Probably a reference to a proposition made by D. G. W. Leavitt of Napoleon, Arkansas. In mid-August 1845 Leavitt sent a letter to the Arkansas State Gazette announcing his plans to send a company of one thousand settlers to California by having the men travel overland through Santa Fe while the women and children went by sea. The two groups were to meet near Los Angeles and then explore the coast to find a suitable location for a settlement. The proposition was republished in newspapers across the country. (D. G. W. Leavitt, Napoleon, AR, 14 Aug. 1845, Letter to the Editor, Arkansas State Gazette [Little Rock], 25 Aug. 1845, [2]; see, for example, “Ho! for California,” Daily Picayune [New Orleans], 6 Sept. 1845, [2]; and “Settlements in California,” New York Herald, 20 Sept. 1845, [1].)
Arkansas State Gazette. Little Rock. 1843–1848
Daily Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 1837–1914.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
TEXT: Possibly “bear”.