Starr King in California | Page 5

William Cullen Bryant presided,
and other men hardly less distinguished testified to the nature of King's
work, and to the varied charm of his unique personality. Best of all,
perhaps, was the tribute of his friend and neighbor, Dr. Frederick H.
Hedge. "Happy Soul! himself a benediction wherever he goes; a living
evangel of kind affections, better than all prophecy and all knowledge,
the Angel of the Church whom Boston sends to San Francisco."
Such was the man who came to California in the greatest crisis of her
history to exert upon her destiny an influence unequalled and
unexampled even in that most romantic and eventful story of the
Golden West.

Part II California in 1860

The federal census of 1860 gave California 379,984 inhabitants and
San Francisco 56,802. Historian Bancroft informs us that here was "a
gathering without a parallel in history." It may be said that the whole
history and development of California is without parallel. The story
reads not so much like the orderly growth of a civilized community as a
series of unrelated and episodical events. There is little of logical order
or sequence, and much of surprise, adventure, of conflict and crisis.
Said an aged philosopher, "It is the unexpected that happens," a saying
illustrated if anywhere in the world, in the history of the Golden State.
Although discovered early in the sixteenth century by adventurous
Spaniards, no serious attempt was made at settlement of any portion of
the territory now included in the boundaries of California until the year
1769, when Father Junipero Serra arrived at the Bay of San Diego.
Then followed a half century constituting the Mission Period of
California history, during which Spanish Governors and Franciscan
Friars ruled the land. Inspired more by religious zeal than by lust of
conquest, or hope of gain, the Spanish Padres planted a chain of
missions extending from San Diego to the Bay of San Francisco. At
these missions, consisting often, at the beginning, of nothing more than
a rude cross and altar, with some miserable make-shift of tent or huts as
protection from the heat of summer and the cold of winter, the faithful
priests labored to convert the surrounding Indians. They tried to make
of them not alone good Catholics, but good farmers, and vineyardists,
and according to the need of the time, capable carpenters and builders.
As the result of their labors a long period of simple prosperity was
enjoyed at the missions. Buildings were erected that still delight the
traveler. They were for the most part of Moorish architecture, built of
adobe, painted white, with red-tile roofs, long corridors and ever the
secluded plaza where the friar might tell his beads in peace. Around the

missions, some twenty in number, lying a day's journey apart between
the southern and the central bay, Indian workers cultivated immense
fields of grain, choice vineyards, olive orchards and orange groves;
great herds of horses, cattle, and sheep were cared for, and the women
became adept at weaving and spinning. Nor were the Spanish
Governors idle. They encouraged the immigration of settlers both from
the mother country and Mexico by a most liberal policy, assisting the
newcomer to build a home, acquire stock, and establish himself in a
country where there was an abundance of game, and where the earth
yielded her bounty with the minimum of labor. Thus in the half century
between 1770 and 1820, these Pius Padres laid the foundations of
California, as they believed securely, after Catholic and Spanish
tradition.
Not securely so it proved, for in 1822 Mexico won her independence
from Spain, both political and religious. The California Padres being
Spaniards naturally suffered persecution at the hands of successive
Mexican Governors, who were envious of the lands, orchards and herds
of domestic animals belonging to the various missions. Ruthlessly the
Friars were plundered of their well tilled fields, their fine vineyards,
their flocks and herds, and their Indian converts were enticed or driven
into the service of the new Masters of the country. Some of these
officials were of Spanish blood and some of Mexican but now they
proudly called themselves, Californians. And proudly they lived, these
Spanish and Mexican Dons. Owning immense tracts of land, riding
upon fleet horses, relieved of all necessity of honest work, they soon
became in their manner of living, veritable hidalgoes.
Vain, ridiculously boastful, pleasure chasers, they loved above all else
the frolic, the dance, and a good horse. All the way from San Diego to
Shasta were located the immense ranchoes, more than six hundred in
number, ever since celebrated in song and story. This was the period so
often called by poetic writers the Romantic Age of California.
Although much of the glamor of the dear old days of plenty and
pleasure has