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Walter Colton (1797-1851) http://tinyurl.com/WColton

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Generous Regard

From Three Years in California, 1850. Read Online Download PDF

Reader: Kevin Hearle

Americans who came to California before the Gold Rush were occasionally puzzled by the habits of those who lived here. Not so Walter Colton, a Protestant minister and shrewd observor of local custom.

Newly appointed to the American consul, Colton arrived in Monterey in 1846 and soon developed a deep respect for local traditions.

I have never been in a community that rivals Monterey in its spirit of hospitality and generous regard. . . .

If a stranger, you are not expected to bring a formal letter of introduction. No one here thinks any better of a man who carries the credentials of his character and standing in his pocket. A word or allusion to recognized persons or places is sufficient. If you turn out to be different from what your first impressions and fair speech promised, still you meet with no frowning looks, no impatience for your departure. You still enjoy in full that charity which suffereth long and is kind. . . .

Monterey, California, from an illustration in Three Years in California, 1850.

And when you finally depart, it will not be without a benison, not perhaps that you are worthy of it, but you belong to the great human family where faults often spring from misfortune and the force of untoward circumstances. Generous, forbearing people of Monterey! there is more true hospitality in one throb of your heart than circulates for years through the courts and capitals of kings.

Walter Colton was elected alcalde of Monterey and published his memoir, Three Years in California in 1850.