GIRARD Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia. AGENCY ESTABLISHED ON THIS COAST IN 1853. CAPITAL, $300,000.00. ASSETS, $1,170,000.00. A. S. GILLETT, President. J. B. ALVORD, Vice-President. P. C. ROYCE, Secretary. HUTCHINSON & MANN, General Agents for the Pacific Coast. 322 and 324 California Street and 302 and 304 Sansome Street, San Francisco. LICK HOUSE The only First-Class Hotel in San Francisco ON THE EUROPEAN PLAN. Elegantly Furnished Rooms. First-Class Restaurant, under the Supervision of an Experienced and Skillful Caterer. WM. F. HARRISON, MANAGER. ST. AUGUSTINE COLLEGE IS LOCATED AT BENICIA, ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY PLACES IN California, And is accessible by the Northern Railway, the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, by Stockton, Sacramento and Martinez Steamers. Visitors from San Francisco take the Oakland Ferry-Boat at 8:00 A. M. and at 3:30 P. M.; and returning leave Benicia at 9:30 A. M. and at 5:45 P. M. This incorporated Institution has been well known on the Pacific Coast for fifteen years as a thorough and well disciplined Boarding School for Boys. THE COURSE OF STUDY is arranged for SEVEN CLASSES, in THREE DEPARTMENTS, viz: CLASSICAL, LITERARY, and SCIENTIFIC. Graduates should be prepared to enter the Sophomore Class in the corresponding Departments of the University of California. THE MILITARY TRAINING, under a Resident Commandant, imparts strength to the body, and offers unusual facilities for instruction in Drill with Sabre, Musket, and Bayonet. THE DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT is in charge of an Experienced Matron. Attention is paid to Personal Habits and Manners of the Students. The Professors and Cadets occupy the same buildings, and meet as one family in a commodious Dining Hall, and worship together in the College Chapel. The 28th Term Opens on Tuesday, January 10th, 1882, at 2 o'clock, P. M. Early application advisable in order to secure a place. Number of cadets limited to 100. For full particulars address the President, RT. REV. J. H. WINGFIELD, D. D., LL. D. BENICIA, CALIFORNIA. A BRAIN AND NERVE FOOD. VITALIZED PHOS-PHITES. Composed of the Vital or Nerve-giving Principles of the Ox-Brain and Wheat-Germ. IT RESTORES THE ENERGY LOST BY NERVOUSNESS OR INDIGESTION; RELIEVES LASSITUDE, ERRATIC PAINS AND NEURALGIA; REFRESHES THE NERVES TIRED BY WORRY, EXCITEMENT OR EXCESSIVE BRAIN FATIGUE; STRENGTHENS A FAILING MEMORY, AND GIVES RENEWED VIGOR IN ALL DISEASES OF NERVOUS EXHAUSTION OR DEBILITY. IT IS THE ONLY PREVENTIVE OF CONSUMPTION. IT GIVES VITALITY TO THE INSUFFICIENT BODILY OR MENTAL GROWTH OF CHILDREN, PREVENTS FRETFULNESS, AND GIVES QUIET, REST AND SLEEP. IT GIVES A BETTER DISPOSITION TO INFANTS AND CHILDREN, AS IT PROMOTES GOOD HEALTH TO BRAIN AND BODY. Physicians have prescribed 500,000 Packages. For Sale by Druggists, or by Mail, $1. F. CROSBY CO., 664 & 666 Sixth Avenue, New York. Mine and Mill Supplies, 118 and 120 Market St., and 15 & 17 California St. DRUGGISTS' GLASS and SUNDRIES. P. O. Box 2001. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. EELER'S CARBON BISULPHIDE For killing Squirrels, Gophers, Rats, Ants, Moths, Weevils. Paylloxera, Scale, Lice, Etc. Sold by Druggists and dealer in general merchandise. May also be obtained direct from the manufacturer, JOHN H. WHEELER, Office 111 Leidesdorff St., San Francisco. THE CALIFORNIAN. A WESTERN MONTHLY MAGAZINE. EDITED BY CHAS. H. PHELPS. VOL. V.-JANUARY, 1882.-No. 25. CAPTAIN F. X. AUBREY. In no fair sense of the term was Captain Aubrey a pioneer of California, notwithstanding the fact that, during the gold-discovery years, he explored the route hither which is now utilized in the greatest railroad enterprise of distinctively Californian character in its through connection with the States beyond the Rocky Mountains, to the south and east, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic seaboard. But his deeds as a pioneer in neighboring territory, and in other respects, entitle him to consideration, and his name to worthy remembrance at the hands of this people. There are many in California, and elsewhere on this coast, who personally knew him, and these, without exception, honor his memory. But there is, in the story of his life, enough to entitle it to place in Californian literature. Captain Francis Xavier Aubrey was a native of Canada, the son of French Canadian parents. In early boyhood he manifested the wild spirit of adventure and daring which in his riper years made him conspicuous among men of similar nature in the grand field which the explorations of Mar quette and Joliet, of Hennepin and La Salle, and of others who made known to the world the wonders and vastness of the region of the great rivers of the West, and their contiguous and far western and south-western territory, so largely developed in the pioneering and settlement of what are now prosperous States and rapidly growing Territories of our common country. Whilst yet a mere lad, he left his home, and, as the self-reliant architect of his own fortune, began the foundation of that life of uncommon energy, unbounded ambition, and unconquerable fortitude, with that zeal and tact and fearlessness combined, which won for him a name, ere he saw his thirtieth year, as celebrated in the field of startling adventure, and in romantic yet valuable exploration, as it was honorable to himself and advantageous to his adopted country. He had pushed his way to St. Louis, and there obtained employment in the mercantile house of Lamoreaux & Blanchard-the first-named partner himself of French extraction. At that period, among the principal and best known merchants of St. Louis, was VOL. V.-1. [Copyright, 1881, by THE CALIFORNIA PUBLISHING COMPANY. All rights reserved in trust for contributors. Mr. Eugene Kelly, now in the enjoyment of a world-wide reputation in the broad domain of commerce, as the founder of one of the largest and most substantial houses in the United States-the chief house of its class on the Pacific Coast; and also in the solid realm of finance, as the head of one of the soundest and richest banking establishments on the continent of America. Aubrey held subordinate place in the service of his employers, but gained rapid promotion on account of the ability, fidelity, and shrewd business qualities he progressively developed. He also attracted the attention of Mr. Eugene Kelly, who was quick to discern the vigorous nature and sturdy character of the youth, and he found him to be as honorable and thorough in his business dealings and habits as he was manly and frank in his bearing, and prompt, studious, and thorough in the discharge of his duties and obligations. Although he was of tough fiber and naturally sound constitution, and possessed uncommon energy to work, young Aubrey's health at length became impaired by the too great strain upon his body and mind beyond their just powers, in his arduous employment; and it became apparent to himself, as well as to his friends, that he must desist from the fatiguing and exhausting strain, and seek in some more healthful employment the repair and reinvigoration he so much needed. The close confinement of a busy city house was neither congenial to his nature nor favorable to his health. He required the wholesome influence of an out-door life, and his ambitious spirit craved the opportunity for the display of the latent energies he felt stirring within him, to such purpose as he was self-conscious and fully confident he could profitably and pridefully direct them. The Santa Fé trade was then the richest and most attractive field for the enterprise and ambition of those who sought to combine hardy adventure with its attendant perils and the accumulation of fortune. Yet it was a traffic that comparatively few were inclined to embark in, after full consideration of the risks, the fatigues, and the hardships incident to the very long and wearisome journey of upwards of a thousand miles, through an almost unpeopled country, infested by predatory nomadic tribes of the most hostile and most savage Indians of North America; destitute, for a great portion of the route, of sufficient vegetation or water to sustain life or allay thirst; with broad and inhospitable deserts to cross; and nearly every mile of the entire distance beset with privations and terrors and dangers to try and to exhaust the stoutest frame and appal the bravest heart, to subdue the hardiest, and to cause the less robust to sink and perish in the undertaking. • The expeditions thither were by annual trains, or caravans, in some respects similar to those which traverse the immense desert wastes of north-western Asia, and of African Sahara, and sometimes months together were occupied in going or in returning, while every day spent upon the road or trail was either of tedious monotony, expectant peril, or of actual danger, as well from the elements as from savage raids, with the constant hazard of death by the slow process of famishing, or by the more dreaded and more terrible torture which any overpowering band of Indians would be certain to inflict. Upon weighing these discouraging contingencies with the probability of acquiring fortune through years of such toil and risks, the great proportion of those who had ever entertained the idea of engaging in that traffic concluded to abandon it, and only the most courageous and most adventurous resolved upon the trial, and embarked in it. During his employment with Lamoreaux & Blanchard, Aubrey had had good opportunity to acquire information concerning the Santa Fé trade, and every fresh arrival thence and departure thither more and more inspired him with the desire to make the expedition on his own account. His desire developed into a passion, and this became absorbing and irrepressible. Go he would, if he could only arrange for an outfit of suitable merchandise, and to this purpose he at once directed his energies. Eugene Kelly promptly became his friend in need, his proved almost from the outset his golden pathway to fortune, his nobler highway to fame. backer in deed. Aubrey started upon what | the early part of 1853, Aubrey made the trip from Santa Fé to California, with a number of wagons and a large drove of sheep, which he disposed of in this State to good profit. It was on that trip that he explored the route across the country since adopted by the builders of the Southern Pacific Railroad-in the main, the most feasible of any known for the transit of the continent. This, of itself, was enough to establish his skill as a master mind among the most accomplished of explorers, in the true light of a pathfinder; and he so accurately described and plainly gave the bearings of the route, that its subsequent survey was little more than the elaboration of of his rough notes and simple observations. It was in 1846, after Aubrey had been in that trade for several years, that he made his unparalleled feat of a double round trip from St. Louis to Sante Fé-two trips within the year—with wagons; and the incoming trip was performed in the extraordinary time of five days and sixteen hours--part of the way through snow, for it was in winter that he arrived in St. Louis. The feat remains unequaled. It was on that trip that his favorite mare "Dolly" was taken sick, and dropped from sheer exhaustion. He had ridden her two hundred miles in twenty-six hours. But his regard for the faithful animal was so great, that he had her conveyed all the way back to Santa Fé in comfortable condition. Her eventual sad fate will be told further on in this sketch. The gold discovery in California did not divert or turn Aubrey from his profitable trade in Santa Fé; but he gave substantial aid and good outfit to a number who made the way overland by the southern route. It was his misfortune in 1849 to be embroiled in a personal difficulty in Santa Fé, in which the life of his antagonist was sacrificed. Colonel Thomas H. Holt, a well-known pioneer citizen of San Francisco, was at that time tarrying in Santa Fé, on his way overland to California, and had made the acquaintance of Aubrey, who then solicited him to act as counsel in the case before the court. Colonel Holt freely gave his services as required. It was a clear case of self-defense, and Aubrey was forthwith discharged from custody. He thereupon offered Colonel Holt a fee of $1,000. It was declined, with appropriate acknowledgments. A few days afterwards, on his departure from Sante Fé, to pursue his long journey to the land of gold, Colonel Holt had pressed upon him by Aubrey a very valuable, excellent saddle horse, handsomely caparisoned, as a substantial token of his gratitute and friendship. It was an offering characteristic of the man. On his way across the country, Aubrey reached the Rio Grande at Libretta, discovered gold on the Colorado, and between these two principal rivers, about two hundred miles west of the Zuñi villages, came upon a tribe of peaceable Indians, who lived by hunting, and showed him bullets of gold, of the precious value of which they were entirely ignorant, nor did he enlighten them, or trade with them for the treasure so strangely used. After sojourning in California a few weeks, during which time he made his camping ground at San Juan, Monterey County, and purchased a large stock of goods for the return trip, Aubrey left for Santa Fé, June roth, and reached Albuquerque-eleven hundred miles distant-September 10th. He arrived in Santa Fé the 14th of the same month. His route was across the Sierra Nevada range at Tejon Pass-which he made July 12th-thence over the sterile Colorado desert in a due east line, and through Arizona. His party numbered not quite twenty men. No serious trouble was encountered until the country of the Garotteras was reached-a tribe of warlike, predatory, and treacherous Indians, who subsist mainly by plunder. Aubrey had so long been accustomed to deal with Indians, friendly and hostile, that he was thoroughly conversant with the Indian character in all degrees. He knew the After the subsidence of the gold fever in cunning and perfidiousness of the Garotteras ; |