A Chile Spring

Smugglers.  The word conjures up romantic images of cutlass-toting sea rovers and shady wharfside deals.  Smugglers are always smuggling something exciting, it seems, or what they’re smuggling probably wouldn’t be illegal in the first place.

Smugglers and islands have always gone hand in hand and Catalina is no exception.  The Island’s numerous secluded coves and canyons and its proximity to the large coastal markets of Southern California has always made it attractive to those in the “sweet trade.”

In the days when California was part of Mexico, early Yankee traders avoided the obscenely high import tariffs imposed by the Mexican government on American ships by stashing a majority of their goods on the Island.  They would then gradually smuggle the cargo at their leisure to the mainland “duty free.”

During the Gold Rush, Catalina was often used by smugglers of Chinese laborers as a “cooling off” place.  When San Francisco’s vigilante committees would get worked up over the presence of Chinese in the city, a law would be passed forcing the Chinese immigrants “back to China.”  What they didn’t know was that, rather than being shipped off to China, the immigrants were simply brought to Catalina (and other places) until things cooled off a bit.  When the coast, literally, was clear, they were then returned to the City by the Bay.

Prohibition, of course, provided ample opportunities for the professional smuggler on Catalina.  Liquor was brought up from Tijuana and Ensenada where it was either sold on the island or smuggled to the mainland on cross-channel steamers.

But in May of 1891 it wasn’t booze or labor or household commodities that was transiting Catalina waters.  The contraband in this case consisted of guns and ammunition along with the soldiers who employed these items.

It all started when a suspicious schooner, the Robert and Minnie, commanded by a Captain O’Farrell, dropped anchor in Cat Harbor on the island’s West End.

According to a Los Angeles Times article from May 1, 1891, the sloop Hattie, commanded by a Captain Condit, sailed to the island to investigate the mysterious ship.  The Robert and Minnie, Condit was told, had been engaged in some suspicious behavior of late, roaming in the waters around the island and occasionally rendezvousing with another vessel, the Kittie O’Neil.  Condit wanted to get to the bottom of this.

It was a learned from a loose-lipped O’Farrell in a saloon at the Isthmus that the ship was awaiting the arrival of yet another vessel to offload her cargo, a cargo that consisted of “300 to 400” cases labeled “Ammunition” and “Corrugated Bayonets, Spanish Model.”  The contraband, it was learned, was war materiel bound for the forces of Chilean President Jose Manuel Balmaceda whose row with the Chilean congress had blown into full-scale civil war.

At about the same time that O’Farrell was pickling his gizzard at the Isthmus, the Chilean passenger steamer Itata was sailing into San Diego Bay, ostensibly to load up on “coal and provisions.”  Suspicions were raised that this was the ship that was to receive the contraband and the San Pedro office of U.S. Customs was put on alert.

On May 16, the Itata suddenly sailed from San Diego and headed for the waters between Catalina and San Clemente islands.  By the time U.S. Customs caught up with the ship, the transshipment from the Robert and Minnie to the Itata had already been made.  The Itata was boarded by a U.S. Customs Deputy Marshall named Spencer and the officer was quickly escorted to the captain’s cabin.

“I have contraband goods on board,” said Captain Manzeum of the Itata, “and it is life or death for me.” He then pointed a finger at his own throat and told Spencer, “See?  This is what it means.”

Captain Manzeum then summoned two Chilean crew members armed with revolvers and rifles into the cabin and ordered them to stand guard by the door.  He then told Spencer that if he tried to escape, “I will not be responsible for the result.”

Still under guard, Spencer was eventually led out of the cabin where he witnessed four cannons being lifted from the hold and placed on deck; three on the bow and one on the stern.  On reaching the bridge, he saw “a hundred Chilean soldiers” on the deck below, all “armed to the teeth, each having a repeating rifle and revolver, dressed in a uniform consisting of red cap and jackets.”

The smuggler-captain then turned to Spencer and laughed.  “See!  We have changed to a man-of war!”

Manzeum ordered the ship to Ballast Point at Cat Harbor where Spencer was put ashore.  “You must excuse me for putting you to this annoyance,” said the captain.

After leaving Spencer on the sandy shore of Ballast Point, the Itata sailed away, beyond the reach of the arm of American law and and into the lore of Catalina Island.