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. And four years later, after hostile Indians had destroyed the
sacred structures, Padre Fortune, under protection of Presidio Golden
Gate, blessed the ashes and rebuilt the church and the parochial
houses named last on the list of the historic Missions of California.

The Vallejo home covered the largest plot of ground on the north side
of the plaza, and its great house had a hospitable air, despite its
lofty watchtower, begrimed by sentry holes, overlooking every part of
the valley.

During the period that its owner was _commandante_ of the northern
frontier, the Vallejo home was headquarters for high officials of the
province. But after Commodore Sloat raised the Stars and Stripes at
Monterey, General Vallejo espoused the cause of the United States, put
aside much of his Spanish exclusiveness, and opened his doors to
Americans as graciously as to friends of his own nationality.

A historic souvenir greatly prized by Americans in town and valley was
the flag pole, which in Sonoma's infancy had been hewn from the distant
mountain forest, and brought down on pack animals by mission Indians
under General Vallejo's direction. It origi