These fears were very soon realized.
Succeeding expeditions settled in the State with the evident intention
of remaining. No serious effort was made by the California authorities
to keep them out. From time to time, to be sure, formal objection was
raised and regulations were passed. However, as a matter of plain
practicability, it was manifestly impossible to prevent parties from
starting across the plains, or to inform the people living in the
Eastern States of the regulations adopted by California. It must be
remembered that communication at that time was extraordinarily slow and
broken. It would have been cruel and unwarranted to drive away those who
had already arrived. And even were such a course to be contemplated, a
garrison would have been necessary at every mountain pass on the East
and North, and at every crossing of the Colorado River, as well as at
every port along the coast. The government in California had not men
sufficient to handle its own few antique guns in its few coastwise
forts, let alone a surplus for the purpose just described. And to cap
all, provided the garrisons had been available and could have been
placed, it would have been physically impossible to have supplied them
with provisions for even a single month.
Truth to tell, the newcomers of this last class were not personally
objectionable to the Californians.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29