The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 19

Early Sentiment for Annexation of California

mostly American trappers, led by Isaac Graham, a Tenneseean
of the typical border ruffian type. And in the second place it
gave promise for a time of assuming the characteristics and pro-
portions of the Texas movement for independence.4 But as the
California leaders probably had no very great desire for actual
separation from Mexico, its net result was merely the substitution
of a native governor for one of Mexican appointment.
Exaggerated rumors of this disturbance soon began to circulate
throughout the United States, and it was even reported to the
State Department that California, having declared her inde-
pendence, was on the eve of asking the protection of the Russians
at Bodega-an event which would mean, said the writer, the United
States consul at the Sandwich Islands, the unification of the Rus-
sians and Californians and the extension of the Czar's power from
the Bay of San Francisco to the Columbia River.5
Kelley's Memoir.--During the administration of Van Buren the
question of the occupation of Oregon came also to be of critical
importance;6 and, as a natural consequence, California received
a certain amount of the nation's interest. In a supplemental
report on the Oregon territory submitted to Congress, February
16, 1839, by the committee of foreign affairs, many of the docu-
ments contained references to California. While one of them, a
memoir by Hall J. Kelley, the eccentric emigration enthusiast of
Massachusetts, devoted more than half its space to a description of
that country. "I extend my remarks to this part of California,"
from San Francisco northward, wrote Kelley in explanation, "be-
cause it has been and may again be, made the subject of con-
ference and negotiation between Mexico and the United States;
and because its future addition to our western possessions is most
unquestionably a matter to be desired.'7
'According to Tuthill a lone star flag was prepared, but the Californians
were either afraid to substitute it for the, Mexican emblem or did not
care to do so. Tuthill, 142-143.
"United States consul, Sandwich Islands, to the Secretary of State,
Semi-annual report, March 12, 1837 (Thomas Savage, Documentos para
la historia de .California, II, 174-176. MS., Bancroft Collection, Univer-
sity of California Library). The greater part of this report was devoted
to a description of California.
'Greenhow, 375-376, and United States government documents there
cited.
7Committee Reports, 25 Cong., 3 sess., No. 101, p. 48. Kelley's com-