18 
CAPTURE OF MEXICAN WITH MAIL FROM CALIFORNIA. 
where he was going; he said to hunt horses. As he passed, I observed in each of his holsters 
the neck of a bottle, and on his croup a fresh-made sack, with other evidences of a preparation 
for a journey. Much against his taste, I invited him to follow me to camp; several times he 
begged me to let him go for a moment—that he would soon return. His anxiety to be released 
increased my determination not to comply with his request. I took him to General Kearney, 
and explained to him the suspicious circumstances under which I had taken him, and that his 
capture would prove of some importance. He was immediately searched, and in his wallet was 
found the mail from California, which was of course opened. 
Among the letters was one addressed to General Jose Castro, at Alta, one to Antonio Castro, 
and others to men of note in Sonora. All suspected of relating to public affairs were read, 
and we ascertained from them that a counter revolution had taken place in California; that the 
Americans were expelled from Santa Barbara, Puebla de los Angeles, and other places; and 
that Robideaux, the brother of our interpreter, who had been appointed alcalde by the Ameri¬ 
cans, was a prisoner in jail. They all spoke exultingly of having thrown off “the detestable 
Anglo-Yankee yoke,” and congratulated themselves that the tri-color once more floated in 
California. 
Captain Flores was named as the general and governor pro tem., and the enthusiasm of the 
people described as overflowing in the cause of emancipation from the Yankee yoke. One letter 
gave a minute and detailed account of a victory stated to have been obtained over the Ameri¬ 
cans. It stated that 450 men landed at San Pedro, and were met, defeated, and driven back 
to the fort at San Pedro. This last was attributed by us to Mexican braggadocio, as it is usual 
with them to represent their defeats as victories; but that there was a disturbance of a serious 
kind in the province we could not doubt, from the uniformity of the accounts on that head. 
We also learned that the horses captured were in part for General Castro. Nothing more was 
wanting to legitimize our capture, and Captain Moore was directed to remount his men. 
The letters contained precise information, but being dated so far back as the 15th October, 
left us in great doubt as to the real state of affairs in California; and the Mexicans played their 
parts so dexterously, it was not in our power to exact the truth from them. One of the party, 
who had received some little favor from Carson in California, was well plied with brandy, but 
all that could be extorted from him was the advice that we should not think of going to the 
Puebla with our small force—counsel that our friend soon learned we had not the slightest 
intention of following. 
The position of our camp, about one mile and a half south of the junction of the Colorado 
and Gila rivers, determined by 12 circum-meridian altitudes of Sirius, 6 of Saturn, and 12 alti¬ 
tudes of Polaris, is latitude 32° 42' 09". 
The clouds,, together with my military duties, interfered with taking a more elaborate set of 
lunar distances. An inspection of the individual observations for latitude will show that the 
latitude of the camp may be relied on, but I regret it was not in my power to measure the exact 
distance of my camp from the mouth of the Gila. 
At night, passing my arm over the surface of the fur robe in which I was enveloped, electric 
sparks were discharged in such quantities as to make a very luminous appearance, and a noise 
like the rattle of a snake. 
November 24.—We visited the camp of our Mexican friends, whom the general determined 
to release, and found there was a woman with the party in the agonies of childbirth. She was 
at once furnished from our stores with all the comforts we possessed. This poor creature had 
been dragged along, in her delicate situation, over a fearful desert. ’ 
The captured horses were all wild, and but little adapted for immediate service, but there 
was rare sport in catching them, and we saw, for the first time, the lazo thrown with inimitable 
skill. It is a saying in Chihuahua that “a Californian can throw the lazo as well with his foot 
as a Mexican can with his hand,” and the scene before us gave us an idea of its truth. There 
was a wild stallion, of great beauty, which defied the fleetest horse and the most expert rider. 
