St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-10-31
THE FIRST WolLANTEs.


U0e eu6Su vu0u1AN eSs
Iosadeats which Lea - the Fornatioa d
The Original Committee
In the month Of November, 1850
there were eight primitive houses situ
ated on the extreme point of little
peninsular far projecting into the Bay
Of San FraHcisco Il WAS separated
from the surrounding country BY Z
rocky mountain range The eight
houses were occupied by IN American
hunter and seven French fishermen,
1cserters from . French man-of-war.
On the opposite side was another
French settlement Of ave fishermen.
All the cattle owned BY the two set.
Elements was single goat, the loss Of
which would have proved . public
calamity. Its master had brought II
from France. around Cape Horn. Be-
sides the hunting and fishing people
there was beyond these settlements
also . regular farmer called the Irish
captain. although he was neither Irish
nor . captain. He was Dane BY birth,
and . farmer all his life BY occupation.
He possessed . valuable stock of i'm.
ported cattle-a rare thing at that
time.
Farther into the interior, on the other
side Of the mountain rang,. was the
Cornelia Rancho. 4 California manor
house. constructed of rough beams and
surrounded by mud and cattle instead
Of gardens. parkA green grass and fow'
erS Cornc6a was . native grandee,
and claimed the right to four hundred
miles of territory. Although the inva-
sion of her country by the gold-hunters
had swept away the greater part Of her
herds. yet there still remained over one
thousand head In full dress. adorned
with gold chains, pearls and jewels, she
looked very magnificent seated in q
large wagon drawn by two oxen and
sixteen mules. roughing it over = coun-
try without roads
This, however. was upon state occa-
sions. and Of rare occurrence. Her
home dress was IN old broad-brimmed,
straw hat leather boots, loose white
shirt, and . short petticoat of coarse.
red flannel. She ruled over thirty In
dian servants besides her son-twenty-
four years Of age-and a homeless Por-
tuguese adventurer. who. seeking q
support. had drifted to that Eden before
the rude gold-hunters dispersed the
charm of silence. simplicity and ignor-
ancc that rcigned complete every
where.
The Irish captain was not slow to
perceive his advantage over the sonora.
He, therefore, proposed to her TO take
charge OF her cattle and sell to the best
advantage, on condition that he should
have one-half of tho sum realized. which
proposition was reluctantly accepted
by the sonora The Irish captain now
organized for the common defense by
calling general meeting, and binding
each by . covenant to take care of his
neighbor's property, By armed force
when necessary. But . short time
thereafter . bost laden with stolen beef
from the senora's herds was captured
and the cattle thieves taken prisoners
by the Frenchmen Of Low Point
The thieves were tied. put under .
boat turned upside down and closely
watched. The Irish captain himself
escorted the prisoners to San Francisco
the following morning and delivered
them into the hands of the civil author
tiles Instead of being punished for
their lawless crimes they were set at
iberty by tho civil authorities, and re.
taliated upon the Irish captain by
butchering and carrying OF all his
milch cows These thieves and this
system Of robbery received the counte-
nance Of rich and influential butchers
Of San Francisco. who furnished the
means for these predatory incursiona.
and the money to retain influential
counsel to defend and acquit, through
technicalities Of the law, such Of the
thieves Is should fall into the hands Of
the Irish captain and his cohorts
Convinced that NO redress could be
obtained from the civil authorities II
San Francisco. . second general meet
ing was held, and il was unanimously
resolved that the residents of the pen.
insula should form themselves into q
permanent committee, and assume al
the duties Of police and courts-martial
No suspected party should be permitted
10 land. Thieves and other criminals
should be tried before the committee.
and. II found guilty, executed on the
spot Thus was formed the first vigi-
lsnce committee that ever existed with
in the limits Of CaliforniA-Hsrper'a