ich Colonel Mason was the bearer, he
having left the United States on the 7th November. In this letter
General Scott says:--

"As a guide to the civil governor of Upper California, in our hands,
see the letter of June 3rd (last), addressed to you by the Secretary of
War. You will not, however, formally declare the province to be
annexed. Permanent incorporation of the territory must depend on the
government of the United States.

"After occupying with our forces all necessary points in Upper
California, and establishing a temporary civil government therein, as
well as assuring yourself of its internal tranquillity, and the absence
of any danger of reconquest on the part of Mexico, you may charge
Colonel Mason, United States first dragoons, the bearer of this open
letter, or land officer next in rank to your own, with your several
duties, and return yourself, with a sufficient escort of troops, to St.
Louis, Missouri; but the body of the United States dragoons that
accompanied you to California will remain there until further orders."

The transport ships Thomas H. Perkins, Loo Choo, Susan Drew, and
Brutus, with Colonel Stevenson's regiment, arrived at San Francisco
during the months of March and April. These vessels were freighted with
a vast quantity of munitions, stores, tools, saw-mills, grist-mills,
etc., etc., to be employed in the fortification of the principal
harbours on the coast--San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego. The
regiment of Col. Stevenson was separated into different commands,
portions of it being stationed at San Francisco, Sonoma, Monterey,
Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles; and some companies employed against the
horse-thief Indians of the Sierra Nevada and the Tulares.

As good an account of these horse-thief Indians, and their
depredations, as I have seen, I find in the "California Star," of March
28th, 1847, written by a gentleman who has been a resident of
California for a number of years, and who has been a sufferer. It is
subjoined:--

"During the Spanish regime, such a thing as a horse-thief was unknown
in the country; but as soon as the Mexicans took possession, their
characteristic anarchy began to prevail, and the Indians to desert from
the missions. The first Indian horse-thief known in this part of the
country was a neophyte of the mission of Santa Clara, George, who
flourished about twenty years ago. He absconded from his mission to the
river of Stanislaus, of which he was a nativ