Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/521

Rh Having issued on the 1st of February a summons for the electors to meet on the 25th, Alvarado, in letters sent northward on the 2d and 3d, narrated briefly what had occurred at Angeles. Officially he stated that the modifications of the original plan, to which he had assented, were not essential, while it had been necessary to make concessions to conciliate public opinion in the south. In a private letter he explained that under the present plan he hoped to reach, though by a roundabout course, his original aim, by managing to secure a majority in the new diputacion. Otherwise it would have been necessary to maintain a military force permanently in the south, which would have been an intolerable burden to the treasury. Leaving Castro with thirty men to garrison San Gabriel and preserve order, Alvarado left San Fernando February 5th, and two days later arrived at Santa Bárbara, where he found the popular enthusiasm unabated, and where his first act was to send home the Monterey troops and Graham's riflemen.

Thus far all had gone well with Alvarado in the south; but there followed during February and March