penses of war and civil administration except those derived from the customhouses, and the Americans were so deeply committed by their promise of low duties that Mason felt compelled to reduce the tariff explicitly ordered by the government. There were jealous differences of opinion on many points between the Californians and the Americans, between the various nationalities of the foreigners, and between the old and the new immigrants; and finally the people were disturbed by serious quarrels between the Stockton-Fremont party and the Kearny-Mason party, and by the old fear that eventually the Americans would sail away, leaving them to settle with Mexico as best they could.[1]
For troops, besides Company C of the First Dragoons, Kearny's escort from Santa Fe, there were Company F of the Third Artillery, which arrived in February, 1847, the Mormon battalion, and a regiment of New York volunteers under Colonel J. D. Stevenson, who came in March, 1847, and were expected to remain in California as settlers after the close of the war. 20 Apparently the Mormons were to be a source of weakness rather than strength, and the antecedents of the New York regiment inspired little confidence. Stevenson's men did in fact begin promptly to "sow wild oats." They were not disposed to work on the fortifications, and they were insubordinate. But under Mason's control they soon learned to do well, and he reported that at the close of the war "one common cry of regret arose [from the Californians] at the order for their disbandment; [and] the little petty causes of complaint were forgotten in the remembrance of the more substantial advantages they had enjoyed under the protection of the military." The conduct of the Mormons was always exemplary and they won the esteem of the people.[2]
Imported articles became cheap. Real estate and all the products of the soil, particularly at the north, increased in value. Commerce trebled in a year. All damages caused by men recognized as in the service of the United States were repaired, and the offenders punished. The return of José Castro without means or hopes at the beginning of 1848 produced an excellent effect. Gold-digging became more attractive than conspiracies. And although a certain number of irreconcilables cherished regrets and grievances, the official
