Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-11-18
FORT HILL.
Another cha ptcr In I,s ni.to4,

COl. j. J. warmer reau All interesting
historical paper before the Lyceum,
giving an account of the construction
of the Notifications OH Fort Hill. At
that time the history as given by Col.
Warner was taken as full and conclu-
sive. Ii effectually controverted the
common belief that the works in ques-
ton were built by General Fremont
and fixed with equal certainty the fact
that General Micheltorena planned
and partially built them, long before
Fremont was known to California.
But certain facts which have recently
come TO our knowledge show that only
half of the tale was told when it ter
minated with the brief and spasmodic
| effort of the Mexican General The
entire Notifications as we know them
now, or rather their ruins, are the
work Of Col ST. George Cooke, built
by the Mormon Battalion under his
command in the year 1917. Yet we
will not attempt to rob General Mi
cheltoreno of his honors, if such they
be, for it is established beyond doubt
that he planned the works and com
menced their construction in 1912. But
to be clearly understood we must take
up the thread of history, and, COM
mencing where Col. Warner left off,
follow the course of events for the sue
ceeding five years-1S42 to 1S47. Under
| apprehension of an attack from Com
/ nlodore Jones, Commandant OF u
United States Squadron, who had just
invested Monterey, General Manuel
| Micheltorena, Mexican Governor of
| the State, designed and commenced
the Notifications of which we write.
AS stated by Col. Warner, for about
five days the work was carried on with
out intermission, the working parties
| being frequently relieved. Before the
work which had been outlined was
completed, however, message from
| Commodore Jones informed General
Micheltorena that Monterey had been
restored to the Mexican authorities.
| All apprehensions of an attack having
| been dissipated, the work on Fort Hill
was discontinued. How much had
been accomplished in the way of fort-
| flying the position is left in q great
| measure to conjecture, but we incline
| BILE part of the works could have been
constructed in the five days and nights
| during which the Mexican Generals
men were employed. We are told that
| the first plans comprehended extern
sive works, History also informs us
that when General Micheltorena first
landed in San Diego, a short time pre-
vious to the time of which we write,
coming from Mexico, "he had only a
moderate force with him. and his
men were somewhat inferior in dis
J cipline. Now, in those days "mod-
| crate force" might have been fifty or
a hundred men, and this imperfectly
| organized band working for so short
time could not have carried out extern
sive plans very considerably. So, then,
Fort Hill had assumed only an incipi-
ent aspect of war, and in this condition
it remained for five years. Overlook
ing the little Mexican hamlet, Ne,tstrn
iSe1ora Rei,aa de Los angeles, during
| time of turmoil and bloodshed, could
this silent monitor speak from its old
tumble-down embankments, what a
story would it tell! Leaving his un-
finished work, the Mexican Com
mander with his force repaired to
Monterey, then Capital of the State,
and assumed his position as Governor.
An insurrection was soon raised by
the native Californians, headed by
Alvarado, previous Governor, and
Vallejo, who acted as General of the
| insurgent forces. On the 2lst of Feb
ruary, l845, Castro, leading the rebels,
pushed out from Los Angeles and the
| hostile parties met. After a brief and
bloodless engagement, Mexico surren-
| dered. California was declared an in
| dependent State and "DeputatiOn"
elected Pho Pico, its oldest Minister,
| Governor and Castro General. Mi
| cheltorena, his officers and all of his
| soldiers who had not married in the
| country were put on board an Ameri-
| can bark and hustled off to San Bias.
| In the Spring of the following year,
Pho Pico still being Governor and
| Castro busy at the north plotting how
| to oust him - Il contention having
! sprung up between them--there glided
| in from over the mountains at the
| east young surveyor with q little
party of mountaineers, whose appear
| ance pnt period to the civil wars and
| the old times in California. But we
| have not space to follow all the events
of this interesting period, and must be
content with brief summary. In 1916
| Los Angeles was taken possession of
by Governor Stockton, the commander
of the United States forces in the
| State, and here, on the 18th of Sep
tember, he was joined by Fremont
with his battalion. Both commanders
departed soon after with their forces,
leaving garrison of fifty men to hold
| possession of the town. The MeXi-
cans, seizing their advantage, raised g
force, overpowered the garrison, and
again Los Angeles was in the hands
of her old masters. The place, with
its Notifications, was 'recaptured on
January 10th, 1847, by Governor
Stockton, and we believe has never
since slipped from the grasp of the
United States. During this five years
of revolution and counter revolution,
the Notifications on Fort Hill were no
doubt frequently occupied, but we
have no account that the unfinished
work of General Micheltorena was
taken up and completed, or in fact
that any improvement in the fortifica-
tions was made. in January, l847,
however, II Mormon battalion of four
companies, some three hundred and
fifty strong, under command OF Col.
st. George Cooke, was stationed on
the hill. Within the intrenchments
they pitched their tents and remained
for about a year, when they were mus