Breakaway Americas by Jr. Thomas Richards

Author:Jr. Thomas Richards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2020-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

Hints of a Multiethnic California Republic

After the arrival of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party and its portent of even more American immigrants, Californio authorities like Alvarado and Vallejo asked Mexican president Santa Anna for increased Mexican oversight. In response, in December 1842 Santa Anna dispatched Brigadier General Manuel Micheltorena to California with 300 Mexican soldiers. Micheltorena was a veteran of Santa Anna’s Texas campaign and a personal friend of Santa Anna.100 He was, in essence, the type of governor whom federalist Californios should have distrusted as a centralist hostile to their autonomy. However, many Californios believed that Micheltorena would provide needed stability to a territory wracked by internal divisions, American immigration, potentially hostile Natives, and the growing power of John Sutter.101 Considering that the Mexican state had been absent from California for five years, it is not surprising that Californios failed to take seriously the threat Micheltorena posed to their autonomy. At best, they hoped Micheltorena and his troops would provide the order they craved. At worst, Micheltorena’s presence would be irrelevant and California would maintain its status quo. The Californios would quickly be proven wrong.

Micheltorena did little to solve California’s ongoing problems. Rather than provide stability, he made things worse. Not only did he permit the presence of American overlanders, but he formed political ties with none other than John Sutter. Yet it was his Mexican troops that caused the most problems. Labeled “cholos” by elite Californios, these troops were mostly penniless Mexican convicts who quickly turned to petty theft to obtain food.102 First at Los Angeles and then at Monterey, Micheltorena’s troops succeeded in antagonizing practically all of the Californio population, uniting both norteños and sureños against their presence.103 Like Graham and his mountain men in 1840, the cholo soldiers particularly offended the sensibilities of the elite—including, once again, Juan Alvarado—and they needed to go. In November 1844, the Californios rebelled.104

Unlike Alvarado’s previous opponents—Gutiérrez in 1836, Graham in 1840—Micheltorena possessed a sizable (albeit undependable) army and had potential allies at his disposal. At first Micheltorena acceded to the demands of Alvarado and his co-conspirator José Castro, a fellow Monterey don, former California governor, and future commandant general. Micheltorena agreed that his soldiers would leave California within three months, although he would remain as governor. Yet this was a false promise, for Micheltorena was in contact with John Sutter and hoped to enlist Sutter in his cause. In December 1844, Micheltorena made Sutter an extraordinary offer: in exchange for Sutter’s aid in suppressing the rebellion, Micheltorena would grant Sutter the ability to legally grant land in the name of the Mexican government.105 Although Sutter had previously run into conflict with Mexican and Californio authorities—recall his threat in 1841 to establish an “independent republique”—Micheltorena’s offer was tailor-made for Sutter’s inflated ego. Sutter above all craved power and legitimacy, and he jumped at the chance to aid Micheltorena.106 Promising he could now legally grant land to all settlers, Sutter induced many American immigrants to join his military contingent. On New Year’s Day 1845,

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