The Bear Flag [pp. 506-513]

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P
ONE SAID, " PAINT A GRIZZLY BEAR "
military of California, which would permit
him to extend his explorations, when spring
should open, southerly as far as the Colorado River.
From subsequent events, there can be no
doubt that Castro's permission, so granted,
was understood by himself to be south from
Fr6mont's camp in the San Joaquin Valley,
and east of the Coast Range Mountains,
and not through the settlements along the
coast. But, lo and behold! when Fremont
set out in the spring he marched into the
valleys west of the Coast Range and had
gotten nearly as far as the Salinas Valley
whe n Castro confronted him with notice and
a small force, which brought Fremont to a
halt and caused him to take refuge on Gavilan
Mountain, where he fortified himself and
remained some days. Meantime Castro's
forces were daily increasing. Fr6mont escaped into the San Joaquin Valley, and
thence up the Sacramento Valley, apparently in great haste.
There is no doubt that Fr6mont was
greatly enraged against Castro,-in fact, he
was known to be so. Thwarted in his explorations to the south, he resolved to
extend his explorations northerly. He had
barely reached Southern Oregon when a
messenger from the United States government overtook him. Those written messages have, I think, never been published.
Their purport, however, interpreted )by
words dropped here and there, and at s
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