Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and California Statehood

One of the most interesting aspects of California history in the late 1840’s and early 1850’s was the role of ex-General Mariano Vallejo of the Mexican military. Events happened so fast during this era that often times the prominent role that Mariano Vallejo played in early California history goes unnoticed.

general vallejo
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, public domain photo

To preface this article, I need to point out that present day California has a city named after this Mexican ex-General. Vallejo California lies in the far northeastern part of San Francisco Bay (San Pablo Bay) in the Carquinez Straits which separate the San Pablo Bay from Suisun Bay to the east. The United States navy also commissioned the nuclear submarine USS Mariano G. Vallejo, (SSBN-658), in 1966. The submarine was in service until it’s decommissioning in 1995. An interesting historical fact about the submarine is that the Vallejo’s tail was saved and is currently on display at Mare Island California, adjacent to the city of Vallejo. The site at Mare island, the first full scale Naval installation on the west coast, is a fitting place for the Vallejo submarine tail display.

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was born into a prominent Spanish family and pursued a career in the military and politics. Vallejo firmly believed that the American presence in Alta California promoted economic prosperity and political stability. Mariano Vallejo was born in Monterey on July of 1808. Starting off as a cadet in the military he was made comandante-general of California in 1838. Vallejo  made a name for himself at the age twenty-one, when he led a victorious Mexican and Indian expedition against an Indian revolt at the San José Mission. Not long after that accomplishment, the Mexican governor appointed Vallejo the head of the San Francisco garrison, then as the military commander of the northern part of the state. This preceded vallejo’s move to Sonoma. Vallejo actually had additional power as director of colonization of the north Alta California region and was authorized to issue land grants to settlers.

sonoma california
Historic Sonoma California

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo is quite an interesting figure in early California. Although he was briefly jailed during the Bear Flag Revolt in the late 1840’s, Vallejo went on to become quite a booster for the new State of California that was established in 1850. At the time of Alta California being ceded to the United States from Mexico, Mariano Vallejo was in charge of a military garrison located in present day Sonoma California. Sonoma of course was a Franciscan Mission town which, surprisingly, was built by the secular Mexican government after the defeat of the Spaniards. The popular story about the mission in Sonoma is that the Mexican government needed a northern outpost north of San Francisco Bay because of Russian activity to it’s north. The Russians had a long history of fur trapping and trading in the Fort Ross and Bodega Bay area of the Pacific coast, north of San Francisco. The mission settlement and troops stationed under Vallejo in Sonoma would serve as a sort of lookout post. This is what placed Vallejo and his troops in the Sonoma County California area at the time of the Bear Flag Revolt and the ultimate takeover by the U.S. It has also been written that at one time the Russians were interested in selling Fort Ross, on the Pacific coast, to the Mexican government and that Mariano Vallejo had indeed discussed this with them. Nothing of course ever happened in this regard.

sonoma california barracks
General Vallejo’s Sonoma Barracks

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo passed away in 1890. At the time of his death he still was able to hold a relatively small 200 acre ranch. As it turned out for Vallejo and other Mexicans who were present in California at the U.S. takeover, the future wasn’t exceptionally bright. By the end of the 1800’s most all Mexicans and Mexican-Americans found themselves an ignored minority, with little or no political power and little wealth.

Two related articles you’ll find interesting is a visit to Sonoma California and a trip to historic Mare Island.

There is a lot of interesting history as to how several sites around present day Vallejo received their names. The city of Vallejo itself was named for the ex-Mexican General in 1844. The city of Benicia to it’s east was named after Vallejo’s wife. The very historic naval shipyard of Mare Island, adjacent to Vallejo California on it’s west, reportedly received it’s name because it was the site where Vallejo’s favorite horse was found after it fell off a raft in 1845.

city of vallejo california
Vallejo California as viewed from Mare Island

Today, there are several historic sites and museums that tell the story about Vallejo California, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and the naval history of this North Bay California city. The Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum tells the fascinating story about Vallejo California and adjacent Mare Island. The museum is located at 734 Marin Street in Vallejo. The Sonoma Plaza in Sonoma California has the home of General Mariano Vallejo and the site where the Bear Flag Revolt took place in 1846. Petaluma Adobe which is  preserved in Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park in Sonoma County, is considered one of the oldest preserved buildings in northern California. The adobe was constructed by General Vallejo and was a part of his ranch. The state park has been temporarily closed due to budget restraints. You check on the status of the park before you journey there.

(Photos of Sonoma Barracks, historic building and city of Vallejo are from author’s private collection)

Building the Transcontinental Telegraph Lines / Westward Expansion America

When you research western history, one of the most significant events that helped the United States solidify itself was the creation of a transcontinental telegraph system. In fact, the telegraph system was the sole reason the Pony Express had such a short existence. The Pony Express ended at about the same moment that the last telegraph wires were joined together. It wasn’t even a surprise. Everyone well knew that the telegraph system to California would be completed more sooner than later. Pony Express riders would pass work crews stringing the lines.

Building of the Telegraph Lines

Pony Express rider passing telegraph line work crew

Very similar to how the transcontinental railroad would be completed in 1869, the telegraph lines built to transmit the Morse code translation, would be constructed from both ends simultaneously.

At the start of the Pony Express in 1860, lines from the east reached St. Joseph Missouri. From the west they reached Placerville California in the Sierra Nevada foothills. A Pony Express rider carrying a mochila with telegrams heading west from St. Joseph would drop them off in Placerville where they would then be telegraphed to San Francisco. St. Joseph Missouri would be the terminus for telegrams to be sent further east.

As you might expect, building the telegraph lines between Missouri and California was not the easiest job in the world. It all began in earnest with the passage of the Pacific Telegraph Act by Congress in 1860. So why was 1860 a pivotal year for communications?

The Telegraph and the Civil War

The public domain map below shows the route of the first Transcontinental Telegraph line. The lines used to send and translate Morse code to text would change America’s communication systems forever.

The year 1860 marked the beginnings of the American Civil War. California became a state in 1850, at a time when the California Gold Rush was in full swing. The United States was spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific with a lot of frontier in between. The federal government needed some way to communicate rapidly with it’s far flung state of California.

To demonstrate the problem, a letter sent from Washington D.C. to San Francisco California in 1860, prior to the Pony Express, had two options to be delivered. In the 1850’s, the method was by Pacific Mail ship from San Francisco to Panama, then through the Panamanian jungles to another ship on it’s east coast, then on to Washington D.C. or New York. This was a journey of perhaps two months. If the ship happened to be using the Cape Horn route, it would take longer.

he second method came into being in 1858. This was the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Line which ran from Missouri to California via the southwest. The Butterfield route via El Paso and San Diego was scheduled to take about twenty-five days covering it’s 2,795 mile distance. Not fast, but a marked improvement over the steamer mail service. What was fast was the Pony Express system which made the Missouri to California trek through the middle of the country in ten days. In fact, prior to the telegraph, this was considered lightning speed.

Pony Express Postmark

Several other telegraph bills were passed by Congress, and one of those appropriated $40,000 a year, for ten years, toward the building and maintenance of a telegraph line between the Atlantic and Pacific States.

The mergers and consolidations that would be the history of the later railroads, were similar to what was being set up to construct the transcontinental telegraph. The various California telegraph companies would merge together to build the line from California to Salt Lake City. The Western Union, who was awarded the contract, would build from Salt Lake City eastward. The California companies did formally  meet and agree on their consolidation. The new California telegraph company was named the Overland Telegraph Company with capital of $1,250,000. They would complete a telegraph line from San Francisco to Salt Lake City.

Building the telegraph lines between Omaha Nebraska and California presented a host of problems. Materials were put together in the latter part of 1860. Major problems in supplying the construction crews were overcome but there was a constant shortage of sources of telegraph poles on the Midwest plains and the deserts of the western portions.

The Civil War made heavy demands on both labor and supplies. Add to this the task of completing the line over the high and rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. Materials for the western section were shipped around the Cape Horn to San Francisco, a similar route as taken by many prospectors heading to the California Gold Rush a decade earlier.

In addition to the geographic difficulties, there was always some threat of Indian attack. The Indians were a bit perplexed as to what exactly was going on. Watching work crews stringing wire from pole to pole raised there curiosity. It was reported that many Indians thought that the wire represented some sort of mystical powers not really understanding the concept of electricity flowing over wires. As a side note, there was an effort made prior to the construction of the line to try to explain to the Indians what was about to occur and why.

Western Union Telegraph Key, circa 1900

Edward Creighton, a Western Union general agent, organized two teams of builders, one to work on the line from the West , the other from the East. On October 18, 1861, the workers of the one subcontractor, Pacific Telegraph Co. reached Salt lake City. This completed the eastern section of the line out of Omaha. The western section was shorter in mileage but the terrain was quite different. The western section of the telegraph was finally completed on October 24, 1861. This date marked the time that the Pony Express system was considered obsolete.

An historic event took place immediately upon completion of the line. Using the key telegraph system in Morse code, a message was telegraphed to President Abraham Lincoln from the president of the Overland telegraph Company which officially read, “I announce to you that the telegraph to California has this day been completed. May it be a bond of perpetuity between the states of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific.” Truly, this was a major milestone in communication and unified the country as never before. The Morse code sound traveled across the country at virtually the speed of light.

Here are links to two other articles you should find interesting regarding the westward expansion in America. The Pony Express Trail in California and the story of the Central Pacific Railroad, a part of the first transcontinental railroad.

On our Western Trips site you’ll enjoy the article on The Great Train Robbery and the Union Pacific Posse.

Visit the Locust Grove Museum

There’s an interesting historic site tied in with the transcontinental telegraph system. Locust Grove is a villa in the Italianate style designed in 1850 for artist and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse by architect Alexander Jackson Davis. None of the original furnishings survive from the Morse family’s years at Locust Grove. Of special interest however is that the Museum Pavilion is the home of a permanent exhibit that explores Samuel Morse’s two careers, first as an artist and later as the inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code.

William and Martha Young brought a new vision to Locust Grove after acquiring the estate from Morse’s heirs in 1895.  According to the Locust Grove Museum, In 1975 Annette Innis Young, the last member of the Young family to live at Locust Grove, created a not-for-profit foundation to preserve the estate for “the enjoyment, visitation, and enlightenment of the public.”  Her bequest included more than 125 acres of gardens and grounds. The Locust Grove Estate is located at 2683 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY .

(Western Union telegraph key photo is from author’s private collection. Other images shown are in the public domain)

 

 

The Tsunami of Crescent City California / A Natural Disaster

Since the devastating Japanese tsunami of 2011, many people came to realize just how damaging an event like this is to a country’s infrastructure.

There is a scenic coastal town in far northern California, very near the Oregon border, that was the scene to one of the worst tsunamis on United States soil. Crescent City California unfortunately is situated at a point where the seabed itself magnifies wave action that can turn a tsunami into a ravaging tidal wave that can engulf almost the entire town. The story of why this is so and the havoc and loss of life it delivered is an interesting story. The year 1964 was a year residents of this coastal community never forgot. At the time it made headlines the world over.The story of Crescent City California is an interesting one.

crescent city california harbor
Crescent City California harbor, Courtesy U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

An earthquake near Anchorage Alaska in 1964 changed the history of the coastal town of Crescent City forever. Wave cycles that were larger than eight feet virtually destroyed this town. The Crescent City Ca tsunami was one of the worst in America’s history. West coast tsunamis have been a danger to contend with ever since the area was settled. All west coast states place great emphasis on tsunami warning systems.

What is a tsunami ? A tsunami is generally defined as a long period wave, or seismic sea wave, caused by an underwater disturbance such as a volcanic eruption or earthquake. A reason was discovered as to why this particular tsunami in 1964 had the devastating effects it delivered. The seafloor around Crescent City is shaped as such that tsunami action is actually focused and magnified. When the earthquake occurred in Alaska, a tidal wave effect not only traveled across the Pacific Ocean but swiftly traveled down the North American continent west coast as well. In a matter of a bit more than three hours the effects of the tidal wave were felt in Washington state. About one and a half hours later the waves were striking Crescent City California, about twenty miles south of the Oregon border. In reality, any seismic event anywhere in the Pacific region, whether it is 1,000 miles or 6,000 miles away, can affect any city or town on the United States west coast. When warning system sensors detect certain undersea pulses after a seismic event, you can count on west coast tsunami warnings to be put in effect.

The devastation at Crescent City was reported as follows. Two hundred and eighty nine buildings were totally destroyed. An enormous one thousands automobiles and twenty five large fishing boats were literally crushed. Twelve people were initially confirmed as dead, one hundred were reported injured and there were many people missing. A total of sixty city blocks were flooded and thirty blocks considered destroyed. Never before had a tsunami wreaked this kind of damage to an American city. The tsunami continued down the California coast but fortunately not with this type of devastating effect. Over the years, west coast tsunami damage has been experienced in many communities in addition to Crescent City.

crescent city jetty
Crescent City harbor jetty, Public Domain photo

So what effect does the seafloor off Crescent City California have with tsunami waves? To understand this you need to recognize that the seafloor is not flat. It varies as much as the topography on dry land. There are deep shallow spots, canyons and tops of mountain ranges, all below the waters surface.This undersea layout affects the amount of energy at the various locations as the original tsunami wave gets variously reflected and diffracted on the way. You may already be familiar with the way the water retreats before the tsunami wave hits the shore. Many people have lost their lives by wandering out to areas on the beach that have been exposed by the waters retreat. This is the trough before the wave arrives, and this can cause problems if people go out into previously covered areas when the water retreats before it comes back with considerable force. There are newsreels that have shown this type of water retreat as well as the ensuing large wave that strikes shortly after. Tsunamis are sometimes quite confusing to anticipate from the shoreline. The wave action and massive force involved occur underwater. In other words, it’s not like looking out at the horizon and seeing a giant wave thirty feet high in the distance. The force is underwater and as it approaches the shallower seabed off shore, the level is forced to rise as it is being pushed up higher and higher because of the seabed. It appears more like a constant water level rising than a towering wave.

del norte county california
Crescent City area within California, public domain image

The effect a tsunami has on boats actually illustrates this. It’s common knowledge that a vessel can ride out a tsunami much better being out at sea than tied up at a dock. At sea, the boat will generally feel a rising of the water as the powerful wave travels underwater beneath it’s hull. If that same vessel was tied up at a dock when the wave hit the shore by rapidly rising, the boat would most likely be destroyed by the severe tossing around and would likely break away from it’s lines. Most observers conclude that a vessel at sea is almost under no threat. By the same token, it is never advisable to try to launch a boat from the dock while a tsunami is already in progress. Five people died in Crescent City in 1964 when they launched a boat near the crest of the fourth wave and were caught in the strong outflow. In fact, it is strongly suggested not to even try to go to a dock to try to secure your boat after the tsunami action has already started. Since the wave action comes in cycles, your chances of being caught in the dock area when another wave cycle comes ashore is great.

As far as warning and preparedness against tsunamis, much has changed since the Crescent City California disaster of 1964. Being educated about what a tsunami really is and it’s characteristics many feel is key to knowing what to do and what not to do. Tsunamis can be misleading because they last for a long time. They usually are not one quick event. There was a large tsunami that hit the California coast in the year 1946.This Aleutian generated tsunami produced waves heights of 12 to 16 feet at Half Moon Bay, Muir Beach, Arena Cove, and Santa Cruz. In Crescent City in 1946, half the deaths happened because they went back too soon. The 1946 Aleutian Tsunami crossed the Pacific, producing waves up to 30 feet high in some locations at the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, and even had the power to damage fishing boats in Chile. During the tsunami of 2006, Crescent City almost had some deaths because people went back to check on the boats. They didn’t fully understand that subsequent underwater waves were still lurking offshore. Simply put, the best action to take is to head for high ground and then stay there.

tsunami evacuation road sign
Tsunami Evacuation Sign, public domain photo

As most people are aware, we now have in place a Pacific Ocean wide tsunami alert system. This system employs undersea sensors that measure the magnitude of underwater wave action. Along with this and to take advantage of the timely information, a communications infrastructure has been established to issue timely alerts to permit evacuation of coastal areas. Tsunami alerts that might be issued for the west coast of the U.S., Alaska and Canada originate from the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer Alaska. Obviously, the best way to save lives in a tsunami is to be able to give out warnings far in advance and this is the goal of the current warning systems. The west coast tsunami warning system is today quite extensive.

Warnings of course work best when the initial seismic event that causes the tsunami is far away. When an event occurs across the Pacific, the time a wave would take to reach the west coast of the U.S. is measured in hours. When an earthquake occurs around Alaska, the time to prepare is much much less.

Because of the seabed topography around Crescent City California, the threat of a tsunami will always remain but the much improved warning system in place, both across the Pacific Ocean as well as in the city in particular, will go a long way in providing adequate warning if and when another threat presents itself. The northern California coast is a very beautiful place to visit and Crescent City, along with it’s close proximity to the Redwood National and State Parks remains a very popular tourist attraction. If you’re vacation plans include far northern California, it’s a great addition to your trip planner.