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Show 112 Ex. Doc. No. 4.1. We were all reposing quicll), but not sleeping, waiting for the break of day, wh •n we wcr' to. go down and gtve the Cl~ my <tn-tll 'r <I ·fcal. On' of tlw men, tn the part of the ·amp a. tg nr<l to 0 y cd f c n c e r r port c d t hat h ' J' <' <H d a man s pea k'1 n g 1. n ]4, 1' 1 ] • n ~ 1. 1. n mfew minute~ w heard the tramp of a co lumn, followed by the ~ail of th s ntin 1. 1t was a dcta ·hmcnt of 100 lars and ..o marines under Lieutenant 0 ray, sent ~o meet u~ by Uommodor . lockton from whom \V lca'rut'd that Lt •ut nant Bcal , Carson, and the Ind'ian, had arrivt•d . afely in San Diego . Th ' d ·tadnn~nl left an Diego on the nig~1t. o1 the 9th, ·a .·h<•d l~l ms lv ' du~·tn~ the ~~ay of th lOth, and .JOtned us on th nt~ht .o ! l~tat clay: 'lhe. ~ga llant f•llows bu. ie<l thcms •lves till clay dJstnuutmg then JHOVL tons and cloth s to our 11aked and hnngry pco pl '. December 11.-'l'h junction of our forces was a completr surpris to the en ·my and whrn the . un ro~ , , but a mall SCJuadron of 'hors was to be's' ·n at ~. tol ·s s ranch~ria. They had fl ~<l prccipitat ·ly, leaving .mo~t of th caltl • behuul th. m, for :vl11 ·h we had be •n contcnd1ng for the last three days. None ol our men wnc moun ted-theirs wr rc :tl J moun ted; and why they shou 1 d have lcfl their ·tock is inconceivable. 1t \VAS ('ertainly nol in co mpalibl, with th ·ir. afcty to have carrie<~ th m <til. away. Th' only way of a ·e.ounting for it, is, by ~uppostng our n1g.ht alta ·k had filled them with the unneces:ary 1 car of bcl!l g surp n ::H.'ll. We drove the catllc b for' us. Our march was in clos orcl r, OYer a roa<l leading through a r o I ] i n cr c o u n try o f ] i g h t b 1 a de so i I , d c s t i l ul c o f l r e c s , a n d wit h o u t wate/' rov ·red with oats indigenuous to thr. oil, now fallen to de- cay. ' The gras~ in pr?tcctc<l P.la ·cs was sproutt• ng, 1u.~ 1t not1• n s_uf - f1ti nt quantity to aflord gr~tzwg to our stork. Alter mar ·lung twelv miles we arrived at the ranchcria of 'ignor Alvarado, a i)crson who was in the fight against u . The women and <'hildrcn had n ·<l to th mountains, leaving pi ·nty of turkies, chickens, goats and she p behind; also two casks of wint', the produce of the country. The havoc committ <l on the omc, tibl s wa immcns '; the sh ep not killed were driven by us in to an Dit•go . The owner hall taken the oath of all giance to the United Latcs and broken it. Th navy took a prisoner at this house a they march d to rorct us. He gav u. mu ·h information, an<l was then lib rat tl. He stated that Pi co'. force onsist d of lGO m n, 100 of which were drawn from the Pueb I o, and the bulan ce from the surrounding country. We subsequently received authentic accounts that liis number was 1 0 men rngagcd in the fight, and that. 100 additional m n were sent him from the Pueblo, who reached his ·amp on the 7th. There was a f1ne spring at this rancheria, and another two miles below il. On the hill, before r aching the rancheria, th Pacific open d for the ftr t time to our view, the sight producing strange but agre able emotions. One of the mountain men who had never seen the ocean Ex. Doc. No. 41. 113· before, op ned his arms and cxclaime11: " Lonl! there is a gr at prairie without a. tree." . . Deccntbcr 12.-Wc fol1ow d thr Solulatl through a <l<•ep ferttle va1l yin the shap of a cross. ll <'r<' W<' ~sccnd '<l to the left a st cp hilllo th' tab! land s, whi ·h, k~·(• pi.ng for, a f' ·w miles, we <!e-c c n d c d in to a w at c rl ·.s s v <: ll c y , } c a d tt.l g ut t o 14 a l s ~ b a y at a p owl distant two or three mtl · ~ fr.om San Du:go ... At th.u-; place w • w •rc in view of the fort ov rlo ok111g the town of ~ an Dtcgo and the bar-ren wa t which surrouud it. . The town consists of a few a<lob ' hous s, two or three of wl11ch 0 n 1 y h ave p 1 an k (J o or:-;. . T t is s i t u :1. t c d ~ t t L c foot of a h i 7 h h i 1.1 on a sand f1at, two mil s wul , rca. ·h tng fr om the head of ~an D.t q~o bay to Fals hay. A high promonl?ry of nc~uly the same wtdtb, r~n · into the s a four or f1ve n~tlcs and .Is conn<·ctcd hy th' fiat w i t h t h c main 1 an c I. T h c roan to t h ' h t d e h o usc s 1 e ad s t' as tward of this prom on tory, an <l a hrcast of thl·m th '. friga tc Congress and the sloop Porl.·mouth arc at atH:hor. The lude hous •s ar · a coli ·tion of store houses wit re th ludes of cattle ar packed before being shipped; this arli ·lc forming th' only trade of the little town. The bay is a narrow arm of th s a i~dcnting the lan<1 ~ome four or five mile , ~asily d fend •d, and hav1~g l:" ·nty fe~t of wat •r at the lowest tide. The rise i · aid to be ltv i ·ct, makwg the great-est water twcnty-ftve fe ·t. . ta1 .ding on the hill whi ch ov rlooks ~he town, and lookt.ng. to the northca t, I saw th mi. sion of an D1 cgo, a fine larg:' buJI.du1g now desert •d. Th Rio an Diego run , und ' r. ground 111 a dtr~cl · our e from' the m i . ion to tIt c to w n, an d s w c '}H n g a r o u n d the J ul I , di ·charg s its ·lf into the bay. Its origi!1al . d ·bouch • was into Fa! e bay where m Ling the wal<·r. rolltng 111 from the s award, a bar was 'formed' by the d po ·itc of sand, making the entrance of False bay impracticable. . . Well ground(•d fear · ar nt rtaincd tlt~t the.u~m n~~ .quant1ty of san1l di ·barged by this river will mal •t:Jally. tnJUrc, tf tl docs not destroy the harbor of SanDi rro· hut th1s cvd could be arrest •cl at a slight cosl, compar cl with U~e ~bj •cts to b ·obtained. At pr sent ~an Diego is, a 1l t h i n g co n . i d ' r<' d , p c r h a p s o .n ' of ~ h c b c s t h a r ~or s on the CQoast frotn Callao to Pugct':-; 'ou nd, wtth a :11tgl . <' xccplton, that of 'an li rancisco. In the opinion of some wt lltg~nl n.avy officers, it i pr f'rable even to this . The harbor of. ~n 14 ra~ctsco has more water, but that of an Diego ha~ a t~ orc _undorm .clun.ate, b 'ller anchorag ·, atHl p erf<' ·L • ·urity from Wlllds 1n any ~l tr<'C~JO n. How ·ver th ·ommcr ·ial metropolis must be at ~ an I• rancu.;co, owing to 'the gr 'aler extent and superiority of the. ·ountry adJac<·nt, -:watered by the riv ' rs acramento and. nn J oa·h.un, unless llld ced 1t shoul<l b' made the t rminu of a rculroad 1 '<Hl111g by the route of the Gila to the Del Norte, and thence to the Mis i ippi and tllC Atlantic. 'rhe rain fell in torrents as we entered the town, an<l it was my singular fate here, as in anta Fe, to be quartered in the calaboose, a miserable hut, of one room, some 40 1- 30 feet square. A huge 8 |
