Los Angeles herald., 1891-02-24
THE OLD CANNON.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY WILL
TAKE CARE OF THEM.
They Were Fired All One Day And Only
Killed Mule-An Interesting Lot of
Facts About Them.

Everybody has seen the old cannon
on the courthouse steps and at the
southwest corner of Main and CONNER
cial streets. Various propositions have
been discussed in reference to the dis
position of these old guns, but the mat
ter has been finally decided that
they shall pass into the possession OF
the Historical Society Of Southern Cali
fornia, which is the proper ustodian of
all relics pertaining to the history of
this section of the country.
Mr.. B. A. Stephens, the accomplished
secretary Of the Historical society, yes
terday gaYe HERALD eporter the fol-
lowing account of the old weapons:
These were among the guns brought
here by the Spaniards. They were used
by Governor Pho Pico in the battle Of
the Alamo, north of Cahuenga pass, on
February IA, 1845, when he contested
with Governor Manuel Micheltorena for
the supremacy, and won by promising
Micheltorena's gringos all the land they
wanted. These old guns were fired all
day, with no other casualty than the
death of mule.
When Commodore Stockton landed at
San Pedro, on August 6, 1846, General
Jose Castro and the Mexican army were
encamped on the mesa just east of the
city, and had these guns with them. On
the 10th General Castro and Governor
Pico concluded that the best interests of
their country demanded their personal
presence in Mexico, and they hastily
fled, Castro going by way OF Yuma, and
Pico by way of San Diego and Muleje.
Before Castro went he had these old
guns buried on the mesa.
Stockton entered the city on the 18th,
and hoisted the American flag over the
government house, which is now the st.
left for the north, after having placed
Lieutenant A. H. Gillespie in command
of the garrison at Los Angeles. Lieuten-
ant Gillespie found where the old guns
were on the mesa, and had them dug up
and brought back into the city.
Gillespie acted in a tyrannical man
ner toward the Mexican population, and
the result was an insurrection on the
23d of September, headed by Don Ser
bulo Barelas, the maternal grandfather
of Hon. r. f. Del Vale. J. w. Mar
shall, afterward the discoverer of gold at
Coloma, was one of Gillespie's soldiers.
He took some nitric acid, and opened
one of the touch-holes OF one OF the
cannon, and it was hastily taken to the
top of Fort hill. on the morning after
the outbreak, just in time to prevent
Barelas from planting his own cannon
there, which Gillespie had failed to get,
the famous "woman's gun," so called
because it had been hidden by Dof1a
Inocencia Reyes in her garden on Ala
media street, at the time of Stockton's
first approach.
Gillespie only held.out one week when
he capitulated to Barelas, who allowed
him to march out with all the honors of
war. Gillespie took with him these
four old cannon, now seen ON the
streets, and sunk them in the ocean off
San Pedro. Jose Mascarel was one of
his men who help to break off their cas-
cabels and spike them. In 1S49 B. d.
Wilson, the deceased father-in-law of
Hon. ]. de Barth Shorb, had the old
guns fished up and brought back to
Los Angeles, and planted them for cor
ner posts in front of his store, where is
now the Farmers & Merchants bank.
Two of them remain their yet. When
the centennial celebration of the city
was held in 1881, two of them were
taken up by the citizens. and mounted
and placed on the court house steps,
where they remained until there mount
ings were worn out, and they re-
Gently fell down.
The Historical society will take the
old guns in a few days and store them,
and they will prove available ornament
to their future home