of his spirit, and his instinct to take chances, one comes to the
conclusion that it is more than likely that his move was a gamble on
probabilities rather than a result of direct orders.

Be this as it may, the mere fact of Fremont's turning south decided the
alarmed settlers, and led to the so-called "Bear Flag Revolution." A
number of settlers decided that it would be expedient to capture
Sonoma, where under Vallejo were nine cannon and some two hundred
muskets. It was, in fact, a sort of military station. The capture proved
to be a very simple matter. Thirty-two or thirty-three men appeared at
dawn, before Vallejo's house, under Merritt and Semple. They entered the
house suddenly, called upon Jacob Leese, Vallejo's son-in-law, to
interpret, and demanded immediate surrender. Richman says "Leese was
surprised at the 'rough looks' of the Americans. Semple he describes as
'six feet six inches tall, and about fifteen inches in diameter, dressed
in greasy buckskin from neck to foot, and with a fox-skin cap.'" The
prisoners were at once sent by these raiders to Fremont, who was at that
time on the American River. He immediately disclaimed any part in the
affair. However, instead of remaining entirely aloof, he gave further
orders that Leese, who was still in attendance as interpreter, should be
arrested, and also that the prisoners should be confined in Sutter's
Fort. He thus definitely and officially entered the movement. Soon
thereafter Fremont started south through Sonoma, collecting men as he
went.

The following quotation from a contemporary writer is interesting and
illuminating. "A vast cloud of dust appeared at first, and thence in
long files emerged this wildest of wild parties. Fremont rode ahead, a
spare active looking man, with such an eye! He was dressed in a blouse
and leggings, and wore a felt hat. After him came five Delaware Indians
who were his bodyguard. They had charge of two baggage-horses. The rest,
many of them blacker than Indians, rode two and two, the rifle held by
one hand across the pummel of the saddle. The dress of these men was
principally a long loose coat of deerskin tied with thongs in front,
trousers of the same. The saddles were of various fashions, though these
and a large drove of horses and a brass field gun were things they had
picked up in California."

Meantime, the Americans who had collected in Sonoma, under the lead of
William B. Ide, raised the flag of revolution--"a standar