Horace Bell: Reminiscences of a Ranger, Part Five

As noted here before, Horace Bell, in his two volumes of memoirs, Reminiscences of a Ranger (1881) and On the Old West Coast (posthumously publised in 1929), had a habit of assigning fantastic qualities to certain figures, some of dubious reputation.  This was certainly true, in Reminiscences, with his portrayal of John A. (Jack) Powers (1827-1860).

To an admiring Bell, Powers, a native of Ireland who came to California during the Mexican-American War with Jonathan D. Stevenson's New York Volunteers and became well-known (that is, notorious) in San Francisco and in southern California, was "the most noted character, probably, in all California" in the early 1850s.  Powers was "a great gambler," "gifted with mental qualities of the highest order," had "a form and face physically perfect," and "under favorable circustances might have attained to the most honorable distinction."

Bell claimed he not only was admired by gamblers and the Spanish-speaking population, but was friends with two governors Frederick McDougall and John Bigler, who served consecutively from 1851 to 1856.  Moreover, Bell went on, Powers could have served in Congress or been governor himself.

The accolades continued:  "Jack was a power in this land" and he was chief of the community of some 400 gamblers in Los Angeles.  He also "was a lord in the land" with a fine ranch, raiser of hounds and race horses and "maintained an army of followers at his own expense, and boldly defied the authorities."

One of the more interesting aspects of Powers' life was his shielding of Edward McGowan, a police court judged purportedly involved in the murder of journalist James King of William, and who was wanted by the vigilance committee in San Francisco in 1856.

Although Powers was discharged after being indicted for harboring a fugitive in a trial moved from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, Bell claims this was the end of Powers' glory days and "he concluded to fly the country he could no longer rule."  Powers decamped to the northern Mexican state of Sonora near Hermosillo where "those gentle and practical people . . . converted Jack to the most profitable possible use . . . they chopped him up and fed him to their pigs!"

Once again, with Bell, there is more to the story, even as he stated that some "tried to hold Jack up as an out-and-out highwayman", but to Bell, he was "a man born to be prominent in that sphere of life to which fate may have assigned him."  There are other versions--this blogger summarized Powers' life in an essay "Banditry in California, 1850-1875," published in Volume 1 of Icons of the American West, an anthology by Greenwood Press in 2008.

First off, Bell noted Powers' arrival with Stevenson's regiment but either was unaware or chose to avoid the fact that Powers was a deserter just before his ship left New York.  After his arrival at Yerba Buena, soon renamed San Francisco, in March 1847, just after the war formally ended, Powers was sent to Santa Barbara, where his company was noted for a lack of discipline, inclination to drinking and gambling and poor relations with the locals, causing military governor Richard Mason and his aid William Tecumseh Sherman, later of Civil War fame, to impose order personally.

When the Gold Rush erupted and soldiers stationed to protect the new American possession went AWOL in large numbers, Powers went to the gold fields and then returned to the boom town of San Francisco.  He became part of "The Hounds," a gang comprised of former soldiers and others who were in a semi-official capacity when they attacked Chilean miners and others in town.  Powers was among a group arrested for their role in these affairs and a public tribunal by vigilantes held, though Powers was acquitted.

Feeling the heat turning up, Powers headed back to the gold country, made some money and, after a brief sojourn in San Francisco, headed south to resettle in Santa Barbara once again.  Powers did claim a ranch along with Dr. Richard Den, a prominent man in the area, but Powers was said to have lost his claim as did the good doctor.  Powers was quoted as saying that, if he had not lost his claim to the property, he would have lived a different life, but did not elaborate on what that meant.  Bell, however, claimed Powers seized some artillery in Santa Barbara and held off the sheriff, his fellow Stevenson's Regiment mate W. W. Twist, and retained his position on his ranch.

Yet, it has been stated by writers about Powers that he controlled a long stretch of El Camino Real near present Los Alamos, south of Santa Maria and that Powers took over the gang of famed bandit Salomon Pico, when the latter headed for Mexico.

While Bell cited author Charles Nordhoff as claiming that Powers was "incapable of personally committing a robbery" and that Edward F. Beale, lord of the massive Tejon ranch corroborated this, it is actuallly the reverse.

Nordhoff's famed work California for Health, Pleasure and Residence quotes Beale as saying that "Jack Powers and his gang used to herd their bands of stolen horses on my own rancho as they drove them through the country."  It is true, though, that Powers was also described as a courteous man by Beale.

Powers was charged at least twice with crimes.  In the summer of 1853 at Santa Barbara he was indicted for his role in a murder committed by his fellow New York Volunteer Patrick Dunne.  After a deadlock in that county, the case was transferred to Los Angeles.  All that was filed, however, was an indictment and no evidence was presented at trial, so the two were freed.  In 1856, Powers was charged with harboring McGowan and the case also moved to Los Angeles, but there was insufficient evidence and he again was freed.  After Los Angeles County Sheriff James Barton and members of his posse were ambushed early in 1857, Powers was the subject of an arrest warrant on burglary charges, which may not have been connected to the banditry that led Barton to try and capture what became known as the Flores-Daniel Gang (this will be the topic of the next post).  Powers was ordered to attend a hearing at Los Angeles, but, again, there was not enough evidence to warrant a trial, so he was freed.

In a way, Powers might be called a "teflon bandit" for his success in evading conviction or prosecution for the four incidents cited here.  But, in 1858, two associates of Powers involved in crimes in San Luis Obispo County implicated him in the murders of two Basque men, though the confessions were certainly forced.  On the basis of these, Governor John Weller issued a $500 reward for Powers' arrest, but he and Dunne fled by steamer to Mexico.

Notably, Bell mentioned none of this, suggesting only that Powers "emigrated" after his influece waned by 1857.  It appears that Bell's tale of Powers would have been compromised if the linkage of him to murder and his fleeing (rather than emigrating) was to be included.

While Bell and other sources indicate Powers had a ranch in Sonora, others indicate he was a bit north of the Mexican border in the Arizona mission town of Tubac.  There he was killed in late 1860, either by Mexicans in his employ or by a woman he coveted and her lover.  Evidently, they dumped his body in a hog pen and only a few remains were retrieved for burial.  This certainly seemed a notably ignominious death for a man Bell claimed was a brilliant lord who could have ruled anywhere he chose.

The next post concerns the dramatic and vicious series of events dealing with the killing of Sheriff Barton and three of his posse in January 1857 and the aftermath that stretched out over almost two years.  Bell describes these events, as well, but, once again, his account should be questioned on several grounds.