Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-03-11
Eos ahgelss Asrald.
CITY AND COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER.
THURSDAY,.........MARCH IL, 1915.
REUNION OF OLD cALIFORkIaNS.


New York Courier, Sunday. February 2lst.l
On the evening of February 18th,
1875, there was assembled in this city
highly respectable party of gentle
men, most of whom had been residents
of California prior to its admission as
State into this glorious Yankee
Union. The objective point of this
gathering of Argonauts, or pioneers,
was to consummate the recent organ
ization of a California Society and to
have q good time generally with those
who had basked in the sunlight of the
Golden State in her earlier and less
prosperous days. The reunion assumed
the form of banquet, and the place
selected for it to eventuate was the
Sturtevant House, kept by two of the
Leland's-a family more distinguished
in the hotel business than any other
we know of OH this continent. We say
this much of them, Notwithstanding
their lack of appreciation of a branch of
the press. The invitations sent out to
the banquet bore the names of such
men as:
Vice-Admiral S. C. Rowan, U. S.
Navy; Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, u. S.
Army; Major Gen. III. Gates Gibson,
U. S. Army; Hon. Rodman M. Price,
Major Gen. Rufus ingalls,, U. S. Army;
Major Russell Myers, Gen. Francis f.
Pinto, Jacob p. Leese, jeremiah Sher-
wood, John Sickels, Jas. Il. huffman,
VIM. Colligan, Willard B. Farwell,
etc.
A goodly array of distinguished gen.
tlemen on paper, but after all the
actual labor attendant on the getting
up of this affair fell to the hands of
our venerable recruit, high private
Francis d. Clark. Frank is thorough
go-ahead business man, and when on
a committee he can successfully, if
you give him his way, do the work of
ten Major-Generals or Vice-Admirals.
But of the banquet. 1t was grand
affair-grand in its attendance and
grand in its management, but still
grander in its menu. The Lelands alb
solutely outdid themselves in its pre-
parations; and to say that of such pub
lie caterers is to say all that is neces-
sary, for we have not the space to
publish the bill of fare, or say more in
the praise of the great house of Le-
land.
We might, however, add that the
tables We're loaded at all times during
the evening with the choicest wines of
California vintage. But of the guests
at the tables: General II. Gates Glib
son, U. S. A., now in command of
Fort Wadsworth, pl esided. Gen. G.
made his entree into California in 1913
as a second lieutenant U. s. A., Sd ar
tillery, Co. M, stationed at San
Diego. No Drawer man ever
drew a sword than is the gallant
little Gibson. NeXtamong the guests
we noticed Ex-Governor Rodman M.
Price, of New Jersey. The Governor
of one of the ships in Commodore
Sloat's fleet. Next we recognized
Jacob P. Leese, brother-in-law of
the cid Mexican Geneneral Vallejo.
Mr.. Leese settled in California in 1888.
He built the first frame house that
was erected in San Francisco. Com
modore c. X. Garrison next attracted
our attention. We remember him
from the fact that he was one of the
earliest Mayors of Frisco, and that
too at time when men of nerve were
needed to sail the ship of State. The
Commodore connection with the Cal
ifornia steamers, in its early days,
must be known to all the world. And
here sits jolly John Sickles. John is
now the Secretary of the Union Gas
Company, but he is remembered by
the old Californians as clerk of John
Minturn, the pioneer steamboatman
of California and owner of the steam
boat Senator, that ran between
San Francisco and Sacramento
in 1849. All! that was a famous old
boat-she came from New York, and
was owned, we believe, by the Min
turns, and she made her weight in
geld for her owners in a year or two.
John charged the boys who were
going to the mines twenty dollars up,
and when they came back it was five
dollars more. Many hundred pounds
of dust John handled in those days.
And here too is General Jones, who
started the first organized militia reg
iment in California-near him sits
Gen. f. E. Pinto, who served gallant
ly with Burnett's regiment in the
Mexican war, and then came to Cali
fornia to take hand in the golden
harvest. And here again is our dis
tinguished friend the Hon. jeremiah
Sherwood, who served in Col. Steven
sons regiment, 1st New York Volun-
teers, California service, in Company
f. Since that he has been member
of the Assembly here, and is now
prosperous Broadway merchant. And
here too is Major Russell Myers, as
good as they make men. The Major
served as a private in company A,
Captain Steele, in Stevenson's regi-
| ment then, when the war closed, he
was Deputy Sheriff under Malachi
Fallon, and they together had trad
ing post at jamestown, near Sonora.
| In the late war the Major
was third in command in the gal
liant 32d Regt. N. Y. Vols, and here
too is brave George Leanard. He
served as private in Stevenson's
Regiment and as Colonel under
Walker in Nicaragua, where he was
badly wounded. Leanard served in
And good gracious! here is little Char
lie Mcpherson AS boy Charlie
served as drummer in Co. B, Captain
Turner, Stevenson's Regiment-when
the late war broke out he served as
drum major in the 22d Regiment, N.
Y. Vols, and after the close of his SER
vices with this regiment, Charlie took
chance again in the famous march
of Sherman to the sea. Well, by
| George! here, too, is one of the old
stock-Col. James e. Nutman-who
served as private in Company B, in
the California Regiment, was, after
that, Alcalda in the mines; then
Chief Engineer in the San Francisco
fire department, and is now a rich
California merchant, just stopping
here for while to convince the world
| af LARGE that he nWns the finest nafnnf