The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-20
The globe $ s asmss3'aay (
JHow the a. ). Jtas Expanded
CHAPTER VIII.
The Organization OF CALIFORNIA;.
BY DANA c. MUNRO. A, M.


The facts connected with the eccupa-
ton of California afforded mate. ial for
national INSTRUMENTATION The prov
lnce was detached from Mexico with
minimum of resistance and of bloodShed.
and ITS conquest was determined upon
and effected under the impulse of 'mani-
fest destiny and the kealthful forces of
natural expansion, rather than the Sor-
did motives of greed and avarice that
would inevitably have controlled had the
discovery of gold been made at a period
prior to the conquest. The great intrinsic
value of our prize of victory was not
manifest until the terms of the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo had been fixed nor
ness more than faint appreciation of
CALIFORNIA; future Importance as the
commercial gateway to tic Orient.
That California came SO easily into our
possession is due to the fact that. al
though territorially portion of Mexico
she was but loosely bound in ties of
sympathy. Her scattered population was
Spanish rather than Mexican. and the
events which brought about the erection
of Mexico into an independent state had
met with scant enthusiasm on the Pa
cific slope So slight, indeed was her at
tachment that there is little doubt that
but for the irritation caused by TIE pre-
mature attempts of Capt. Fremont and
the insurrectionists at Sonoma in the
summer of 1864 California would have
accepted our rule without a struggle,
when, after the capture of Matamoras.
Commodore S1oat took formal possession
of the Pacific ports in the name of the
United States
Tie difficulties in the way of peace
full absorption of California were fur
Their Increased by the neglect of congress
to make suitable provision for the gov
eminent of the new territory. This act
of obvious Importance became involved,
like all important functions of our gov
eminent at that period, in the great Sec
fI0nQl STRUGGLE. 40 ayt nf oil
very in the territory recently acquired
from Mexico. Unable to effect satisfac-
tory compromise, the Thirtieth congress
adjourned, leaving California still sub
ment in operation at the close of the
Mexican war.
Inadequate Administration.
This condition of affairs was in the
highest degree unsatisfactory to the
American element in California The an
clent system of Spanish administration,
in particular the patriarchal jurisdiction
of tie local alcaldes. although sufficient
tor the needs of a single pastoral civiliZa-
ton. was wholly inadequate to The neccs-
sites Of rapidly increasing population,
sWarm1ng into the land from all parts of
the world in quest Of the golden trea sure,
and was furthermore repugnant TO the
ideas and traditions of men who had 1een
accustomed to the advantages of Anglo
Saxon institutions.
years Immediately following tho discovery
of gold in January, 1S4S, poured inio Cali
fornla by land and sea, over routes up 10
that time unknown or little traversed.
were. poth by numerical. majority and by
the force of virile national characters
tics, the determining factor in the build
ing of the Pacific State. The hardships
OF the journey, whether in the crowded
ships that sailed the $4,000 miles that sep
arated New York from San Francisco. in
the fever poisoned jungles of the Chagres
river, or in the historic ''trek' of 90 600
souls across the boundess plains. the
burning deserts and the painless defilas
OF the SierraS, operated in bringing the
harder spirits to the front In widening
the range of their activities and In pre-
pairing them for the hardships and emer-
gencies of frontier life.
t. Men of this type, bearing with them the
traditions of American civilization and
keyed to the note of strenuous effort.
Were not likely to bow in passive submis-
sion to the Indifference or pre- -occupat flor
OF government at the other extremity
Oh the mighty continent. They clamored
loudly for reconstruction and for the
erection OF political state In accordance
with their habits and experience. If
congress a ts would not move. they urged. it
citizens, assembled together, to proceed
TO the functions of self-government
Commonwealth of California.
VI luiidlsiy IHe military dominion vas
not actuated with an undue sense of
esprit du corps, nor inclined to set itself
against the wishes of the people. Main
tanning, as was just, that the Mexican
law shonid constitute the legal status
until superseded by ordinances of the
peoples making Gov Riley yielded to
the popular demand and called at Monte
rey convention for the purpose of franz
ing ing the commonwealth Iof California.
This body sat in September. 1S4g. drew
up a constitution, in which. with mani.
nous desire, slavery was excluded from
the new state. and turned the results Of
the deliberations over to the people for
ratification in November Of the same
year. 'o
The creation Of the commonwealth of
California was an act of great political
sagacity. Apart from the fact that #
furnished the basis for the erection ON
the Pacific slope of society after the
american type, 1t had furthermore the
erect of cutting the knot of congressional
enlargement of setting aside forever
the Yexed question of California's terri
5or1al status with respect to the intro
uuctlon or slavery Her popuIa ton was
suf1lcient to justify according to the
ideas of the time, a claim fo statehood
and this demand, fortified further nv tho
increasing Importance of her mineral
products, was one which congress NOT
W1thstanding the oppositi0n aroISed
among the Southern leaders bv the antI-
slavery proclivities of the new eomnoon-
wealth, could not lightly set aside A Pa,
nearly year of parliamentary struggle
ana eHorts toward compromise Presf-
ueht Fiiimore, on the 9Th of September