[Illustration: OLD MEXICAN CARRETA]
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF JUDGE A.L. RHODES, A TYPICAL CALIFORNIA
HOUSE OF THE BETTER CLASS IN 1849]
We had seen princely dons of many leagues ride by in state; dashing
_caballeros_ resplendent in costumes of satin and velvet, on their way
to sing beneath the windows of dark-eyed _senoritas;_ and had stood
close enough to the wearers of embroidered and lace-bedecked small
clothes, to count the scallops which closed the seams of their outer
garments, and to hear the faint tinkle of the tiny silver bells which
dangled from them. We had feasted our eyes on magnificently robed
_senoras_ and _senoritas_; caught the scent of the roses twined in
their hair, and the flash of jewels on their persons.
Such frequent object-lessons made the names and surroundings of those
grandees easy to remember. Some lived leagues distant, some were near
neighbors in that typical Mexican Pueblo of Sonoma, whose adobe walls
and red-tiled roofs nestled close to the foot of the dimpled hills
overlooking the valley from the north, and whose historic and romantic
associations were connected with distinguished families who still
called it home.
Foremost among the men was General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, by whom
Sonoma was founded in 1834, upon ground which had twice been
consecrated to Mission use. First by Padre Altemera, who had, in 1823,
established there the church and mission building of San Francisco
Solano.
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