*** This tour was published in March 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic was active. Please wear a mask/face covering and maintain a social distance of 6 ft from people not in your household. Visit www.emergencyslo.org for the latest in public health advice. ***
A Self-guided Walking Tour of Mission Plaza in 1858 and the Committee of Vigilance
Site 1: 1858 Home of Captain John Wilson and Ramona Carrillo de Pacheco y Wilson
This building was constructed as the County’s first library building in 1905 with a $10,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. Today it’s the headquarters of the History Center of San Luis Obispo County and houses our Museum, Research Room, Gift Shop and staff offices.
This building was constructed as the County’s first library building in 1905 with a $10,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. Today it’s the headquarters of the History Center of San Luis Obispo County and houses our Museum, Research Room, Gift Shop and staff offices.
In 1858, this property was the site of the “town home” of the family of Captain John Wilson, a Scottish immigrant who had parlayed his wealth acquired in the Pacific shipping trade into acquiring land in Mexican California. He quickly became one of its largest landowners. The Wilson home was likely the first wood-framed residence in San Luis Obispo, built with lumber that Captain Wilson had ordered and shipped from the East Coast. The house burned to the ground in 1898, but in the 1840s and 50s Captain Wilson and his wife Ramona were “pillars of the pueblo” and their home was one of the finest in town.
In 1845, Captain Wilson was able to purchase the Mission itself from Mexican Governor Pio Pico. The price paid for this priceless property? $510. (Note: Title to the Mission would be returned to the Church in 1850, but it would continue to be used to house the Sheriff, a small courthouse, a school – and as you will see in Site 3 (1858 Jail and Courthouse). |
John Wilson held Mexican citizenship because of his marriage to his distinguished Californio wife. Ramona Carrillo de Pacheco y Wilson[1] was the daughter of a prominent Santa Barbara family, and ranks as one of the most singular figures in California history. She was a staunch Catholic and imbued with the grace and easy living that prevailed among the “old families” of Alta California, as it was known when she grew up in Santa Barbara.
|
Ramona Wilson took advantage of her home’s proximity to the Mission, according to one account by local historian and artist Joan Sullivan: “Mrs. Wilson, an extremely religious person, attended Church three of four times a day and used the walk of flagstones connecting their home with the mission, wearing ‘deep hollows in the stone by her feet, passing into the chapel for prayer.’”
It was this same path – the route this tour will take – that Ramona Wilson would follow in December 1846 to plead with Colonel John C. Fremont to spare the life of her cousin Don Jose de Jesus Pico. That story will be told later at Site #5, in front of the Mission to the north, where the characters of Ramona, Don Jose and Colonel Fremont together shaped the history of this state. |
From her home at this site, Ramona Wilson considered it her Christian duty to protect the children of the pueblo in this time of violence. According to local historian Dan Krieger, Mrs. Wilson “invited each and every child to her home to protect the children in this time of violence.” Dr. Krieger wrote of the experience of young Anita Murray, one of the daughters of Walter Murray, a friend and ally of Romualdo Pacheco, Jr and his mother Ramona Wilson (see Site #4): “When the time came to hang the bandidos, Doña Ramona urged the children to come out onto the balcony. She told them to cover their eyes and pray for the souls of the unfortunate men who were fated to slowly strangle in the wind. The makeshift gallows was scarcely more than spitting distance from the children. Each child dutifully covered his or her eyes, leaving ample space between each finger permitting a full view of the gory proceedings.”
For your own view of the site where these “gory proceedings” took place, cross Monterey Street to Site #2. * For more biographical information on Ramona Carrillo de Pacheco y Wilson, her son Romualdo Jr., and other key figures in this Tour, see the accompanying “Guide to the Main Characters.” |