Deposition of George Goodrum., November 2, 1864.
Deposition of George Goodrum.
On this second day of November, A. D. 1864, before me, the undersigned, consul of the United States of America for La Paz and the dependencies thereof, there personally appeared George Goodrum, master of the American schooner William L. Richardson, and made oath in due form of law that the following is a true and faithful transcript of the entries in the logbook of said vessel for the period embraced therein; that they were written by his first officer, at his dictation and under his observation, and that the same is a true and faithful record of the proceedings occurring as therein detailed.
The following is the transcript:
“October 30, at 1.30 p. m., on entering the bay of La Paz we were fired upon by the French war-steamer Diamant. We hove our vessel to and set our colors, when an officer from the steamer came on board and demanded our papers, which were shown to him by Captain Goodrum. The officer looked at them for a short time, and then said he would take them on board his own vessel. Captain Goodrum told him he could not let his papers go, and protested against his taking them. The officer said it was all right, and retained them. He then ordered us to take in sail, and said he would take us in tow. The officer then went on board his own vessel and steered for Pichilque island, about eight miles from La Paz and within the bay, where he came to anchor and ordered us to do the same, which order we were compelled to comply with.
“The officer then returned on board our vessel with the papers and demanded the one hundred kegs of blasting powder that were down on the coasting manifest and cleared from San Francisco for the Colorado river. The officer immediately sent his men into the hold and took out the powder, against which Captaim Goodrum protested. The officer then took the powder from our vessel to his own, and sent word that we might go on to La Paz.
“Before leaving, the officer gave the captain two certificates—one in French and the other English, the latter reading as follows:
“‘Bay of La Paz, October 30, 1864.
“‘This is to certify that the one hundred kegs of powder shipped in San Francisco, on the Schooner Wm. L. Richardson, to be delivered to Paul Heller, at Fort Yuma, Colorado river, is on this day taken from the vessel by the officer in command of the French war-steamer Diamant, and confiscated as contraband of war, and against the protest of the captain, George Goodrum.
“.‘A. DE LA COUVE,
“‘L’ officer de service.’”
And further says that the Wm. L. Richardson was detained by the French steamer some twenty-two hours, besides being delayed two days more in consequence thereof; that the Diamant remained off the harbor of La Paz till the morning of the first of November, and then deft.
And further makes oath and says that said powder was placed on board his vessel, as he believes, in good faith, and that it was his intention, in accordance with his instructions and bill of lading, to deliver the same on board the steamboat Esmeralda, in the Colorado river, some milesi above its mouth, to be conveyed thence to the consignee thereof, Paul Heller, at Tucson, within the Territory of Arizona; that the Wm. L. Richardson is one of a line of vessels contracted for by Messrs. Wadsworth & Son of Alta California, to run between the ports of San Francisco, La, Paz, Baja, California, and the station within the Rio Colorado, near its mouth, whence passengers and freight for the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico are conveyed as aforesaid, by the steamboat Esmeralda, to Fort Yuma, and to points beyond; that at the time the gun was fired on board the French man-of-war, he was entering the port of La Paz to discharge some ninety tons of freight before proceeding to the mouth of the Colorado to discharge the remainder of his cargo, and was wholly innocent of any design to infringe, or to permit any other, through his agency, to infringe any belligerent regulations, and that no blockade of the harbor of La Paz existed within his knowledge, nor had any notice ever been given that such a thing was contemplated.
He further says that the said powder was entered as such in the usual and proper manner upon the Colorado river manifest.
GEORGE GOODRUM.
Subscribed and sworn to before me the date above written.
F. B. ELMER, U. S. Consul
United States Consulate, La Paz, November 20, 1864.
I, the undersigned, consul of the United States of America for La Paz, &c, do hereby certify that the foregoing declaration and affidavit are true and faithful copies of the original on file in this consulate, the same having been carefully examined by me, and compared with said original, and found to agree therewith, word for word, and figure for figure.
Given under my hand and seal of the consulate at La Paz, the day and year above written.
[seal.]