California Romantic and Resourceful | Page 9

any procession
- not if she knew it. Looking back now, our belief is that the only
reason she required the word "California," instead of the words "State
of California," to be chiseled on the stone was that the rules of the
Monument Association probably prohibited any State from chiseling on
the stone contributed by it any words except the mere name of the State
itself. And the resolution was obeyed - the stone was cut from a
marble-bed on a ranch just outside Placerville, and is now in the
monument!
On April 13, 1850, nearly five months before California was admitted
into the Union, that Legislature gaily passed an act consisting of this
provision: "The common law of England, so far as it is not repugnant to
or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, or the
Constitution or laws of the State of California, shall be the rule of the
decision in all the courts of the State."
Among other things, three joint resolutions were passed, one
demanding of the Federal Government not only a change in the manner
of transporting the mails, but also in the manner of their distribution at
San Francisco, a second urging upon Congress the importance of
authorizing, as soon as practicable, the construction of a national
railroad from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River - not from the
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, but from the Pacific Ocean to
the Mississippi River - and a third urging appropriate grants of land by
the General Government to each commissioned officer of the Army of
the United States who had faithfully and honorably served out a
complete term of service in the war with Mexico. Each of the last two
resolutions, with grim determination, and without a suspicion of humor,
contained this further resolution: "That His Excellency, the Governor,
be requested to forward to each of our Senators and Representatives in
Congress, a certified copy of this joint resolution."
These resolutions were passed five months before the State was
admitted into the Union. If the Senators and Representatives were not
yet actually" in Congress" - well, they were at least in Washington -
and busy. The desire to be admitted into the Union had developed into
a yearning to be considered a part of the Union, had ripened into the
conviction that the State was, potentially at least, actually a part of the
Union, a yearning and a conviction that became almost pathetic in their

intensity. The Legislature adjourned, and for nearly five months the
population of San Francisco assembled on the Plaza on the arrival of
every Panama steamer, waiting - waiting - waiting for the answer,
which, when it did come in the following October, was celebrated with
an abandon of joy that has never been equaled on any succeeding Ninth
of September.
It is indefensible that in the face of incidents of our history such as
these Californians should be ignorant of the lives and experiences of
those who preceded them on this coast. The history of their experiences
is a part of the history of the nation, and the record of the achievement
of the empire-builders of this coast is one that inspires civic pride and a
reverence for their memories. Why should the story remain practically
unknown? Why should every little unimportant detail of the petty
incidents of Queen Anne's War, and King Philip's War, and Braddock's
campaign be crammed into the heads of children who until lately never
heard the name of Portolá? The beautiful story of Paul Revere's ride is
known to everyone, but how many know the story of the invincible
determination in the building of Ugarte's ship[8]? William Penn's
honest treatment of the Indians is a household word to people who
never knew of the existence of Gálvez or Junípero Serra. The story of
the hardships of the New England pilgrims in the first winter on the
"stern and rock-bound coast" of Massachusetts, is not more pitiful than
that of the fate of the immigrants at Donner Lake. The thoughtful
magnanimity of Captain Philip of the "Texas" in the moment of victory,
in the sea-fight at Santiago, when he checked his men "Don't cheer,
boys; the poor fellows are drowning" - is enshrined in the hearts of
Americans that never thrilled with pride at Commodore Sloat's solemn
and patriotic proclamation upon landing his sailors to hoist the colors at
Monterey, a proclamation as fine and dignified as a ritual, that should
be committed to memory, as a part of his education, by every
schoolboy in California[9]. Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish
and Priscilla" is found in every book of declamations, and Bret Harte's
poem of the tragic love story of Rezánov and Concha Argüello in
complete editions of his works[10]. Why herald the