Confederate sympathizer captured in the Temecula area in 1861

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the status of California was in flux. While it was generally known as pro-union, there was a fair amount of Confederate sympathies within the state. Several men and groups of men tried with varying success to join the Confederacy from California, generally traveling along the Old Sonoran Road that runs through western Riverside County. One of these groups had as a member the notorious Dan Showalter.

Daniel Showalter was born in Pennsylvania, but had been in California since 1852. Although in later depositions he would refer to himself simply as a miner, his “occupations” were much broader than that. According to his Wikipedia page, he was “a California miner, state legislator, duelist, secessionist, and Confederate States of America military officer in Texas.”

By 1861, Showalter had been elected to the California State Assembly and was not one to keep his opinions to himself. When fellow Assemblymen put forth a measure to ensure that California would stand with the Union, Showalter and Charles Piercy, of San Bernardino, got into a verbal altercation about explaining their votes. The resolution passed 49 to 12, with Showalter placing an emphatic “no” vote.

This altercation led to a duel between the two men, which was fought May 26, and left Piercy dead and Showalter in police custody. Showalter was released on a technicality, and opted to head to Nevada to lie low for a while.

By November of that year, military officials were hearing of a group of men forming at El Monte to ride to the Confederacy via Fort Yuma. These men were waiting for Showalter to join them. By now, Showalter was a wanted man for potentially drumming up support for potential Confederates moving to Texas.

By mid-november, Showalter was reported to be in Los Angeles with a party going to Texas. Unfortunately, conflicting information arose about their path of travel, and the group led by Showalter was lost. Several military outposts were looking for him at this point.

On Nov. 27, a cavalry patrol from Camp Wright (at present-day Oak Grove) was looking for the Showalter party in the Aguanga region. Camping in Temecula the next night, they learned of a large party of men who had camped there just the night before. Early the next morning, the patrol broke camp and left in the direction of Warner’s Ranch. Soon, they came upon the Showalter party still having breakfast and quite unprepared to put up a fight. The entire party was forced to surrender to the very prepared cavalrymen.

Although Showalter and his party protested that they were simply miners attempting to get to Sonora, the cavalrymen were having none of it and the entire party was marched to Camp Wright, where they were joined by more Union soldiers.

Showalter was eventually released after swearing an oath to the United States. It was a sham — he spent most of the Civil War in Texas fighting for the Confederacy. He survived the war, and afterwards ran a hotel for a year or so in Mexico, until he was killed as the result of a bar fight.

The Showalter party was probably the most famous of the groups to come through our region, but certainly not the only.

If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.

PHOTO BY STEVE LECH Oak Grove Stage Station near Temecula, near where the party of Confederate sympathizer Daniel Showalter was apprehended in 1861, is seen today.