We rarely stayed awake long enough to say all we wished about the Spanish people.  Their methods of travel, modes of dress, and fascinating manners were sources of never-ending discussion and interest.

[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.  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.