Eternity Street
Page 54
AS HE LAY MORTALLY WOUNDED in 1855, Samuel King had challenged his three sons to go after the man who shot him: “If you have any of my blood in your veins you will not let him live.” Andrew Jackson King and his brothers went on to cut a violent swath across frontier Los Angeles. Jack King was one of the original Monte Boys, and during the Civil War he served not only as the county’s undersheriff but as political chief of the local secessionist majority. But following the 1865 shootout at the Bella Union that claimed the life of one brother, King put down his guns and devoted himself to the more peaceful if no less confrontational pursuit of editing a local newspaper and practicing law. He prospered, and with the able assistance of an accomplished wife raised a family of six children. Their eldest son, George Bloom King, was an emblem of the rising of a new Los Angeles, trained as a civil engineer and employed in a position of responsibility by city government. Young King was “one of the elect,” opined the Los Angeles Times, the offspring of a pioneer family, scion of a distinguished public servant. But George Bloom King disappointed his parents by refusing to settle down. Into his midthirties he remained single, a frequent habitué of the city’s bars and brothels.
In 1898 King became infatuated with a beautiful young prostitute named Teresa Kerr. After months of spending several nights a week in her company at the house of Madame Van on New High Street, he persuaded Kerr to take up residence with him. Once he overcame the opposition of his parents, he promised, they would marry. In the meantime they took rooms at a boardinghouse, where he registered under an assumed name. According to their landlady, the couple lived quietly enough, although she occasionally overheard arguments between them over King’s habit of staying out late and spending his earnings on booze, cigars, and cards. After some weeks King grew tired of the relationship. “I don’t know what we are going to do for money, sweetheart,” he said to Kerr shortly before Christmas. “I think you had better go back,” referring to Madame Van’s. Kerr was horrified. “I told him that I would rather kill myself than go back to that life.”
One day King left for work in the morning but failed to return in the evening. It took several days before Kerr would admit to herself that he had abandoned her. She wrote King notes, but they were returned unopened. She went to his office, but he refused to admit her. Resolving to do something dramatic, she pawned a ring he had given her, purchased a small revolver with the proceeds, then stationed herself in the stairwell of city hall late one afternoon. She caught him unawares as he left work. “What do you mean by acting this way?” she demanded. “Don’t make a scene,” he admonished. Then he noticed she had something concealed under her cape. “What have you got there?” he asked. “Something to end my suffering,” she said, and pulled out the pistol. The gun went off and the bullet tore down through King’s guts and lodged in his thigh bone.
He lived long enough to make a dying declaration. Teresa Kerr was “a common chippie,” he said. “I got stuck on her like a fool and took her out and kept her. She was so God-damned jealous and her temper was so bad that she led me to disgust life, and I had to quit.” Kerr insisted that her intention had been to kill herself in front of King, but that he had gone for the gun and it discharged by accident. King was asked whether that was true. “No,” he said, “she has been laying for me.” Kerr was indicted for murder in the first degree.
King’s accusation, printed in the local papers, did the prosecution little good. “The statement is so coarsely worded,” the Times pronounced, “it is doubtful whether the prosecution will put it in evidence.” Public sympathy was entirely with Kerr, and at her trial, which lasted several days, scores of women packed the courtroom. “Gray haired matrons and young women from the very best society were gathered in imposing numbers to show their sympathy for the defendant,” reported the Herald. “Sisters all, they felt that Teresa Kerr was deserving of human sympathy and sisterly support.”
The prosecution presented a strong case. “Stung by King’s desertion,” declared the district attorney, Teresa Kerr “had gone to slay him as he came from his office in city hall, and like a good actress, she covered her real motive by studied expressions of grief while her heart was rejoicing in feelings of revenge.” But the defense put Kerr on the stand to refute the charge, and she testified at length and in detail about the coldhearted conduct of George Bloom King.
The jury retired after hearing closing arguments and the judge’s instructions. Nine minutes later the jurists signaled that they had reached a verdict. Before they were ushered back into the courtroom, the judge made an announcement from the bench. “When the jury comes in, if there is any demonstration here,” he said, “I’ll have about half of you in the county jail.” Nevertheless, when the verdict was read—“Not Guilty”—the courtroom erupted in pandemonium. The judge shrugged his shoulders. “I see these ladies will have their way, and I suppose we’ll have to let them have it.”
Andrew Jackson King turned sixty-five the year his eldest son was murdered. He lived for another quarter century, but he never spoke in public about his loss. Noted for his lofty carriage and his elegant manners, King practiced law well into his seventies and to the end of his days remained a loyal Democrat. He regularly attended the party’s county convention, where he was often asked about old times. During one of those gatherings he pleased the reporter for the Herald by recounting tales of the old pueblo, when disagreements among men were settled, as King put it, “by nectar from old Kaintuck and a six shooter.” It was easier to romanticize the violence of frontier Los Angeles than to own the burden of its history. The iniquities of the fathers shall be visited on the children. Cold comfort for old men.
NOTES
The following notes list citations by the name of the newspaper, collection, or author and refer to an extensive bibliography available online at the following website: books.wwnorton.com/books/Eternity-Street/.
Note numbers correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device's search function to locate particular terms in the text.
PREFACE
xi I served as a juror: Thompson 2006, for an account of this trial by another juror.
xii comprehensive list of homicides: Faragher 2014
xiii “all violence is an attempt”: Gilligan 1997:11–12.
xiii “violence always needs justification”: Arendt 1970:77.
PROLOGUE
1 “Defend yourself”: Star 1852.07.10; “People vs. Joseph Caddick and Charles Norris,” 1852.07.07, Box 1, Los Angeles County 1850–1860, “Criminal Court Cases,” Seaver Center for Western History Research (hereafter cited as Criminal/Seaver).
1 “brave but reckless”: Newmark 1916:206–7.
2 “a terrible place”: Alta California 1854.10.19.
2 Homicides: Faragher 2014.
2 New York City: Monkkonen 2001:59.
3 Felipe Sebastián Alvitre: Mason 2004:18–25; Castañeda 1993:22–23.
3 “an incorrigible rogue”: Crosby 2003:143.
4 Alvitre offspring: Northrop 1976:23–29; “Rancho Potrero Chico and Misión Vieja,” Spitzzeri 2010–14.
4 storm of violence: Star 1852.03.20, 1852.08.28.
4 “on the bare back”: Star 1853.09.24; Spitzzeri 2005a:88–89.
5 “fourteen severe wounds”: Star 1854.09.21.
5 young widow: Star 1855.01.04; DAR 1952.
5 Charles Moore: Star 1854.09.21.
6 William Workman: El Clamor Público 1857.03.14, clipping Hayes 1877b 43:146–48.
6 “Where are your father and mother?”: Star 1854.11.02, clipping Hayes 1877b 43:410.
6 they were discovered: Southern Californian 1854.11.02.
7 “Porque era Americano”: Star 1854.11.30, 1855.01.18.
7 David Brown: Chamberlain 1996:350n.
7 Texas Mounted Volunteers: Carney 2008.
7 “committed extensive depredations”: Taylor to Adjutant General, 1847.06.06, Polk 1848b:1178.
7 John Joel Glanton: Chamberlain 1996:350n; Alta California 1851.01.15
; Jeremiah Hill, deposition 1850.05.09, Guinn 1903d:58–60.
8 San Diego: William Carr, deposition, 1850.05.09, Guinn 1903:54–55.
8 Brown in Los Angeles: q.v. “David Brown,” federal manuscript census, Los Angeles County, California (1850), enumeration taken 1851.01.15.
8 sneak attack: William Carr, deposition, 1850.05.09, Guinn 1903:54–55.
8 deputy city marshal: Alta California 1851.01.15.
8 “Here it is”: “People vs. Dave Brown and Charles Lavellé,” 1851.03.17, Box 1, Criminal/Seaver.
9 “He shot”: Star 1851.09.27, clipping Hayes 1877b 43:55.
9 Brown was acquitted: Star 1852.01.31, clipping Hayes 1877b 49:61.
10 “We buried”: Hobbs 1875:218–19.
10 Pinckney Clifford: Star 1854.10.19; Southern Californian 1854.12.14.
11 “one more chance”: Southern Californian 1854.10.19; Star 1854.10.19; Woods diary, 1854.11.28, Bynum 1941:75.
11 shackled in irons: Southern Californian 1854.10.26.
11 Alvitre’s trial: Star 1854.11.30.
11 the courtroom was outfitted: Southern Californian 1854.11.16.
12 “for the benefit”: Hayes diary, 1854.11.24, Hayes 1929:107.
12 “It is truly worthy”: Star 1854.11.30, clipping Hayes 1877b 43:421.
13 “every officer”: Southern Californian 1854.10.19.
14 “tone of the press”: Southern Californian 1854.11.30.
14 “duly tried”: Hayes diary, 1854.11.30, Hayes 1929:107–8.
14 “There is no room”: Star 1854.12.07.
14 “the District Court”: Southern Californian 1854.12.14.
14 stay of execution: Southern Californian 1855.01.04.
14 “So Alvitre is to be hanged”: Star 1855.01.11.
15 “One happens to be”: Southern Californian 1855.01.11.
15 “The Sheriff is determined”: Southern Californian 1855.01.12, reprinted Alta California 1855.01.16.
16 “’Tis strange”: Lord Byron, Don Juan (1823):canto xiv, stanza 101.
16 “manifest destiny”: O’Sullivan 1845.
17 “no brighter sun”: Star 1853.02.26.
CHAPTER 1
21 “a new era”: Alvarado 1876 3:67–69.
22 nearly three hundred individuals : Gonzales-Day 2006.
22 more than fifty: Faragher 2014.
22 Féliz-Villa marriage: Northrop 1976:128–29; baptism records SG:05612 and SG:04025, ECPP 2006; marriage record, 1829.05.11, MIR 1964.
22 Charo: Vega 1877:16.
22 two children: Northrop 2004:105–6; baptism records SG:07672 and SG:07785, ECPP 2006.
22 “el güilo”: Botello 1878:21.
23 “como Díos manda”: Hittell 1898 2:494–95.
23 Alipás brothers: Beebe and Senkewicz 2006:119–20.
23 “Hoy las Féliz mueres”: Prudon 1836b:4.
23 “the lost lamb”: Alvarado 1876 3:61.
24 “peace and harmony”: Botello 1878:21–22.
24 “make a party”: Alvarado 1876 3:61.
24 “Why wait”: Prudon 1836b:5.
24 bid them goodbye: Botello 1878:22; Alvarado 1876 3:61.
24 “My heart tells me”: Alvarado 1876 3:62.
25 disfigured: Botello 1878:22; death record LA:00268, ECPP 2006.
25 Several witnesses: Botello 1878:22.
25 “the little father”: Kielbasa 1997:93.
25 Féliz-Cota family: Northrop 1976:106–26.
25 “Death to Gervasio”: Prudon 1836b:9.
26 requiem mass: Coronel 1994:90.
26 “We swear:” Alvarado 1876 3:64.
26 “Strike, Gervasio”: Prudon 1836b:6.
27 “Whomsoever”: Guinn 1901a:132–33.
27 “shed blood”: Prudon 1836b:10.
28 Jonathan Temple: Barrows 1894c:40–42.
28 “I am a foreigner”: Prudon 1836b:1–2.
28 Prudon, Arzaga, Araujo: Bancroft 1882–1890 20:62–66.
29 fifty-five men: Prudon 1836a:87–88; Bancroft 1882–90 36:62 and McLure 2009:156 assert that the committee was made up mostly of foreigners; González 1993:140 and Casas 1999:212–13 claim the committee was predominantly Mexican; in fact, 40 of the 55 were Californios.
29 distribution of arms: Alvarado 1876 3:64–65.
29 “salus populi”: Prudon 1836a:87–88; Bancroft 1882–90 20:418–19; Guinn 1915a 1:183–85; Layne 1934a:220–21.
30 “An immediate answer”: Layne 1934:221.
30 “chose not to wage”: Alvarado 1876 3:65.
30 “You did well”: Alvarado 1876 3:65–66.
31 firing squad: Tays 1932:289.
31 “Both died”: Death record, LA:00271 and LA:00272, ECPP 2006.
CHAPTER 2
33 five homicides: “Contra Miguel Sánchez por heridas,” 1834.09.12, Los Angeles Ayuntamiento, 1830–50, “Alcalde Court Records” (hereafter cited as ACR) 5:563–67; “Ynformacion sumaria contra Enrique Sepúlveda,” 1835.02.17, ACR 5:754–826; “Criminal sobre omicidio [sic] Ygnacio gentil,” 1835.08.08, ACR 5:677–705; Prudon 1836a cites two more victims by name, but there are no corresponding case files.
33 frequency of homicide: Faragher 2014; the ratio of homicides to population; assuming a population of 2,239 (1836), five murders over three years is a rate of 75/100,000, three times the rate of Oaxaca, Mexico in 1877, Taylor 1979:180–81; cf. Monkkonen 2001, 2003, 2005a, and 2005b, Roth 2009.
34 “a me no me”: Alonso 1995:80.
34 “lax”: Cunyngham-Cunningham 1898:200.
34 1830 and 1836 census: Bancroft 1882–90 19:557; Layne 1936.
34 migrants from the south: Reid 1968:98–99; Layne 1936.
34 “I am disgusted”: Tomas Yorba to José Noriega, 1834.11.22, Phillips 2010:203–4.
35 “out of control”: Angustias de la Guerra, c1878, Beebe and Senkewicz 2006:265.
35 violent crime: 81% of the violent crimes committed by Indians victimized other Indians, but only 18% of the violent crimes committed by Mexicans victimized other Mexicans; data compiled from case file abstracts, 1830–46, Chavez-García 1998.
35 “There are here”: Antonio Osio to Mariano Vallejo, 1836.02.24, Tays 1932:281.
35 “taught Christianity”: Carlos III to Carlos Francisco de Croix, 1770.04.08, Monroy 1990:22.
35 “useful vassals”: Felipe de Neve to Junípero Serra, c1780, Monroy 1990:22.
35 “Shall we think”: Pedro Font, c1776, Salomon 2010:13.
36 twenty-five thousand converts: Geary 1934:162.
36 “the soldiers”: Serra to Viceroy Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, 1773.05.21, Engelhardt 1927:6–7.
37 spoils of conquest: Alonso 1995:94; Castañeda 1993:25.
37 implacable foes: McCawley 1996:44.
37 “They had little basis”: Kealhofer 1991:551–52.
37 ecological crisis: Hackel 2005:71–75.
38 “very poor”: Palóu 1926:219.
38 “usually caught”: Pedro Font, c1776, Caughey and Caughey 1976:62.
38 rebellions: Hackel 2003.
39 fugitivism: Heizer 1978; McCawley 1996:196.
39 The lash: Guest 1983:13–14; Hurtado 1992:380.
39 “a man of talent”: Reid 1968:76–77, 88.
39 “He struggled constantly”: César 1878:6.
39 “reduced to obedience”: Monroy 1990:22.
40 “The Indian population”: Mariano Payeras, c1820, Archibald 1978:157; see Phillips 1975:33-34; Jackson 1995:172; McCawley 1996:196–97; Hackel 1998:122; Hackel 2005:101–2.
40 “We entered”: Juan Crespi, 1769.08.02, Bolton 1927:146–48.
41 José Vicente Féliz: Mason 2004:19–22.
41 immediately north: Nunis 2004:5, 14.
41 Social mixing: Rios-Bustamante 1985:92–93.
41 “the pernicious familiarity:” Pedro de Fages, c1787, Mason 1984:127.
42 “a set of idlers”: Isidro Alonso Salazar, c1796, Richman 1911:171.
42 “should have been”: José Serñan, c1796, Phillips 1980:433–34.
42 “If there is anything”: Narciso Durán, c1831, Engelhardt 1913 3:398.
43 “According to the laws”: Diego de Borica, c1796, Guinn 1915a 1:97.
43 prime objective: Pubols 2000:333.
43 initial attempt at secularization: Bancroft 1882–90 20:103–6; Hutchinson 1969:128–32; Haas 2003:13–17; Ivey 2003.
44 “remove the yoke”: Echeandía to José Figueroa, 1833.03.19, Bancroft 1882–90 20:106.
44 “scheme of spoliation”: Victoria, 1831.01.19, Hittell 1898 2:127.
44 Pío de Jesús Pico: Salomon 2010.
44 “la breva aplastada”: Layne 1935c:37–38; Login and Login 2010.
45 “No Mexican citizen”: Pico 1973:31–34.
45 “criminal abuse”: “Pronunciamento de San Diego,” 1831.11.29, Bancroft 1882–90 20:202–4n.
45 “I was determined”: Pico 1973:122.
46 “Officers in skirts”: Osio 1996:182; Pico 1973:50–52.
46 “Leave that pack”: Hittell 1898 2:140–41.
46 “I’m no man”: Bell 1881:65.
47 Andrés Pico: Tays 1932:168.
47 “men in petticoats”: Bell 1881:52–53.
47 Accounts differ: Osio 1996:108–11; Robinson 1846:120; Bancroft 1882–90 20:206–8; Guinn 1901a:44–45; Hittell 1898 2:140–41; Tays 1932:166–68.
48 “Let peace return”: Figueroa, 1833.01.16, Smith 1977:3.
48 “entrenchments”: Figueroa, c1834, Hittell 1898 2:183.
CHAPTER 3
49 “I am not an animal”: Alvarado 1876 4:126–27; Sánchez 1995:162.
49 “These Indians”: Portilla, 1834.12.20, Hittell 1898 2:189–90.
49 “He was filled”: Eulalia Pérez, c1877, Beebe and Senkewicz 2006:106–7.