On  the  night  of  November  15,  Consul
Larkin,  while  on  his  way  from  Monterey  to
San  Francisco,  was  captured  at  Gomez'
ranche,  by  a  squad  of  Castro's  men,  the  object
being,  apparently,  to  hold  him  as  a  hostage
to  be  exchanged  for  certain  Californians  who
had  broken  their  parole.  Larkin  was  well
treated,  however.  Later,  he  was  sent  south
and  turned  over  to  Flores,  at  Los  Angeles,
where  he  was  finally  released,  January  9,
'47,  just  before  Stockton's  occupation  of  Los
Angeles;  and  he  arrived  back  in  Monterey
early  in  the  next  month.  Larkin  witnessed,
as  a  prisoner,  the  desperate  fight  between  the
Californians  and  Americans,  at  Natividad,
where  the  former  were  dispersed.  On  the
17th  of  November,  Fremont  with  his  force
set  out  from  Monterey  in  search  of  Castro's
men,  but  did  not  find  them.  At  San  Juan
he  completed  the  organization  of  his  battalion
for  service  in  the  south.
January  22,  184:7,  Commodore  Shubrick,
on  the  Independence,  arrived  at  Monterey,  to
take  command  of  the  United   States   Naval


forces  on  the  Pacific  coast;  and  a  few  days
later  came  Captain  Tompkins,  with  a  com-
pany of  artillery,  on  the  Lexington ;  and  Feb-
ruary 8,  General  Kearny,  came  up  from  San
Diego,  on  the  Cyane.
Commodore  Stockton,  January  16,  had
appointed  Fremont  as  Governor,  Kussell  as
Secretary  of  State,  and  a  number  of  citizens
as  a  Legislative  Council;  but  this  latter
body  never  met,  as  some  of  its  members  de-
clined to  serve.
