should leave the place, and not come within twelve leagues of the sub-comisaría so long as he remained in California. Meanwhile another bitter controversy had been raging between Doña Ana and Herrera, who hated each other much more heartily than they did their unfaithful spouses. Herrera had been so rash as to make in his previous slander suit some rather annoying charges against the lady's character; and now Doña Ana brought suit to obtain certain documents needed for her own justification, but which, as her opponent declared, she intended to use 'extra-judicially' to his own detriment by keeping the scandal alive. I have the original records of this suit, which was made to include pretty much all that pertained to the other two in the way of testimony, charges, letters, and pasquinades, many of the pieces being more amusing than instructive. The end seems to have been a reference to the supreme court on some technicality.[1]
One of Herrera's alleged reasons for suspending his prosecution of Castañares at the end of June was that a the public tranquillity had been disturbed by events growing out of the matter, and harmony lost between the authorities, so that very serious consequences were to be feared unless the cause of contention were removed." This is all I find in records of the time to connect the Monterey scandal with Chico's troubles;[2] but the Californians tell the story in substance as follows: While Castañares was in prison, and his paramour in enforced seclusion, a company of maromeros, or rope-dancers, gave a performance in one of the presidio buildings, at which, as usual on such rare occasions, everybody was present. The best place was reserved of course for the governor, who on entering
- ↑ Castañares vs Herrera en Asuntos de Calumnia, 1836, Junio-Julio. The original papers in Doc. Hist. Cal., i. 257-380. Several hundred documents, bearing the autographs of nearly every prominent man in Monterey either as court officials or witnesses.
- ↑ Alvarado, however, in his charges of July 29th, accused Chico of having meddled with the case of Castañares, which belonged to the ordinary jurisdiction.
