Monterey

“ What need had they for gold anyway? They already had what they wanted, and all they wanted. And so Monterey went back to her happy, care-free life; to her sunny skies and verdant hills; to her sounding surf and enchanted ravines; to her merry making and her love making; and again she was content. It had another flutter when the Argonauts of California assembled at Monterey in September, 1849, to frame
a constitution preliminary to seeking statehood for the new Eldorado. There were forty-eight delegates, and they went about their work with dignity and ability. ”

“ If not exactly a paradise, Monterey is certainly a sweet place; 'tis even now a fairy spot in my recollection, although sobered down, and, I trust, a little wiser than I was at that time. There certainly is an air of happiness spread over this small town. Every one is at their ease, everybody sings and smiles, and every hour is dedicated to amusement or repose. ”

“ No; there is none of these at Monterey.
There is a bay, blue and bottomless, with shores studded with tall beautiful timber. There is a prairie lawn, spread like a carpet in patterns composed of pretty wild flowers. Upon it stand hundreds of cottage-built tenements, covered with the creeping vine. In the centre, the presidio, or government-house; on one side the graceful spire of a church, on the other the massive walls of a convent. ”

“ But when the new civilization had built its cities and established its railways and there was time again to cultivate the arts of rest, romance turned once more to Monterey. Capital saw in its ruins an opportunity for gain. In its environs Stevenson beheld a paradise for poets, and Monterey became a field of dalliance, a mecca for millionaires at play, an unfailing inspiration to every spirit in a mood to dream.
Junípero at Monterey initiated the activities that held the coast against envious nations, and now to his tomb comes the tide of travel. ”

“ We were not many,—we who stood Before the iron sleet that day; Yet many a gallant spirit would Give half his years if he but could Have been with us at Monterey. Now here, now there, the shot it hailed In deadly drifts of fiery spray, Yet not a single soldier quailed When wounded comrades round them wailed Their dying shout at Monterey. And on, still on our column kept, Through walls of flame, its withering way; Where fell the dead, the living stept, Still charging on the guns which swept The slippery streets of Monterey. ”

“ SPANISH MONTEREY
FOR centuries, nature had been fashioning the Monterey peninsula into a fitting habitation for the beauty loving people who would be led by their heart’s desire to wander into this nae of dreams. ”

“ In the twenty-four years that intervened before the Stars and Stripes, hoisted over Monterey, proclaimed the advent of the golden age in the West, that city saw thirteen [634] governors come and go. Communication with Mexico was difficult. A governor at Monterey when he rose in the morning did not know whether to salute the flag of a liberator, an emperor, a rebel, a president, or a king. Monterey, too, had turmoils and revolutions of her own. Ambitious intrigue placarded her adobe walls with flaming ultimatos. The alcalde and regidores of one day were prisoners in irons the next. ”

“ We have learned something of the count of Monterey, of his character and abilities as a governor and representative of royalty; we have noted his policy with regard to the Indians and other affairs, and have seen how his name has been retained for the capitals of two provinces, namely, those of Nuevo Leon and of California, to both of which countries he despatched expeditions.
Little remains to be said in taking leave of him. We have found him on the whole a well-meaning man, and rather inclined to caution. ”

“ With American occupation in 1846 and the discovery of gold in 1848, the center of historic significance shifted to San Francisco, but the romantic days of Spanish chivalry moved on in happy sequence at Monterey, and the joyous spirit of that elder time still finds its full expression on the Monterey Peninsula. ”

“ Here is, indeed, a country for our artists to discover; they will find the color and rugged beauty of Monterey on a wilder and vaster scale. In fact, we often remarked that the whole coast from Greenwood to Crescent City, with its colorful ocean, its rugged, rock-bound shoreline, its giant forests, and a thousand other sights of beauty and grandeur, offers a field for the landscape painter such as scarcely exists elsewhere in the world. ”

“ As he leads his dauntless followers into Monterey his soul is high. He sees the beloved South sweeping in victory westward as proudly as her legions rolled over the fields of Monterey and Buena Vista.
The convention assembles. All classes are represented on September 1, 1849. The first legal civil body is convoked west of the Rockies. Men of thought are here. Men destined to be world-famous in the unknown future. Settlers, hidalgos, traders, argonauts, government officials of army and navy, and transient adventurers of no mean ability. ”

“ There is not such a gown in Monterey! Ay, I must go. And they say the Americans hop like puppies when they dance. How I shall laugh at them! And it is not once in the year that I have a chance to speak English, and none of the other girls can. ”

“ I had not forgotten the cachette at our landing-place. Every thing was transferred to the boat-house, and the hot days of summer having already begun to render the settlement unpleasant, we removed to the sea-shore, while the major part of the tribe went to hunt in the rolling prairies of the south.
The presents of the good people of Monterey proved to be a great acquisition to my father. There were many books, which he appropriated to himself; being now too aged and infirm to bear the fatigues of Indian life, he had become fond of retirement and reading. ”

“ We struggle so to achieve a little brief moment of beauty, but every hour at Monterey it is given away.
The bay lies squarely fronting the Pacific swell, about a hundred miles south of the Golden Gate, between the horns of two of the little tumbled coast ranges, cutting back to receive the waters of the Pajaro and the Salinas. From the south the hill juts out sharply, taking the town and the harbour between its knees, but the north shore is blunted by the mountains of Santa Cruz. ”

“ Nothing but the character of the people prevents Monterey from becoming a great town. The soil is as rich as man could wish; climate as good as any in the world; water abundant, and situation extremely beautiful. The harbor, too, is a good one, being subject only to one bad wind, the north; and though the holding-ground is not the best, yet I heard of but one vessel’s being driven ashore here. ”

“ A great effort has been made, of late, to bring Monterey forward as a health resort, and pamphlets by the thousand, the work of some interested, though injudicious author, have been circulated, praising the city to the skies. There is certainly much here to recommend the place to the tourist. Its buildings are old and quaint, its central plaza delightful, its altitude above the sea sufficient to insure a pure and healthful climate, and it has, a few miles away, some very remarkable mineral springs. ”

“ Monterey is a place where there is no summer or winter, and pines and sand and distant hills and a bay all filled with real water from the Pacific. You will perceive that no expense has been spared. I now live with a little French doctor; I take one of my meals in a little French restaurant; for the other two, I sponge. The population of Monterey is about that of a dissenting chapel on a wet Sunday in a strong church neighbourhood. They are mostly Mexican and Indian-mixed. - Ever yours,
R. L. S.
Letter: TO EDMUND GOSSE
MONTEREY, MONTEREY CO., CALIFORNIA, 8TH OCTOBER 1879. ”

“ The first opportunity to see a Mexican city was afforded to our friends at Monterey, and they fully enjoyed it. Every walk along the streets and every drive in the city and its vicinity was full of interest, and there was little that escaped their observation. Being the most northern city of Mexico, Monterey has been much invaded by Americans during the last decade, and many citizens of the United States are established there in various lines of business. ”

“ By September he had advanced as far as the neighborhood of Monterey, the capital of the State of New Leon. This was the key to the northern provinces. In this important fastness the Mexican General, Ampudia, had collected an army of 10,000 men, and awaited attack, expecting to annihilate the bold invaders. The city of Monterey is the oldest in the northern portion of Mexico, having been founded in 1590. Lying in the centre of a fertile plateau, 1,600 feet above the sea, surrounded with groves and gardens, it is a well-built city of stone, with large and handsome public buildings. ”

“ An American traveller has said: "a common bullock-driver on horseback, delivering a message, seemed to speak like an ambassador to an audience. In fact, the Californians appear to be a people on whom a curse had fallen, and stripped them of everything but their pride, their manners and their voices."
There is always much amusement in Monterey; and what betwixt cockfighting, racing, fandangoing, hunting, fishing, sailing, and so forth, time passes quickly away. Its salubrity is remarkable; there has never been any disease--indeed sickness of any kind is unknown. ”

“ In the hands of the English and Americans, Monterey would be a beautiful town adorned with gardens and orchards and surrounded with picturesque walks and drives. The natives are, unfortunately, too ignorant to appreciate and too indolent even to attempt such improvement. ”

“ And so, flying swiftly, stopping only to rest for a few hours at time, and for gasoline and provisions, Havens crossed the continent in his powerful machine, and, one morning, caught sight of the pretty little city of Monterey, nestling on the border of the bay of the same name. ”

“ From Nuevo Laredo to Monterey, which we reached at half past ten P. M., was all one flat mesquit and cactus-covered plain; sand, mesquit and cactus; cactus, sand and mesquit, mile after mile, till darkness fell upon us, when we could see no more. Monterey is the center of Mexico’s steel and iron industries, of large tobacco manufactories, of extensive breweries. It is the chief manufacturing city of modern Mexico. ”

“ On our arrival a guard was posted at the landing-place to prevent smuggling; all trade, except through the governor, being prohibited. The Spaniards were not allowed to come on board as formerly, neither were our people allowed so much liberty on shore. The town of Monterey is most pleasantly situated on a beautiful and extensive plain, and nearly half a mile from a sandy beach. ”

“ Monterey contains about three thousand souls, including the half-breeds and Indians acting as servants in the different dwellings. The population is wealthy, and not having any opportunity to throw away their money, as in the eastern cities (for all their pleasures and enjoyments are at no expense) , they are fond of ornamenting their persons, and their horses and saddles, with as much wealth as they can afford. A saddle of 100l. in value is a common thing among the richer young men, who put all their pride in their steeds and accoutrements. ”

“ Monterey was, and is, as yet, the capital of the country, contains about two thousand inhabitants, principally natives and old established families of foreigners, who have not neglected to improve opportunities of making themselves rich. The soil in the neighborhood is good—the climate a hundred per cent. better than that of San Francisco. ”

“ In 1596 Luis de Montemayor, lieutenant-governor of the province, founded Monterey with families from León and Saltillo. Three years later Montemayor was made governor, directly under the viceroy. In 1603 a Franciscan monastery was founded at Monterey, and became a new missionary center. Conflicts of jurisdiction between Nuevo León and Nueva Vizcaya became chronic and a serious hindrance to prosperity. ”

“ Every thing on shore looked bright and beautiful, the hills covered with grass and flowers, the live-oaks so serene and homelike, and the low adobe houses, with red-tiled roofs and whitened walls, contrasted well with the dark pine-trees behind, making a decidedly good impression upon us who had come so far to spy out the land. Nothing could be more peaceful in its looks than Monterey in January, 1847. We had already made the acquaintance of Commodore Shubrick and the officers of the Independence in Valparaiso, so that we again met as old friends. ”

“ To-day I entered on the duties of my office as alcalde of Monterey: my jurisdiction extends over an immense extent of territory, and over a most heterogeneous population. Almost every nation has, in some emigrant, a representative here—a representative of its peculiar habits, virtues, and vices. Here is the reckless Californian, the half-wild Indian, the roving trapper of the West, the lawless Mexican, the licentious Spaniard, the scolding Englishman, the absconding Frenchman, the luckless Irishman, the plodding German, the adventurous Russian, and the discontented Mormon. ”

“ Civil life was then resumed in the various patios, where wine, laughter and
gossip shared the hours with music and love making. Monterey was adjudged by the travelers of that day to be the most delightful, as well as the most civilized looking place in Spanish California. Her pueblo grant covered four square leagues, and the- pueblo proper, in accordance with the usual plan of Spanish architecture, was built around a central plaza, where were located the public buildings and the business section. ”