HISTORICAL NOTES:
In earlier days, El Monte was a stopping place for the people going to the gold fields in the North, near Sacramento. The first settlers with their families were Nicholas Schmidt, Ira W. Thompson, G and F. Cuddeback, J. Corbin and J Sheldon. Settlement began in 1849, though Spanish missionaries and soldiers passed through the area as early as the 1770s.
By 1861 El Monte had become a sizeable settlement and during the American Civil War was considered a stronghold of sympathetic secessionists. A. J. King an Undersheriff of Los Angeles County (and former member of the earlier "Monte Rangers" or "Monte Boys") with other influential men in El Monte, formed a secessionist militia company, like the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, called the Monte Mounted Rifles on March 23, 1861. However the attempt failed when following the battle of Fort Sumter, A. J. King marched through the streets with a portrait of the Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard.
FIELD OFFICERS:
John H.. Hughes, Captain, Date of Rank: February 23, 1854
James H. Wethersby, First Lieutenant, Date of Rank: February 23, 1854
BATTLES:ROSTER:BIBLIOGRAPHY: