Biographical Notes
General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
Governor Micheltorena was becoming more and more unpopular and Alvarado took charge of a revolt led by Jose Castro against the governor in 1844. Sutter and the Americans at Fort Sutter backed the governor. Vallejo refused to participate on either side and on November 28, 1844 he surprised everyone by disbanding his troops at Sonoma. On December 2, 1844 the Treaty of Santa Teressa was signed and the governor agreed to send his troops back to Mexico and to forgive the revolutionaries. Shortly afterwards the governor renounced the treaty and sought further American support by giving Sutter the right to grant land to foreigners in the name of the governor. In January 1845 Alvarado and Commadant General Jose Castro retreated to Los Angeles. The governor and his American allies followed, but on February 15, 1845, the Los Angeles assembly voted to name Pio Pico governor in place of Micheltorena. The Treaty of Cahuenga followed the day after Micheltorena's surrender on February 21, 1845.
In 1845 President James Buchanan appointed US Consul Larkin to be his "Confidential Agent in California." His orders were to keep track of and defeat any attempts by foreign governments to take control of California. In the fall of 1845, three American immigrant parties under the leadership of Swasey - Todd, Sublette, and Grigsby - Ide arrived in California. Alvarado, Castro and Vallejo consulted and decided to permit the new immigrants to remain in Northern California under Vallejo's jurisdiction. That same year Vallejo attempted unsuccessfully to purchase Sutter's Fort in an effort to remove his influence from the area. In December 1845 Texas was admitted to the United States and Mexico issued new instructions banning any further American immigration into California. Also in December 1845 Sutter reported to Vallejo that a group of 50 armed American topographical engineers under the command of Captain John Charles Fremont had arrived at his fort.
On March 5, 1846, Fremont received an official message from Commandant General Castro ordering him out of California. Fremont refused to respond to Castro's message and retired to Gavilan Peak in the Gabiloan Mountain Range where he set up a camp complete with a flag pole and an American flag. Consul Larkin warned Fremont that Castro was assembling a force to expel him by force. The Mexican government under President Herrerra was also assembling troops to be sent to California but his government was overthrown in a military coup and the troops were never sent north. Fremont left Gavilan Peak and headed for Oregon. California was rife with rumors and great uneasiness as to what the future held. It had long been clear to the Californians that Mexico was unable to assist in the protection of their land. Alvarado favored association with England, Castro with France and Vallejo with the United States.
President Buchanan sent instructions to Consul Larkin and Captain Fremont instructing them to convince the Californians to favor the United States without giving any cause to Mexico to complain. Larkin wrote to the Californian leaders explaining that the United States would welcome California either as a sister republic or as part of the American Union. Fremont turned back from Oregon and set up camp in the Sutter Buttes (Histum Yani in the Native American Language). Relations among the Californian leaders were deteriorating as were relations between the recent American immigrants and the Californian authorities.
On June 14, 1846, a group of 33 Americans occupied Sonoma and established the Bear Flag Republic. William B. Ide was elected President of the Republic. The Americans captured Vallejo and took him to Fremont's camp where the Captain denied any U.S. Government involvement in the Bear Flag coup. On Fremont's instruction, Vallejo was imprisoned at Sutter's Fort. On June 21, 1846, Vallejo's wife's brother, Ramon Carrillio, was thought to have been responsible for the death of two Americans associated with the Bear Flag group. In another incident at Olompali a few days later a small American force under the command of Lieutenant Ford killed one of Castro's troopers.
