Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-09

/
Jose Castro was standing. They called to him
| " Here he is wheIeupon Castro rode up and
struck me with the back of his sword over the
mead 50 severely as to bring me TO the ground,
| and then ordered four balls to be put through
me. But this was prevented by d faithful In
| dian in my service, who threw himself on me.
declaring that he would receive the balls in his
Unwilling to be thwarted in their designs TO
destroy me, however. they next fastened a rome
TO one ofmy arms and passed it to man on horse
PACK, who wound II firmly around the horn of
| his saddle. Then the rest of them, taking hold
| of the other arm, endeayored to haul nv Shoul
| DER out OF joint But the rope broke Think
| ing the scoundrels meant to kill me. / begrad
| Ior Aberty TO commend myself TO God To this
they replied: =" You shall never pray until Won
kneel over your grave ~
Then they conducted me to my house and
permitted me TO put on my pantaloons While
there they asked where Mr.. Morris was. | told
Them l did not know. They then put their
iances TO my breast and told me to call him or
aie answered that he had made his escspe
While l was saying this Mr. Neil came 10 the
mouse, pale from loss of blood and vomiting ter
rioly. He had had lance thrust through his
l tnisn, aud had deep wound in his leg which
nearly separated the cord at the heel.
They next put Mr.. Neil and myself in douhle
irons, earned US half a mile into the plain leff
us under guard and returned to plunder the
they came and conducted us back to our r1fei
nome As soon as We arrived there a man Inv
the name Of Manuel Larias approached me
:" n IN toll
nm nm where my money was buried. l told him
pad none He cursed me and turned away |
had some deposited in the ground, but deter
rleu rh. tmeS ne shoula never enjoy it, After having
ropped me OF my books and papers which Iyers
the only evidence had that these very sconI-
drels and Others were largely indebted to me-
aAd having taken whatever was valuable on
my premises and distributed il amOnS than,-
selves, they proceeded to take an inye9toTv Of
wnat was lett, as if it were the whole NJ nv
property, and then put me on horseback ana
oha;, otnt nle " prison. 1ou know the rest l am
chalned ike dog, and suffer like one.
One of the Americans captured with
Graham-Shard, by name-"was held
down by two men, says the compiler of
Wilkes Narrative, while third deliber-
ately cut the tendons of his legs with a
butchers knife and left him to die"
Ihere seems to be no reason to doubt that
the most horrible atrocities were practiced
on our countrymen at this time, as was
also the case at later period, when the
Americans arose In arms against the Gov
| ernment
The prison in which Graham and the
other foreigners were confined at Monterey
was the most loathesome den into which
human beings could be thrust. Farnbam
says:
Inc ground within was so wet that the moor
ielioWs sank into 1t several inches at every stem
VI Un inns muck they stood, ate and slept Fifty
vi sIAty We're crowded into a loom eighteen or
twenty ieet square. The cells were so low and
tlght that the only way of getting air enor,b ~
SUSIE sustain NE was 10 divide themselves into plat.
oonS, each OF which in turn stood at the gIrata
aWhlle to breathe. Most of them had been in
prison seven or eight days with no food eScent
| d uluIng quantity clandeStinely introduced
tretio atLlneu at the prison some of them We're
Irantic others in stupor of exhaustion. and
| one appeared to be dying anu
Farnham says that all night at the bousa
OF Consul Larkin, where he slept. he could
hear their groans of passion and despair
breathe fast, for Gods sake p' cries one
L must come to the CRATE or | shall suffo,
cate" Another was heard to exclaim .
Glve me water, you merciless devils q.
give me water :! and still another: "You
internal sons of the Inquisition, give me
drink or fire on mem
Finally, after two or three weeks incar-
ceratlon, through the exertions of Larkin
| and other Americans in the country the
prisoners were brought to trial. After a
hurried examination, all were acquitted
ana allowed to return to their homes
except Graham and forty-six Others.
Ihese the Governor refused to pardon
They were sentenced to be TRANSPORTED tn
Mexico as State criminals. The United
States Consul and his advisers succeeded
In causing them to be taken 10 San Bias,
and thence to Topic, to be tried before the
Consuls OF their respective Governments.
And here the narrative of their sufferinos
becomes associated with the history of the
old hulk which was thirty years ago a
| familiar sight in the Sacramento river
AT that time the Roger Williams was
lying In the harbor at Monterey. She was
chartered by Alvarado to convey the pris-
oners to San Bias. The ship, we cannot
doubt, was manned and oficered by parti
sans and friends of the Governor. To pre.
sumo that there were other persons on
board, who allowed the sufferings of the
prisoners to continue as related, would be
rank injustice to all civilized communities
Graham and his comrades were marched
two by two, heavily ironed, from their
dungeons and flung into the hold Of the
Roger Williams. The ship set sail for
Santa Barbara. During the voyage the
most extreme cruelty was practiced toward
the prisoners. Tney were chained to long
bars OF iron passing transversely across the
hold of the vessel
They were not permitted" SAYS Farm
ham, ito go upon deck or to stand on their
feet. They were obliged to lie down in
their own filth, and were furnished with a
mere morsel of food, and that of the worst
quality" The same narrator saws further.
OF water, they had scarcely enough to pre-.
vent death by thirst; and so small and close
was the place in which they were chained that
1t was not uncommon for the more debiIitsted
10 1alnt and lie for some time in lifeless state
When they landed many of them had become
80 Wehk tnst tney could not get out of the boat
without aid. Their companions in chains as
sisted them, although threatened with instant
death II they did so. After being set ash ore
they were marched, in the midst of drawn
SWORDS and 1Xed bayonets, one mile and three
quarters to the Mission of Santa Barbara, Here
they were put into a single room of the Mission
prison, without hooro means OF ventilation
me bottom OF the cell was of soft mud. In this
damp dungeon, without food or water, these
poor fellows remained two days and nights
They had not even straw on which to sleep
We have not space to follow the details
OF their voyage further. Wilkes, in his
Narrative of the United States Exploring
Expedition, sums it up as follows:
The Guipuzcoa was eleven days on her pas
sage to San Bias, during which time the prison
ers were kept in the hold of the small vessel
without light or air, and endured every descrip-
ton OF illtreatment. on their arrival at San
Bias they were landed without delay and imme-
distely marched, in the short space of two days
to Topic, distance of sixty miles,
The thermometer was at 900; The road was
mountainous and rough; they were bare-footed,
heayily-ironed, without any food except what
was given them from charity. They were urged
forward by leshes inflicted on their naked
bodies, and one who sank under the fatigue
was severely teaten with the butt end Of
musket.
Farnham, who arrived at San Bias at
the same time, appears to have interested
himself in a noble manner to procure the
release of his countrymen. He preceded
them to Topic, where he sought and pro-
cured the Intervention of the Consuls in
their behalf The remainder of their
story is soon told, as follows, in Wilkes
narrative:
At Tepic they found in the English and Amer
ican Consuls kind friends. who exerted them.
selves to relieve their wants, and finally
through their remonstrances, and those of the
English and American Ministers they were
allowed to return to California, and orders were
given that they should produce certificates OF
their losses and be paid for them.
All the Englishmen have returned, with
every necessary document to establish their
claims and obtain redress for their wrongs; but
on the part of the Americans, this is far from
being the case. Of them, none but Graham
have returned, and he is broken both in health
and spirits. What remuneration he has received
/ did not learn; but the French and English
have all obtained indemnity, through the atten-