124 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



about the middle of the month, when he came to San 

 Francisco. A few days after my arrival, his procla- 

 mation calling a Convention to form a State constitu- 

 tion, dated the third of June, was received. 



"The people acted in compliance with what they 

 believed to be the views of Congress, and conformably 

 to the recommendations of the proclamation ; and pro- 

 ceeded, on the day appointed, to elect members to a 

 Convention for the purpose of forming a constitution, 

 to be regularly submitted to the people for their ratifi- 

 cation or rejection, and, if approved, to be presented 

 to Congress, with a prayer for the admission of Cali- 

 fornia, as a State, into the Union." 



According to the recommendation of General Riley, 

 the civil governor of California, an election of delegates 

 to form a Convention was held on the 1st of August, 

 1849. The number of delegates to be elected was 

 thirty-seven. General Riley, General Smith, and 

 Thomas Butler King, used every means to stimulate 

 the people to hold the preparatory meetings, and they 

 were generally successful. But in some districts 

 scarcely any move was made until a few days before 

 the election. In one or two instances, the election 

 was not held upon the day appointed ; but the Con- 

 vention nevertheless admitted the delegates elected in 

 such cases. 



The Convention was to meet on the 1st of Septem- 

 ber, at Monterey ; but it did not get regularly organ- 

 ized until the 4th of that month, when Dr. Robert 

 Semple, of the Sonoma district, was chosen president. 

 The proportion of the native Californian members to 

 the American was about equal to that of the popula- 

 tion. Among the members was Captain John Sutter, 

 the pioneer settler of California, General Yalleja and 



