estate of feudal proportions and that its owner was indeed "monarch of all he surveyed." In 1866-1867 the assessment roles of the Tejon Rancho listed the fallowing: 4 American cows 48 4 American horses 3 Spanish horses 3 Spanish mules 15 hogs 900 American sheep 8000 mixed sheep 5000 Mexican sheep These were listed as assessed at $1.25 per head The Tejon grant.was listed as containing 22 leagues and the Los Alamos y Agua Caliente as 5 leagues, this was later reduced to 3 leagues. The total aggregated 13,604 acres, the Tejon being assessed at 27c per acre and the Los Alamos y Agua Caliente at 12½c per acre. In 1868 Beale and Baker were credited with possess- ing 19,983 head of sheep, 4 American cows 5 American horses 3 Spanish horses 4 head stock cattle 3 Spanish mules 3 hogs 3 wagons, goods and machinery, the whole being assessed on a valuatio~ of $·88,338.75, with a tax of $2,540.98 paid in November, 1868. In 1870 a sheep was worth more than an acre of land, sheep being assessed at $2.00 per head, while an acre of land of Rancho San Emigdio was assessed at $1.50. In 1871 Beale and Baker had 37,000 sheep and 72 stock cattle. The assessed property was valued at $611,158.00. In 1867 the Castec was still asse~sed under the name of Samuel Bishop, although he had removed to the Owens Valley. The Rancho was listed as containing 5 leagues or 22,620 acres, the land-being assessed at 27c 49 per acre. The total value of the property improve ments was listed at $6,120.90, and the value of the property as a whole was put at $44,500.80. Also listed as part of the Castec were : 50 gentle horses 250 mares and unbroken horses 4000 head of stock cattle 15 young Spanish mules 2 Spanish jacks 1 American jack 2 wagons 1 buggy A tax of $1,125.87 was paid in February,. 1867. However, Bishop's name did not appear on the Kern County Tax rolls after 1867. In 1874 W. J. Hill, Dave Rivers, and Senator John Boggs of the firm of Hill-Rivers and Company, leased 37 the Tejon Rancho. - At this time Beale was spending much of his time in Washington, and he was appointed Minister to Austria-Hungary by President Grant in 1876. Upon his return to California in 1880, Beale bought out the stock of his lessees, who had suffered serious losses in the dry year of 1877. The Tejon continued to support huge flocks of sheep after Beale's return; and i_ts owner and his fam.ily spent much time in the comfortable adobe house on the rancho. In 1889 Mary Austin, whose books The Flock and Land of Little Rain, earned her literary prominence in later years, was living with her family at Rose's Station, on lands 9£ the Tejon Rancho. In Ea.rth Horizon, Mrs. Austin vividly described the Rancho and its owner. She spent many pleasant hours at the Beale home, and fallowed the various activities of the place with deep interest, especially the sheep industry 50 which she immortalized in The Flock. The year 1881 saw a great deal of controversy over the proposed route of the Atlantic and Pacific Rail road. Beale wrote to Thomas Nickerson, president of the railroad: "Do not fritter away time and money on experiments leading to San Diego and Los An geles ... Your main object, in my opinion, should be to reach the end of your journey as soon as possible, and by the shortest line which would give you freight and passengers . . . I beg you to dismiss from yo~r mind the idea (should you happen to entertain it) that I feel any personal interest in this matter. If you come through the valley you cannot help coming through my land; but being purely a stock-raiser I am by no means certain that your road would prove a benefit to me, as my lands are not agricultural. I am interested solely from the fact that it would afford a competing line through California. You cannot assist me, but I know my advice can greatly aid you."88 Beale's interest continued to include all national affairs until his death on April 22, 1893, when the Tejon Ranchos became the property of his son, Trux ton. The Bakersfield Californian of March 27, 1912, con tained a notice of the sale of seventy-two sections of the Tejon Rancho to the Chandler-Clark interests. The 46,678 acres included in deal were all in the Rancho El Tejon proper, but did not include the ranch house which .lay south of the land sold. The ranges included were 30-30--31-3 l-31-30-32-29-32;.30. It was hinted that more of the rancho was to be sold. This transac tion involved about one-half of the Tejon Rancho proper. The Bakersfield Californian of March 28, 1912, printed a story of -~he transfer of the deed from Tru~- , 51 tun Beale to B. S. Elliott, a Los Angeles banker. Ac companying the deed was a mortgage from Elliott to the Security Trust and Savings Bank for $175,000, which averaged about $10.-00 per acre. The story said that the transaction merely specified that all land in the grant north of the 8th standard parallel was to be transferred. This was the beginning of the partition of the Ranchos Tejon, one of the largest land monopolies in California, where huge holdings had been the rule, not the exception. While this sale began the partition of the Beale holdings, it did not by any means indicate the end of the land kingdom of the Tejon. The Chand ler interests, headed by Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times, embodied in the Tejon Rancho Com pany, kept adding section after section to their original purchase from Truxtun Beale, until the present hold ings of this company, which has been greatly aug mented by the acquisition of other lands, far exceeds, today, the acreage owned by Beale. The Tejon Ranch now stretches across 300,000 acres of valley land, mountain crests, and canon floors. 39 Much of the land is now leased to private ranchers, but the old traditions are still kept alive. Great herds of cattle roam the open range, and when the dust of the roundup hovers over the countryside, the pages of history are turned back to the days of the Dons. The Indians hunt, fish, and cultivate their rows of corn and beans on the Tejon~ as they did in Beale's day, still secure under the court ruling of 1858 which con firmed the provision of the original expedient-e. The Tejon Ranch headquarters occupy the site of the former Indian Reservation buildings. Two houses from that period still survive-the vaqueros' house and 52 the old store. The Beale home was burned in April, 1917. On the La Liebre, to which Beale was particularly attached, is an adobe house which he built during his ownership of the property. This stands in the Canon de los Osos, a few miles south of Quail Lake, and is still occupied. These landmarks, in company with the ruined walls of the buildings of Fort Tejon, are the only reminders of an important period in the history of California, the outlines of which have long since become dim on the pages of time.
53 •·
~ '<:- ....,.,,. <',·ti •"' 11-. _'r.;
The Foxtail Rangers at the grave of Peter Lehec, in the year 1890. Note portion of Hospital Building of old Fort Tejon, to right. -Courtesy Kern County Free Library PART TWO
Fort Tejon-A Nursery of the Army by Arthur Woodward Director of History Los Angeles County Museum
PART TWO FORT TEJON A Nursery of the Army
The army posts of the western frontier during the 1840s and 1850 were, as one contemporary writer ex pre~sed it "the nurseries of the army." In such isolated forts many of the future generals of the United States forces cut their military teeth. Many were the lowly second and first lieutenants of infantry, cavalry, dra goons and artillery who later wrote their names on the book of fame. Nursed on the hard fare of the wilderness, fighting Indians, loneliness and sickness, such men as Grant, Sherman, Stoneman, Heintzelman, and others who became famous during the Civil War, learned first hand the art of soldiering. Fort Tejon, the first active military establishment in the mountains of Southern California, was one of those nurseries. When the Sebastian Military Reserve was created, it was understood that a fort was to be established as a protective adjunct to the Indian reservation, not so much to keep the Indians from falling upon the white man, as t~ prevent the latter from preying upon the Indians. The influx of miners into the lower San Joaquin Valley created a problem, as we have already seen, and since many of the local· tribesmen were, in effect, harmless creatures, they became easy victims of such men as Savage and his ilk. 57 It was not until the year 1854 that serious attention was given to the problem of establishing a military post for the protection of the mountain area and the Tejon Indian Reservation. In January, 1854, when General John E. Wool took over command of the Pacific Division, he received instruction to consult at once with the Indian Agent regarding the erection of a fort. General Wool had only been in California two months when he reported that he, "was impressed with Beale's plan and as soon as the troops arrived he would establish a post on the 1 reservation. " · In his report to Major General Winfield Scott, May 15, 1854, Wool said: "As soon as the troops arrive I intend to establish a post with a company of artillery and a company of dragoons in the reserve where they can be maintained comparatively at small expense."2 The expected troops were six full companies of the 3d Artillery, 600 men in all, ordered to reinforce the Pacific Division. Their transfer, however, was not effected until September 26, 1854. In the meantime Wool issued orders, June 24, 1854, for the Quarter Master Department to begin erection of quarters "for one company of infantry and one of dragoons in the Military Reserve for Indians near Tejon Pass,,. The dragoon quarters were to be finished first. Six days later Co. A, 1st Dragoons was ordered from Fort Miller to take post at the Tejon. There were no per• manent quarters on this temporary site, and the com mand was housed in tents. The first encampment of the military was not in Canada de las Uvas but on the Indian Reservation, somewhere on the floor of the valley against the foot hills, and not far from Beale's headquarters. The Los Angeles Star, August 31, 1854, reported: 58 "Maj. J. L. Donaldson is making preparations to re move the Fort to Canada de las Uvas about 13 miles on the road this side of the, old one. _They are busy making adobes for the erection of winter quarters and will be able in a short time to remove their whole garrison there. This is said to b_e a beautiful and healthy location much preferable to the old fort." It is quite possible that the site in Canada de las Uvas may have been tentatively selected early in June, 1854, when a party consisting of Judge Benjamin Hayes, Lt. and Mrs. E. F. Beale, B. D. Wilson ( then sub-Indian Agent for Southern California), William Wallace, editor-botanist, Mr. Stephen C. Foster, Dr. A. W. Hope, with a military escort of 12 dragoons made a trip to the Tejon from. Los Angeles.3 The party camped on the exact site where the fort was later constructed. Toward the end of June, Colonel Joseph K. Mansfield, Inspector General of the Army, who had seen thirty-two years of service, rode out from Los Angeles for the purpose of determining upon a site for a military post.4 The action of Congress in reducing the size of the Indian Reserve f ram around 75,000 acres to 25,000 acres, was given as the excuse for shifting the soldiers to Canada de las Uvas. By September 14, according to Wool's report, active construction of the post was under way.5 Actually, the new post was founded August 10, 1854, when Lieutenant Thomas F. Castor, with a detachment of 16 men of Co. A, 1st Dragoons, camped under the oaks. The remainder of the company arrived August 15, and thenceforth Ft. Tejon was the hom.e of the First Dragoons for the next seven years. 0 In Septen1ber a writer stated: "It is thought that the troops will not be ·able to winter at the site selected for 59 them on account of the high elevation of the camp making it so cold as to be very uncomfortable. "7 The editor, William Wallace, who visited the post in May, 1858, in company with Phineas Banning, also remarked: "But I shall never be able to understand why the Government located this valley for a permanent Post. It is a hundred miles from anywhere in a mountain gorge where the variations of temperature are killing to the most healthy constitution. It is hot and cold and there is sometimes a draught of wind through it that renders fires in the day and evening comfortable at all seasons of the year. "The quarters of the officers and soldiers are all of adobe and constructed in the most durable manner. Major Blake says they are the best quarters of the whole army and in the least desirable place. They are subject to every change and vicissitude in nature. Earthquake, rain, hail, thunder and lightning, wind, sand, cold, heat, each in such rapid succession as to ali appear in the same day. "The valley itself is a perfect little gem about one third of a mile wide and two or three miles long, lined on each side with a belt of magnificent oaks."8 Fort Tejon was similar in its major features of con struction to all frontier outposts of the day. The buildings were ranged primly, with military precision, around a rectangular parade ground. Here were the long barracks with their rude bunks, for the enlisted men. There were separate houses for the officers with kitchens in the rear. A quartermaster's building, hospital, commissary, storehouse, guard house, and commander's headquarters completed the arrangement. There were no bastions or blockhouses, no heavy guard walls, or palisade of pickets such as one might have seen 60 further east on the Plains where war parties of bon neted Indians were more fierce and agressive. The structures were of ado be, of one or two stories, with gable roofs. The interiors of the living quarters were plastered. The ceilings were of hand riven laths covered with plaster. A saw mill erected about 20 miles distant supplied part of the timber, at least. This "Government Mill which supplies the lumber for the Fort" was mentioned in an account of the earthquake of January 1857, in the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, January 17, 1857. (For a technical description of the architectural features of Ft. Tejon the reader is referred to the account given by Mr. Clarence Cullimore in ·his Old AdobeJ of For 0 gotten Fort Tejon. ) Civilian laborers were imported to mix adobe, lay the bricks and help in the general construction of the post. The company muster rolls for 1854 plainly in dicate that soldier _labor was used at least part of the time. Active work on the buildings continued through the fall and winter of 1854, during which time the major portion of the garrison lived in tents. In October, 1855, a rumor circulated to the effect that the fort was to be abandoned. This was the first of many such alarms that were to disturb the post from time to time. Indignant citizenry in Los An geles clamored for a retention of the troops in that . region. Said the Los Angeles Star of October 20, 1855: "To abandon it would be the ruin of all the stock ranchers in the country." The editor in the same article pointed out that prior to the establishment of the fort the rancheros had sustained a loss of $300,000 in horses stolen in the five years previous, but that the thefts had 61 ceased three months after the troops were thown into the country. Orders to suspend building operations on the fort were received in November, 1855. 10 Workers were discharged and work ceased. Among the structures so badly needed were stables for the horses, and although the site had been ·selected and adobes were being made, the building was not even under way two years later, all of which n1ade life miserable for the dragoon mounts exposed to the biting winds and snows of the mountain winters.11 In the spring of 1855, there were about 100 men under Lieut. Col. B. L. Beall at the fort. 110 Things were quiet, but a small patrol force of about 40 men was constantly on the move in the region. Considering the terrain to be covered this number was inadequate. Re inforcements, however, numbering 85 recruits arrived at Tejon via Salt Lake City, after marching overland from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, by way of the central plains. These rookies had left Leavenworth June 1, 1854 and remained on duty in Salt Lake until April 5, 1855. They were ordered south to Ft. Tejon under the command of Lt. Sylvester Mowry, well kno'\ivn resident of Arizona in later years. In June, 1855, an additional detachment of 50 dragoons under Capt.John W. T. Gardner was also reported enroute to the Te jon.12 Major Wool announced in his official report for 1855 that there were 114 enlisted men, 1 Asst. Quartermaster, 1 Asst. Surgeon, 1 Lt. Colonel, and 1 Captain at Fort Tejon. For a small post, Ft. Tejon saw plenty of action. Patrols from this isolated mountain camp ranged as far east as the Colorado river. They penetrated the prac tically unexplored region of the Owens Valley. They rode the trails to Los Angeles. Escorts from Tejon 62 went to Salt Lake City. The troopers guarded miners, chased ban di ts, and gave band concerts. The First Dragoons who manned the post were a hardy lot. The regiment was officially born in June, 1832, when Congress ordered a battalion of six com panies of mounted rangers raised for the protection of the western frontier in the Black Hawk War. On March 2, 1833, this outfit was merged with the First U. S. Dragoons, Colonel William Henry Dodge, com manding. Major Stephen Watts Kearny was pro moted Lt. Colonel while Captain Richard B. Mason, 1st U. S. Infantry became major in the 1st Dragoons. Both of the latter gentlemen were destined to write their nam.es indelibly upon the pages of California history.. Kearny ultimately became Colonel of the regiment. Later, as Brigadier General, he commanded the "Army of the West" in the occupation of Cali fornia, 1846-1847, while Mason became the military governor of the state. Among the distinguished men who served as officers in the early days of the regiment were Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone; Edwin V. Sumner of Massa chusetts, afterwards a Major General of volunteers during the Civil War. For two brief years, 1833-1835 Jefferson Davis, war President of the Confederacy, was a first lieutenant in the Dragoons. The regiment saw action against the Comanche, Pawnee and Seminole iri 1834. Col. Dodge resigned his commission in July 1836 to become Territorial Governor of Wisconsin. Kearny assumed command of the regiment. Hence£ orth the outfit was ever on the frontier. It saw service from Ft. Snelling, Minnesota, in the north, to the Red River in the southwest. In the spring of 1846, Kearny marched with eight ., 63 companies of the First Dragoons from Ft. Leaven worth, Kansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to occupy the latter territory in the name of the United States. Thence he moved on to California with only two companies, "C" and "K". Enroute Kearny was notified that he had been appointed Brigadier General. Mason then became Colonel of the regiment. · Col. Mason died at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, July 25, 1850. Lieut Col. Thomas T. Fauntleroy from Virginia, of the Second Dragoons ( formed in 1836 as • a companion regiment), became the new regimental commander. During, and after, the Mexican War, the various units of the First Dragoons were scattered throughout the territories of New Mexico, California and Oregon.13 All through the turbulent '50s the Dragoons were constantly on the move. Fort Tejon eventually became the headquarters for the regiment. On August 3, 1861, Congress merged all Dragdons, Mounted Riflemen and Cavalry into one arm, and the entire lot was styled cavalry. By this merger, the First Dragoons became, in effect, the First United States Cavalry, and since Fort Tejon was the last permanent headquarters of the regiment prior to this change, it may be truthfully said that the mountain post was actually the birthplace of the famous First Cavalry, which today has passed from existence as a "horse outfit", the title of the regiment now is, First Cavalry (Mechanized) . When ''Co. A" of the 1st Dragoons marched into Canada de las Uvas in August, 1854, to begin building operations on their new home, they were a picturesque looking outfit. As Harry A. Ogden, the famous artist who illustrated The Army of the United States, ex pressed it, "The Dragoons were the show troops of the service, as long as the corps existed. "14 64 The uniform of the dragoons in 1854 had changed somewhat since the Mexican War. The single breasted frock coat which was dark blue, reached midway be tween the hip and knee. It had a stiff stand up collar and was fastened down the front with nine brass but tons each bearing the letter "D". Cuffs and collars were trimmed with orange-colored cloth, the trousers were sky blue with an orange-colored cord one-eighth of an inch in diameter running down the outside seam. All enlisted men wore brass scale epaulettes. At this period, 1854, one of the ugliest and most in convenient types of headgear ever adopted by the United States was in vogue. This was the awkward, stiff, dark blue, cloth shako with a brass-mounted, round, orange wool pompon fastened in front at the top of the crown. A band of orange-colored cloth bearing a brass letter "D" encircled the base of the shako. It had a black leather visor, and was fastened under the chin by a narrow, black leather strap. This ugly cap was the result of our slavish desire to ape foreign armies in the matter of dress. The French army was the model for the United States in the matter of uniform equip ment, and since the French dictated shakos, the U. S. troopers wore shakos. Similarly, the victories of the French over the I tali ans, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, were reflected in the baggy trousers and short gay jackets of the French Zouaves, effected by many militia regiments in the United States. The dragoons rode on saddles of the Grimsley type, having a quilted seat. The saddle blankets were dark blue. Strapped to the cantle of the saddle was a dark blue, cloth valise about 6 inches in diameter and 18 inches long, with a brass plate on each end bearing the company letter one inch long, raised thereon. In this the trooper carried his blankets. Bridles had the S bit. 65 The black leather reins, headstalls, throat strap and front piece were all brass mounted.10 The arms carried by the dragoons were percussion lock carbines probably of the U. S. Cavalry Musketoon Model,-1847; remodeled in 1851. It is quite prob able that the soldiers at Fort Tejon were equipped with the famous "Dragoon Colt", Model 1848, .44 cal. six shooter, having a neat little scene of dragoons en gaged in a runing fight with Indians, engraved on the cylinder. A long, heavy curved sabre made by Na thaniel Ames of Chicopee Falls, Mass., completed the armament. Aside from the building operations there was little activity at the post during 1854. Prior to the· arrival on the site of Fort Tejon in August, the Muster Rolls of Co. "A" indicate that these dragoons had been at Benecia Barracks. They marched south to Ft. Miller, June 8, and arrived at the latter post June 20. On August 2, Co. "A" left Ft. Miller and arrived at Ca nada de las Uvas, August 10. At the end of August the Regimental Returns give us an inkling of the duties of some of these men. Since there is no reason to believe that the habits or language . of soldiers have changed since the dawn of time, we may well suppose that such entries: "Sgts. McLellan and ·Stockwell and 16 privates on Ex. duty in the Q. M. D."; and "no time for instruction, men generally on Extra Duty," fully supplemented by the December Muster Rolls ... "In the Q Masters Dept. building post.," brought forth many lucid commentaries upon the ancestry of army officials and their slave driving ways. The reinforcements already mentioned arrived at Ft. Tejon in the spring of 1855, and were a welcome relief to the overworked troopers who had been laboring on 66 the construction of the post since the previous summer. Garrison life progressed simply, with a minimum of excitement. Recruits had to be trained. One may well imagine that in the open spaces among the trees where there was sufficient room for cavalry drill, the newly fledged dragoons were put through their paces. The harsh voice of the sergeant calling out the comamnds: ''Prepare to mount I Mount 1 Listen you misfits I You horse marines! The command 'Mount' is exe cuted in one time, two motions. For the benefit of those Mama's boys who didn't wash their ears out this morning I'll repeat the instructions. First, at the command of MOUNT, spring from the right foot, holding firmly to the mane, at 'the same time pressing upon the cantle to prevent the saddle from turning; the body erect. "Have you bone headed illegitimates got that fixed in your heads? Second. Pass the right leg stretched over the croup of your horse, without touching him; sit lightly in the saddle, placing at the same time the right hand, without quitting the reins,· upon the right holster, the palm of the hand resting upon it, the fin gers on the outside of it, and take one rein of the snaffie in each hand. "Place the right foot in the stirrup. "Now let's try it again, and God help the man who anticipates my command! And remember, if you keep your hand on that holster you won't be sorry.·. It hurts like hell when you hit that saddle too suddenly. Keepin' your hand on the holster lads may keep you out of the hospital. Now . . . once again . . . Prepare to mount I Mount !"16 Ears burned and men swore under their breaths. But even as the blade is tempered at the forge, so did the recruits becofi?._e hardened. They l~arned how to . 67 care for their horses, to drill in squads, platoons and squadrons. They learned to leap ditches and bars; to charge, rally and skirmish. They · practised target shooting on horseback, firing at a target which was eight feet high and three feet wide, which was the proportions of a man mounted on horseback. The troopers were supposed to plant their bullets in a black band three inches wide painted across the target five feet from the ground. Carbines were fired at fifty paces from the target, pistols or revolvers at ten paces. They began firing first at a walk, then at a trot and finally at a gallop. The_ dragoons also practised the use of the sabre, being first taught how to draw, after which they were instructed in the wielding of 12 the heavy blade in battle practise. · · No sooner had the fort been established than a clamor for a decent road into Tejon was raised by merchants and ranchers. The pioneer development of almost any portion of our western frontier is based upon a formula that varies but little in its essentials. Prospectors, miners or trappers penetrated unexplored territory peopled only by Indians. The latter natur ally resented the intrusion. Fights were inevitable. The military was sent in to save the scalps of the inter lopers. Once military toe holds were established the problem of supplying the troops and the miners ~e cam·e acute. Daring merchants laid. out tentative wagon routes and sent out long freight trains. Around the military posts or mines, small towns mushroomed. Ranchers followed hard upon the heels of miners, military and merchants. Thus the necessity for ade quate wagon roads became imperative. The road to Fort Tejon was at first a mere horse trail. Soon it became apparent that a passable high: way would have to be built. The worst section of this 68 road, if such it could be termed, was on San Fer nando Hill. Citizens of Los Angeles subscribed a fund of $2,900 in the summer of 1854, to make this part of the road passable for heavy teams. A gang of 20 men were set to work under the direction of Gabe Allen of Los Angeles, a hard bitten frontiersman, who, in his youth, had hunted Apache scalps in Chihuahua, Mexico. In January, 1855, Allen reported that the new road through the San Fernando Pass was ready for use. The editor of the paper reporting this wel come bit of news praised the activities of the road building crew, and with the usual California praise ology said it was one of the finest bits of roadwork in any place in California . . . "A road has been cut through the solid rock affording a fine wagon track where heretofore a pack mule could barely scramble. ,ns In spite of this praise, the "finest" road in California was evidently far from being perfect in the eyes of the teamsters who freighted the long miles from the coast to the mountains. Four years later, in 1858, when Phineas Banning drove out to Fort Tejon to be present at the opening of the bids for a freighting contract to supply Fort Tejon, he had to chain-lock the wheels of his carriage with three men standing by to prevent it from upsetting. The horses had to be led down the steepest part of the hill.19 Incidentally Banning won the contract. He sup plied the post with the necessaries of life at a cost of $4.74 per hundred pounds. This netted him some $10,000 yearly. At that time he operated seventeen freight wagons on the Tejon route. He had stages and w~gons on all the roads in Southern California from San Pedro to the Colorado River.· His total invest ment was in the neighborhood of $80,000.20 In December, 1854, Banning dec.ided to open a stage 69 line to the Tejon. He drove the first Concord coach over the rocky trace himself. It was a stiff, hard pull for the six, well-fed mustangs. - (The nine passengers on the stage had to walk up the San Fernando Hill.) When they reached the summit and saw the steep, rocky descent before them they all declared it would be madness for anyone to attempt to drive a team down the hillside. Banning laughed. "It's all right", he said, gathering the lines tightly in his hand. "Any man who calls himself a stage driver and can't take a thoroughbrace down that hill isn't fit to do anything but 'gee' oxen in a ploughed field. Giddap you sons of Belial !" The whip cracked, the horses plunged. Down they went, clattering among the rocks. Sometimes the stage seemed to be ahead of the horses, and then the mustangs out stripped the stage. Eventually the whole outfit landed at the bottom in a thicket of brush. When the passengers caught up with the vehicle Banning was untangling his team. "Didn't I tell you," he crowed, "it's a beautiful descent, much easier than I figured. "We'll· run a line clean through to Kern River without any trouble at all. Hop aboard, gents, we're off !"21 The advertisement for the freight and stage line to the Kern River gold mines appeared in the Daily Alta Ca{if ornia, Jan. 23, 1855:
FOR KERN RIVER GOLD MINES VIA SAN PEDRO The subscribers beg leave to inform the public that they have. completed the necessary arrangements for running a LINE OF STAGES and a TRAIN OF WAGONS and PACK MULES from this point to the KERN RIVER GOLD MINES stopping at Los Angeles, San 70 Fernando Mission, Lake Elizabeth, Fort Tejon, Gody and Bishop's Rancho and the Indian Reservation. Goods will be receipted for in San Pedro and delivered at any of the above points or at White River. Alexander & Banning San Pedro, January 1855
In the spring of 1856 Ft. Tejon seethed with activity. Indian troubles in the lower San Joaquin valley kept the troops in the field. In May the Indians at Four Creeks, Tule and Kern Rivers, following the old pre cept of hungry Indians deprived of their ancestral hunting grounds, stole some cattle. White settlers fol lowing the usual frontier procedure in such matters, fell upon the first Indians they met, and without in quiring into the relative guilt or innocence of their victims, killed five. The kinsmen of the deceased were irritated at the unjustified slaughter by these civilized white men, and planned retaliations. The sub-agent at Kern River, Theodore D. Maltby, became alarmed, and sent word to Col. Beall requesting troops, saying that 800 Indians were preparing to raid the white settlements. Alonzo Ridley, famous in after years as the last "unreconstructed rebel", in Arizona, was sub agent at the Tejon Reservation. He sent word to Beall that the Indians from Owens Valley were going to raid horseherds near San Gabriel Mission. Beall passed the word along to the authorities in Los Angeles. At Keysville, the Kern River miners, alarmed at the hor nets nest they had stirred up, squalled loudly for help.22 Said one report: "vVe have sent to the Fort for arms and ammunition but no soldiers. " 23 Families were reported leaving Four Creeks and Cottonwood sectioris for Fort Miller and other places 71 of safety. There were only 60 men reported available for active duty at Keysville. John M. Brite of Ta-ach-che-pay Valley wrote to Dr. Barton of El Monte May 4, 1856 saying: "Times are squally here. The Indians have broke out on Four Creeks and driven off a great many cattle. They have stolen three or four hundred head of horses from Santa Barbara, and carried them up into the mountains on Tule River. The miners have quit work on the Tule River and farted up. There have been two fights on Four Creeks and the Americans were whipped both times. The settlers have all gathered into my house. We hardly know what to do. "Uncle Davy Smith is going to start for Los Angeles in the morning with a letter from the miners at Kern River to the sheriff of Los Angeles to raise a company to com.e to their assistance." (Daily dlta California, May 12, 1856) A few days later the Indians were reported to have burned a mill and house belonging to 0. K. Smith. An additional force of white volunteers was reported to be organizing for defense at Fresno, and Fine Gold Gulch. The Indians were supposed to be gathering in force at the headwaters of Kaweeah and Cottonwood. A battle was momentarily expected between the whites and the Indians. One company of miners under a Captain Leonard provided itself with armor made of "thick No. 1 duck, heavily wadded with cotton and quilted, which is arrowproof and will be used by skir mishers to rout the Indians out of their hiding places among the rocks and brushwood." Reinforcements were requested of Capt. Loeser, commanding officer at Ft. Miller who sent all the men he could spare, armed with percussion muskets and two howitzers. (Daily Alta California, May 19, 1856) 72 The aftermath of this excitement was that the citi zens at Los Angeles petitioned General Wool for addi tional troops to be stationed at Fort Tejon. "It is hoped," said the Star, "that General Wool will con sider the request favorably, for the force at Tejon is scarcely sufficient to take care of themselves, let alone fighting off all Indian tribes fron1 the Tejon to Owens Lake." ( Daily A !ta California, June 11, 1856). Accordingly the Assistant Quartermaster at Ft. Tejon was ordered to prepare quarters and other necessary buildings to make it a two company post. A large number of civilians were imported to do this work.24 Bishop Kip visited the post in the fall of 1855. He has left us a comprehensive view of the n1ountain fort as he saw it that year. "The fort at the Tejon is on a little plain, entirely surrounded by high mountains ... The barracks, hand some adobe buildings are erected around the sides of a parade ground. None of them are yet finished, and the soldiers are living in tents ... There are ordinarily about six officers and 120 Dragoons stationed here, besides the numerous civilians who are storekeepers, and employees of the post. " 25 While at this place Bishop Kip officiated at the funeral of a soldier, one of the several \ivho died at different times at Ft. Tejon. On September 8, 1855, Lieutenant Thomas F. Castor of the 1st Dragoons was buried in the little post ceme tery among the Californios did enlist in the Southern army. Each day was one of tenseness in the little cow town of Los Angeles. Captain Hancock was on edge. He slept with his revolver handy. In short, he was more than nervous, he was scared. 50 On April 29, Sumner issued orders that F'ort Mohave was to be abandoned, the garrison and_ public property to be removed to Los Angeles. No mention for the abandonment of Ft. Tejon was made at this time, but Hancock had his orders to lay out a military camp near Los Angeles: "Send out your train as ear1 y as possible ( to Ft. Mohave) send, sufficiently in advance, notification to the commanding officer, by express, of the time he may expect the train. Send also the inclosed copy of this order. Select an eligible encampment for the troops as near Los Angeles as possible. Make its relation to your present depot such as to secure perfect protection. If this be not possible in the present position of the depot, then select another having such relation to the encampment of the. troops. 117 "The commanding officer of the troops will be or dered to furnish you with such guards and escorts as you may require for your depot. and train. If you are at any time of the opinion that the train goiQg to Tejon needs an escort you will call on the commanding officer of Tejon, who will be instructed to furnish them." (Off. Corres. Union and Confed. Armies, Vol. L. Pt. I, p. 473) Sumner reported his abandonment of Ft. Mohave to the \Var Department April 30, and stated he would place the supplies and troops at Los Angeles: "There is more danger of disaffection at this place than any other in the State. There are a number of influential men there who are decided secessionists, and if we should have any difficulty it will commence there." (Id. p. 474) Hancock concurred with Sumner in this observation. His letter to the latter, written from Los Angeles, May 4, indicates that whereas he believed he might be able to muster sufficient loyal citizens to aid him in repuls ing any attack from, "a number of reckless people who have nothing to lose, who are ready for any change." The fact that there was in the town a new bronze 6 pounder field piece in the hands of the secessionists led him to remark that, "it might be wise- to send here a gun of equal . or greater caliber. The moral effect would not be trifling in a case of difficulty, and the ad verse party in possession of the other gun. A 12 pounder howitzer, it seems to me, would be the best, (two might be better). The harness should be sent here also, I could furnish suitable mules. It might be manned by a detachment of infantry or dragoons. The latter would be the best, for these people will be mounted." (Id. pp. 477-478) On May 3, Sumner ordered Company K of the First Dragoons under Major Carleton, to go on detached 118 service from Ft. Tejon and take post at Los Angeles. (Id. p. 475) This order was the beginning of the end of Fort Tejon as a regular army post. The order to Major Carleton was as follows: Headquarters of the Department of the Pacific San Francisco, May 3, 1861. Bvt. Major J. H. Carleton, ·Captain, First Dragoons, Fort Tejon, Cal: Sir: The commanding general directs you to establish a camp at the most eligible position in the immediate vicinity of Los Angeles, capable of fulfilling the condi tions called for in the in closed letter of instructions to Captain Hancock, assistant quartermaster. The two companies from Fort Mohave will be included in your en campment and in your· command. I am sir, very respectfully your obedi ent servant, W. W. Mackall, Assistant Adjutant General. On May 7, Hancock wrote: "I have the honor to report that the site for an encampment for the troops has been selected, which will be assigned to them unless it is not approved· by the general commanding. It is outside of town, beyond all buildings some distance, and directly in front of my corral, and in full view of it. I am putting up store-tents in the corral and will remove all the public property from the pres_ent store house, so that there will be butone point to guard. The troops will be half a mile distant therefrom or less, and on the side of the town toward San Pedro. Water will be hauled to the troops by water carts, for which facili ties are at hand, as the town is supplied in that manner. The horses will have to be ridden about half a mile to water. But the advantage is that you do not have to pass through the- town to get to the point to be pro- 119 tected, which would be the case were they encamped along the river above the town. With the troops placed as proposed there would probably be no necessity of having more than a picket guard of three men in my corral, and they, only at night. "Possibly they would not be required at any time, as the troops would have entire command of the corral from that point. I do not think that there will be seri ... ous trouble here soon. Still a command of troops under good discipline stationed near the town would be well enough, judging from recent developments. No good citizens would be interfered with, and their presence is desired by many of the population. The 'bear flag' was paraded through the streets of El Monte ( twelve miles eastward) on the 4th instant, and was escorted by a number of horsem.en, varying ( according to reports) from forty to seventy, most probably the former. It was understood that it would be paraded here the next day. It was not. Then it was said it would be on the subsequent day (yesterday, the day of the municipal election). I was prepared for it. It was not attempted, however. The 'bear flag' is being painted here, and I think it will be paraded soon,, possibly next Sunday, or some other day when the company known as the seces sion company drills. I have taken all the precautions possible and that I think necessary, and I believe I can get all the assistance I require until the troops arrive, from among the citizens, to resist any open attack upon the public property (but I do not think they are ready for such an attempt.) The leaders in politics am.ong those who have sympathies antagonistic to the Govern ment, and the principal citizens, do not wish to see force used ( they are men of property), and oppose carrying matters to extremities; yet the open expression of their opinions has helped to inaugurate disaffection. Since it has been thought wise to send troops here, a 120 sufficient number to have a strong moral effect should be sent, and it would be better that a show be made at once, since it is known that it is to be made at all. "It would be better, I think, even were it to be but a temporary matter, that the dragoons (with at least a piece of artillery) should be at hand. When once a revolution commences the masses of the native popula tion will act, and they are worthy of a good deal of consideration. If they act it will be most likely against the Government." The arrival of the troops from Fort Tejon on May 14, had its desired effect. Matters at Los Angeles sub sided. The new encampment was named Camp Fitz gerald in honor of Major E. F. Fitzgerald attached to Fort Tejon, who had died in Los Angeles, Jan. 9, 1860.51 This small camp was the first military post in Los Angeles during the turbulent '60s. It was the fore runner of Camps Latham and Drum. Its location was at the base of the hill between First and Second Streets, on Fort Street, ( the Broadway of today). The site was only 100 yards wide and 150 yards long. There were eleven tents in all, the men being housed in four Sib leys, the others being used by the officers, the hospital, etc. The corners of the camp were marked by four guidons.52 Said the Star of June 8, 1861 : "The military encamp ment just outside of our city possesses considerable interest for our citizens who frequently visit it to view the exercises of the troops. Major Carleton is in command with Lt. R. F. Davis. The camp at present contains but one company of the First Dragoons, but it will soon be augmented by twc;, companies of the Sixth Infantry, one from Fort l\1ohave and the other from San Diego, when the camp will be moved from its present position some two miles out of town." The same issue of the Star carried a daily schedule 121 of camp life, which is interesting in that it gives us a fairly clear picture of how dragoons passed their days, and quite likely something of the same sort held true for Fort Tejon. "Reveille at daybreak Stable call 10 minutes later Fatigue call, 5 :30 for policing quarters Breakfast at 6 :00 Boots and Saddles for mounted drill at 6 :30 Call to quarters at 8 :00 Howitzer Drill 10 :00 to 11 :00 Orderly Call 12 :00 noon at which time the orderly Sergeant reported to the adjutant's office for orders of the day. Dinner 12 :30 Rest period until 4 :00 P. M. To Arms ... dismounted drill 4 :00 to 5 :30 Stable Call, feed and clean horses, 6 :00 Retreat at sunset ...supper immediately after-
ward • Tatoo at 9 P. M. Lights out _at 10 :00 Weekly inspection, every Sunday at 9 :00 A. M." It will be observed by this methodical disposition of a soldier's time that he had very little opportunity to get into mischief. There were sixty-two men in this first. contingent of dragoons who established Camp Fitzgerald. Ten days after their arrival, the regi mental band marched into town from Ft. Tejon to take part in a flag raising ceremony at the court house. (Semi-Weekly News May 24, 1861) Although the presence of the troops at Camp Fitz gerald had a salutary effect upon the "Secesh" in and around Los Angeles, the authorities, military and civil, were far from convinced that the danger was over. More troops were needed. Accordingly, on June 7, 122 1861,. the following order was issued from San Fran- CISCO: "Commanding Officer Fort Tejon Cal. Fort Tejon will be abandoned and the garrison and property transferred to Los Angeles. Be prepared to move as soon as the order is received by mail. By order: D. C. Buell Assistant Adjutant-General On Wednesday morning, June 19, Co. B, 1st Dra goons under Captain Davidson, joined the remainder of the Ft. Tejon garrison at Camp Fitzgerald. Lieut. Starr, a corporal, and one private were left in charge 53 of the public stores at Fort Tejon. . No sooner had the troops left the post in the moun tains, which had been their home for almost eight years, than the gentlemen who had signed their names to the petition protesting the abandonm.ent of the fort, began to put· their plan in operation to have the soldiers returned~ It was quite simple, there was an Indian "uprising". The Star of June 29, carried the following squib: "As soon as the Indians at Fort Tejon found out the post was abandoned they swarmed around and began help ing themselves to sundry articles of furniture, etc. not yet removed from the buildings. On being remon strated with and driven away they retired to a.mountain in the rear of the post, held a council and immediately put on the paint for war. Information was telegraphed to Major Carleton who last Friday night detailed ten men to aid Lieut. Ca~r and 2 men. who are in charge of the property. We have not heard of a colli.sion and presume there was none." · The official documents covering the matter are much more illuminating,. and place the blame for the alleged 123 Indian trouble squarely upon the shoulders of the ranchers who lived in the vicinity. Lieutenant Carr, alarmed by the action of the Indians sent Major Carle ton the following telegram: Fort Te_jon, June 21, 1861 Major Carleton, Commanding: "I want a sergeant and ten men here. The Indians are going to break out. The whites are giving them whiskey and they charge around and make their threats publicly. We are unarmed and unde fended. M. T. Carr, U. S. Army" Major Carleton replied: "Camp near Los Angeles, June 21, 1861 9 :30 p. m. Lieutenant Carr : Sergeant Dalton and ten dragoons with rations and forage for two days, forty rounds for Sharps carbines and thirty four revolvers have left to report to you at Fort Tejon. As soon as all the public stores are removed report with them here. J. H. Carleton, Brevet Major, U. S. Army "I think the Indians have been put up to this. No troops will ever return to . Fort Tejbn except on campaign to whale them. You can bet on it. J. H-. C." The first attempt at a disturbance having failed, the trouble makers, undaunted, continued to stir up the Indians. A month late_r another investigation of affairs at Ft. Tejon was made by Lieutenant Benjamin F. Davis. Major Carleton wrote to Adjutant General Buell July 23, enclosing Lt. Davis' report. "Major: Enclosed please find the report of First Lieut. Benjamin Davis, First 124 Dragoons, on the Indian troubles which were said to exist at or near Fort Tejon, Cal. Lieutenant Davis' report confirms the impression I had as to the truth of the intelligence to me by telegraph and other wise in relation to these troubles. The General may rely upon this-no troops are more ready than those of this com mand to protect the inhabitants when they are real! y menaced, and none, perhaps, more unwilling than those to be imposed upon by idle reports, having no founda tion in fact, and which are gotten up to answer sinister ends." The latter sentence is fairly plain talk. There can be no mistake in its import. Davis reported as follows: Camp Fitzgerald Near Los Angeles, Cal. July 23, 1861 "Major: I have the honor to report that in compli ance with your orders I left this camp on the morning of the 14th, and proceeded to Fort Tejon for the pur pose of ascertaining the facts concerning certain re ports made by the people of that vicinity that the In dians were commiting depredations and threatening to make war upon them. I arrived at that place on the 18th, and made careful inquiries of Messrs. Alex ander, Bishop, Halpin, and other residents of t~e canon. From their statements it appears that when the troops left the fort, the Indians came about in considerable numbers to pick up old rags, shoes, &c., as is usual with them in such cases, and Lieutenant Carr, the officer left in charge, seems to have had some little difficulty in getting rid of them. A few days afterwards two or three of these Indians got drunk at the 'Yews', and on their way home attempted to throw a lariat over the head of a man whom they met coming up the canon in a buggy. They also tried to break into the house of a Mrs. Welt, who lives below the fort, but she easily 125 frightened them off by firing a pistol out of the win dow. This seems to have been the extent of their depre dations and since that time they have been quiet and friendly. The apprehension that the people are under from the Indians may be judged of by the fact that most every family has them employed either as house servants or laborers, and they are well aware that it is in their power to prevent all trouble in the future by simply prohibiting the sale of liquor by any member of the community. I then proceeded to the settlements on the slough or South Fork of Kern River to inquire into the threatened depredations in that quarter. The story that these people tell is that an Indian boy told a Mrs. Cottrell or Cottring, that the Indians from the reservation were coming down when the corn got ripe to eat it up, and were then going to kill all the whites. This woman lives near her father, an old man named Bonny, who has also another daughter, Mrs. Greenlis, who lives eight or ten miles down the slough. The old man, becoming alarmed, sent for this daughter which caused the panic to spread to two or three other fami lies in the neighborhood. They collected at his house, and remained together three or four days, when their fears having subsided, they returned to their homes. According to their own showing this is the only founda tion for the reports which they circulated, and the peti tion which they signed praying for protection. It is possible that some idle Indian boy may have amused himself by playing upon the fears of· the woman, but I believe the whole story to be a fabrication. Mr. Gale, an old mountaineer, who lives within a mile of Mr. Bonny, says he had heard nothing of the matter until the people had returned to their home, and James Mc Kenzie, who lives near Greenlis, makes the same state ment. I returned by way of the reservation and had an interview with Mr. Bagchart, the newly appointed 126 agent. He says that these reports about the Indians are false; that they are contented with their condition and that he is well satisfied with their conduct. He also stated that he wanted no troops for protection against the Indians. In this connection I would respectfully refer the General to the report which this gentleman has recently made to the Superintendent of Indian Af• fairs on this very point. "The truth is that the people in the vicinity of Fort Tejon have lived so long upon Government patronage that they now find it difficult to do without it, and they will use every means to have troops restationed at that place. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. F. D·avis, First Lieutenant, etc. " 54 Thus the "Indian uprising" created in the fertile brains of these men who had hoped to bring the troops back post haste to re-garrison Ft. Tejon, failed. The buildings remained empty. The dragoons were gone forever from the mountains of southern California. With their passing was closed one of the most colorful chapters of western history. However, the removal of the dragoons did not necessarily me:in that Ft. Tejon was abandoned as a military post. For a trifle over two years the parade ground was devoid of life, except when stray cattle or horses, owned by Bishop, roamed the grounds. The buildings lost some of their trim aspect. In the summer of 1863 the Indians of Owens Valley became troublesome to the miners and settlers of that district. As a precautionary measure it was decided to remove the Indians from native ha'1nts to less familiar territory where they could be kept under closer obser vation by the troops. Accordingly some 1000 Indians, men, women and children were rounded up by Capt~ M. A. McLaughlin 127 with Companies D. E. and G. of the Second California Volunteer Cavalry. The reluctant Indians were escorted to the Sebastian Reserve. The motley cavalcade of Indians and soldiers left Camp Independence in Owens Valley, on August 6, 1863, bound for the Tejon. They marched by way of Walker's Pass, Kern River, Hot Springs Valley, Walk er's Basin, Agua Caliente, and tlie Sinks of the Tejon to the Sebastian_ Reservation and thence to Fort Tejon. When he arrived at the post Capt. McLaughlin is sued General Order No. 16, dated August 17, 1863, by which he announced that he had formally re-occupied Ft. Tejon. Scarcely had Co. E. arrived at the mountain post when it was ordered to proceed at once to Camp Bab bitt, at Visalia. The result was that the detachment left at the fort was insufficient for the duties required. There were nine prisoners in the guard house who required watch ing while an additional guard was needed for ~he In dian reservation. There was also plenty of extra fatigue duty at the post itself. The buildings, neglected for two years, had to be repaired for winter quarters, while fuel and forage had to be gathered. As if all of this was not enough, orders were received to transport the Indians closer to the· fort. This meant many_ hundreds of hungry mouths to feed. The troop ers were already on scanty rations ... and the Indians had to be fed from the slender stock of provender at the fort. The Indians were moved to the fort on Octo ber 3, where they were camped about three hundred yards below the buildings. There they remained until sometime in 1864. 55 Late in December, 1863, Capt. McLaughlin ob tained a leave of absence. He appointed Capt. James M. Ropes to command the post in his absence. In 128 August, shortly after the arrival of the Volunteers at Tejon, McLaughlin had tried to obtain a leave, but it was denied him. McLaughlin was uneasy, and with good· cause. While Co. D. Second Cavalry California Volunteers was in camp near Visalia, earlier in 1863, McLaughlin was accused of perpetrating frauds in the Quarter Master's Department. His "leave of absence" later in D.ecember was for the purpose of his trial by court martial at Camp Babbitt, Dec. 21, at which time he was found guilty and sentenced to be discharged_ f ram the service. 56 The soldier personnel of Ft. Tejon shifted rapidly, in this, the last phase of the military occupation of the post. Special Order No. 277, issue9 at San Francisco, Dec. 12, 1863, stated that: "A Company of infantry is ordered to Ft. Tejon and the cavalry withdrawn.'' Accordingly, on January 8, at 10 A. M. Captain John C. Schmidt marched from Camp Babbitt with Com panies B. and G. of the Second Inf an try California Volunteers, to replace Companies D. and G. Second California Volunteers Cavalry at Ft. Tejon. It took Schmidt and his men six days to make the march, and on January 15, at 10 A. M. Captain Schmidt assumed formal command at Tejon.57 When the new contingent of troops arrived they found only about 380 Indians left at the fort. Said Schmidt on January 26, 1864: "On my assuming command of this post I found 380 Indians located about 300 yards below this fort, as fol lows: 120 bucks, 170 squaws and 90 children almost in a state of starvation; as they are under no one's charge, and no one to care for them, they must look out for themselves. They are the remnant of nearly 1,100 Indians that were brought in from Owens River by the Second _Cavalry California Volunteers and placed on Tejon Reservation in the charge of the In- 129 dian superintendent, but afterward moved from the reservation to this place by order of headquarters Department of the Pacific, which order I cannot find at this post. U pan inquiry of the Indians through the interpreter, Jose Chico, I find that all wish to be sent to the Tule River farm to enable them to raise some thing for their sustenance, as they are unable to do it here. I would also state that a deputation from Tejon Reservation was here to-day to see me and ask my leave to go to the Tule River farm, which I told them I could not grant. I then asked them why they wished to go to the Tule River farm. They told me that here tofore they have always put in crops of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, etc., but this season they have put in nothing, for the reason that the agent, Mr. Gorley, would not give them mules and plows to put in their crop with. Mr. Gorley, the agent, tells me that his animals are so poor that they can hardly stand alone, and that for these last two months he has been out of all kinds of supplies either for Indians or his animals; that he has notified Mr. Wentworth, superintendent, of the fact, but has received neither reply nor supplies. I therefore respectfully suggest to the department that all of these Indians, 200 of the old Tejon and 380 of the Owens River, located near this fort, in all 580, be sent to Tule River farm, as there are already 160 acres in wheat, 40 acres in barley, and 200 acres to be planted in corn, potatoes, &c. With all th~se things planted and a supply of beef-cattle, supplied by the Indian Department, the Indians will be perfectly happy and satisfied. My other reason for making this suggestion is this: The Government pays rent for both of these reservations, and on each has employed an Indian agent and an employe, and by putting the Indians all on one reservation, it will save the Government the rent of one reservation and the salary of one agent, and employe. 130 But should the general commanding the department deem it necessary to keep these Owens River Indians in the vicinity of the fort, I would most respecfully ask for orders to furnish them with some kind of rations for their sustenance, and that Jose Chico, interpreter, so favorably mentioned in Capt. M. A. McLaughlin's re port of May 26, 1863, be retained in Government em ploy as interpreter, at the rate of $50. per month in legal tender. "58 A writer from the Visalia Delta, describing the con ditions of the Indians at Ft. Tejon, which item was re printed in the Los Angeles News, Thursday, June 2, 1864, added some interesting side lights on the treat ment of the unfortunate tribesmen, who had been kicked from pillar to post by the various officials. "In July some 900 Indians were removed from Owen's River to Bishop's Ranch. They were left to find their own food. The only way they could obtain it was to steal Bishop's cattle, and beg from the soldiers. Acorns soon became ripe and they made out very well until the first of January when their supply in a great measure gave out. Capt. Schmidt, commanding officer at the Fort, reported the case to General Wright. After notice the superintendent made a stir and the Indians were to be fed. It was found that a large quantity of damaged rice and beans had been stored at San Pedro for several months. Upon examination it was found that a large portion had been destroyed by rats. The remainder, however, with some damaged hams, were forwarded to the Indians. "These Indians are represented as destitute of cloth ing. A portion only of goods sent from the East have been distributed to the Indians. You can see any time, during the day, dozens of Indian women almost in a state of nudity, eating clover in the pasture with the government mules, ,while their food and clothing have 131 been stolen by persons paid by the Government to care and provide for them. "I saw mention of the Tulare River Indian Farm having a hundred and fifty acres of grain. I will en deavor, next week, to show you what this has cost the Government and who receives the benefit." The Tule River Farm mentioned by Schmidt and the unnamed writer for the press, was described in 18.67 as being located in a narrow valley on both margins of a small stream, thirty miles from Visalia, in a sheltered nook, "green and smiling". At that time there were 1280 acres of the farm rented of Thomas P. Madden at $1000 per year. He offered to sell the farm to the government for $10. per acre. In 1867 there were only 300 Indians living on the Tule River Farm. (Rept. Commission of Indian Affairs 1867) . The tale of mismanagement of the Indian affairs around Fort Tejon for this period is not an unusual one. Perhaps the men who played their parts in that sordid business can best be excused on the grounds that they were but products of their time. In some respects, however, when we examine the records of our treat ment of the Indians throughout the nation, to our shame, it must be recorded, that with the passing of time we have managed to continue our blunders, but in some instances they have been better camouflaged. Samuel A. Bishop and Alexander Godey had insisted that the 1100 Indians be kicked off the reserve. Godey got into trouble with one Lieut: Robert Daley over government property at the Post, intimating that, if Daley wished to dispose of certain movable property owned by the government, to Godey, the latter would see that Daley obtained his cut of the profits. Beale the founder of the Sebastian Reserve, and later owner of most of the surrounding terrain, and unsurveyed por- 132 government 12,000 acres of more or less worthless hill country on the Tejon Rancho, to be used for a reserva tion, for the sum of $1.00 per acre per year. The offer was not accepted. 59 The Los Angeles Tri Weekly News, of July 9, 1864, tions of the reserve, magnanimously agreed to rent the bitterly assailed the conditions, charging that the In dians were "deliberately kicked off their reservation at Tejon." The editor waded into "the Government fat lings who have robbed the Indians," hammer and tongs. Affairs must have smelled to high Heaven when the Indians were actually befriended in the press, for, during this period, the usual attitude of the white population of any Indian occupied territory, was to the effect that all of the good Indians wer~ sleeping safely underground. The Indian removal rang down the curtain on the last act of Fort Tejon in the role of a military post, garrisoned by troops. On August 2, 1864, Special Orders No. 168 issued from Headquarters Department of the Pacific, San Francisco, stated: "The superintendent of Indians affairs for the State of California having ·reported that there were no longer a·ny Indians in the vicinity of Fort Tejon, that post will be abandoned, and the troops garrisoning it will pro ceed to take post at Drum Barracks, with the last train car·rying government property. Measures will be taken at once by the proper staff departments to remove to the Wilmington depot in the most economical way, all the movable public property."60 The actual abandonment was not carried out until the middle of the month, following the order. A brief news item in the Tri-Weekly News, Sept. 17, 1864, writes finis to the last active chapter of the story: "A company of California Volupteers from Fort 133 Tejon under Captain Smith (Schmidt) arrived here on Thursday evening, last, (Sept. 15) they made Drum Barracks at an early hour on yesterday. Fort Tejon is now abandoned." Thenceforth the post was destined to become once more a part of the Castec Rancho which was the prop erty of Samuel A. Bishop, who it is said had entered into an agreement with the governm.ent, the conditions of which were that he should deed to the United States, one mile square of land on which the post was situated, to be had for military purposes, so long as it should be deemed necessary, upon the lapse of which, then the lands, together with all improvements upon them, should revert to the owner, for the reason that Fort Tejon, when first located in the fall of 1854, was sup posed to be upon public land, but was subsequently found to be on the Castec Grant, made by the Govern ment of Mexico originally to J osa Covarrubias of Santa Barbara County. "At the outbreak of the Rebellion, the troops were ordered to the seat of war and the post abandoned; the premises with the keys thereof, were handed to Mr. Bishop, in accordance with the agreement, who sud denly found himself- the possessor of a ready-made village of fine houses, but no inhabitants to occupy it. With that keen intelligence which has earned for ·him his high position among men of business, Mr. Bishop conceived the idea that a new county could be formed out of the northern portion of Los Angeles, the eastern portion of Santa Barbara, and the southern section of Tulare, thus creating a public boom, while the donation of his buildings for county purposes, such as Court house, Jail, Hospital, etc., a county seat would be found complete in its chief requirements and a benefit to be conferred upon himself individually. To this 134 the advantage of such a project, and the fact of, a ready-made .capital, which met with very general ap proval. This he took to the Legislature and upon the strength of its gene~ous endorsement by the public, a end he caused a petition to be circulated, setting forth • bill was passed creating a new county to which the name of Kern was given. In the year 1865 the Govern ment of the county was organized, and the usual elec tions for officials and the establishment of a county seat called. Meanwhile, a great excitement broke out and thousands of people were attracted to the mountains near Kern River, therefore when the election took place, the majority located the seat _of county govern ment at the spot which had been named Havilah; and thus, as si often happens, the lesser mind reaps the ad vantages while the greater intellect is left to start afresh in some new field of labor. Upon the organiza tion of the new county, Mr. Bishop was chosen one of its supervisors, an office he resigned in the fall of 1866, when he left for a visit to the Atlantic states, and on his return to ·california, with his family, _took up his residence at San Jose in April, 1867." (Samuel A. Bishop, History of· Santa Clara County, Calif., pp. 687-692. Oakland, 1881) One is led into all sorts of avenues of speculation by this account. With whom one wonders, did the U. S. forces negotiate for the original founding of Fort Te jon? Since it is obvious that Bishop purchased the ranch several years after the post had been built, his granting of the permission to establish a military post one mile square, with all the building~ already erected thereon, is, to the lay observer a gesture readily under stood; but why Uncle Sam should so easily relinquish this vast amount of property without attempting some financial settlement f.or the many e~cellent buildings 135 erected prior to Bishop's claim to the land, is a bit puzzling. No doubt there are legal aspects of this case which are understood only by those conversant with such matters, but one cannot help but wonder where the copies of the written agreement between Bishop and the government are to be found? As noted, Bishop's plan for the use of Ft. Tejon as a county seat of the newly formed Kern County went glimmering. Thenceforth the adobe buildings of the post served more ignominious purposes. Said a writer in 1874: "Lievre Ranch is one of the largest sheep ranches in the county. It is the property of General E. F. Beale, who has six large grants all joining at this place, making the Lievre one of the most extensive ·ranches in the State. "Arriving at Fort Tejon we determined to spend a few days in this delightful place. Fort Tejon was built many years ago by the government but was abandoned in 1864, it proving to be on a Spanish g~ant. The fine buildings are rapidly going to decay, and the fine parade ground which was doubtless once the soldier's pride, is now turned into a sheep corral, and the build ings which were formerly officers' quarters are now the humble dwellings of sheep herders. Tejon was once a flourishing place, several companies of soldiers were stationed here, and there were several stores, black smith shops and hotels, but its glory has departed for ever, I fear. With the departure of the boys in blue, the drowsy denizens departed too. W. B. Aug. 10, 1874" (Newspaper clipping in Bancroft Scraps, Cali- fornia Counties, Los Angeles to Placer, P. 67, Art. 487.) AFTERMATH It seems unnecessary to detail further vicissitudes of Fort Tejon. Time has not dealt kindly with the old 136 post. With the exception of five buildings, and these are in ruins, little remains of the post except the founda tions of the major structures. In recent years interest in the acquisition of the old fort as a State Park has been stimulated by the actions of sundry public spirited men and women. The late E. J. Symmes of Bakers field, working in con junction with Newton B. Drury, then Executive Secretary, Department of Natural Re sources, Division of Parks, submitted a sectional report, September· 24, 1932, setting forth the aim of a com mittee of the Kern County Chamber of Commerce, in regard to the acquisition of the post site as a State Park. Still later Mr. 0. T. Hagen, Regional Historian of the Western Division, Branch of Historic Sites and Monuments, National Park Service, made a prelimin ary investigation of the site, primarily to see if the -old post had the requirements necessary to make it a Na tional Monument. The ultimate result of these efforts has been that Newton B~ Drury announced in January 1940, that the State of California, through the Park Commission had acquired a deed to five acres of property on which Fort Tejon is located. _Certain local conditions of a prior lease make immediate development of this monument uncertain. However, there is a distinct possibility that in future years, under proper guidance, the walls of the "Earthquake Post" may rise again.
137
REFERENCES AND NOTES PART ONE 1Bolton, Herbert E. "In the South San Joaquin Ahead of Garces" in Kern County Historical Society Publication, May, 1935. 2Farquhar, Francis P. Sierra Club Bulletin, February, 1928. 3Papan, Helen "Spanish Explorers in the Interior of Cali fornia, 1804-182ti-'' Unpublished Thesis, University of California, 1919. 4San Francisco Evening Bulletin, June 5, 1865. 6Kroeber, A. L. "Handbook of Indians of California", Government Printing Office, 1925. 6Ibid. 7Smith, W. P. V. "Land Grants in San Joaquin Valley", unpublished Thesis, University of California, 1932. 81n a letter written by the Surveyor General of California to the Secretary of the :Soard of United States Land Commissioners, the Surveyor General, referring to the Te.ion Rancho title, states that the title expresses in writing 18 si,tios de ganado mayor, poco mas, poco menos, but that the approval of the departmental as sembly of June 30, 1845, shows the extent of 22 sitios in figures. °From the original expediente accompanying map of Rancho El Tejon. This expediente now in the National Archives, Washington D. C., was formerly held in the United States Post Office, second floor, Glendale, Cali fornia. 10Manuel Jacinto Fogo is listed in Bancroft's Pioneer Regis ter as having been a sailor on the Asia, which arrived in Monterey in April, 1825. 11Extract from Mss notes on Battle of San Pascual, dictated at Poway, July 7, 1887. Bancroft Library, University of California. 12Tehachapi means "windy" in Indian parlance. 13Judge Benjamin Hayes was elected the first Judge of the Southern District of California in 1852. Benjamin D. Wilson was Indian Agent for the southern district. Stephen Foster was mayor of Los Angeles in 1854, 1856. He came to California as interpreter with the Mormon Battalion. 14Rancho San Francisco was first grante ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements are due to Arthur Woodward for the contribution of his files pertaining to the Tejon, also to Miss Gretchen Knief and Mrs. Nelda de Laveaga of the Kern County Free Library, Bakersfield, for their help; to Willard 0. Waters for his kindness in allowing me access to certain letters of Louis John Xantus ; and last, but not least to my husband, Guy J. Giffen for his aid in the compi lation of this work. -Helen S. Giff en. 141 REFERENCES AND NOTES PART TWO 1The following official extracts from the Special Orders issued at San Francisco by Major General Wool, rela tive to the founding of .Ft. Tejon were furnished through the courtesy of Mr. Clarence Cullimore of Bakersfield, California. In a letter to Mr. Woodward, March 31, 1940. Headquarters Dept. of the Pacific San Francisco, June 24, 1854. Special Orders) No. 61 ) The Quartermaster Department will, without delay erect quarters for one company of Dragoons and one of Infan try on the site, in the Military Reserve for the Indians near th~ Tejon Pass, designated by E. F. Beale, Esq. Supt. of Indian Affairs, and will be constructed on the most economical plan, and if it is impracticable to complete all this season, those of the dragoons will be first erected. Brevet Maj or J. L. Donaldson, Asst. Quartemaster, is charged with the execution of this duty. By Command of Major General Wool: E. D. Townsend, Asst. Adj. General. • • • • • • • • • • • • Special Orders) No. 62 ) 1. . . Company A, 1st Dragoons will proceed to the Military Reserve for the Indians at the Tejon Pass, and take post on the site designated for the erection of the Barracks. The Quarter Master Dept. will fur nish transportation and tents. 2. . . Brevet Maj or J. L. Donaldson, Asst. Quarter master will perform the duties of Commissary of Sq.b sistence at the new post. By command of Major General Wool E. D. Townsend, Asst. Adj~ Gen...... Post Returns, Fort Tejon, California, Adjut. Gen'l Office Post return of Canada de las Uvas, California, Fort Tej on, August 1854, Record of Events. Lieut. Castor Commanding Co. A., 1st Dragoons with sixteen men arrived at Canada de las Uvas, fifteen' miles southwest of the Tejon Indian Reservation, Aug. 10 1854. Brevet 2nd Lieut. Lattimer, 4th Infantry i~ 142 ' command of the rest of the company arrived at Canada de las Uvas, Aug. 15, 1854. • • • • • • • • • • • • September 14, 1854, General Wool reported to the Secretary of War: Sir: I have the honor to report that a military post is now being built at the Canada de de las U vas, fifteen miles southwest of the Tejon Indian Reservation, which is to be called Fort Tejon, to indicate its loca tion. I have assigned Brevet Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Beall, Major 1st Dragoons, to the command, and Company A, 1st Dragoons, is now there as a garrison. The recent reduction of the reserve pre vented the post from being placed within its limits; Santa Barbara, California, is now the nearest post office. (end of Cullimore data) . . " ...... 2Wool to Scott, Senate Doc. No. 9, 33 Cong., Sec. Sess. p. 62 8Los Angeles Star, July 1, 1854 4Los Angeles Star, June 24, 1854 1518th Annual Report Beureau of American Ethnology 6Cullimore, Clarence, Old Adobes of Forgotten Fort Tejoo, Bakersfield, 1941, p. 24-25 1 Los Angeles Star, Sept. 9, 1854 (reprinted Daily Alta California, Sept. 12) 8Daily Alta California, May 29, 1858 9Cullimore, pp. 49-7 6 10San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 17, 1855, Daily Alta, Nov. 13, 1855 11Los Angeles Star, Nov. 21, 1857 11aThe commanding officer assigned to Ft. Tejon was Colonel Benjamin -Lloyd Beall, an old line veteran who had seen service on many frontiers. He became a cap tain of the Second Dragoons in June, 1836. In the same year he fought in the Seminole War. Eleven years later he was a major in the Second Dragoons and served with them in the Mexican cam·paign. Apparently Beall was well liked, but occasionally, as all good soldiers do, he got into difficulties. In 1851 he was court-martialed on a charge of duelling, but as one writer, Horace Dickinson, a contemporary of Beall; wrote ... "it has all resulted in smoke." Beall was of Southern extraction, born in-the District of Columbia and appointed from the District to West Point Military Academy, Jan. 1, 1814. He graduated ,. . 143 in 1818. •Thenceforth until his retirement, Feb. 15, 1862, he was on active duty. He was known as a cheer full and animated person. His principal trait was a wonderful exuberance of animal spirits. He loved a good story and was gifted as a mimic. His endurance in the field was a byword in army circles of the day. Oddly enough, frontier fighter as he wa·s, he was deeply religious and carried his prayer book with him into the field. He died at Baltimore, Aug. 13, 1863. So popular was he that a song was written around his services: Benjamin Beall in the Florida War, and after his death a writer said: ''He is now gone, and in after times when the oft told joke goes 'round and some old familiar story that he once told calls out the merry laugh, a tear will mingle with our cups as we think of that true and honest gentleman, that noble soldier, that prince of boon companions, Col. Ben Beall." (Rodenbough, Theo. From Canon to Everglade, pp 243-244 and 449. Dolph, E. A. Sound Off, p. 455 N. Y. 1929, contains the song about Beall. Powell, Wm. M. List of Officers of the Army of the United State-s, p. 185 N. Y. 1900; The Sutter Papers, edited by Eberstadt, N. Y. Aug. 1922.) 12San Francisco California Weekly Chronicle, June 30, 1855 13Dunkelberger, I. R. Capt. History of the 1st Cavalry U. S. A. Wilmington Journal, P. I. March 10, 1866 140gden, Harry, The Army of the United States 15Uniforms of the Army of the United States, Lt. Col. M. I. Ludington Q. M. Dept. U. S. Army, p. 35-40 16Cavalry Tactics, Pt. II, P. 19, Washington D. C., 1862 17Id. p. 169 et seq. 18Daily Alta California, Aug. 22, 1854 19Bell, Major Horace, Reminiscences of a Ranger, pp. 822- 324 20Phineas Banning, Bancroft Library E. 139 Settlement of Wilmington, San Francisco, 1888 (n. d. no author) 21Bell. Id. 22Los Angeles Star, Aug. 23, 1856 2sid. 24Los Angeies Star, Aug. 23, 1856 25Kip, Bishop, A California Pilgrimage, ed by Louis San ford, Fresno, Calif. 1921 26Powell, Wm.. H. Col. List of Officers of the Army of the United States, N. Y. 1900, p. 236: Rodenbough, Tho. F. Everglade to Canon, p. 493 : Cullimore, p. 35 27S. F. Daily Evening Bulletin, Jan. 17, 1857: Sacramento 144 Daily Union, Jan. 19, 1857: S. F. Evening Bulletin, Feb. 3, 1857 28Xantus, Louis John, Utazas Kalifornia Deli Reszerben, Translation from the Original Hungarian Travel in the Southern Parts •of California, by Edgar H. Yolland, University of California, 1928-1929 (Bancroft Li brary) unpubl. Mss. Also letters to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. court esy Willard 0. Waters. 29Los Angeles Star, August 8, 1857: S. F. Evening Bulletin, Aug. 26, 1857. 80Lesley, Lewis Burt, Uncle Sam's Camels, Cambridge, Mass., 1929, p. 13 31Southern Vineyard, Oct. 23, 1858: Daily Alta California, Oct. 21·: Daily Alta, Nov. 12, 1858 82Mss. Just Memories, by Mrs. Mary Chapin, original mss. in Los Angeles County Museum, copy of mss. in Hunt ington Library 83Lesley, pp. 261-262 34Hayes, Benj. Emigrant Notes, p. 585. Colorado River Ferry, Its History (Conversation with Capt. Johnson, June, 1862.) Navigability of the Colorado River, id. (contains reports of Lt. Wm. A. Winder of .Ft. Yuma and Lt. James L. White) mss. Bancroft Library 30Los Angeles Star, Feb. 20, 1858 (reprinted Daily Alta, Feb. 27) 36Sacramento Daily Union, Feb. 27, 1858 31Los Angeles Star, Oct. 16 (reprinted Daily Alta, Oct. 22, 1858) 88Daily Alta California, Oct. 13, 1860 39Los Angeles Star, Feb. 5, 185'9, id. Feb. 19 40Los Angeles Star, May 14, 1859 41Los Angeles Star, June 25, 1859 42Los Angeles Star, June 25, 1959 43L'os Angeles Star, July 23-30, 1859 44This military occupation of Sta. Barbara was the after math of a shooting and lynching scrape in which vari ous prominent native California and American resi dents of Sta. Barbara took sides. The civil authorities, mayor, sheriff, etc. resigned leaving only the County Clerk and Treasurer in charge. He appealed to the military in San Francisco for help. Lt. Col. Beall at Ft. Tejon sent a detachment under Major Carleton, Sept. 26. They went into camp near the old Mission. The detachment left Sta. Barbara, Oct. 26, 1859 and returned to Tejon. (S. F. Herald, August 27, 1859: Sta. Barbara Gazette, Sept. 1, 1859: Herald, Oct. 8: Herald, Nov. 11-13: L. A. Star, Oct. 8, 1859) 45Los Angeles Star, ·Dec. 10, 1859 145 • 6S. F. Herald, Apr. 11, 1860: L. A. Star, Apr. 14, 1860: Star, May 12, '60. San Bernardino Guardian, Sept. 9, 16, 23, 30, 1871. 47Alta California, Oct. 20, 1860 48Newmark, Harris, Sixty Years in Southern California,, N. Y. 1916, p. 249. Questionnaire for Bancroft's Hand book for Travel to postmaster at Ft. Tej on, Book 5, of Questionnaire, Dec. 10, 1860, Bancroft Library 49S. F. Herald, Thurs. Apr. 11, 1861 00Hancock, A. R. (Mrs.) Reminiscences of Wiwfi,el,d Scott Hancock by His Wife, N. Y. 1887, pp. 59-60. 51Los Angeles Star, Jan. 14, 1860. 52Los Angeles Star, June 8, 1861 58Los Angeles Star, June 22, 1861 54War of the Rebellion Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. L. Pt. I, pp. 542-543 651d. series I Vol. L. Pt. II pp.· 603-604; 613, 618; 645; 647; 658 561d. p. 701 57War of the Reh. Off Records, Series I Vol. L. Pt. II, pp. 696; 710; 728 581d. pp. 733-734 59L. A. Tri-Weekly News, July 29, 1863: News, June 4, 1864: Report on Conditions of Indian Tribes, 1867, Wash ington, D. C., 1867, etc. 90War of the Rebellion Off. Rec. Series I, Vol. L. Pt. II, p. 927 . 146