The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-09-10
\. G. f,
WIN. GIVEN,
HENRY w. SIBLEY,
NJ. PRICE.
FREMONT BEEF CONTRACT.

BEE
We now come to another grave mat
ter. We desire to call attention to the
letter below of Colonel r. B. Mason
Colonel First Dragons, and command
ing in California; to R. Jones, Adju-
tant- General at Washington, in which
it is stated oficiaXy that Colonel Ere
mont did purchase six hundred head OF
cattle, for which he bound the Govern
ment to pay, ostensibly for beet, for the
subsistence of his battalion but that
nat one Of these cattle soere cUe7 sLaugh-
tered for that purpose; on the contrary,
they 1oere all delivered to q M. StearnS
TO breed on sAtres-they were cot0S-fo,
the term Of three gears!
Headquarters. TEsru MILITARY DEPARTMzNr,l
Monterey, California, october Q, 1917.
SIR 1 have the honor herewith to ill.,
close to you the papers relating to Il GER
tain contract entered into on the Sd day
of March, 1917, by Lieutenant Colonel
Fremont, mounted riAemen, with a Don.
Eulogio de Cells, a resident of Ciudad
de los Angeles, California. The paper
marked A is IA copy of this contract,
with Lieutcuaut Colonel Fremont's Ger
tfcatc, bearing da'e April 20, I247 !;
that the contract had been complied
with on the part of Don Euiogio de Ce,
lis, aud that he Fremont, Las executed
to him in payment Il note for the sum CT
$685..
Lieutenant Colonel Fgemontlcft Cal.
iforuia in the moHth of June, I647, Civ
Jig no notice TO General kearny or my
self of the ex'atcHce of such a contract,
or that he lad pledged the faith Of his
government Cor tie redemption of it by
the payment oithe sunl If SG,9Tj. Nor
had [ the least idea Of this Obligation
until applied to ty Colonel S,,vcnsoa
Whether [ would recognize the c,ntract
and redeem the Loa.Lut naturi:v.-
Th letter was accompanied by others,
which show that il fact, h~otwtthstai d.
ing the cert;ica;e of lieutenant Colonel
Fremont, Mr.. C~eiis-ucycr delivered to
the Commissary of the Caiifornia bah
tillion onc sing'o head Of beef cattle IA
der this contract, and hot one of taaso
OK hundred head OF cattle were slaugh-
tered for the u of that tattaiiion, bu:on
the con r,r! that they have been deliver
cd to a Mr.. S;carns, OF Les Angeles, in
two parcels-oue OF tour hundred and
eighty Que on the first day Of May, an
other of one hundred aid nineteen Oh
the sixth day of July, 1911, both of
which dates are subsequent to the dis
charge of the California battalion COM
mauded by Lieutenant Colonel J. c..
Fremont. There isuo doubt these cat
tie are the same six hundred contracted
for by Lieutenant Colonel Fremont on
the I'd of March l847. Mr.. Cells stated
it positively in his letter marked d; and
the receipts for them by Stcarus, mark
ed B and F, specially states that he
(Stearns) receirtcd for them in the
name and on behalf Of Lieutenant Col
onel Fremont.
These deliveries occurred at a time
when a garrison was stationed IN Los
Angeles, with a commissioned agent of
the Commissary Department of the ar
my, Lieutenant Davidson, to take
charge OF subsistence stores intended for
contract, are dcltrered TO u pirate nut
riduaL upon special agreement, las he
Stearns says) TO breed III shares for tie
term Of three gears l have endearored
to procure from Mr.. Stearns a copy Of
the agreement he has made with Lieu
tenant Colonel Fremont, for taking care
of those cattle, but his letters (marked
Z and 10y positively assert that he re-
CARDS those cattle as the private proper
ty of Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, but
that the agreement by which he holds
them is a verbal one, witnessed by a Mr..
Hensley and Lieutenant Cillersie, of
the United States navy. Thus stands
the facts, and | I'M applied to to know
whether payment will be made upon the
paper marked 2, which is a certificate
that the sum of S5,975 is due to Mr..
Cells for supplies furnished the Califor-
MA battalion, which supplies are clearly
and plainly the lot of six hundred breed
ing COWS now in the hands of a private
individual, not one of which has been
used for public purposes. This note
becomes due on the 18th day of Deem
Der, lS47, and bears an interest of TWEEN
ty-four per cent. per annum after that
date.
In connection with this subject, I call
your attention to the paper marked 8,
wherein Lieutenant Colonel Fremont
has bound himself and future Governors
of California to pay the sum of So, 900
at the expiration of eight months from
this date of March 3, l647, or in default
that the note shall bear an inter
est of tyenty-four per cent. per anum
this, too. when the acting Assistant
Quartermaster at Monterey had been
more than a month in the country, with
a supply of money applicable to the
proper expenses of the army in Califor-
MIA.
DIR. Cells states that it was partly to
secure this loan of money that Lieuten-
Colonel Fr mont made with him
liberal bargain for cattle, for which
the price is about forty per cent. higher
than the market price at the time. Both !
Of these notes are soon due, and Mr.
Cells is going to make application for
payment, as he claims to have fulfilled
MS part Of the contract, for the redemp- !