Extract from Theodor Hartweg's journal
Information
Title - Extract from Theodor Hartweg's journal
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/7/2/2/20
Date - 7 Mar 1846-Nov 1846
Scope & content - Extract from Theodor Hartweg's journal, comprising pages 13-18 and 25-32. On onion skin paper
Annotated at the top: 'Received May 10 1847'. Beginning missing, begins mid-sentence on page 13 (original pagination). For the full version of Hartweg's journal, 13 Nov 1845-3 Jun 1848, see RHS/Col/7/2/1/1
The extract describes Hartweg's journey in Tepic [Mexico], Mazatlan [Mexico], Monterey [California, United States of America], Santa Cruz [California], San Francisco [California], Sausalito [California], Sonoma [California], San Miguel [California] and Bodega [California]
Pages 13-18: Narrative of journey, 7 Mar-22 Jun 1846
Pages 25-32: Narrative of journey, 2 Sep-Nov 1846
(7 Mar 1846) Dispatching a tin case of seeds collected in Tepic [Mexico] and Guadalajara [Mexico] to be forwarded 'by diligence [stagecoach]' to Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico]
(9 Mar 1846) Dispatching two chests of Orchidaceae and pine cones to Tampico [Mexico]. Luggage arriving from Mexico City [Mexico], having been detained for a month due to no transport and a change in the government: 'on such occasions the muleteers contrive to keep out of the way from fear of having their mules embargoed or losing them altogether'
(14 Mar 1846) Leaving Tepic for San Blas [Mexico] ('whither my luggage had preceded me')
(15 Mar 1846) Embarking on board a small schooner for Mazatlan [Mexico], the 'most important port' in western coast of Mexico, due to the 'more accommodating' Custom House than San Blas or Acapulco [Mexico]. Enquiring after merchant vessels for northern California, but discovering there had been none for six months and none likely in the near future. Applying ('backed by a letter of introduction from some influential house in Mazatlan') to Commodore Sloat [John D. Sloat, captain in the United States Navy. He claimed California for the United States in July 1846] for passage on a United States ship, Portsmouth, due to sail in a few days for Monterey [California], but being refused due to the unsettled circumstances between the United States and Mexico and the captain wishing to keep the ship's destination secret ('a circumstance well known three weeks before she sailed')
(May 1846) Applying for passage at the beginning of May to Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour [British Royal Navy officer] of HMS Collingwood. Seymour promising Hartweg passage on HMS Juno
(11 May 1846) Boarding HMS Juno for Monterey and sailing the following morning
(7 Jun 1846) Arriving at Monterey after a 26-day journey
(8-9 Jun 1846) Delivering letters of introduction and settling in the 'quiet little town' of Monterey, surrounded by green fields and pine-covered mountains, in contrast to the 'dried-up vegetation' around Mazatlan
Predominant trees an evergreen oak (Quercus californica [Quercus kelloggii]) with a globular crown and 'distorted' branches, growing to 30 feet high in low, dry locations, and Pinus insignis [Pinus radiata] growing to 60-100 feet high in the higher parts, with a stem 2-4 feet in diameter. The varyingly sized leaves and cones depending on the location, the leaves growing to 4 ½-5 ½ inches and the cones 4-4 ½ inches in close woods, but remaining smaller closer to the seashore, where the trees grow one-sided, 'a defect caused by north-west winds'. The differences ('too insignificant to establish them even as varieties') in Pinus insignis leading to the tree being variously known as Pinus tuberculata and Pinus radiata, collected according to Loudon [John Claudius Loudon, British botanist] by the 'late Dr Coulter [Thomas Coulter, Irish botanist and explorer, who collected plants in Mexico and California in 1820s and 1830s]' near the seashore in Monterey, probably in Point Pinos [California]. Seeing on Point Pinos the cones growing in pendulous clusters of three or four and remaining on the trees for several years after shedding their seeds, their apex somewhat 'deformed, that is the scales on one side are more developed than on the other', ripening in about 18-24 months
Seeing on the dry banks of ravines north-east of the town the Californian horse chestnut (Pavia californica [?Aesculus californica]), an 'extremely ornamental shrub', growing up to 25 feet high in a 'globular' shape, with an abundance of fragrant white and pink flowers on spikes 12 inches long ('which I had the curiosity to count [and one] had more than four hundred open flowers and buds upon it'). Collecting other shrubs including Ceanothus thyrsiflorus growing in the pine woods 10-15 feet high, Sambucus ('No 28'), Lonicera racemosa [Symphoria racemosa], Spiraea ariifolia [?Holodiscus dumosus or Holodiscus discolor] and Caprifolium douglasii [unidentified as at Feb 2019] [here the list includes 13 more plants]. Collecting other annual and perennial plants, including Hugelia ('No 5'), Delphinium ('No 24, 26, 61'), Leptosiphon androsaceus [Linanthus androsaceus], Collinsia bicolor [?Collinsia verna or Collinsia heterophylla] and Malva ('No 25') [here the list includes 8 more plants]. Collecting bulbs including Calochortus luteus, Cyclobothra alba [Calochortus albus], Brodiaea congesta [Dichelostemma congestum], Calliprora flava [Triteleia ixioides], Hesperoscordum lacteum [Triteleia hyacinthina] and a Zygadenus called 'amote' ('of which the bruised roots serve as substitute for soap')
(22 Jun 1846) Leaving Monterey for the Santa Cruz Mission [Santa Cruz, California] across the bay, with 'an American gentleman, who obligingly furnished me with a horse for the occasion', the journey by land being 60 miles, and by water 25 miles. Travelling along the seashore over the plain and arriving at the mission in the afternoon 'after a gallop of seven hours: this speed is the usual mode of Californian travelling', with horses driven ahead for longer journeys
Seeing wooded mountains with Taxodium sempervirens [Sequoia sempervirens], called by the American settlers 'redwood' or 'bastard cedar', and growing to an 'enormous size', with the average height of 200 feet and a trunk 6-8 feet in diameter ('straight as an arrow'). Seeing a tree known as 'the giant of the forest', 270 feet high with the circumference of the stem 55 feet and reddish, smooth bark 6-12 inches thick. The timber a 'beautiful' red ('like pencilwood'), close-grained, light and brittle, 'well-adapted for in- and outdoor work, as the boards when seasoned, do not warp, nor is it attacked by insects'. The timber frequently exported to the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii, United States of America], 1,000 feet of 1-inch boards being worth £8
Seeing some 'fine' trees of Abies douglasii [Pseudotsuga menziesii] on the mountains, scattered among the redwood. Seeing other trees, including mountain oak ('No 84, ?Castanea chrysophylla [Chrysolepsis chrysophylla]'), growing in shady woods in a 'pyramidal' shape 50 feet high with lanceolate, serrated leaves covered on the underside with a yellowish down, fructiferous catkins, and nuts or acorns, initially covered with down and enclosed in an open cup covered with coarse, scaly hairs: 'some Indian tribes eat the acorns either new, or make a sort of bread of them'
[Annotated: 'Davies'] Seeing on the outskirts of the woods Arbutus procera [Arbutus menziesii], growing 50 feet high with linear, light green leaves, two species of Ceanothus, Corylus ('No 85'), Spiraea, Solanum ('No 90') and Zauschneria with scarlet flowers ('No 87')
[here there is a gap, the journal entries resuming on 2 Sep. For the entries between June and September, see Hartweg's journal, RHS/Col/7/2/1]
(2 Sep 1846) Opposite the 'narrow, but safe' entrance to San Francisco Bay [California, United States of America], a large inland sea divided into several branches, the principal port in California and the largest and safest port on the western coast. Anchoring off the small town of Yerba Buena [San Francisco, California, United States of America] ('[the town] rising rapidly in importance')
Having trouble in the customs with two Wardian cases supplied by the Society, which had been shipped from London to the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii, United States of America] and then to Yerba Buena, 'under the Mexican government' but without details of their contents or ownership: 'some miscreant thinking he might profit by the occasion, denounced them as containing contraband goods', but on inspection at the Custom House, 'instead of silk stockings and printed calicoes, they found two small greenhouses, some kitchen garden seeds, nails &c'. Without paperwork to prove his ownership, sending a petition to the captain of the port, proving the property before a magistrate before receiving his boxes, 'after a good deal of running to and fro'
The vegetation around Yerba Buena 'poor', the surrounding sand hills thinly covered with brushwood of oak (Quercus californica [Quercus kelloggii]), Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, Rhus, Prunus 'toyon' [Heteromeles arbutifolia] ('No 102') and Baccharis ('No 123')
(10 Sep 1846) Going across the bay to Sausalito [California, United States of America] with Don Antonio [Don Jose Antonio Aguirre] and Captain C., on their way to their farms on the northern side of the bay
Being joined at the mission of San Rafael by General Vallejo [Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo], 'who brought the intelligence that twelve hundred Wallawalla [Walla Walla] Indians from Oregon had arrived in the Sacramento Valley, and sent a message to Sutter's Fort [California, United States of America], demanding the cattle due to them, and that the person of a Mr Cook [Grove Cook, American settler] be given up to them unconditionally. This affair arose from a quarrel about a mule in the autumn of 1844'. Relating an incident involving the Wallawalla, trading 'leather pantaloons, buffalo robes and elk skins for cattle' and Mr Cook ('an American') spotting a mule he had previously lost among the horses, being threatened by the chief Elijah [Elijah Hedding, also known as Toayahnu, son of a Walla Walla chief]: 'the following day, being Sunday, the Indians came to church at the fort. After service, Elijah was invited into another apartment, and while talking with another chief about things alleged against them by the river Indians, Cook observed 'yesterday you were going to shoot me, now you must die', at the same time drawing a pistol. The young chief, who had been brought up at a Methodist mission, and had learned to read, write and to speak the English language fluently, said deliberately 'let me pray a little first', and, kneeling down, commenced, and while invoking the divine mercy was shot through the heart upon the spot. The Indians immediately moved their camp, and leaving the cattle they had bartered for behind them, returned home. In consequence of their arrival now, when their intentions of avenging themselves were but too well known, the Americans concentrated their naval forces in the bay of San Francisco. Captain Fremont [John Charles Fremont] with his mounted rifle corps returned from the south, volunteers and the landed proprietors were called out, and sent up to the river Sacramento, to keep the depredations of the Wallawallas in check'
Hartweg's companions having to proceed with General Vallejo to the small town of Sonoma, 'in order, as he said, to defend their country from the attacks of the Indians'. Hartweg following them, having no horse, guide 'or knowledge of the country'. The general embargoing a horse for Hartweg. Arriving at Sonoma in the evening after a 48-mile ride 'under a broiling hot sun'
200 Wallawallas rumoured to be encamped 20 miles from Sutter's Fort, about a 100 miles from Sonoma, with a further 1,000 people higher up in the valley. The town of Sonoma, consisting of a large square with a row of houses on two sides of the square, 'was put in a state of defence', guarded by a few marines and sailors from Yerba Buena [San Francisco]. The American and Californian volunteers sent away in parties of 30 men. Hartweg's two companions, 'being intimate friends, and one of them a near relation of the general, were retained in his staff'. Hartweg having to give up on his plans of visiting Sacramento Valley 'under these war-like circumstances'
Enjoying the hospitality of General Vallejo for three days before continuing with F. ('an Englishman', formerly a boatswain in the British Navy) to his farm at San Miguel, 30 miles away, 'where he is established with two of his countrymen in raising grain and rearing horses and cattle'. Now about 60 years old, 'as vigorous and healthy as a man of forty. Being an expert horseman, he occupies his time chiefly in breaking in horses'
The country around Sonoma and San Miguel level and 'capable of great agricultural improvements', with several species of oak thriving in the fine, black vegetable mould, growing in 'large, irregular clumps, giving the country the appearance of an immense park, enlivened by numerous herds of elk and antelope'. A ridge of mountains near San Miguel thinly scattered with oaks and some Abies douglasii [Pseudotsuga menziesii], but no other kinds of pine. Finding in the shaded dells Viburnum, Euonymus and a large-leaved Calycanthus
Continuing from San Miguel to Bodega [California, United States of America], 'where the Russians a few years back had an establishment granted them by the Mexican government in order to supply their possessions in the north with wheat etc. When their term expired, it was purchased by Captain S., an American, who erected a steam sawmill there [Stephen Smith established a lumber mill or sawmill near Bodega in 1843, but the land including Bodega was purchased by John Augustus Sutter, also known as Johann August Suter]', timber supplied by redwood trees ('the most northern limit of this magnificent tree')
Returning to Sausalito via San Rafael [California, United States of America], over a 'beautifully undulated prairie, destitute of water or trees'. Seeing numerous bands of coyotes ('a kind of a wild dog'), the size and colour of foxes: 'when observed, they scamper off without the range of a rifle ball, and then commence barking, as if in defiance'
(end of Sep 1846) Returning to Yerba Buena [San Francisco]. Learning that 'the Wallawalla affair had ended very differently from what the preparations had indicated. Instead of twelve hundred fighting Indians, there were but forty peaceable families, who only came to claim their due, and to exchange horses for cattle'
(7 Oct 1846) Returning to Monterey on the bark Joven Guipuzoana. Preparing for a trip to San Diego [California, United States of America], the ship's next destination
Intending to return from San Diego by land before the rainy season, but having to change his plans due to an insurrection at Pueblo de los Angeles [Los Angeles, California, United States of America] by a 'party of Californians against the American government', in which 30 'marines and seamen' garrisoned at the Pueblo were attacked on 24 Sep by Californians, capitulating after running out of supplies some days later 'on terms honourable to both parties'. The Californians gave the Americans horses and carts: 'they moreover allowed them a free passage with their arms and ammunition to the port of San Pedro [Los Angeles, California, United States of America]', where they embarked on a merchant ship. The crew of the US frigate Savannah, '327 in number, with Captain Mervine [William Mervine, rear admiral in the United States Navy, captain of the Savannah]' landed on 7 Oct and marched towards the Pueblo, 'with the intention of retaking it. They however soon came in sight of double their number of Californians, all well-mounted and having a small fieldpiece [cannon], a four-pounder, which soon decided in favour of its possessors', the Americans retreated after seven of their number having been 'killed and wounded'. Rumours of the success of the Californians spreading, the Mexican flag was hoisted 'in all the ports and towns south of Monterey', and American soldiers forced to capitulate or retreat. 'Serious apprehensions were entertained of an attack from the Californians on Monterey. The timely arrival, however, of Colonel Fremont [John Charles Fremont] with 200 riflemen on the 25th of October, dispelled all fear of the attack that had been contemplated for some time'
(Nov 1846) The rainy season setting in, the rain and thunder continuing until the end of March, with the heaviest rainfall in January and February. El Toro, east of Monterey, being briefly covered with snow. Frosty mornings following the rainy days, but the cold not sufficient to freeze water. Temperature in Monterey 62°-65° during the summer, and 50°-55° now during the day
Extent - 14 pages (4 sheets)
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - Royal Horticultural Society
Credit Line - RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)