The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-11-05

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THE FIRST vIciLANTEs.
Ineidsnss which Ia % ths Form.tio. ),
the OriginAl Commlttee.
In the month Of November, 1850,
there were eight primitive houses stu.
atcd on the extreme point Of little
|peninsuiar far projecting into the Bay
Of San Francisco II was separated
from the surrounding country BY i
rocky mountain range. The eight
houses, were occupied BY an American
hunter and seven French fishermen,
desertcrs from French mAn-of-war.
On the opposite side was another
French settlement Of five fishermen.
All the cattle owned by the two set
Elements was a single goat, the loss OF
which would have proved a public
calamity. It's 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 q valuable stock Of inn
ported cattie-a rare thing at that
time.
Farther into the interior, on the other
side Of the mountain range, was the
Cornelia Rancho, California manor
house, constructed Of rough beams and
surrounded by mud and cattle instead
Of gardens, parks green grass and flow
ers. Cornelia was AZ native grandee.
and claimed HE 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 a
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 an old broad brimn,ed,
straw hat, leather boots, a 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-lnd homeless Por-
tuguesc adventurer, who, seeking a
support had drifted to that Eden before
the rude gold-hunters dispersed the
charm Of silence, simplicity and ignor-
ance that reigned complete every
where.
The Irish captain was not slow to
perceive his advantage over the senora.
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 the sum realized, which
proposition was reluctantly accepted
by the sonora The Irish captain no W
organized for the common defense by
calling general meeting, and binding
each by covenant to take caEs-ef his
neighbours property, by armed force
when necessary. But short time
thereafter boat 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 a
boat turned upside down and closely
watched. The Irish captain himself
CoCoAtCt eiiC PiiSoucro W t1du dHCiSCO
the following morning and delivered
Them into the hands of the civil author
tiles. Instead Of being punished for
their lawless1 crimes they were set at
liberty by the civil authorities, and re-
taliated upon the Irish captain by
sbutchering and carrying off all his
milch cows. These. thieves and this
system of robbery received the counte-
nance Of rich and influential butchers
or San Francisco, who furnished the
means for these predatory incursions.
and the money to retain influential
counsel to defend and acquit, through
technicalities of the law, such of the
thieves as should fall into the hands of
the Irish captain and his cohorts.
Convinced that no redress could be
obtained from the civil authorities at
San Francisco, a second general meet
ing was held, and it was unanimously
resolved that the residents of the PEN
insula should form themselves into a
permanent committee, and assume all
the duties of police and courts martial.
No suspected party should be permitted
to land Thieves and other criminals
should be tried before the committee.
and, il found guilty, executed on the
spot Thus was formed the first vigil
lance committee that ever existed with
in the limits of California. Harper's
Magazine.