for the 1st, 2d, and 3d quarters 1848; Lieutenant Davidson, 3d and 4th quarters 1848, and 1st quarter 1849; Lieutenant Canfield, Mormon company, 4th quarter 1847, and 1st quarter 1848; Lieutenant Clift, Mormon company, 4th quarter 1847, and 1st quarter 1848; Lieutenant McGee, 1st quarter 1848; M. Pedrorena, collector at San Diego, 3d and 4th quarters 1848; Surgeon Perry, United States army, 2d quarter 1848; Lieutenant Pendleton, New York volunteers, 3d quarter 1848; Captain Steele, New York volunteers, 2d and 3d quarters 1848; Captain Naglee, New York volunteers, 2d and 3d quarters 1848; and a statement from Lieutenant Colonel Burton and Lieutenant Pendleton of the amount collected at La Paz and San José, Lower California, after the 30th of May, 1848. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding. To the Hon. the SECRETARY OF WAR, Washington, D. C. CIRCULAR. To alcaldes, Indian agents, and others. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, March 31, 1849. Representations having been made that the Indians of the southern missions of this Territory, freed from the restraint formerly imposed upon them by the military and ecclesiastical authorities of the country, have contracted habits of indolence and vice, and are now reduced to a state of great destitution and want, trusting mainly to charity and theft for the means of subsistence, their condition calls not only for our commiseration, but for some active measure to protect society from their vices and to save the Indians themselves from total destruction. It would hardly be possible, even if it were desirable, to restore the missions to their former condition, or to give over to the priests the same control which they formerly exercised over the neophytes; but it is believed that if the local authorities will unite with the priests in their endeavors to subject the Indians to wholesome restraints, much may be accomplished towards inducing them to pursue a more honest and industrious course of conduct. It is, therefore, the wish of the governor that all magistrates and other civil authorities lend their aid and assistance to the mission priests, in all proper endeavors to ameliorate the condition of these Indians, by inducing them to cultivate their lands and to observe such local regulations as may be conducive to morality and good order. By the laws of California the mission Indians have the right to elect their own alcaldes, who, with the advice and assistance of the mission priests, make all the necessary regulations for their own internal government. In case of any violation of law, they are liable to trial and punishment by the alcaldes of the nearest towns in the same manner as the whites, but in their own internal government they should not be interfered with, and the civil authorities should give to the missionaries and Indian alcaldes their countenance and assistance in promoting industry, decency, morality, and good order among the neophytes. Such a course is not only required by the existing laws of the country, but is the ae best calculated to secure the welfare of the Indians and the good of s ciety. It is also represented that the occupants of some of the missions have claimed and appropriated to their own use the books, ornaments, and other appurtenances of the mission churches, and have otherwise encroached upon the property reserved for the use of the priests. By the laws of secularization enacted by the supreme government of Mexico, the churches of the several missions, with the sacred vessels, ornaments, and other ap purtenances, were assigned for the use of the parishes, and the most ap propriate building of each mission given for the habitation of the curate, with a lot of ground not to exceed two hundred varas square. Such was and is the supreme law, and until it be changed by competent authority no local or territorial officer can dispose of them or include them in any sale or renting of the missions. The governor, therefore, directs all magistrates to assist in the recovery and restoration of the books and other appurtenances of the churches, and that the priests be secured in the possession of the house and garden in each mission appropriated for their use and occupation. By order of the governor: H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, April 2, 1849. SIR: It is represented that you have taken tiles from the roofs of good and substantial houses in the mission of San Antonio, and removed them to the rancho of Los Ojitos for the purpose of covering a new building. The permission of the governor was merely to take some tile from old and uninhabited mission buildings for the purpose of re-roofing the house said by you to have been burnt by order of Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, and you are hereby prohibited from taking any other tile than those mentioned, or to use them for any other purpose than the one designed in the governor's order. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. Don MARIANO SOBERANEZ, STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, March 31, 1849. SIR: It has been represented that insomuch as your residence is some distance from the mission or town of San Luis Obispo, there is great need of a subordinate alcalde to reside in the mission itself. The governor, therefore, requests that you will give the proper notice and hold an election for a local alcalde, who shall reside in the mission or town. Very respectfully, &c., Don MIGUEL ABILA, H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. Alcalde of the jurisdicton of San Luis Obispo, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, San Francisco, California, April 9, 1849. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 5th instant, together with the credentials submitted to my inspection, which are here with returned. As I shall soon be relieved from all civil and military duties in California, by Brigadier General Riley, now daily looked for, I deem it most proper not to make, at this time, the appointment you solicit, but will hand over your application to the General when he relieves me, to whom you had better submit the credentials above mentioned. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding. Mr. S. P. HAREN, Present. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, San Francisco, California, April 9, 1849. SIR: Your communication addressed to General Smith, erroneously dated 9th April, asking for the appointment of "notary public for the district of San Francisco," has been referred to me as governor of California. As I shall soon be relieved from all civil and military duties in California, by Brigadier General Riley, now daily looked for, I deem it most proper not to make at this time the appointment you solicit, but will hand over your application to the General when he relieves me. I am, &c., R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding. Mr. M. SCOTT, jr., Present. List of reports from General Smith. Report to the Secretary of War, January 7, 1849. Report to the Adjutant General, April 9, 1849. PANAMA, January 7, 1849. DEAR SIR: Just as I was leaving New Orleans, your letter enclosing one to your son came to hand. I will take great pleasure in doing everything to meet your wishes in relation to him. The situation of affairs in California is really most extraordinary. No accounts we had are exaggerated. Captain Fleurian de Langle, of the French brig of-war Genie, now here, says that he learned at Valparaiso and Lima that there had been brought to those places, from California, to be run into bars, gold to the amount of nine millions of francs, (near $1,800,000.) The British consul tells me he has forwarded 15,000 ounces from this place, across the isthmus; and Lieutenant Wood, of the British navy, commanding the Pandora, now here, says that the truth is beyond the accounts we have heard. These gentlemen also say that hundreds of people from the western coast of South America are embarking for the gold region, and most of the clerks in the commercial places here quit their employments for the same object. It will evidently be impossible to prevent the troops, when they arrive, from deserting, and there will be no force to control the crowd of adven turers that will arrive. The sale of the land cannot be properly made, until surveys are prepared and the actual value of each tract known: in the mean time all is disorder. But the only power capable of regulating the search for gold, will be the self-interest of those engaged in it; and to secure the proper direction of this, some recognised right must be accorded. Not to throw away entirely the proprietary interest of the government in these lands and mines, and at the same time to avoid the delay of public surveys, I would propose that a temporary land office be established in the region, and that parties desiring to seek for gold should themselves survey and locate tracts, and lease them for five years at a fixed rate of rent; those persons will be interested in keeping out intruders, and in the five years the lands can be examined, surveyed, and sold. I am partly inclined to think it would be right for me to prohibit foreigners from taking the gold, unless they intend to become citizens. I cannot decide until I arrive there and learn the disposition of the people. No preparation was made here by the steamboat company for transporting passengers across the isthmus, or affording them any information or aid in relation to it. The roads are almost impassable even for mules, and the number of boats in the river and animals on the roads are entirely insufficient. The public property in charge of the quartermaster has been lying a week at Cruces, waiting for thirty or forty mules to carry it; and the trouble, vexation, and exposure in getting it up the river Chagres to this place, brought on Captain Elliott, the senior quartermaster, an attack of cholera, of which he died on the night of the 5th, and was buried the next day at Cruces, in the church-yard. Major Fitzgerald has taken charge of the property, but he is now sick here of a similar attack. I have directed all the public property and officers' baggage now there to be brought at once to this place, which is more healthy. The greater part of it will be carried on men's backs. They are now asking $20 apiece for mule loads of one-third of the ordinary weight-the usual price being from $4 to $5 for full loads. I will not attempt to describe the roads or paths. Under these circumstances, I think it will not be wise to send anything by this route, except a messenger with a very small trunk, until other arrangements are made. The resources of the isthmus are entirely unequal to the business now thronging to it. Flour is to-day at $40 a barrel, and the inhabitants of the town are alarmed at the prospect of pestilence and famine. Mr. Burch, a very fine young man, a mechanic, from Washington, is one of the victims of the cholera at Cruces. So much for the present state of affairs; for the future, I am entirely of opinion that the route across the isthmus, either this or Tehuantepec, must have a good harbor at each end. By a good harbor, I mean one where a ship can lie alongside of a wharf in smooth water. If goods are to be put into lighters, and from them to other carriages, either by land or water, the expense of freight is quadrupled; and if the vessel must be out at sea, there is not only expense, but delay and risk. This, in my opinion, is a fatal objection to Chagres: there are thirteen feet water on the bar, but the entrance has a short turn between rocks, immediately under the cliff on which the old fort at Chagres stands; this cliff obstructs the breeze at the most critical moment, and vessels must wait for a particular wind to enter. The pilot of our boat (the Falcon) would not bring her in, because, although there was water enough, she was too long to turn the point of rocks. Once in the mouth of the river, freight must be carried some distance up before the ground is high enough for a road; this requires lighters. Puerto Bello, a perfect harbor, one of the best in the world, is forty-two miles from this place; the road formerly ran there. The walls of old buildings still remain, of which good storehouses could be made. A vessel-of-war of the largest class can enter and lie alongside a wharf in security. At Panama the harbor is imperfect, but may be made good by docks, as there is an average rise and fall of eighteen feet in the tide, and the shape of part of the bay renders the work easy. It I would propose that a road be graded from Puerto Bello to Panama. will be about sixty miles long if made for a railroad, but be made wide enough to be macadamized and used as a carriage road. This can be done, as the route has been examined; if the trade requires it, rails can be laid afterwards. A carriage road of this kind, after having been well located by good engineers, can be made by the natives; others will die. A railroad can only be made by good mechanics, which the country does not furnish. The great opposing element here is rain. The quantity that falls during three fourths of the year is inconceivable. The examination made by Mr. Stevens for Howland & Aspinwall was made in the dry season; |