Piano Lessons
from page 8
take up his post there as the new
governor of Alta California. The
young Vallejo quickly became a
favorite of Figueroa; the rapport
between them led to Vallejo’s
prestigious appointment as
commandante of La Frontera del
Norte in 1934. The Northern
Frontier was to meant to solidify
Mexico’s presence north of the
bay and act as a deterrent to
Russian expansion.
Vallejo’s new authority made
him the virtual ruler of Califor¬
nia’s North Coast and dispensor of
vast land holdings. Ranchos went
to many of his wife's numerous
siblings (the Carrillo family) as
well as to Vallejo's growing
number of sons-in-law, many of
them Yankee immigrants to Cali¬
fornia. As the wealthiest man in
the region, Vallejo made sure his
household set the tone for local
culture and prestige.
No one in the Vallejo house¬
hold could play the new piano, so
for the next three years it served
as a nice parlor decoration. Then
in 1846 Andrew Hoeppner visited
the Vallejos and charmed the
household with his playing.
Vallejo urged Hoeppner to stay
and teach his daughters the key¬
board; in return he offered the
one thing he had plenty of: land.
Hoeppner, a German who had
worked for the Russians at their
Sitka colony, came to California
around 1845. He may have taught
at the Sitka School for girls and
boys promoted by Baroness Eliza¬
beth von Wrangell, wife of Sitka’s
Gov. von Wrangell.
The March 24, 1846 agreement
between Vallejo and Hoeppner
provided that:
“First — Mr. Hoeppner obligates
himself solemnly to teach Mr.
Vallejo and his immediate family
to play the piano forte, with all
the science of the art, giving
lessons of music at least during
five years, or more if it should be
necessary, until the complete
instruction of the children, both
male and female.
“Second — Mr. Vallejo obligates
himself likewise to give Mr.
Hoeppner a title to a tract of land
of the Agua Caliente bought from
Don Lorenzo Pina to the extent of
two leagues and a half long by
Acquisitions
from page 9
there was a way out of this diffi¬
cult commercial and religious
entanglement. He himself could
solve their problems by buying
the books for a fair price.
Money for the books was
preferable to no books at all, and
the merchant graciously accepted
Vallejo's offer.
After this transaction was
concluded, Vallejo loaned some of
the books to Jose Castro and Juan
Alvarado, both boyhood friends of
his. Alvarado, although only a year
younger than Vallejo, was also his
nephew, the son of Vallejo’s
sister Maria Josefa.)
The Padres got wind of the new
books and demanded they be
handed over. When Vallejo,
Alvarado and Castro refused to
relinquish the books, the Padres
one-quarter of a league wide, as
soon as Mr. Hoeppner shall have
fulfilled religiously and entirely
the stipulations contained in the
foregoing article. Mr. Vallejo
obligates himself for the present
to give to Mr. Hoeppner a provi¬
sional document to enable him to
begin agricultural labor and
arrange the house, etc."
Vallejo’s brother Salvador
signed as witness, as did Cayetano
Juarez, Victor Prudon and Juan
Padilla.
By the time traveller Augustus
Wise visited the Vallejo house¬
hold the following summer, piano
lessons were taking effect.
Lt. Wise had left Boston harbor
in the summer of 1846. His frigate
excommunicated them.
Alvarado, who was in debt to
the local mission, devised an
ingenious way to get him and his
friends back in the good graces of
the church. He went to Padre
Duran, the director of mission
affairs, and explained that he had
the money he owed. Unfortunately
he would be unable to hand over
the cash, since a Padre could
under no circumstances have any
dealings with an excommunicated
person.
Duran took in the situation
immediately, invited Alvarado
inside, and accepted the repay¬
ment of the debt. The three read¬
ers were absolved, and Vallejo
kept the books. When he went
north two years later to become
the commandante of California's
Northern Frontier, the collection
went with him to Sonoma.
— Simone Wilson
10
