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country, and especially to the people of California, and entertains the confident belief that you will receive from the whole of the people of the United States, when you retire from your official duties here, that verdict so grateful to the heart of the patriot: Well done, thou good and faithful servant.'

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"General Riley was visibly affected by this mark of respect, no less appropriate than well deserved on his part. The tears in his eyes, and the plain, blunt sincerity of his voice and manner, went to the heart of every one present. Gentlemen,' he said, 'I never made a speech in my life. I am a soldier-but I can feel; and I do feel deeply the honor you have this day conferred upon me. Gentlemen, this is a prouder day to me than that on which my soldiers cheered me on the field of Contreras. I thank you all from my heart. I am satisfied now that the people have done right in selecting delegates to frame a Constitution. They have chosen a body of men upon whom our country may look with pride; you have framed a Constitution worthy of California. And I have no fear for California while her people choose their representatives so wisely. Gentlemen, I congratulate you upon the successful conclusion of your arduous labors; and I wish you all happiness and prosperity.'

"The General was here interrupted with three hearty cheers which the members gave him, as Governor of California, followed by three more, 'as a gallant soldier, and worthy of his country's glory.' He then concluded in the following words: 'I have but one thing to add, gentlemen, and that is, that my success in the affairs of California is mainly owing to the efficient aid rendered me by Captain Halleck, the Secretary

of State. He has stood by me in all emergencies. To him I have always appealed when at a loss myself; and he has never failed me.'

"This recognition of Captain Halleck's talents and the signal service he has rendered to our authorities here, since the conquest, was peculiarly just and appropriate. It was so felt by the members, and they responded with equal warmth of feeling by giving three enthusiastic cheers for the Secretary of State. They then took their leave, many of them being anxious to start this afternoon for their various places of residence. All were in a happy and satisfied mood, and none less so than the 1 ative members. Pedrorena declared that this was the most fortunate day in the history of California. Even Carillo, in the beginning one of our most zealous opponents, displayed a genuine zeal for the Constitution, which he helped to frame under the laws of our republic."

The elections for the various officers under the new Constitution took place on the 13th of November, 1849. Peter H. Burnett was chosen Governor, and John McDougall, Lieutenant-Governor. George W. Wright and Edward Gilbert were chosen to fill the posts of representatives in Congress. The first State Legislature met at the capital, the pueblo de San José, on the 15th of December, and elected John C. Fremont and Wm. M. Gwin, Senators to Congress. Every branch of the civil government went at once into operation, and admission into the Union as a State seems all that is necessary to complete the settlement of affairs in California.

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CHAPTER X.

POPULATION, CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, &c.

WITH regard to the population, climate, soil, productions, &c., we extract from Mr. King's Report, as giving the most reliable and complete information.

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"Humboldt, in his Essay on New Spain,' states the population of Upper California, in 1802, to have consisted of

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"Alexander Forbes, in his 'History of Upper and Lower California,' published in London, in 1839, states the number of converted Indians in the former to have been, in 1831,

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Of all other classes, at

18,683

4,342

23,025

"He expresses the opinion that this number had not varied much up to 1885, and the probability is, there was very little increase in the white population until the emigrants from the United States began to enter the country in 1838.

"They increased from year to year, so that, in 1846, Colonel Fremont had little difficulty in calling to his standard some five hundred fighting men.

"At the close of the war with Mexico, it was supposed that there were, including discharged volunteers,

from ten to fifteen thousand Americans and Californians, exclusive of converted Indians, in the territory. The immigration of American citizens in 1849, up to the 1st of January last, was estimated at eighty thousand-of foreigners, twenty thousand.

"The population of California may, therefore, be safely set down at 115,000 at the commencement of the present year.

"It is quite impossible to form any thing like an accurate estimate of the number of Indians in the territory. Since the commencement of the war, and especially since the discovery of gold in the mountains, their numbers at the missions, and in the valleys near the coast, have very much diminished. In fact, the whole race seems to be rapidly disappearing.

"The remains of a vast number of villages in all the valleys of the Sierra Nevada, and among the foothills of that range of mountains, show that at no distant day there must have been a numerous population, where there is not now an Indian to be seen. There are a few still retained in the service of the old Californians, but these do not amount to more than a few thousand in the whole territory. It is said there are large numbers of them in the mountains and valleys about the head-waters of the San Joaquin, along the western base of the Sierra, and in the northern part of the territory, and that they are hostile. A number of Americans were killed by them during the last summer, in attempting to penetrate high up the rivers in search of gold; they also drove one or two parties from Trinity River. They have, in several instances, attacked parties coming from or returning to Oregon, in the section of country which the lamented Captain Warner was examining when he was killed.

"It is quite impossible to form any estimate of the number of these mountain Indians. Some suppose there are as many as three hundred thousand in the territory, but I should not be inclined to believe that there can be one-third of that number. It is quite evident that they are hostile, and that they ought to be chastised for the murders already committed.

"The small bands with whom I met, scattered through the lower portions of the foot-hills of the Sierra, and in the valleys between them and the coast, seemed to be almost the lowest grade of human beings. They live chiefly on acorns, roots, insects, and the kernel of the pine burr; occasionally, they catch fish and game. They use the bow and arrow, but are said to be too lazy and effeminate to make successful hunters. They do not appear to have the slightest inclination to cultivate the soil, nor do they even attempt it as far as I could obtain information-except when they are induced to enter the service of the white inhabitants. They have never pretended to hold any interest in the soil, nor have they been treated by the Spanish or American immigrants as possessing any.

"The Mexican government never treated with them for the purchase of land, or the relinquishment of any claim to it whatever. They are lazy, idle to the last degree, and, although they are said to be willing to give their services to any one who will provide them with blankets, beef, and bread, it is with much difficulty they can be made to perform labor enough to reward their employers for these very limited means of comfort.

"Formerly, at the missions, those who were brought up and instructed by the priests made very good servants. Many of these now attached to families seem

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