The Silicon Valley Pro-Confederacy Movement
The California Copperheads, Knights of the Golden Circle, & Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers
Trigger Warnings: Slavery, Racism, Militias In the 1800s, while most northern Californians supported the Union, the regions of San Jose (now Silicon Valley) and Visalia (south of Fresno) were hot beds of Southern, pro-slavery sympathizers. Many of them identified as “California Copperheads.”
Confederates even placed Pacific Republic, Grizzly Bear, Lone Star, and Confederate flags on federal buildings to symbolize their belief in States' rights (aka slavery). In parades and demonstrations held by the Confederates, the Bear Flag was often seen in El Monte, San Bernardino, Merced, Buttle Mills, and Visalia. [1]
Bear Flag Revolt
In 1844, a divisive civil war broke out in California. Mexican Governor of Alta California, Manuel Micheltorena, had irritated the local politicians who wanted California ruled without Mexican control. Mexican General José Castro, the foremost military leader in San Jose, recruited volunteers from the area to aid the Californios. In mid-November, 1844, the rebellion was launched as an attempt to "rid the province" of Micheltorena and his "thieving cholos” (racist, classist slang). The rebellion spread and foreigners from both sides became involved. [2]
Although settler John Sutter had joined Micheltorena with hundreds of men in January 1845, by the time he reached southern California, Micheltorena realized his force was too small to face the Californios. [3] On February 22, he signed a treaty, turned the governorship over to Pío de Jesús Pico, and agreed to leave California. General Castro then became the military commander of Alta California. [4]
A group departed from U.S. Colonel John C. Frémont’s camp and captured a herd of 170 Mexican government-owned horses being moved by Californio soldiers from San Rafael and Sonoma to the Californian Commandante General, José Castro, in Santa Clara.
In March, 1846, Frémont, frontiersman Kit Carson, and 61 other men, arrived in the Santa Clara Valley. They had been roaming throughout the middle of California to help Americans take over the area if the opportunity. After clashing with Castro near San Juan Bautista, and seeing he was outnumbered, Fremont moved towards Oregon, but was then was overtaken by settlers from Sutter's Fort. [5]
From June to July 1846, a small group of American settlers in California rebelled against the Mexican government and proclaimed California an independent republic. Settlers led by William Ide then attempted to risk a Texas-style revolution. On June 1, 1846, they took General Mariano Vallejo and removed him to Sutter's Fort. Frémont and his U.S. men joined the settler rebels. They designed a flag with a grizzly bear and a red star, raised it at Sonoma, and declared a California Republic. [6]
The settlers wanted to act under the protection of the United States government, but this was denied. Commander Montgomery declared, "I at once disavow this movement as having proceeded under any authority of the U.S. or myself. This is a movement entirely local and with which I have nothing to do.”
Official U.S. statements insisted upon the distinction between their presence in California and the "political movement" of the Bear Flaggers. [7] Mexican General Castro lashed out with an indignant denunciation of Frémont’s invasion of his country. On June, 18, 1846, U.S. Navy Commodore John D. Sloat of the Pacific Squadron pledged support to Ide's Bear Flag “declaration of independence.” Frémont gathered his forces, moving south, hoping to engage the Mexicans, but de la Torre moved too swiftly and he and his unit joined their Mexican leader, Castro, at Santa Clara. Frémont, after disabling the remaining guns at San Francisco, returned to Sutter's Fort. [8] General Castro issued a proclamation denouncing Col. John C. Fremont of the United States army.[9]
The following week, U.S. Commodore Sloat sent U.S. Navy Commander Montgomery the news of a declaration of war between Mexico and the United States. On July 7, 1846, as U.S. Commodore John Sloat captured Monterey, the Bear Flag Rebellion ended as the Bear Flaggers joined with the American Military, becoming the California Battalion. [10] The Battalion “prevented and punished aggression by the Indians.” [11]
Rumors from Monterey prompted the organization of a militia at Mission Santa Clara. One of the 1846 emigrants, Joseph Aram (a New Yorker), had been recruited and appointed a captain at Sutter's Fort; directed to escort the families of other immigrants to Santa Clara. Upon arrival, ignoring the pleas of the Calijornios they then proceeded to cut down several of the willow trees (considered sacred) along the Alameda to use in barricading the mission compound.
The Civil War
During the civil war, 40,000 of the 400,000 California population were rebel sympathizers (10%). Secessionist feelings ran high in LA, San Berdino, El Monte, Visalia, and San Jose. Some supported Confederacy with money, others plotted to overthrow the California government in Sacramento. [12] Visalia was eventually occupied by U.S. Army troops in order to discourage growing rebel agitation. Even San Francisco had large groups who were pro-slave and anti-Lincoln. Former southerners and working-class Irish immigrants formed the core of pro-Confederate and anti-Black support in the Bay Area. [13]
Hoping to bring California into the Confederacy, Confederate sympathizers organized to overcome the pro-Union forces now dominating California. They formed into secret underground movements like the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Knights of the Columbian Star. Plans were reportedly made to seize the Presidio, the Mint, Custom House and the Arsenal at Benicia. [14]
The most fervent Confederate sympathizers joined the Knights of the Golden Circle, a clandestine organization founded in the South in 1859. By 1861, there were an estimated 16,000 Knights of the Golden Circle members in California. [15] The organization was originally founded with an aim to “to sponsor and conduct military expeditions into the Caribbean region (the "Golden Circle") for the purpose of bringing new slave territories into the Union.”
The Knights of the Golden Circle in California had regular meetings at night at two secret hang outs: Arroyo Hondo (hills of east San Jose, near ranch of Preston C. Hodges) & mountains of west of San Jose (near Saratoga). The meetings included the band of Confederate Guerrillas led by Captain Rufus Ingram & Tom Poole (former Monterey County undersheriff), amongst others. [16]
During the year of 1864, the mountains above the village of Corralitos (Santa Cruz) were a hotbed of pro-secessionist activity. Two separate bands of Confederate guerrillas bivouacked and trained in the rugged Loma Prieta (Los Gatos) area. Nearby ranchers, in allegiance with their cause, sheltered them from the prying eyes of the local Union militia unit known as the Butler Guards. The almost inaccessible terrain allowed them to move almost unnoticed in and out of their camp.[17]
In 1863, Rufus Ingram had taken part in William C. Quantrill’s infamous raid on Lawrence Kansas where the men killed every man in town and burned 185 buildings in one of the Civil War’s most ghastly atrocities. Ingram then fled to Mexico where he met George Baker, a young farmer from San Jose who was on his way to join the Confederate army. Baker told Ingram there were more men in Santa Clara Valley “ready to fight for the South.” Ingram convinced Banker to return to San Jose with him. [18]
Ingram and Baker met with Knights of the Golden Circle in their camp west of San Jose. He told them he wanted to lead a party of men to the Southern states to fight. Many Knights agreed to join & Ingram picked Tom Poole as his lieutenant. Other included: John Ingram, John and Wallace Clendenning, John Creal Bouldware, James Wilson, Henry I. Jarboe, Joseph W. gamble, Washington Jordon, John Gately, Thomas and James Frear, John A. Robinson, Alban H. Glasby, Jim Grant (described by Sacramento Union as “about as thorough a scoundrel as ever stretched hemp” [19]), and George Cross. [20] George Cross had come to California with Fremont and taken part in the Bear Flag revolt. [21] The group also merged with fifty San Jose-based Copperheads to become: “Captain Ingram’s Partisan Rangers.”[22]
A substantial portion of the group would quickly go on to be convicted and imprisoned for murder and treason. Ingram fled California and was never heard from again.
William Walker & the Republic of Senora
In October of 1853, William Walker (an San Francisco lawyer) and four dozen men, confident in their Manifest Destiny and eager to expand the enslavement of non-white people, rode down to Mexico. [23] Recruiting American supporters of slavery and Manifest Destiny, he hoped to form an American colony in Mexico which might eventually take its place as a part of the American Union, as Texas had done. [24]
After capturing two towns – La Paz and Ensenada – he named himself president of the new “Republic of Sonora.” He caught the locals off guard, and quickly captured the towns of La Paz and Ensenada. In a typically grandiose move, Walker then declared himself president of the “Republic of Sonora.” [25]
When word got back to San Francisco, there was jubilation. The newly invented flag of the Sonoran republic was raised on Kearny and Sacramento at Walker’s old offices. "We may now expect to see vessels at San Francisco 'up for La Paz,' crowded with passengers for the new El Dorado of their hopes,” the Placer Herald wrote. The paper predicted by spring, thousands of white Americans would be there, "developing another Republic" with "the energy of the Anglo-Saxon race.” [26]
The Mexican government was less pleased about this interloper. In January 1854, they struck back, killing some of Walker’s men and reclaiming the area. A few hundred additional colonizers arrived, but Walker was running low on food and even lower on morale. They packed up and headed back to San Francisco with Mexican troops nipping at their heels. When Walker reappeared in San Francisco, he was hauled off to federal court for violating U.S. neutrality laws.
The Sacramento Bee called Walker "as ambitious as Lucifer, and soulless as ever was Napoleon." [27]
Undeterred, Walker was somehow acquitted and set about acquiring men and arms for another invasion. He opened a recruiting office, and sold scrip for land in Sonora, attracting volunteers by the score and taking in enough money to finance his expedition. Most of his recruits were Southerners—Mexican War veterans, failed gold seekers, men in search of adventure and plunder. [28]
Peter Burnett
In 1849, Peter Burnett was elected governor of California, even before it had become a state. Before taking office in California, Burnett was a legislator in Oregon and had proposed “all free blacks be forced to leave the state; any who failed to leave were to be arrested and flogged every six months until they did leave.” Burnett’s views led to the exclusion of Black people from Oregon until 1926. [29]
During Burnett’s time as California Governor, Burnett's openly racist attitudes towards Black, Chinese, and Native American people. Burnett’s open hostility to foreign laborers influenced a number of federal and state California legislators to push legislation, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Burnett was also an advocate of exterminating Native Californian tribes (genocide). [30] “It’s not an exaggeration to say that California state legislators established a state-sponsored killing machine.” [31]
Burnett is buried at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery at Santa Clara University.[32] The California Governor’s website also declares: “Burnett is honored with a memorial in the church at Mission Santa Clara.” [33]
Recommendations
Santa Clara city & Santa Clara University love to share romanticized narratives about the Mission Santa Clara & boast about how the Mission continues through today. However, in addition to omitting the true history of the violence against the Native people, they also omit much embarrassing & disturbing white political history.
In retelling the history of Mission Santa Clara, it seems important to note that General José Castro headquartered Mexican military operations from Mission Santa Clara from at least 1844 through 1846, and that in 1845 the Mission was “fortified” as a Mexican military base.
The pre-Confederacy movement in California, actively trying to assist the Southern states fight the Union, was based in Santa Clara Valley. At the very least, the group included at least one ex-Bear Flag militia member, the fighters who tried to take over the government from Mexico back in 1846 & who were based at Mission Santa Clara. Further, with how many men joined Captain Ingram’s Partisan Rangers, based in San Jose, it seems likely the Santa Clara College was involved in some way.
It also seems important to note that the militia was formed and coup d’état planned primarily at Sutter’s Fort but also in Santa Clara Valley, and after the coup, in 1846, the settlers, backed by the U.S. military, took over Mission Santa Clara for themselves & further fortified it for battle. Per the historical records, the Mission was still operating under the oversight of the Franciscans at that time with some vague complaints about “squatters.” SCU’s records fail to explain these “squatters” were the U.S. military.
It seems likely based on the history during this time of pro-slavery movements that the same folks from Bear Flag & Knights of the Golden Circle were involved with William Walker, and thus this ties back to Santa Clara as well. Research should be performed to confirm or exclude.
It also seems critical to note at least for local context as the narrative of Mission -> College should include the culture and society in the town where the site was based. While the Mission was terribly racist and full of human rights violations, and then a coup d’état was attempted based at the Mission, and then the Mission converted to a College… it seems like important information to know the surrounding area was full of pro-Confederacy, pro-slavery residents.
As for Peter Burnett, it was a positive first step to remove the Burnett memorial, however there is more to be done. It is devasting to learn that Burnett is not only buried at Santa Clara University, but buried amongst the very people he happily sought to “exterminate.” Burnett needs to be exhumed. What is done with his remains should be decided in consult with the Ohlone & other Native people impacted by his campaign of genocide. Perhaps an option would be following the traditional response to suspected witches, as mentioned with the Ohlone attempted to poison the Mission Santa Clara fathers. Regardless, Burnett should not remain on campus & should not be laid anywhere near the targets of his hatred and violence.
[1] Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, The Confederate Minority in California
[2] History, Bear Flag, https://www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war/bear-flag-revolt
[3] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[4] While John Sutter does not have many connections to Santa Clara, its worth noting that he was a white settlor who kept 600-800 Native people in ‘complete slavery,’ including a ‘harem’ of underage Native sex slave. He also fed the Native people at his fort ‘like hogs’ from a trough. See, Benjamin Madley, An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, (2017).
[5] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[6] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[7] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[8] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[8] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[9] UTA Libraries, José Antonio Castro, https://library.uta.edu/usmexicowar/record?bio_id=61
[10] Lorie Garcia, Santa Clara: From Mission to Municipality, Research Manuscript Series, No.8 (1997).
[11] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[12] Military History, http://www.militarymuseum.org/Copperheads.html
[13] Military History, http://www.militarymuseum.org/Copperheads.html
[14] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[15] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[16] Santa Cruz History, https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/1f19ba5e22833d99d57f1af900502dde.pdf
[17] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[18] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[19] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[20] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953)
[21] John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California (1953); Confederate Military Operations In California: The Partisans, https://somehistoryteacher.blogspot.com/2015/08/confederates-in-california-part-6.html
[22] California Governors’ Gallery, Peter Burnett, https://governors.library.ca.gov/01-Burnett.html
[23] Final Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of the Mission Santa Clara Indian Neophyte Cemetery (1781-1818): Clareño Muwékma Ya Túnnešte Nómmo Site (CA-SCL-30/H).
[24] Thomas Fuller, He Unleashed a California Massacre. Should This School Be Named for Him?, New York Times (2021)
[25] History Net, William Walker, https://www.historynet.com/william-walker-king-of-the-19th-century-filibusters/
[26] How Tennessee Adventurer William Walker became Dictator of Nicaragua in 1857, Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy & History, Volume XXV, Number 4, http://thenashvillecitycemetery.org/william_walker_article.pdf
[27] History Net, William Walker, https://www.historynet.com/william-walker-king-of-the-19th-century-filibusters/
[28] History Net, William Walker, https://www.historynet.com/william-walker-king-of-the-19th-century-filibusters/
[29] SF Gate, William Walker, https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/william-walker-republic-of-sonora-civil-war-15871858.php
[30] History Net, William Walker, https://www.historynet.com/william-walker-king-of-the-19th-century-filibusters/
[31] California Governors’ Gallery, Peter Burnett, https://governors.library.ca.gov/01-Burnett.html
[32] Final Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of the Mission Santa Clara Indian Neophyte Cemetery (1781-1818): Clareño Muwékma Ya Túnnešte Nómmo Site (CA-SCL-30/H).
[33] Thomas Fuller, He Unleashed a California Massacre. Should This School Be Named for Him?, New York Times (2021)
[34] NGA, Peter Burnett, https://www.nga.org/governor/peter-hardeman-burnett/
[35] California Governors’ Gallery, Peter Burnett, https://governors.library.ca.gov/01-Burnett.html