RACEALONG 13 



following in reference to Flora and his father who 

 bred her. 



**My father William M. Mendenhall was bom at 

 Xenia, Ohio, April 22, 1823. His father WilHam 

 Mendenhall was born in Tennessee in 1794 and served 

 in the War of 1812, being with Jackson at the Battle 

 of New Orleans. 



"When my father was seven years old his parents 

 moved to Michigan. In 1845 he went to Chicago, 

 which was then a village, and started with nine com- 

 panions for the Pacific Coast. They arrived at Fort 

 Sutter, which still stands in the center of Sacra- 

 mento, on Christmas Eve. 



"The Spaniards were then in control of California 

 and were so unfriendly to Americans that none of 

 them were allowed to travel without a passport. 

 Finally a proclamation was issued that all Americans 

 must leave California. My father with others defied 

 Castro's order. He was also one of the twenty-four 

 young men who took Fort Sonoma without firing a 

 gun. In 1846 the Bear flag was raised. Later on 

 William M. Mendenhall was one of the one hundred 

 and seventy men who marched to San Diego under 

 John C. Fremont and wrested the state from Mexico. 



"After these troubles were over my father in 1847 

 married Miss Mary Allen who had the previous year 

 crossed the plains with her parents. They were the 

 first American couple to be married south of the Sac- 

 ramento River. He located in Sant^ Clara County 

 and began raising stock. In 1853 he sold out and 

 moved to Contra Costa County, where he established 



