Wandering Lizard

Biographical Notes

Tomas Oliver Larkin

Events began moving more and more rapidly in 1846 and on June 14 a group of armed American settlers occupied Sonoma, took Mexican government officials prisoner, declared their independence from Mexico, and raised the Bear Flag. (Although it was unclear, United States Army Captain John Charles Fremont was thought to be involved with and perhaps directing the Bear Flag settlers.) On July 1 Commodore John D. Sloat arrived in Monterey aboard the USS Savannah. On July 7 Sloat officially informed the community that Mexico and the United States were at war and that he was taking control of Monterey. On July 15 Commodore Robert F. Stockton arrived in Monterey aboard the USS Congress. On July 29 Commodore Sloat departed Monterey leaving Commodore Stockton in charge. On August 13 Stockton appointed Larkin US Navy Agent for California. In that role he was tasked with procurement duties for the US Navy.

Following the occupation of Monterey, Larkin began working with both sides in an effort to facilitate communication and to reduce the possibility of conflict. By the end of August 1846 it looked as though California was pacified and the United States was in control but things changed in late September when General Jose Maria Flores led an uprising in Los Angeles. This action led to a renewal of fighting and the kidnapping of Larkin by Manuel Castro, a former Prefect of Monterey and an old friend of the Consul. In November Larkin was transferred to Los Angeles where he was imprisoned in Government House. On January 9, 1847, at the battle of La Mesa General Flores sent for Larkin to come to the battlefield. The insurgents were beaten and Flores released Larkin. On January 13, 1847, Andres Pico (Flores had fled to Mexico) and Fremont signed the Treaty of Cahuenga ending the conflict.

During 1847 and 1848 Larkin was involved in numerous land deals. He and Bear Flag participant Robert B. Stemple established the town of Benicia and succeeded in making Benicia the state capitol for a brief period before it was moved to Sacramento. Larkin purchased property for Fremont in Mariposa County which stimulated a stormy disagreement between the two men until gold was discovered on it. During this period Larkin also purchased a number of large parcels of land for himself all through the state. Following the conquest he inevitably became entangled in numerous protracted land ownership disputes some of which turned out satisfactorily and some did not.

During and immediately after the military conquest of California, Larkin continued to prosper financially but his business interests boomed with the discovery of gold in the Sierras in January 1848. Like everyone else in California at the time Larkin involved himself in several mining ventures and like many others they did not do particularly well. His merchandising and real estate ventures were, however, very successful. In September 1849 he was a delegate to the Statehood Convention held in Monterey. Several of his friends attempted to interest him in a political future but he refused saying that he preferred to pursue business interests which had been neglected during the past few years. As time went on he concentrated more and more on land speculation, styling himself as a "dealer in real estate."

On March 1, 1850 Larkin moved his family to New York. While in New York Larkin made numerous investments in the east while at the same time continuing to pursue his interests in California. Among his other activities he was appointed the California Representative for the Building of the Monument to George Washington in the nation's capital. He became interested in railroads and was involved with the organization and financing of several. He became increasingly involved in the Whig Party and used his influence in California in support of that party. (In April 1851, while visiting San Francisco on a business trip Larkin learned that his partner Talbot H. Green, who was running for Mayor of San Francisco, had been identified by an acquaintance from his Pennsylvania days as an embezzler. Larkin could not believe it and supported Green until Green himself confessed. Their partnership was then dissolved.)

In May 1853 Larkin returned to California and established residence in San Francisco. His New York investments had not gone as well as he had hoped and his family suffered many illnesses during their stay in the east. Back in California he resumed his interest in land speculation and accumulated several large tracks of land. (It was estimated that he and his family owned a quarter of a million acres of land in California during his lifetime.) He was elected President of the Society of California Pioneers and involved himself in local and national politics. In 1856 with the decline of the Whig Party he became a Republican and actively supported Fremont's unsuccessful bid for the presidency. In 1857 he wrote to President Buchanan and applied for a political position. He was identified as a "Fremonter" and turned down for being on the wrong side of the then existing political spectrum.

Larkin contracted typhoid fever and died in his home in San Francisco on October 27, 1858.

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