Chapter 39

Gay life at Monterey Mexican horsemen A bold dragoon Use of the

lasso Vaqueros Noosing a bear Fight between a bull and a

bear Departure from Monterey Indian horse stealers Outrages

committed by the travellers Indignation of Captain Bonneville

THE WANDERING BAND of trappers was well received at Monterey, the

inhabitants were desirous of retaining them among them, and

offered extravagant wages to such as were acquainted with any

mechanic art. When they went into the country, too, they were

kindly treated by the priests at the missions; who are always

hospitable to strangers, whatever may be their rank or religion.

They had no lack of provisions; being permitted to kill as many

as they pleased of the vast herds of cattle that graze the

country, on condition, merely, of rendering the hides to the

owners. They attended bull-fights and horseraces; forgot all the

purposes of their expedition; squandered away, freely, the

property that did not belong to them; and, in a word, revelled in

a perfect fool's paradise.

What especially delighted them was the equestrian skill of the

Californians. The vast number and the cheapness of the horses in

this country makes every one a cavalier. The Mexicans and

halfbreeds of California spend the greater part of their time in

the saddle. They are fearless riders; and their daring feats upon

unbroken colts and wild horses, astonished our trappers; though

accustomed to the bold riders of the prairies.

A Mexican horseman has much resemblance, in many points, to the

equestrians of Old Spain; and especially to the vain-glorious

caballero of Andalusia. A Mexican dragoon, for instance, is

represented as arrayed in a round blue jacket, with red cuffs and

collar; blue velvet breeches, unbuttoned at the knees to show his

white stockings; bottinas of deer skin; a round-crowned

Andalusian hat, and his hair cued. On the pommel of his saddle,

he carries balanced a long musket, with fox skin round the lock.

He is cased in a cuirass of double-fold deer skin, and carries a

bull's hide shield; he is forked in a Moorish saddle, high before

and behind; his feet are thrust into wooden box stirrups, of

Moorish fashion, and a tremendous pair of iron spurs, fastened by

chains, jingle at his heels. Thus equipped, and suitably mounted,

he considers himself the glory of California, and the terror of

the universe.

The Californian horsemen seldom ride out without the laso [sic];

that is to say, a long coil of cord, with a slip noose; with

which they are expert, almost to a miracle. The laso, now almost

entirely confined to Spanish America, is said to be of great

antiquity; and to have come, originally, from the East. It was

used, we are told, by a pastoral people of Persian descent; of

whom eight thousand accompanied the army of Xerxes. By the

Spanish Americans, it is used for a variety of purposes; and

among others, for hauling wood. Without dismounting, they cast

the noose around a log, and thus drag it to their houses. The

vaqueros, or Indian cattle drivers, have also learned the use of

the laso from the Spaniards; and employ it to catch the half-wild

cattle by throwing it round their horns.

The laso is also of great use in furnishing the public with a

favorite, though barbarous sport; the combat between a bear and a

wild bull. For this purpose, three or four horsemen sally forth

to some wood, frequented by bears, and, depositing the carcass of

a bullock, hide themselves in the vicinity. The bears are soon

attracted by the bait. As soon as one, fit for their purpose,

makes his appearance, they run out, and with the laso,

dexterously noose him by either leg. After dragging him at full

speed until he is fatigued, they secure him more effectually; and

tying him on the carcass of the bullock, draw him in triumph to

the scene of action. By this time, he is exasperated to such

frenzy, that they are sometimes obliged to throw cold water on

him, to moderate his fury; and dangerous would it be, for horse

and rider, were he, while in this paroxysm, to break his bonds.

A wild bull, of the fiercest kind, which has been caught and

exasperated in the same manner, is now produced; and both animals

are turned loose in the arena of a small amphitheatre. The mortal

fight begins instantly; and always, at first, to the disadvantage

of Bruin; fatigued, as he is, by his previous rough riding.

Roused, at length, by the repeated goring of the bull, he seizes

his muzzle with his sharp claws, and clinging to this most

sensitive part, causes him to bellow with rage and agony. In his

heat and fury, the bull lolls out his tongue; this is instantly

clutched by the bear; with a desperate effort he overturns his

huge antagonist; and then dispatches him without difficulty.

Beside this diversion, the travellers were likewise regaled with

bull-fights, in the genuine style of Old Spain; the Californians

being considered the best bull-fighters in the Mexican dominions.

After a considerable sojourn at Monterey, spent in these very

edifying, but not very profitable amusements, the leader of this

vagabond party set out with his comrades, on his return journey.

Instead of retracing their steps through the mountains, they

passed round their southern extremity, and, crossing a range of

low hills, found themselves in the sandy plains south of Ogden's

River; in traversing which, they again suffered, grievously, for

want of water.

In the course of their journey, they encountered a party of

Mexicans in pursuit of a gang of natives, who had been stealing

horses. The savages of this part of California are represented as

extremely poor, and armed only with stone-pointed arrows; it

being the wise policy of the Spaniards not to furnish them with

firearms. As they find it difficult, with their blunt shafts, to

kill the wild game of the mountains, they occasionally supply

themselves with food, by entrapping the Spanish horses. Driving

them stealthily into fastnesses and ravines, they slaughter them

without difficulty, and dry their flesh for provisions. Some they

carry off to trade with distant tribes; and in this way, the

Spanish horses pass from hand to hand among the Indians, until

they even find their way across the Rocky Mountains.

The Mexicans are continually on the alert, to intercept these

marauders; but the Indians are apt to outwit them, and force them

to make long and wild expeditions in pursuit of their stolen

horses.

Two of the Mexican party just mentioned joined the band of

trappers, and proved themselves worthy companions. In the course

of their journey through the country frequented by the poor Root

Diggers, there seems to have been an emulation between them,

which could inflict the greatest outrages upon the natives. The

trappers still considered them in the light of dangerous foes;

and the Mexicans, very probably, charged them with the sin of

horse-stealing; we have no other mode of accounting for the

infamous barbarities of which, according to their own story, they

were guilty; hunting the poor Indians like wild beasts, and

killing them without mercy. The Mexicans excelled at this savage

sport; chasing their unfortunate victims at full speed; noosing

them round the neck with their lasos, and then dragging them to

death!

Such are the scanty details of this most disgraceful expedition;

at least, such are all that Captain Bonneville had the patience

to collect; for he was so deeply grieved by the failure of his

plans, and so indignant at the atrocities related to him, that he

turned, with disgust and horror, from the narrators. Had he

exerted a little of the Lynch law of the wilderness, and hanged

those dexterous horsemen in their own lasos, it would but have

been a well-merited and salutary act of retributive justice. The

failure of this expedition was a blow to his pride, and a still

greater blow to his purse. The Great Salt Lake still remained

unexplored; at the same time, the means which had been furnished

so liberally to fit out this favorite expedition, had all been

squandered at Monterey; and the peltries, also, which had been

collected on the way. He would have but scanty returns,

therefore, to make this year, to his associates in the United

States; and there was great danger of their becoming

disheartened, and abandoning the enterprise.