Early Days of San Francisco

John Henry Brown

• Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9783849650698
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The author arrived in California in the winter of 1843 and stayed there for forty years. Having read at various times the history of California, and especially that of the City of San Francisco, and knowing the same or portions of the same to be misrepresented, he conceived the idea of giving a true history of the city, as well as he could recollect it. The book, however, can hardly be called a history, but rather a book of reminiscences and incidents of early days.

Chapter One

IT WAS IN THE YEAR 1843, that in company with a party of traders, I left the Cherokee Nation, for the purpose of purchasing skins and furs of the Indians of the different tribes, and to barter for anything else that offered itself in the way of trade.

This was my third trip in the mountains, and the trading business being good that year, we secured many more furs than usual. When we reached Fort Bridger, we left what furs we had, and went farther north.

Here, we found winter coming on. The weather was very cold, as there had already been a slight fall of snow. This was in the month of October. We determined to return to Fort Bridger; but, finding it impossible, made for Fort Hall, belonging to the Hudson Bay company, where we hoped to remain during the winter.

Upon our arrival, however, Factor Grant, who had command of the Fort, informed us, that we could not stay there as there were already a larger number than could be accommodated; and, unless the weather moderated, they would be short of provisions themselves.

We remained several days at Fort Hall, where we succeeded in making some horse trades. During our stay, a person arrived by the name of Greenwood, who was accompanied by a boy, whom he called his son.

Upon asking him what he considered the best course for us to take, he advised us, by all means, to go to California; giving us all the necessary directions for doing so, and accompanying us himself, as far as Hooters Damm, where he left us, after repeating his directions as to our route, etc. The first few days we traveled very slowly, until we reached Steep Holler, where the weather moderated somewhat, and we made better time, the rest of the way. We reached our winter quarters, which were located upon the land, afterwards known as Johnson's Ranch, about the last of November. Game of all kinds was plentiful, beef of little market value, and as we had a good supply of parched corn and flour on hand, we were sufficiently provided with provisions to last all winter. We had been camping about three months, when one day, very much to our surprise, two persons came into camp, from whom we learned, that there was a whole settlement, at a place called Sutler's Fort, where we could obtain supplies or anything else that we required. It pleased us all to hear that we were so near a settlement, and we all wanted to go down to Sutter's Fort: but our Captain would not permit us to do so, and finally decided the matter by writing each man's name on a slip of paper, his own among the rest, and, placing the slips in a hat, remarked, "that the parties bearing the first six names drawn should go to the Fort, while the rest were to remain to guard the camp." When the result of the lottery was known, there was a general Hurrah! throughout the camp, and never before nor since, was such an excitement known, even at a Democratic Election. This was the first election, of any kind, that had ever been held in this section of the country, and there never was a happier lot of delegates sent to a Presidential Convention, than these six men, whose lot it was, to go to Sutter's Fort. All that was needed to make the jubilee complete was fireworks, but pistols and rifles answered the purpose very well.

The party were gone about three days; and on their return, brought all necessary supplies, and spoke in the highest terms of Captain Sutter and his treatment of them, he having refused to take any pay for the goods purchased, and even urged them to take more. We remained in camp until the month of April 1844, when we once more resumed our travels. We had only been out a few days, when we encountered very bad weather, in the shape of a snow-storm, which obliged us to camp for several days, thus retarding our progress somewhat. At this point in our journey, three of our party wished to return direct to California; but, as we were only fourteen in number, Captain Cody would not allow them to do so, it being necessary to retain sufficient help to aid in carrying the large quantity of furs home, that had been left stored at Fort Bridger.

However, one man by the name of Mackintosh went back. He was a Cherokee, and came from Grand River, in the Cherokee Nation.

The furs at Fort Bridger had been left in charge of a man belonging to St. Louis, by the name of Rubedure. There were three men in the mountains, bearing this name, all of whom were brothers. As soon as the weather moderated we resumed our journey to Fort Hall; but, do the best we could, our progress was slow, as the water in the streams was very high, and in some cases almost impassable. We remained three or four days at Fort Hall, then started once more for Fort Bridger. On this part of our route we made excellent time, travelling at the rate of forty miles per day. At Fort Bridger, we made a stay of ten days, then once more resumed our order of march; this time having Fort Laramie in view as our destination. These three places mentioned being the only houses or forts located in the large section of country between Missouri, California and Oregon.

When two weeks out, we met a large company of people en-route for Oregon, with whom we had a short conversation, in which we endeavored to persuade them to go to California, but without success.

Several days later, we came across another party, while in camp; and stayed with them over night, also

accepting their kind invitation to supper. After supper we built a large camp-fire, around which we all sat, and we told our new friends what we had seen of California, of the richness of its soil and the fine pastures in the winter season. They would scarcely believe all we told them, but seemed facinated with our stories nevertheless. They said they had heard of California before, but had no idea of the beauty and wealth of the country. Captain Cody, while at Sutter's Fort, had made minute inquiries about the country, and consequently could give them all the information they desired or needed. He also took many of the names of the party; and, as nearly as I can remember, some of them were as follows: Grandpa Murphy, and his two married sons, one of whom had a large family of children, and afterwards lived and died near the town of Santa Clara, being better known, as "Santa Clara Murphy."

The other brother, Jim Murphy, and wife went to San Rafael, where they lived on Captain Cooper's ranch, upon which the State's Prison now stands. Besides the two already mentioned, there were, I think, three more sons and one daughter, who afterwards married a man named Charles Weaver. The rest of the party were John Sullivan, his brother and sister, and a family by the name of Martin, whom I afterwards met in San Rafael.

On separating from this party the next morning, we left the main traveled road, and did not return to it again for several days, and when we did, the first thing we saw in the distance, was a large party on their way to Oregon, as we supposed, but they were too far away for us to have any communication with them, and they must have failed even to hear the report of our rifles, when we saluted them, as they took no notice of us. Changing our course somewhat at this point, we traveled in a southerly direction in order to reach the Osage country, as it was called in those days, the name having since been changed to Kansas. From the latter place we went to Grand River, which at that time divided the Cherokee National from the Osage country, going thence to the Illinois River in the Cherokee Nation, where we arrived in the month of August, 1844.

During our stay here, a number of murders were committed, and Anderson Lawrey, the Chief of Police, appointed Captain Cody in command of a large company of volunteers, for the purpose of bringing the criminals to justice. Three men known as the Starr boys, were suspected of having committed the crimes, and in order to get on their track as soon as possible, we started at once for Fort Gibson, of which Colonel Mason was the commander, and General Butler the agent for the Cherokee Nation, to obtain permission to travel through the country occupied by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. The permission was accorded us readily enough, and crossing the Red River we were soon in Texas. Here we had a light fall of snow, and the Starr boys to put us off their track, changed their horses' shoes, by putting the heel to the toe, thus leading us to suppose, that they had returned instead of going ahead; but our Captain was well up to their movement, and on the following morning, just at the break of day, we saw the smoke of their camp-fire at a distance. We were at once ordered to dismount, and leaving four men on guard, started for their camp, and succeeded in taking them completely by surprise. We found two of the men already in their saddles, while Tewey Starr was in the act of mounting his horse, when sixteen bullets, perforated his miserable body. It seemed as if every man's aim had been directed at him, as he was considered much the worse of the three. We carried him to Fort Washitaw and placed him in the hospital there. We remained at the Fort about ten days, being entirely out of provisions; but upon making application for a supply of the same, to the commanding officer of the First United States Dragoons, Colonel Fontireau who commanded the troops at Fort Washitaw, we received all that we required. About eight days after our arrival, the physician informed Tewey Starr, that he could not possibly live twenty-four hours, and told him if he wanted to make a confession, he would advise him to send for Captain Cody. He did so, and confessed the following murders in which he'had been an accomplice, but he would not give the names of his companions in crime.

The first crime he confessed to, was the brutal murder of one entire family at Kane Hill, Arkansas.

This murder attracted considerable attention at the time, as three innocent men said to have committed the crime, suffered the penalty attached thereto by hanging, while the real criminals escaped. The next victim, was a horse-jockey, supposed to have considerable money in his possession; only two dollars was found upon his person, however, at the time of the murder. A lawyer named Campbell, a partner of Paschal, and a resident of Van Busen was the next victim to their insatiable appetite for blood. This latter crime being followed by the atrocious murder of two men, their wives and three children, all of whom lived in the Cherokee Nation, near the Grand River.

The Starr boys were accused of many other murders, of which no positive proof could be brought against them. Tewey Starr lived but a short time, after making his confession, dying at midnight, after five days of the most intense suffering. After resting a while longer at the Fort, we started after the two other outlaws, travelling through the country for about two weeks without rinding any trace of them, and as winter was coming on, and the weather bad, we started for the Cherokee Nation to remain during the winter months. A few days later, some of our party, (married men) left for their homes. On their way hither, they were overtaken by certain friends of the Starr boys, who had vowed to be revenged upon the parties who had assisted in hunting them down, and were murdered in cold blood. One man named Six Killer, an Indian, was literally cut to pieces. Anderson Lawrie and myself were shot at several times, while going from the Council grounds to his house, and it was a mere matter of chance that we did not share the same fate as our companions. I was advised to leave the Cherokee Nation, or remain at the risk of my life, as the Starr boys had themselves sworn vengeance upon all who came in their way. Three of our party were murdered, after I left the country.

In the early part of April, I went to Missouri for the purpose of joining a company of emigrants who were bound for Oregon or California. I traveled with a family named Martin, who went to Oregon. The hardships we endured, and the dangers we encountered were enough to appall the stoutest heart, and to try the patience of a saint. Three days after leaving Missouri, the company decided to elect a Pilot. There were two candidates for the position, named Meeks and Brown. Meeks, who ran as the poor man's pilot, and only charged two dollars and a half per day for each wagon, succeeded in obtaining the largest number of votes, and consequently was elected to the position. He proved to be a very poor one however, and led us through a great many rough places. A few days after the election Meeks took unto himself a wife, the marriage ceremony being performed by a Baptist Minister, who formed one of our party; and, whom at the time we had an excellent opinion of. Our troubles now commenced, and while crossing the mountains, it was difficult for even the best of us to keep our tempers under control, as everything seemed to go wrong. I will give an illustration of some of the difficulties with which we had to contend, placing us, as they often did in positions of great danger.

In crossing a certain river filled with large rocks, which could only be avoided by going out of the regular track, and even then one was not always successful in doing so, a certain family which was composed of the father and mother and three daughters, were so unfortunate as to have their wagon upset. At the time of the accident the wagon was driven by a hired man, the father having gone ahead of the party. The women would all have been drowned if we had not gone immediately to their assistance, as the father lost his presence of mind entirely, and instead of making an effort to release them from their perilous position, he stood upon the bank of the river, praying that God would forgive all his past sins and help him to rescue his loved ones from a watery grave. After a great deal of hard work, we succeeded at last in righting the wagon and bringing it and the women ashore, where we made the latter as comfortable as our circumstances would permit.

The next incident, of any interest to my readers, occurred while crossing a swamp. The Indians had here constructed a crossing, which upon our testing it proved to be a regular trap in which we lost some of our cattle. It was made by driving stakes into the ground, the outer ends of which were sharpened. The whole being covered with brush to give it a substantial appearance, and was, to say the least, a very ingenious device on the part of the Indians to procure a good supply of meat, with very little trouble to themselves; as the cattle in walking over the crossing would be sure to lose their footing and fall upon the sharpened stakes with such force as to kill them. One of our party however, exhibited as much cunning as our enemies had, and taking some strychnine, which he happened to have with him, he returned to the crossing, which had proved so disastrous to us, and poisoned all the meat which had been left behind. The next morning after our wagons were under way, a party of us took our rifles and hid in the brush, watching for an opportunity to square our accounts with the Indians. We found about eighteen of them encamped near the spot where the accident had occurred. They had partaken very freely of the meat, and were in great glee over the success of their trick, and manifested their joy by dancing around the spot where the beef lay. But their joy was of short duration, for the poison began to have its effect upon them, and ere many minutes passed the whole company were en-route for those happy hunting grounds from whence no warrior e'er returns.

Crossing the mountains in early days was quite an undertaking, and in a number of places the gulches were so steep, that we had to chop down trees and chain them to the hind axle-trees, rough lock the hind wheels, and even put two or three men upon the tree to keep the wagon from going over on the cattle. We thought these roads pretty bad, but after leaving Fort Hall they were much worse. In many places, we had to take the wagons down by hand, while in others, we found we were absolutely obliged to build a road before we could proceed any farther. Sometimes by hitching ten or twelve oxen to a team we managed, after a hard struggle, to get out of some of the steepest gulches.

Well may the Murphy company be called the "Pioneers of California," as no one, at this late day, can form an idea of the difficulties and hardships attending travel across the Continent, at the period of which we write. Very often we would find the roads so obstructed by fallen trees, logs, etc., which took so much time and labor to remove, that some days we would only make five miles progress on our way. I had made the journey twice on horseback, when it seemed comparatively easy to get through; but when we attempted the same task with wagons it proved to be quite a different undertaking. We arrived at Sutter's Fort in the month of October. Our company at this time consisted of the following named persons, all of whom were accompanied by their families: Messrs. Elliott, Christie, Hyde, Dingle, Skinner and Guickby. The mother and brother of the latter; together with George McDougall, William Black-burn, Jack Snyder, two men by the name of Bristol and Williams, and a family named Kennedy left their teams and went ahead of us on horseback. Mr. Knight whose wagon with all its contents had been burned while in the mountains, also accompanied them. I remained at the Fort a few days hoping to find some employment; nothing offered itself however, and when Mr. Skinner proposed that we should go to San Francisco, I at once decided to do so. We traveled on horseback until we reached Martinez, where we procured a boat and crossed the bay to Sausalito, going at once to Captain Richardson's place. Upon our leaving the latter place for Yerba Buena, as it was called in those days, Captain Richardson put us across the bay in his boat.

The first person I met in San Francisco, was a Mr. Thompson, who had formerly had a blacksmith shop in the Cherokee Nation, and of course we were much surprised and pleased at meeting each other in California. I made his house my home while in San Francisco, but I had not been there very long, before I came to the conclusion that my chances for securing employment of any kind, were very poor. There was one small general merchandise store in the place, one billiard-room and one liquor saloon; the latter having just opened by my friend in partnership with another man. They promised me if their business improved, that they would pay me ten dollars per month together with my board and washing if I chose to stay and work for them. Skinner and I talked the matter over and came to the conclusion that we could do better elsewhere. Accordingly when spring arrived, he left for Oregon and tried to induce me to accompany him, but without success. We had both been to very little expense on our trip to San Francisco, and had nothing to complain of in that respect, having only spent twenty-five cents each. ...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six