Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/781

 GRAHAM GRALBATCH. 7G3 great basin and N.Mex., whence he is generally said to have come to Cal. in 33. iii. 388, 409. I have found no details of his arrival, which was very likely in 34 or 35. In 30 he had a distillery and drinking-place at Natividad, and from the loafers about his place, chiefly deserting sailors, raised a comp. of riflemen to support Alvarado in his revolution, going south in that cause in 37. See full details in iii. 454-9, 491, 524, 685. In 38 he was condemned to 8 months in the chain-gang for killing cattle on Gomez rancho. Mont. Arch.; and in 39 he and Naile tried to organize a comp. to cross the mts eastward. In 40, with a dozen of hi? associates and enough other foreigners to make up the number of 47, G. was sent to S. Bias on a charge of plotting against the govt; but with 18 of the exiles came back the next year. iv. 2-41, 95, 11G, 348. The current versions of this affair, as fully explained elsewhere, have but a slight foundation in truth; the exiles were for the most part foreigners of the worst class, who had come to Cal. in defiance of the laws; and while the definite charges of conspiracy could not be proved, the arrest was only tech nical, and in the case of a few, an outrage, for which Gov. Alvarado waa willing that Mex. should pay damages. Statements that Alvarado broke his promises to G., and that the prisoners were brutally treated, have no better foundation than the absurd ravings of Farnham and the complaints of the victims hungry for damages. After his return, G., with Majors and others, bought the Sayante rancho near Sta Cruz, built a saw-mill, and engaged also to some extent in tanning. His name appears constantly on Larkin s books. He made desperate efforts to get damages from Mex. through the U. S. govt for his exile; it is a popular tradition that he succeeded in getting $30,000, and possibly he did in later years get a small sum, but I find no definite evi dence to that effect, iv. 40-1. In 43 he offered his support and that of his associates without their knowledge to Gov. Micheltorena, who declined at first, iv. 350; but he finally went south with Sutter s force in defense of the gov. in 44-5; iv. 472, 478, 483, 480, 507. Tn 45 he induced a young Ameri can woman to live with him, her mother making an effort through Consul Larkin and the alcalde to oblige him to marry, but apparently without suc cess; though G. claimed that she was his wife, and she so appears in the pa- dron of 45, when G. was 40 years old. I have much of the original corresp. con nected with the scandal. At this time 20 of G. s foreign fellow-citizens signed a petition to the prefect for his expulsion from the community, as a dissolute, lawless, quarrelsome corruptor of the public peace and morals. I think the woman left him in 49, about the time that some of his children by a former marriage came to Cal. The case of Graham vs Roussillon in 40 waa the 1st tried by a jury in Cal. v. 289. After the U.S. occupation, G. continued to live on his Sta Cruz rancho, for which he was the claimant, iv. 650; and died at S. F. in 03 at the age of nearly 70. Two of his daughters, very respectable people, live in Sta Cruz Co. 85; and his brother also resided in Cal. for many years. Respecting Graham s character, much is said in my narrative of the events of 40. But for the unmerited praise that has been so profusely accorded him, and his own never-ending abuse of better men, it might be in doubtful taste to dwell on the man s true character. In N. Mex. and on the plains, where he was well known by Nidever, B. D. Wilson, Job Dye, and others, he had the worst of reputations, amply justified by his career in Cal. At the best, he was a loud-mouthed, unprincipled, profligate, and reckless man, whose only good qualities seem to have been the personal bravery and prodigal hospital ity of his class, with undoubted skill as a hunter, and a degree of industry. Graham (John), 1791, Boston boy of Malaspina s exped. who died at Mont., called Groem. i. 491. G. (John), JS41, lieut on the U.S. St Louis. G. (Law rence P.), 1848, brevet major 2d U. S. drag., in com. of a dragoon battalion from Mex. arriving at the end of Dec. ; mil. com. of the southern dist in 49. v. 522, 618. G. (Wm), 1841, doubtful name at S. Jose&quot;. Bidvcdl. Grajera (Antonio), Mex. lieut in com. of the S. Diego comp. 1793-9; capt. from 98; conduct far from exemplary; left Cal. Jan. 1800, and died at sea 3 days after sailing. Biog. i. 676; ment. i. 522, 532, 538, 543, 503, 588-94, 630, 634, 653, 650, 730. Gralbatch (Wm), 1825, Engl. sailor and cooper who landed at