already cited, explained to his uncle the use that had been made of his name, declared the movement a success, and urged the importance of his presence at the capital. Don Guadalupe obeyed, and came from Sonoma with a small force.[1]
It was on November 29th that Vallejo took the oath of allegiance to the new government, assumed the position of comandante general, and issued a proclamation to the Californians — a document expressing patriotic purposes in the usual grandiloquent language of Spanish American officials.[2] It was feared that some objection might be made in certain quarters to a general who held no higher military rank than that of lieutenant, and accordingly on the day the oath was taken the constituent congress voted Vallejo a
- ↑ Vallejo, Hist. Cal., MS., iii. 197-202, tells us that he started from Sonoma with a large force before he knew what had taken place, but sent back all but 50 of his men when he heard at José that Gutierrez had fallen. He only knew of his appointment by the shout of viva el comandante general! by which he was greeted at Monterey. Nov. 7, 1836, Castro to Vallejo. Official notice of his appointment. 'The people expect of your patriotism a compliance with their wishes.' Vallejo, Doc., MS., iii. 264. Nov. 16th, Vallejo from str. of Carquines to Castro. Will start at once for Sonoma, and thence for Monterey; though it is inconvenient, as he expects 62 Indian chiefs to make treaties. Id., iv. 42.
- ↑ Vallejo, Proclama del C. Mariano G. Vallejo en el acto de prestar el juramento de las baces adoptadas por la Ecsᵐᵃ Diputacion de la Alta California. Monterrey, 29 de Nov. de 1836. Imprenta del Sup. Gob., etc., 1 leaf, in Earliest Printing; Vallejo, Doc., MS., iii. 269; Bandini, Doc., MS., 43; Dept. St. Pap., Angeles, MS., x. 13; and with French translation in Petit-Thouars, Voyages, MS., iv. 1-3. 'Fellow-citizens: the sovereign legislative assembly of the free state of Alta California calls me to its aid, and I obey its supreme determination, putting myself at the head of the brave men who surround me, and accepting the comandancia general for the public welfare, whose slave alone I am. Yes, fellow-citizens, I swear to you before God I would promise to secure your happiness, if, as my soul abounds in love for the country, my knowledge were sufficient to second my good intentions and the purity of my desires. Yet I will strive to that end, and I will succeed in showing that I am a citizen who loves the liberty of a country so often outraged with impunity. If I succeed, my reward will be the well-being of the sovereign people to which I have the honor to belong; but if it may not be so, my fitting recompense will be a cold stone, which, confounding me among insensible beings, shall publish "Here lies a Californian who yielded to death rather than to tyranny!"' etc. In translating this and other documents in my notes, I have thought it best to give the author's words as literally as possible, taking pains, however, never to exaggerate in English any vagueness, inelegancy, or absurdity of the original Spanish. On Nov. 28th, Alvarado wrote to Valentin Cota at Sta Bárbara a friendly letter, declaring that prospects were very bright, though the leeches might yet make trouble. Cota, Doc., MS., 5-6.
