wife and seven children, with whom he began the overland trek from Iowa on April 5, 1846, to California. Even as conditions deteriorated with the weather, Breen continued to keep a diary.
Frid 26th Froze hard last night today clear & warm Wind S: E: blowing briskly Marthas jaw swelled with the toothache; hungry times in camp, plenty hides but the folks will not eat them we eat them with a tolerable good apetite. Thanks be to Almighty God.
Amen Mrs Murphy said here yesterday that thought she would commence on Milt. & eat him. I dont that she has done so yet, it is distressing.
The Donnos [Donners] told the California folks that they commence to eat the dead people 4 days ago, if they did not succeed that day or next in finding their cattle then under ten or twelve feet of snow & did not know the spot or near it, I suppose they have done so ere this time.
Of the eighty-three members of the Donner Party who were trapped in the High Sierra, only forty-five survived to reach California. Breen and his entire family were fortunate enough to be among the survivors who staggered into Sutterâs Fort after they were rescued.But even as this story was breaking in northern California, in the southern part of the newly liberated Mexican province, the Mexican-American War was still going on.
In October 1846, insurrectionists attempted to besiege the U.S. garrison in the old pueblo of Los Angeles. It seemed that the United States had neglected, as it had almost since its inception, its intelligence services. Admiral Stockton did not know that the southern Californians still held a Spanish/Mexican identity.
There in Los Angeles, the Mexican militia handed the U.S. military an embarrassing defeat. Not only did they kick the Americans out of the pueblo, they also kept them out despite repeated attempts to reenter. In addition to regular soldiers, the Mexican militia numbered cultured, well-educated, well-trained caballeros from families of âgood blood.â These were the Californios, who went back generations on California soil and who had much to lose if the Americans won.
Since 1769, Californios had lived in California. They were Spanish-speaking California natives who dated their ancestry back to the Spanish Franciscan priests, the freys , who built missions or churches up and down the coast. Their herculean efforts were in the service of God; they hoped to convert all the Indians to Christianity to save their souls.
The Californios had been granted their land rights by the Spanish king himself, and were later acknowledged by their Mexican conquerors. They had carved out of the virgin country huge ranchos, or cattle ranches, up anddown the coast. Besides raising cattle, the ranchos also had a terrific cattle hide and tallow trade. Some of the ranchos made excellent wines; others grew citrus oranges and lemons that attracted an international trade.
By 1849, two hundred Californio families owned approximately fourteen million acres of prime California land. But there was no guarantee that the Americans, despite protestations to the contrary, would continue to honor the Spanish land grants, which took in millions of miles of Californiaâs prime lands.
Frémont and the California volunteers, including wheelwright James Marshall, were on the move. Riding south to Los Angeles, they were to be one of the cavalry units that, along with infantry, artillery, and naval forces, would combine to assault the Los Angeles pueblo where the Mexican militia was still holding out.
By January 8, 1847, Frémont had not yet arrived. The commanding officers, Admiral Stockton and General Kearney, decided they had staged their forces long enough; they would attack without Frémont. The American forces met the Californios on January 8 and 9 at the Battles of Rio San Gabriel and La Mesa. Both times, the Californios, under the command of General José Maria Flores, failed to beat back the American advance. On January 10, just as
Frid 26th Froze hard last night today clear & warm Wind S: E: blowing briskly Marthas jaw swelled with the toothache; hungry times in camp, plenty hides but the folks will not eat them we eat them with a tolerable good apetite. Thanks be to Almighty God.
Amen Mrs Murphy said here yesterday that thought she would commence on Milt. & eat him. I dont that she has done so yet, it is distressing.
The Donnos [Donners] told the California folks that they commence to eat the dead people 4 days ago, if they did not succeed that day or next in finding their cattle then under ten or twelve feet of snow & did not know the spot or near it, I suppose they have done so ere this time.
Of the eighty-three members of the Donner Party who were trapped in the High Sierra, only forty-five survived to reach California. Breen and his entire family were fortunate enough to be among the survivors who staggered into Sutterâs Fort after they were rescued.But even as this story was breaking in northern California, in the southern part of the newly liberated Mexican province, the Mexican-American War was still going on.
In October 1846, insurrectionists attempted to besiege the U.S. garrison in the old pueblo of Los Angeles. It seemed that the United States had neglected, as it had almost since its inception, its intelligence services. Admiral Stockton did not know that the southern Californians still held a Spanish/Mexican identity.
There in Los Angeles, the Mexican militia handed the U.S. military an embarrassing defeat. Not only did they kick the Americans out of the pueblo, they also kept them out despite repeated attempts to reenter. In addition to regular soldiers, the Mexican militia numbered cultured, well-educated, well-trained caballeros from families of âgood blood.â These were the Californios, who went back generations on California soil and who had much to lose if the Americans won.
Since 1769, Californios had lived in California. They were Spanish-speaking California natives who dated their ancestry back to the Spanish Franciscan priests, the freys , who built missions or churches up and down the coast. Their herculean efforts were in the service of God; they hoped to convert all the Indians to Christianity to save their souls.
The Californios had been granted their land rights by the Spanish king himself, and were later acknowledged by their Mexican conquerors. They had carved out of the virgin country huge ranchos, or cattle ranches, up anddown the coast. Besides raising cattle, the ranchos also had a terrific cattle hide and tallow trade. Some of the ranchos made excellent wines; others grew citrus oranges and lemons that attracted an international trade.
By 1849, two hundred Californio families owned approximately fourteen million acres of prime California land. But there was no guarantee that the Americans, despite protestations to the contrary, would continue to honor the Spanish land grants, which took in millions of miles of Californiaâs prime lands.
Frémont and the California volunteers, including wheelwright James Marshall, were on the move. Riding south to Los Angeles, they were to be one of the cavalry units that, along with infantry, artillery, and naval forces, would combine to assault the Los Angeles pueblo where the Mexican militia was still holding out.
By January 8, 1847, Frémont had not yet arrived. The commanding officers, Admiral Stockton and General Kearney, decided they had staged their forces long enough; they would attack without Frémont. The American forces met the Californios on January 8 and 9 at the Battles of Rio San Gabriel and La Mesa. Both times, the Californios, under the command of General José Maria Flores, failed to beat back the American advance. On January 10, just as
Similar Books
The Man from Stone Creek
Linda Lael Miller
Secret Star
Nancy Springer
Drive
James Sallis
Chaos Theory: A Zombie Novel
Rich Restucci
The Backpacker
John Harris
Black Fire
Robert Graysmith
L. Ann Marie
Tailley (MC 6)
No Mere Zombie: Deathless Book 2
Chris Fox
Sisterchicks Say Ooh La La!
Robin Jones Gunn
The Wings of Dreams
Fuyumi Ono