The Story of the Bear Flag Revolt

It's Mrs. Pooley here at William B. Eyde Adobe State Historic Park. Today we're going to hear the story of the Bear Flag Revolt. And who better to tell the tale than William B. Eyde himself. He's right here inside the Adobe. Let's go join him. Hi, come in, come in. Make yourself at home. You're here to learn about the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, hmm? Well, you see, I moved to this valley in 1845 after gradually making my way all the way across the country from Massachusetts. This was, at that time, under Mexican rule, of course. Now in 1846, we started hearing rumors that Generalissimo Castro was on his way up from Monterey to drive out all of us Americans. Well, I was not about to stand for that, no sirree. On June 8th, I received a communication from Captain Fremont. A large body of armed Spaniards on horseback amounting to 250 men have been seen on their way to the Sacramento Valley destroying the crops, burning the houses, and driving off the cattle. Captain Fremont invites every Freeman in the Valley to come to his camp at the Buttes immediately and he hopes to stay the enemy and put a stop to his... And here the page was folded and worn in two, so the rest was missing. Well, I did not need more to spring into action. I said goodbye to my wife and children and then I hastened to the camp of Captain Fremont at Sutter Buttes to hear of his grand three-part plan. This was his plan. First, select a dozen men who had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Second, steal some of Castro's horses and thus equip ourselves for a journey to the States. And third, take some of his men prisoner and thus provoke him to strike the first blow in a war. Now, I refused to be a part of a band of mountain thieves and robbers. I wanted nothing to do with promoting a war through falsehood and treachery. When I informed Captain Fremont of this, he attacked my religion. He accused me of wanting to hornswoggle the whole country and place California under Mormon rule. Of course, this was nothing short of a foul slander. When I informed him of this, he said, I will not suffer such language in my camp. It is disorganizing. And he stormed out. So, we resolved to proceed without him. Several of us marched on to Sonoma under the leadership of Captain Merritt with the rallying cry, Hurrah for Independence! Did I say marched? We rushed with all haste, making the distance of some 100 miles in two days. We were 32 in number when we reached Sonoma, and we surrounded the house of General Vallejo just at daybreak. And then Captain Merritt, Dr. Simple, and Mr. Knight went inside the house to secure the prisoners. After the rest of us had waited outside for some time, the men grew restless, and it was decided that Mr. Grigsby would go inside and see how matters were progressing. So then, we waited on our horses patiently for yet another hour. Finally, it was determined that I myself would go inside the hacienda. And what should I discover? Well, there sat Dr. Simple, editing the articles of capitulation. Over there was chuckle-headed Merritt, just nodding off. And there were Grigsby and Knight, just dozing away. The bottles of liquor had vanquished the captors. But I, being a teetotaler, was immune to the seduction of spirits. I seized the articles of capitulation, hastily read through them on a table, and then went out to tell the men of their contents. But in the meanwhile, the men had become disorganized, confused, disheartened. And one of them swore that he would not stay to guard the prisoners. Another swore that we would all have our throats cut. Another called for fresh horses, and it was every man to his own direction. I gave them a good lathering. I said, I, for one, will not take upon myself the ignominy of commencing an honorable work only to flee like a coward. Flee this day, and the longest life will not wear out your disgrace. And then, paraphrasing scripture, I shouted, Choose ye! Choose ye this day what you will be! We will be robbers, or we must be conquerors! Well, I suppose something struck home, because with newfound hope and courage they rallied around me and made me their commander-in-chief. Now, our next course of action was to design a flag. We wanted to raise an independent flag and then, by peaceful treaty, unite ourselves with the United States. Later, Captain Fremont told a real stretcher, saying that he was responsible for our accomplishments, but he in no way directed our efforts. Here is the original bear flag. Well, actually, it's a diminutive duplicate. It was designed by a fellow named William Todd, who was nephew to a lady who married a certain lawyer I knew back in Springfield, Illinois, a tall drink of water named Abe Lincoln. Now, here you see the star for independence, the bear for los osos, the bear hunters who joined forces with us, the red symbolizing bravery, and the white for a new beginning. Well, to make a long story short, if it ain't too late already, I stayed up all night into the morning of June 15th drafting articles of agreement and a treaty declaring our independence from Mexico and guaranteeing the safety of any Californios who would not raise arms against us. It had been rumored that we intended them harm, but it was not true. It proclaimed my belief that a government to be prosperous and happifying in its tendency must originate with its people who are friendly to its existence, and that its citizens are its guardians, its officers are its servants, and its glory their reward. Well, we did not know it at the time, but a war of independence had already been proclaimed, and on July 9th, just 25 days after we seized the garrison, the bear flag was replaced by the stars and stripes, at which point I gladly relinquished my command. In fact, it was the happiest day of my life to be relieved of the position of governorship. Well, that's the story of the bear flag revolt and how I came to preside over the independent Republic of California for all of 25 glorious days.