The first Indian horse-thief known in this part of the
country was a neophyte of the mission of Santa Clara, George, who
flourished about twenty years ago. He absconded from his mission to the
river of Stanislaus, of which he was a native. From thence he returned
to the settlements, and began to steal horses, which at that time were
very numerous. After pursuing his depredations for some time, he was at
last pursued and killed on his return from one of his forages. The
mission of Santa Clara has been, from that time to the present day, the
greatest nursery for horse thieves, as the Stanislaus river has been
and is their principal rendezvous. I have taken some pains to inquire
among some of the most intelligent and respectable of the native
inhabitants, as to the probable number of horses that have been stolen
between Monterey and San Francisco within the last twenty years, and
the result has been that more than one hundred thousand can be
distinctly enumerated, and that the total amount would probably be
double that number. Nearly all these horses have been eaten! From the
river of Stanislaus, as a central point, the evil has spread to the
north and south, and at present extends from the vicinity of the
Mickelemes River on the north, to the sources of the St.
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