THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES HISTORY - IF CALIFORNIA BY THEODORE H. HITTELL VOLUME I \ lsohool SAN FRANCISCO N. J. STONE & COMPANY 1897 / Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1885, by In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 1 I. RIGHTS RESERVED. VWMWi.l^aROTyraS MAO ^NUOWa. sma VB&.NCASCO ;,3 CONTENTS. ROOk" T ■ - x CONTEND v CHAPTER III. THE SEVEN CITIES. Page Wanderings of Cabeza de' Yaca and companions and their reports of rich countries in the north 55 Expedition of Marcos de Niza and Estevanico 55 Accounts of Cibola, its seven cities and other wonders 57 Massacre of Estevanico and his escort at Cibola 58 Danger from treachery of the Indians 58 Marcos de Niza's distant view and description of the seven cities 59 How he took possession of them and returned to New Spain 59 Effect of his marvelous reports 59 CHAPTER IV. ULLOA. Voyage and discoveries of Francisco de Ulloa 61 ■ His survey of both coasts of the peninsula 62 Arrival at Cerros Island and struggles with the northwest wind 63 Summary of Cortes' services to California 64 His return to Spai and death 65 CHAPTER V . CIBOLA AND QUIVIRA. Search by land and sea for the rich countries of the north 07 Expedition of Coronado to Cibola 67 Accounts of and visit to Quivira 68 His return; fate of the first white settlers at Quivira 69 Voyage of Alarcon; his discovery of the Colorado and intercourse with the -Indians 69 Pedro de Alvarado's projects, ingratitude to Cortes, and death 71 Domingo del Castillo's map of California .... 72 CHAPTER VI. CABRILLO. Voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and discovery of Alta California 73 His discovery of the coasts and islands as far as Point Goncepcion 74 His discovery of Points Pinos and Ano Nuevo, ami untimely death 75 Bartolome" Ferrelo's continuation of Cabrillo's voyage; discovery of Cape Mendocino; arrival off Cape Planco and return to New Spain 76 Reports "I armed Spaniards in the interior of Alta California 77 C II A PT ER VII. lilt: PHILIPPINE TRADE. tations ol finding wealth and splendor in the northwest abandoned. . . 79 "discovery of the Philipn j ' ' ■ and its effecl . 79 CONTENTS. xi Pagi Voyages to and conquest of the Philippines So Pope Alexander YI's division of the world between the Portuguese and Spaniards and dispute as to the line in the East Indies 82 Why the Philippine trade took the way of America Sj Why the east-bound galleons skirted California; the North Pacific winds and currents 84 Results of the Philippine trade to California CS4 CHAPTER XIII. DRAKE. Antipathy of the English towards the Spaniards 85 ■ Francis Drake; his early life and adventures in the West Indies S5 His first sight of the Pacific and project of sailing thither S6 His voyage to Port St. Julian and execution of Thomas Doughty 86 Passage of the Straits of Magellan; plunder on the coasts of Chili and Peru and taking of the Spanish ship Cacafuego 87 Attempts to find a way homeward to the north of America; return south- ward and anchorage under Point Reyes 88 The Indians of Point Reyes 89 CHAPTER IX. NEW ALBION. Landing of Drake and intercourse with the Indians 90 Ceremonial visit of the Indian " hioh " or chief 91 Reception and entertainment of the Indians s 92 Supposed transfer of sovereignty to the English crown 93 > Conduct of the Indians towards the English 95 Excursion inland and appearance of the country 94 Drake's monunltnt and name of New Albion 95 His determination to sail by the way of the Cape of Good Hope and depart- ure from California Passage of the Pacific and return to England ' ' •'- 97 ■ :il xii CONTENTS. Page Taking of Guayaquil 104 Passage to Cape San Lucas and capture of a Philippine galleon 105 Attack upon a second Philippine galleon . 107 Desperate sea fight; withdrawal of the English and their return to England . 108 The Indians of Cape San Lucas 109 CHAPTER XI. SHELVOCKE. Shelvocke and his voyage by Cape Horn 112 Simon Hatley, the man that " shot the albatross" 112 Passage to Chiloe; fraud and theft there, and mischance at Concepcion . . . 113 Exploits of Hatley and Betagh 114 Firing of Payta; run to Juan Fernandez; shipwreck there, and passage back 115 Meeting and separation of Shelvocke and Clipperton; capture of the Sacra Familia 116 Piratical proceedings of the English 117 Passage to and stay at Cape San Lucas ... 118 Intercourse with the Indians 1 18 Their manner of living 119 Their persons and character 119 Aspect of the country at the Cape 120 Passage to China and troubles there 121 Difficulties and prosecutions in England 122 The South Sea Bubble and how it burst 123 Anson's voyage 1 24 CHAPTER XII. THE STRAITS OF ANIAN. Supposed existence of the Straits of Anian 125 An object of search to Cortes, Marcos de Niza, Alarcon and Cabrillo 125 Reported discoveries of Urdaneta, Martin ChaquiT, Ladrillero and Gali .... 126 Pretended discoveries of Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado 127 Account of the straits and their passage by Juan de Fuca 128 Reported voyage of Admiral Fonte 130 Voyage of the San Agustin and its shipwreck 131 Summing up of the various accounts of the Straits of Anian 132 General belief in them 133 First voyage of Viscaino . . . 134 C 1 1 A P T E R XIII. VISCAINO. I >etermination of the Spanish government for a new exploration of the north- west coast 1j7 Second voyage of Viscaino; passage to San Diego and intercourse with the Indians there 138 CONTENTS. xiii Page Stories of a people resembling the Spaniards in the Interior 139 The island of Santa Catalina; its people, temple and idol 139 Advanced state of the Indians of the Santa Barbara Channel 140 Passage to Point Concepcion; intercourse with the natives, and passage to Monterey 141 Stay at Monterey and excursion inland . 142 Anchorage near San Francisco bay; passage to Cape Blanco and return to New Spain 142 River of Martin de Aguilar 144 The scurvy, and how Antonio Luis found a cure for it 144 Viscaino's project for a third voyage, retirement, recall and death 146 CHAPTER XIV. THE PEARL FISHERS. Decay of Spanish enterprise 148 ' Maritime discoveries of the Dutch; passage round Cape Horn; the Pichi- lingues 149 Voyage of Iturbi and the pearls he collected 150 Farming out of the pearl fisheries 151 Voyages of Ortega and Carboneli 152 Voyage of Pedro Portel de Casanate 152 Voyages of Pinadero and Luzenilla 1 54 Abandonment of the monopoly , 15 Atondo and Kino's voyage and settlement at La Paz 155 Fierceness of the Guaycu'ros Indians , 156 Attacks upon the Spanish camp and how they were repelled 157 Removal of the settlement to San Bruno 158 How Kino taught the resurrection 159 Breaking up of the settlement 160 The conquest of California by the civil power a failure 160 BOOK II. THE JESUITS. Salvatii.. xiv CONTENTS. Page Intercourse and trouble with the natives 169 Stealing and killing of Salvatierra's only horse 170 Indian forays; attack upon the settlement and repulsion 170 Submission of the Indians and restoration of quiet 172 CHAPTER II SALVATIERRA. Thanksgiving for the salvation of Loreto 173 Salvatierra's missionary labors 173 Progress of the spiritual conquest; opposition of the medicine men or sor- cerers 175 Failure of supplies and destitution of the settlement 176 The boats and vessels of the establishment 177 Calumnies circulated against the missionaries and their effect 177 The dark days of the enterprise; steadfastness of Salvatierra; vain appeals for help; Ugarte's advocacy 179 The missionaries left to their own resources; their determination 180 Foundation of the mission of San Francisco Xavier 181 CHAPTER III. KINO. Labors of Kino in collecting and forwarding supplies 182 Uncertainty o r geographical knowledge respecting California 182 Kino's opinions and grand design 184 His journey to the junction of the Colorado and Gila 184 His journey with Salvatierra to the head of the gulf 185 His third journey 186 His fourth journey; subsequent labors and death 187 CHAPTER IV. UGARTE. Ugarte's great place in the history of California. 188 New arrangements at Loreto; Ugarte at Vigge Biaundo. 188 His policy and efforts in making the missions self-supporting 189 I lis labors in building and introducing agriculture 190 How he taught the Indians, punished insolence, and learned the native tongue 1 9 1 How he encountered and slew a California lion with stones 192 The splendid fruits of his toils 19 2 CHAPTER V . DIFFICULTIES AND OBSTACLES. Poblano's wife; Indian outbreak and destruction of Ugarte's fields i< COXTEXTS. xv Page Campaign against the insurgents; trial and execution of the ringleader 195 Failure of provisions and discussion as to abandonment of the country 196 Ugarte's indomitable spirit and its effect 197 New royal orders; promotion of Salvatierra 198 His efforts as provincial on behalf of California; enmity of the Duque de Albuquerque 199 Dawning of brighter days; foundation of the new missions of Juan Bautista and Santa Rosalia 201 Journey of Cgarte to the Pacific coast 202 CHAPTER VI. MISSIONARY GOVERNMENT. Salvatierra's release from office and return to California 204 Foundation of the mission of San Jose de Comondu 205 Manner of foundation of a California Jesuit mission: investment of endow- ments , 205 Sway exercised by the fathers over the Indians 206 Was the missionary government beneficial to the natives ? 207 Terms of service of the soldiers 208 Powers of the missionaries over them .... 209 Authority of the commander or captain-general . , 210 Last journey and death of Salvatierra 211 CHAPTER VII. JAYME BRAVO. Extensive plans of Alberoni 212 Proposed purchase of California and its rejection; instructions to the viceroy 213 Jayme Bravo represents California at Mexico 214 His eloquent advocacy and its effect 215 His return to Loreto and admission to the priesthood 210 His second visit to Mexico and success. . -•- * \ \ xvi CONTENTS. Page Foundation of the mission of La Purfsima Concepcion 223 Ugarte's project of further explorations northward 224 His voyage up the gulf; incident on the Sonorian shore 224 His passage to the mouth of the Colorado and return 226 Expedition of Sistiaga up the northwest coast 227 CHAPTER IX. REBELLION. Disorders among the southern Indians and foundation of the missions of Do- lores del Sur and Santiago 228 Foundation of the mission of San Ignacio and attack upon it by the natives . 229 Sistiaga's masterly campaign and its results 230 Foundation of the missions of San Jose del Cabo and Santa Rosa 232 Policy of the founders of the southern missions 233 Conspiracy of Boton and Chicori 233 Touching of a Philippine galleon at San Lucas , 234 Outbreak of the southern Indians and murders at Santa Rosa and La Paz. . 234 Murder of Carranco and outrages at Santiago 236 Murder of Tamaral; escape of Taraval and destruction of the four southern missions 236 CHAPTER X. REDUCTION AND PACIFICATION. Death of Ugarte 238 Fears of a general insurrection; withdrawal of the missionaries to Loreto. . . 238 Volunteer aid of the Yaqui Indians 239 Pilgrimage of the northern converts to Loreto and return of the missionaries to their charges 240 Campaign of Lorenzo against the southern rebels 241 A second Philippine galleon at San Lucas; murder of its boat's crew 242 The governor of Sinaloa's campaigns against the rebels and their outcome; final reduction of the insurrection 243 Results of th j rebellion; new system of government for California 24 3 Failure of the new system and restoration of the former establishment 244 Pacification of the country and brilliant prospects , 245, CHAPTER XI. EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. Condition of Pimeria; expeditions of Keler and Sedelmayer 247 Contemplated reduction of Pimeria and new settlements ir California 247 Voyage of Consag up the gulf 248 Collection of information concerning the California missions; Venegas' his- tory . . . : 249 111 repute of the Jesuits in Europe 250 Movements against them in Portugal, France and Spain 251 CONTENTS. xvii Pace How they were driven out of Sinaloa and Sonora , . . 252 Gaspar de Portola sent to California and his orders 253 Arrival of Portola; his march and seizure of the missions 254 Expulsion of the Jesuits and how they departed . . 255 CHAPTER XII. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. Enumeration and position of the Jesuit missions 257 Baegert and his " Nachrichten." 258 Literary character of his work 259 Description of Lower California; its mountains and rivulets 259 Its climate, heat and dryness 260 Seasons, rains, storms, freshets and pools 261 Fogs and dews, rocks and soil 262 Productiveness of cultivable spots 263 Trees, chaparral, thorns and roots . , 263 Quadrupeds, birds, reptiles and insects 264 Whales, seals and fish 265 Metals and mining in the times of the Jesuits 265 CHAPTER XIII. INDIANS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. The native races ; their different branches, names and personal appearance. . 267 Population in 1767; their isolation and absence of traditions 268 The kind of life they led; wanderings; wind-screens and huts; clothing .... 268 Their property; bows, arrows and archeiy; food; omnivorous and indiscrim- inate appetites; cookery; gluttony , 269 Sexual relations; parturition; maternal affection 272 Sickness; therapeutics; medicine men; deaths and burials 272 Absence of government and religious ideas; legend of Niparaya and Quaay- ayp a fabrication , 274 Their language; want of abstract terms and slender vocabulary 276 Absence of prepositions, conjunctions, relatives and adverbs 277 Their low grade and brutish characteristics 277 Their limited numerals, cunning, thievery, idleness and filth: their sound sleep, exemption from trouble and stolid happiness 278 CHAPTER XIV. LO\VER CALIFORNIA IN 1 768. Results accomplished by the Jesuits 2S0 Description of Loreto in 1768; the mission buildings, village and inhabitants 2S0 Irrigating canals; extent of cultivation and harvests 281 The plow; how the fields were planted; fruits and other productions; wine- ^Ni xviii CONTENTS. Paoe Domestic animals and uses made of them 283 The Spanish soldiers and sailors and how they were paid 285 Other population; absence of money and trade 285 Roads or trails; manufactures , , . . 286 The "pious fund." , 287 General summary of what the Jesuits accomplished 288 What they did respecting the Indians. 288 The spirit in which and objects for which they labored 289 BOOK III. THE FRANCISCANS- CHAPTER I . ST. FRANCIS AND HIS ORDER. Circumstances under which the Franciscans assumed control of California . . 291 Account of St. Francis; his character and conversion, . . , ., 292 How he became a mendicant .nd saint 293 His visit to the Holy Land; increased ardor, and impression of the stigmata 294 How his order of Franciscans originated; its rapid rise and wide extent . . . 294 The Franciscans in America; and their college of San Fernando in Mexico . 296 Part taken by the Franciscans in the supersession of the Jesuits 296 How the Franciscans were led by Junipero Serra to California 297^ General plan of the Spanish government in regard to the northwest coast. . . 298 CHAPTER II. JUNIPERO SERRA. Junipero as compared with St. Francis 300 Junipero's birth and education and how he became a priest and missionary . 300 Circumstances under which he came to America, „ 301 His journey on foot from Vera Cruz to Mexico 302 Missionary labors in the Sierra Gorda 303 His labors at the capital and in other parts of Mexico; wonderful effects of his preaching 303 Comes to regard himself as an instrument in the hands of God 304 Remarkable exhibition of his faith 305 His qualifications for the presidency of the California missions 306 Plans for the occupation and settlement of Alta California; part taken by Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general 307 Sailing of the first vessel with settlers for Alta California 307 CHAP T E R HI. THE PIONEERS OF 1769. The San Carlos and its cargo 309 CONTENTS. mx Pack Preparations and dispatch of the San Antonio .,,.,... 309 The San Jose and its unknown fate , „ , 310 March of first division of land pioneers to Vellicata 310 March of second division and progress of Father [unipero , 311 Foundation of the mission of San Fernando de YellicaUi 312 Junipero * dcerated leg and how he was relieved by a muleteer 313" Arrival and oinder of the pioneers at San Diego . ... , , , . . , 314 Voyages of L he San Carlos and San Antonio ....».,....., 315 Junipero's account of the port of San Diego , , 316 CHAPTER IV. SETTLEMENT OF SAN DIEGO. '" Natal day of Alta California, July 1, 1769 , _. 317 March of expedition of discovery for Monterey 317 Foundation of the mission of San Diego, . . 3181 Uprising of Indians and attack upon the new mission 319 Results of the Indian outbreak 320 Junipero's experience ir making converts ; 321 Return of the Monterey expedition; gloomy outlook and proposed abandon- ment of Alta California . . - 321 Junipero's determination to remain at all hazards. . . ., 322 Unexpected change of prospect on St. Joseph's day and its occasion 323 Arrival of the San Antonio and circumstances of its voyage. 324 CHAPTER V. FOUNDATION OF MONTEREY. Renewal of the search for Monterey 326 How the first expedition passed Point Pinos without recognizing the port. . y & . How it advanced to San Francisco and returned and still failed to find M01 terey Portola's account of the expedition Return to San L)iego Second expedition and how divided into a land division and sea division . . Arrival of land division and what the Indians said of the cross Recognition of Monterey and joinder of the two divisions , Foundation of presidio and mission of Monterey , How the good news was carried from Monterey to Mexico Rejoicings in Mexico . . . , Junipero's labors at Monterey; removal of the mission to Carmel river . . . Scenery of the new site Junipero's call for more missions and missionaries . Liberal response of the viceroy, visitador-general and college of San l'i nando How the San Carlos returned to San Bias and sailed with twenty missii aries for Loreto Reception often new missionaries at Monterey: Junipero's satisfaction . . . xx CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. SAN ANTONIO, SAN GABRIEL AND SAN LUIS OBISPO. Pace Site of the mission of San Antonio 339 How the place had first been seen and appreciated 339 How Junipero journeyed to the spot; lifted up his voice in the wilderness, and founded the new mission 34° Preparation for another new mission; site of San Gabriel . 342 Wonder-working picture of the Virgin Mary; foundation of the mission of San Gabriel. , . . • 343 Outrage upon the wife of an Indian chief and its effects 344 Failure of supplies and how remedied; slaughter of bears 345. How Junipero was obliged to go south and resolved to found a new mission 345 The site of San Luis Obispo and how it was first visited 34^ Foundation of the mission of San Luis Obispo 346 Manufacture of roofing tiles and what led to it , 347 Junipero's journey to San Diego; his conference with Juan Perez and the result . 348 Reasons that induced Junipero to extend his journey to Mexico 349 How he fell sick at Guadalajara and how he was restored at Quer6taro 350 Political changes in Mexico; the viceroyalty; recall of the visitador-general 351 The Dominicans demand a part of the new province; arrangement giving them Lower California. 352 Proposed abandonment of the port of San Bias « 352 CHAPTER VII. BUCARELI. SAN DIEGO DESTROYED AND RESTORED. SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. Interest taken by Bucareli y Ursua, the new viceroy, in California. 354 Intercourse between him and Junipero 354 How Junipero saved the port of San Bias 356 His statement of the needs of Alta California and Bucareli's action 356 His demand for the removal of Pedro Fages and its reasons 356 Resolutions in reference to powers to be exercised by the missionaries 357 Measures for the advance of the missions 357 Reglamento of the military establishment 358 Junipero's success in obtaining contributions for temporary relief 359 How Bucareli was indcced to open an overland road from Sonora 360 How his zeal, kindled by Junipero's, projected voyages of discovery 360 Junipero's return to California r. 361 Juan Bautista de Anza and his employment to open a road from Sonora .... 362 His expedition from Altar to Monterey 363 His return to Sonora 363 Delivery of Lower California missions to Dominicans; Palou's start for Alta California. 364 Palou's journey and labors , 365 CONTENTS. xxi ^^^^^ Page Monterey 366 './. to the- north 366 Ae Heceta 367 y Quadra , 368 nission of San Juan Capistrano 369 San Diego; murder of Father Luis Jayme and d est rue- mission 370 d hands and Urselino's forgiving spirit 371 • Moncada and Anza to the spot 372 livera y Moncada and the missionaries 373 of Rivera y Moncada 374 to San Diego and how he commenced to rebuild the ruined ; 375 Bucareli, advancing the missionary cause 376 a's change of policy 377 How Junipero completed the restoration of San Diego and refounded San Juan Capistrano 377 How the stratagem of a San Gabriel Indian saved him from destruction. . . 378 Site of San Juan Capistrano 378 Junipero's return to Monterey 379 CHAPTER VIII. DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT dF SAN FRANCISCO. San Francisco unknown till a late period 380 Wreck of the San Agustin; Viscaino's search; Cabrera Bueno 380 Governor Portola's expedition up the coast 381 Discovery of San Francisco and its circumstances 383 What St. Francis had to do with the discovery 385 Spanish and Mexican inappreciation of San Francisco 386 Survey undertaken by Pedro Fages and Father Crespi 387 Their expedition around the eastern side of the bay to the mouth of the San Joaquin river 387 Expedition of Rivera y Moncada and Fathe. - Palou; the cross planted on Point Lobos 388 Bucareli's orders for the presidio and mission of San Francisco and mission 1S9 ■ xxii CONTENTS. Pagk Anza's survey of San Francisco and the bay 395 Quarrel between Anza and Rivera y Moncada 397 How the presidio was ordered to be founded and Junipero managed to have the mission started . 397 The founders of San Francisco and how they left Monterey 398 Their route to, and first camp at, San Francisco 399 Preparations for the presidio 400 How the San Carlos arrived, and the work at the presidio and mission pro- ceeded , 401 ■ Formal foundation of the presidio, September 17, 1776 402 How Jose Joaquin Moraga went a second time to the San Joaquin river and crossed it 403 Fernando Quiros' exploration of San Pablo bay 404 Foundation of the mission of San Francisco 404 Absence of the San Francisco Indians and reasons therefor 406 CHAPTER IX. SANTA CLARA AND SAN JOSE. EVENTS OF 1 777—79- Earliest visitors to the Santa Clara valley 407 Foundation of the mission of Santa Clara 407 The Santa Clara valley and its products 409 The natives and their thieving character; the first fruits of the mission 409/ Visit of Junipero to Santa Clara and San Francisco 410 Junipero at the presidio; his emotion upon beholding the Golden Gate .... 411 \ Foundation of the pueblo of San Jose 41 1 How it was originally laid out and built up 412 Junipero's missionary labors; investment with the power of confirmation . . . 413 Political change in New Spain; new jurisdiction of the Internal Provinces, including the Californias 415 Junipero's second visit to San Francisco . . . . : . 415 Uucareli's exploring voyages 416 Voyage of Arteaga and liodega y Quadra 416 Their stop at San Francisco; Nuestra Seiiora de Los Remedios 418 Death of Bucareli; tribute to his memory 419 CHAPTER X. JUNIPERO'S TROUBLES. — COLORADO MISSIONS. — LOS ANGELES.— SAN BUENAVENTURA. SANTA BARBARA. Junipero's power of confirmation called in question .• 420 The controversy decided in his favor: Junipero's resumption of labor 421 Father Juan Crespi: his last visit to San Francisco; his death; honors paid him 422 New missionary projects contemplated 423 Expeditions to the Colorado river 423 Father Francisco Garces; his missionary banner; Irs wanderings 424/ CONTENTS. * xxiii Determination of the college of Queretaro to found missions 426 Foundation of the Colorado missions; policy adopted for carrying them on. . 426 Troubles with the Indians 427 Arrival of Rivera y Moncada with recruits for California 428 Attack upon and destruction of the Colorado missions 429 Cayetano Limon's marches 429 Marvels concerning' the martyred missionaries 430 Stories of ghosts and specters at the ruined missions 431 Campaigns against the Yumas 4 .52 Foundation of the pueblo of Los Angeles 433 Comparison between San Jose and Los Angeles 434 Preparations for the Santa Barbara Channel establishments 435 The site of San Buenaventura 436 Foundation of San Buenaventura mission 436 Foundation of the presidio of Santa Barbara 437 New missions contemplated; refusal of government to furnish supplies 438 Sorrows of Junipero 439 CHAP T E R X I . LAST DAYS, DEATH AND BURIAL OF JUNIPERO. lunipero's bodily ailments and how he had aggravated them 441- His last visit to the southern missions 442 Last visit to San Francisco, 443 Dedication of Murguia's church at Santa Clara /\/\.\ Final labors at San Carlos 445 Sinking of the fervid spirit; farewell to his fellow laborers 445 Last sickness and patient sufferings 446 Last devotions and last night 446 His last requests 447 llow he died; his character; what he accomplished 447- IIow his body was laid out and how relic-seekers did it pious violence 44S Burial ceremonies and honors 449 Biography by Father Palou 450 J unipero r s title to remembrance 451 CHAPTER XII. PRESIDENT LASUEN. — SANTA BARBARA, PURISIMA. SANTA CRUS, AND SOLED.AD. Father Palou temporarv successor to Junipero 452 His troubles; the bishopric of Sonora and the Californias; proposed custodia of San Gabriel 453 Progress of the first nine missions 453 Pather Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, next president 454 Foundation of Santa Barbara mission 455 Progress of the establishment 456 xxiv * CONTI Survey of site ot Purisima Foundation of Purisima mission; its prog] Lasuen authorized to administer the rite o How his labors of confirmation were inter. sions . Who started the new projects 46o Selection of site of Santa Cruz . 461 Description of the location ..... 461 Foundation of Santa Cruz mission 462 Minute records of the foundation; supplies furnished; Hermenegildo Sal's instructions to the guard 463 Progress of the new establishment 465 Preparations for foundation of Soledad 465 Foundation and progress of Soledad mission 466 La Perouse's visit to California 467 His observations of the Indians at San Carlos 467 His account of how they were treated and fed 468 His summing up of impressions; Indians slaves 469 His departure and legacy to the country 470 Vancouver's visit and opportunities of observation 47 1 His account of what he saw . 47 1 Treatment of the Indians; kindness of missionaries; Father Santa Maria and the neophytes of San Buenaventara 472 CHAPTER XIII. SAN JOSE. SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, SAN MIGUEL, SAN FERNANDO AND SAN LUIS REY. How it was resolved to (ill up the unsettled gaps between the old missions. . 474 What gaps there were and the movements of Diego de Borica to found new establishments 474 Branciforte's participation in the new projects. .... 476 Site of San Jose mission 476 How San Jose mission was founded 477 Quarrel between Father Barcenilla and Corporal Miranda and progress of the new establishment 478 Preparations for San Juan Bautista; survey and selection of its site 479 Foundation and progress of San Juan Bautista mission 480 How the site of San Miguel was selected 481 >i Foundation of San Miguel mission 481 Strange actions of Father Concepcion. 482 His violent removal to Monterey; declared insane and sent off to Mexico; progress of San Miguel 482 Selection of the site of San Fernando 484 Foundation and progress of San Fernando mission 4N4 Selection of the site of San Luis Key 4S5 Foundation of San Luis Key mission 486 CONTENTS. xxv Progress of the new establishment 4S7 Lasuen's return, after his labors, to .Monterey; his pious sweats 4SS His final sickness and death 489 His character 489 CHAPTE R X I V. SAN INEZ, SAN RAFAEL AND SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO. Father Estevan Tapis president of the missions , 490 Selection of the site of Santa Inez 490 Foundation and progress of Santa Inez mission 491 The gaps all filled and country occupied from San Diego to Saa Francisco 492 Reasons for founding missions north of San Francisco; the Russians 493 Presidents Jose Senan and Mariano Payeras; foundation and site of San Ra- fael mission 494 Progress of the Russians and decline of Spanish power 495 Reconnoisance and survey of Sonoma and its neighborhood j.96 Foundation and progress of San Francisco Solano mission 498 The twenty-one missions of Aha California all founded; futile talk of found- ing others 499 General character of the old establishments; churches and buildings; court- yards and corridors; San Juan Bautista as a example 500 The office of prefect of the missions 500 Failure of the college of San Fernando of Mexico to furnish more mission- aries; transfer of half the missions to the college of Orizaba 501 Effect of the Mexican revolution upon the mission system 502 Attitude of the missionaries towards the republic; non-juring missionaries . . 503 How Fathers Sarria, Duran and others refused to take the oaths and the col- lege of Zacatecas was invited to furnish compliant missionaries 504 Relations of juring and non-juring missionaries towards each other; Gover- nor Figueroa on Sarria and Duran 505 Destruction of the missions by secularization 507 The work of the missionaries barren and unprofitable 508 , BOOK IV. THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. CHAPTER I. PORTOLA, BARRI, DE NEVE AND FAGES. Gaspar de Portola, first governor 5°9 His connection with the Californias 5'° His character, abilities and success 5'° Felipe de Barri, second governor; quarrel between him and the missionaries 511 xxvi . CONTENTS. Pag? Withdrawal of Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general 51 2 Pedro Fages and his quarrels with the missionaries 513 The quarrels carried to Mexico 513 Bucareli's vain efforts to compose them 514* Removal of Barri and Fages 515 Fernando Rivera y Moncada appointed comandante of San Diego and Mon- terey; the " soldados de cuera." 5'5 Bucareli's instructions 516 The comandante's movements 517 Disagreement with Anza 5 1 b> Disagreement with the missionaries 5 ' ^ Exhibition of Rivera y Moncada's ill humor towards Anza ... 5 r 9 Anza's return in kind 520 Bucareli's reproof to both; retirement of Rivera y Moncada to Lower C ali- fornia 521 Felipe de Neve, third governor; his appointment and instructions 521 His famous " Reglamento ; " and its provisions relating to colonization 5 22 Distribution and use of municipal lots and lands 523 How he laid out and founded pueblos 524 His legislation 525 His instructions, when promoted, for the guidance of his successor 525 His relations with the missionaries and unfavorable opinion of their work. . . 526 Promotion and untimely death 5 2 7 Pedro Fages, fourth governor; his previous life in California 527 How he became military comandante and temporary governor of the Cali- fornias . . . . . 528 How his wife, DoSa Eulalia, the senora gobernadora, came to California; the quarrel between the spouses 529 First acts of Fages' administration; control of government over the mission- aries o . . .'. 530 His raid upon licentiousness, general immorality and fault-finding 531 How he tried his hand at legislation and the nature of his regulations 532 Intercourse of traveling soldiers and couriers with Indians; punishment of Indian horse-thieves; prohibition of liquor traffic 533 Tariff of prices in Fages' time 533 Interesting letters to Fages; Ortega's unspeakable gratitude for favors re- received 534 Dishonor of Francisco Bernal's domestic hearth by Marcelo Pinto 535 Exquisite letter of Jose de Zufiiga to his mother 536 Fages' improvements at Monterey; how he employed Indians to do the work 537 His suggestions to his successor; estimate of his character 539 CHAPTER II. KOMEU AND ARRILLAGA. The Provincias Interims; their extent, jurisdiction and comandante-general . . 540 New plan of government; erection of the Internal Provinces of the West. . . 54 1 CONTENTS. xxvii Pack Circuitous manner in which royal orders were transmitted to California 541 How and why a supposed remedy against "jiggers " was sent to a jiggerless country " 512 Order as to how the American ship Columbia wis to be treated 543 Authority of the comandante of the Internal Provinces 544 Judicial jurisdiction over the Californias *. 544 Jurisdiction of the viceroy 545 Jose Antonio Romeu, fifth governor; his appointment, journey and I h :alth 545 Council of officers to provide for the government in case of his dea h . . . . 540 Death of Romeu; respect -paid to his family 547 Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga, sixth governor 54S His inaugural remarks; unfavorable opinions of Alejandro Jordan's coloniza- tion scheme 549 Arrillaga's journey from Loreto to San Francisco, and what he did 549 Defenseless condition of San Francisco and how Arrillaga fortified Fort Point 55° The four presidios of Alta California in 1793; character of improvements made; Toribio Ruiz 551 Arrillaga's report of his administration 552 His statement of the condition of affairs for the information of his successor 55 2 New missions founded by the Dominicans in Lower California 553 Withdrawal of Arrillaga and estimate of his services 555 Strange good fortune of Our Lady of Loreto; bow she was covered from head to feet with pearls 555 How Our Lady presented " La Peregrina" to the queen of Spain and how the queen of Spain in return provided for a perpetual flame at the shrine of Our Lady 55^ CHAPTER III. KORICA. i) Diego de Borica, seventh governor of the Californias 558 His pleasant life and cultured friends at Arispe 55S Journey of the governor and his family to Monterey; good humor and gal- lantry • • 559 Intercourse with Vancouver and letters to Arispe friends 560 Relations with missionaries and military subordinates 501 Views in reference to grants of land 5"j Kindness to the Indians; cruelties of the missionaries 562 ^Ill-treatment of neophytes at San Francisco and how Father Fernand into trouble for remonstrating against it .... 5^3 Borica's advocacy of the cause of the Indians 5<>4 Reforms promised by the missionaries and Borica's manly letter on the sub- ject 5 6 5 More troubles about cruelty to Indians; passage of words betvt ti * iman- dante Arguello and the missionaries 5^5 Father Fernandez' continued remonstrances; Borica's orders that abuses should cease 5^° xxviii CONTENTS. Page Fernandez' experiences of the usual fate of a good man in a bad age 567 Borica's appreciation and praise of Fernandez 567 Abuse by missionaries of power to inflict lashes and how Borica, roused to indignation, put a stop to it 568 How, while kind to the Indians, he insisted on the performance of their duly; general effect of his measures 569 War between Spain and France; Borica's efforts to put the country in a state of defense; reinforcements ordered by viceroy Branciforte 570 Borica's plans in case California should be attacked 571 Contributions for the war; answer of missionaries when asked to contribute 571 Dissipation of the war-cloud 572 Talk of war with England; rumored invasion by Americans pronounced by Borica a plalonic idea 573 CHAPTER IV. BORICA (CONTINUED). Alberto de Cordoba, the " ingeniero cstraordinario *' 575 Mutual appreciation between Borica and Cordoba; their accord in carrying on improvements 575 Survey of the neighborhood of San Francisco for new pueblos; choice of the site of Branciforte 576 Instructions of the viceroy about the villa of Branciforte 577 Borica's instruction and adoption of the Plan of Pitic , 578 The Plan of Pitic; its object and character 579 Its main features as a model for new pueblos; right to four square leagues of land; alcaldes, ayuntamientos, and municipal regulations 579 Arrival of the first colonists for Branciforte and their miserable condition. . . 581 Foundation of Branciforte and Borica's account of the wants of the new estab- lishment 5S1 Progress of Branciforte; Gabriel Moraga s favorable report; the place not destined to be a success 582 Bad condition in which Cordoba and Alberni found San Francisco 582 Repairs and improvements at San Francisco 583 Yerba Buena; origin of the name and description of the place; the battery built there by Borica . 5^4 Advantages of Yerba Buena as a place of anchorage; loss of the San Carlos; Spanish mode of anchoring ships 585 Establishment of " el rancho del rev; " opposition of the missionaries; Borica sustained by the viceroy 5^° C6rdoba's valuable services to California 5^7 I lis return to Mexico with Borica's, well merited compliments 58S CHAPTER V. BORICA (CONTINUED). Borica's energy and activity as a governor 59° CONTENTS. xxix r i The bad materials he had to work apon; his crusade against aguardiente . . . 590 His disgust with idleness and how he reformed the laziness of San Jose colo- nists 591 His raid upon gamblers and gambling 592 How he silenced slanderous tongues 593 His trouble with the extraordinary wickedness of San Jose; plain talk to the alcalde 593 What Borica expected and required of an alcalde 594 His concern for the youth of the country and measures to secure education. . 594 Character of early school teachers 596 Education of Indians; Bonca's circular; Spanish to be taught to the exclu- sion of native languages; Borica's views 596 Encouragement of hemp and flax and agriculture in general 597 Overland communication with Sonora and character of the Colorado country 598 Foundation of the Dominican missions of San Pedro and Santa Catalina near the Colorado; Borica's commendation of Arrillaga for the part he took in them 599 Borica as a magistrate; his justice tempered with mercy; punishments inflicted by his orders 600 His action as a judge in civil cases; specimen of an interlocutory order issued by him , 601 His advocacy of a division of the Californias into separate jurisdictions 601 Recognition and appreciation of his great services by the viceroy Branciforte 603 ■ His incessant labors and failing strength; prayer to be relieved : ... 603 His appointment of Arrillaga; retirement from California, and death 604 CHAPTER VI. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga, eighth governor 606 Separation of the Californias; Arrillaga gobernador propietario of Nueva California and Felipe de Goycoechea of Antigua California; line of division 607 Condition of military affairs in 1S00 608 Death of Hermenegildo Sal and Pedro de Alberni 60S Arrillaga's change of residence from Loreto to Monterey 610 Inspection and condition of presidios and soldiers in 1S06 610 Population of Alta California from 1S05 to 1 8 10; decrease of Indians; epi- demics; desertions; expeditions after fugitives; Indian uprisings 611 Bitter feelings of Indians against whites; murder of Father Quintana at San Diego; cruelties practiced towards the Indians 612 Healthy country and climate; "few diseases, fewer physicians and hardly any drugs; " barbers not allowed to practice blood-letting 013 Surgeon Pablo Soler and his lonely state; operations and cures performed by him 614 Old pueblos preferred as places of residence and Branciforte neglected 014 Progress of Los Angeles 615 xxx CONTENTS. Page Progress of San Jose; the alameda 616 Site of San Jose changed; dispute of pueblo with Santa Clara mission 617 Population of Alta California from 1S10 to 1816 and how distributed 618 Arrillaga as a magistrate and judge; remarkable case and execution at Santa Barbara; restraint of ecclesiastical encroachment 618 Spanish jealousy of foreigners; treatment of Vancouver and the English .... 619 Feeling against the Americans and its reasons 619 Affair of the brig Lelia Byrd at San Diego and how the Americans ran the gauntlet of the guns of Point Guijarros ' 620 American smugglers; their usual cargoes and how they traded along the coast 621 The British ship Raccoon at San Francisco; Captain Black's correspondence with Arrillaga 622 The Russians; story of R6sanoff; his betrothal with Concepcion Arguello and sad fate 623 R6sanoff's extensive plans 624 His attempt to negotiate a commercial treaty with Arrillaga 624 How he proposed to accomplish his objects 625 How near California came to being Russianized 625 Russian settlement at Bodega in 1S12; extent and enormous profits of Rus- sian hunting; trade with the Californians 626 Kotzebue's visit to California 627 Conference between Kotzebue, Koskoff and Governor Sola; jealousy of the Russians 627 Accession of Fernando VII. to the Spanish throne and how allegiance was sworn to him in California 628 Commencement of the revolution against Spain; rising of Miguel Hidalgo and its results; Arrillaga's proclamation 628 Death of Arrillaga; his will and legatee; masses for his soul and how paid for 629 CHAPTER VII. ARGUELLO (THE ELDER) AND SOLA. ■* Jose Dario Arguello, ninth governor; his life up to 1S06 631 His instructions to his son_. Luis Antonio Arguello, on delivering to him the command of San Francisco 631 His removal to Santa Barbara; prominence of his family; appointment as governor of Lower California and removal to Loreto 632 Pablo Vicente de Sola, tenth governor; sketch of his earlier life 633 His arrival in California; grand mass, rejoicings and extraordinary festivities 633 Description of the presidio of Monterey, where the festivities took place. . . . 634 Its adornment in his honor 6j© "La gran funcion " in the church and parade by the soldiers 635 Address to the people and to the troops 636 Banquet and delightful surprise 637 Bull-light; a bear brought in to vary the amusement 637 CONTENTS. xxxi Page Combat between bull ami bear 638 Ball at night; the dresses and dances 6 jS Celebration at San Carlos; the governor's opinion of what he had seen ... Sola's tours of inspection and the condition in which he found the country. . 640 His suspicions of the Russians and Americans; his project of seizing Fort Ross and Bodega and expelling the Russians 641 Buenos Ayres privateers; their threatened attack upon California ami S preparations to meet them 642 General character of the Buenos Ayres " insurgentes" 643 Excitement at Monterey caused by the appearance of a strange sail 643 How the captain of the strange vessel was obliged to give an account of himself 644 How the stranger was sent out of the country; new excitement occasioned by an English vessel; suspicions of the Californians 645 Interchange of civilities with cannons ready-shotted and men under arms. . . 647 CHAPTER VIII. 1 SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. Subsidence of excitement in reference to l'.uenos Ayres insurgents 04N Notice of an attack actually contemplated and Sola's preparations 648 Arrival of two Buenos Ayres privateers; their demands and Sola's defiant reply 649 Disposition of the California forces for the purposes of resistance 650 The attack on Monterey and how it was met; interesting incidents; the white Hag and debarkation of the insurgents 651 Retirement of Sola and his troops to the interior; results of the fight; with- drawal of the enemy 652 Sola's return to Monterey to find it abandoned and in flames 652 Insurgent deserters and the story they told , , 653 Acceptance of their story; repair of Monterey 654 The insurgents at Refugio rancho and how they were compelled to leave it. . 654 Progress of the insurgents down the coast; events at Santa Barbara and.San Juan Capistrano; Father Martinez as a warrior 655 How the insurgents attempted to take a treasure ship near San Bias and made a serious mistake 656 Result of their mistake; naval tight and its outcome 657 Sola's reports; action of vice-regal government; miserable character of sup- plies, and reinforcements furnished 658 Sola compelled to get along as best he could; his conduct approved; promo- tion 659 His representations of how great California might be made and how shame- fully neglected it was 660 His expostulations; reply to complaints about the trade with the Russians . . 661 His ideas of the reasons why the country was not further advanced Sudden success of the Mexican revolution; Iturbide and his Plan of Igualaj what Sola thought of them 663 xxxii CONTENTS. Page More trouble from insurgents anticipated and what was done 664 Arrival at Monterey of a vessel flying the new flag of Imperial Mexico 665 The Canon Agustin Fernandez de San Vicente and what he had to say; reception of the news of the Empire 665 How Sola was decorated with imperial honors and how he transferred his allegiance 666 His speech on Mexican independence 666 The change of sovereignty from Spain to Mexico 667 CHAPTER IX. THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. Inability of Spain to maintain exclusive possession of America 668 Claims of the English and how they came to be allowed and admitted 668 The French and their possessions in America 669 Condition of the western side of the continent; the claims of Spain ....... 669 Cook's voyages and search for a northern passage 670 His discoveries on the northwest coast 671 His discovery of tht Sandwich Islands, death and successors. . . 672 Unexpected value of the northwest coast as a fur-producing country; enor- mous profits 673 How Cook's journals were withheld from publication and their effect when given to the world 674 La Perouse's voyage and its objects 674 Fate of La Perouse 676 English fur-traders on the northwest coast 677 Portlock and Dixon's voyage and its results 677 Meares, Colnett and Berkeley 678 Berkeley's discovery of the Straits of Juan de Fuca 678 The stir made by Meares and Colnett 679 New projects of English fur-traders on the northwest coast 681 Alarm of the vice-regal government at Mexico; Martinez and De Haro sent to occupy Nootka; how they fulfilled their commission. . 681 Vessels seized by the Spaniards 683 Altercation between Martinez and Colnett; the English sent as prisoners to Mexico 683 Result of judicial investigations and release of the English. , 6S4 The quarrel transferred to Europe and how nearly it embroiled England and Spain 685 How Meares fanned the smouldering fire; negotiations and settlement (JS5 How the French king was prevented from assisting Spain 686 CHAPTER X. LATER NORTHWEST-COAST VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. The Nootka Convention and its terms 688 How England put its own interpretation upon it 689 CONTENTS. xxxiii Pagb Revival of old stories about the Straits of Anian 690 Malaspina's voyage and the quietus he put to Maldonado's reported passage 691 Cnamafio's voyage, and his similar service as to Admiral Fonte's passage . . . 692 Galiano and Valdes' voyage and surveys. 692 Meeting of Vancouver and Bodega y Quadra at Nootka and its result 693 How the settlement of the Nootka controversy put a limit to the indefinite extension of California northwestwardly C94 First appearance of the Americans in the Pacific and their trade on the northwest coast 695 Kendrick and Gray's voyages in the ship Columbia and sloop Washington; their arrival at Nootka 696 How the Americans piled up treasures while the English and Spanish were quarreling 696 Gray's movements and how he sailed to China 697 Kendrick 's movements; how he started an American trade in sandal-wood . 697 Metcalfs voyages; his troubles and losses at Hawaii 6oS Ingraham's yoyage and discovery of the Washington islands 700 Gray's second voyage to the northwest coast 700 His discovery of Gray's Harbor and the Columbia river 701 Importance of the discovery of the Columbia; Gray's claims to credit 7o2 Communication of his discovery 703 Vancouver's voyage and surveys about Vancouver's Island 704 His examinations southward 704 Broughton's examination of the Columbia river 705 Vancouver at San Francisco and his subsequent movements 706 English projects at the Hawaiian Islands and how King Kamehameha made a cession and became brother to King George III 707 The British possessions on the northwest coast 708 Substantial abandonment of Nootka; American fur-trading voyages 709 CHAPTER XI. OVERLAND EXPEDITIONS AND EXPLORATIONS. nd fanciful notions 71 1 and its claims; Samuel Hearne and his dis- 712 pioneer overland journey 713 |ect of their expedition to the Pacific 713 lountains 714 uns 715 iimbia river to the ocean 715 ountains 710 1 States; their journals 717 vels 718 1 to secure English supremacy 7 1 S and the Missouri Fur Company 719 720 xxxiv CONTENTS. Page How Astoria was founded 72 ' Collection of Astor's partners and employees at Astoria 722 The fort and establishment at Astoria 723 Loss of the Tonquin and circumstances attending its destruction 724 How Astoria was transferred to the British and how the British had finally to abandon it 725 Connection of the history of the northwest coast with that of California; the Florida Treaty 726 The Florida-treaty line still a boundary on the United States map 727 CHAPTER XII. THE INDIANS. General characteristics of the Indians of Alta California 728 Their low grade and brutishness 728 Speculations as to their origin 729 Absence of political organization; no nations or large tribes; their rancherias 730 Indian names as geographical designations 731 Physical characteristics; stature and features; question about beards; color 732 Natural capacities; disposition to imitate; how and why they burned a chief 733 Instances of Indian acuteness and strength of mind 734 Cases of spirited and resolute resistence 736 How Ambrosio rebelled, was taken, shrived, shot, and buried in the " pan- theon of San Jose. " 1 738 Spanish project of arming the Indians to fight the Buenos Ayres insurgents; specimen of Indian vituperation of the government 739 Demands for emancipation 740 Indian population of Alta California 741 Decrease of the Indians and its causes 742 Instances of extreme old age 743 Question as to whether the Indians might not have been civilized 744 CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN RELIGIOUS NOTIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS. Father Geronimo Boscana and his book on the Ind ; .s of San Juan Capis- trano 746 Beliefs of the Serranos; origin of the world; Ouiot a,. J his descendants .... 746 Conspiracy against Ouiot; his death and funeral pyre 747 Advent of Chinigchinich; institution of the sorcerers 748 Creation of man and establishment of religious rites; how Chinigchinich was taken up to the stars 748 Recognition of Chinigchinich as God, and his worship 749 Beliefs of the 1'layanos; Nocuma; cosmogony; Tosaut; the sea and fishes. . 749 How Nocuma made man; anthropomorphism; how and why Ouiot was poi- soned 750 Circumstances of Ouiot's cremation; advent of Chinigchinich; religious rites 751 CONTENTS. xxxv Pace Attributes and worship of Chinigchinich 752 Reflections upon and doubts concerning missionary accounts of religious no- tions of the aborigines 753 Difficulties of ascertaining the real belief of the natives; their low scale of culture 754 The vanquech; representations of Chinigchinich; fetishism 755 The sorcerers or medicine-men; their teachings and influence 756 The chiefs and their authority 757 The puplem or grand council; ceremonies upon commencing harvests or hunts 758 Installation of new chiefs 759 How war was declared ... 759 Respect of people for chiefs, sorcerers and puplem; the vanquech as a sanctu- ary and place of refuge. 760 Belief in charms 761 Notions as to future existence; che so-called man-eaters and the part they played in confening immortality 762 Feasts and dances; ceremonial painting and ornamentation; separation of sexes; music 762 The feast of " panes " and how conducted 763 Descriptions of various dances 764 Cosumnes skeleton dance; Mokelumne " dance of death" 765 Wars and how they were carried on 766 Battles by pre-arrangement 767 Treatment of prisoners 768 CHAPTER XIV. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND MODES OF LIFE. Courtship and marriage 770 Marriage ceremonies 77 1 Marriages between members of different rancherias; abductions 771 Divorces; polygamy; adultery 77 2 The " joyas" an- " execrable y maldita gente." 772 Customs in reference tr;. child-bearing; education of boys; the "touch" or protecting spirit .ate of a youthful skeptic 773 The " potense " or bran, ( mg 775 Education, tattooing and purification of girls 775 Differences of customs in different places; maternal affection 776 \ Modes of life; plentifulness and scarcity of food 777 * Habitations and their remains .... 777 \Households and promiscuous inhabitations 77^ Occupations of men and women respectively 779 Games; " takersia" and " toussi." 7^o \ Kinds of food; cooking; hunting; fishing; grasshopper gathering 7S1 Weapons; bows and arrows 7^3 Spears, knives and clubs 7^4 V xxxvi CONTENTS. Pace Canoes and rafts 785 Baskets ! 785 Mortars and pestles 786 Shells as a sort of money and the traffic in them 786 Clothing and ornamentation 786 Physical strength and health; " el mal Galico " and other diseases 7^7 Epidemics 788 Temescal or sweat-house; medicines 790 Practices of the medicine-men in cases of disease 79 1 Funeral observances 79 2 Cremation and how it was conducted 79 2 Indian languages 793 Variety of distinct dialects and reasons therefor 794 Dying out of a language; remarkable case of an Indian female Robinson Crusoe 795 Rapid changes in the native dialects 79& General characteristics of the'aboriginal languages 797 Difficulties and uncertainties in reference to the subject 798 History of California. BOOK I EARLY VOYArx^S T CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY. HE first account of California, that is found in the old records, represented it as an island, rich in pearls and gold. It was said to lie at a distance of ten days' journey from the province of Ciguatan, and to be inhabited by women only, except at certain seasons, when they were visited by men from the mainland. The fruits of these visits, if female, were retained; if male, they were sent away. Such was the strange story brought to Mexico from Colima by Gonzalo de Sandoval, and transmitted by Cortes to the emperor Charles V., in the latter part of the year 1524. 1 1 This account is contained in the Carta Quarta de Relacion, dated October 15, 1524. Speaking of the reports brought him by Sandoval, of the provinces of Colima, Aliman, Colimonte and Ciguatan, all of which appear to have been embraced in what is now known as Colima, Cortes wrote: "Y assimismo me trujo relacion de los senores de la provincia de Ciguatan, que se anrmm mucho haber una isla toda poblada de mugeres, sin varon ninguno ; y que en ciertos tiempos van de la tierra-firme hombres, con los quales han aceso; y las que quedan prefiadas, si paran mugeres las guardan, y si hombres los echan de su compania; yque esta isla esta diez jornadas de esta provincia; y que muchos de ellos han ido allii y la han visto. Dicenme assimismo que es muy rica de perlas y oro." — Cortes, Carta Quarta, VII; Lorenzana, 349. (37) 38 EARLY VOYAGES. It may be doubted whether Cortes believed in this report in all its particulars. 1 But that it produced a profound effect upon his mind there can be no question. It was the general supposition that Asia was not far distant," and hardly any story, if told about that wonderful country or its neighborhood, was too marvelous for credence. From the time when Hero- dotus spoke of its golden sands, guarded by armies of mon- strous ants and fire-breathing griffins, the most extravagant fancies had prevailed in reference to its wealth; and these fancies had been rather increased than diminished by the accounts of more recent writers, who dwelt upon its silks and spices, its rare gems and costly gums, the magnificehce of its princes, the grandeur of its courts, the extent of its kingdoms and the countless numbers of its inhabitants. Without attempting to ascertain the exact limits of his knowledge or to measure the precise degree of his faith, it is certain that Cortes was firmly persuaded of the existence of rich and populous countries in the direction ascribed to the island of amazons. He was in fact so thoroughly convinced that, in the letter transmitting Sandoval's report, he promised Charles V. the sovereignty of more kingdoms and dominions in those regions than had ever before been heard of in the Spanish nation. * These wild notions, inconsequential as they might appear, were the causes that led to the discovery and afterwards to the exploration of California. They therefore constitute an essential element of its early history. Only by taking them 1 He added to the account given in the foregoing note: "Yo trabajare . 1 5 '• J Venegas, P. II, g 2, p. 15.,. t DISCOVERY. 43 projects and undermining his influence. He had charged him with the' most villainous crimes, and pursued him with the most rancorous and relentless malignity. When Cortes returned from Spain Guzman was removed from the presi- dency of the audiencia. But, though he lost his office, he- did not lose his desire nor his power to annoy and in some measure to thwart his great antagonist. Finding, however, that he could accomplish nothing at Mexico, he marshaled his retainers and marched them to Jalisco. There, being aware of Cortes' intended discoveries in the northwest, he conceived the project of forestalling them; and, with this hope in view, more than with any expectation of advantage to himself, he advanced his outposts as far as possible up the northwest coast. He thus made settlements at Chiametla and Culiacan and as far north as San Miguel on the sea-coast of Sinalpa, 1 While Nufio de Guzman was thus employed, Cortes hastened forward to completion two ships which he had building at Acapulco. 2 As soon as they were finished, he placed them under the command of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Juan de Mazuela, with instructions to sail northwestward; to keep within sight of land and at all con- venient places to disembark and communicate with the natives; to carefully examine the countries they should reach, and to gather all the information in their power in regard to such countries and the northwest coast in general. 3 With a view to the reports, which he had already received of the regions in that direction, he ordered them, upon reaching any territories that seemed rich or civilized, to immediately return or send back one of the vessels with the intelligence. Hurtado and Mazuela, in accordance with these instruc- tions, set sail from Acapulco in June, 1532. 4 They pro- 1 Herrera, Indias Occidentals, Descrip., cap. II. 2 Venegas, P. II, § 2, p. 152. The " Relacion del Yiage hecho por Las Goletas Sutil y Mexicana " says Cortes bought these ships.— Intruduccion XI. 8 Cireenhow, 53> 54- * Relacion, Intro. XI. Vcnegas says May.— P. II, § 2, p. 152. 41 EARLY VOYAGES. ceeded to the port of Guatl in or Buena Esperanza 1 in Coli-na, where they took on board more people and supplies, making in all eighty soldiers with artillery and provisions. Thence they proceeded to MatancheF in Jalisco, where they proposed to take in water; but, finding that Nuno de Guzman was dis- posed to interfere with them, they sailed on without tarrying. They advanced along the coast and examined the country as far as the river Mayo. There, a portion of the crews of both vessels became mutinous; and Mazuela's ship, with all the disaffected persons on board, was sent back. Hurtado in the other continued his voyage and advanced, it seems certain, a considerable distance beyond the mouth of the river Yaqui. 3 But the extreme point which he gained and the extent to which his discoveries reached will never be known; for upon his return to the Yaqui, having landed in search of provisions, he and all his men were killed by the natives. 4 Nor did the mutineers in Mazuela's ship, by reason of whose disaffection the expedition failed, fare any better. They ran down the coast to the neighborhood of Chiametla, where they likewise were attacked and killed by the natives; and the vessel, which had stranded, was after- ward plundered and dismantled by Nuno de Guzman. Upon learning the loss of Mazuela's ship and hearing noth- ing of Hurtado's, Cortes ordered two new vessels, which were building at his port of Tehuantepec, 5 to be immediately made ready for sea. He was so intent upon having the work hastily done that he went down and superintended their equip- ment himself. As soon as completed, he placed Diego Bezerra de Mendoza in command of the larger, the capitana or flag- ship, which was named La Concepcion, and Hernando de Grixalva of the smaller, which was named the San Lazaro. He instructed them to the same effect as he had instructed 1 Relacion, Intro. XI. 2 Relacion, Intro. XI. 3 Herrera, D. V, L. I, cap. 7; Burney's Discoveries, Vol. I, ch. 6. 4 Herrera, D. V, L. I, cap. 7. The Relacion says they were wrecked and all drowned. — Intro. XII. 5 Venegas, P. II, § 2, p. 152; Relacion, Intro. XIII. DISCO VER Y. 45 his former captains. They were also to search after the ship of Hurtado; 1 and, in pursuance of his obligation to convert the Indians, he sent two Franciscan fathers in the capitana as missionaries. Bezerra and Grixalva sailed from Tehuantepec on October 3°> I 533- 2 Ori the second night after leaving port, they were separated by a storm and never again met. Grixalva, finding Bezerra to be a man of haughty and overbearing disposition,' allowed himself to be driven out to sea. He then sailed in a northwesterly direction without seeing land until December 20, when he discovered an island, which he named Santo Tomas. He anchored and explored it; but found neither wealth nor human inhabitants. From this island, which is situated about eighty leagues south of Cape San Lucas and the same ^distance from Cape Corrientes and still bears the name he gave it, he sailed eastwardly to the mainland, whence he ran down the coast to Tehuantepec. In giving an account of his voyage, Grixalva related a story as strange as that reported by Sandoval concerning the island of amazons. This was to the effect that on Sunday, Novem- ber 9, in latitude 14^2° north, he saw a merman; that it passed close by his ship; that it raised its head above water three or four times to look at the vessel and was in plain sight of all; that afterwards, when half-way between Santo Tomas and the mainland, he again saw the same fish, which swam about the ship for a long time, playing antics like a monkey — at one time diving, at another washing itself with its hands, and then looking at the sailors — until a sea-bird approached, when it disappeared, came up farther off, and then disap- peared altogether. 4 1 Herrera, D. V, L. VII, cap. 3; Relacion, Intro. XIII. 2 Relacion, Intro. XIV. The Relacion says they sailed from a port called San- tiago in l6°3o > n. Venegas, as printed, makes a palpable mistake in reference to the date of this voyage, giving it as the year 1524, although he had just before spoken of the previous voyage of Hurtado in 1532. — P. II, § 2, p. 152. 3 "Porque el Bezerra era mui sobervio y malacondicionado." — Bernal Diaz, cap. 200. * Herrera, D. V, L. VII, cap. 4. 46 EARLY VOYAGES. Bezerra, in the meanwhile, after the storm had separated the ships, continued his course in La Concepcion along the shore as far as Jalisco. There a mutiny broke out, at the head of which was Fortuho Ximenes, the chief pilot. This Xim- enes, a native of Biscay, was a man of great spirit, bold and audacious. 1 Being unwilling to submit to the overbearing disposition of Bezerra he took advantage, as is said, of an occasion when the latter lay asleep and assassinated him. He and his confederates then made themselves masters of the ship, and set on shore all of Bezerra's friends, including the Fran- ciscan fathers. They then, in order to avoid the penalty of their mutiny, sailed away from the coast and took a north- westerly course into entirely unknown seas. But, as Father Miguel Venegas says, "they were unable to escape the ven- geance of God; for, coming to that port which has since been called Santa Cruz bay and which according to all the indications is in the interior coast of California, Ximenes went ashore and was there slain, together with twenty other Spaniards, by the Indians." 2 The few persons who escaped immediately re-embarked and retraced their course to the port of Chiametla in Jalisco. There the unscrupulous Nuno de Guzman seized, and stripped their ship, as he had seized and stripped that of Mazuela two years previously. But the sailors told their story and reported the discovery that had been made; and they added that the new country was well peopled and that its coasts abounded in pearls. 3 Thus was Fortuno Ximenes, in the year 1534, the discoverer of t he peninsula of California, n ow known as Lower Californ ia, w hich was then and fo r a long time afterward supposed to be an island. There exists, it is true, a report that it had been discovered as early as 1 526,* the year before Saavedra sailed from New Spain for the East Indies, and two years before 1 Bernal Diaz, cap. 200. 2 Venegas, P. II, §2, p. 153. 3 Harney's Discoveries, Vol. I, ch. 6; Venegas, P. II, § 2; Rclacion, Intro. XVI. 1 Humboldt's Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, B. Ill, chap. VIII, § 14, note. CORTES. 49 march upon Chiametla; but Nuno de Guzman was prudent enough to be afraid and had letired. At the beach Cortes found his vessel, La Ccncepcion, lying on its beam-ends, a useless wreck and plundered of everything of value. A few days afterwards, being joined by his ships from Tehuantepec, he embarked with as many of the people as they could carry and sailed in a northwesterly direction, the same pursued by Ximenes. On May I, 1535, 1 Cortes came in sight of a high promon- tory, which he named San Felipe, and on May 3 anchored in the port where Ximenes was said to have been killed. 2 Land- ing there, he solemnly took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign; and in honor of the day, called in the Catholic calendar that of the holy cross, he gave the name of Santa Cruz to the bay which stretched around him. The exact spot where he landed is supposed to be La Paz on the east- ern shore of the peninsula, about thirty leagues north of Cape San Lucas. It is a desolate-looking neighborhood, with rocky and bare hills coming down nearly to the water's edge. The bay is formed by a deep indentation in the coast, turning southward and having several islands about its mouth, which almost entirely close it in from the gulf. It is spacious, though not very deep, and so protected by the surrounding heights and islands as to be secure from all winds. 3 It is peculiar in these respects; and its marked characteristics and especially its land-locked harbor and islands, by comparison with ancient descriptions, justify its recognition as the place where Europeans first placed their feet upon, and where the de Olazabal, marinero natural de Cestoria, que fue en esta expedicion, llevo Cor- tes mucha gente asi de A pie como de a. caballo, hasta el numero de quatrocientos hombres Espanoles y trescientos negros — Declaraciones en el pleyto seguido en 1 1 Audiencia de Mexico." Bjrnal Diaz says three hundred and twenty persons, of whom one hundred and thirty were married. He mentions physicians, sur- geons and an apothecary; but says nothing of negroes. Duflot de Mofras, T. I. p. 93, follows the account given in the Relacion; so also Prescott, Conquest of Mexico, B. VII, chap. 5. 1 Herrera, D. V, L. VIII, cap. 9; Relacion, Intro. XVII; Duflot de Mofras, T. I, p. 93. Venegas, by some error of transcription or more probably of typo- graphy, says May 1, 1526 — P. II, § 2, p. 155. 2 Venegas, P. II, § 2, p. 155. 3 Herrera, D. V, L. VIII, cap. 9. 4 Vol. I. 50 EARLY VOYAGES. first attempt was made, by no less a leader than the great Cortes himself, to colonize, any part of the country afterward known as California. As soon as the adventurers had taken up their abode on shore, the ships were sent back to Chiametla for the re- mainder of the people and the stores that had been left there. But in the navigation of the gulf the vessels became separated; and only the worst of the three returned to Santa Cruz. By that time the provisions had run short; and, the country being everywhere mountainous and uncultivated and affording little or no relief, hunger was felt and its attendant murmurs and complaints began to be heard. Under these circumstances, Cortes, taking with him workmen and materials, re-embarked in the ship which had returned and set forth in search of the missing ones. He sailed eastwardly till he per- ceived land and then, running southwardly along the coast, came to Guayabal, where he found one of his ships loaded with provisions and learned that the other had been dis- masted and run ashore, and that its sailors had gone off to Mexico, whither those of the loaded vessel, considering it no longer seaworthy, purposed following them. This intended desertion he was prompt to prevent. He then ordered both vessels to be careened and repaired and himself superintended the labor, working and requiring his men to work night and day. When all was completed, he at once set sail on his return; but he had hardly lost sight of land when one of the yards of his ship fell to the deck and killed his pilot; and Cortes, for want of a competent substitute, was compelled to take the helm in his own hands. Soon afterward a violent storm came on; and it was not without great difficulty and danger that he finally again reached Santa Cruz. And there, but a sad and melancholy spectacle presented itself to his eyes. His people were suffering and in despair; a number had already died of starvation; and, notwithstanding all his precautions, several others lost their lives by eating to excess on his arrival. 1 1 Herrcra, D. V, L. VIII, cap. 10. CORTES. 51 The conqueror doubtless thought this new country, bald and uninviting as it seemed along the sea-board, would prove to be rich and populous further inland. But in every direc- tion, as far as he explored it, the territory was utterly barren and forbidding. It was uninhabited except by savages, who had neither houses nor clothes nor agriculture, and who lived like beasts, roaming from place to place in search of what- ever could be eaten and satisfying their omnivorous appetites with everything they could find, from the filthy carcass of a stranded whale to vermin, insects and grass. With the ex- ception of a few pearls found along the shores, it seemed destitute of all promise; and the disappointed adventurers, suffering as they were and seeing their families and friends suffering around them, called down curses upon Cortes, his island, his bay and his discovery. 1 It was at this time and under these distressing circum- stances, and with the purpose of reviving the drooping spirits of his companions, that Cortes appears to have applied the name of California to the country. This word had been first used about twenty-five years previously, in one of the romances of chivalry then current, as the designation of an island lying "on the right hand of the Indies, very near to the terrestrial paradise," and peopled with black women who lived the life of amazons. They were said to be of great bodily strength and courage; and their arms, as well as the caparisons of the, wild beasts which they rode upon their warlike expeditions, were represented to be entirely of gold — that being the only metal the island produced. 2 This romantic fiction, in connection 1 " Y maldezian a Cortes, y a su isla, y baia, y descubrimiento. " — Bernal Diaz, cap. 200. 2 The romance referred to was called " Sergas de Esplandian,"and appears to have been first published in 15 10. Toward the close of it, in chapter 157, occurs the following passage: "Know that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California, very near to the terrestrial paradise, which was peopled with black women without any men among them, because they were accustomed to live after the fashion of amazons. They were of strong and hardened bodies, of ardent courage and of great force. The island was the strongest in the world from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their arms were all of gold and so were the caparisons of the wild beasts which they rode after having lamed them; for in all the island there is no other metal." See an interesting pa ward E. Hale, from which the above passage is taken, in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April 30, 1S62. 52 EARLY VOYAGES. with the before-mentioned report by Sandoval, to which it is likely it in great part gave rise, together with the sup- position that the country was an island and not far distant from the Indies, doubtless suggested the name of California and rendered its application natural and easy. As a matter of policy no more sagacious thing could have been done than gild the enterprise with a name not only attractive in itself but admirably calculated, on account of its romantic associa- tions, to buoy up the hopes of the adventurers in the desperate strait to which they were reduced. Such at least seems, upon a fair examination of the imperfect records that have survived and a careful consideration of all the- surrounding circum- stances, to be the most plausible explanation of the origin of the name of California as applied to the country. The only other explanations which need be noticed, are the two following. It was supposed by some that the name was derived from a combination of the two Latin words "calida" and "fornax," the former signifying hot and the latter a furnace, or the corresponding Spanish words " caliente" and " fornalla;" and that it was suggested either by the heat experienced in the climate or by the sweat-houses used by the Indians. 1 Others supposed that it owed its origin to some word or words spoken by the natives and misunderstood by the Spaniards; and this was the opinion of the Jesuit histo- rian Venegas. But neither of these suppositions contains any of the elements of probability and would hardly be deserving of mention but for the fact that they have been so often re- peated. It is certain, at all event's, that the name was applied as early as the time of Cortes and there is authority to show that it was he who applied it. The first historical writer, in whose* work it is found, is Bernal Diaz, a cotemporary of the events which he describes. According to his account, Cortes, immediately after he returned to his suffering people at Santa Cruz, " for the purpose of avoiding the spectacle of 1 Venegas, P. I, § I, p. 4. CORTES. 53 so much misery set forth to explore the country; y entonces toparon con la California — and then they struck upon Cal- ifornia. 1 Bernal Diaz, it is true if we can trust the typog- raphy of his printed history, added to the above-cited pas- sage that California was a bay — "que es una baia;" 2 but it seems clear, from the other passages in his work in which the name appears, that he meant to apply it to the entire country and that it was supposed -£e-4)e an island. 3 The historian Herrera, who had access to the Spanish archives and to all the records and papers relating to the subject, states dis- tinctly that the name was imposed by Cortes himself. 1 But as to the extent to which the explorations of Cortes were car- ried and how much of the peninsula he saw, there is no infor- mation; and it can only be surmised that, in consideration of the "object he had in view, the expense incurred, the time devoted, and the importance to himself personally of success in his undertaking, his investigations must have been extensive and thorough. In the meantime, while Cortes was thus engaged in the peninsula, rumors reached Mexico of the failure of his expe- dition; and it was added that he himself was missing and had probably perished. This caused so much anxiety in the mind of his wife, the marchioness Dona Juana de Zuiiiga, that she immediately dispatched a ship in search of him and soon afterward prevailed upon the government to furnish two others and send them on the same errand. On the first of these vessels she forwarded letters entreating him to return. 1 Bernal Diaz, cap. 200. The passage cited reads in the original as follows: 41 Por no ver Cortes delante sus ojos tantos miles fu^ a descubrir a otras tierras; y entonces toparon con la California, que es una baia." a It is possible that the word ''baia," as found in the printed edition of Bernal Diaz and hitherto accepted without question as the correct reading, is a misprint for "isla." The use of the word '"'toparon " and the whole context would seem to render such a supposition a not improbable one. 3 Bernal Diaz, cap. 200. He says in one place, "Cortes mando al Capitan Francisco de Ulloa, que corriessen la co?ta adelante y acabassen de baxar la California ; " and in another, ' ' Cortes gasto muchos pesos de oro en las armadas que hizo en la California." 4 Herrera, D. VIII, L VI, cap. 14. In speaking of the provinces of New Spain, he says, " Y adeUnte la California, adonde Uego el primer Marques del Valle que le puso este nombre. " 54 EARLY VOYAGES. He on his part, upon receiving these missives and being dis- appointed in his search for new kingdoms among the rocks and thorns of the peninsula, resolved to return at once; and immediately, placing such of his people as he could not take along under the command of Francisco de Ulloa, he set sail with two vessels for the opposite coast. Upon crossing the gulf, he met one of his vessels that had been sent for sup- plies, and ordered it to turn round and follow him. At Jalisco there was another of his vessels lying stranded; but, upon examining and finding that though sadly wrenched its timbers were all sound, he caused it to be cleared, launched, remasted and refurnished. Then putting to sea again, he proceeded with his squadron of four ships to the port of Guatlan in Colima, where he met the two vessels which had been dispatched by the government as before stated. Being joined by these, he again put to sea and in the beginning of the year 1537, with six ships, entered the port of Acapulco; whither he was soon afterward followed by Ulloa with all the adventurers that remained alive. 1 And thus end ed t he first a ttempt of tllP Spaniard s to settle the peninsula nf C alifornia. 1 Herrera, D. V, L. VIII, cap. 9; Venegas, P II, § 2, p. 158. CHAPTER III. THE SEVEN CITIES. THE belief in the wealth of the northwest was tempo- rarily eclipsed as a result of the recent expedition; but it soon afterwards shone out with redoubled luster in con- sequence of reported discoveries in the interior of the con- tinent. The first of these reports reached Mexico in the early part of 1537 by the arrival there of Alvaro Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions Alonzo del Castillo, Andres de Orantes and a negro named Estevanico. These persons, according to the account they gave of themselves, belonged to an unfortunate expedition which in 1527 had been conducted by Panfilo de Narvaez into the province of Florida. Escaping the death suffered by their leader and comrades, they had persuaded the Indians, into whose hands they had fallen, that they possessed miraculous powers for healing the sick; and, as several fortunate recoveries under their ministration had given color to their pretentions, they found means to subsist and gradually to pass from tribe to tribe, till, after wandering a distance of more than three thousand miles and for a period of upwards of nine years, they finally reached the Pacific coast at Culiacan, and thence proceeded to Mexico. In relating their adventures they assured their" hearers that they had seen bags of silver and arrow-heads of emerald in abundance and that they had passed nations, and heard of others still farther north, which possessed great cities and immense riches. 1 But it was the expedition of Marcos de Niza, and the 1 Herrera, D. VI, L. I, cap. 4-7; Vent-gas, P. II, § 3, pp. 162, 163. (55) 56 EARLY VOYAGES. extraordinary account he brought back of what he had seen, that gave the greatest impetus to the spirit of adventure. This individual was a friar of the order of St. Francis. He had been employed with success in quieting various dis- turbances among the Indians of Jalisco and, while so engaged, had met and talked with the adventurers, who had come across the continent. He became interested in their reports and animated with a desire of seeing the countries of which they spoke; and, being possessed of a vivid imagination as well as the most unbounded confidence in himself, he conceived the project of paying a visit, single-handed, to the great nations of whom they had brought intelligence. With this end in view, having induced the negro Estevanico to act as guide and taking along a number of Indian porters, he set out from Culiacan in the spring of 1539. He traveled north- westwardly a hundred leagues and reached a desert which' required four days to cross. Passing beyond it, he found that the natives had no knowledge whatever of the Christians and that they believed him to be a man from another world- They placed before him great quantities of provisions, rever- ently touched his robes and were profuse in their offers of service. In answer to his inquiries, they assured him of the existence of a large valley, four days' journey eastward, where the people wore ornaments of gold in their ears and nostrils and possessed such quantities of that precious metal as to have large vessels made of it. Father Marcos believed their story; but the valley seemed of such small importance, in comparison with the wealth and splendor which he sup- posed to lie before him, that he did not consider it worth while to turn aside. On the contrary, he hastened on with- out delay still farther northward, in the direction pointed out by Estevanico; and, in the course of four or five days' farther travel, reached the town of a hospitable people, called Va- capos. where, it being then the Easter season, he determined to rest and pray; while Estevanico and others should examine the country round about and bring him reports of what they should find. THE SEVEN CITIES. 57 They accordingly set out in three different directions — east, west and north — and in due time their reports came in. That of those who had gone eastward was unimportant; and that of those who had gone westward was no less so, with the excep- tion that they said the sea was only forty leagues distant in that direction. But the accounts received from Estevanico, who had gone northward, were encouraging in the highest degree. He did not himself return, but he sent back word that, thirty days' journey farther north, there was a country called Cibola, which contained seven great cities lying close together and consisting of houses several stories high, arranged in streets and having their portals adorned with turquoise. Considering the wealth of Mexico and Peru, there was nothing fmprobable in this story; nor is it in any respect to be wondered at that Marcos de Niza should place implicit confidence m it. It was nothing more than confirmation of what Cabeza de Vaca had heard of, and proof of what Father Marcos had come so far to discover. He now felt assured that his hopes and prayers would speedily be answered and that his eyes would be the first of his nation to rest upon the newly-found splendors. He therefore, as soon as Easter was past, hastened forward in the path Estevanico pointed out. As he advanced, he received confirmatory accounts of the existence and greatness of the seven cities and also heard of three great kingdoms beyond them, called respectively Marata, Acus and Totonteac. He traveled thus nearly two weeks and traversed several deserts, guiding his course by the crosses which Estevanico had erected to indi- cate the road. At one place he came to a populous valley, well irrigated and very productive, where the seven cities were as well known and as familiarly spoken of as the city of Mexico in New Spain. The farther he traveled, in fact, the more he heard of the magnificence and wealth, which were said to lie before him; and his imagination became so excited that he readily accepted, believed and afterwards repeated many monstrous stories, and, among others, that the 3ca was not far distant in the north and trended to the eastward and 58 EARLY VOYAGES. that the country in those upper regions produced the fab- ulous animals known as unicorns, which were said to be nearly twice as large as oxen and to have single horns of great length and strength projecting from their foreheads. As he approached the neighborhood of the marvelous cities, Father Marcos learned that Estevanico had gone forward with three hundred Indians, who in the meanwhile had joined his party. But scarcely had this information been received, when a new messenger brought the melancholy intelligence that Estevanico and all his companions, with the exception of two or three, had been seized by the author- ities of Cibola and massacred. According to this account, Estevanico, upon arriving in front of Cibola, had sent forward presents consisting of bells and feathers. The governor, how- ever, upon seeing them had flown into a violent passion; flung them into the fire; asseverated that he knew the people from whom they came, and exclaimed that they should not enter his city on pain of instant execution. Notwithstanding these threats, Estevanico had insisted upon going forward and per- suaded his companions to accompany him. But they had scarcely done so, when they were all seized, stripped and confined in a large building. Soon afterward the people fell upon them and put them to death; and only those few escaped who managed to hide themselves among the heaps of slain and slip away unobserved after night-fall. This sad news dashed all of Father Marcos' brilliant pros- pects. Nor was this the least of the misfortunes to which he was now exposed. For the Indians, who were left, attrib- uting the evil plight in which they found themselves to his rash and inconsiderate projects, charged him with being the author of their disasters, and conspired to avenge themselves by murdering him; and it was only by skillfully representing that they would gain nothing by his death, and by giving up all the property he carried, that he prevailed upon them to forego their treacherous designs. Nothing now was left, on account of the certainty of destruction should he enter Cibola and the great danger of THE SEVEN CITIES. 59 remaining longer where he was, except to turn about and retrace his steps. But, before doing so, Father Marcos re- solved at all. hazards to obtain a view of the seven cities, which since first hearing of them had been the object of all his hopes. He accordingly made his way to the summit of a neighboring mountain; and looking down from it he beheld the cities lying in the plain beyond. There were seven of them, as they had been described to him, lying not far apart, very similar to one another, consisting of high houses with flat roofs, apparently built of stone and lime, and inhabited by a numerous and busy population. Being regu- larly laid out and white in color, they shone in the sunlight and ravished the sight of the distant spectator, who had no difficulty in believing the reports he had heard that their portals were adorned with precious stones. To be thus in sight of so much splendor and yet forbidden to approach was hard indeed. For a little while Father Marcos felt tempted to go on at all hazards. But upon re- flecting that he was alone and that, if he were lost, there was no one to carry back an account of his discoveries, he refrained and contented himself with piling up a great heap of stones, surmounted by a cross, and claiming possession of Cibola, Marata, Acus and Totonteac in the name of Don An- tonio de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain, for the crown of Castile and Leon. He then turned his face southward again and, traveling ten leagues a day, towards the middle of the summer reached Culiacan, from which place he had departed in the spring. Thence he proceeded to Compostella, the capital of Jalisco, and from there sent advices of what he had seen and heard to Mexico. This marvelous story, 1 which was much more positive and circumstantial and seemingly supported by more credible tes- timony than the vague rumors of Sandoval's island, filled all New Spain, as might have been expected, with novelty and excitement. The almost exclusive attention of its large pop- ulation of adventurers was now attracted to the north and 1 All the particulars are set forth in Herrera, D. VI, L. VII, cap. 7, 8. 60 EARLY VOYAGES. northwest, the latter being, as it seemed, the proper direc- tion for ships to take in search of the reported northern ocean trending eastward. Now, more than ever before, it was supposed the discoveries and conquests hitherto made in the New World would be cast into the shade. There was but one subject of thought, but one theme of conversa- tion; and that was the seven cities. All classes, from the old captains, who had seen Tezcuco and Tenochtitlan in their pristine magnificence, down to the half-clad recruits last from Europe, partook of the one absorbing enthusiasm to penetrate and conquer them. 1 Even the prudent and cau- tious viceroy gave to the narrative of Marcos de Niza full faith and credit; while upon the mind of Cortes, being as it was the confirmation of his long and settled belief in the wealth and splendor of those distant x'egions, it produced the effect of absolute proof. Unfortunately for him, as it then seemed, the story gained too easy and general a cre- dence. It raised up competitors in the pursuit which for fifteen years and upwards had engaged so much of his atten- tion. For notwithstanding the rights of discovery and con- quest supposed to be secured by the terms of his "capitu- lacion," two great rivals entered the field in opposition to him. The first of these was Mendoza, the viceroy, who laid claim to the new countries by virtue of his office and the possession of them taken in his name by Marcos de Niza. The other was Pedro de Alvarado, the governor of Guate- mala, who had also obtained a commission to make discov- eries and was now preparing an armament beyond anything that had ever appeared on the Pacific coast. But before either of these new claimants could get ready, Cortes, with characteristic energy, 2 equipped his fourth expedition, placed it under the command of Francisco de Ulloa and dispatched it in search by water of the new El Dorado. 1 Venegas, P. II, § 3, p. 164. 2 Prescott's Mexico, V>. VII, chap. 5, where it is said he pawned his wife's jew- els to raise money. C HAPTE R IV. ULLOA. N EXT to Cortes himself, the chief credit of the oarly r.y - plnrntionnf jJjf* torritnry thrn rn HH rnlifrin i ii i i rfi ip to Francis c o de Ulloa. It was he who first skirted its east- ern shore; first doubled Cape San Lucas; first ran up the outward coast, and thus first ascertained its peninsular char- acter. He had been in the country with Cortes in 1535 and 1536; and it was he who brought back the remnant of the people from Santa Cruz in 1537. On the present occasion he sailed from Acapulco about the end of July 1539 1 with three ships. On September 12, he was again at Santa Cruz looking for one of his vessels which had been lost in a severe storm. Failing to find it, he crossed over to Guay- abal on the opposite .coast of Sinaloa and immediately addressed himself to the work with which he had been com- missioned. The particular instructions which he received are not known; but his principle object -appears to have been to find the northern ocean reported by Marcos dc Niza. With this purpose in view, California being still supposed to be an island, his plan was to follow the mainland coast; and thus he came to run up the eastern side of the gulf. As he advanced from Guayabal, he passed the mouths of several rivers, which appeared to flow through pleasant regions, with banks well-wooded and beautiful; but for a long distance beyond, the coast was low and unsightly, with lagoons and long stretches of sand. He at length arrived at a spacious » Relacion, Intro. XXII. Venegas erroneously says 1537.— P. II, § 2, p. 159. Duflot de Mofras, in following the Relacion, substitutes June for July and says " 8 juin 1539." 62 EARLY VOYAGES. and excellent harbor, evidently that now known as Guaymas, 1 where he landed, erected a cross upon a hill and took pos- session of the entire region. Again embarking and sailing northwesterly, he saw mountains near the coast; and steering' thence more out to sea he observed land to the westward, which he correctly supposed to be a part of California. He afterwards passed several large islands; and after sailing up- wards of a hundred leagues from Guaymas, with a barren country on his right, now hilly and now low and sandy, he noticed that the mountains on both sides approached nearer and nearer; the sea became shoal; the water first of a whitish color and then dark, thick and muddy. Having ascended to the mast-head, he saw in the distant north lowlands from the east and west stretching out towards each other, with a wide inlet between them, through which the tide ebbed and flowed with great violence. Having thus found an end of the sea, which prevented him from proceeding further towards the latitude of Cibola and the supposed northern ocean, Ulloa anchored and took possession of the country. He then turned around and ran down the western side of the gulf. At one place, observing much smoke, he landed and found .that it came from the earth, which was covered with cinders. Proceeding south- easterly, with high and bare mountains on the west, he came to a large harbor, where he again anchored and again went through the formality of taking possession. From this har- bor, after a stay of two days, he sailed on October 8, exam- ining the coast narrowly in hope of finding an outlet to the west, and thus passed through what is now known as Whale Channel; and, as he proceeded, the landscape improved in appearance. Sailing on for several days, he came to a deep and spacious bay, where the country appeared agreeable, being watered by a stream, with hills and vales, and bearing wild fruit trees. From this place, which is supposed to be that now known as Mulege, in several days' sailing, the wind having freshened, he on October ]8 reached Santa Cruz, 1 Burney's Discoveries, Vol. I, chap. 9, note. ULLOA. U3 which he had left thirty-six days previously. Here he was detained nearly three weeks; when, again getting under way and passing along a bold coast, he arrived off Cape San Lucas, where he was troubled for several days with opposing currents and contrary winds. But doubling the cape at last and making headway against the cold northwesters, he steadily advanced up the outer coast until December 2, when he landed at what is now called Santa Marina bay. At this place two bands of natives, armed with lances, stones and arrows, made a violent assault and wounded him and two of his men; nor could they be. put to flight until the Span- iards raised their battle-cry and let loose three large mas- tiffs, which, as the historian of the expedition gravely reports, "did marvelous things." 1 Sailing on ten leagues further, he came to Magdalena bay, where the country appeared greener and pleasanter and better-watered and more populous than any other part of the country; but the natives were unfriendly and received the advances of the Spaniards with contemptuous gestures. 2 These Indians did not understand the language of a native of Santa Cruz, whom Ulloa had carried with him. Continuing his navigation northwesterly forty leagues, in the face of continuously violent and cold winds, and passing a rough, mountainous, bare coast, he arrived on January 20, 1540, at an island, twenty leagues in circumference, high and well wooded, which he named Cedros, and which is the same now known as Cerros Island. Here he anchored and landed; but scarcely had he set foot on shore, when he was a second time attacked by Indians. Francisco Pre- ciado, who had been the hero of the fight at Santa Marina, proposed going at them with sword and buckler and killing a few: but Ulloa preferred letting loose his mastiffs, which pulled down several of the assailants and put the rest to flight. After supplying his vessels with wood and water, Ulloa made several attempts to continue his voyage, but 1 Herrera, D. VI, L. IX, cap. 9. 2 "Bolvianlas nalgas por menosprecio." — Herrera, D. VII, L. IX, cap. 10 64 EARLY VOYAGES. was each time driven back by the northwest winds, so that he was compelled to remain at or near the island until April 5. In the meanwhile, as the ships had sustained much damage, and the northwesters continued unabated and seemed fixed, a portion of the people insisted upon turning back and finally prevailed upon Ulloa to consent to their returning with the larger of the vessels. This being resolved upon, the boldest and bravest sailors were picked out and placed in the smaller vessel, which was to remain and prose- cute the voyage. The division having been made, the two parties took farewell of each other with many tears. On April 5 they parted, the larger ship turned southward and the smaller, with Ulloa on board, again endeavored to pene- trate the northwest. The former, sailing before the wind, made a rapid run to Guatlan in Colima, where it arrived on April 18. The latter, beating against the wind, struggled northward; but it was unable to advance beyond a port about twenty leagues north of Cerros, which Ulloa named Cabo del Engano, the Cape of Deceit. There finding his provisions failing and that the wind became apparently more and more violent as he advanced, he also resolved to turn back, and sailed for New Spain. He however lived only to reach Jalisco, where he was basely assassinated by one of his soldiers, who, for some trivial cause, lay in wait and gave him repeated mortal stabs. 1 With this voyage ended Cortes' connection with California. He failed to find its wealth; but he performed great and valuable service in its behalf. He may have been in one sense a freebooter; his enterprises of conquest may have been in many senses cruel and unjustifiable; his object in seeking California may have been chiefly to aggrandize him- self; but at the same time it must be borne in mind that he accomplished much for which Californians must ever grate- fully keep alive his memory. T. t wns under his a nspires that ships first b rffl gtr ^ f1 ~*° "^ «-«»■• -■ - f n^Mm-i-v. PrjrTKr^ll TMt thejyest coast of Mexico wa s minutely examined; th at the 1 Bemal Diaz, cap. 200. ULLOA. 65 . Glllf nf Californ i a , whi ch in his honor was lo ng l-nnvvn, a< the* Seaof__Cortes, was first made kn own to the civil irrrl ^^.rlrl; that the peninsula o f Cajjjbjma-wa sjdisrovered and ^" n^ypH His -brilliant carBeTln Mexico, the character ot which must be judged by the spirit of his age and not by that of a later and more humane one, entitles him to a high rank among the conquerors of the earth; but it is in his Californian expeditions that is to be found the best exhibition of his courage, his constancy and his fortitude. In these he shows himself to have been a hero in little, as all know him to have been in great things; in managing a crazy boat or sus- taining a starving colony, as he was known to be in leading an advancing army, conducting an obstinate siege or govern- ing an extensive empire. In these it is plain that, not- withstanding repeated and almost ruinous disasters, he never lost his courage and that, notwithstanding being hampered and hindered on every side, he yet held firmly to his great purpose. Considering the limited powers at his command and the opposition he met with, not only from ill-wishers in New Spain but from that very crown which owed to him its brightest jewel, he must be regarded as one of the most enterprising and persevering, as well as the most loyal of conquerors. It may be added that soon after the return of Ulloa's larger vessel, but before the melancholy fate of that able and de- voted captain was known, Cortes sailed for the last time to Spain. His object was to protest against the interference of the viceroy and others in his attempted discoveries and to obtain, if possible, some acknowledgment for the three hundred thousand pesos of gold, 1 which he had expended in his Californian expeditions. Had he succeeded in winning the favor and confidence of the emperor, it seems to have been his ulterior intention to return to the New World and resume his search in the northwest." But though he was 1 The peso of gold was sixteen Spanish reals, equal to two silver dollars. — See Burney's Discoveries, Vol. I, chap. 17, note. 2 Prescott's Mexico, B. VII, chap. 5. 5 Vol. I. 66 EARLY VOYAGES. received, as on his former visit, with great shows of honor, he was, in fact, obliged to spend the remaining seven years of his life in vain solicitations. His great spirit fretted against his enforced inactivity; and he died, still unheard and unrequited, at a little village near Seville, in Decem- ber, 1 547. ' 1 Prescott's Mexico, B. VII, chap. 5. CHAPTER Y. CIBOLA AND QUIVIRA. CORTES sailed for Spain in 1540. In the meantime, and in fact ever since the return of Marcos de Niza with his marvelous accounts of Cibola, Mendoza, the viceroy, had been pressing forward with great vigor his preparations for the conquest of that wonderful country. He set on foot two separate armaments, one to go by land, and the other by sea. The first was placed under the command of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, governor of Jalisco, and ordered to follow the same course which Marcos de Niza had taken; while the other was embarked upon ships and confided to Hernando de Alarcon, with instructions to sail along the coast as far as the parallel of Cibola and then co-operate with the land army in making discoveries and explorations. Coronado marched from Culiacan on April 22, 1540, hav- ing one hundred and fifty horsemen and two hundred in- fantry, besides some light pieces of artillery. Upon reaching the neighborhood of the valley reported by Marcos de Niza to be full of gold, he sent off a detachment of ten horsemen to examine it; but they found nothing there except poor Indians, who lived upon corn, beans and pumpkins. Pro- ceeding on across a bare and rough country, now following creeks and now crossing mountains, Coronado in about ten days reached a river which, in honor of the day he reached it, he called the San Juan, and a few days afterwards a second river which, on account of the necessity he was under of constructing rafts to pass it, he called the Balsas. The next day he came to a small stream where his army were in such straits for provisions that they ate unknown vegeta- (67) 68 EARLY VOYAGES. hies, which proved to be poisonous; and three soldiers died. Within a week afterwards he reached what was supposed to be Cibola. The accounts, which Marcos de Niza had given of this place, had raised the imaginations of the expeditionists to the highest pitch of enthusiasm; but all they could now find was several small towns, consisting indeed of large houses with flat roofs but without splendor or beauty, and inhabited by only a few hundred people. The country, however, was pleasant and the climate delightful. The soil, though gener- ally sandy, was fruitful and bore corn, beans and pumpkins in great abundance. The natives were clothed, some in well- dressed skins and some in cotton garments. But there was little or no civilization; and neither gold, nor silver, nor turquoise, nor precious stones were to be seen. Disappointed thus in finding what he sought and what Marcos de Niza had described, Coronado proceeded north- eastward five days further and came to a country called Tucayan, where there were seven towns close together, and the same probably that had given rise to the story of the famous seven cities ; but they were in all respects similar to those which he had just left. Continuing on twenty leagues, he pass.ed fifteen towns of the same general character and reached a large river called Ciquique, which flowed towards the Gulf of Mexico. The plains along the banks of this river were covered with buffaloes in such immense herds as to be absolutely countless. In that neighborhood he received intelligence of a rich country still farther north, which was called Quivira and said to be governed by a king, named Tatarrax, who wore a long beard, adored a golden cross and worshiped an image of the queen of heaven. It is not at all likely that this extraordinary story produced the effect of belief upon a man of so cold, unimpassionable and incredulous a nature as Coronado; but it still excited his curiosity and induced him to search it out. Choosing, accordingly, an escort of thirty horsemen and leaving the main body of his army where he then was, he set out for the far north. He traveled continuously for thirty days more CIBOLA AND QUIVIRA. (J!) and during all this time was constantly surrounded with herds of buffaloes. At length he arrived at Quivira. But this place, which seems to have been situated near the head- waters of the Rio Grande, though it exceeded Cibola in the fame of its magnitude and wealth, now on examination proved quite as poor and inconsiderable. By this time the season was advanced and Coronado, believing that the approaching winter would seriously embar- rass his movements, determined to hasten back. He there- fore hurriedly set up a cross with an inscription, commemo- rating his progress thus far, and then, as rapidly as possible, retraced his steps. A few of his people, however, including Father Juan de Padilla, Father Luis de Escabona and a negro priest, were so fascinated with the beautiful diversity of river, hills and plains L at Quivira that they determined to remain there. Unfortunately, they kept with them a horse, a few mules, sheep and poultry, an a some ornaments. These tempted the cupidity of the Ou virans, who afterwards de- spoiled and killed them; and only one, a Portuguese, managed to make his escape to Panuco and tell th~ melancholy story of the massacre. Coronado, meanwhile, having rejoined his army, wintered at the river Ciquique and the next year re- turned to New Spain. 2 Hernando de Alarcon sailed from Acapulco with two ships on May 9. 1 540. In accordance with his instructions he pro- ceeded up the coast until he came to the head of the Gulf of California; where, being brought to a stop by the shallow- ness of the water, he manned two small boats and on August 26 entered the inlet, which had been seen by Ulloa the previous year. Discovering that it was the mouth of a great river, which he named the Buena Guia, he dragged his boats up against the strong current and entered into intercourse with the Indians upon its banks. These, though at first hostile, were soon appeased and bartered corn, mesquite bread and skin^ for beads and trinkets. Learning that they 1 Herrera, D. VI, L. IX, cap. 12. 2 Herrera, D. VI, L. IX, cap. 12. 70 EARLY VOYAGES. worshiped the sun, Alarcon endeavored to persuade them that he had been sent as an ambassador from that luminary. This story, however, they would not at first believe; for the reason, as they said, that the sun never came down to earth, and how could he come from it ? The Spaniard re- plied that at its rising and setting, the sun touched the edges of the world, as they could plainly see. He then told them his mission was to induce them to abstain from war. They rejoined that if such was his purpose, why did he not come in time to prevent a bloody conflict which had raged some years previously. To this the only answer he could think of to satisfy their doubts was that he was then a boy. They proved, indeed, to be much shrewder than he had any reason to expect; and he only partially succeeded in persuad- ing them of his supernatural claims. A few gave him credit and paid him reverence. Their influence and example pro- cured for him a sort of privilege in the territory and he pursued his voyage up the river with confidence in his safety. In this manner he advanced a considerable dis- tance, when he learned that Cibola was thirty days' journey eastward and that the army of Coronado had reached and were then at that place. It being a part of his instruc- tions to act in conjunction with the land army, he now cast about for means of communication with Coronado, but found that none of his small party were adventurous enough to undertake alone the journey across the country. He therefore returned to his ships and brought up all his boats and as many of his men as they could carry, intending, if practicable, to march them in a body and effect the desired junction. But after many endeavors, finding that he could not reach or even hear anything further of Coronado and his army, he at length gave up the attempt; and, a second time dropping down the river to its mouth, he re-embarked in his vessels and s'oon afterwards returned to New Spain. To him is due the discovery and part navigation of the Colorado river, called by him, as above stated, the Buena Guia. He is also entitled to praise for having, in a spirit of CIBOLA AND QUIVIRA. 71 philanthropy, distributed among the natives various European seeds and poultry. But so little did the results of his voyage, though faithfully performed as far as he could safely follow his instructions, satisfy the exorbitant expectations of Men- doza, that upon his return, he found himself a disgraced man. He thereupon retired to one of the estates of Cortes, far removed from the capital; and it was there not long afterwards that he died. He was high-spirited and is said to have worried himself to death under the unworthy treat- ment he had received. 1 About the time of Alarcon's return and while Coronado was still absent at Cibola and Quivira, Pedro de Alvarado collected his great fleet at Navidad. The ostentatious splen- dor affected by this brave but perfidious officer gained for him the admiration of the rabble and won to his standard great numbers of adventurers, with whose means, added to those derived from his province of Guatemala, he was enabled to fit out twelve ships and several smaller vessels, well furnished with men, horses, arms and provisions. 2 He had been for some time corresponding with Mendoza in opposition to Cortes, and seems to have been a ready and willing tool in the viceroy's hands to thwart the projects of his former chief and benefactor; but, on account of the abhorrence with which his ingratitude was regarded by all decent people, their negotiations were conducted as secretly as possible. Now, however, Cortes having withdrawn, Alvarado openly joined Mendoza and entered into a com- pact, by the terms of which all new discoveries and con- quests were to be at their joint expense and for their mutual benefit. The two visited the fleet together and made arrangements that everything should be in readiness to sail in the spring of 1541. But it happened, as the appointed time approached, that an insurrection broke out among the Indians in the upper part of Jalisco; and, it being important that the province which was to constitute 1 Venegas, P. II, § 3, p. 171. 2 Venegas, P. II, § 3, p. 172. 72 EARLY VOYAGES. the base of their operations should be secure, Alvarado marched a portion of his forces into the rebellious region. While conducting an attack against a rocky eminence, where the natives had fortified themselves, he was struck by an immense stone rolled down the declivity, thrown from his horse, and so severely bruised that he died in four days afterwards. By his death, the fleet, which remained at Navidad, lost its leader; and, there being no one to take his place, the recruits disbanded and the ships lay idle at their moorings. It was not until the next year that these ships were put to any use, when Mendoza, having quelled the disturbances referred to, took charge of them and sent two under command of a Portuguese navigator of great reputation, 1 named Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, to California and five others under Ruy Lopez de Villalobos across the Pacific to the Philippine Islands. Domingo del Castillo, the chief pilot of Alarcon's expedi- tion, drew a map of the peninsula and gulf of California in 1541, which is the oldest delineation of this part of the world that has been preserved. He must have had access to the charts of Ulloa, for he not only gives the names of many places imposed by that navigator, but outlines the coasts which had at that time been visited by no one else. Cabo del Engano, the farthest northern point on the ocean coast reached by Ulloa, is likewise the limit of the country in that direction delineated by Castillo. In the shape and size of headlands, the position of islands and bays, and the relative distances of noticeable points, he was surpris- ingly accurate. And this is all the more remarkable when taken in connection with the fact that for many years afterwards the new maps that were made were not nearly so correct. Almost all of them for a century and upwards persisted in^representing California as an island; and all of them for two centuries and upwards gave it a much distorted form. 1 " Persona muy practica y de conocida intelligencia en las cosas de la mar."— Relacion, Intro. XXIX. CHAPTER VI. CABRILLO. JUAN RODRIGUEZ CABRILLO sailed from Navidad on June 27, 1542, with two ships, the San Salvador and the Victoria. On July 2 he reached Santa Cruz 1 in Lower California. Passing thence around the southern extremity of the peninsula and steering northwestwardly he examined the exterior coast with great care and especially with refer- ence to its capes and roadsteads. On July 19 he reached and gave its present name to the bay of Magdalcna. Pro- ceeding thence he examined and named various places, among which were Point Abreojos, called by him Santiago; Asuncion Island, called by him Santa Ana; Port San Bartolome, called by him San Pedro Advincula; Cerros Island, then called Cedros; Canoas Point, designated by him as Mai Abrigo; San Geronimo Island, laid down by him as San Bernardo; and on August 20 he arrived at Cabo del Engano, now called Cabo Bajo, the most northerly point on that coast reached by Ulloaand hitherto known to the Spaniards. 2 From this place he sailed into untraversed waters. At a distance of ten leagues he discovered a good port where he anchored and took formal possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, on which account he called it Posecion, being the same place now known as Las Virgenes. Pursuing his voy- age thence he passed Cape San Quentin, called by him San Martin, and anchored in the bay of Todos los Santos, called by him San Mateo, where he again took formal possession of the country. Leaving this place, he passed the Coronados 1 Herrera, D. VII. L. V, cap. 3. 1 Relacion, Intro. XXIX. XXX. (73) 74 EARLY VOYAGES. Islands and at the end of September entered the Port of San Diego, called by him San Miguel, 1 and thus became the discoverer of Alta California, being the first white man, so far as we have any positive information, who laid his eyes or placed his feet upon its soil. Leaving the port of San Diego after a short stay and steer- ing out into the ocean, he discovered and visited the islands of San Clemente and Santa Catalina, to which he gave the names of his vessels, San Salvador and Victoria; and then, turning again to the mainland, he anchored in a spacious bay opposite an Indian town, which contained large houses and indicated a better country than the long line of sterile coast he had previously passed. The natives came out to his ships in numerous canoes, for which reason he called the place Pueblo de las Canoas; and here again he went through the formalities of taking possession. 2 Pursuing his voyage thence, he discovered several large islands on his left, now known as Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel; and sailing up the channel between them and the mainland found the coast along there to be charming and populous. 3 At one place opposite a beautiful valley he anchored and traded with the natives, who came out in their canoes with fresh fish. But as he approached the long, low projection, afterwards designated and now widely known as Point Concepcion, by him named Galera, 4 the northwesterly winds blew so violently that he deemed it prudent to run out to sea; and for a number of days he beat off and on, without being able to make head against them. In the meanwhile the temperature fell; the weather became dark and lowering, and the storm increased to such a degree of severity that he was compelled to seek shelter in a small port named Sardinas in the province of Sejo, so called by the natives, to the east of Point Concepcion. 1 Relacion Intro. XXX. 2 " Parece estaba en la ensenada de San Juan Capistrano." — Relacion, Intro. XXXI. 3 "Deliciosa y pobladisima. " — Relacion, Intro. XXXI. 4 '"Llegaron A una punta luenga, que hace cabo. i por ser luenga como galera, le llamaron el cabo de la Galera."' — Iierrera. D. VII, L. V, cap 3. CABRILLO. 75 Here he was visited by an aged Indian woman, said to be the lady of the land, 1 who remained several days on board his ship. She was attended by many of her people; and it appears they all danced there to the sound of the Spanish pipe and tambour. 2 After replenishing his stock of wood and water and the weather appearing to moderate, Cabrillo proceeded to double Point Concepcion; but he had not advanced far beyond it when another storm came on, which lasted two days and separated the ships; and each, supposing the other lost, ran in towards the coast for shelter. After beating about for some time, during which the people on the Victoria suffered much on account of having no deck, 3 the vessels came together again; and on November 17, doubling a prominent and well-wooded point, then named and still called Point Pinos, they entered Monterey bay. Here Cabrillo anchored and attempted to land, with the object of taking possession, but was prevented by the violence of the sea. Proceeding thence northwestwardly along a rugged, pre- cipitous coast, with high mountains whose summits were covered with snow, he reached Point Alio Nuevo, which he named Nieve. He was now, had he known it, almost within sight of the grandest harbor in the world; but, the weather continuing rough and the prospect gloomy, he turned around and ran down to the most westerly of the Santa Barbara Islands, now known as San Miguel, called by him Posecion, where he disembarked and determined to winter. At this place on January 3, 1543, Cabrillo died,* leaving Bartolome 1 "Una India anciana, que era seiiora de estos pueblos." — Relacion, Intro. XXXII. 2 " Se fueron al puerto de Sardinas, arribando quarente leguas de tierra mui poblada i de buena gente; i de un liigar, de cerca de este puerto, entraron Jos principales en el navio, i bailaron al son de un tamboril i una gaite de los Castellanos, i durmieron dentro, i entretanto las bateles tomaron agua i lefia, i sus casas eran grandes, a dbs aguas, corao las de Nueva Espafia, i sus entera- mientos los tenian cercados de tablas, llamaban Sejo a- esta provincia; comian bellota, avellana i pescado; dixeron que adelante habia gente vestida." — Her- rera, D. VII, L. V, cap. 3. 3 " Padecido mucho por no tener puente. " — Relacion, Intro. XXXII. * Relacion, Intro. XXXII. 76 EARLY VOYAGES. Ferrelo, l the chief pilot, in command of the expedition, with strict injunctions to continue his discoveries and examine the entire coast as far as it was possible to follow it." Ferrelo, having buried his dead commander on the island and given it the name of Juan Rodriguez in commemoration of the sad event, set sail for the mainland; but, finding the northwesterly winds still violent, he was compelled to return and remained there until the middle of February. He then again set sail for the mainland and shaped his course for the port of Sardinas, where the ships had before been so well en- tertained; but, upon reaching it, he found that all the Indians, apparently on account of the advance of the season, had disappeared from the coast. The seas also continued rough and violent, making the anchorage unsafe; so that he was induced as a matter of safety to turn about and run down to the Island of San Clemente, which offered a better shelter against the rigor of the storm. After a short stay at this place, during which the weather moderated, he ran out in a southwesterly direction in search of other islands; but, the winds suddenly changing and blowing strong and regular from the southward, he determined to take advantage of them and turned to the northwestward. On February 25 he came in sight of Point Pinos, which he passed without stopping. He was carried along with such speed that on February 28 he discovered the prominent point which, in honor of the viceroy, he named Cape Mendocino, being the same point that still bears that name. There the winds shifted; a violent storm blew up, and Ferrelo experienced such tumultuous blasts and heavy seas that the waves dashed over the ships; and, without being able to land or find shelter, he was driven to the northeast, in great risk and fear of being wrecked. There were signs of the coast not far off, but ' " Asi le nombra el diario manuscrito de esta expedicion que existe en el archivo general de Indias, y de que tenemos copia, aiindiendo que era natural Levantisco. Herrera le llama 13artolome Ferrer, J). VII, L. V, cap. 3." — Re'.acion, Intro. XXXII. 2 "Con cncarecido enrar^o de que no dexase de descubrir hasta donde le fuese posible por toda aquella costa." — Relacion, Intro. XXXII. CABR1LL0. 77 //the fog was so thick that he could not see except a very short distance before him. On March i the fog partially lifted and he discovered the land of Cape Blanco in the southern part of what is now the State of Oregon. But at the same time, the weather becoming much colder and the winds more boisterous and accompanied with rains, the Spaniards felt obliged to turn again to the southward; and to add to their sufferings, caused by wet and exposure, they found that their provisions were exhausted, with the exception of bis- cuits, and that what they had of them was damaged by sea water. Soon after turning to the southward, they saw the mouth of an apparently large river emptying into the sea; but, without stopping to examine it or any other part of the coast, they hastened on to the Island of San Clcmente. It was their intention to run into and make a stay at the port of that island, where they had previously landed; but, it being night when they approached and a storm coming on, the Victoria disappeared. Ferrelo, believing it lost yet deeming it his duty to make an immediate search, sailed at once for the mainland and thence ran down to San Diego; thence to Todos los Santos; thence to Las Virgcnes, and thence to Cerros Island, where he arrived on March 24 and found the Victoria ahead of him. That vessel, as it ap- peared, had run over the rocks into the port of San Clemente on the night of the separation and afterwards, finding the San Salvador gone, had- pursued its voyage alone as far as Cerros. From this place the two vessels departed on April 2, sorely in want of provisions, and on April 18 entered the port of Navidad, from which they had sailed the previous June. A remarkable circumstance connected with this expedition, which, as has been seen, comprehended the discovery of the entire coast of Alta California, was the fact that Cabrillo heard on several occasions of armed Spaniards in the interior of the country. The first information he received was from the Indians at Las Virgenes in Lower California. Again at San Diego he heard of them; again at San Clemente; and 78 EARLY VOYAGES. again at Pueblo de las Canoas, where they were said to be only seven days' journey inland. He at one time thought of dispatching some of his people to communicate with them; but on second thought contented himself with sending letters by the Indians, none of which, however, if they were received, were ever answered. Who these armed Spaniards were, if the accounts of their existence were true, it is impossi- ble to tell. It is somewhat difficult to believe that Fortuno Ximenes and his twenty mutineer companions, who landed at La Paz in 1534, could have been slaughtered so easily as Venegas relates by the then peaceable Indians of that place; while on the other hand it is not difficult to believe that, if they were not slaughtered, they had no desire of ever again entering the Spanish dominions or subjecting them- selves to the justice which Cortes would surely have visited upon their crimes. It is also to be observed that we have no account of any other Spaniards in all the expeditions of those days, who would have been likely to penetrate so far and permanently remain in a region, however inviting, so remote from their countrymen. But whether Ximenes or any of his companions in fact ever escaped the fate popularly supposed to have befallen them, or ever found a refuge within the boundaries of this State, to Cabrillo belongs the honor of the discovery of Alta California. The nature of his expedition; the vessels, inadequate for such a task, in which he undertook it; the rigid season in which he executed it; the fortitude dis- played and the success attained; all stamp him as a daring and intrepid, as well as a careful and prudent, navigator. His death in the midst of his undertaking imparts a melancholy interest to his memory; and the touching solicitude for the prosecution of his enterprise, exhibited in his dying injunc- tions to Ferrelo, justify posterity in rendering the tribute of admiration to the heroic sense of duty which must have animated him. CHAPTER VII. THE PHILIPPINE TRADE. THE information acquired by Cabrillo, being set forth with scrupulous exactness in the journal of his voyage, 1 dissipated any hopes, which may have remained in the minds of the Spaniards, of finding a second Mexico or Peru on the northwest coast. There were no indications in any of the places he examined of the almost unlimited mineral wealth with which the mountains and hills of the interior abounded; the miserable natives wore no ornaments of gold, silver or precious stones, and there were no exhibitions in the remotest degree pointing to rich kingdoms to be searched out or bar- baric splendor to be won. Though the adventurers, while beating up along the sea-board, noticed the beauty of the country and caught glimpses here and there of its delightful valleys; though they might have guessed from what they saw that the land was unrivaled in its adaptability for coloniza- tion; though they could not have failed to observe, notwith- standing the winds to which they were sometimes exposed, the general equability of the temperature and the glories of the climate, they could not appreciate such advantages, be- cause these were not what they sought. The country was remote; and as it promised nothing to tempt the cupidity or satisfy the avarice of the Spaniards, no further attention, perhaps, would have been paid to California, had it not been for other interests springing up in an entirely different quarter of the globe, thousands of miles away. The interests referred to were those of the commerce grow- 1 Relacion, Intro. XXXVI. (79) 80 EARLY VOYAGES. ing out of the opening of a passage to the Spice Islands, and the establishment of the Spanish supremacy in the neighbor- ing Philippines. The Portuguese had already taken posses- sion of Ternate and Tidore, having reached them by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, when Magellan, in the course of his navigation across the Pacific, discovered the Islas de Pon- iente, or Islands of the Setting Sun, afterwards called the Philippines, which he claimed in the name and for the benefit of the Spanish crown. Here at last was not only accom- plished the sublime idea conceived by Columbus, and always deemed of paramount importance by the Spanish court, of reaching the eastern coast of Asia by sailing to the west; but here also was afforded to the Spaniards an opportunity of effecting a lodgment in, and maintaining a claim to, the East Indies. Nor were they backward in taking advantage of it. With this purpose in view, they sent out expedition after ex- pedition. While Cortes was allowed at his own expense and with little or no encouragement, except what he derived from his own unconquerable spirit, to search the waters of Califor- nia, the crown was lavish of treasure to extend its dominion in the East Indies. Hardly had Magellan's discovery been announced, when several fleets were sent to follow his course and prosecute the Spanish claims in that quarter. The first of these was that of Loaysa, already mentioned. He sailed with seven ships from Corunna in Spain in 1525, but died on his voyage across the Pacific; and his ships were afterwards scattered and lost. The second was that of Sebas- tian Cabot, who followed Loaysa with four ships in 1526; but his fruitless voyage extended only as far as the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in South America, from which he returned an unsuccessful and thenceforth a disgraced man. The third was that of Saavedra Ceron, whom Cortes, in obedience to the imperial command, sent out in 1527 in three of the ships, which he had built with so much trouble and under such un- toward circumstances at Zacatula. This expedition was as unfortunate as that of Loaysa; for, although Ceron reached the Philippines, he did not live to accomplish anything; and THE PHILIPPINE TRADE. 81 his vessels were, shipwrecked and destroyed. The next or fourth expedition was that of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, who was dispatched in 1542 by the viceroy Mendoza. Sailing from Navidad in Jalisco, only a few months after Cabrillo had left the same port, and keeping within the tropics, in pursu- ance of his instructions, Villalobos, after a long and tedious passage, reached the Ladrones. Thence he passed to Min- danao and others of the Islas de Poniente, which in honor of Prince Philip of Spain he named the Philippines* He en- tered, among the first things he did, into advantageous rela- tions with the natives and established alliances, which might have availed much in circumventing the Portuguese and main- taining the Spanish mastery of the Eastern Archipelago; but he appears in the end to have proved unequal to the task assigned him. He failed to support the credit of the flag he carried; he betrayed his allies; he became involved in contro- versies with his men, who loudly protested against his actions; he lost the best portion of his fleet; and finally, finding him- self obliged to seek refuge and succor among his adversaries at Ternate and Tidore, who received him ungraciously, he died of disappointment at Amboyna in 1 546. His men were scattered; and only after years, and only then by favor of the Portuguese and in their ships, were they enabled to return to their own country. The fifth expedition, and that which finally succeeded in establishing the Spanish supremacy in the Philippines, was that of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. It was sent out under the orders of Philip II., who mounted the throne of Spain upon the retirement of his father, Charles V., in 1556. Legazpi sailed from Navidad with four ships in November, 1 564; arrived at his destination the next February, and by means of negotiation, not unmixed with the bad faith common amongst conquerors, managed to impose the Spanish sway upon the Islands. No sooner had this lodgment been effected than that extensive trade across the Pacific by means of Spanish galleons began, which continued for over two hundred years and enriched the Spanish treasury. In 1566 a galleon, called the San Geronimo, was sent from Mexico 6 v l. 1 82 EARLY VOYAGES. and the next year one of Legazpi's vessels returned thither. The navigation thus commenced soon ceased to be regarded as extraordinary and in a few years, as the winds and currents became better known, communication became regular and frequent. The annual galleons out from Mexico carried men, arms, unscrupulousness, chicanery and administrative ability; returning they brought spices, silks, oriental treasures, jewels and gems. Why was there a struggle between the Portuguese and the Spaniards in reference to the East Indies? and why did the Philippine trade take the way of America instead of the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope? The answer to these questions is a curious one. It was on account of the respect paid by both nations to the authority of the pope. The Portuguese, when about initiating their voyages of discovery along the coast of Africa in search of a way to the Orient, had solicited and obtained from the Roman pon- tiff a grant, so far at least as he could make it, of all the countries that should be discovered in the ocean as far as India, inclusive. 1 Afterwards, when Columbus by sailing west discovered those islands of America, which he and all the world supposed to be a part of India, and, took possession of them for the crown of Castile, a contest as to their title im- mediately arose between the Portuguese and Spaniards; and the result was a reference to the power, upon whose donation the Portuguese founded their claims. Alexander VI., then occupying the papal chair, unwilling to offend either party and apparently deeming the world wide enough for both, divided it between them and drew the famous line of demar- cation north and south one hundred leagues west of the Cape de Verde and Azores Islands, giving the Portuguese all east and the Spaniards all west of it. This lin** "t^ oA_ ~ ards at the instance of the Portuguese, fixed b dred and seventy leagues further west. S The Portuguese pursued their discoveries to' took possession of everything they could :.:i; 1 Venegas. P. II, § i, p. 127. THE PHILIPPINE TRADE. 83 tion, while the Spaniards did the same towards the west. But they met in the East Indian Archipelago; and the old strife was then renewed When Magellan discovered the Philippines, the Portuguese claimed them to be within their half of the world while the Spaniards insisted to the contrary. Charts and maps were produced and longitudes calculated; but it was found that to arrive at anything like a settlement of the line in that part of the world, it was necessary to ascer- tain the precise position of the line on the other side of the globe, from which they counted. Here a new difficulty pre- sented itself. The Portuguese claimed that it was two hun- dred and seventy leagues west of the most easterly of the Cape de Verde Islands; the Spaniards that it was to be cal- culated from the most westerly. But, instead of resorting to the pope on this occasion, both nations agreed to refer the dispute to a convention of Spanish and Portuguese lawyers and cosmographers, who met at Badajoz on the borders of Spain and Portugal in 1524. The result as might have been anticipated, 1 was a disagreement. The Spanish judges de- cided in favor of Spain, and the Portuguese protested — thus leaving the question of title in the East Indies as between the two nations a fruitful source of long and bitter contention. In addition to the rights of discovery east and west thus insisted upon, the same two nations also claimed the rights of exclusive navigation; the Portuguese of the route east- ward around Africa and the Spaniards of that westward by the way of America. Each, asserting such monstrous claims, felt itself obliged to pay a certain sort of respect to those of the other; and thus it was that not only the title of Spain to her American and East Indian provinces rested upon the assumed power of Alexander VI., as the vicegerent of Christ, to give them away; but it followed, as a consequence from such assumption and the division of the world in accordance with it, that the Spaniards were excluded from the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope and their commerce with the East Indies was compelled to cross the Pacific. 1 Burney's Discoveries, I, 1^3 and note. 84 EARLY VOYAGES. It may next be inquired, what had all this to do with Cal- ifornia? The answer is, A very great deal. It was soon found from experience and observation that the prevailing winds and currents of the ocean between America and Asia, while they favored a course within the tropics for vessels westward bound, rendered a much more northerly course almost a matter of necessity for their return. It was for this reason that the richly freighted galleons from the Philippines had no other way, after leaving port, but to run up beyond the tropics; then, taking advantage of the westerly winds and currents, cross in about the latitude of Cape Mendocino, and then run down the coast of California. The commerce so established produced, among others, three results very important to California. First, it attracted the attention of the English privateers, who were nothing loth to seize any favorable opportunity of depredating upon the Spanish colonies and trade. Secondly, it occasioned a renewal of the search for the straits, which were still sup- posed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific to the north of America. And, thirdly, it rendered the occupation and as far as practicable the defense of the Californian coast, along which the Philippine galleons were obliged fo pass, a matter of very considerable concern. CHAPTER VIII. DRAKE. THE English, for various reasons growing out of differ- ences of blood, religion, habits and interests, regarded the Spaniards as enemies. Their government, then in the hands of Elizabeth, shared in the popular antipathy. Though there was as yet no national rupture, a number of predatory expeditions by private adventurers were fitted out. against the Spanish establishments in the West Indies; and the English government, without expressly authorizing, tacitly sanctioned and encouraged them. Among these English adventurers the boldest and ablest was Francis Drake. He was born within sight of the ocean, near Tavistock in Devonshire, and from very early years was apprenticed to the sea. While serving as a cabin boy on board a bark, he performed his duties with so much faithful- ness and displayed so much determination and zeal that his master, upon dying, bequeathed him his vessel. Though but a youth of eighteen years, he immediately engaged in trade on his own account and gradually became one of the expert- est seamen of his day. In 1567, on a venture with Captain John Hawkins to Mexico, he was attacked by the Spaniards and barely escaped with his life. Returning to England, he demanded reparation for the losses he had sustained; but the Spanish government turned a deaf ear to his complaints. Being a man not to be trifled with, he resolved to take the matter of satisfaction into his own hands and found no diffi- culty in fitting out a privateering expedition, with which in 1572 he sailed for vengeance against the Spanish colonists. 86 EARLY VOYAGES. Laying his plans with consummate ability and showing him- self a good soldier as well as an expert sailor, he attacked, took and plundered their town of Nombre de Dios on the eastern coast of the Isthmus of Panama, and returned home laden with spoil much greater in value than all he had lost. On this expedition he acquired considerable knowledge of the South Sea, as the Pacific was still called, and of the Spanish settlements and trade along its shores. While in the neighborhood of Nombre de Dios, he had been con- ducted by some of the natives to a tall tree on the summit of a mountain, from which he beheld the waves of the Pacific and he was "so vehemently transported with desire to navi- gate that sea that, falling down upon his knees, he implored the Divine assistance that he might at some time or other sail thither and make a perfect discovery of the same." 1 The opportunity came sooner than he could have expected. No sooner had he returned to England than he found himself a famous man. His merits were quickly recognized by Eliza- beth and he was sedulously courted by those of her ministers who knew her secret mind. The queen herself received him privately. The attentions shown him expanded his mind and quickened his ambition. When he conceived and sug- gested the practicability of sailing into the Pacific and attack- ing the Spaniards in the most vulnerable part of their domains, he was listened to by willing hearers. When he broached the project of himself leading such an expedition, he met with ready and hearty encouragement. Not only the courtiers and several of the ministers but Elizabeth herself covertly contributed to the enterprise. The royal venture amounted, as afterwards appeared, to a thousand crowns. 2 Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, on December 13, 1 577, with five small vessels and one hundred and sixty-four men. Upon standing out to sea, he shaped his course to the Cape de Verde islands, where he took and destroyed a few inconsiderable Spanish fishing boats, and thence ran south- 1 World Encompa ed, Intro. IX. 'i World Encompassed. App. IV, 216. DRAKE. 87 westwardly to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. He thence ran to Port St. Julian on the eastern coast of Patagonia, where, finding a dangerous insubordination among his peo- ple, he beheaded one of them, a gentleman named Thomas Doughty, who appears to have unduly interfered with his authority. By this act of severity, which he doubtless found necessary for the eventual success of his undertaking, he put a stop to disobedience and carelessness and established the discipline that enabled him to make a voyage of unprece- dented length and success. From Port St. Julian, having reorganized his forces and reduced the number of his vessels to three, he proceeded to the Straits of Magellan; and after a long and tedious pas- sage, during which one if not both of his attendant ships became separated from him and returned home, he ran out into the South Sea. There the winds and storms for a time drove him in the direction contrary to that which he designed to take; and he discovered that the land south of Magellan's Straits was an island at whose extremity the Atlantic and Pacific oceans broadly met. After great and persistent efforts, running many dangers and making many narrow escapes, he finally succeeded in beating up to the northward again; and, though he now had but a single vessel and that of only one hundred tons burden, the name of which he had changed from that of the Pelican to that of the Golden Hind, he boldly steered for the Spanish settlements, determined to attack and plunder wherever he found an opportunity. His first important prize was in the harbor of Valparaiso and consisted of a Spanish ship laden with wines of Chili and carrying also some fine gold of Valdivia and a great golden cross beset with emeralds. Proceeding up the coast and landing on every favorable occasion, at one place he took thirteen bars of silver from a Spaniard whom he found lying asleep, and at another captured a caravan of eight llamas with their burdens of a hundred pounds of silver each. At Arica he took two small vessels and seized upwards of forty bars of silver " of the bigness and fashion of a brickbatte 88 EARLY VOYAGES. and twenty pounds weight each. Sailing up the coast of Peru, he heard of a richly-laden ship called the Cacafuego a few days ahead of him; and, immediately pressing all sail, he started in pursuit and overtook it just as it was about enter- ing the harbor of Panama. After a short conflict the Spanish ship surrendered, and Drake took out of it, besides fruit, sugar, meal and other provisions, eighty pounds weight of gold, thirteen chests of silver coin, twenty-six tons of unre- fined silver and a quantity of jewels, plate and precious stones, the whole valued at three hundred and sixty thou- sand pesos, equivalent to our dollars. 1 From the scene of this conflict he sailed up the coast, captured on his way several vessels carrying spices, silks and velvets," and landed at the port of Guatulco in Oaxaca, where he took a pot of silver coin "of about a bushel in bigness," a golden chain and a quantity of jewels/ Being laden with spoil and having thus accomplished the principal object of his voyage, Drake began to think of his return to England. In the meanwhile he was not forgetful of another object, that of finding the much-talked-of northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. If he could dis- cover that passage, he would not only perform a notable service to his country but would have a comparatively short and safe voyage homeward. Having taken a favorable opportunity, that presented itself in an island near the coast of Nicaragua, of overhauling and restoring his ship, and it being now the middle of the spring and the season for north- ern navigation approaching, he stood far out to sea and then, changing his course, turned towards the pole. But, after a run of nearly two months, he experienced such bitterly, cold weather, his people suffered so severely and his heavily-laden ship, illy adapted for buffeting the constant head-winds, leaked so badly that he deemed it prudent to abandon any further search for a northern strait, and he accordingly 1 World Encompassed, m. 2 World Encompassed, App. V, 1'. I; Hackluyt's Voyages, V. III. 791-79: 8 World Encompassed, 1 [3. DRAKE. 89 sought the land, which he struck in latitude 43 . From this point, which was about the same reached by Ferrelo in 1 543, he turned to the southward and, running down the coast in search of a stopping place, passed the long projecting prom- ontory of Point Reyes and under its lee discovered "a con- venient and fit harbor," in which he came to anchor on June 1.7, I579- 1 At this place, which is now known as Sir Francis Drake's Bay, he remained thirty-six days. During that period, which it required to thoroughly repair and refit his vessel, he had a number of interviews and some very remarkable intercourse with the natives. Upon sailing into the harbor he found a wild, desolate-looking beach; but the next day Indians appeared in considerable numbers. One of them paddled out in a canoe to within hailing distance of the ship, where he made a long oration accompanied with violent gestures, after which he returned to the shore. In a short time he came again in like manner; and so likewise a third time, when he brought with him a head-dress of black feathers tastefully arranged and a small basket, neatly woven, filled with an herb called " tabah." These he tied to a short rod and threw into the boat of the English, which was sent to meet him; but he could not be induced to receive any of the presents offered in return, with the exception of a hat, that was cast towards him. All his actions, as well as those of the people on shore, indicated respect and reverence for the English, as if they were a superior race of beings; but Drake, careful and prudent as he had always shown himself, was unwilling to trust to mere appearances and took measures to insure his safety. In the course of a few days accordingly, having well surveyed the place, he brought his ship to anchor near the shore and landed his men with arms and provisions to set up tents and build a barricade. The Indians at this collected on the neighboring hills and looked on with wonder and amazement, so much so that the English supposed them- selves taken for gods.* 1 World Encompassed. 115. 2 World Encompassed. 120. CHAPTER IX. NEW ALBION. DRAKE, having set up his tents and surrounded them with walls of stone and thus provided a sufficient defense in case of hostility, disembarked with all his company; removed his cargo within the fortification; drew up his ship upon the beach, and commenced the necessary work of overhauling and repairing damages. In the meanwhile the Indians had disappeared; but in a few days they came back in very large numbers, men, women and children, apparently as if the whole neighborhood had been aroused and all its people had come together to see the wonderful strangers. They brought with them numerous articles, such as feather ornaments, net-work, quivers, skins and bags of " tabah," which were intended for presents or rather, as the English thought, for offerings, upon the persuasion that their visitors were divine. Upon their arrival at the top of the hill, at the foot of which the English were encamped, they halted and one of their number, as the man in the canoe had previously done, delivered a long ora- tion, gesticulating violently all the time; his voice raised to the highest pitch and his words falling so thick and fast upon one another that he could scarcely catch his breath. At the end of his harangue all the others bowed their bodies rev- erentially and drawled out at great length the word "oh," in apparent assent to all their orator had said for them. The men then, laying down their bows and other weapons and leaving the women and children behind them, came down with their offerings and approached in the attitude of sup- pliants ; while the women on the hill began crying and (90) NEW ALBION. 91 shrieking piteously, tearing their flesh and casting themselves repeatedly, with unnatural and desperate violence, upon the rocks and stones. At the sight of this bloody and horrid spectacle and to prevent, if possible, its repetition by disa- busing the minds of the natives of their assumption that the English were gods, Drake ordered religious services to be per- formed in their presence; and he and all his company joined in prayers, thus ind icating that they too were but creatures of the Everlasting God above. After prayers psalms were sung, which especially attracted the attention of the Indians. Music was a language they could understand, being a universal lan- guage, intelligible to every human heart; and they were so delighted that at every pause they testified their pleasure. During the entire stay, whenever the Indians came down to the English, their first request was invariably "guaah," which was soon understood to mean an entreaty that the strangers should sing for them. 1 A few days afterwards, on June 26, the Indians appeared in still greater numbers than before and amongst them was a tall, well-knit, good-looking personage, who seemed to be their king. Before approaching they halted; and two heralds came down and made the customary oration, by which they were understood to announce that their "hioh" or chief was at hand. Drake made them a present for him and signified by gestures that he should be welcome; and in a short time, the messengers having returned, the hioh with all his train, making as princely a show as possible, approached. In the front came a large Indian bearing a stick of black wood, a yard and a half long, to which were attached two wreaths or crowns of net-work and variegated feathers, three very long strings of wampum and a bag of tabah. This the English interpreted to be the royal mace or scepter. Next this person came the hioh himself attended and followed by a hundred warriors. His attire consisted of a head-dress of exquisite workmanship and a mantle of squirrel skins, which was thrown over his shoulders and hung down to his waist. His 1 World Encompassed, 124. 92 EARLY VOYAGES. immediate attendants also had head-dresses, some of feathers and some of down, and wore coats of fur, but in no respect so rich and fine as that of their master. After them followed a multitude of men entirely naked, with their long hair gath- ered at the back of the head and pinned with plumes or single feathers, each according to his fancy. All had their faces painted, some with white, some with black, some with other colors; and each one bore in his hand a present. In the rear came the women and children, each woman bearing against her bosom a basket filled with various articles, such as bags of tabah, roots called by them " petah," of which they made bread, broiled fish and different kinds of seeds. Upon the approach of the procession, Drake in the mean- while having as a matter of precaution armed his men and drawn them within the stone barricade, the Indians gave a general salutation and halted, while he who bore the scepter pronounced in a loud voice an oration, prompted by one of the warriors who seemed to have been appointed to that office by the hioh. The procession then came nearer, leav- ing the small children behind. When in front of the fort, the scepter-bearer, as master of the ceremonies, began a song and dance, in which the hioh and all his attendants joined. Thus, dancing and singing but at the same time preserving the utmost gravity, they came on; and Drake, who was soon convinced of their peaceable intentions, admitted them all within his enclosure. The women with their baskets, but with their bodies bruised, their faces torn and their breasts bespattered with blood, were also admitted. They likewise danced, but kept their mouths closed. After several turns about the camp, the hioh and several of those about him turned to Drake and addressed him at great length, from which the English understood that they offered him their province, resigned their right and title to the country and made themselves and their posterity vassals to the English crown. They appear in fact to have placed a feather crown upon Drake's head; to have thrown about his neck their strings of wampum; saluted him with NE IV ALBION. 93 the name of hioh, and added a song and dance of so loud and lively a character that it was deemed one of triumph. 1 The whole ceremony appears to have been nothing more than an expression of desire on the part of the Indians to make the English commander a chief amongst them, includ- ing his investiture with the honors and dignities of the sta- tion. The English could not understand their language; nor was it possible for the Indians to communicate or intend to communicate the ideas of dominion and vassalage, which were beyond their experience or knowledge. The English, on the other hand, knew nothing of the Indian tribal regula- tions; but, bringing with them only their experience of En- glish institutions, they supposed the country to be a kingdom and the chief of one of its numerous rancherias to be its king. Whatever may have been Drake's personal opinion as to the meaning of their actions, he was not disposed to neg- lect so favorable an opportunity of construing them into a tender of the sovereignty of a vast territory, which might at some day be of value and importance to his native land; and accordingly, he willingly accepted the supposed scepter, crown and royal dignity, and took formal possession of the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth for the use and benefit of the English nation." When these ceremonies were over the Indians dispersed themselves about the camp and devoted their attentions to such of the English subordinates as best pleased their fancy, selecting as a general rule the youngest and most vigorous. They offered presents and testified their admiration by loud outcries; the women, ever violent in their passionate demon- strations, tearing open afresh their already scarred and bleed- ing faces. After some time thus spent, they exhibited their bodily ailments; some, aching limbs; some, shrunken sinews; some, ulcerated sores; others, wounds and injuries of various descriptions; upon which the English turned to their medical stores and applied such lotions, plasters and salves as were 5 World Encompassed, 125-128. 2 World Encompassed, 129. 94 EARLY VOYAGES. calculated to remove or assuage their pains. At length the natives withdrew, evidently well pleased with their reception. They repeated their visit almost every subsequent day that Drake remained in the country. Particularly after they found the English to be excellent providers of food, they resorted to the camp and reveled in the banquets of seal-blubber, plentifully supplied by the English firearms. Their own weapons, consisting almost exclusively of bows and arrows, were of weak construction and little force, calculated only for the killing of small game. Their skill in archery, however, was remarkable and especially in the taking of fish, which they seldom missed. (They were swift of foot and of great bodily strength, being able without apparent difficulty to bear for a long distance and over uneven ground burdens which it required several Englishmen to lift. They seemed of good disposition and tractable nature, without guile among them- selves or treachery toward their visitors. The business of repairing and refitting the vessel being at length finished and the cargo re-embarked, and the peaceable character of the Indians being now so well understood that no trouble from them was to be apprehended, Drake with a number of his company made a short excursion inland. They found the country there very different from the barren coast. Its green slopes were covered with thousands of large and fat deer and almost infinite numbers of burrowing animals, probably squirrels, but called by them conies. 1 The soil was rich and fertile, full of promise for the residence of an industrious people who could turn its advantages to use. Though the weather on the immediate coast was in general raw, cold and foggy; here, at a short distance inland, it was 1 " Infinite was the company of very large and fat Deere which there we sawe by thousands, as we supposed, in a heard; besides a multitude of a strange kinde of Conies, by farre exceeding them in number: their heads and bodies, in which they resemble other Conies, are but small; his tayle, like the tayle of a Rat, exceed- ing long; and his feet like the pawes of a want or moale; under his chinne, on eithei side, he hath a bagge, into which he gathereth his meate, when he hath filled his belly abi I he may with it, either feed his young, or feed himself when he lists not to travaile from his burrough; the people eate their bodies, and make great account of their skinnes, for their kings holidaies coat was made of them." — World Encompassed, 132. NEW ALBION. 95 comparatively moderate and pleasant. On the immediate coast. everything seemed desolate; here herbage throve and the landscape smiled with luxuriance. Some of the pine woods and perhaps some of the redwood forests were seen and some of the sheltered valleys; but the excursion, being necessarily made on foot, extended but a few miles and did not afford any wide or distant view, and the English, like the Spaniards under Cabrillo, though within less than a day's travel of the most spacious and magnificent bay in the world, had no idea of its existence. Drake was now ready to set sail; but before doing so he set up, by way of monument and memorial of his having been there and taken possession of the country, a large post, firmly planted, upon which he caused to be nailed a plate of brass, engraven with the name of the English queen, the day and year of his arrival, the voluntary submission of the coun- try by both king and people to English sovereignty and, underneath all, his own name. Fastened to the plate was an English sixpence of recent coinage, so placed as to exhibit her majesty's likeness and arms. At the same time, partly on account of the possession so taken but more especially because of "the white banks and cliffs which lie towards the sea," Drake named the country New Albion. He supposed himself to be its discoverer, and was not aware that thirty-six years previously the Spaniards had passed along the same coast and anticipated him. 1 It is uncertain at what time Drake conceived the project of crossing the Pacific and returning home by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. But finding no northern passage to the Atlantic and making up his mind that if one existed it was too far north to be practicable, he was obliged either to return by the route he had come or follow the course pointed out by Magellan's ship and circumnavigate the globe. The latter suited him best. He was laden with spoil and had no desire to run the risks of meeting Spanish vessels, which would probably be waiting, prepared to give him a lively reception 1 World Encompassed, 132. 96 EARLY VOYAGES. upon his reappearance upon the Mexican or Peruvian coast. On the other hand, there was nothing to fear from the Por- tuguese, who held the East Indies. The navigation in that direction was unknown to him; but this consideration was of little moment to the daring sailor who had already come so many thousands of miles and braved the dangers of so many a stormy sea. At whatever period he came to this determi- nation, it must have been after he abandoned the search for a northern passage and before he left the shores of California. Before again bending his sails, he knew the path he was to pursue and took it and kept it with the precision of the needle to the pole. On July 23, after many ceremonies of a religious character, singing of psalms and taking appropriate farewell of the sorrowful natives, he stood out to sea. As his ship lessened in the distance, following the golden sun over the trackless waste of waters, the Indians ran to the tops of their hills to keep it in view as long as possible and lighted fires, which indicated, long after they themselves could be distinguished from the vessel, that they were still watchful and still doubtless turning their straining eyes and uplifted arms towards the departing strangers. The next morning Drake found himself near the Faral- lones, called by him Islands of St. James, 1 at one of which he stopped and killed seals and birds. He then ran directly for the Spice Islands and, crowding his canvass, sailed sixty-eight days without sight of land. He stopped at Ternate. After leaving that island and while passing near Celebes, his vessel ran upon a rock and her rescue called into requisition all his resources. It was a time of great peril and great despair. The men gave themselves up for lost and received the com- munion in expectation of speedy death. But Drake watched every wave and every wind. With a line he measured the depth of water on every side His vessel drew thirteen feet. 2 On the windward there was that depth of water. Fortunately it had struck while the tide was low; and, the wind after- 1 World Encompassed, p. 134. * World Encompassed, p. 156. NEW ALBION. 97 wards abating at a time of full water, he with a great effort forced it off on the deeper side and thus saved it. From this place he sailed to Java and thence through the Indian Ocean and by the Cape of Good Hope to England. He arrived at Plymouth, the port from which he started, on September 26, 1580. after an absence of nearly three years, and brought with him all his treasures. His ship, the Golden Hind, which had thus encompassed the world and safely brought back its master and crew, with booty hitherto almost unheard of, was long preserved as a relic, honored and revered by the British seaman though its timbers were racked and in decay. The length, novelty and success of this expedition; the blow inflicted and the new field thereby opened for attacks upon the Spaniards; the satisfaction felt by the nation, and the private interests involved of several of the first persons in the kingdom, all conspired to cause Drake to be received with extraordinary honors. Four months after his return, he was knighted and thus became Sir Francis Drake; and the queen dined on board his ship. His great exploit rendered him famous throughout the civilized world. Recognized as one of the first of naval heroes, he thenceforth occupied a front place in the maritime affairs of his native isle. Soon afterwards he plundered Carthagena and burned San Anto- nio and San Augustine. In 1587 he sailed to Cadiz and destroyed a hundred ships in its very harbor, thus " singe- ing the king of Spain's beard," as he expressed it. In 1588, as vice-admiral, he fought some of the scattered remnants of the Invincible Armada and the next year ravaged the coast of Spain. In 1592 he sat as a member of the English parliament. In 1595 he sailed again to the West Indies and plundered and burned a number of places and among them Nombre de Dios, the scene of his first vengeance against the Spaniards. There, where his career may be said to have opened, it also closed. He sickened and died on shipboard; and his body received a sailor's burial in the waves within sight of Porto Bello. 7 Vol. I. CHAPTER X. CAVENDISH AND WOODES ROGERS. THOMAS CAVENDISH, whose fame as a bold and suc- cessful depredator upon the Spanish commerce in the Pacific is second only to that of Drake, was a gentleman of Suffolk. He enjoyed a position of high consideration at the English court; but, in acquiring and maintaining it, he had spent the greater part of his means. At the time of Drake's return from California, Cavendish was in compar- atively reduced circumstances. But he possessed in full measure the enterprise and skill necessary to retrieve his shattered fortunes by following in the track pointed out by his famous predecessor. He however did not, like Drake, require the secret connivance of the English ministry to shield his project from the imputation of piracy; for before he sailed, war had broken out between England and Spain; and it was lawful for him to despoil the Spaniards, wherever he could find them, as the open and declared enemies of his sovereign and country. Having fitted out three small vessels, he set sail from Plymouth on July 21, 1586, with one hundred and twenty- three men. He passed the Straits of Magellan and- entered the Pacific towards the end of February. On his way up the western coast of South America he took several small vessels, and at A?ica seized a wine ship. At Payta he landed, de- stroyed several ships, set fire to the town and burned two hundred houses, but obtained only twenty-five pounds of silver. Proceeding up the coast, and making attacks wher- ever he had a prospect of winning booty or damaging the (98) THOMAS CAVENDISH. S9 enemy, he lost a number of his men; but, nothing disheart- ened by his losses, he boldly pursued his course into the northern ocean. On July 27, he landed at and burned Guatulco, and probably would have attacked Acapulco, but missed finding it. At Navidad he again landed and de- stroyed two large ships, which were building on the stocks there. On September 20, he was at Mazatlan, where he abandoned the smaller of his vessels; and from this place, with two ships, the larger of one hundred and twenty tons and the smaller of sixty, he sailed over to Lower California to lie in wait for the annual galleon from the Philippines. He arrived at Cape San Lucas on October 14 and remained there till November 4, when the object of his search hove in sight, bearing down before the northwestern winds. Caven- dish immediately gave chase and after a long run and a severe conflict succeeded in capturing it. The prize proved to be a rich one, called the Santa Anna, a vessel of seven hundred tons burden, belonging to the king of Spain and carrying one hundred and twenty-two thousand pesos of gold, besides large quantities of satin, silk, musk and East Indian merchandise. It was commanded by Tomas de Alzola and had on board, besides its cargo, one hundred and ninety persons, mostly passengers, including a number of women. After securing their prisoners, the captors carried the prize into a port on the easterly side of Cape San Lucas, where at their leizure they transferred the most valuable part of its wealth to their own vessel. The prisoners, all but two boys from the Philippines and a Spanish and a Portuguese pilot, whom Cavendish took on his own ship, were placed on shore. On November 19, about a fortnight after the capture, the galleon, with five hundred tons of merchandise still on board, was set on fire; and as it burned down towards the water's edge the English fired a final gun as a parting knell and sailed away with their plunder. Upon leaving Cape San Lucas Cavendish bore directly for the East Indies; but scarcely had he lost sight of the port where he had left the burning prize, when a violent storm 100 EARLY VOYAGES. came on, which separated his ships and doubtless wrecked the smaller one, as it was never afterwards heard of. This storm, so unfortunate for him, proved lucky for the poor Spaniards, who had been left on shore. It drove the burning prize upon the beach and thus afforded them an unexpected opportunity of escaping their forlorn situation on a remote and desolate coast. The English had left them such scanty provisions as could be spared and a few arms for their pro- tection; but their prospects under any circumstances seemed almost hopeless. There was among them, however, at least one man of marked ability, well fitted to take advantage of any turn of fortune in his favor. This was Sebastian Vis- caino, 1 of whom there will be occasion to speak at some length hereafter. Though there is no particular account of his action, it can well be imagined how prompt his measures must have been, as he beheld the flaming hulk driving in towards him. He at once organized the forces at hand; ran out to meet the promised rescue; boarded the fiery pile and, aided by the rain, soon extinguished the flames. He found a sound hull and in a short time made out of it a sufficiently safe conveyance to transport himself and his companions across the Gulf of California to the Spanish settlements on the other side. Thus they were all saved and finally reached their destination. Cavendish, in the meanwhile, made an almost straight line across the Pacific. On January 3, 1588, he arrived at the Ladrones and ten days afterwards at the Philippines. This being dangerous ground, he was under the necessity of con- cealing the history of his exploits on the coasts of America and found himself obliged to hang his Spanish pilot for secretly writing letters to the governor of Manila, which however never reached their address. After a short stay at the Philippines, Cavendish passed to Java; on May 18 doubled the Cape of Good Hope; and on September 9, 1588, arrived with his spoil at Plymouth, after an absence of two J Greenhow, 77. THOMAS CAVENDISH. w 101 years and fifty days. 1 Upon his return he wrote, giving an account of his achievements, to Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain, as follows: "I navigated along the coast of Chili, Peru and Nueva Espana, where I made great spoils. I burned and sunk nineteen sail of ships, small and great. All the villages and towns that ever I landed at, I burned and spoiled." " These few words, so terse and soldier-like, so indicative of a man who could see clearly and might have described well what he saw, make one regret that he has not left a full record of his visit to California. As it is, the accounts are scanty; and of his experience with the Indians nothing is known. He made a second voyage in 1591, with the inten- tion of again visiting the scenes of his former exploits and doubtless of outdoing them; but upon reaching the Straits of Magellan his fleet separated and he was obliged to turn back. He then changed his plans; with two vessels ran up the coast of Brazil and attacked the Portuguese; but, being deserted by one of his ships and thus left diminished in force, he lost most of his men in the attempts he made; and, after great but fruitless exertions to retrieve his fortunes, died on shipboard before he could get back to England. 3 He too, like his predecessor, was knighted by the English queen. Had a sovereign like Elizabeth succeeded upon her demise to the English throne and the natural bent of the English people been allowed full play, it is more than likely that Drake and Cavendish would soon have had many imita- tors and the Spanish commerce in the Pacific have suffered severely. The result probably would have been that Califor- nia would have been settled much earlier than it was, and its history been entirely different. But when the great queen succumbed, the crown of England passed into the hands of the Stuarts, a family which had neither the ability to lead, the intelligence to understand, nor even the wish to improve the spirited people, over whom it was placed. During the 1 Burney's Discoveries, I, 64.-94. * Hackluyt, III, 837. 3 Burney's Discoveries, III. 9S-107. 102 EARLY VOYAGES. reigns of the Jameses and the Charleses, one looks in vain for anything like enterprise, except such as was in opposition to the court and found its proper field at home. For a hun- dred years and upwards, therefore, with the exception of the glorious days of Cromwell, there was no English expedition into Spanish waters worthy of notice, and none at all into the Pacific. Though Spain declined during all that time and rapidly fell from the first rank among European nations almost to the last, the Spanish ships in the Pacific pursued their courses and carried their treasures undisturbed by English privateers. It was not until after the expulsion of the Stuarts and the subsequent declaration of war against Spain in the early part of the reign of Queen Anne, that a successor to Drake and Cavendish appeared. This was Cap- tain Woodes Rogers, who, no less than Drake and Cavendish, " filled with terror all the coasts of the South Sea." 1 Woodes Rogers sailed from Bristol with two ships and three hundred and thirty-three men on August i, 1708. The larger vessel was of three hundred and twenty tons burden and carried thirty guns; the smaller of two hundred and sixty tons and twenty-six guns. The enterprise, although undertaken under commission from the English government, was a private one of Bristol merchants. The officers were chiefly adventurers, who gladly embraced the opportunity of replenishing their exhausted exchequers, among whom were Thomas Dover, a doctor of physic, from whom the medicine known as " Dover's powders " is said to have taken its name, and William Dampier, famous as a navigator on his own account but at this time reduced to a subordinate position. The men consisted of a heterogeneous multitude, collected from all sides; some were tinkers, some tailors, some farm- hands, some peddlers, some fiddlers; and more than one-third were foreigners.' 2 Unfortunately for the complete success and peaceful conduct of the expedition, a controlling power over 1 " Havia llenado de terror todas las castas del Mar del Sur." — Yenegas P. II, § 3. P- 183. 2 Woodes Rogers' Cruising Voyage, S. WO ODES ROGERS. 103 its movements was vested in a council of all the officers, to be convened whenever occasion required and presided over by Doctor Dover. The result, as might have been foreseen, was frequent disagreement; but Rogers appears to have acted with great command of temper and brought the voyage to a much more successful issue than under the circumstances could reasonably have been anticipated. The ships doubled Cape Horn about the beginning of 1709, and at the end of January of that year reached the island of Juan Fernandez. There the English found and rescued the celebrated Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch sailor, who had been abandoned on the island four years and four months previously by the captain of an English vessel, named Stradling. He came on board clothed in goat skins, looking wilder than the animals whose coats he wore, and told the affecting story of his desolation, his melancholy, his griefs, his terrors; how he gradually came to recover his spirits; his shifts and contrivances; how by the life he was compelled to lead he was " cleared of all gross humors " and became as agile and active as the wild goats which he pur- sued; how he caught kids, tamed them to be his companions, taught them to dance with him and thus while away the tedious hours of his solitude; 1 in fine, his narrative, as is well known, was the original upon which Defoe founded his romantic story of "Robinson Crusoe." From this place, hav- ing taken Selkirk in his ship and, on the recommendation of Dampier who had known him in former days, made him a mate, and having provided his company with a full stock of such provisions as the island afforded, Rogers sailed for the coast of Peru and addressed himself to the work for which he had set sail. On March 15 he took his first prize, a small vessel of Payta with a small sum of money on board; on March 26, he likewise took a vessel of fifty tons bound from Guayaquil to Truxillo, loaded with timber, cocoa-nuts and tobacco; on April 1 a galleon-built ship of five hundred tons, carrying timber, dry-goods, fifty negroes and several passen- 1 Woodes Rogers, 125-131. 4 104 EARLY VOYAGES. gers, bound from Panama to Lima; on April 2 a vessel of thirty-five tons laden with timber from Guayaquil for Lima, and on April 16 a ship with fifty Spaniards and one hu-ndred Indians, negroes and mulattoes. By this time the English had reached the mouth of the river running up to Guayaquil, which then had about two thousand inhabitants and was supposed to contain much wealth. Rogers was for at once attacking and taking the place by surprise; but he was hampered by the council, with- out whose concurrence he could not act. As it turned out, delays occurred ; and by the time he and his men, who had left their ships and taken to boats, arrived abreast the town, which was midnight of April 21, they found the place alarmed; a great fire flamed on the top of an adjoining hill, and numerous lights were seen passing rapidly to and fro in the streets. Even then effective measures could not be taken; negotiations had to be gone through with as to the conduct of the attack; and finally parleyings with the authorities of the town were resorted to; during all which time the inhabitants were removing or concealing their val- uables and the majority of them betaking themselves to the woods. On April 23, finding that parley was ineffective, the English, consisting of one hundred and sixty men, taking several loaded cannon and putting a bold front upon their perilous undertaking, made a violent assault. The Spaniards in return fired one volley; then threw down their arms, abandoned their ordnance and fled, leaving their handful of assailants masters of the town. The English immediately fortified themselves in the largest building they could find, which proved to be a church, and began to gather up the plunder that was left. It consisted of two hundred and thirty bags of flour, beans, peas and rice; fifteen jars of oil; one hundred and sixty jars of liquors; one hundred and fifty bales of dry-goods; cordage, iron-ware, nails, powder, pitch, tar, clothing and other necessaries; about sixteen thousand dol- lars' worth of plate, golden chains, car-rings and jewelry, four cannon, and two hundred worthless Spanish muskets. Many WOODES ROGERS. 105 of the golden chains were found concealed upon the persons of the Spanish ladies. 1 On April 27, after the English had held the town for four days with threats of burning unless their demands for ransom were complied with, a bond for thirty thousand dollars was executed by the authorities and hostages given for its payment. Thereupon Rogers and his men withdrew, re-embarked in their boats and dropped down the river to their ships, from which they had been gone twelve days. In a short time afterwards twenty-five thousand five hundred dollars of the ransom were paid; and on May 8 the English sailed away, having released most of their prisoners.' Rogers calculated that, if he had succeeded in surprising the town, he would have obtained about two hundred thousand dollars in money besides jewelry and other plunder. 3 From Guayaquil the English sailed to the Gallapagos Islands, near which they took three small prizes with about fifty Spaniards, forty negroes and several thousands of dol- lars in gold. Thence they set out for the coast of California, it having been resolved in council to cruise for the Manila ship, which was expected about the end of the year. A hundred years and upwards had now elapsed since the time of Drake and Cavendish; and the Philippine trade had increased to such an extent that the annual galleon or galleons, for there w^re often more than one, carried very larger amounts of treasure and merchandise, amounting in value sometimes to ten millions of dollars. The captain or general in charge of a galleon seldom received less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars as his compensation for 1 " Some of their largest gold chains were concealed and wound about their mid- dles, legs and thighs, etc.; but the gentlewomen in these hot countries being very thinly clad with silk and tine linen and their hair dressed with ribbons very neatly, our men, by pressing, felt the chains, etc., with their hands on the outside of the ladies' apparel, and by their linguist modestly desired the gentlewomen to take them off and surrender them. This I mention as a proof of our sailors' modesty and in respect to Mr. Connely and Mr. Selkirk, the late governor of Juan Fer- nandez, who commanded this party; for being young men I was willing to them this justice; hoping the fair sex will make them a grateful return when we arrive in Great Britain on account of their civil behavior to these charming prison- ers. " — Woodes Rogers, 179. - Woodes Rogers, 1 53-195. 3 Woodes Rogers, 185. 106 EARLY VOYAGES. the round voyage; and the chief officers as a rule cleared from twenty to thirty thousand dollars each. 1 It was, there- fore, for a prize worth the looking after that the English ran up from the equator to Cape San Lucas, where they arrived on November I, 1709. They had three vessels, the Duke, the Duchess and the Marquis, the last named being one of their captures, which they had transformed into a consort. But they were compelled to wait longer for the expected prize than they anticipated. Their provisions began to run short, so much so that they had scarcely enough to carry them to the nearest of the Ladrones, which they intended to make their next place of supply. On December 21, they were in fact preparing to abandon the cruise, when to their "great and joyful surprise, about nine o'clock, the man at mast-head cried out he saw a sail," which proved to be a Manila galleon distant about seven leagues. Rogers in the Duke at once hoisted his ensign and bore away after it, followed by the Duchess. They pursued all night, signaliz- ing each other with lights as previously concerted; and at day-break the Duke was within a short distance of the Spanish ship; but the Duchess was far to leaward. Rogers noticed that the Spaniards had hung out powder barrels at each yard-arm, intended to deter any attempt at boarding; but, paying no attention to these, he resolutely attacked; and a desperate conflict ensued. The English at first fired from their forward guns, which the Spaniards answered from their stern. As they came nearer the English poured in several broadsides, which the Spaniards returned; but it was observed that they did not ply their guns so fast or with so much effect as the English. As they came very near, the small arms were brought into requisition. The English then ran a little ahead " thwart her hawse, close aboard," so as to be in a position to rake fore and aft, when the Spaniards struck their colors and gave up the contest. By this time the Duchess came up and fired a few guns, which were not answered: the fight was over; the Spaniards had surrendered. 1 Woodes Rubers, 331. WO ODES ROGERS. 107 Upon clearing up, it was found that Rogers himself had been severely wounded by a musket ball, which had struck away a great part of his upper jaw and remained for six months imbedded in his cheek-bone; and one of his men was slightly injured in the back. The Spaniards lost nine men killed, had ten wounded and several blown up and burned with powder. 1 The English immediately carried their prize, which proved to be the Nuestra Senora de la Incarnacion y Desengano, a vessel carrying twenty guns, twenty pedereros" and one hun- dred and ninety-three men under command of a French chevalier named John Pichberty, into Aguada Segura, a port at the east of Cape San Lucas and the same where Cavendish had fired and abandoned the Santa Anna. There they learned from their prisoners that two galleons had sailed from the Philippines at the same time, one their own and the other a much larger and more richly freighted ship; that after running a long time in company they had sepa- rated, and that in all probability the second vessel could not be far behind and must soon make its appearance. Upon re- ceiving this intelligence the English determined to go in search of it. Rogers counseled securing the treasure and prisoners already taken and sailing out in full force; but the officers of the Duchess and Marquis, who had taken no part in the recent engagement, claimed the first places in the new enter- prise; and the council resolved that the Duke should remain in port until its services should be found indispensably requi- site. The Duchess and Marquis thereupon put to sea. As they did so Rogers posted a watchman with a flag upon a high hill overlooking the ocean to give him intelligence of what took place. In a short time the flag was seen in violent agitation; and it was found that the second Manila ship, a galleon called the Bigonia, of nine hundred tons burden, 1 Woodes Rogers, 291-294 2 "Pederero, or peterero, (pierrier, Fr. ) — a small piece of ordnance, formerly used on board some foreign ships, fo r the discharging of nails, broken iron, or par- tridge shot on an enemy attempting to board. It is generally open at the breech ami the chamber made to take out, to be loaded that way instead of at the muz- zle. This species o ordnance i~ managed by a swivel and was formerly much in use among the Spaniards." — Falconer's Marine Dictionary. 108 EARLY VOYAGES. carrying twice as many guns as the other and more than twice the number of men, had sailed past and that the Duchess and Marquis were pursuing and keeping up a run- ning fight. Rogers, having secured his prisoners, immediately flung his sails to the breeze and started in chase. After running all night and a portion of the next day, he came up and engaged in the combat, which had been very unequally maintained by his consorts. But the Spaniards were well prepared and fought with desperate valor. This was partly due, as it afterwards appeared, to the fact that a number of the men on board had formerly been pirates and were accus- tomed to desperate encounters, but principally to the spirit of the gunner, an unnamed hero of extraordinary courage, who had not only taken every precaution to put his vessel in good trim for the fight, but compelled his associates to keep up the conflict by stationing himself in the powder-room and taking an oath that he would blow the ship and all on board into atoms rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the assailants. 1 The chase and fight, which commenced on December 25, was kept up throughout the night and all the next day. At one time the Marquis engaged the Spaniard; at another the Duchess, and at another the Duke. Had they attacked together at the start, it is likely they would have overpowered the galleon; but at every new attack it seemed the gunner had called into requisition new measures of defense and had finally rigged up a netting deck, which rendered any attempt at boarding futile. Towards the end of the contest the Duke and Duchess were on opposite sides; and the shots of the one were as dangerous to the other as to the Spaniards; so that the Duke was compelled to haul around and in doing so came into such close quarters that a fire-ball was thrown upon its deck, which exploded a quantity of powder and did much damage. Among other things it seriously burned several men and carried off a portion of one of Rogers' heels. The English had thirty men killed and wounded and their masts 1 Woodes Rogers, p. 331. WO ODES ROGERS. 109 badly shattered. Of the Spaniards only two were known to have been killed, picked out of the maintop by musket balls; but their rigging was completely riddled and at least five hundred shots were placed in their hull. Though they had a " brave, lofty, new ship, the admiral of Manila," they were glad to be left alone and made no offer to turn upon or pursue the English when the latter drew off and made their way, in 'crippled condition, back to the port from which they had set out. 1 Arrived there, they immediately repaired their vessels; accepted the bonds of Monsieur Pichberty for six thousand dollars, payable in London, as ransom; released their hostages and prisoners, and sailed away, carrying their prize with them. They proceeded to the Ladrones; thence to Batavia in Java; thence to the Cape of Good Hope, from which they sailed in company with a Dutch fleet, and in October 171 1 reached England. From first to last Rogers was in the neighborhood of Cape San Lucas upwards of two months. He, however, saw but little of the country. The account he gives of the natives, was derived almost exclusively from some of his men, who had been sent ashore to look for fresh water. These men, as their boat approached the land, were met by Indians, who paddled out to them on small rafts, called " bark logs," and by their actions and demeanor extended a hearty welcome. The surf being rough, they took the English sailors on their floats and throwing themselves into the water guided them through the breakers to the beach. They then conducted them, an Indian on each side of an Englishman, up the bank and through a narrow path to their huts, which were about a quarter of a mile distant. There the English found a dull musician rubbing two jagged sticks across each other and humming a song, apparently in honor of their arrival. They were next invited to squat upon the ground and presented with broiled fish. After partaking of a scanty repast thus offered, they were escorted back in the same manner they had come, with the addition of the music, such as it was, and 1 Woodes Rogers, 296-302 110 EARLY VOYAGES. thence through the surf again to their boat. Nothing was seen of any European commodities; not a word of Spanish was heard spoken. With the exception of fish and a few wild fruits, seeds and roots, the Indians appeared to have nothing to eat; they were quite naked, they had no property except some curious implements, specimens of which were " preserved to show what shifts may be made; " they were in fine "the poorest wretches in nature " * In further description of the Indians, Rogers says they were, though old and miserably wrinkled, large of limb, straight and tall. Their hair was black and so long that it hung down to their thighs. Their language was as unpleas- ant as their aspect, being harsh and broad and so pronounced as if their words choked them. Some wore necklaces and bracelets of pearls, which were notched and fastened with strings of grass, intermixed with red berries, sticks and pieces of shell; and these they seemed to prefer to the colored beads and toys offered them by the English. The only European articles they seemed to prize were knives, their own cutting instruments being made exclusively of sharks' teeth. Even knives they did not sufficiently covet, or else they were too honest, to steal; the cooper's and carpenter's tools, when carelessly left ashore, were always found in their places un- touched. Their houses were made of brush and grass, very low and insufficient to keep out wind and rain. There was no cultivation of any kind and no store of provisions on hand. They seemed to pay a sort of respect to one man, whose head was adorned with feathers; but as far as could be seen they had all things in common; so much so that if one received a knife he handed it to any other that stood near him. Most of the time they stood or sat or lay around doing nothing, solicitous only for a present subsistence and care- less of the future. But in one or two respects they exhibited wonderful skill and agility. They could shoot flying bi r ds with their arrows and they were expert fishermen and aston- ishing divers. Rogers threw old rusty knives, one after the 1 Woodes Rogers, 284, 285. WOODES ROGERS. 1 1 1 other, into deep water and they seldom missed catching them before they sank more than three or four fathoms Some of the sailors said they saw an Indian dive with a wooden spear and, whilst under water, stick up his instrument with a fish on the point of it. which was taken off by another that accom- panied him on a raft. CHAPTER XI. SHELVOCKE. THE only other English privateersrnan of note, that touched on the coast of California, though there were various others who sailed into the Pacific and depredated upon the Spaniards, was Captain George Shelvocke. He had been a lieutenant in the English navy. On this occasion he was fitted out, together with Captain John Clipperton, by an English company, known as the Gentlemen Adventurers. The two, each in command of a separate ship, sailed from Plymouth on February 13, 17 19; but, soon after leaving port, Shelvocke seized the welcome occasion of a storm to separate from Clipperton; and thenceforward each pursued an inde- pendent course. Though they met a number of times after- wards in the Pacific, the result was invariably disagreement and quarrel and never anything approaching the co-operation so much needed under the circumstances. Far from having the resolute and commanding spirit of a Drake, the strong and determined energy of a Cavendish or the unremitting, indefatigable tact of a Rogers, Shelvocke was a bickerer and a blusterer; and his vessel appears to have been a scene of almost continual dissension and disobedience. A notorious fellow, of morose and gloomy disposition, named Simon Hatley, was first officer or mate on board Shel- vocke's ship. He had previously been in the South Sea with Captain Woodes Rogers ' and from that fact presumed to know more about the navigation of the waters to which they were bound than his superior and to dispute with him the conduct 1 Woodes Rogers, 207, 20S. (112) SHELVOCKE. 113 of the voyage. 1 It was this same Hatley, and upon this same voyage, who shot the albatross, afterwards rendered famous by Coleridge in his " Rime of the Ancient Mariner." When the ship had run down beyond the Straits of Le Maire and was buffeting against continuous storms of rain and sleet, a solitary black albatross, which had apparently lost its way, hovered round and for many days accompanied the vessel in its struggles through those dreary and desolate seas. Hatley in a dismal fit of melancholy, either regarding the bird as a breeder of storm and a portent of further ill fortune or more probably actuated by a spirit of wanton cruelty, destroyed the poor creature. But his expectations of more favorable winds, if he in fact entertained any, were not realized by its destruction: the blasts continued to blow as fiercely and the waves to roll as tumultuously as before; and for a long time it seemed doubtful whether the ship would be able to weather the Cape. However, after a rough and protracted run and suffering great hardships, which were rendered still more poignant by the state of feeling existing on shipboard, the adventurers finally succeeded in reaching the Pacific and meeting with smoother waters. About the end of November they reached the Island of Chiloe. There Shelvocke pretended that his vessel was French and that he himself was Le Janis Le Breton, a French captain well known by reputation on that coast. In this name he wrote threatening' letters to the governor and assumed a domineering tone; his object being, as he gravely relates, to give the inhabitants a dislike for French traders and a disgust for the French name. But in carrying out this sorry fraud, as in almost everything else that he attempted, Shelvocke made a miserable failure; 2 and all he was able to 1 Shelvocke's Voyage round the World by the way of the Great South Sea, 7,8. 2 " I did not think fit to tell him in plain terms we were English; for I had two views in concealing it; the first to hinder them from alarming the coast, and the other to give them a dislike to the French traders, who have considerable inter- est with the Spaniards in these kingdoms. This would certainly have had in some measure the desired effect, if we had not had the ill luck to be discovered." — Shelvocke, 97. 8 Vol. I. I 114 EARLY VOYAGES. accomplish was to steal a canoe full of provisions from the Indians, with whom he had no cause of quarrel, and make off with it up the coast. It then became a question to what point to go next, Shelvocke being in favor of Juan Fernandez and his crew in favor of the bay of Concepcion on the coast of Chili. The crew, as might have been expected from the character of the captain and the state of discipline main- tained by him, carried the day; and to Concepcion accord- ingly the vessel went. 1 At that place a party of the English, in making an ill-advised attempt to seize a house near the water's edge supposed to be full of valuable merchandise, was surprised by the Spaniards and run into the sea, and several of them were slain. One was caught, like an ox, by a lasso thrown over his head when he had almost reached the ship's boat and drawn back to the slaughter in sight of his companions, who could do nothing to assist him. In a short time after this misadventure, a Spanish ship, with several passengers, a small cargo of provisions and about six thou- sand dollars in money and plate, came up and after a few volleys was taken by the English. Its captain offered to pay ransom; but, on account of some delay in raising the neces- sary funds, Shelvocke, who in the meanwhile had transferred all the valuables to his own vessel and even rifled the pockets of all its passengers," precipitately set fire to the prize and then set sail for Juan Fernandez. Another notorious character of this ill-starred expedition, besides Simon Hatley was William Betagh, the master of marines. After a rapid run to and a short stay at the island of Juan Fernandez, upon the return of the vessel to the main- land, Hatley and Betagh were placed in charge of a small bark, which had been taken from the Spaniards, and sent to 1 " I was however still divided betwixt the difficulty I felt within myself to dis- pense with my instructions and the danger of giving way to the remonstrances and advice of these gentlemen; but considering how easily they might be brought to throw off command and how little I should be able to help myself, alone and by myself as I might be said to be, if they came to that extremity, I complied with them and resolved to spend two or three days in going to Concepcion." — Shelvocke, 125. ' Shelvocke, 135. SHELVOCKE. 115 cruise along the coast close in shore. They succeeded in taking a number of prizes and in such rapid succession that their exploits for the short time they kept the sea, bring to mind the crowded incidents of Drake's or Cavendish's voy- age. But, as it happened, a Spanish man-of-war overtook and made them prisoners. If Shelvocke is to be believed, Hatley and Bctagh had made up their minds to desert with their prizes and had in fact set sail for India before they were thus taken; and, on the same authority, Betagh afterwards ac- cepted service under the Spaniards and urged them to attack and destroy his former companions. But on this point, involving so serious a charge, Shelvocke is hardly worthy of credit. A man who is himself without honor is not a credi- ble witness to impugn the honor of another. Shelvocke in the meanwhile sailed to Payta and set fire to the town; but before he could plunder it, as he had intended, he was surprised by a Spanish man-of-war, which unexpect- edly arrived, and compelled to cut loose and ignominiously leave his anchor and boats. It was by the merest chance that he succeeded in escaping utter destruction. From Payta he sailed a second time for Juan Fernandez. As he ap- proached the island a storm arose, his vessel became unmanageable, was thrown upon the rocks, and completely wrecked. He and his men, however, rescued themselves and most of their stores; took up their abode upon the shore, and, after providing themselves with shelter, proceeded to build a new vessel out of the fragments of that which had been broken to pieces and lay scattered along the foot of the precipices. This was completed in about four months. It was thirty feet in length, sixteen in breadth and carried one unmounted gun, that had been fished out of the water where the old vessel had broken up. Upon this craft, after filling it with the stores that had been saved and such new supplies as could be obtained upon the island, including a number of live hogs, Shelvocke and forty-six others, leaving behind a number who were unwilling to venture upon such a voyage, committed themselves to the ocean and sailed ap;ain for the 116 EARLY VOYAGES. American coast. After a run of several days, a Spanish vessel was descried to which the English gave chase and made a desperate attempt to take it, glad at almost any risk to have a chance to better their terrible condition. They loaded their gun with the only two shot they had and then put in the clapper of their bell, a lot of bolt-heads and chain- bolts and some pebbles, such as were used in those days for shooting partridges; but they were compelled to discharge it as it lay along the deck; and it did no execution. The Spaniards returned the fire with greater effect, killing one and wounding several of the assailants; and then escaped. After this encounter the English continued their voyage as best they could and finally succeeded in reaching Iquique, where they obtained provisions and soon afterwards took a Spanish vessel of two hundred tons, laden with pitch, tar, copper and timber, into which they immediately transferred themselves and refused to accept ransom. Having now a Spanish vessel, they were enabled by displaying Spanish colors to sail unsuspected up to Payta a second time and make themselves masters of it; but the Spaniards, meeting stratagem by stratagem, pretended that an overwhelming force was at hand; and the English beat a precipitate and inglorious retreat, saving very little booty. From this point Shelvocke ran up to the north, and towards the latter part of January, 1721, met the ship of Captain Clipperton, from which he had separated nearly two years previously. The meeting was not a cordial one, and the next day Clipperton sailed off, refusing to associate or have anything to do with Shelvocke. Both, however, pro- ceeded northward; and three times subsequently, before crossing the Pacific, they met again. On the last occasion, which was in March, they seemed to be better reconciled towards each other and there was an agreement between them to cruise together for the next. Philippine galleon. In pursuance of this project they sailed for some days, Clipperton being accustomed after running ahead to wait for Shelvocke to come up; but one evening, after thus run- SHELVOCKE. 117 ning ahead, Clipperton did not stop: on the contrary, with- out notice or intimation of his intentions, he sailed off for China. Shelvocke searched for him for some time in vain, and then, realizing the true state of the case, ran into Son- sonnate on the coast of Guatemala. There he took a vessel laden with provisions, called the Sacra Familia, and trans- ferred himself and his men into it as a better vessel than that which he then had. As soon as this exploit became known at Sonsonnate, the governor of that place sent off messengers with information of the peace, which had by that time been concluded between England and Spain, and requested a restoration of the cap- ture. But Shelvocke demanded the production of the proc- lamation and articles of peace and evaded giving up the vessel. The governor, finding that his requests would not be complied with, resolved to seize the Sacra Familia by force and proclaim Shelvocke and his companions pirates; but the latter found means to temporize and finally sailed away with their new ship. The existence of peace, however, seems to have been sufficiently well known to the English; for they next sailed for Panama, with the intention of deliv- ering themselves up and in that mode getting back to England. On their way they fell in with a Spanish vessel and could not forego the opportunity of making themselves masters of its wealth, which appears to have been over a hundred thousand dollars 1 besides flour, sugar, marmalade and sweetmeats. The acquisition of this booty, together with the fact that they were sailing in a different bottom from that in which they had left England and the pre- tended claim that this rendered them entirely independent of the "Gentlemen Adventurers," who had fitted them out, induced them to alter their intention of going to Panama; and turning round they resolved to sail for China. It is to this change in their fortunes and this use they made of it, that Lower California was indebted for the visit which they made to its shores. 1 Burney's Discoveries, IV, 549. 118 EARLY VOYAGES. On August ii, 17 21 . Shelvocke arrived at Cape San Lucas; and he remained there one week. He sailed into the same bay, then called Puerto Seguro, where Cavendish had lain and where Woodes Rogers had been only a little more than ten years previously. The remembrance of the latter seemed to be fresh in the memories of the natives, who hailed the new-comers with delight. They pressed around in great numbers and assisted the sailors in carrying wood and rolling down casks of fresh water for the supply of the ship; so that in a much shorter time than the English alone could have furnished themselves they were ready to proceed on their voyage. Shelvocke's account of the natives agrees in almost all par- ticulars with that of Woodes Rogers; but he adds various additional circumstances, which are of interest. When the Indians first came on board his ship and saw negroes standing around promiscuously with the white men, they became greatly excited and endeavored to separate and drive away the blacks. Their repugnance to them continued until a negro cook was sent ashore with Utensils and materials for boiling hasty pudding on a large scale, which, being sweet- ened with sugar and liberally distributed among the swarming natives, acquired for him and his color their universal favor. 1 They also became excited whenever they perceived the English taking snuff or looking through a spy-glass, and endeavored to prevent these actions, though for what reason Shelvocke could not determine.' 2 In aiding the sailors at their labors, they followed the example of their chief, who was the first to lend a hand; but in all they did, the presence and encouragement of a white man, though he took no part, was necessary to keep up their interest in the work. 3 From the fact of their thus assisting the sailors, Shelvocke con- cluded that they were not naturally as idle and lazy as they 1 Shelvocke, 399, 405, 406. ' Shelvocke, 419. 3 " They rolled our casks down to the boat hut always expected a white face to assist them, who if he did but touch it with his fingers, it was sufficient encour- agement for them to persevere in their labor." — Shelvocke, 406. SHELVOCKE 11!) appeared to Woodes Rogers, but that their slothfulness pro- ceeded rather from inability to perceive the usefulness of work than from any disinclination to labor. 1 Their manner of living was rude in the extreme. They sometimes baked in hot sand the fish, which they speared with great skill, but frequently ate them raw. They had no boats, but made rafts, composed of five logs of light wood, fast- ened side by side, and propelled with a double-bladed paddle. 2 They also had bows and arrows, which seemed to be used by the women quite as much if not more than by the men, as if hunting were a part of their ordinary occupation. The strings of their bows were made of the sinews of deer, and their arrows were tipped with pieces of flint or agate, worked down so that the edges were indented like the teeth of a saw and the points very sharp. 3 Their bread consisted of black lumps or rolls, made by grinding up small black seeds of an oily nature, which though uninviting to the eyes of the English were not very disagreeable to their taste. When they wished to drink, they would go up to their middles in a pool or stream and dip up the water with their hands or stoop down and suck it up like cattle. Upon this simple and apparently healthy diet, their lives seemed to be prolonged to great length, and many of both sexes attained to extraor- dinary old age. 4 The men were tall, straight, well-made, large of limb, and had coarse black hair reaching to about their shoulders. The women were smaller, but with much longer hair, which in some instances almost covered their faces. Some of both sexes had good -countenances; but all were of much darker complexions than any other Indians, which the English had seen in the New World. The men were naked and wore nothing but strings of mother-of-pearl, shells and berries 1 " It is in a manner certain that they can be practiced in no sort of labor, but that of fishing and hunting. If they are slothful, it appeared to us to proceed more from disuse than disinclination to work." — Shelvocke, 419. 2 Shelvocke, 420. 3 Shelvocke, 422, 423. 1 Shelvocke, 422. 120 EARLY VOYAGES. about their necks and sometimes shells and hawk's feathers in their hair. The women wore a thick fringe of grass about their hips; some had a deer skin carelessly thrown over their shoulders; others the skin of some large bird. The men were all more or less painted; some daubing or smearing only their faces and breasts with black, while others were regularly painted from the face to the navel with black and from the navel to the feet with red. From the different styles of paint- ing thus exhibited, Shelvocke was of opinion that men of dif- ferent tribes were present. But however this may have been, and however wild and savage they were to look upon, the greatest harmony and affection appeared to prevail amongst them, and they were very talkative with one another. 1 When anything to eat was given to one, he always shared with those that were about him, commonly reserving very little for him- self. " They seldom walked single, but went mostly in pairs and hand in hand." 2 They seemed to be entirely tractable, faithful, scrupulously honest; and there were no indications of cruelty either in their aspect or actions. In respect to peace and concord they seemed to live in a state of innocent simplicity, such as was once fancifully supposed to character- ize the earliest ages of the world. In all things, which could be noticed in a short stay amongst them, they showed them- selves to be amiable, affectionate, good-natured creatures; but in the scale of intelligence and in all that is designated under the term civilization, they were among the lowest of human beings. Shelvocke saw nothing of the country but the vicinity of Puerto Seguro on the eastern side of Cape San Lucas; and he describes it as mountainous, barren and sandy. Upon turning up and examining the soil of the valley, however, he found a rich black mould, intermingled with shining particles, which he supposed to be gold-dust. Some of this he carried away with him, but afterwards lost during the troubles and confusion, to which he was subjected in the subsequent por- 1 Shelvocke, 420. 2 Shelvocke, 417. SHEL VOCKE. 121 tions of his voyage. However much mistaken he may have been as to these glittering- particles, he had no doubt the country afforded metals of the most precious kinds. 1 In addition to the barren and desolate aspect of the country natural to it at all times, it was at the time of his visit ren- dered much more so by what he describes as inconceivable swarms of locusts, which stripped the trees and bushes of their foliage and ate up every green thing, giving the land- scape the appearance of winter. These insects during the day time were perpetually on the wing and were very troub- lesome and offensive. When his ship dropped anchor in the port, they came off towards it in such immense numbers that the sea around the vessel for a great distance was covered and discolored with their dead bodies. 3 As has been already stated, Shelvocke remained but one week at Cape San Lucas. On August 18, 172 1, he sailed for Canton. Three days afterwards he discovered an island, seven or eight leagues in circumference, about one hundred and ten leagues west of Cape San Lucas, to which his people gave the name of Shelvocke's Isle; 3 but it seems to have been previously seen by Villalobos and called Roca Partida. 4 Thence Shelvocke sailed, by the way of the Ladrones and Formosa, to Macao. At Whampoo one of his sailors shot a Chinese custom-house officer; and the Chinese authorities retaliated by seizing and abusing the first considerable En- glishman upon whom they could lay their hands. 5 The result 1 '' Some of this glittering soil we endeavored to wash and purify and separate from the dirt; and the more we attempted it the more what so shone and glittered seemed to be gold, which made us bring away some of it, to make some better assay and trial of it with persons of more skill and judgment than ourselves. We did so, but what we brought away was lost in the midst of our troubles and con- fusion afterwards in China. However illusive the shining particles in this soil may have been, there can be no doubt but this country affords metals of the most precious kinds." — Shelvocke, 412. 2 Shelvocke, 413. 3 Shelvocke, 443. 4 Burney's Discoveries, IV, 551. 5 "The corpse was laid at the door of one of the English factories and officers waited for the first considerable Englishman that should come out or make his appearance, without any regard had to whom in particular this act of violence and murder was to be imputed. A Mr. C k, a supercargo of another vessel, happened to be the first that came out. He was seized, carried away and led about the suburbs of Canton in chains, and was not released till the real mur- derer was delivered up to the Chinese authorities." — Shelvocke, 459, 460. 122 EARLY VOYAGES. was a breach between Shelvocke, who was held to a great extent responsible for the bad conduct of his man, and the other Englishmen then at Whampoo. In the course of the quarreL that ensued, the ill feeling that had existed among his own people broke out with redoubled violence; and both his officers and crew sided against and finally deserted him. But while he thus fell out with his own countrymen, he seems to have come to a full understanding with the Chinese officials. By some means not explained they were induced to charge his vessel exorbitant port duties, which he willingly paid; but it is said that this was done in accordance with a preconcerted arrangement in fraud of his employers and that he secretly received on his own account a large portion of the money thus charged him. 1 However this may be, it is certain he afterwards sold his ship for about one-third the sum so charged under the name of duties and that all his country- men in Chinese waters regarded his conduct with disgust. They denied him their company and for a long time refused him transportation in any of their ships back to England. He, however, finally succeeded in securing a passage and arrived in London, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, in August, 1722. And "thus ended," he writes, "a long and unfortunate voyage of three years, seven months and some days, after having sailed very considerably more than round the circumference of the earth, and having gone through a great variety of dangers and distresses, both on sea and shore." 2 In England, Shelvocke was arrested and charged with several acts of piracy, the principal one being the taking of the Spanish ship Sacra Familia after notification of the peace existing between England and Spain. He was also prose- cuted for defrauding his employers; but, on account of the difficulty of procuring evidence and by disgorging a portion of his ill-gotton gains, he managed to escape conviction in cither case and fled the kingdom. 3 Besides these prosecu- 1 Burney's Discoveries, IV, 552. 1 Shelvocke, 476- 3 Burney 's Discoveries, IV, 553. SHELVOCKE. 123 tions, there would probably have been another by the South Sea Company; but that lately powerful corporation was now reduced to the lowest stage of depression and ruin, and its directors had more to do in defending themselves from vari- ous charges that had been brought against them than to be able to bring others to justice. The famous South Sea Company, originally organized in 171 1 rather for banking purposes than with any special object of trading in the South Seas, had managed to obtain an assignment of a contract, known as the " Asiento," for the supply of the Spanish West Indies with negro slaves. It had also procured from the English government the exclu- sive right to trade and traffic from " Tierra del Fuego through the South Seas to the northernmost part of America, not exceeding three hundred leagues in distance from the conti- nent of America on the west side." l Shelvocke's voyage, as well as that of Clipperton, in so far as it was an English undertaking, was therefore in strictness of law an infringe- ment upon the privileges of the company. But, as has been said, the company was now reduced to ruin. It had gone beyond the purposes for which it had been organized and become involved in projects of vast magnitude, which it could not carry out. In less than ten years after its incor- poration it had entered into competition with the Bank of England for the management and control of the English funds; and for a while its schemes had seemed to succeed beyond its own expectations. In April, 1720, by a bill which passed the British parliament, its power had been enlarged and its capital stock increased, for the purpose of enabling it to carry out various new plans, which, among other things, embrace 1, according to industriously circulated rumors, an exchange of Gibraltar and Minorca for a portion of Peru and the acquirement thereby of control over the American mines and the grad- ual absorption of all the most profitable commerce of the Pacific Under these circumstances the most extravagant 1 Burney's Discoveries, IV, 514-516. 124 EARLY VOYAGES. prospects had been suggested and entertained and by adroit management fostered and encouraged; visions of sud- den wealth became the excitement of the day; its stock rose to fabulous prices; people of all classes were induced to subscribe, and many risked their whole fortunes. Such was the rise of the South Sea Scheme or, as it was after- wards more appropriately called, the South Sea Bubble. It was the great prototype of inflated projects, conceived in fraud and carried on by misrepresentation, and was the most gigantic and famous of them all. But at length the bubble burst; its fraudulent practices were discovered and dragged into the light; its stock fell; its privileges were revoked; pros- ecutions for felony were instituted against its directors and their effects sequestrated; the government funds were trans- ferred to the Bank of England; thousands of families were reduced from independence and the anticipation of affluence to abject penury; and over the whole kingdom there was wailing and despair. 1 In the general crash and wide-spread desolation, Shelvocke and his misdeeds were entirely for- gotten. After Shelvocke the next and, it may be said, the only other notable Englishman, who ravaged the Spanish coasts in the Pacific, was Commodore George Anson. He was dispatched by the British government in 1740, soon after the breaking out of a new war with Spain, with a squadron of armed ships to damage the Spanish commerce, which he did very effectually. He took Payta and other places, also a rich Philippine galleon and many other prizes and seized immense spoils. He was a man of the Drake and Cav- endish stamp; but, as he did not touch upon the coast of California, mention is made of him merely as the last of the great English sea-kings, who vexed the Spanish rule in the South Seas. And thus closed the projects of the English, other than those in the legitimate pursuits of discovery, col- onization or commerce, in the Pacific. 1 Burney's Discoveries, IV, 554, 555. CHAPTER XII. THE STRAITS OF ANIAN. THE Spanish commerce in the Pacific and more especially the Philippine trade not only attracted the English pri- vateers, as has been seen, but occasioned a renewal of the search for the straits, supposed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific, to the north 'of America. This supposed passage, called the " Straits of Anian," was reported to have been first discovered by Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator, who explored the coasts of Labrador in 1499 and 1500. From that time forward for many years, notwithstanding repeated attempts to find it and repeated failures, everybody believed in its existence; and full faith and credit were given to every new story, however extraordinary, that adventurers or vision- aries could invent concerning it. Where facts failed, imagi- nation supplied fancies; and, as the importance of such a passage was universally recognized, such ideas as that a proper balancing of the earth required such straits, and that the author of the world would not have Omitted a thorough- fare so much needed by his creatures, were by no means too fantastical for acceptance. 1 It will be borne in mind that the discovery of these straits had been one of the objects of the various Californian expedi- tions of Cortes. In his time the passage was supposed to ex- tend from Newfoundland on the one side to the East Indies on the other; and he even possessed a chart upon which it was 1 See, for instance, Relacion, Intro. XL, note 3, where the historian Acosta repeats the reasoning of Pedro Menendez as follows: " Otros indicios tambien referia concluyendo rinalmente, que a la sabiduria del Hacedor y buen orden de la naturaleza pertenecia que como habia comunicacion y paso los dos mares al polo Antartico, asi tambien la hubiese al polo Artico, que es mas principal." (125) 126 EARLY VOYAGES. so delineated. Afterwards, when Marcos de Niza traveled up into New Mexico in search of the famous Seven Cities, he supposed that he saw the northern ocean trending eastward. It was the main object of the voyage of Alarcon to sail into that northern sea and thence co-operate with Coronado, who had marched overland into the interior of the continent. Cabrillo also looked upon this as the objective point of his expedition; and it was doubtless in the hope and anticipation of its eventual discovery that, when he found himself stricken by the hand of death, he so earnestly adjured his second in command to prosecute and complete his discoveries. ' After Cabrillo's time, for many years, there were no more voyages of discovery in the North Pacific; but this only gave greater circulation and credence to fictitious accounts of the position, character and navigation of the supposed straits- Among these one of the earliest was a report that Andres de Urdaneta, who though a priest was at the same time a nav- igator of skill and a man of great capacity and worth, had about the year 1556 discovered the wished-for passage and that he had traced its course with great particularity upon a map. This report further added that Urdaneta had men- tioned his discovery to the king of Portugal; that the king of Portugal had charged him with secrecy, as its knowledge would expose the Portuguese as well as the Spanish estab- lishments in the Pacific to repeated disturbances from the English; and that for these reasons the knowledge acquired by Urdaneta had been kept from the public. A Portuguese navigator, named Martin Chaque, was also said to have dis- covered the straits about the same time; and it was added that his account of them had been withheld for the same reason as that of Urdaneta. 1 In 1574 Juan Fernandez de Ladrillero, a pilot of reputation, over sixty years of age, who had navigated the Pacific for twenty-eight years, affirmed, in the course of a judicial examination in Spain, the existence of the straits opening into the Atlantic about the parallel of Newfoundland and offered, in spite of being aged and worn 1 Relacion, Intro. XI. II. THE STRAITS OF ANJAN. 127 out, to go in search of them and colonize and fortify them as he might find practicable. 1 In 1582 Francisco Gali sailed from the Philippines much further to the northward than the track usually taken by the galleons, intending by skirting the coast from China all the way round to Mexico to ascer- tain whethe it was continuous or not. Had he followed the course proposed, he would have done great service, and his almost forgotten name might have come down proudly in the first rank of discoverers; but the north remained almost as completely unknown after his voyage as before. He merely found, in the course he took, a spacious extent of sea, of great depth, with strong currents from the north and filled with whales and other fish, which were said to frequent canals; from all which circumstances he affirmed the existence and expressed his belief in the straits; 2 but he did not pretend to have seen them. Besides these reports, there were many others to the same effect; so that throughout the maritime world the Straits of Anian, though there were as yet no maps or particular descriptions of them, except such as were sup- posed to be filed away in the secret archives of the courts of Spain and Portugal, were implicitly believed in. It was reserved for an individual, said to be a Portuguese and named Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, to put the finishing touch of fabrication upon these reports. He did so with such a degree of plausibility that long after his death his stories, which for a long time were discredited and almost forgotten, were revived and believed in by many learned and intelligent geographers and were the cause, as will be seen in the sequel, of several expensive expeditions, sent out to ascertain the real truth. This Munchausen of history pretended to have sailed from Lisbon to Labrador in 1588 and thence by a direct passage into the Pacific and back again. According to his account the navigation from Spain to China by this route could, under ordinary circumstances, be made in three months. He was by no means chary of particulars: on the 1 Relacion, Intro. XLIII. a Relacion, Intro. XLVII, XLVIII. 128 EARLY VOYAGES. contrary he gave every crook of his reputed channel, with courses, distances, widths, currents and winds, and a minute description of the land on both sides. He located it between the sixtieth and seventy-fifth degrees of north latitude, hav- ing both its entrances in sixty and making in its course three great bends. He even pretended to have met a Dutch ship laden with Chinese merchandise passing by it from the Pacific into the Atlantic. This account he afterwards, in 1609, presented to the Spanish Council for the Indies and pointed out the positions adapted for occupation, at the same time asking for means and forces to take possession and fortify them in the name of the Spanish crown. But the Council, upon an examination of the man himself, thought proper, though they kept his papers, to reject his proposition; and thereupon Maldonado for the time being sank into obscurity. Nearly two hundred years afterwards two copies of his memorial were resurrected, one in Spain and the other in Italy; and, being brought forward, they found readers, who, as before stated, advocated their correctness. In 1790 sev- eral members of the French Academy startled the world by declaring themselves believers in these old stories; and a public controversy arose in respect to the supposed straits, by means of which the name of Maldonado at length became famous. Drake, upon a certain occasion of quarrel with his chaplain in the course of his voyage across the Pacific, com- pelled the poor parson to wear a badge with the inscription, " Francis Fletcher, ye falsest knave that livcth." ' A badge and inscription of this kind would have been much more appropriate for Maldonado, 2 unless, perhaps, he ought rather to be supposed a man of unsettled mind and more an object of pity than reproach. Next in celebrity of those who pretended to have navi- gated and to give a particular description of the supposed 1 World Encompassed, Appendix II, pp. 176, 177. 2 The author of the Introduction to the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana says that an examination of the Spanish archives proved Maldonado to have been"un proyectistaembiador, un alquimista estafador, y un charlatan novelero — a scheemer and swindler, an alchemist and sharper, an upstart charlatan.'" — Relacion, Intro. LI, LII. THE STRAITS OF ANIAN. 129 straits, was a Greek pilot, named Apostolos Valerianus but more commonly known as Juan de Fuca. According to the account he gave of himself, he had followed the sea for nearly forty years in the service of Spain until the fall of 1587, when, with Sebastian Viscaino, he was taken by Cav- endish in the Philippine galleon Santa Anna off Cape San Lucas. He pretended to have been robbed on that occasion of all his property, consisting of goods worth sixty thousand ducats, Immediately after that misadventure, he proceeded to Mexico; and, it being then supposed that Drake and Cav- endish had reached the South Sea by the Straits of Anian, three vessels, carrying one hundred soldiers, were dispatched by the viceroy to re-discover those straits, fortify them and prevent any further ingress by English privateers; and he, Juan de Fuca, being an experienced seaman, was engaged as pilot of the expedition. As it turned out, however, the captain of those vessels, according to his account, was guilty of some great misconduct; a mutiny occurred among the sailors and soldiers, and the ships were compelled to return without having accomplished anything. Afterwards in 1 592 the viceroy fitted out a second expedition of two vessels for the same purposes and placed them under the command of Juan de Fuca himself. He professed to have sailed in them along the coasts of New Spain and California until he came to the latitude of 47 north, and to have there found an inlet thirty or forty leagues wide, which he entered and navigated eastwardly for twenty days. He passed a number of islands and found the natives clothed in the skins of beasts; and the country was fruitful and rich in gold, silver and pearls. He finally reached the Atlantic Ocean; and then, having thus accomplished his mis- sion, he turned round, returned to Mexico, and claimed remu- neration for his valuable services. But the viceroy, though he received him graciously, delayed paying the promised reward and finally referred him to the king in Spain, who upon his going there, received him with like graciousness, but in the same manner put him off with promises, which were never fulfilled. After waiting in vain for several years, he finally 9 Vol. I. 130 EARLY VOYAGES. in 1595 withdrew unobserved from the court and passed into Italy with the intention of returning to his native country of Cephalonia. He was then an old man, sixty years of age. On his way through Venice he met an English merchant, named Michael Lock, to whom he told his story. Lock interested himself in the account given by the old pilot of his voyages and afterwards endeavored to induce Sir Walter Raleigh and other eminent persons in England to fit out an expedition for the occupation of the reported passage. The project, however, failed; and in 1602 Juan de Fuca died, apparently in destitute circumstances. Lock subsequently wrote and published an account of their " talks and confer- ences." l Some two hundred years afterwards, when the sub- ject of the geography of the northwest coast of America was very largely discussed on account of the discovery of the great inlet leading into Puget Sound, which was found to correspond in many respects with the old Greek's account of the western end of his passage, the name of Juan de Fuca was rescued from oblivion; and it will go down, in connection with the straits called after him, to a late posterity. 2 Of the same general character was a voyage reported to have been made by Admiral Pedro Bartolome' de Fonte. He was said to have sailed from Callao with four ships under authority of the viceroy of Peru in the spring of 1640. His special purpose was the interception of certain vessels from, the recently-founded town of Boston in New England, which were said to be sailing into the Pacific by the northern pas- sage. He proceeded, according to report, first to Cape San Lucas, and from that point one of his vessels explored the Gulf of California. Finding no passage through the gulf, he doubled the Cape and proceeded up the coast to a high latitude and reached a collection of islands, with narrow and crooked channels between them, which he called the Archi- pelago of Sail Lazaro. Beyond this, in latitude 53 , he dis- covered the mouth of a great river, to which he gave the 1 urccnhow, 86-89; 4°7~4 11 ; Kelacion, Intro. LII-LVI. a Greenhow, 176. THE STRAITS OF ANIAX. 131 name of Rio de los Reyes. Sending one of his vessels to explore the coasts further north, he with the others entered the Rio de los Reyes and ascended it in a northeasterly direc- tion to a large and beautiful lake, containing many islands and surrounded by a delightful country. On the south shore of this lake there was a large town, called Conasset, the inhabitants of which were kind and hospitable. There Fonte left his vessels and proceeded, in what manner is not stated, down a river flowing eastward into another lake, and thence through a passage, called the Straits of Ronquillo into the Atlantic. There he found one of the Boston ships of which he was in search, which was bound up the passage he had just descended. Instead, however, of attempting to make a prize of the Yankees, as had been his purpose, he preferred to treat them with the highest respect, made them magnifi- cent presents, and in return received their charts and journals. He then turned round, retraced his way to his ships, and passed down the Rio de los Reyes to the Pacific. In the meanwhile the ship he had sent up the coast, when he him- self entered the Rio de los Reyes, had returned and reported the discovery of another large river, called Rio de Haro and another large lake in latitude 6i°, whence his lieutenant went in canoes as far north as latitude 79°. From that point the land was seen extending still further north until it could not be distinguished from the polar ices. One of the sailors went as far as 8o° and found there a fresh water lake, con- stituting the head of Davis' Straits; and beyond it there were prodigious mountains. From all this, Fonte is said to have concluded that there was no practicable communication for ships between the Atlantic and Pacific by a northwest passage; but it is plain that he never made the voyages ascribed to him. 1 In 1 595, thirteen years after the voyage of Gali from the Philippines, there seems to have been sent out from the same islands by the governor, at the instance of the king of Spain, a ship called the San Agustin. The object was to examine 1 Greenhow, 84-86. 132 EARLY VOYAGES. the same coasts, which it had been Gali's purpose to skirt along and investigate. This vessel was intrusted to the com- mand of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeilon. All that can be affirmed with certainty in regard to its voyage, is that the ship was lost. 1 Long afterwards it was reported to have reached the bay of San Francisco, and to have been there driven on shore and broken to pieces. It was also said that Viscaino entered the bay of San Francisco in 1603 for the purpose of seeing if he could not find the remnants of the old ship thus wrecked. But when it is considered that the bay of San Francisco was not known until nearly two hundred years after the voyage of the San Agustin, and that Viscaino, if he had ever entered it, would surely not have omitted men- tion of the most glorious sight upon which his eyes had ever rested, it is plain that the supposed .wreck of the San Agus- tin in the bay of San Francisco must be classed with the stories of Maldonado and De Fuca. It may be remarked, however, in this connection that the Indians of the Island of Santa Catalina off the Santa Barbara Channel exhibited to Viscaino, on the occasion of his visit there, pieces of damask which they said had come from a Spanish vessel that had been wrecked to the northward of them; and this fact may have given rise to the above mentioned report about the wreck of the San Agustin. 2 Of all the foregoing reported voyages into the higher lat- itudes of the North Pacific none are entitled to credit, how- ever much they may have been talked about and however often repeated and republished, except that of Gali and the bare facts that there had been a San Agustin, that it had sailed from Manila for the California coast and that it was lost. Urdaneta clearly never sailed into those seas. Whatever Ladrillcro and Gali may have said as to the existence of the straits was merely the expression of an opinion, which was very generally entertained not only among navigators but also among the most learned cosmographers of England, 1 Venegas, P. II, § 4, p. 194; Relacion, Intro. LVII. 2 Relacion, Intro. LXIV. THE STRAITS OF ANIAN. 133 Spain, Portugal and Italy. 1 It is doubtful whether Chaque ever made the report attributed to him; and as to Maldo- nado, his story was clearly a fabrication. The same seems also to have been the case with that of Juan de Fuca, for the reason that no record exists in the archives of Spain of any such navigator or of any such expeditions from Mexico as he describes;-' nor is it at all probable, if his story had any truth about it, that the Spanish chroniclers would have omitted mention of an enterprise, calculated to redound so much to the credit of the Spanish name. His account of the manner in which he was treated, first by the viceroy and afterwards by the king of Spain, indicates that he was looked upon as an innocent enthusiast and perhaps as a harmless old man, who had suffered many hardships and was therefore entitled to kind words. But, on the other hand, it is re- markable that he described with so much accuracy the inlet which bears his name; and there are, on this account, many who suppose that his voyage really took place and that his account of having sailed into the Atlantic and of the rich- ness of the countries bordering on his straits in gold, silver and pearls were mere errors, no greater than those com- mitted by various other navigators, in respect to whose voy- ages there is no question. Be this as it may, and even supposing, as was probably the case, that the accounts of Maldonado and Fuca were not made public until years after their respective voyages pur- ported to have been performed, the fact remains that the public mind was very generally impressed with a belief in the existence of the straits. Theretofore this belief- had been vague; no one had found or navigated the supposed passage; but when its position, directness and easy navigation were so positively and repeatedly asserted, it became plain to the Spaniards that, if these reports were correct, their commerce in the Pacific would be exposed to great dangers. If the English and other enemies of Spain could find so short a 1 Relacion, Intro. LII. * Relacion, Intro. LIII, LIV. 134 EARLY VOYAGES. way into the Pacific, as would be afforded by the reputed communication, it was obviously of the first importance to provide stations for the protection of ships engaged in trade, or still better, to seize upon and fortify the straits them- selves. As yet there was no settlement along the entire coast of California; but now the importance of the occupa- tion of that coast became more and more apparent. If Drake and Cavendish had come into the South Sea, as was supposed, by the passage so often spoken of; 1 there was nothing to prevent others from following in their track; and the occupation by the English of New Albion, of which they claimed the dominion,' 2 might be expected at any time. The Spaniards therefore found it to be a matter of necessity, which could not be much longer deferred, to turn their at- tention again to the northwest coast and to take measures for its further exploration and, if practicable, for its perma- nent occupation under the Spanish flag. It was under these circumstances that a new expedition was determined on, including a new attempt to settle Cali- fornia. Orders to this effect were received at Mexico from Philip II., who still filled the Spanish throne; and the per- son named for the leader of the proposed new enterprise was Captain Sebastian Viscaino, the same who had been taken prisoner by Cavendish and escaped in so remarkable a man- ner, with his companions, when left in an apparently helpless condition upon Cape San Lucas. Three well-provided ships were placed under his command and he sailed with them from the port of Acapulco in the spring of 1596. Of, the number of men he carried there seems to be no certain infor- mation; but it appears that there were many soldiers and four priests. 3 He proceeded up the coast to the neighbor- hood of what is now Mazatlan and thence crossed over to Lower California. The place at which he first landed was very sterile; and he proceeded to another, where he erected 1 Relacion, Intro. LVII. J Wnegas, P. II, § 3, p. 184. » Venegas, P. II, § 3, p. 185. THE STRAITS OF AM AN. 135 the royal standard and took possession. This place also proved upon examination to be barren; and he therefore coasted along till he came to the place known as Santa Cruz, where Cortes had attempted to make a settlement sixty- years before and where various memorials of him and his people were still found scattered around. Here Viscaino established a" camp, built a stockade, erected a small church, put up a number of huts and made the beginning of his set- tlement, which it was intended should be permanent. From the pleasantness of the place and the extremely peaceable character of the natives, who congregated in large numbers, he called it La Paz, 1 a name which it has ever since borne. But notwithstanding the agreeableness of the spot and the kindly disposition manifested by the Indians, Viscaino soon recognized the fact that it was not suited to the purposes of a large colony; and he therefore dispatched one of his vessels, with a launch, to search for a more favorable place, if any such should present itself, further north. This ship pro- ceeded up the coast a hundred leagues. At the spot last examined, fifty soldiers went off to survey the country; and upon finding it no better than that hitherto seen, they were about to re-embark, when the Indians, who had collected in numbers, let fly their arrows. The Spaniards thereupon faced around and fired, killing three or four of the Indians. But as the launch could carry only twenty-five persons, an equal number was obliged to remain upon the beach; and upon these, the Indians to the number of five hundred fell with great fury and outcry. The time was chosen when the launch had returned and they were busy embarking in it. The attack was so sudden and violent that the Spaniards became disordered; their launch was overturned; they were thrown into the water; their fire-arms being wet were ren- dered useless; some were drowned, and some died a misera- ble death at the hands of their assailants. A few swam out 1 " Un buen puerto, al qual pusieron por nombre de La Paz, por ser mui apaci- ble y de mucha gente, que recibieron bien y con muchas seflales de paz y amistad a nuestros Espanoles, haciendo grandes demonstraciones de contento con su ven- ida." — Torquemada, L. V, cap. XLI. 136 EARLY VOYAGES. to the ship; but nineteen perished within sight of their com- panions, who, however, were unable to render any assistance or succor. On account of the happening of this sad event and also on account of scarcity of provisions, the ship turned around and ran back to La Paz. In the meanwhile the col- ony there had also nearly exhausted its stores; and, as there seemed to be no possibility of obtaining supplies anywhere upon the coast, Viscaino resolved to abandon the country; and, re-embarking with all his people, he returned to New Spain at the end of the same year, 1596. 1 1 Torquemada, L. V, cap. XLI, XLII; Venegas, P. II, § 3, pp. 181-189; Relacion, Intro. LVII-LX CHAPTER XIII. VISCAINO. PHILIP II., king of Spain, died in 1598 and was succeeded by his son, Philip III. One of the first acts of the lat- ter's reign was to order a new expedition from Mexico to the northwest coast. Among the documents left by Philip II. was a declaration of c ertain foreig ners, who professed to have been driven by violent winds from the coast of Newfound- the South Sea by the way of the Straits of Anian, which taey affirmed entered the Pacific a little north of Cape Mendocino; and they added that they had seen on their way, besides other remarkable things, a large and rich city, strongly 1 and inhabited by a numerous, polite and well-gov- erned population. 1 This was evidently one of the old stories, ch advantage was taken of the general belief not only its but also in the existence of a great city some- where in the undefined north, that had been first mentioned 2 visionary Marcos de Niza and was popularly known is, perhaps, too much to say that this mere ■ hasten e the action of Philip III.; but it was not ; up and down the gulf for some time had returned to the port of departure. On account of its non-appearance, Atondo had sent one of his ships for re- lief across to Sinaloa; but twe months had elapsed without any news of it In consideration of all these circumstances, there was but one thing to be done; and that was to break up the establishment at La Paz; and accordingly the Span- iards left their incipient town and re-embarked upon their remaining ship. They sailed first to Cape San Lucas, and then across the Gulf to Sinaloa, meeting on the way and being joined by their second ship. Thence, after fully refit- ting and refurnishing, they again set sail for California, this time directing their course further to the northward. On October 6, 1683, they dropped anchor at a spot about ten leagues north of Loreto, which they called San Bruno. Dis- embarking there, they proceeded, as at La Paz, to form a camp and build a church, huts and fort. At this place they were out of the region and influence of the fierce Guaycuros. The natives were peaceable; and for upwards of two years,, during which the Spaniards remained, there does not appear to have been any serious disagreement or any disturbance. While Atondo and his soldiers set themselves to exploring the country and attending to the temporal wants of the establishment, Kino and his attendant priests were active in cultivating the friendship of the Indians, acquiring their lan- guage and converting them to the Christian faith. 1 It was at San Bruno, in the course of his missionary la- bors there, that Father Kino hit upon his famous method of teaching an ignorant people the doctrine of the resurrection. He could find nothing in their vocabulary to express the notion of resuscitation from death and for a long time was at a loss how to make them comprehend an idea so foreign to their modes of thought. He finally took several flies, put them in water until they were to all appearance dead, then took them out, covered them lightly with ashes and placed 1 Venegas, P. II, § 5, pp. 226-231. 160 EARLY VOYAGES. them in the sun. After a short exposure to the solar rays, the insects began to recover their vitality and in a few mo- ments emerged, shook the ashes from their wings and flew away. The Indians, marveling at what had probably never before attracted their attention, exclaimed "Ibimuhueite, Ibimuhueite." This word the fathers wrote down and thenceforth made use of, for want of a better, to signify the _ resurrection of Jesus Christ and to teach the seraphic life after death of those who believe in him. 1 Under the teachings and ministrations of a preceptor so skillful as this little incident indicates Father Kino to have been, the Indians progressed rapidly. Within a year there were more than four hundred catechumens ready for baptism. But their final admission into the bosom of the church, ex- cept in cases of approaching death, was delayed on account of the uncertainty felt by the fathers as to whether their establishment would be permanent or not. As a matter of fact it was soon ascertained that it- would not be. The coun- try was found barren and unproductive; for a period of eight- een months there had been no rain; there was difficulty in procuring supplies, all of w r hich had to be purchased and brought from across the gulf; there was much sickness; and, though the Jesuits urged that the next season might be bet- ter and that further trial ought to be made, Atonclo resolved to break up camp and abandon the settlement. He accord- ingly embarked all his people and returned to Mexico, after spending three years of time and laying out two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars of the royal moneys without effect.' 2 . Such was the last attempt, worthy of special mention, 5 1 " I'omaron algunas moscas y las ahogaron en agua ;i vista de lcs Inclios que las tuvieron pormuertas. Revolvieronlas luego pntre ceni/.a y las pasieron des- pues A calentar al sol y cod el calor de este desentumecidas las moscas, cobraron nuevos alientos vitales, y empezaron a, moverse, y & evivir. Espanta los los Indios, clainaron luego, ' Ibimuhueite, Ibimuhueite.' Escrivieron esta voz los padres y traciendo sobre ella nuevas indagacion.es la acomodaron para significar la resurreccion de Jesu-Chri^to Nue^tro Sefior y de los muertos, mientras no se hallaba modo mejor para explicates nuestros mysteries." — Venegas, 1'. II, § 5, pp. 232, 233. J Venegas, P. II, is 5. PP- 233-236. 3 There was an attempt made by Francisco de Itamarra at his own expense under a license in. 1694; but it was entirely fruitless. — Venegas, P. II, jj 5, p. 239. THE PEARL FISHERS. 161 under the direct auspices of government to colonize Lower California. Its ill-success rendered the supposition very gen- eral that the difficulties to be encountered were insuperable. It is therefore likely, had the matter been left to the care of the civil service alone, that no other effort at colonization would have been made or at least not for a long period. Though the protection of the Philippine ships and the inter- ests of commerce required the occupation of California as much and even more than at any previous time, the increas- ing weakness and diminishing enterprise of the Spanish court rendered its accomplishment more and more improbable. But the obstacles which the Spanish crown could not sur- mount, the more powerful Spanish church was equal to. As will be soon seen, the cross prevailed where the sword had yielded. The so-called spiritual conquest became a success where the temporal conquest had proved an entire failure. 1 1 Vol. I. BOOK II. TH E JESU I TS. CHAPTER I. SETTLEMENT OF LORETO. THE course of Spanish discovery, exploration and at- tempted occupation in the Californias has now been followed for a period of one hundred and fifty years and upwards, or from the first entrance of Fortuiio Ximenes in 1534 to the withdrawal of Admiral Atondo in 1686. It has -been seen that the country was at first supposed to be a land of romantic wonders and fabulous riches, and that nearly all the earliest expeditions to it were undertaken in the vain hope of finding numerous populations, splendid cities, and vast magazines of wealth. It has next been seen how the Philippine trade developed and how the interests of com- merce rendered the settlement of the coast a matter of very great importance, after the visionary prospects of barbaric magnificence had melted into thin air. The results of that commerce were next traced out so far as they affected Cali- fornia in the attraction to its shores of English privateersmen and the renewed impetus it gave to the search for the sup- posed Straits of Anian. An attempt has also been made to exhibit the policy of the Spanish government towards this, its last great acquisition, and to describe the various ill- concerted and ineffectual efforts, for the outcome of which the government was in a greater or less degree responsible, (103) 164 THE JESUITS. to make use of the country. It is next in order to speak of the actual occupation and permanent settlement of that part of it, now known as Lower California, by the Jesuits. When Atondo returned to Mexico and presented his report to the viceroy, a general council was called to discuss its con- tents and adopt such measures as might seem proper. Of this council several sessions were held; and the subject was considered in all its aspects. It was finally resolved, and to all appearance with great unanimity, that the further prose- cution of the conquest of California, in the manner or by the means hitherto pursued, was altogether impracticable. It was remarked, however, that Father Kino and his companions by their labors among the Indians at San Bruno, had effected more and with less expense, so far as disbursements for their own benefit were concerned, than any other persons who had ever visited the country; that they had manifested the liveli- est and heartiest interest in the natives; that they had beeri") constrained to leave them with very great regret and only i after earnest endeavors to delay, if not entirely prevent, the ) abandonment of a foundation so auspiciously commenced, \ and that they had even gone so far as to promise to return, if ) possible, to their dusky catechumens. 1 Under these circum- stances it was resolved by the council that the Jesuits should be invited as a body to take in hand the spiritual conquest, by means of missions, of the country, and that efforts should be made to induce the crown to encourage the enterprise by an annual subsidy. A formal offer to this effect was accord- ingly preferred, and Atondo and Kino were authorized to make out the necessary estimates and fix the amount of subsidy to be paid. But either on account of the apparent magnitude of the undertaking or because of the uncertainty of receiving the requisite support, the Society of Jesus de- clined to accept the proposition; and upon a second and more explicit offer to the same effect being made, it a second time and more peremptorily refused. 2 It was now, when the prospects for a settlement of the 1 Venegas, P. II, § 5, p. 239. 2 Vencgas, P. II, §5, pp. 236-238. 9 SETTLEMENT OF LORE TO. 165 country seemed at their darkest, that Father Kino stepped forth with the greatest zeal in its behalf. Notwithstanding the peremptory refusal of the superiors of his order to embark in the undertaking, and the necessity he was under of yielding implicit obedience to their determination, he by no means gave up the hope of changing their policy. The very difficulties and obstacles that stood in his way seemed to call forth all his energy — all the resources of his mind and • spirit. In his earlier days he had been an enthusiastic admirer of St. Francis Xavier. It was in consequence of a generous desire to emulate that great apostle of the heathen, and in pursuance of a vow to that effect made on a bed of sickness, that Kino had quitted his professorship of mathe- matics at Ingolstadt in Bavaria and sailed to America, with the object of becoming a missionary and, like his famous exemplar, carrying the light of the gospel into the most benighted regions of the earth. Having this idea uppermost in his mind, he had accompanied the expedition of Atondo in 1683; and it was undoubtedly owing to his resolution and constancy much more than to any other cause that Atondo remained so long as he did in the peninsula. With what devotion he applied himself to his chosen vocation at San Bruno has been already seen. He now with equal zeal entered upon the work of reforming public opinion in refer- ence to California. For this purpose he traveled about in the various provinces from Mexico to Sonora, disseminating a knowledge of the country beyond the gulf, representing the immense harvest of souls to be gathered there, and exhibit- ing in vivid colors the glory and .eternal rewards of accom- plishing so pious a work. Among others to whom he addressed himself was Father Juan Maria Salvatierra, a Jesuit priest of high standing in his order, who for many years had taken a prominent and distinguished part in the spiritual labo c >inaloa and Sonora. "Salvat: says Venegas, " was the person chosen by God to be ' tie of California." 1 He was a man of large frame ; : institution, capable of bearing fatigue and 1 Vene p. 5. 166 THE JESUITS. hardship, of great intrepidity and indomitable perseverance, but at the same time kind and gentle in his manners, of extensive learning, good judgment and practical wisdom. He was therefore eminently fitted as the leader of a mission- ary enterprise among the Indians. Him Father Kino had no difficulty in bringing over to his views and inspiring with an enthusiasm equal to, if not greater than his own. Be- tween them the spiritual conquest of California at once became the all-engrossing object of endeavor. It is a subject of regret that no graphic pen has pictured the intercourse of these two earnest men, thus self-charged with an enterprise of so much importance. The minute story of their struggle to accomplish a purpose, which so nearly concerns the his- tory of the country, would have been of singular interest. But as it is, there are only meager accounts. While Kino continued to preach his project wherever he could find hear- ers, Salvatierra set himself with all his energy to work at procuring the necessary license. He made application to his provincial or superior, but was refused. He waited for the appointment of a new provincial and repeated his application, and was again refused. He again waited; again applied, and was a third time refused. For the time being, nothing appeared more unpopular than the project in which he was engaged. It was opposed by his order; by the government of Guadalajara, and by the viceroy. He sent memorials to the Council of the Indies and to the king himself; but they too opposed it. With an empty treasury and the recent failure of Atondo before their eyes, all the world opposed it. But Salvatierra and Kino were not men to be deterred by mere opposition. When they found that missives and mes- sages were insufficient to accomplish their purposes, they girt up their loins and traveled down to Mexico, the former from Guadalajara and the latter from Sonora, a distance of five hun- dred leagues, to see what personal solicitations would effect. Arrived at the capital in January, 1696, they devoted them- selves for months to the most strenuous efforts to procure the proper license. But all their endeavors were still in vain; SETTLEMENT OF LORETO. 167 an I they found themselves obliged to return, unsuccessful an< ippointed, only not disheartened. It happened, about this juncture, that Father Tyrso Gon- zales de Santa Ella arrived at Mexico. He was the father- general of the Society of Jesus and a man of mark. In those years, as for many previous ones, the church had drained into its ranks the chief talent of the Spanish nation; and among others of great learning, ability and expanded views was this prelate. To him Salvatierra now made a new application; and Santa Ella was quick to recognize the practicability of the proposed plan of settlement and the merits of Salvatierra and Kino as conductors of it. In a short time the desired license was issued. With it a new dawn rose upon the re- mote province of the far northwest. The audiencia or coun- cil of Guadalajara now espoused the cause. At their recom- mendation it was looked upon with favor by the viceroy. When Salvatierra again visited Mexico, in the beginning of 1697, to raise funds for the new expedition, he met with a reception very different from his former one. Men of means and influence came forward and subscribed with liberality; the sum of fifteen thousand dollars was immediately contrib- uted; the church of Nuestra Seriora de los Dolores of Mexico added ten thousand as a fund for the establishment of the first mission; Juan Cavallero y Ozio, commissary of the inquisition at Queretaro, provided a fund of twenty thousand crowns for the foundation of two other missions; and Pedro de la Sierpe, treasurer of Acapulco, offered the gratuitous loan of a vessel and the gift of a long-boat. On February 5, 1697, the royal license or charter was placed in Salvatierra's hands, authorizing him and Kino to take possession of and set- tle California in the name of the king; to enlist soldiers and name the commander, and to appoint such tribunals as they thought proper for the administration of justice in the ter- ritories to be occupied. But everything was to be done at their own expense; and it was expressly provided that no property, belonging to the crown, was to be wasted, and that no drafts were to be made on the royal treasury. 1 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 1, p. 14. 1G8 THE JESUITS. No sooner had Salvatierra received the license referred to than he turned over the management of the affairs of the expedition at the capital to Father Juan Ugarte, and himself proceeded to Sinaloa to put his project into immediate execu- tion. Word was forthwith sent to Kino to be ready to sail for the peninsula; but the latter was kept back by an insurrection, which had suddenly broken out among the Indians of Sonora. Notwithstanding this disappointment, Salvatierra lost no time; but, proceeding to the mouth of the Yaqui river, whither Pedro de la Sierpe's vessel from Aca- pulco had preceded him, he at once set about laying in a stock of fresh provisions and making ready to get off. Kino being still unable to come, Father Francisco Maria Piccolo was named his substitute; but he too was detained. Salva- tierra, however, was not to be delayed. As soon as his vessel was properly laden, though neither Kino nor Piccolo was present, he determined to sail; and on October 10, 1697, he shook out his canvas to the wind and turned the bow of his vessel to the westward. He had with him five soldiers, of whom Luis de Torres Tortolero was commander, and three Indians. He carried along a vocabulary of the language of the natives of San Bruno, which had been made by Father Copart during the occupation of that place by Atondo, and also an image of Our Lady of Lorcto, who had been chosen as the patroness of the proposed spiritual conquest. On the third day he reached California; but unfortunately the long- boat, which had started with him, had not been able to keep up and was not in sight. He touched first at Mulege' and then at San Bruno; but, neither of those places commending itself to his choice, he sailed further southward and at length entered a little bay, shaped like a half moon, about five leagues from point to point, called San Dionysio. There, at the spot ever since that time known as Loreto, he landed on October 19, 1697. The neighborhood was covered with verd- ure; there were some trees, and there appeared to be a suffi- ciency of fresh water. A fitting location for a mission was soon selected a short distance from the shore. The next SE TTLEMENT OF L ORE TO. 1 G9 thing in order was the landing of the domestic animals, a few of which had been taken along, the provisions and the bag- gage. At this work Salvatierra was the first to load his own willing shoulders. Next a barrack was built; a line of en- closure thrown up, and a tent pitched for a temporary chapel, before which a crucifix was erected and garlanded with flowers. As soon as these were finished, a solemn procession was formed and the image of Our Lady of Loreto brought from the vessel and with due ceremonies placed in the chapel. On October 25, the formalities of taking permanent posses- sion of the country in the name of the king of Spain were gone through with; and then Salvatierra addressed himself to the labor of instructing and converting the Indians. There were in the immediate neighborhood about fifty natives, and this number was in a short time increased by a few more, who came from San Bruno. Salvatierra appointed hours for them to meet him; and with the help of Copart's book he soon learned to com;nunicate with them, though at first there was great merriment at his mistakes and barbarous pronunciation. For the purpose of rewarding and thereby securing their attention, he distributed among them, after their lessons, an allowance of boiled maize, called pozoli; and by degrees a regular system of instruction was established; and the work went bravely on. In the meanwhile the vessel set sail on its return to the river Yaqui for the purpose of bringing over Father Piccolo, with a few more soldiers and a further supply of provisions and also of looking out for the long-boat, which was still missing. But hardly had it taken its departure when the Indians exhibited signs of dissatisfac- tion. They had grown tired of the catechism. But they liked the pozoli, and demanded more of it than Salvatierra could afford to give them. They made complaints and began pilfer from the sacks, until it was found necessary to ex- clude them from the camp. They retorted by combining ther with the avowed object of putting the Spaniards to death and making themselves masters of their stores. The hi: of October 31 was fixed upon for a general assault; and 170 THE JESUITS. the little settlement was in great danger; but at midnight, just about the time when the massacre was to take place, a distant musket shot was heard. Salvatierra answered it by one from the camp. In reply to this a cannon was fired out at sea, and the camp rejoined by a similar shot from a piece of ordnance which had been left them by the vessel. This firing threw the approaching Indians into consternation; and, being seized with a panic, they gave up their murderous intentions and withdrew without daring to attack. In the morning a vessel was seen near the neighboring island of Carmen; but instead of standing in shore it made for the little Coronados Island further out; and, upon sending for information, Salvatierra learned that it was his own ship, which had been driven back by contrary winds. For a short period the Indians, having thus been balked, desisted from attempting to carry out their bloody designs; but only for a short period. They prowled around with hos- tile intent; and on several occasions skirmishes occurred, in which they were worsted and learned that it was safest for t:hem to make their approaches in the dark. One night they stole up; loosened the only horse that Salvatierra had been able to bring with ,him, and drove it off to make a grand feast. As soon as the animal was missed the next morning, two of the soldiers volunteered to go in search of it and several friendly Indians offered to accompany them. They followed the tracks about two leagues over the summit of a mountain and there found the thieves busy at work skinning the creature, which they had killed. They took to flight, however, upon perceiving the soldiers and made their escape. The soldiers distributed the carcass among the Indians who- had gone with them; and the party then returned to camp. These forays and alarms exacted of the Spaniards con- stant watchfulness and sleepless activity. There were but six of them; and very often Father Salvatierra was compelled to stand sentinel and assume the duties of a common soldier. To add to their discomfort heavy rains came on, which fell chiefly in the night time; and being without proper shelter, SETTLEMENT OF LORETO. 171 the condition of the little party, thus exposed to all sorts of difficulties and dangers, became almost desperate. At length on November 13, the festival of St. Stanislaus, all the hostile Indians of the region round about, some five hundred in number, having confederated together to make themselves masters of the maize bags and other stores, resolved to strike a decisive blow. They came on in four companies. The gar- rison consisted of only ten men, Father Salvatierra, his five soldiers, the three Indians from the other side of the gulf, and one native of San Bruno, who remained faithful. As the hostile hosts approached, the sentinel gave the alarm and attempted to drive off the besiegers; but the boldest of them closed with him and took away his halberd. At this Tortolero, the commander of the soldiers, threw himself upon the Indian and wrested the halberd from his hands — an act of chivalric audacity, which struck the enemy with so much surprise that they paused and hesitated whether to advance or retreat. In a short time, however, an alarm was given on the other side, where there were a few hogs and sheep; and, as these were being brought for protection within the enclosure of the camp, all the hostile Indians advanced, with dreadful yells and outcries and discharging their arrows and such missiles as they could lay their hands on. Embold- ened by their numbers and finding that the musket shots fired at them were not intended to kill, they pressed closer and closer. The piece of ordnance possessed by the Span- iards was one of those small guns loaded at the breech, called a pederero. It had been planted in the gateway of the enclosure and loaded more heavily than usual. And now, at the moment of the greatest danger, orders were reluctantly given for its discharge. The match was applied; but the wretched concern burst to pieces, scattering its fragments about the camp and knocking over the gunner. The noise and confusion were great; but no Indians were hurt. On the ' contrary they were inspired with fresh boldness and encouraged one another with shouts that, if the big gun could not kill, much less could the little ones. As the attack 172 THE JESUITS. closed around, Salvatierra stepped forward to make a last effort to induce the enemy to retire; but he was answered only by a flight of arrows. There was but one course left open; and the defense in earnest was ordered to commence- The muskets of those days were very unwieldy, inconvenient machines; but it was now a matter of life or death with the little garrison; and they plied them vigorously. The enemy soon found out their mistake in regard to the little guns; and, as they saw their foremost warriors falling on every side, they suddenly turned their backs and fled in great terror. This severity, though it was almost too late, saved the settlement. In a few hours the Indians made the most humble submission; sued for peace; and begged to be admitted to the partition of the pozoli — not as they wished, but in such quantities and under such conditions as the Spaniards might be willing to prescribe. The men proposed to give up their arms in token of their sincerity; and the women seated themselves weeping at the gate of the encamp-- ment and offered to deliver over their children as hostages for the future good conduct of their people. Some of these offers were accepted; it was agreed that the past should be • forgotten; there was a new distribution of pozoli; and pe. ce was restored. At night solemn thanks were returned to G d, the holy mother and St. Stanislaus. ; And that this trying time for the infant establishment might not be without its miracle, it is recorded by the Jesuit historian that of all the cloud of arrows and missiles discharged by the assailants, though they stuck in everything else and even severely wounded the brave Tortolero and one of his comrades, not a single one struck either the crucifix or the chapel «'n front of which it was erected. 1 ) Such were the circumstances under which was founded the mission of Loreto, the initial one of a long series of similar establishments, which in the course of the next hundred years dotted the whole length of the Pacific coast from Cape San Lucas to the bay of San Francisco. 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 2, p. 31. CHAPTER I I. SALVATIERRA. THE next morning after the victory of the little camp and its remarkable deliverance from the imminent destruc- i with which it had been threatened, as Father Salvaticrra was preparing to celebrate a thanksgiving mass to Our Lady of Loreto, the sentinel announced the appearance of a sail in offing. This drew out the entire company and with great icy they waited the coming up of the vessel, which proved to be the missing long-boat, with supplies from across the gulf. It appeared, from the accounts of those who came in it, that, after being separated from the larger vessel, they had beaten al-out for a number of days in quest of it but without success ai d had then returned to the mouth of the river Yaqui, from v ich both had originally sailed. They also added that the larger vessel, which they had left at the Yaqui, would soon arrive with a reinforcement of men and a much larger supply of necessaries. The camp now became a scene of general : joicing and the ceremonies, which had been interrupted, ere celebrated with redoubled cause of thankfulness In a few days afterwards one of the tribes, which had b engaged in the late conspiracy and whose repentance see :ncere, announced that they had incurred the hostility neighboring tribe, on account of the recent events and of the losses these neighbors had sustained in them, and begging permission to be allowed to settle near the camp and enjoy its protection. To this request Father Salvatierra acceded; and this was the commencement of the town of Loreto, which (173) :Z 174 THE JESUITS. sprang up about the mission. By degrees Salvatierra man- aged to reconcile the inimical tribe; soon universal peace prevailed; the settlers began to make arrangements for put- ting up permanent structures; and in the meanwhile the work of teaching and conversion actively progressed. In these same days occurred what Venegas calls the consecration to God of the first fruits of California. Very soon after the arrival of Salvatierra at Loreto, he was visited by an aged chief of the San Bruno Indians, who was dying from the effects of an incurable disease, said to be cancer. He had been taught the elements of the faith by Father Kino in the time of Atondo's expedition and learned a few Spanish words; and, upon being brought to the camp, he cried out as well as he could for his old preceptors and begged to be accepted and baptized, with his two little sons, one eight and the other four years of age, whom he had brought along. His prayers were granted; instead of his Indian name of Ibo he received the baptismal one of Manuel Bernardo; and, dying a few days afterwards in the full communion of the church and fellow- ship of the saints, he was gathered to glory. 1 The little chil- dren were also received and soon afterwards two others, to whom were given the names of Juan and Pedro in honor of Juan Cavallero y Ozio and Pedro de la Sierpe, the distin- guished benefactors of the mission. Of these the little Juan or, as he was more ordinarily called in the Spanish diminu- tive, Juanito endeared himself to Father Salvatierra by an extraordinary exhibition of precocious devotion — so much so as often to draw tears into the old man's eyes. He was not quite four years of age; but, with his little scallop shell upon his head and a wand in his hand, he would conduct the cate- chismal questions and raise his warning finger when any one talked or was inattentive. Sometimes he would take the rosa- ries of the soldiers; fall upon his knees; kiss the beads; de- voutly put them to his eyes, and bid the Spaniards follow his example; and, if they took no notice, it is recorded that he became sad and troubled in spirit and that he could find no 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 2, p. 34. SAL VA TIERRA . 175 relief except by throwing himself at the foot of the crucifix, embracing and kissing it. 1 Ten days after the arrival of the long-boat the larger vessel also hove in sight and brought the venerable Father Piccolo and a considerable accession of soldiers and supplies. From this time forward, for a considerable period, the labor of establishing the settlement went on with success; and Sal- vatierra was enabled to write with great pleasure and grati- tude an account of \t to the viceroy and to his faithful coad- jutor, Father Ugarte. An account was also, at his request, transmitted to the father-general of his order, Tyrso Gon- zales de Santa Ella, and laid before his majesty Charles II. and the Council of the Indies. In the meanwhile the new buildings progressed rapidly; the church, a structure of stone and clay with thatched roof, was completed* dwellings for the fathers and more substantial barracks for the soldiers and a magazine were put up, and the fortifications enlarged and strengthened. But notwithstanding the bright prospects, which this progress indicated, there were many and serious difficulties yet to be encountered. One of these originated in the fact that the native priesthood or sorcerers, as they were called by the Jesuits, found that the teachings of the fathers were undermining their power and destroying their profits. They therefore declared open war against the new doctrines and waged it with all the bitterness and rancor peculiar to religious fanaticism. There was no falsehood too black, no calumny too monstrous for them to invent; they represented the missionaries as kidnappers and their objects the seizure and robbery of the land and the enslavement of the people; they pointed to the beliefs of their fathers; they called to mind the customs under which they had lived for so many years; they invoked the memory of the braves who had been killed; they in fact resorted to every expedient they could think of to stir up discontent and foment disquietude. They managed at length to bring about a rupture by inducing their the precocious Juanito is given in a letter from Father Salva- tierr .rte and is copied in Venegas, P. Ill, § 3, p. 44. 176 THE JESUITS. followers to steal a boat; and, when a party of the Spaniards went out to recover it, they formed an ambush and attacked them. A skirmish took place; but by the skillful arrange- ments of Tortolero t«he assailants were routed. One of the Spaniards was wounded by a stone and another by an arrow; but of the Indians a number were killed. This fight, which had commenced with the advantage entirely on the side of Indians, taught them the hoplessness of attempting to resist the Spaniards; and in a few days all the disaffected came in and sued for peace. Tortolero was for making an example of the ringleaders; but the fathers interposed; and a general amnesty was proclaimed. Another difficulty was the want of provisions, which at length began to be seriously felt. The supplies that had been brought over had gradually dwindled away; and there were many mouths to be fed Besides the Indians, who required liberal allowances in the way of pozoli, there were now twenty- two of the Spaniards. The larger vessel, which was merely loaned, had gone back to Acapulco; and the long-boat had been sent across the gulf and did not return. Days, weeks and months passed and nothing was heard- and the establish- ment had no other vessel to go after or search for it. By the middle of June, 1698, there were but three sacks of meal and three sacks of maize left, and these wormy and unwholesome. The prospects of relief were so unpromising that Salvatierra, in writing an account of the destitution at the time, prefaced it with the remark that it was very uncertain whether he should live to finish the story, for the reason that he was the most advanced in years of all the camp and would naturally have to pay the first tribute. So little hope was entertained that even the soldiers eschewed quarreling and swearing and betook themselves to prayers and devotional exercises. A fast of nine days, a very appropriate ordinance under the cir- cumstances, was appointed ; and the soldiers devoutly assisted in observing it. At length on June 21, when all the meal and maize was gone and Our Lady of Loreto seemed to have forever withdrawn her favor, a large ship, called the San Jose, SALVATIERRA. 177 sailed into the harbor and saved the settlement. It had been sent by Father Ugarte from Mexico and brought all the suc- cor he was able to collect there. But the relief thus afforded was only temporary; and, as the country as yet produced noth- ing for the support of the missionaries and the communica- tion with the settlements upon which they were obliged to depend was infrequent and uncertain, there was often danger that they would be under the necessity either of abandoning their undertaking or perishing from want. Although never again in fact reduced to the last extremity, as in the instance just mentioned, there was for a number of years a continual struggle for existence. A large part of the moneys, that had been contributed, was lost in the purchase of the San Jose, which soon after its arrival at Loreto, was palmed off upon Salvatierra as a good vessel eminently fitted for the purposes of the mission. But it proved a bad bargain. Besides the original cost of twelve thousand dollars, six thou- sand more were expended in repairs; and even then it re- mained in such bad condition that, on its first voyage subse- quently, the whole cargo was lost; and, on its second, it stranded at Acapulco and only five hundred dollars could be procured for the wreck. Afterwards Pedro de la Sierpe, the former friend and patron of the mission, furnished a new vessel and another long-boat; but in the course of a year the former, on account of the carelessness of those to whom it had been entrusted, was lost upon the coast of Sinaloa and the latter, then the only reliance of the mission, was so badly racked and strained as to be unsafe. This lone-boat, how- ever, is worthy of particular remembrance as having brought over to the peninsula a number of horses, mares and cattle, the gift of Agustin Encinas, and thus given the start on Cal- ifornian soil to that immense production of domestic animals, which in after years covered the hills and filled the valleys of the country. But the greatest and most serious difficulty, which the establishment in California had to encounter, was the apathy or rather the ill will of the Spanish government. For a num- 12 Vol. I. 178 THE JESUITS. ber of years it not only declined to render any assistance to the struggling colonists; but it entertained complaints against them and thus weakened the moral support of which they so much stood in need. Among other calumnies, to which it gave ear, was one that the Jesuits had purposely lost their ships with the object of inducing the government to come to their aid and thus enabling them to have the handling of a large part of the king's treasures. Other still baser calumnies, which it entertained, were a lot of villainous falsehoods trans- mitted from the mission itself by one Antonio Garcia de Mendoza. In 1699 the brave Tortolero, the commander of the soldiers at Loreto, had been compelled, on accoum of a disease of his eyes, to resign his post and return to New Spain; and in an evil hour this Mendoza had been appointed in his place. Instead of possessing any of the noble and magnanimous qualities of his predecessor, he was of a low and groveling disposition, and looked forward only to his own personal aggrandizement. He assumed to have the control of the temporal affairs of the settlement and attempted under all kinds of pretexts to force the Indians to the pearl beds, for the purpose of enriching himself out of their unwilling labors; and, when Salvatierra and Piccolo put a stop to these attempts, he secretly wrote letters to the viceroy and other persons in authority, inveighing against their administration, arraigning their honesty and good faith, and misrepresenting all that they had done and proposed to do. These falsehoods, thus listened to by the government, had their natural effect. They discouraged contributions and for the time being oc- casioned the withdrawal of all support from the mission. The result was not only an interruption of progress but an actual retrogression. Most of the colonists, who had come over, returned to their old homes; and from absolute inability to support the establishment, it was found necessary to reduce the garrison at Loreto to only twelve soldiers; and even these would also have had to be discharged, but that they volun- tarily relinquished their prospects of pay and refused to for- sake the fathers. SALVATIERRA. 179 These were dark days for the enterprise; but the fathers piously believed that whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and that the obloquy and ill-repute, to which they were subjected, were but trials to prove their faith and constancy. This was one of the admirable lessons taught by their relig- ion. Instead, therefore, of losing heart, they submissively accepted and even welcomed the burdens that were thus imposed upon them. If they had ever for a moment hes- itated, they now resolved to stand steadfast, remitting no exertion but suffering every cross, even to martyrdom if necessary, in the prosecution of the great work they had undertaken. In this spirit Salvatierra not only wrote letters and memorials announcing his determination; but he also at great risk and danger made a voyage in the shattered long- boat to the opposite coast of Sinaloa in the hopes, by per- sonal representations, of removing the prejudices that were entertained and accomplishing whatever might be in his power for the salvation of his languishing mission. His character and the earnestness with which he went about his task soon enabled him to satisfy and enlist in his cause all whom he met; and with their concurrence and co-operation he now made renewed appeals to the king and royal council as well as to the viceroy, pointing out the extreme straits to which the establishment in California was reduced and the likelihood, notwithstanding all that had been done and all that he and his companions had undergone and were willing to undergo, of their entire failure unless the government would change its attitude and render some encouragement and assistance. Once or twice it seemed as if his efforts in this direction would be successful. The viceroy, finding a reaction in public opinion, offered a thousand crowns on behalf of the government; but Father Ugarte, as the repre- sentative at Mexico of the California establishment, declined to accept so small a sum as altogether inadequate. Negotia- tions thereupon took place; and for a time there was a prospect of satisfactory arrangement. But unfortunately the matter was finally referred to a lawyer, occupying the office 180 THE JESUITS. of solicitor, who demanded a sight of the original license under which the fathers had first entered the peninsula and demonstrated as a matter of indisputable law that they had no legal claim upon the governmental revenues. Ugarte answered that the entry as contemplated by the original license had already been accomplished and great progress made without either wasting any property of the crown or drawing on the royal treasury; that the original contract had thus been executed in accordance with its terms and was no longer binding, that the circumstances were now entirely changed and that the altered condition of affairs required the application of different rules and the exercise of a broader and more liberal policy. But the man of law was only a man of law and insisted that a bargain was a bargain and there was nothing beyond it. Though the question here presented was in no sense a legal but entirely a political one, the vice- roy seems to have deferred to the opinion of the referee; and thus the quibbles of the solicitor prevailed over the states- manship of the priest. The result was that the viceroy did nothing. In Spain the prospects for a short time were much better. Several persons of distinction interested themselves and large succors were promised; but the death of Charles II. in the latter part of 1700 threw the kingdom into disorder and prevented anything from being done. Upon the accession of his successor, Philip V., still brighter prospects opened. The new monarch avowed his intention of taking the California mission under his especial protection. He commended and thanked the missionaries; ordered that they should by all means be supported, and peremptorily directed that an annual stipend of six thousand dollars should be paid them out of the royal treasury. But before his mandates could be carried out his government became involved in engrossing difficulties, occasioned by the dangers to which Florida and Texas were exposed from their northern neighbors; enor- mous expenses were incurred to secure those threatened provinces; the attention of the king and his councilors was SAL VA TIERRA. 181 diverted; and California was neglected. Thus in Spain too, as well as in Mexico, the efforts that were made by the fathers on behalf of their settlement proved unavailing; and they were left entirely to their own slight resources. Still they remained firm in their determination to stand by their establishment to the last. Still they bore up with manful spirits amidst destitution and against distresses, which were so severe that Salvatierra, in the bitterness of his trials, spoke of rendering up his accounts to God and leaving Our Lady of Loreto to foot the bill. Meanwhile, notwithstanding all these troubles and obsta- cles, the work of the spiritual conquest went forward; and the number of the converts among the natives rapidly in- creased not only at Loreto but at other places in the neigh- borhood, to which the fathers from time to time made visits. One of these was a spot, capable of being rendered fit for tillage, called Vigge Biaundo, lying near the center of the peninsula to the southwestward of Loreto and about eight leagues distant. The way thither was over a chain of rugged mountains, called the Vigge, difficult for men on foot and im- passable for beasts of burden; but the place promised so well that Father Piccolo, assisted by several of the soldiers, by dint of hard labor, managed to open a trail amidst the preci- pices; and the passage became comparatively easy. A neigh- boring mountain afforded an extensive view of the country bounded by the ocean on one side and the gulf on the other, at the sight of which the Spanish soldiers fired off their pieces in ecstacies of joy. The Indians of the neighborhood were tractable, friendly and desirous of conversion; and one espe- cially, a youth of remarkable vivacity and goodness of temper, was immediately admitted to baptism under the name of Francisco Xavier. In the beginning of October, 1699, at this newly selected site, Father Piccolo built a few small houses and a chapel of adobes or sun-dried bricks, and thus laid the foundations of the second mission of Lower California, that 3f San Francisco Xavier de Vigge Biaundo. CHAPTER I I I. KINO. THE original project of the entrance into the peninsula of California and the establishment of settlements there by the Jesuits, it will be recollected, was the work of Father Kino. It will also be recollected that after the labor of years and the overcoming of almost insurmountable obstacles, when his plans were at last on the point of being carried into effect and he and Salvatierra were not only authorized but had made their preparations and were almost ready to em- bark in company for the spiritual conquest of the country, Kino was prevented by a sudden and unexpected insurrec- tion of the Indians of Sonora from joining his companion. This, however, did not prevent him from continuing his exer- tions for the benefit of the undertaking and rendering assist- ance which was perhaps of more substantial value than any- thing he could have accomplished by his personal presence in the country. He collected contributions throughout the prov- ince of Sonora and attended to their shipment as well as acted as agent in forwarding supplies that came from other places. It was owing to his efforts that the first horses and marcs and cattle for breeding, which have been already spoken of, were sent over. To the end he continued the friend and coadjutor of Salvatierra and took the liveliest interest in promoting the project he had himself originated. But the labors for which Father Kino has been most cele- brated, by those who have hitherto written of his services, were his explorations and his demonstration, by traveling around the head of the gulf, of the peninsular character of (182) KINO. 183 what was then known as California. It will be borne in mind that Ulloa and Alarcon in the time of Cortes had ascertained the fact of the gulf's coming to an end in about the latitude of 32 north; and that the remarkable map of the old Spanish pilot, Domingo del Castillo, not only so repre- sented it but gave its form and the shape of its shores with wonderful accuracy. So well were these facts known at that time and for a considerable period afterwards that the gulf, on account of its general resemblance to the water between Arabia and Egypt, was known by the Spanish name of Mar Vermejo 6 Roxo de Cortes, the Vermilion or Red Sea of Cortes. 1 In the course of years, however, when the stories of the various passages, to which the search for the Straits of Anian gave rise, threw the geographers of the day into confusion, this knowledge of the truth in regard to the gulf seems to have been lost and the old accounts of California being an island were revived. From the reports of nearly all the more recent navigators it seemed as if there was a great opening in the coast to the north of Cape Mendocino; and it was supposed by many, taking all the stories from those of Marcos de Niza to those of Martin de Aguilar to- gether, that what was called the Mar Vermejo or Gulf of Cortes was in fact an immense arm of the sea running from Capes Corrientcs and San Lucas in the south to Capes Men- docino and Blanco in the north, a distance of fifteen hundred miles and upwards, and making of California one of the largest, if not the very largest island in the world. Others again supposed that, instead of one island, it consisted of sev- eral or rather of one large and several smaller ones; and it was on this account probably that the plural appellation of Las Californias or the Californias was applied to it. The same supposition prevailed very generally down to the end of the reign of Charles II., who died in 1700, during whose time and in honor of whose efforts for its colonization, which we have just been describing, it was known by the name of Islas Carolinas or Charles' Islands. 2 1 Venegas, P. I, § 2, p. 81. 2 Venegas, P. I, § 1, p. 2. 184 THE JESUITS. Father Kino, who was a cosmographer as well as a priest, was one of those who believed, notwithstanding the general current of opinion the other way /that California was a pen- insula; and he conceived the magnificent design of carrying a cordon of missions around the head of the gulf, thus unit- ing those of California with those of Sonora, and then ex- tending the line to the northward as far as Cape Mendocino and thus embracing the entire country as far as known in one grand system.^) With this ultimate object in view, as soon as the insurrection which in 1697 had prevented his embarking with Salvatierra had been quelled, he set about making ex- plorations along the gulf shore in the northwestern part of Sonora and devoted to them all the time he could spare from the necessary attention which he felt called upon to give to the collection and transmission of supplies to the Californian settlement. He had already explored the country for about ninety or a hundred leagues to the northward of the mouth of the river Yaqui and established several missions, the-most northerly of which, called Concepcion de Caborca, was in latitude 31 north. 1 In 1698 he proceeded as far as the river Gila and thence, taking a southwesterly direction, struck the gulf a little above the parallel of Caborca, having traveled a distance of upwards of three hundred leagues and most of the way over a barren, rugged, uninviting region. In the year 1699 and in the early part of 1700, he made several other journeys to the northward and visited the various missions and villages, which he had established; but more for the purpose of gathering supplies and keeping the Californian colonists alive than for the purpose of making discoveries. But in September, 1700, he set out with the intention of reaching, if possible, the very head of the gulf and thus solving the problem of the practicability of the grand design which he had conceived and which he very properly regarded of so much importance. He traveled northward to the Gila, which he struck at a point about fifty leagues from its mouth. From that place he followed the course of the river to its junction with the Colorado. Near this point, selecting the highest 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 5, p. 77. KINO. 185 mountain he could find, he obtained a broad view of the country and distinctly saw that after the confluence of the two rivers they ran together some thirty leagues and then emptied into the gulf. He also saw that the line of the Cal- ifornian mountains was continuous and unbroken, as far as his glass could reach, both to the south and to the north. Being thus convinced that California was a part of the main- land he returned by the way of Caborca to the capital of Sonora and published his discovery and the particulars of his journey. It was about this time that Salvatierra left Loreto and crossed the gulf for the purpose, by personal appeals in the provinces of Sinaloa and Sonora, of saving his famishing' settlement. As soon as possible he communicated with Kino; and by their joint efforts supplies for the time being were procured and forwarded. They then discussed the recent discovery and concurred in the opinion that the greatest benefit they could confer upon California and the surest way of securing the co-operation and assistance of the govern- ment in the support of the new establishments was to demon- strate, by an actual journey from Caborca to Lcreto, the con- nection of Sonora and California. They agreed to undertake the journey together and accordingly, after making the proper arrangements, set out in the spring of 1701. There were two routes for them to take, one along the slopes of the mountains, which Kino had previously pursued; the other along the immediate shore of the gulf. Unfortunately choos- ing the latter, after proceeding a considerable distance, they found themselves so involved in loose and shifting sands with- out water that they were obliged to turn back. They then took a road on more elevated ground; but so much time had been lost and so much reduced were their provisions that their original intention of passing around by land to Loreto, had to be given up. They, however, reached the neighbor- hood of the head of the gulf; and one evening just before sunset Kino took Salvatierra to the top of a mountain and pointed out to him the purple line of the California cordillera, 186 THE JESUITS. unbroken as far as the eye could trace it; the sandy wastes threaded by the Colorado, and the gulf gradually widening out as it extended southward. Afterwards, when Salvatierra, having returned to Caborca and thence to Loreto, gave an account of his journey to Tyrso Gonzales, he observed that though the discovery might as yet seem of little advantage on account of the distance from Loreto to the head of the gulf, it was nevertheless one of the steps by which in time California might become the scene of industry and activity, the soul of the kingdom of America and the main source of its opulence. 1 In the latter part of 1701, after the departure of Salvatierra, Kino made a third journey to the junction of the Gila and Colorado and thence descended the left bank of the Colorado about twenty leagues. He there found a vast multitude of Indians, who had collected from various quarters to meet him. The river at that point was about two hundred yards wide. The Indians crossed it by swimming and when they wished to take provisions they pushed before them a sort of trough made of rushes, so closely woven as to be water-tight and carrying two or three bushels of maize. Kino, not fancying this method of ferriage, collected pieces of dry wood and trees and constructed a raft, upon which he crossed from the eastern to the western bank to the wonder of the Indians, who wit- nessed his operations and to whom that kind of transporta- tion was apparently novel. There Kino learned that the ocean was at a disiance of only ten days' journey to the west and he was desirous of traversing the intervening country as far as Monterey and Mendocino. But there was no safe mode of carrying his pack animals across the river; and without them no such expedition could be attempted. He therefore contented himself with writing letters to Salvatierra, which he intrusted for delivery to the Indians, and then returned by the way he had come to his head-quarters in Sonora. 1 Salvatierra's words were as follows. " Esta caminata oy parece de poco provecho, por la distancia de veinte y seis grados, donde estamos (en la California) hasta treintay dos, ypoco mas, & donde parece se cierra el golfo; pero son passos, para fpie dentro de pocos afios sea esto el alma de este reyno. " — Venegas, P. Ill, § 5. P- 102. KINO. 187 In the early part of 1702 he made his last effort to reach Loreto by land. In company with a brother priest, named Father Martin Gonzalez, he proceeded to San Dionysio, as he had called the junction of the Colorado and Gila, and thence immediately passed down the Colorado to its mouth or the place where its waters spread out and form the head of the gulf. He camped there on the beach and came near being caught by the tide, which rose rapidly and to an unex- pected height. It had been his intention at that place to cross the river and proceed along the California!! bank; and logs were collected for the construction of a raft to carry over his train and supplies; but the difficulty of finding mate- rials, sufficient to form a transport of sufficient magnitude and strength to attempt the great breadth of the river, together with the rapid current and violent tides, delayed him; and the sudden dangerous illness of Father Gonzalez, which after- wards proved fatal, obliged him to give up the proposed undertaking and retrace his steps as rapidly as, under the circumstances, was possible. For the next eight years Kino's time and attention were taken up almost exclusively in extending the missions of Sonora towards the northward, in protecting his converts from the rapacity and oppressions of merchants and officials, who by a thousand fraudulent prac- tices endeavored to force them away and immure them in the mines, and in continuing to collect, as far as he could, sup- plies for the Californian missions and thus encouraging their extension. In these labors, having no assistants and being compelled by his great spirit to undergo continual fatigues, he wore out his valuable life and passed to his reward in 1710. C H APTE R I V. UGARTE. BUT... though. Father. Kino was the projector and Father Salvaticrra the founder, the glory of being the preserver of the Lower California!! missions is due more to Father Juan U r aite than to either of the others. Without his able and energetic support as coadjutor at Mexico nothing at all could have been accomplished; and now,, in the days of darkness and trial, when outside assistance was withdrawn and con- tributions of any amount could no longer be looked for, it was his strong hand and willing heart more than anything else that saved the settlement from perishing and gradually developed those internal resources, which assured its mainte- nance and permanence. Of the names, which ought to be, and which in the future probably will be rescued from obscu- rity and advanced to a position of honor far in front of those whose noisy exploits have hitherto too commonly filled the pages of the chronicler, his is one of the bright ones. In his sphere, small and limited it is true though none the less truly glorious on that account, he was one who labored ear- nestly for the benefit of the human race. As soon as it became plain that nothing further was to be accomplished at the city of Mexico, Ugarte gathered up what few contributions he could get together and proceeded to Loreto. When he arrived there Salvatierra was absent in Sonora; but upon the return of the latter, in the summer of 1701, the two held counsel upon the affairs of the settlement and what was best to be done. One of their first and most important resolutions was to hasten the resignation of Men- (18S) UGARTE. 189 doza, the commander of the soldiers whose underhanded slanders had done so much mischief, and to appoint a proper commander in his place. Their choice fell first upon Isidro de Figueroa; but he proved incompetent; and they then chose a Portuguese, n'amci Estcvan Rodriguez Lorenzo, who for nearly forty years afterwards continued worthily to fill the office thus thrust upon him. The next important resolu- tion adopted by the fathers was, that Piccolo should proceed to the city of Mexico so as to take advantage of any change of public sentiment that might occur there in favor of the missions, and that Ugarte should assume Piccolo's place at Vigge Biaundo and re-establish the settlement at that place. In pursuance of this plan Piccolo left California and Ugarte, after hastily picking up a smattering of the native language and taking with him a few soldiers, proceeded to the site of the ruined buildings. Upon his arrival there and for several days afterwards not an Indian was to be seen. Either from disaffection or fear they had all fled. The soldiers, who had become accustomed at Lorcto to being waited on by the natives and who were now, on account of the absence of the Indians, compelled to wait on themselves, desired to go in search of the fugitives; but this Ugarte would by no means permit. A few more days passed and still no Indians. The soldiers began to show signs of dissatisfaction and com- menced to remonstrate; but Ugarte put an end to their complaints by discharging them and remained alone. That night a boy, evidently sent by the Indians, made his appear- ance; and upon his reporting to them that the father was alone and desired to see them, they all came back; and Ugarte soon had the satisfaction of finding that his confi- dence in trusting himself alone in their midst was not misplaced. From_the very ^bje^innjnj^U^^te had made up his mind that his true policy was to make his establishment sclf-sus- fcunjjig; and for this purpos e the _greatjpbject, which he kept constantly before his eyes, after gaining 1 1 1 e good-will of the natives, was to wean them from their vagrant way of life and 190 THE JESUITS. accustom them to labor in tilling the soil and raising herds and flocks. He clearly saw that succors from New Spain could not be depended on and that transportation of supplies across the boisterous gulf, even when they were provided, was hazardous and uncertain. He had also observed that at Loreto there was very little ground suitable for cultivation, the only improvement of that kind there being a small garden and a few fruit trees; but here at Vigge Biaundo there was soil sufficient and of good quality; and he at once undertook the work of making it available not only for the support of his own people but of those also at the parent mission. It is the intention in a subsequent part of this work to speak more at large of the character of the Indians; but sufficient has already been said to give some idea of the difficulties of ac- complishing, with such an idle, fickle and brutish race, the work which Father Ugarte proposed to himself. And it is great praise to him to be able to add that he was equal to the task. In the morning, after distributing a breakfast of pozoli among those who consented to assist him, he set them to work building a church and habitations and clearing and pre- paring ground for cultivation. In all this labor he himself was not only overseer but also architect, mason, carpenter and chief workman. He was the first in fetching and shap- ing the stones; in mixing and treading the clay; in cutting, carrying and fashioning the timber; in digging and removing the earth, and in fixing the materials in place. For a long time the Indians were rather a hindrance than a help; for, though he did all he could, it was next to impossible to induce them to labor steadily; and when they did so, it was in so bungling a manner that they rather interrupted than forwarded the work. They were sure to slacken and give up even then, if he was not by their side exerting himself more than any of them; so that he was obliged to pass from task to task, sometimes working with an ax, at another with a spade, at another with a crowbar, but incessantly toiling. As soon as the buildings were a little advanced, he directed his UGARTE. 191 attention to the fields. He cleared the ground, removed rocks, made trenches for the conveyance of water, dug holes for fruit trees and turned up the soil for sowing; and at the same time he had to keep an outlook over the few cattle he had been able to procure, leading them to pasture, keeping them from straying and especially protecting them against the improvident people for whose benefit they were intended. In the evening he was no less busy than in the day time. It was then that he attempted to teach the Indians the cate- chism and explain to them the leading doctrines of the church. And in these labors he experienced quite as much, if not more, difficulty than in those of quarrying, digging, building, clearing and cultivating. If it was necessary in the day time to guard against tiring the Indians, it was much more so in the evening, when they were required to repeat lessons they could not understand and listen to sermons in which they could take no interest. As soon as the novelty of these exercises wore away, the Indians began first to grow weary and then, by all kinds of mockery and unseemly jests, to amuse themselves at their teacher's expense. For some time he bore all this with patience; and when patience was exhausted he resorted to reproof; but neither one nor the other sufficed: the disorder grew greater and greater, until it seemed next to impossible to make any further progress. There was one Indian especially, who gave mueh trouble. He was a man of large size and well-knit frame, who had a high reputation for strength and was on this account looked Upon among his country people as a leader. Presuming upon the pre-eminence of position he thus occupied, he was in the habit of mimicking the father and he did it with so much skill that he kept up an almost continual uproar. On one of these occasions, when this rude fellow's insolence had reached its height, Ugarte made up his mind that patience had al- together ceased to be a virtue. Being himself a large and powerful man, he suddenly rose; in his wrath seized the Indian by the hair; lifted him from the floor, ard shook him to and fro as if he were a puppet. The spirit of the proud 192 THE JESUITS. son of the forest quailed in the grasp of the sinewy master; and the other Indians upon beholding such treatment of their champion ran off in the utmost terror. But the lesson proved a salutary one; and at the next meeting there was a very marked improvement in the deportment of the congregation. This incident also led to an improvement in the teacher; for, finding that one main cause of the Indians' merriment was his misuse of words and particularly his mistakes in pronunciation, Ugarte now assiduously applied himself to a more careful study of the native language; and, instead of relying any longer upon the adult men, who he ascertained had been accustomed to mislead for the purpose of afterwards laughing at him, he henceforth turned to the boys and children, upon whom he could place more reliance. It is further related of Father Ugarte in confirmation of the accounts of his great physical strength and courage, that on one occasion he fought a cougar or California lion with no other weapons than two stones, and succeeded in killing it. He then threw the carcass upon his horse and carried it to his mission, to the astonishment of the Indians, who were hor- rified to think of the danger he had run. " I acknowledge," says the writer of the incident, " that I am unable to narrate it, without expressing my own astonishment, and particularly when I consider the great fund of virtue and charity, which must have existed in the heart of a man, who at their impul- sion could have done so many wonders. Father Ugarte will pass down in history as the Hercules of the Society of Jesus in the province of Mexico. An admirable man, as God liveth, well worthy of immortality." 1 The fruits of this busy man's toils soon began to show themselves. In the course of a few years he had not only built up his mission, brought his people to acknowledge the faith and inured them to habits of industry; but he saw around him orchards, gardens, smiling fields, plentiful har- vests and increasing flocks. He had truly made the desert 1 Histori'a le for mass and afterwards to n obliged to go to their labors, hem; and at night all had to s. Twice or thrice a week a Sunday, besides attending the s, they were compelled to form irch about their villages. Un- 'Utinued and strictly enforced, ley ma}- have once possessed .hey originally may have been bonds, they now became noth- d become completely so — corn- was no longer a struggle or a he missionaries, the land was of the cross complete. ult with the Jesuits in particu- 3 outgrowth of their circum- 208 THE JESUITS. stances and of their age. Nor is it intended to find fault with such men as Kino, Salvatierra and Ugarte; for no one will be disposed to withhold, or desire to qualify, the praise and admiration due to the labors they performed, the steadfast- ness they manifested, thejr extraordinary energy and their sincerity of purpose. Nor, perhaps, can it be said Nvith any certainty that the Indians were capable, by any means within the powers of the Jesuit fathers during the time of their dominion, of any greater improvement. Many, indeed, may be disposed to think that bringing them under subjection by the hand of power and compelling them to exchange, jtheir wandering, precarious and brutish existence for one of regu- larity and assured sustenance, however slavish in other re- spects, was as beneficent a change as could be secured for them. But when the intelligent philanthropist considers .that he and his cotemporaries have sprung from savage races and that there is a capability in all human beings, however de- based, of rapidly advancing under favorable circumstances in the paths which lead to true civilization; he cannot help deploring, when he comes to review the history of these undertakings, that the circumstances were not more favor- able. With all the aids of the church and the fathers, there was nothing ever accomplished at any of the missions among the Californian Indians that could at all compare, even in the remotest degree, with the civilization which the native races worked out for themselves in ancient Mexico or old Peru. As to the Spanish soldiers in Lower California, it will be recollected that when the Jesuits undertook the settlement of the peninsula, one of the articles of their license was the power of enlisting soldiers and appointing a commander. These soldiers were to be enlisted in the name of the king and they were to enjoy the rights and privileges of soldiers in the royal armies; but, as the enlistments were to be at the expense of the fathers and the soldiers consequently riot only dependent upon them for pay but under the command of an officer of their appointment, the military power was entirely subordinate to and under the control of the missionaries. MISSIONARY GOVERNMENT. 209 The number of the soldiers for this reason depended upon the amount of funds, which could be spared for their pay- ment — the regular wages of an ordinary man being three hundred dollars a year and those of a captain five hundred. When the king directed subsidies to be paid, it was intended to apply them chiefly to the support of the military forces. But, on account of the failure in their payment, the expenses of the forces during nearly all the earlier years of the missions fell upon the private funds, which were contributed for other purposes; and, according as the contributions became larger or smaller, the soldiery was increased or reduced. After- wards, when the subsidies were paid and the military power in the peninsula became considerable enough to attract pub- lic attention, great fault was found and great indignation expressed with an arrangement, which thus subjected the caballero to the priest. But the fathers managed, notwith- standing the numerous complaints which were made, to pre- serve their authority; and they continued to govern the soldiery, as well as the colonists and the Indians, as they thought most advantageous for the interests of their estab- lishments. While the power of the missionaries over the Indians was despotic and liable to great abuse, that which they exercised over the soldiers was subject to so many limitations that it could not be oppressive. The soldier, if dissatisfied, not only had the right to resign or to appeal to a higher power, which would listen to him; but he held arms in his own hands, and there would have been danger in provoking him. As a gen- eral rule, however, there was no cause for disagreement; and it cannot be doubted that, so far as the good of the country was concerned, the subordination of the military to the fathers was beneficial. Had the soldiers been allowed to employ or rather to compel the Indians to fish for pearls, as they some- times did by stealth, the result would have been very disas- trous, so much so probably as to involve the missions in absolute destruction. But Salvatierra, from the very begin- ning, had foreseen the dangers of granting any privileges of 14 Vol. I. 210 THE JESUITS. this kind and, notwithstanding repeated and urgent requests on the part of the soldiers, he invariably refused and to the end, under all circumstances, continued unshaken in his reso- lution. So determined was he upon this point that he made it a constant rule to discharge every soldier detected in a single act of disobedience in this respect; and at one time, during the early days of his settlement, he felt himself obliged to enforce it so often that he found himself without any soldiers at all and was compelled to wait for a fresh reinforcement from across the gulf. The •only person in the peninsula, besides the fathers, who possessed any show of authority, was the commander or, as he was sometimes called, the captain-general; but he too, as has been seen, as an appointee of the fathers, was under their control. He was supposed to represent not only the military but also the civil department of government. He was nom- inally the chief justiciary of the province and had the general superintendence of all the people, except the clergy. He was also captain of the sea and had jurisdiction over all the seamen and the vessels belonging to the missions, the largest of which usually carried his ensign and enjoyed the privilege of being called, in his honor, the capitana. In case of a hostile attack or insurrection, he led forth the forces and assumed the management of the campaigns against the Indians; and in some cases, as in the instance of the inflic- tion of the death-penalty on the slayer of Poblano, he even vent- ured to oppose his views of policy to those of his employers. But his chief duty was to see to the enforcement of their regulations and the execution of their orders and decrees. The office was clearly one that could be filled with comfort and success only by a person who, like Captain Lorenzo, was a friend of the missionaries and in entire harmony with their system. Such, in few words, were the general features of the gov- ernment established by Salvatierra in Lower California and which, during the latter years of his life, after resigning his office of provincial, he devoted himself to regulating and per- MISSION AR Y GO VERNMENT. 2 1 1 fecting. But Salvatierra was already an old man, troubled with increasing infirmities and particularly with that painful disorder, known as calculus or stone — a disease with which he was often so violently afflicted as to be unable to rise. In 1 71 7, when the Marques de Valero had arrived as new viceroy from Spain and wished to confer with him as to the best mode of securing the payment of the long-neglected royal subsidies, the aged father deemed it his duty, in spite of years and pain and danger, to undertake the journey to Mexico. He accordingly at the end of March of that year set sail, accompanied by his faithful assistant Jayme Bravo, for the port of Matanchel on the opposite coast of the gulf, where he arrived after a short passage. Thence he traveled to Tepic; but the motion of his horse increased his tortures to such a degree that he could no longer ride and had to be carried on the shoulders of Indians to Guadalajara. There, after suffering for two months the greatest agony, perceiving his end approaching, he called brother Jayme to his side and, after giving him his last instructions in reference to the affairs of California and composing himself for his last great trial, he resigned his breath. His death was the occasion of general grief. All were loud in his praise. They talked of what he had been and of the great work he had done; and, when his remains were interred in the chapel of Our Lady of Loreto, at Guadalajara, the whole city, to do him honor, assisted in the ceremonies. CHAPTER VI I. JAYME BRAVO. THE new orders in favor of California, that had been transmitted by the hands of the new viceroy, were the work of the Abbe, afterwards Cardinal, Julio Alberoni, then prime minister of Spain. This sagacious statesman enter- tained the most comprehensive views. As soon as he foimd himself at the head of affairs, he contemplated lifting the Spanish monarchy out of the degradation into which it had fallen and placing it again in the first rank of nations. Among other plans, devised by him with this purpose in view, was the extension of the Spanish commerce in the Pacific and particularly the trade with the Philippines and China and the securing for the Spanish marine of the carry- ing of all merchandise not only between Europe and America but also between America an>d Asia. He was quick to catch the lessons which the history of the commercial nations of the north of Europe so plainly taught; and, while he held the helm of government, he bent all his vast energies to take advantage of the instructions they so clearly conveyed to his far-seeing intelligence. When, therefore, in his investigations of American affairs, he came across the neglected papers relating to the occupation and settlement of California, he at once saw the benefits to his country with which the suc- cess of such an enterprise would be attended. He determined at once, and with all his influence and strength, to revive, encourage and, if possible, carry out to completion the grand project originally conceived by Father Kino of uniting Cal- ifornia with Sonora by a series of mutually-assisting settle- (212) JAYME BRAVO. 213 merits, running around the head of the gulf and extending thence to the northward, and of occupying and fortifying the entire northwest coast as far as it reached. At this juncture, and while the minister was known to be busy with his plans for the prosecution of this extensive de- sign, an enterprising Mexican speculator offered to purchase the territory of California for the sum of eighty thousand dollars. This individual's idea seems to have been to assume the exclusive control of the country and doubtless to manage its affairs in such a way as to make his investment remunera- tive; and it is likely that at almost any other time an offer of that character, without regard to the melancholy results which would have been sure to flow from its acceptance, would have been readily embraced. But Alberoni, though his vast un- dertakings required immense sums of money and he was straitened for want of means, immediately perceived the dan- gerous consequences of acceding to such a proposition and declined even to take it into serious consideration, unless cer- tificates were first produced from the missionaries that the proposed change of government would not interfere with or be detrimental to their settlements. This answer, of course, put a quietus upon the magnificent speculation; and nothing more was heard of it. On the other hand, the archives re- lating to California affairs were rummaged over; the old neglected memorials and documents drawn from their obscure receptacles, and the former schedules and repeated mandates of the king for the encouragement of the missions and the payment of the missionary stipends not only brought to light but shown to be still unexecuted. At the instance of the minister, the method hitherto pursued of administering the royal instructions concerning the province beyond the gulf was now to cease. The new viceroy was enjoined and com- manded, in positive and absolute terms and as one of his first duties, to vigorously carry out the former orders. He was by every means in his power to forward the conquest that had been commenced, without altering or interfering with the regulations or form of government adopted by the fathers; 214 THE JESUITS. and he was to transmit a full and particular report of his proceedings, including suggestions of such further measures for the advancement of the general object, as might in his judgment be deemed advisable. It was for the purpose of consulting as to the best mode of carrying out these directions that the new viceroy had sent for Salvatierra. The last sickness and death of the latter on his way to Mexico, as has been seen, prevented him from meeting the viceroy or finally accomplishing an object, which he had had so much at heart and for which he had assiduously labored so many years. But his companion, Jayme Bravo> who had received his last instructions, as soon as the vener- able master's remains were duly consigned to the tomb, re- paired to Mexico and undertook the advocacy of the cause of the missions in his place; and he did so with such zeal and unexpected ability as to astonish all who heard him. It had been proposed by the viceroy and his council, without much knowledge of the country, to found a colony on the western coast of the peninsula. But brother Jayme described the character of that region, the absence of any good port, the roughness and barrenness of the land, the want of streams and even springs of fresh water, and the almost insuperable difficulties that must attend any settlement of the kind con- templated. He had himself accompanied Father Ugarte in his journey of exploration from Loreto to and along the Pacific coast in 1706; and he presented a clear and minute description of all the country he had passed over and the intense sufferings of thirst, which he and his companions had undergone. Having thus demonstrated the impracticability of the viceroy's project, he next spoke of the other side of the peninsula and the various spots that had been either set- tled or selected for settlement by the fathers. He dwelt upon what they had accomplished; drew pictures of the fertile little valleys found here and there along the gulf or among the mountains, and dilated upon the fields and flocks, the orchards and vineyards, the gardens and pastures of Vigge Biaundo, and the capability of improvement of many other JAYME BRAVO. 215 places in the same manner. He not only spoke what he had to say; but he also drew up a statement in writing, in which he set forth with much greater fullness and exactitude all the information which could conduce to a perfect understanding of the subject. In September, 17 17, there was held at the city of Mexico a grand council for the purpose of hearing the reports con- cerning California; of considering and discussing its affairs, and of determining upon the next action to be taken in relation to it. At this council, brother Jaymc's written statements were presented; but, more important than these, brother Jayme himself was present and urged the cause he represented with even greater ability than before. The principal articles he advocated were: pay for fifty soldiers; the establishment of a garrison either at La Paz or Cape San Lucas; the foundation of a seminary for the education of the children of California, and the franchise of working the salt- pits, which had been discovered on Carmen Island in the gulf near Loreto. There was nothing that appeared unrea- sonable in these demands; and, as he eloquently presented them and gave the reasons why they should be admitted and allowed, the assembly seemed persuaded. But just as he was upon the point of carrying his propositions, the tiecsurer, in making out his estimates, discovered that the sum of thir- teen thousand dollars, the amount of the subsidies provided by the king, was far from sufficient for the purposes contem- plated; and both he and the viceroy were unwilling to take the responsibility of increasing the sum to be expended. The final result was that allowances were made for only twenty-five soldiers with a captain and for the maintenance of two vessels, one of which should be used for further ex- plorations; but it was provided that, if the regular subsidies should not be sufficient for these purposes, an additional amount should be appropriated to make up the deficiency. As to allowances for a garrison at La Paz or San Lucas, a seminary and the use of the salt-pits, they were refused. For the time being, Brother Jayme deemed it prudent to 216 THE JESUITS. accept what he had thus secured; but he protested that the real spirit and intent of the royal orders contemplated greater liberality; and he accordingly caused a report of all the pro- ceedings to be forwarded to the king for more explicit instructions. To this report were added, the next year, a long account of Californian affairs by Father Piccolo and letters from others friendly to the missions. These, at the instance of Alberoni, were laid before the Supreme Council of the Indies at Madrid; and very shortly afterwards new royal orders were issued to the viceroy, repeating the direc- tions which had been previously given and charging him in the strongest terms to see to their immediate execution. But in the course of this same year, 1719, Alberoni ceased to be minister; and his vast projects, in reference to California, Sonora, the northwest coast, the Philippine trade, the com- merce of the world and the general rehabilitation of the old Spanish monarchy, fell to the ground. Jayme Bravo, as has been said, accepted for the time being all the aid he could procure. It amounted to some twenty- five thousand dollars, including the purchase money of an old Peruvian vessel, which however proved worthless and was next year lost. With this and the various provisions and supplies he purchased in Mexico, he returned to Loreto, where he arrived in July, 17 18, and was received with great joy. His success, though it was by no means satisfactory to himself, had placed his abilities in so strong a light that the next year he was selected to go over, on behalf of the mis- sions, into Sinaloa. Nor was this all; for the Society of Jesus, ever on the alert to discover talent and ever ready to recognize and promote merit in any of its members, ordered his immediate admission to the priesthood and his appoint- ment as a missionary with all the powers and privileges be- longing to that office. His services were in fact considered of such importance that the ordinary terms of promotion were dispensed with; and, passing through the necessary grada- tions in three successive days, the humble assistant of Salva- ticrra on the third found himself elevated to a dignity equal JAYME BRAVO. 217 to that of his former master; and he was henceforth known as Father Bravo or, by those who were most familiar with him, as Father Jayme. As soon as he was thus invested with new powers, he was directed to proceed again to Mexico for the purpose of making renewed efforts for the peninsular missions and especially of taking advantage of and urging the execution of the new royal orders, that had been issued in response to the latest efforts of Alberoni in their behalf. In March, 1720, after his arrival in Mexico in accordance with these latest directions, another grand council was con- vened; and again Jayme stood up and now pleaded in his own name the cause he had so ably advocated before in the name of another. He dwelt particularly upon the necessity of an establishment at La Paz; and so impressive were his reasonings, or so much better disposed were the officers of government to listen to him, that a new ship with arms and supplies, as he desired, was placed at his disposal; and at the same time the Marques de Villa Puente, the old patron of several of the missions, again stepped forward and advanced an additional fund for the endowment of a new one at La Paz, naming Father Jayme as the person whom he desired to establish and take charge of it. It was well known that the natives about La Paz or those of them called Guaycuros had ever since the days of Ad- miral Atondo manifested a hostile spirit. Several unsuc- cessful attempts had been made to pacify and christianize them. The last of these was in 17 16, when Salvatierra sailed thither and endeavored to open communications; but so much cause had the Indians, on account of what they had learned of the monopolists and other pearl-diving expedi- tions of former years, to suspect the Spaniards, that upon the approach of the father's vessel they fled in great terror and betook themselves to the fastnesses of the mountains. Some of the Loreto Indians, who had gone along, pursued and caught the women, who were unable to get away as rapidly as the men. These women, supposing that previous scenes of outrage were about to be repeated and finding escape im- 218 THE JESUITS. possible, turned upon their pursuers and began defending themselves with great fury. The Loreto Indians became equally furious; and, before Salvatierra was aware of what they were doing or could prevent the effects of their mis- taken zeal, they fell upon the women with savage barbarity and would soon have destroyed them all, if the nimblest of the Spaniards had not arrived in time to stop the combat. No sooner, however, had the fight ceased than such of the Guaycuros women, as were still able, again betook themselves to flight; and Salvatierra found it impossible to accomplish his purpose. 1 From this encounter and from the experience of Atondo and his companions in 1683 and from all that was known or had been heard since those times, it was supposed that the Guaycuros were the most savage and intractable of all the Indians of the country; while at the same time they inhab- ited that portion of the peninsula, which in many respects it was of most importance to reduce. This was especially the case in view of the necessity, which became more and more apparent, of providing a port near Cape San Lucas for the relief of ships navigating the Pacific; and hence, as Father Jayme clearly and distinctly set forth in his addresses, the one important project to be next attempted was a permanent settlement in that neighborhood. When, therefore, in re- sponse to his earnest representations, the Marques de Villa Puente offered to endow a mission among the hostile tribes provided Jayme would undertake the task of founding it, the zealous father not only readily consented; but he accepted the execution of the enterprise with the greater ardor on account of the difficulties and dangers it presented and the signal opportunities it would afford him of exhibiting his devotion to the cause he had embraced. He accordingly immediately loaded his new vessel and returned to Loreto, full of enthusiasm for the new foundation in which he was to take the leading part. 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 10, pp. 228, 229. CHAPTER VIII. "EL TRIUNFO UE LA CRUZ." MENTION has already been made in terms of high praise of Father Juan Ugarte as the founder of agriculture in Lower California. His plan of rendering the missions self- sustaining; his undertakings at Vigge Biaundo; the manner in which he went to work; the way in which he prosecuted his projects and at length carried them to successful issue — all point him out as a man of extraordinary merit. He also, with his spinning-wheels and looms, established the first man- ufactures. But even this was not all. He has still further claims to mention. He cut the first ship-timber that was ever felled and built the first vessel that was ever launched in the new country. In 1719 the missionaries had but a single ship and that a very small one, which had been tossed about for years and was strained and racked in almost every joint. All the others had been cast away and destroyed. Several attempts had been made to repair old wrecks; and one new vessel had been constructed on the opposite side of the gulf; but none of these proved of any utility: every one of them in fact soon went to pieces. Another ship, and of a kind which should be well-built and reliable, was felt to be a necessity; and the only way to procure it, after so many fruitless trials, seemed to be to build it in the country itself, where the laying of every plank and the driving of every spike could be superin- tended. Ugarte was not a ship-builder; but neither had he been an agriculturalist or a manufacturer. He was, however, one of thosejoractical geniuses to whom all occupations seem subservient and to whom nothing that seems indispensable is impossible. (219) 220 THE JESUITS. Upon looking around he found neither timber, nor trees suitable for timber, nor iron, nor sails, nor tar, nor any of the other necessary materials; nor were there shipwrights, or sawyers, or carpenters; nor even any surplus of provisions for such persons, had there been such present, To most other men these obstacles would have proved insurmountable. But Ugarte had been informed by the Indians that in the mount- ains about two hundred miles to the northwest of Loreto there were large and straight trees; and he determined to go thither and see for himself whether they would answer and, if they would, whether they could be brought to the sea- coast. Accordingly, procuring the attendance of a shipwright from across the gulf and taking along two soldiers and sev- eral natives, he proceeded to the mission of Santa Rosalia and thence over the craggy mountains of Guadalupe for the forests, of which he had been informed. After a long journey of great difficulty and toil, they reached a considerable num- ber of trees suitable for their purpose. But they were in such apparently inaccessible situations that the shipwright deemed it impossible to get them out and pronounced the project, for which he had been employed, altogether impracticable. Ugarte thought differently; but finding his companion posi- tive in his opinions, he made no effort to change them and without more ado returned to Loreto; where his whole enter- prise had been looked upon as visionary and was now, upon the report of the shipwright, regarded as a matter of jest and ridicule. Ugarte, however, as has been seen in the history of his previous undertakings, was not a man to be turned aside by sneers or scoffs or deterred by difficulties. He had always hitherto found that his best resource in overcoming obstacles was his own stout heart. The first thing he now did was to get rid of his shipwright; and then, with his soldiers and Indians, taking along axes .and the requisite other tools, he returned to the distant mountains and himself set to work, felling trees and fashioning planks. He likewise cleared and constructed a road from the place where his timber lay to "EL TRIUNFO DE LA CRUZ." 221 Santa Rosalia, a distance of thirty leagues; and in the course of four months, with the aid of the oxen and mules of the missions and the natives whom he induced to assist him, he had his planks, all finished and ready for building, on the beach at the mouth of the little river Mulege. The greater part of his labor was now done. He next procured from across the gulf such materials as could not be supplied from his own establishment, as also several skilled workmen; and in a short time, himself superintending the entire work as well as taking a part in all the labor, he saw his new vessel grow up from keel to bulwarks and ready for the sea. In September, 17 19, he nailed a cross upon its bowsprit, launched it upon the brine and christened it " El Triunfo de la Cruz — the Triumph of the Cross." By the time he had finished the vessel, all the moneys of the missions under his control were exhausted and even the presents and trinkets, that had been sent him for private use by friends in Mexico, were not spared. But his ship, compared with the vessels then in use, was large and strong; and for beauty as well as service it was afterwards, by competent judges of marine architecture, pronounced superior to anything of the kind that had ever before been seen in those waters. In November, 1720, soon after the return from Mexico of Father Jayme Bravo full of his project of founding the new mission of La Paz, Ugarte's ship, being then fully completed, made its first considerable voyage. This was from Loreto to La Paz, a distance of eighty leagues and with the object of carrying Father Bravo and his assistants to their destination. Upon the voyage, Father Ugarte seems to have taken upon himself the command of the vessel; and he showed himself as successful a navigator as ship-builder. Arrived at La Paz the fathers, in view of the supposed hostile reception they would meet with from the Guaycuros, landed with great cau- tion. But it soon appeared that the danger was not so great as had been anticipated. The Indians had by this time learned that the missionaries were a very different kind of visitors from the pearl-divers; and, instead of standing to 222 THE JESUITS. their arms as they at first seemed disposed to do, they soon laid them aside; sat down upon the ground in token of friendly disposition, and received the fathers with affection and welcome. For a while they appeared shy of the soldiers; but in a few days all reserve was thrown off; and all the tribes for a distance round about came in and joined in the general good feeling: a result due in great part to the wonderful influence which Ugarte's singular talent and long experience of the savages enabled him to exercise over them. In the course of a week or so, with the full concurrence and assist- ance of the natives, a space for the new mission was cleared; and a church and village started; and, while they were being erected, the provisions and supplies and, to the great surprise and delight of the Indians, such cattle as had been brought along were landed from the. ship. And thus, at the end of the year 1720, was founded the mission of Nuestra Sefiora del Pilar de La Paz. At the same time that the mission of La Paz was thus founded to the southeastward of Loreto, that of Nuestra Seiiora de Guadalupe was founded in the Guadalupe mount- ains sixty leagues to the northwestward and near where Father Ugarte had cut the timber for his ship. While he had been busy in felling trees and hewing planks in 17 19, he had not been unmindful of the salvation of the Indians, who assisted in his labors. Such portions of his time as he could spare he devoted to their instruction and conversion. He also selected a site for a new mission amongst them. Afterwards, upon embarking with Father Bravo for La Paz, he left direc- tions for Father Everardo Helen, who had recently arrived at Loreto, to proceed to Guadalupe and found the new estab- lishment, for which he had thus prepared the way. Helen entered upon the work with much the same zeal as the other founders of new missions. The Indians were naturally much more friendly and peaceable than those of La Paz and had never had cause, like the others, to resent Spanish outrage and oppression. They willingly brought in and destroyed their amulets and charms and all the little trumpery, imposed "£Z TRIUNFO DF LA CRUZ." 223 upon them by their medicine-men, and submitted themselves to the teachings and instructions of the new faith. Both here and at La Paz the missionary work progressed rapidly and proved successful. At La Paz there was some planting; but the Guadalupe mountains were too barren to admit of culti- vation; and the converts there were obliged to rely upon the wild fruits and other provisions afforded by the wilderness, eked out in times of scarcity by supplies from the other mis- sions. While these two new missions were being founded, still another was under way at a spot between Guadalupe and Comondu and a little to the south of westward from Mulege. The site had been selected by Father Bassaldua, the founder of Santa Rosalia. Like Guadalupe and Comondu, it was among the mountains; but the little valleys afforded some good soil; and it was seen that, by collecting and economiz- ing the springs of water, there might be cultivation and pas- turage. In i/i/ Father Nicolas Tamaral had proceeded thither and made preparations for the mission of La Purisima Concepcion. One of his first cares had been the digging of an irrigating canal, which however was washed away the next win- ter, and the construction of a road or trail to Santa Rosalia, the source of his supplies. The next season he made a new canal, which was more permanent than his first one; and in the course of a few years he had a church and other buildings, several fields of maize, gardens and pastures. By degrees he induced the vagrant natives of the neighborhood for many leagues around to settle in villages; instructed them; bap- tized about two thousand, and formed them into one of the most peaceable and successful establishments in the peninsula. This, with the other missions which have been mentioned, made eight that had been established in the country up to the time of the return of Father Ugarte from La Paz in 172 1. And as everything now appeared to be in successful opera- tion and the conquest of the country assured; it was thought desirable to again turn attention to the great object, which had always been regarded as of so much importance and 224 THE JESUITS. towards which nothing practicable had as yet been done — the discovery of a good port for the Philippine ships. Father Kino had seen that the Colorado river alone sepa- rated the mountains of California from those of Sonora at the head of the gulf. But so many stories had been told of passages and arms of the sea and of ships sailing through them that it was still supposed there might be some canal from the gulf to the ocean, south of the mountain chain seen by Kino and north of Loreto. If such there were, it would probably, in some part of its course or at its exit, in what- ever latitude that might be found, afford the desired port; and in that case it was plain that the government of Spain, on account of the interests of commerce if for no other rea- son, would waken up much more than it had ever hitherto done to the importance of the new country. Upon Ugarte's return from La Paz, therefore, all the missions being then in peaceful and prosperous operation and his California-built ship having in the late voyage proved itself a safe, staunch and swift sailor, he resolved upon making a complete exam- ination and survey of the gulf shore north of Loreto, with the object mainly of sailing into and through the passage, if any such existed, and finding the much wished-for port, if any such were in that way to be discovered. A recent land expedition by Father Clcmente Guillen, accompanied by Captain Lorenzo, to the bay of Magdalena had shown that place to be impracticable as a haven of refuge on account of the barrenness of the country and the absence of fresh water; the expedition made by Father Ugarte in 1706 had ascertained that there was no port to the northward of it for a very long distance and that the coast as far as he had followed it was rough and forbidding; and consequently, so far as was known or could be surmised, every hope and pros- pect of relief for the commerce of the more northerly parts of the Pacific now depended upon the contemplated explo- ration to the northward along the gulf shore. It was on May 15, 1721, that Ugarte set sail in his little vessel "El Triunfo de la Cruz," from Loreto. He had on " EL TRIUNFO DE LA CRUZ. 225 board twenty persons, six of whom were Europeans, and was attended by a boat or pinnace, intended for shore work, manned by eight persons, two of whom were natives of the Philippine Islands. All these had seen much of the sea; the others were Indians. The pilot was Guillermo Estrafort, a navigator of learning and experience. From Loreto they sailed to the mouth of the Mulege. at which point Ugarte commenced his explorations carefully draughting the coast as far as the group of islands then known as Salsipuedes, the largest of which is now called Tiburon. From there he crossed over to the Sonora side of the gulf for the purpose of procuring supplies. Upon reaching that shore, all that could be seen was a solitary Indian, who erected a cross upon the beach and then retired. Ugarte's men, as soon as they jumped upon the sand proceeded to the cross and fell upon their knees before it; whereupon the Indian gave a shout and immediately a large party of his countrymen, who had remained concealed, made their appearance and received the strangers with all the signs of friendship and welcome; and many of them threw themselves into the water and swam to the vessel for the purpose of embracing the father and ob- taining his blessing. It afterwards appeared that Salvatierra had instructed them that by these signs they would always be able to recognize the missionaries and particularly so when the approaching ship carried the cross on her bow-sprit, as was the case here. After supplying himself with water, Ugarte proceeded along the channel between the island of Tiburon and the mainland; stopped for a short time with the Indians at the northern end of the channel, and thence proceeded to the mouth of the little river, upon which the Sonorian mission of Caborca was situate, whence he obtained provisions. While at the latter place the sea was so rough that the force of the waves carried away the bow-sprit of his ship and the cross that was nailed upon it; and this loss threw the company into great dejection, being regarded as an omen of evil presage, till an Indian plunged into the foaming flood and recovered 15 Vol. I. 226 THE JESUITS. it. From the mouth of the river Caborca, Ugarte re-crossed the gulf and re-commenced his survey of the peninsular shore northward from the place where he had left off. At one place the Indians, upon seeing the vessel approach, came down to the shore in large numbers fully armed; drew a line upon the sand, and made signs that the visitors should not set foot beyond it. But as soon as they found the ship to be that of the missionaries, they altered their greeting and not only carried the new-comers to their villages but accompanied them on their further voyage and pointed out a large bay and showed them the various watering places along the coast. As Ugarte advanced northward the tides became larger and the currents stronger and especially in the narrower channels, where they rose three fathoms and came on with the roar of a torrent. In one of these, where the pinnace had been drawn up for a short time on the sand, the rise was so sudden and violent that, before the boat could be secured, it was thrown upon the rocks and split from stem to stern. At length the voyagers approached the head of the gulf; the water became shoaler and more turbid, being sometimes of an ashy color and sometimes black but generally of a muddy red; and it became necessary to exercise great caution. The sounding line had to be used at every advance. In this way Ugarte crept along, at one time taking advantage of the tides and at another hugging the shore to avoid them, until he finally arrived at the issue of the Colorado river and found it discharging itself by two mouths, which brought down large quantities of drift, among which were many trunks of trees, most of which were partially burned. It was now certain that no passage leading into the ocean existed to the north of Loreto; and, having thus found that the desired port was not to be sought in that direction, Ugarte turned around for his return. By this time the rainy season had set in; violent tempests and storms of rain, accompanied by lightning and thunder, were frequent; and on a number of occasions, as they pursued their way southward, the voyagers were in im- minent danger. But in the midst of most of their perils they "EL TRIUNFO DE LA CRUZ." 227 were encouraged by the appearance about the mast-heads of their ship of those electrical phenomena known as St. Elmo's fire, which were supposed to indicate supernatural protection. Their greatest peril occurred shortly before reaching Mulege, when a water-spout was seen rapidly approaching; they soon became enveloped in dark clouds; the noonday became black as midnight, and they gave themselves up for lost. But a sudden shift in the winds drove the tempest to the northwestward; and, as they ran out of the darkness into the sunshine again, they saw the clouds discharging their torrents of rain upon the peninsular mountains far in the distance. By the middle of September they returned safely to Loreto. Ugartc, however, was not satisfied until he had accom- plished the great object for which his expedition had been undertaken, that is to say, the finding of a port for the Phil- ippine ships. Hardly, therefore, had he returned to Loreto before he began making preparations for a new expedition to be undertaken by land along the ocean coast to the north- ward of that part of it which he had previously examined. He had, however, suffered much from various disorders and partly from scurvy in his late voyage and could not accom- pany this expedition; but he pointed out the course to be pursued and gave such instructions as would secure its safety. In November it set out under the lead of Father Sistiaga of the mission of Santa Rosalia and Captain Lorenzo. They traced the ocean coast from the parallel of San Xavier to that of Cerros Island and in that distance found three harbors with watering places, though on shores that were barren. Their report, together with maps and charts and the journal of Estrafort, the pilot of the voyage up the gulf, were sent by Ugarte to the viceroy and through him transmitted to the king and Supreme Council of the Indies in Spain, with urgent solicitations that the government should now do its part towards establishing the great port so long sought for. But nothing of importance was done by the government. The helm of state was no longer in the hands of an Alberoni. CHAPTER IX. REBELLION. THE late expedition and voyage in search of a port had shown that the northern parts of the peninsula were more plentifully watered and therefore less barren than the southern, and that the natives of those regions were more peaceable and tractable than the Guaycuros and other tribes of the south. The latter, who were known under the general name of Pericues, were almost constantly at war with one another; and they carried on their mutual hostilities in the most treacherous and barbarous manner. Of these the Coras, who ranged from La Paz southward to Cape San Lucas and who in the time of Atondo were supposed to be cowardly and spiritless, now proved themselves quite as warlike as their old enemies, the Guaycuros, and continually raided upon them and the inhabitants of the neighboring islands of San Jose, Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo. On the other hand the Guay- curos, who were west of La Paz, and the islanders raided on the Coras; and the Uchities, who ranged north of La Paz, attacked and were attacked in return sometimes by one and sometimes by another. One depredation brought on a sec- ond and a third; those who were robbed at one time became the robbers on the next occasion; and, when one or two had been killed, nothing would satisfy the vengeance of the sur- vivors but the blood of many. Thus a system of petty warfare or rather of pillage, rapine and murder prevailed throughout the southern part of the peninsula, against which the mission of La Paz alone could not make head. It was therefore deemed necessary to found other missions, one (228) REBELLION. 229 between the Uchities and the Guaycuros and one or more among the Coras. The former was founded by Father Guillen in 1721 at a place about forty leagues south of Loreto and was called that of Nuestra Senpra de los Dolores del Sur. Upon its foundation the old establishment of San Juan Bau- tista de Malibat 6 Ligui, the fund for which had failed, was abandoned. During the same year also was founded by Father Ignacio Maria Napoli, to the south of La Paz and a little less than half way between it and Cape San Lucas, the mission of Santiago de los Coras. Both these missions, like most of the others in Lower California, were endowed by the munificent Marques de Villa Puente. The history of their beginnings was much the same as that of the other missions, with the exception that, on account of the hostilities among the surrounding tribes, there was more difficulty in securing a settlement; and, as was proved in the sequel, the troubles that disturbed their commencement were but the earnest of widespread disaffection and disorder among the natives, which in the course of a few years involved the new establishments, and in fact all the work of the fathers in the southern part of the peninsula in common destruction. While these southern missions were struggling with the warring tribes, Father Juan Bautista Luyando arrived from Mexico. He appears to have been possessed of a fortune, which he resolved to devote to the endowment of a mission and had come over to become its founder. Being referred to the extreme north as the most promising field for his labor, he set out in the beginning of 1728 with nine soldiers from Loreto and proceeded to a spot in the mountains nearly as far north as the parallel of Cerros Island, which had been selected by Father Sistiaga on his journey of exploration for a port. There Father Luyando founded the mission of San Ignacio and before the end of the year he had his church nearly finished. The natives of that part of the country were known by the general name of Cochimies; they were more active and intelligent than the southern Indians and assisted with alacrity in erecting the new buildings and establishing 230 THE JESUITS. the settlement. The country in the neighborhood was suit- able for agricultural purposes; and large fields were planted in maize and wheat. The very first year there was a consid erable harvest, and in four years the yield was about two thousand bushels. Luyando also planted five hundred vines, also olives, fig trees and sugar cane, and started the breeding of horses, cattle and sheep. In the meanwhile, however, after all the soldiers but two had returned to Loreto a wild tribe of the north attacked the settlement and murdered sev- eral of the catechumens. Luyando at first tried to pacify the assailants with presents; but he soon found that this was the worst plan of pacification that could be adopted ; for the marauders, considering such conduct as an indication of fear, became bolder and began ranging the country in predatory bands, spreading terror and consternation on every side. The danger became so imminent that Luyando deemed it prudent to withdraw with his two soldiers to Guadalupe, where he took counsel of Father Sistiaga, who had had more experience of the natives and knew better how to manage them. Sistiaga promptly determined that no time was to be lost, not even to send to Loreto for more soldiers. He imme- diately summoned all the Indians of his neighborhood upon whom he could rely and armed them as well as he could with pikes, at the ends of which the soldiers fastened knives. He then told them to make as much noise in their war-like prep- arations as possible, for the purpose not only of encouraging their friends but of striking terror into the enemy; and, as he rightly judged, the fame of his fierce little army preceded him to San Ignacio and produced a considerable effect before he arrived. UJpon mustering his forces he found he had seven hundred men. From these he chose three hundred and fifty; and, putting himself and Luyando at their head, he marched for the seat of war. The Indians had no idea of discipline; they were accus- tomed to march in small bands under the leadership of separate chiefs; but, upon approaching San Ignacio, Sistiaga acquainted them with the necessity of acting in cono&rt and REBELLION. 23] under one command. At his directions two captains were appointed; one chosen by himself, the other by the Indians; and both these were to act under his general orders. The preliminaries being satisfactorily arranged, the army again took up its march; and, learning that the enemy lay camped about a spring near the base of a mountain, it proceeded under the generalship of Father Sistiaga and the leadership of his captains to surround the place in the night time, and then began closing in on all sides. At sunrise, the various com- panies at a concerted signal raised the war-whoop and rushed in upon the unsuspecting marauders, who, finding themselves surprised, threw down their arms. A few managed to escape; but thirty-four were made prisoners without the spilling of blood. After securing them Sistiaga caused the country to be scoured for other parties ; but so great was the terror, which his little army with its noisy preparations and the suc- cess of its first assault had occasioned, that not another enemy was to be found. He therefore led his victorious troops back to San Ignacio, which they entered with their prisoners in a kind of triumph. The next day the entire people were as- sembled and the prisoners brought to trial before the soldiers and head men of the various rancherias as judges; and, being convicted of capital crimes, they were sentenced to removal to Loreto to be dealt with as might be there determined. No sooner was sentence passed than the prisoners exhibited the greatest dejection, while the catechumens, imagining they would have the pleasure of killing their enemies and thus glutting their vengeance, began dancing for joy; but the fathers reproved their exultations and took occasion to in- struct them in the duties of mercy and forgiveness. The next day the court sat again; and, at the request of the fa- thers, the judges were induced to commute the sentence that had been pronounced to a certain number of lashes. The execution commenced with the principal offender, when the fathers again interceded; and the rest, after being deprived of their weapons, were pardoned and released. This lenity was so unexpected to them that they immediately desired bap- 232 THE JESUITS. tism in testimony of their gratitude; and, when this was refused, they desired their children to be baptized. Their wish in this regard was shortly afterwards complied with, except in the case of the principal offender, who however returned a few days subsequently with his little son in his arms and with tears begged that his child might be received, even though he himself should be put to death. His contri- tion was to all appearance so sincere that the child was im- mediately baptized and the parent then went cheerfully away to rejoin his countrymen. In a few months the adults them- selves gathered around the missions and, after proper instruc- tions, all were received into the church; and peace reigned throughout the northern settlements. It was very different with the establishments in the south. There the disturbances among the hostile tribes and espe- cially among the Coras grew more and more serious. Besides the missions of La Paz and Santiago already mentioned, two others had been established among that turbulent people; oite called that of San Jose del Cabo at Cape San Lucas in 1730 by Father Nicolas Tamaral, and the other that of Santa Rosa a year or two later by Father Sigismundo Taraval at the bay of Las Palmas on the gulf shore to the north of San Lucas. The former was endowed by the Marques de Villa Puente, who seemed never to weary in his benefactions to the coun- try, and the latter by his sister-in-law, Dona Rosa de la Pena, from whom it received its name. Father Tamaral was the same who had founded the mission of La Purisima Concepcion in the north. Father Taraval was a young man, only thirty years of age, who had but recently arrived from Spain. Being highly educated and fond of learning, he devoted much time to collecting materials for a history of the Jesuit settlements in the peninsula; and it is to his labors, incorporated into the work of the historian Venegas, that the world is indebted for most of the particulars which have been preserved. But the establishment of the new missions was still insufficient to restrain the natives: on the contrary it seems rather to have heightened the general discontent and precipitated the impending catastrophe. REBELL10X. 233 fa ^he Indians, particularly those of the south, had been accustomed to live in the most beastly licentiousness; and, especially at their feasts, their conduct was entirely devoid of decency or shame. j This the missionaries from the beginning" of their ministrations had endeavored to reform. Father Jayme Bravo, the founder of La Paz, and Father Napoli, the founder of Santiago, had placed themselves in uncompromis- ing opposition to the prevailing manners; but they had man- aged to temper their zeal with prudence; and during their time no very disastrous outbreaks occurred. But the constant labor they were compelled to undergo wore upon their health and compelled them to withdraw about the time of the foun- dation of the new missions, and their places were supplied by Father Guillermo Gordon at La Paz and Father Lorenzo Carranco at Santiago. These two, as well as Tamaral and Taraval, pursued the same general policy that had been adopted by their predecessors, but without the gentle mod- eration and prudent patience, which long experience among these vacillating savages had taught those predecessors. There were still great numbers of the natives, who had not been converted and who obstinately refused all the offers of the missionaries; and the more strenuous the fathers were in their opposition to the general licentiousness, the more bitter became the gentiles in their hostility. Not only did they continue their indecencies and ill-will ; but, on several oc- casions before the final outbreak came, they endeavored to combine for the purpose of attacking the missionaries and stirred up a spirit of insubordination even among the cate- chumens. Among the Indians of Santiago was one called Boton, the offspring of an Indian mother and a mulatto father. Me was a man of more than common capacity; had raised himself to a position of prominence among his people, and on this account had been named by the fathers as governor of his village. For a while his honors acted as a restraint; but he gradually relapsed into the scandalous manner of living, to which he had before been accustomed, and committed aW 234 THE JESUITS. kinds of excesses. Father Carranco at first reprimanded him and, when this proved ineffectual, deposed him from his office and sentenced him to a public whipping. This chastisement filled him with the most rancorous resentment and from that time forward he devoted himself to revenge. He found a fel- low-conspirator after his own heart in the person of a mulatto, named Chicori, who lived at San Jose del Cabo. This man had been consorting in the most abandoned manner with a number of women, when Father Tamaral founded his mission and seriously interfered with his pleasures and the prospect of keeping up his harem. The two now joined and secretly laid their plans for a general uprising. They passed from place to place fomenting sedition. But at the same time they kept their machinations so well concealed that the fathers had lit- tle or no intimation of the storm which was about to burst and in a short time sweep away the labors of years. In the beginning of 1734, while Boton and Chicori were busily at work in the interior, a large ship was seen to ap- proach Cape San Lucas and after beating on and off for some time it ran into the bay of San Bernabe and came to an anchor. It proved to be the Philippine galleon and was the first that had ever voluntarily stopped there. The object of its visit was to procure fresh water and relief for the many on board who were down with the scurvy. Father Tamaral received the visitors with due kindness and not only placed at their disposition all the provisions he had at his own mission, but slaughtered his cattle and sent off to the other missions for further supplies. The relief thus afforded was so season- able that Geronimo Montero, the commander of the vessel, made a special report of it upon his subsequent arrival in Mexico. The consequence was that orders were given for all the Philippine galleons, on their passage from Manila to Acapulco, to stop at San Lucas; and arrangements were initiated for making the proper provision there for their re- ception and more appropriate succor than could be afforded by the unassisted missions. In the meanwhile everything about San Lucas bore the appearai. lismissed id c :ers, and passed ai managed to cc I even suca. 'he ltd and putting then ■ . I d; and the 1 inspiracy, eix raurdering another by 1 the soldier had .. come himself or sl on questioin.... ct their story and declined stirring . . * wo sold hm'-. About the same time the ii Paz broke into the mission of that place and murdered the soldier, who was there, and would have likewise killed Father Gordon, had he not at the time happened to be absent. While these event- were happening at the last named mis- sions, a soldier from Loreto arrived at San Jose for the pur- pose of attending- upon Father Carranco ; but having in his journey observed many evident of a general outbreak, he warned the father of his dani :d him t< draw at once, adding that as for himself he was unwilling to stay there and perish. Carranco. however, made light of his apprehensions and refused to accompany the soldier, who marched off alone towards La Paz. Upon nearing that place he discharged his fire-arms but received no reply. He then approached the church and called, but still received no answer. Upon going up, he found the doors broken, the fur- niture scattered and traces of blood upon the floor; and, judg- ing from these signs that the expected outbreak had com- ts, a dis- y leagues, rranco had ached San- i and asked lers. Being the cattle, the ng the father two held him body and then ,nes. While this ooy, who had been of the church and, .n, began to weep bit- at it was but right that jr, seized the child by the jt the walls of the church at of the father, which though ~ bCill beating and stoning. They then ..^ h ^a together a quantity of wood; and, setting it on fire, after stripping the body of the father and mutilating it in the most shocking manner, they cast it into the flames, together with that of the child. They then pillaged the church and houses and, amidst shouts and execrations, threw the cruci- fixes, pictures, images and sacred utensils into the fire. In the meanwhile the half-breeds returned with the cattle; but no sooner were they in reach than they too were struck down and their still living bodies also thrown into the flames. The conspirators then proceeded to San Jose, which they reached two days afterwards. It was Sunday and Father Tamaral was sitting quietly in his apartment. Here there was no soldier and there was nothing to fear. The ringlead- ers entered and after a few words they struck the father down and dragged him, as they had done Carranco, into the open air. A few arrows were thrust into him; but a much speedier period than was probably intended was put to his life by one of the murderers, who seized a knife and stabbed him to REBELLION. 237 death. The same insults to his body were practiced as upon that of Father Carranco — all plainly indicating that the fury of the Indians had been roused by the opposition of these missionaries to the abominable licentiousness that prevailed. Much the same scenes that marked the destruction of San- tiago took place also at San Jose; but the orgies here were more outrageous and longer continued. It was to this chance that Father Taraval at Santa Rosa owed his preservation. Before the conspirators could reach his mission, one of his people, who had been at Santiago, hurried to him and gave an account of what he had witnessed. That night, accord- ingly, Father Taraval, gathering up the ornaments of his church, escaped with his soldiers to La Paz and thence crossed over to the island of Espiritu Santo, from which place they took passage in a boat sent for them from the mission of Dolores. They had hardly left Santa Rosa before the conspirators arrived. The latter, finding the father and soldiers gone, pursued to La Paz. There, finding them- selves balked of their expected prey, they fell first upon the catechumens that were still faithful and finally turned their arms against each other. The result was not only that the four southern missions were entirely destroyed; but the whole southern country was involved in strife and bloodshed, and affairs were in a much worse condition than they had ever been in before. CHAPTER X . REDUCTION AND PACIFICATION. THE venerable Father Juan Ugarte did not live to witness the great calamity which had thus befallen the settle- ments. He had spent the last few years of his life at the mission of San Xavier, in the quiet enjoyment of the little paradise he had with so much labor and difficulty formed about him among the once barren declivities of Vigge Bia- undo. In 1 731, at the age of seventy years, after a service of thirty in the peninsula, during which he had done more for the cause to which he had devoted himself than any other person, he peacefully sank to rest, and the land he had consecrated and blessed with much more than the. bless- ings of the church, received his body. The year previously Father Piccolo had died in his seventy-ninth year at Lbreto; so that when Ugarte passed away he was the last of the original founders. Nor is it any disparagement to the others to add that he was the noblest, bravest and greatest of them all. Upon the death of Ugarte, Father Guillen became the superior of the missions. At the time the news of the insur- rection and destruction of the establishments in the south reached him, he was at his mission of Dolores, which was now the most southerly of those that were left unattacked. But as it was supposed that the defection of the Indians was gen- eral and as it was also supposed or at least feared that those of the north, if not already seduced, might easily be incited by the example of their southern countrymen to rise and commit like outrages, it was deemed advisable for all the (23S) RED UCTION AND PA CIFICA TIOX. 239 fathers to withdraw to Loreto and there await the pacifica- tion of the country. Orders to that effect were accordingly issued; and in the beginning of 1735 all the outside settle- ments were abandoned and all the missionaries and soldiers in the land assembled on the spot where Salvatierra had first planted the cross and set up the image of the holy mother- patroness of the conquest. At the same time word was sent across the gulf to Sinaloa and Sonora and also to the viceroy in Mexico of the imminent danger to which the Christians in the peninsula were exposed and soliciting immediate as- sistance. The viceroy at that time was Juan Antonio Bizarron. He was an officer of much the same character as many of his predecessors; profuse in words of sympathy but barren in deeds of help; in promise mighty, in performance nothing. To the earnest call for speedy succor, he answered that the California missions were of great importance and were greatly exposed and, if the missionaries would send off to Spain and acquaint the king with their peril, he would willingly exe- cute the commands of his majesty for their relief. 1 Substan- tially similar answers were returned from the Spanish gov- ernors of Sinaloa and Sonora; so that, if the fathers had been obliged to depend solely upon their countrymen in New Spain, their condition might have been desperate indeed. But the aid and comfort, which the miserable officials were unwilling to afford, were forthcoming from another quarter. The Yaqui Indians, who lived in the neighborhood of the present port of Guaymas and who had recently become con- verted, as soon as they heard of the disorders in the peninsula and the jeopardy in which their fellow Christians on the other side of the gulf were placed, promptly volunteered their services to cross over and protect them. A little army of five hundred warriors at once collected and marched down to the mouth of the Yaqui river ready to embark. But the vessel, which was to transport them and which proved to be Ugarte's Triunfo de la Cruz, could carry only a limited nura- 1 Venegas, P. Ill, § 20, p. 483. 240 THE JESUITS. ber; and accordingly sixty picked men, the strongest, most active and best armed, were selected; and with these the ship immediately sailed for Loreto. It seems that the means of communication among the natives of Lower California, even between those who were . widely separated, were very perfect. Hardly had the insur- rection in the extreme south commenced before it was known by the Indians of the extreme north. The northern people, as has been already explained, were much more peaceable and trustworthy than the southern; but still there were signs of insubordination among them; and it was probably only the early retirement of the missionaries from amongst them that prevented atrocities in that quarter also. However this may have been, when the northern establishments were precipi- tately abandoned, the natives of those regions soon became sensible of their loss; and before very long they began to concert measures for inducing their instructors and providers to return. For this purpose the principal men amongst them agreed to repair in a body to Loreto; and accordingly, rever- ently taking the crosses of the missions of San Ignacio, Guadalupe and Santa Rosalia upon their shoulders, they marched down in solemn procession to the church at Loreto, where the fathers were all assembled. Arrived there, with tears and entreaties they assured the missionaries of their faithfulness and besought that, as they had been accepted and baptized in the faith, they should not now be left to return to their former evil ways and utterly perish. They represented that it was unjust that they should suffer for the faults and crimes of others and that they were willing and anxious to deliver up to condign punishment every one, who had either acted or spoken amiss or against whom any cause of just suspicion could be found. And they finally begged, if their teachers and pastors would not return and rely upon their fidelity, to be allowed to bring their families to Loreto and settle themselves there; for they were unwilling, they said, to live apart from those who had led them into the paths of rectitude and in whose hands their salvation rested. Such RED UCT10N A ND PA CIFICA TION. 2 4 1 pleas as these, expressed as they were with all the signs of sincerity, were irresistible. But it was thought prudent to delay, for a short time at least, acquiescence with their request. The pilgrims were therefore detained some days; at the end of which time, it plainly appearing that there was no treachery concealed under the cloak of piety and affection, and the Yaqui warriors having arrived for the restoration of order in the revolted districts, the missionaries consented to return to their several missions; and they were escorted back with hosannahs and shouts of joy. Some of the natives who had given indications of discontent and disquiet, were slightly punished, more to gratify the rest of the people than because of any fear of trouble from them; and a few, who were clearly guilty, were temporarily banished, so that no sparks of rebell- ion might be left in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the Yaqui auxiliaries having placed themselves under the command of Captain Lorenzo and his soldiers, arrangements were directly made for a campaign in the south. A sufficient guard having been left at Loreto, the others proceeded, some by land and some by sea, to La Paz and formed a military camp there. Upon the approach of those, who went by sea and who arrived first, the rebel Indians collected on the shore and made several attacks, in which there were some losses on both sides; but upon the appearance of the larger party, who went by land and among whom there were several horsemen, the enemy was intimi- dated and fled into the interior. There they hid among the rocks and caverns; and, when driven from one place of con- cealment, it was only to scatter and take refuge in others still more inaccessible; so that Lorenzo, with his limited forces, found it impracticable to dislodge them before he was recalled and the conduct of the campaign assumed by the governor of Sinaloa, who had at length been ordered to cross over and take charge of the war. This individual did as he was ordered; but he was a person, as it proved, whose superiority in rank to Captain Lorenzo was but a poor compensation for his inferiority in ability. 16 Vol. I. 24 2 THE JESUITS. It will be recollected that the commander of the Philippine galleon, which touched at Cape San Lucas in the beginning of 1734, procured an order from the viceregal government at Mexico that all the Philippine galleons thenceforth should touch at the same place. The galleon of the next year accordingly ran in to San Bernabe bay, in the expectation of procuring fresh water and provisions; and, upon nearing the shore its pinnace was hoisted out and thirteen sailors sent to acquaint Father Tamaral of their arrival. Upon landing they were surprised to see no one to receive them. Instead, how- ever, of suspecting anything wrong, they left one or two of their number to take care of the pinnace and the rest pro- ceeded up the country towards the mission. But they had not gone far when the Indians rushed upon them from an ambush and killed them all. The savages then ran to the pinnace; killed those who were in charge of it, and began to break up the boat. The commander of the galleon, after waiting some time in vain for the return of the pinnace, sent out his long-boat with a party of armed marines; and they > upon approaching the land and ascertaining the true state of the facts, attacked the murderers; killed a few; wounded a numberj and took four prisoners. With these they returned to the galleon, which, having many sick on board and being on short allowance, immediately weighed anchor and sailed for Acapulco. As soon as the news of this sad event reached Mexico and the result of the viceroy's refusal to send succor to California was thus made strikingly manifest, that official found himself obliged by the force of public opinion to take action, without being able as before to shield himself under the pretense of waiting for express orders from the king. He therefore directed the governor of Sinaloa to cross over to the peninsula with a body of troops and put a stop to the disorders there, at the same time authorizing him to take the conduct of the war into his own hands and pay no further attention to the directions of the fathers than he might deem proper. Under these- circumstances the governor of Sinaloa sent word in advance that Captain Lorenzo and his men REDUCTION AND PACIFICATION. 243 should be recalled; and, himself landing with a flourish of trumpets, he marched his soldiers to the seat of hostilities. The new commander soon manifested his intention of re- ducing the insurgents in his own way and refused to listen to the advice of those, who knew much more of the country and the character of the enemy than he did. But after parading up and down the peninsula for about two years and accom- plishing nothing, except the consumption of provisions and royal treasure enough to have fortified the country under anything like proper management, he was compelled to make the mortifying confession that his plans were not adapted to effect the object desired. After making this confession, he consented to change his course of action and, at the advice of the fathers, managed to force the rebels to a general engage- ment, in which they were overwhelmed and defeated with great slaughter. This overthrow, however, was not sufficient to satisfy the Indians. To such a height had their hostility and insolence by this time grown, that they still refused to sur- render and kept up the war by skirmishes. But, by pursuing the same policy, they were forced to a second general engage- ment and more severely punished than before. This finished the insurrection and closed the war. The defeated rebels, upon their submission, were required to deliver up their ring- leaders. These, instead of being executed as Lorenzo would have insisted, were merely banished On their passage across the gulf, they rose upon their guard and attempted to make themselves masters of the ship; but the soldiers fired upon them and killed almost all. Among those who survived, were Boton and Chicori; but these too soon afterwards lost their lives in Sonora, the land of their exile, one by being killed in a quarrel and the other by falling among the rocks and receiving fatal bruises. While these events were taking place in California, infor- mation of the insurrection and of the loss of the Philippine galleon's pinnace at San Lucas reached Spain; and the king immediately ordered the viceroy of Mexico to establish a royal garrison in the peninsula. It was at first intended that 244 THE JESUITS. La Paz should be head-quarters; but subsequently, in consid- eration of the convenience of the Philippine ships, the loca- tion was changed to Cape Sar. Lucas. This new establish- ment introduced a very important change into the government of the country; for, oy tne terms of the royal orders and at the suggestion of the viceroy, the captain-general and his soldiers were to be entirely independent of the fathers and subject only to the government at Mexico. Against such an arrangement, the missionaries, as might have been expected, loudly protested. But by this time the Jesuits, as a body, had become exceedingly unpopular. The tide of public opinion had already for a long period been setting strongly in opposition to them and to a great extent had caused the slights and neglect of the California missions to which refer- ence has already been made. No attention was therefore paid to the remonstrances of the missionaries; and, in the choice of a captain-general of the new garrison, care was taken that the appointee should not be too much under their influence. Bernardo Rodriguez Lorenzo, son of the old cap- tain who had grown gray in the service of the fathers, was the first appointee; but he was soon afterwards temoved on account of his deference to the instructors of his youth; and the place was filled by the appointment of Pedro Alvarez de Acevedo, who was bound by no such ties. Under the new arrangement, there were forty soldiers; ten stationed at San Jose del Cabo, ten at Santiago, ten at La Paz and ten at Loreto. The military government thus organized did not work suc- cessfully. The rebel Indians had been utterly defeated and deprived of their leaders and gave no further trouble. But the soldiers, being now entirely independent of the fathers, began to commit all sorts of excesses They forsook the missions; neglected their duties; oppressed the natives; be- took themselves to the pearl fisheries, and spent their time in riot and disorder. In a few years there was nothing but irregularity and confusion; and the whole country was on the point of being ruined by the very garrison that had been REDUCTION AND PACIFICATION. 245 formed for its security. Every one could plainly see that the policy, which had been adopted, was not calculated to accomplish anything but harm. The excesses of the soldiers became so enormous and outrageous that complaints began to be heard on every side; and the viceroy found himself obliged again to change his plan of government. Captain- general Acevedo was discharged; the soldiers were again placed under the directions of the Jesuits, and their enlist- ments, discharges and payments put upon the former footing. As soon as these alterations were effected, the work of the missionaries again went forward. The ruined missions were restored and re-established; the dispersed catechumens were collected, and new converts in great numbers gathered into the fold. Not only this; but the Spanish court, hearing of the successful progress that was now being made, ordered that all the charges and extraordinary expenses, which had been occasioned by the insurrection and the troubles that had followed it, should be made good out of the royal treasury, and that new and more effectual measures than had yet been employed should be taken for the further settlement and total reduction of the country. One of the last acts of the reign of Philip V. was a new royal schedule or mandate, dated November 30, 1745, relating to California affairs and providing for the execution of the above designs. With these objects in view, it was ordered that a series of new and well-guarded settlements should be made around the head of the gulf and thence westward, so that the natives might be insulated from their wild neighbors further north and that the reduction of the province should then proceed in opposite directions; by which plan it was intended that the work should be more speedily, as well as more completely, accomplished. It was also ordered, in con- templation of the extension of the field of labor, that the number of the missionaries should be largely increased; and, in order to secure harmony and success, that the fathers should continue to have the exclusive management and con- trol of the country. This order or mandate, so issued by 246 THE JESUITS. Philip V shortly before his death, was, in June, 1746, rehabil- itated and transmitted by his son and successor, Ferdinand VI., to the Conde de Fuen-Clara, then viceroy at Mexico; and measures were immediately taken for putting it in proc- ess of execution and carrying it out not only according to its letter but also according to its spirit. CHAPTER XI. EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. TO enable the plans thus newly adopted to be successfully prosecuted, it became important to secure the complete reduction of that large portion of Sonora lying between the gulf and the Gila river and known under the general name of Pimeria. This had been the field of Father Kino's later labors; and it will be recollected that it had been the grand project of his life to extend his settlements northwestward beyond the Colorado and even as far as Monterey and Men- docino. But after his death in 1710, little or no progress had been made in that direction; and as a matter of fact several of the churches built by him, within a few years after his active labors ceased, were neglected and fell into ruins. In 1 73 1 efforts were made to recover the ground that had been lost and seven missions managed to maintain their existence; but still the country was far from being pacified or secure. In 1743 and 1744 attempts were made to extend the Sono- rian establishments northward into what is now known as Arizona and for this purpose Father Ignacio Keler made a journey of exploration beyond the Gila and Father Jacob Sedelmayer re-explored the ground that had been previously traversed by Kino. But up to the time when the royal sched- ule of 1746 was issued, Pimeria was almost as wild as it had been before and particularly so on account of its continued exposure to the incursions of the Apaches, who were then, as they are still, the great obstacles to the establishment of peace and order within the range of their predatory attacks. The importance of the complete reduction of Pimeria arose (247) 248 THE JESUITS. not only from the necessity of forming a barrier against the destructive incursions of the Apaches and establishing a safe and continuous road for the progress of colonization to the northwestward, but also from the necessity of providing a source of supplies for the contemplated settlements in the northern part of the Californian peninsula. On account of the rugged and barren character of all of that region that was as yet well known, it was plain that the intended north- ern settlements could not subsist, or at least not for a long time, without support from the fields and pastures of Pimeria — any better than the southern settlements could have subsisted without aid from those of Sinaloa. For these reasons, and in this indirect way to further and eventually carry out the ulterior intention of starting a new settlement of California from the north, it was deemed indispensable to commence by strengthening the missions on the frontiers of Sonora and gradually bringing Pimeria into complete subjection. And this was accordingly the purport of the recommenda- tions made by the Jesuits in their reports as to the proper mode of carrying out the great object contemplated by the king. The plan was substantially a revival of the design first conceived by Father Kino and in the prosecution of which that unwearied worker had undertaken so many jour- neys and undergone so many fatigues. To second the same general purpose, it became desirable that a new survey of the northern portions of the gulf should be made; and this was accordingly accomplished, in the year 1746, by Father Fernando Consag. He sailed from Loreto with four boats in June and examined with great care every headland, bay and watering place from that point to the mouth of the Colorado. He. found the Indians in many places hostile, but managed to gain their good will and ren- der them not averse to communicating with him. They would usually attempt to prevent his landing by threatening gestures and by jumping from rock to rock, brandishing their weapons and uttering angry cries. It was a great amusement to the voyagers to see one of these warriors, who had exhibited EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. 249 extraordinary activity of this kind, make a misstep and tumble down a declivity; for, though he soon got up again, it was in a much more peaceable spirit. He no longer threatened or brandished his spear or jumped from rock to rock, but limped away and hid himself quite chopfallen. In one part of the coast, opposite the vexed and stormy Islands of Sal- sipuede^, Consag noticed that the native women went en- tirely naked, without even the little aprons which modesty had suggested to their countrywomen further south. At another place more to the north, where his soldiers had taken a few prisoners, the Indians offered their women as ransom: a very sure indication that the pearl-divers, to whom such ransom might have been acceptable, had been there be- fore him. He found that the pearl-beds extended north to within a few degrees of the head of the gulf, where the waters became thick and turbid and the bottom foul and slimy. The mouth of the Colorado he found to consist of several different channels, caused by three large islands; and its water he found of such a malignant quality that, upon com- ing in contact with the skin, it caused inflammation and blisters which remained for months — an experience similar to that of Father Ugarte with the same water twenty-five years before. Altogether his surveys, his descriptions and his charts were so particular and minute that they became justly celebrated; and for a long time they remained the only reliable guides to the navigation of the seas he had thus so ably examined and mapped. About, the same time that Father Consag made his voyage and with a view to the intelligent prosecution of the new. plans for the further settlement and reduction of the penin- sula, information was diligently collected in reference to its geography; its peculiarities and productions; its races and tribes; and particularly in reference to the condition of the missions and their progress in the work for which they had been founded. For this purpose each of the missionaries was required to furnish an account of his establishment. In addition to these, several writers of marked ability devoted 250 THE JESUITS. attention to the same subject. Father Sigismundo Taraval, the same who so narrowly escaped death at the time of the insurrection of the Indians at Cape San Lucas, gathered materials for an account of the missions; and subsequently, about the year 1739, Father Miguel Venegas at Mexico wrote a full history, in which he collected and set forth in a very able, eloquent and perspicuous manner all that was then known about the country. His manuscript was carried to Spain about the year 1749, where it was thoroughly examined and various additions from other sources made to it by Father Andres Marcos Burriel; and afterwards in 1757, with all the requisite licenses and formalities of the day, it was published at Madrid under the title of " Noticia De La California y De Su Conquista Temporal y Espiritual Hasta El Tiempo Presente." The book attracted immediate attention both in Spain and in other countries; it was translated into various languages, an English edition appearing in 1759 and a French one in 1767; and by its means the peninsula became generally known throughout the civilized world. The work of Venegas closed with an ardent prayer that the blood of the martyrs spilt in what was then known as California might avail in the sight of heaven for the com- plete reduction of that benighted land and the conversion of its savage inhabitants from their brutal and enormous vices to the paths of virtue and religion. And in view' of the recent orders of the government and the new information that had been collected and spread abroad, it seemed likely that the Jesuit fathers would live to see their establishments rapidly increase and fill up the country. But while they were entertaining these hopes and flattering themselves with these brilliant prospects, events were taking place in Europe which were soon to destroy their anticipations of further dominion. There has already, in several instances, been occasion to notice the ill will with which the Jesuits were coming to be regarded. From a small beginning under Ignatius Loyola, their founder, in 1539, they had rapidly grown into an immense power and ramified into all parts of EXPULSION" OF THE JESUITS. 251 the world. Not content with devoting themselves to strictly- religious avocations, they had assumed to interfere in political affairs; became more or less involved in all the great events of the day, and, wherever they were able, attempted to guide and direct them to suit their own purposes. Consisting of constantly increasing numbers, amounting in 1749 to over twenty-two thousand, persons of experience and ability; dis- tributed throughout almost every region of the earth; bound by the strictest oaths to obey the commands of the head of their order, and recognizing no superior allegiance except to the pope, they had, in two hundred years, encouraged as they were by the sovereigns who occupied the thrones of Spain, France and Portugal, become truly formidable. But the day of reckoning was at hand; and, almost simultaneously, they were driven forth from their places of honor and authority in each of those countries and rendered exiles and fugitives. The movement com-menc-ed-in Portugal, where it was sup- posed that they had not only instigated rebellion in the provinces but had also been privy to a conspiracy to .assas- sinate the king. A complaint against them was first laid before the pope and their suppression demanded. But the papacy hesitated; and the government of Lisbon then took the matter into its own hands. The result was a royal edict, issued in 1759, declaring the Jesuits traitors; suppressing the order throughout the Portuguese dominions, and confiscating all its property. In France there was a similar movement: but the occasion different. There the Jesuits had a powerful enemy in the person of the Due de Choiseul, the prime min- ister of Louis XV. But it was not until they had assumed to interfere in the domestic arrangements of the king by demanding the dismissal of Madame de Pompadour, his mistress, that their fate was sealed. This action on their part compelled the mistress to unite with the minister; and nothing could withstand their conjoined powers. Louis XV., urged on by private entreaties of the mistress as well as by public solicitations, suggested and encouraged by the min- ister, demanded of the pope that the order should be re- 252 THE JESUITS. formed by placing those in France under a superior of their own — a change which would have dismembered and destroyed them. The reply was the famous answer, ' Sint ut sunt, aut non sint — they must be as they are, or not be." This reply being unsatisfactory, the French government like the Portuguese acted on its own account; and in 1764 the order in France also was suppressed. In Spain their expulsion was effected three years afterwards by Charles III., one of the ablest, if not the very ablest, of the Spanish kings. He had mounted the throne on the death of Ferdinand VI. in 1759. His prime minister, the Count de Aranda, was the friend and pupil of Choiseul of France. Both king and min- ister were great reformers, inimical to priestcraft, and hardly needed an occasion to take vigorous measures against an order so powerful and so dangerous to the many radical reforms they contemplated. It was indeed charged that the Jesuits had conspired against the king and that treason- able writings had been found in one of their colleges; but it can hardly be doubted that the action of king and min- ister would have been the same under any circumstances. They took no counsel of the pope, but went on and fully matured their plans before a movement was made or any- thing known of the impending blow. The first intimation the nation had of it was an order, promulgated simultaneously in Spain and in its various colonies, for the immediate arrest of all the Jesuits and their expulsion from every part of the Spanish dominions. At the same time all their wealth and possessions were confiscated; and, so great was the animosity of the government against them, that it was further ordered if any Spanish subject should attempt in writing to vindicate them, that he should be deemed guilty of treason and suffer death. The time fixed for the execution of the royal order wal July, 1767. In that month all the Jesuit colleges in Mexic and the missions not too far removed were suddenly take. possession of by soldiery, and the Jesuit fathers seized am marched off under strict guard to Vera Cruz, where the\ EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. 253 were put on board vessels and sent away. Those of Sinaloa, Sonora and Pimeria, fifty in number, were seized in like mannei and marched to Guaymas, whence they were shipped in a small and ill-provided vessel to Matanchel. The voyage between these two places is usually made in five or six days; but on this occasion it required forty-eight; and the Jesuits, cramped up and in want of wholesome provisions, suffered dreadfully. From Matanchel they were compelled to take up their march overland for the same port of Vera Cruz from which their brethren had been shipped — a distance of about three hundred leagues. Their march for the first day was through a low, marshy country; some were so ill that they frequently fell from their horses; others, who went on foot, often had to travel through mud and water up to their knees. Besides this they had little or nothing to eat. In a few days almost all of them were dangerously sick with malarious fevers; and, being unprovided with proper care and attention, twenty died. The remaining thirty, after they had sufficiently recovered to proceed, were driven forward and, only after a long, toilsome and terrible march, reached Vera Cruz. There they were shipped for Cadiz, which they did not reach until about two years after leaving Guaymas. 1 The execution of the royal order in California was com- mitted to the charge of Gaspar de Portola. He was directed to proceed thither with fifty soldiers; to expel the Jesuits; turn over their missions to the fathers of the Franciscan col- lege of San Fernando of Mexico, who were to follow him, and himself assume the government and control of the coun- try as military governor. He was to proceed with great circumspection, so as to take the Jesuits unawares- and before they could conceal the treasures they were supposed to pos- sess or arm the Indians in their defense. Ever since the time of Captain Mendoza, there had been a suspicion that Califor- nia was a land of wealth. Its pearl-beds had yielded largely; and it was supposed by many to be richer in mines of gold and silver than in pearls. Several argentiferous veins had 1 Baegert's Nachrichten, P. Ill, § io, pp. 299-301. 254 THE JESUITS. been discovered near Cape San Lucas and partially worked; and though the returns from them were in fact small, it was easy to believe them great. There were even some who felt convinced that the Jesuits, from these and various other sources, of which little or nothing was known, had accumu- lated and were accumulating immense riches and that they decried the land and represented it as a region of utter bar- renness for the purpose of deterring others from visiting it and interfering with their acquisitions. Why else had they spent their lives in such a desolate wilderness ? Why else had they clung so persistently, under so many obstacles and for so many years, suffering the extremes of heat and thirst, to bare rocks and thorny declivities ? That they were capa- ble of concealments was not thought too much for men who were supposed to contemplate absolute sovereignty. That they were capable of deception and fraud was not thought out of place for men who were supposed to regard allegiance to the head of their order as superior to that due to their king and country. In the prosecution of their purposes they were believed to prefer underhanded measures and crooked paths; and nothing seemed too bad to charge them with or to suspect them of. The very name of Jesuit had to many become a by-word and a reproach — the synonym of chicanery, falsehood and perjury. Gaspar de Portola with his soldiers arrived in the peninsula in October, 1767, and landed at Cape San Lucas. He, as well as his people, to use the exaggerated language of Father Baegert, believed that the land was paved with silver and that pearls were to be swept up with brooms. 1 They there- fore leaped ashore with alacrity; made themselves masters of the neighboring mission of San Jose del Cabo, and prepared to seize its supposed uncounted treasures. The fathers had had no intimation of their coming and did not dream of the fate awaiting them. They consequently had had no cause or opportunity to conceal anything. Still there were no riches, 1 " Sic meinten Californien war mil Silber gepflastert unci man fegte die Perlen darin mit Besern zusamnien." — Baegert, P. Ill, $ 10, pp. 304, 305. EXIULSJON OF THE JESUITS. 255 either of gold or silver or pearls, to be found. With the ex- ception of the ornaments of the church and a few articles of porcelain and silken stuffs left by the Philippine galleons, there was nothing of value to be discovered; and Portola soon found that he and those who thought with him had been mistaken, and that the supposed wealth of the Californian fathers was a myth. He proceeded next to the mission of Santiago and found it even worse provided than San Jose. He then went out to the mines and satisfied himself of their poverty also, and the extreme penury of those who feebly worked them. He then, with his soldiers, who by this time had begun to curse the country and bewail the day they had been inveigled into it, set out for Loreto, which was over a hun- dred leagues distant. Though the ordinary daily marches of Spanish soldiers were only five leagues, they here found them- selves obliged, on account of the scarcity of water and forage, which were found only at long distances apart, to travel ten leagues and more at a time. They hastened onward, and about the middle of December reached their destination and seized the capital. ■ The superior of the Jesuits in the peninsula at this time was Father Ducrue. To him Portola exhibited his commis- sion; delivered the royal mandate o/ expulsion, and in the name of the king and of the viceroy demanded possession of the country. In as respectful and considerate a manner as the nature of his office would permit, he asked a full and complete inventory of all the missions and everything per- taining to them, and he suggested that the fathers should be brought together as speedily as possible and take passage in the vessel, which lay in readiness to receive them. In accord- ance with these requests and suggestions, the various inven- tories were made out and placed in Portola's hands; and the different missionaries, sadly relinquishing their respective stations, collected at Loreto. They were there received by Portola, as was the Spanish custom of the day, with courteous embraces. On February 3, 1768, the collected fathers, fifteen in all, assembled in the church and celebrated their last high 256 THE JESUITS. mass in the country. The image of Our Lady of Loreto, the patroness of the conquest, was draped in mourning Father Diez, though unprepared yet as if inspired by the sad circum- stances, preached a farewell sermon, which affected the entire congregation to tears. From the church, the fathers, after being again embraced and bidden adieu by the new governor, marched down to the beach and went on ship-board. The entire population of the place and all the Indians of the neighborhood and many from distant places, all weeping, accompanied them to the water's edge. By this time the sun had sunk; the twilight changed into dusk; the sails were run up in the dark; they filled and'swelled with the winds of the night; and before morning, with a favoring breeze which accompanied them to Matanchel, they were far distant on their way. They had left California forever. 1 1 Baegert, P. Ill, § 10, pp. 307-312. CHAPTER XII. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. AT the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits from the penin- sula in 1768, there were sixteen of them, fifteen priests and one lay brother. Of these, eight were Germans, six Span- iards and two Mexicans. Exactly the same number, fifteen priests and one lay brother, had died and were buried in the country. 1 There were at the same time fifteen missions; sev- eral of those which had been originally founded having been either changed to other localities, consolidated with others or abandoned. Commencing at Cape San Lucas and going northwestward, these were: first, San Jose del Cabo at the Cape; second, Santiago de los Coras twelve leagues distant northwestward and four leagues from the gulf coast; and third, Todos Santos in about the same latitude as Santiago, but lying on the coast of the Pacific. The actual distance of Todos Santos from Santiago was only a day's journey; but an almost impassable mountain lay between them and the traveled trail made a detour, which required about three days. The fourth was that of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Sur, more than seventy leagues from Todos Santos and about six from the Californian gulf; the fifth that of San Aloysio in the midst of the mountains midway between the gulf and the ocean and six leagues from Dolores. The sixth was San Francisco Xavier de Vigge Biaundo in the Vigge mountains thirty leagues from San Aloysio and eight from the gulf; the seventh Nuestra Senora de Loreto at the capi- tal on the gulf shore; the eighth San Jose de Comondu a day's journey northwest of San Xavier; and the ninth La 1 Baegert, F. Ill, § 10, p, 312. 17 Vol. I. (^57) 258 THE JESUITS. Purisima Concepcion near the Pacific coa.st and about the same distance from San Jose Comondu as the latter was from San Xavier. The tenth was that of Santa Rosalia de Mulege - , at the mouth of the little creek, called the Mulege river, about half a league from the gulf and a long day's journey northeast from La Purisima Concepcion. North of La Purisima and about two days' journey distant was the eleventh, Nuestra Seiiora de Guadalupe, among the Guada- lupe mountains and not very far from the Pacific; and a day's journey northeast of Guadalupe and about the same distance from Santa Rosalia, situated in the middle of the peninsula was the twelfth, San Ignacio. The thirteenth, that of Santa Gertrudis, was two days' journey northwest of San Ignacio; the fourteenth, that of San Francisco de Borja, was the same distance northwest of Santa Gertrudis; and the fifteenth, that of Nuestra Senora de Columna, three days' journey north- west of San Francisco de Borja. The last and most north- erly was in latitude 31 and had only been founded in 1766, the year before the arrival of Governor Portola. 1 Among the Jesuits expelled from the peninsula was Father Jacob Baegert, a native of the upper Rhine in Germany." He had arrived in the country in 175 1 and lived there seven- teen years. In the course of his residence he had traveled much; talked with his older brethren, and familiarized him- self with the missions, the geography, natural productions and resources of the land and the character, manners and customs of the Indians. After his expulsion and upon his return to his native country, he found the public mind vio- lently agitated against his order; and there seemed to be a general disposition to misrepresent their doings in the penin- sula. The " Noticia de la California " of Venegas, which had appeared in Spanish at Madrid in 1757, in being translated into English and published at London two years afterwards, had, as he charged, been considerably altered and in part suppressed. a This English version, so altered, had been 1 Baegert, P. Ill, § 2, pp. 211-214. 2 Baegert, P. HI, § 10, p. 312. 3 " Ziemlich beschnitten." — Baegert, Vorrede, p. 3. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 259 translated into French and published at Paris in 1767; and, soon after Baegert's arrival in Germany, a German translation of the English version was announced. Although Baegert had read the Spanish original only in part and could not read the English, 1 he was well acquainted with the French version and had discovered in it many errors and misstatements, which, and especially in view of the anticipated speedy ap- pearance of a German translation, he deemed it his duty to correct. He accordingly sat down and wrote a highly inter- esting work in his native German tongue, entitled " Nach- richten Von Der Amerikanischen Halbinsel Californien — Account of the American Peninsula of California" — to which he added two appendices of what he called " Falsche Nachrichten — False Accounts." This, with permission and license of his order, he published at Mannheim in 1773. Baegert, though he wrote in the spirit of a disappointed man and of a country from which he had been expelled, and though he sometimes indulged in slings and slurs and some- times in exaggerated expressions, gave a very intelligible and, one cannot help believing, a very correct account of the Cal- ifornia of his times. He spoke as an eyewitness, of things he himself had seen, and in a style of plain, unhesitating directness; frequently unpolished, often even blunt; in some instances professedly as a polemic and an advocate; but always with that kind of eloquence which thorough self-pos- session and earnest conviction are calculated to inspire. His diction is far from that of a Goethe or a Lessing, but from the beginning to the end of his work there is not a page that can be called dull or tedious. The California described by Baegert, as well as by Venegas, was only the peninsula or what is now known as Baja or Lower California. It extended from about the latitude of the head of the gulf, running in a general southeasterly direc- tion, to Cape San Lucas, a distance of upward of seven hun- dred miles. Its breadth in the north, where it joined the continent, was about one hundred and thirty miles: from there 1 Baegert, Vorrede, p. 5. 260 THE JESUITS. it gradually diminished but with many variations until it reached its termination. For a short distance* about its mid- dle it was nearly as wide as in the extreme north; but its usual width .was from forty to sixty miles. It consisted of a prolongation, so to speak, of the ranges of mountains now known as the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges. These unite into one chain in the latitude of the Santa Barbara Channel; run thence southeastwardly and, after passing the latitude of San Diego, form the entire peninsula. The whole country may be aptly described as a mountain chain, the bald, rocky, barren ridges of which alone have risen above or are not yet sunken beneath the waters of the ocean and gulf. There are few or no plains and nothing deserving the name of a river, though several small rivulets are so called, from one end of the country to the other. One of these little brooks ran by the mission of San Jose del Cabo; another by that of Santiago, and a third by that of Todos Santos. There was a fourth at San Jose Comondu; a fifth at La Pur- isima, and a sixth and the largest of them all at Santa Rosalia de Mulege. 1 Nothing, according to Baegert, was more common in California than rocks and thorn-bushes; nothing so rare as moisture, wood and cool shade. 2 The climate varied much with the latitude, the elevation and the exposure to the winds. Though there was sometimes a little frost, and in the higher regions of the north a little snow had at long intervals been known to fall and a thin film of ice to form, the temperature was usually very hot and very dry. The greatest heat began in June and lasted till October and it was often, for a European, very oppressive. Baegert spoke much of his profuse perspiration and the difficulty he had in finding a cool resting place even at night. Going out of doors he compared, on account not only of the direct rays of the sun but also on account of the reflection of the hot earth, to approaching the open doors of a flaming furnace; 1 Baegert, P. I, § 3, p. 26. 2 " Nichts ist so gemein in Californien als Felsen unci Dornbiische, aher nichts so rar als Feuchtigkeit, Holz und kiihler Schatten." — Baegert, P. I, §3, p. 21. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 261 and he said the wayfarer found it inconvenient, if not unsafe, to sit down upon a stone by the roadside, without first rolling up his mantle or something of that kind and placing it under him. 1 It required but eight hours even in the shade for fresh meat in large pieces to putrefy; and for this reason the only way of preserving it was to cut it into thin strips and dry it in the sun: in other words, to make what is known as "jerked meat." But, notwithstanding the great elevation of temperature, the natives themselves never complained of it: on the contrary they were fond, even at times when a Euro- pean would be wet with perspiration, of lying around a blaz- ing fire. 2 The seasons could hardly be divided into spring, summer, autumn and winter, though there was of course a time for grass and flowers to come forth and for birds to sing; for fruit to ripen and for leaves to wither and die. The main division was into a rainy season and a dry season. Showers and occasional heavy rains might be looked for from about the end of June to the beginning of November; a storm sometimes occurred earlier or later; but often very little water fell in the course of an entire year; and in what was known as the dry season, from November till June, showers were rare. The storms were sometimes accompanied with lightning and thunder; and the rainy season often ended, as has been already stated, with a hurricane or tempest called a cordonazo. It, however, much more frequently threatened to rain than actually rained; and the showers were usually of short duration and limited extent. Owing to the bare, stony character of the country, the rain-water ran off rapidly and, collecting in torrents, rushed through the gorges with destruc- tive force and great noise. These torrents in their irregular courses frequently scooped up large quantities of earth and left puddles, which contained more or less water for months after the season was over and furnished drink to the cattle 1 " Musz man zudiesen Zeit im Feld Halt rnachen, so kann man sich auf keinen Stein setzen, wenn man nicht einen zusammen gerolten Mantel oder sonst etwas dergleichen sich unterleget." — Baegert, P. I, §2, p. 16. 2 Baegert, P. I, § 2, pp. 16, 17. 2G2 THE JESUITS. and people. On account of the rarity of permanent streams and the scarcity of springs, many regions depended exclu- sively for water during the dry season on these pools, which, as they were stagnant and used promiscuously by man and beast, as well for bathing and wallowing as for drinking, often became very foul. At these pools, according to Baegert, the indigenous Californian stretched himself upon his belly and sucked up the water like an ox. 1 There were sometimes heavy fogs, not only in the autumn and winter months but also in summer. They rose from the ocean and were therefore heaviest on the western coast; but usually they were dissipated early in the day. Some sup- posed they brought with them a noxious principle, which injured grain fields. The dews were about the same as in Europe. Occasionally the sweet deposit, known as honey- dew, was seen upon the leaves. But generally throughout the year, day and night, the sky was clear and dry; and, though there was almost always a gentle breeze, it was almost invariably warm or even hot. Still it was pure and healthful and, when one became accustomed to it, not unpleas- ant. Baegert said he would gladly have carried the climate with him when he had to leave." On account of the climate and the character of the ground, planting and cultivation were altogether impracticable except in the few spots where soil and water were found, or could be brought, together; and, as it was often the case that there was no soil where there was water and no water where there was soil, the fields and gardens were few and far between and several of the missions had none at all. Throughout the greater part of the country there was so very little soil that it barely covered the rocks. 1 "In diesen Siimpfen baden sie sich, mit diesen Wassern erquicken und laben sich Menschen unci Yiehe, unci endlich, vor diesen legt sich der Californier auf den Bauch nieder und trinket daraus wie eine Kuhe, weil er gemeiniglich nichts hatzum schopfen." — Baegert, P. I, § 3, p. 27. 2 " Was ich derohalben aus Californien mit mir fort tragen zu konnen ge- wtinschet hab, ist nichts als die einzige Witterung." — Baegert, P. I, § 3, p. 31. " The sky is constantly serene and of a deep blue, and without a cloud; and should any clouds appear for a moment at the setting of the sun, they display the most beautiful shades of violet, purple and green." — Humboldt's Political Essay, Black's Translation, II, 326. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 263 At the mission of San Aloysio, for instance, Baegert could find no ground fit for a burial place; and he was therefore obliged, for the purpose of rendering the labors of the sextons more easy and saving their picks and shovels, to prepare one by scraping up the earth from wherever he could find it in the neighborhood and filling in a sufficient space, formed by the four walls of his church-yard. 1 But where there was soil and natural moisture or where there was soil and irrigation, everything wore a very different appearance. There, one could plant and sow almost what he would and it yielded a hundred fold. Wheat, maize, rice, squashes, melons, cotton, citrons, plantains, pomegranates, the most luscious grapes, olives, figs, fruits — in fact almost all the productions of both temperate and torrid zones throve side by side and with astonishing exuberance. Many of these places yielded a second or even a third crop the same year. Such a spot was Vigge Biaundo, the scene of Ugarte's great labors; and other spots of the same character and of greater or less extent were found here and there along the course of the rivulets before described and in the neighbor- hood of springs and pools. But with these exceptions the land might be described as a desert waste, 2 a land of miser- able thickets and thorns, of naked rocks, stones and sand heaps, without water and without wood. 3 It seemed to Father Baegert as if it had been thrown up by subterranean forces from the bottom of the sea after the other parts of the world were finished and apparently after the creative energy had been well-nigh spent.* As a consequence of the dry climate and arid soil, there was hardly anything that could be called a wood and much less a forest in the country. There were a few trees on the promontory of Cape San Lucas, also in the Guadalupe mount- 1 " Weswegen ich die vier Mauren meines Kirchhofs, schier bis oben an, mit Erd hab anfullen lassen, um den Todtengriibern die Arbeit zu minderen und das Eisenwerk nicht so bald unbrauchbar zu machen." — Baegert, P. I, § 4, pp. 32, 33. 2 "Terra deserta et invia et inaquora." — Baegert, P. I, § 4, p. 32. 3 "Von armseligem Geheck, eitel Dornbuschen und kahlen Felsen, von Stein- und Sand-haufen ohne Wasser und Holz." — Baegert, Vorrede. art, P. I, § 4, p. 41. 264 THE JESUITS. ains; and in the extreme north there were a few firs and oaks in the mountains. The native trees of the middle and southern portions of the peninsula were generally mesquite and in some places a species of willow and here and there some unfruitful palms. It was of the mesquite that Ugarte built his ship; but even these were so infrequent that almost all the timber, used by the missionaries in building their churches, was brought from across the gulf. Baegert com- plained of the difficulty of finding wood enough to burn a limekiln. 1 When the mountains and hills were not entirely bare, they were covered with thickets of chaparral, among which was found a kind of wild plum tree that exuded the resin or gum used in the churches in place of frankin- cense. There were also many species of cactus; and among others several which yielded pitahayas, the most important wild fruit produced in the country. With the exception of the cacti, almost all the plants of the chaparral were legumi- nous and all or nearly all covered with strong, tough and sharp thorns.'* In addition to the pitahayas and other fruits of dif- ferent species of cacti, there were several esculent roots, among the principal of which were gicamas. There were also various kinds of seeds used by the Indians, some resembling red beans, others resembling hemp, and others canary seed. 3 Of the few quadrupeds there were deer, hares, rabbits, .cougars, ounces, wild cats, coyotes, foxes, polecats, rats and mice. A few mountain sheep and wild goats were said to be found in the heights, particularly in the northern part of the peninsula; sometimes a few beavers were seen, and sometimes a wolf; but no mention was made of bears. Bats, rattlesnakes and other serpents, tortoises, toads, lizards, scorpions, centi- pedes, tarantulas, wasps, ants, locusts, grasshoppers and other small insects were plentiful. There were not many birds; but among those met with were vultures, buzzards, hawks, falcons, owls, crows, doves, herons, quails, pigeons, geese, cranes, ducks and several varieties of smaller birds; also pelicans, gulls and 1 Baegert, P. I, § 5, p. 48. - Baegert, P. I, § 5, passim. » Venegas, P. I, § 4, p. 53. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 265 other sea birds. 1 Of the pelicans Venegas gives a curious account, copied from Father Assumpcion, who accompanied Viscarno on his voyage up the northwest coast. According to him, these birds were so helpful to one another that they seemed to have the use of reason. If any of them became sick, feeble or maimed, so as to be unable to seek its food, the others brought fish and placed them before it. At an island in the Pacific, not far from Cerros, he found one tied with a cord and having a broken wing. Around it were multitudes of excellent sardines that had been brought for its sustenance by its companions. The Indians, aware of the kindly helpfulness of the birds, had taken advantage of them by maiming, tying up and exposing the poor decoy; and they feasted themselves by robbing it of the abundance with which it was thus supplied. 2 Of fish there were many kinds, ranging in size from whales to sardines. The whales were of several species and so num- erous both in the ocean and in the gulf that various places were named from them. There were also large numbers of sea-lions and seals. Immense rays and sharks were plenti- ful and sometimes seriously interfered with the pearl-divers. According to Venegas halibut, cod, salmon, mackerel, turbots, bonitas, skates, soles, sardines and many other kinds, both wholesome and palatable, were abundant. 3 There were many kinds of shell-fish, among which the pearl oysters of the gulf shores were the most important. Others with magnificently colored shells were also found and particularly along the ocean coast. Add to the foregoing particulars the mineral developments, which, however, with the exception of a few argentiferous veins near Cape San Lucas not worth the working 4 and the salt-pits of Carmen Island, consisted only of a few sulphur banks and iron beds; and a tolerably full account is afforded 1 Baegert, P. I, § 7; Venegas, P. I, § 4. " Venegas, P. I, § 4, pp. 48, 49. 3 Venegas, P. I, § 4, p. 56. * " Das Silber graben in Californien mehr kostet als es eintragt." — Baegert, P. I, § 9, P- 80. 266 THE JESUITS. of the country, its general features and natural productions, as known to the Jesuits. ' It was, altogether, according to Baegert, one of the most miserable countries in the world, 1 fit only for three kinds of people: self-sacrificing priests; poor Spaniards, who could not make their living anywhere else; and native Indians, for whom anything was good enough. 2 1 " Aus den armselichsten Landern des bewohnten Erdkreiszes eines seye." — Baegert, P. I, § 9, p. 83. * Baegert, P. I, § 9, p. $5. CHAPTER XIII. INDIANS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. THE native races of the peninsula were divided by the Jesuits into three main classes, the £ejdaJ^Sj the.JVIon- cju]s_and the Cochimies. The' first inhabited the southern" portion from Cape San Lucas to the neighborhood of La Paz; the second the middle portion from La Paz to beyond Lo- reto; the third the northern portion from above Loreto as far as known. The Pericues, including a portion of the Mon- quis, were sometimes known as Edues; the Cochimies, includ- ing the other portion of the Monquis, as Laymones. The Pericues included the sub-branches of the Coras, Guaycuros and Uchities; the Monquis the sub-branches of the Liyues and Didius; the Cochimies numerous sub-branches not spe- cially named but all known under the general appellation. Each of the sub-branches were again divided into families or rancherias, bearing different names, an enumeration of which would be neither useful nor interesting. Baegert gives the names of eleven, who were under his charge at San Aloysio and as a specimen of their nomenclature may be mentioned the Mitschirikutarnanajeres. 1 All the natives in general were tall, erect, robust and well-made. Their features were not disagreeable; but they usually disfigured themselves by pierc- ing and inserting bits of wood or bone into their ears, which, being thus enlarged, sometimes hung down upon their shoul- ders,' 2 and by besmearing their faces with unguents and colored earths. Their complexions were darker than those of the Indians of Mexico. Baegert calls them dark chestnut or 1 Baegert, P. II, § I, p. 96. 2 Baegert, P. II, § 9, p. 159. (267) 268 THE JESUITS. lye-colored, approaching black. Their color became more pronounced with growth; for at birth, he says, the children differed little in appearance from those of white persons. Their hair was coal black and straight. They had no beards and their eyebrows were not well-formed. Their eyes were almond-shaped, being round and without angles next the nose. Their teeth were large, regular and white as ivory. 1 Baegert estimated the native population at about forty or fifty thousand. It seems probable, however, that the penin- sula proper did not in fact contain more than half as many. In 1767 a census, taken in fifteen missions, amounted to only twelve thousand. In some parts of the country a person might travel four or five days and not see a single Indian. JOf their origin nothing can be affirmed, nor has ethnology or philology as yet detected any special relationship with any other people. They had no records or even traditions worthy of consideration. Baegert, being unwilling to believe that any people could inhabit such a country of their own free will, supposed that they had been driven out of the more favored regions of the north by more powerful races and had taken up their abode among the rocks and wastes of the peninsula as a place of refuge. But at the advent of the Spaniards they had lost all knowledge of the coming of their ancestors. They believed California to be the entire world; they knew no other people except their neighbors; they visited none and were visited by none. Some of them thought they orig- inated from a bird; others from a stone; others, more wisely perhaps, did not think upon the subject and cared for noth- ing but filling their stomachs and toasting their idle shins around a fire.' 2 They had nothing that could, properly speaking, be called a town or village. As a general rule they slept on the naked ground, under the open sky, and in whatever place they hap- pened to find themselves after the .day's wanderings. In the cooler seasons they sometimes built screens of twigs to pro- _ . ! Baegert, P. II, § 1, pp. 89, 90. 3 Baegert, P. II, § 1. INDIANS OF 10 WE R CALIFORNIA. 269 tect themselves against the winds; but it was seldom they slept more than two or three nights in succession in the same spot; They rambled from place to place as they found water, fruits and other articles of provision. If they con- structed a hut, as was sometimes the case to shield a sick per- son from the heat or cold, it was so low and narrow that one could not get in except upon his hands and knees: there was no room for a second person to sit by or wait upon the suf- ferer; there was no place for one's husband or wife. If not upon the hunt, they would sit or lie in an idle, impassive man- ner upon the ground. At the missions, when their lessons were over, they would squat upon the floor; the men with their feet twisted under them in the Asiatic style; the women with their legs extended in front. 1 As they had no houses, so they could hardly be said to have any clothing. The men were entirely naked and among the Cochimies or northern Indians many of the women also. Among the Pericues and Monquis the women usually wore around the hips a belt, to which was fastened before and behind a great number of loose strings made of the threads or fibers of the aloe plant. The fashion in some tribes was to have these hanging down as far as the knees, in others as far as the feet. Sometimes the women wore the skin of a deer or of a large bird. They made a kind of sandals by tying pieces of deer skin on their feet. Upon their heads they had no covering; but some wore strings of shells and berries in their hair and also about their necks. When the missionaries gave them clothing, they would wear it in church; but as soon as dismissed they would throw it aside as entirely too inconvenient." Their property consisted of a bow, arrows, a shark's tooth or sharp stone by way of knife, a bone or (pointed stick to dig for roots"^ a tortoise shell which served both as basket and cradle; the stomach or bladder of a large animal in which to carry water and a netted sack for the transportation of provisions on their rambles. The men carried burdens 1 Baegert, P. II, § 2. 2 Baegert, P. II, § 3. 270 THE JESUITS. upon their heads; the women upon their backs, supported by a strap passed around their foreheads. 1 Their bows were over six feet long and commonly made of the roots of the willow tree; they were three or four inches wide in the mid- dle and tapered towards the ends. The bow-strings were made of intestines. The arrows were made of reeds, about four feet long, notched and feathered at one end and armed at the other with a point of very hard and. heavy wood, often tipped with flint or obsidian. From infancy they practiced archery and there were many expert bowmen amongst them. yThey knew little or nothing about cooking; but such cook- ing as was done, was done by each one for himself. Day after day and year after year they did nothing but seek their food, sit and devour it, talk, sleep, and idle away their time. 2 They ate anything and everything; and, except in cases where a sick person or an infant was abandoned, starva- tion was rare. The race in general was strong and healthy. ^Their food consisted of roots, principally those of the yucca, which they roasted in the fire, and those of water flags, which they ate raw; fruits, buds and seeds of various descriptions; flesh of whatever kind they could procure, from that of deer, wild cats, rats, mice, owls and bats down to snakes, lizards, locusts, grasshoppers and caterpillars; and lastly whatever could be digested, including skins, bones and carrion. Bae- gert says that nothing was thrown to the hogs in Europe which the Californians would not have gladly eaten. At one time he found a blind old man cutting up his deer skin sandals and devouring the strips; and when an ox was slaughtered and the skin thrown upon the ground to dry, it was soon covered with a half dozen men and boys scraping up, gnaw- ing off, and filling their stomachs with the bits of adhering flesh and grease. He tells several other stories, showing that their filthiness in eating was something extreme, so much so, in fact, that the narrative is disgusting:' They did not understand dressing food; but were accus- 1 IJaegert, I'. II, S f fh^ THinfry h a d heen made by slow and painful degrees and in the face of obstacles and "opposition. The government, it is true, had recognized the importance of the occupation of the northwest coast; and it is also true that order after order and mandate after mandate, with this general object in view, had been issued from Madrid; nevertheless as a matter of fact, no aid or assistance worthy the name had ever been furnished. What the Jesuits had accomplished, they had accomplished by themselves and in spite of embarrassments and hindrances, which, if not created, were at least allowed, by the govern- ment. But when the Franciscans took hold, affairs wore a very different aspect. First and most notably, the character of the government had changed, its councils being now guided by one of the ablest and most vigorous princes that ever sat upon the Spanish throne. Secondly, the Franciscans were. in full accord with the government; so that their move- ments, instead of being hampered, were in every way encour- aged and furthered by it. Thirdly, the^scene of most active labar_was shifted from the peninsula to what is now the State; (291) 292 THE FRANCISCANS. from Baja or Lower to Alta or Upper California; from an arid and sterile country to a comparatively well-watered and exceedingly fertile one; from a wilderness of rocks and thorn- bushes to a land flowing, so to speak, with milk and honey. And as the result of all these combined circumstances, whereas it took the Jesuits seventy years to occupy and reduce an extent of five hundred miles in Lower California, the Franciscans occupied and reduced a larger and more populous portion of Alta California, extending from San Diego in the south to San Francisco in the north, in less than ten years. The Franciscans were well calculated by the principles and practices of their order to carry on, in subordination to the recognized superior authority of the government, the work of extending the missions and enlarging the settlements of California. They had been originally organized, like the Jesuits, for the purpose of supporting the church and supply- ing aid to it wherever such aid should most be needed or could best be used. But they did not, like the Jesuits, so openly and entirely subordinate the interests of their country to those of their order. Their founder, who to a great extent impressed the peculiarities of his own nature upon the order, was a man of extraordinary character. He was born at the town of Assisi in Italy in 1182. On account of the fact that his father had traded and made a fortune in France or more probably perhaps on account of the fact that the child could readily speak the language of that country, he was called Francesco or Francis. As he grew up towards manhood, he is said to have led a gay and prodigal life, such as might have been expected in those days of a youth of spirit and fortune; until it happened, in a civil conflict which had broken out between his native town and the neighboring city of Perugia, that he was captured by the Perugians and kept a prisoner in close confinement for a year. During this incarceration, being left to brood by himself and in 'silence over his condi- tion, he became impressed with the magnitude of his sins and the great difference between the life he led and the life he ST. FRANCIS AND HIS ORDER. 203 ought to lead. Shocked by the comparison and penetrated with remorse but at the same time having" a strong and res- olute mind, capable of great undertakings, he formed the design of renouncing the world and living only the life of mortification then generally supposed to be most for the service of God. Unable to do things by halves, he soon became terribly in earnest in his religious enthusiasm, and, as was natural for one in his condition, it was not long before he persuaded himself that he heard voices and saw sights. One day in particular, while praying in an old and dilapidated church, he imagined he heard a voice from the crucifix calling upon him to repair the falling walls of Christ's house; and, having already taken the turn and devoted himself to piety, he could not for a moment think of disregarding an injunc- tion coming from a source so authoritative. He at once sold everything he possessed; turned over the proceeds to the priest; offered himself as a common laborer, and assisted gratuitously in the work until the necessary repairs were completed and the edifice restored to a condition equal to its original splendor. . This freak, as it was generally regarded by worldly-minded people, was so displeasing to his family that his father threat- ened, if he persisted, to disinherit him. But neither his father's threats, the gibes of his former friends and compan- ions, nor the popular ridicule, which attributed his eccentric- ities to a species of lunacy, could turn him from his purpose. The more he was opposed, the more #rm he became in his determination to cast everything aside and follow Christ. Though a youth of but twenty-four years, he formally renounced his right of inheritance; divested himself of every particle of property; even stripped himself of his ordinary clothing, and assumed as his garment a cloak of the simplest and coarsest material he could find. He not only reduced himself to the condition, and clothed himself in the garb, but he followed the life, of a beggar as the only one in which to practice piety and fulfill what he conceived to be the com- mands of his Divine Master. He sewed his garment with 294 THE FRANCISCANS. packthread, to make it still coarser than it was. He ate his scanty food with ashes strewn upon it. He slept upon the ground with a block of wood or stone for a pillow. He scourged himself cruelly, and in the most rigorous seasons rolled himself in snow and ice to extinguish the fires of sen- sual lusts. He went about seeking opportunities to perform acts of humility. He frequented the hospitals and kissed the feet and washed the sores of the sick and especially of those who, like many of the objects of Christ's ministrations, were leprous. He fasted and fasting prayed and preached; he shed tears so copiously as to become almost blind; and, in nearly every conceivable way, he cultivated what to others must have appeared the most abject misery. Among his many religious enterprises the one, which he deemed most necessary and from which he hoped to obtain the best results, was to visit the Holy Land. To accomplish this purpose he joined the crusaders and in 12 19 reached their camp at Damietta in Egypt. With them he remained until the failure of their arms; and during his stay he found many opportunities of testifying his earnestness and devotion prominently before the Christian world. Upon his return to Italy, his enthusiasm increased rather than diminished. He gave himself up more ardently than ever to prayer and religious exercises. His ardor became rapture; his rapture, ecstasy. He imagined that he received visits and communi- cations from Christ and the saints; and so earnest and constant was his devotion that, according to the legend, he was rewarded with the impression of the stigmata — in other words, he was supposed to be so entirely given up to piety and godliness and to be so perfect in the imitation of Christ as even to bear, like him, the marks of crucifix and passion. A persistent life of this kind, in whatever light it might be looked upon in these days, could not fail in those to attract attention and challenge admiration. Was it not truly the life of one who was laying up treasure in heaven and doing all that was required by the scriptures to inherit eternal life? Had he not sold all that he possessed, given to the poor, taken up his ST. FRANCIS AND HIS ORDER. 295 cross and followed Christ? 1 Was there not every reason to believe him sincere; and, if sincere, was it possible for any one to pursue more strictly, either according to the spirit or the letter, the directions of holy writ? Believed to be sincere and living in an age of faith, he could not fail to have follow- ers as well as admirers. Prominent men, partaking of his spirit, desired U imitate him and become his companions. A rich merchant, in whose house he had once been a guest, first led the way by selling all his estate, distributing it among the poor and associating himself in the devotions and labors of his friend. A canon of the cathedral church followed the example thus set, and by degrees the company increased into the commencement of a great order. The new members, as they came in, adopted the same dress that Francis wore, a robe of coarse gray serge tied about the waist with a hempen rope; and with the dress they also adopted, for the conduct of their lives, the main principles upon which their founder regulated his own. These, in addition to celibacy and repres- sion of the fleshly lusts, were humility, voluntary mendicancy, abhorrence of controversy, a disposition in all possible cases to reconcile disputes and act as peace-makers and, above all and including all, devotion to the church and propagation of the Catholic faith. The beginning of the order under these circumstances dates from August 16, 1209; and its progress was so rapid that in 12 19 it numbered over five thousand members. In 1223 it was confirmed by a papal bull. It was first among the mendicant orders. In 1226 the death of Francis and in 1228 his canonization served to swell its num- bers. As it became better known, and especially on account of the strict vows of poverty which its members were required to take, it became a great favorite with the people and con- tinued to grow larger and larger. In less than fifty years after the death of the founder, it counted over two hundred thousand members with eight thousand colleges and con- vents. In the course of the next five centuries, while the number of its members remained about the same, its colleges 1 See Matthew, XIX, 16; Mark, X, 17; Luke, XVIII, iS. 296 THE FRANCISCANS. and convents increased more than three fold and spread into every quarter of the globe. In the New World the Franciscans had the first missiona- ries and commenced the first permanent missionary establish- ments. Several of their priests had accompanied Columbus on his" second voyage. As early as 1502 they founded a col- lege in San Domingo. They took part, generally speaking, in every expedition and kept equal pace with every conquest. As the Spanish boundaries advanced there were, therefore, newer and newer Franciscan establishments erected; and, when it is considered that such men as Cardinal Ximenez, Bishop Las Casas and many others who wielded great polit- ical as well as ecclesiastical powers were members of the order and took an interest in its missions, it may easily be understood how important a part these establishments played in the settlement and government of the country. But of all these foundations the largest and most important in Amer- ica w r as the college of San Fernando in Mexico. This institution had been founded so early and carried on with such vigor and success that, at the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits, it was in the full strength of its maturity and in excellent condition, in respect to resources, to take charge of new enterprises. It had just succeeded in establishing a number of missions in the Sierra Gorda of Mexico and under circumstances of so much difficulty as to merit and obtain great credit; and, these establishments being now in success- ful operation, it had missionaries of ability and experience at its service for new undertakings. When, therefore, the expul- sion of the Jesuits was resolved upon and the care and exten- sion of the Californian missions recommended to the college of San Fernando, it unhesitatingly accepted the trust and at once prepared to execute it. Between the Franciscans and the Jesuits there was no very cordial feeling. The Franciscans may not have intrigued for, may not even have specially desired the downfall of the Jes- uits; but there can be no doubt that they willingly entered into the general plans which involved their destruction. ST. FRANCIS AND HIS ORDER. 297 Long before any public intimation had been given, and be- fore the Jesuits themselves had any idea of the impending expulsion, the Franciscans had taken measures to fill their places and administer their estates. Before Caspar de Por- tola and his soldiers had gone off for the purpose of tearing the old priests of the peninsula from the arms of their wailing converts, the college of San Fernando had been informed of what was to take place and invited to prepare its members for the new enterprise. And there was no backwardness on its part in taking advantage of the invitation thus tendered. On the contrary, it immediately accepted the services of a chosen number among the candidates, who had offered themselves as missionaries to replace the Jesuits; placed those so ac- cepted under the presidency of one of the ablest, most active, most devoted missionaries that ever lived or labored; and at once sent them off to take possession of the new field about to be opened and ordered them without delay to enter upon and prosecute their labors. The-extt^aoFd+iiary man, thus named as president of the new establishme nts an d_who afterwards became the founder of Afta' California, was Father Junipero Serra. He had al- ready become prominent on account of services performed in the Sierra Gorda and seemed to fit into the new station, to which he was thus called, as if he had been made for it. No sooner was he called than he assumed the office; and no sooner had he assumed the office than he commenced work in earnest. He collected together his little band of priests and at once proceeded to Tepic on the way to San Bias, from which point he intended to sail over to Loreto. But upon arriving with his party at Tepic in the latter end of August, 1767, he found that the ship bringing the exiled Jes- uits from California had not yet arrived and that there would necessarily be a considerable detention before he and his fellows could reach their destination. Under these circum- stances, being unwilling to remain idle and seeing an oppor- tunity of preparing his companions for their future work and • of giving them some practice in their vocation, he estab- 298 THE FRANCISCANS. lished temporary missions in the neighborhood and kept busily employed until the arrival at San Bias, about the mid- dle of February, 1768, of _ the expected ship and its melan- choly freight of exiles. But no sooner had the vessel dis- charged one set of passengers than it prepared to take on board the new company. It was on March 12, 1768, that the Francis- cans embarked; and, after a favorable voyage, they arrived in the harbor of Loreto r -6tt the flight of Good Friday, April 1, 1 /6S. 1 The next morning they landed. Proceeding at once to thenTission church they began to celebrate their advent in the country with masses and thanksgivings to Our Lady of Lo- reto, who remained for them, as she had been for the Jesuits, the patroness of the spiritual conquest. These ceremonies lasted several days, at the expiration of which the fathers set out, each for the separate mission to which he had been assigned. There were sixteen of them in all, being the same in number as the Jesuits, who had been expelled and whose places they were to supply. ' ^ The tr^nsf_r__of the^Tw?riTTns7Th us accomplished, was by no means the whole of the plan which had been adopted by Charles III. and his councilors in reference to California. If it had been, there would probably have been little or nothing in the time and occasion worthy the name of a new era. in the affairs of the country. But, as a matter of fact, this transfer was only preliminary to a far more important and difficult part of the same general plan, which was no less than the immediate occupation and settlement of all those extensive regions, north of the peninsula, that had at any time, been visited by Spanish navigators. The intention was, as soon as the necessary forces and supplies could be collected, to hasten several expeditions, consisting of Franciscan priests and royal soldiers acting in harmonious conjunction into those distant regions, commencing with San Diego and Mon- terey as initial points, and to leave nothing undone until the entire northwest coast should be unquestionably subjected to the Spanish jurisdiction. Such was an integral portion of 1 Palou, Vidadel V. P. F. Junipero Serra, Mexico, 1787, 56 ST. FRANCIS AND HIS ORDER. 299 the instructions transmitted from Madrid to the Marques de Croix, then viceroy of Mexico, and brought over by Jose de Galve z, who had been named visitador-general or inspector and charged with the superintendence of their execution. When, therefore, the Franciscans sailed to the peninsula and assumed charge of the Jesuit missions, it was only the initia- tive of the extensive plan referred to. The remaining portion of the plan, so far as the Franciscans were concerned, was to await the arrival of Galvez, who was to follow with the mili- tary and other forces, and then, joining all the forces together, to advance the Spanish standard northwestward as contem- plated. CHAPTER II. JUNIPERO SERRA. JUNIPERO SERRA, the president and leader of the Franciscans in California was very much such a man as St. Francis might have been if he had lived in the eight- eenth century. There was the same earnestness, the same persistency, the same devotion. Juni'pero may not have heard as many voices or seen as many visions; he may not have been as original as Francis; but he was in every respect as pure in his motives, as strong in his character and as great in his actions. Had he lived in the days of Francis he would doubtless have thought and acted much as Francis did; per- haps similar eccentricities would have been recorded of, and similar extravagances attributed to, him; but he would also probably have been the founder of one among the first of orders and recognized as one among the first of saints. He was born at the village of Petra in the island of Majo rca on November 24, 17 13. His parents were laboring people but so well thought of by the clergy that the boy was received at the church of the place, gratuitously instructed in Latin and taught to sing. Theilce, when he grew older, he was removed to the city of Palma, the capital of the island, where he continued his studies and advanced rapidly. From a very early age he seems to have chosen the vocation of a priest. At seventeen he assumed the habit and at eighteen became a monk professed, taking the name of Juni'pero, instead of that of Miguel Jose, by which he had been baptized.^ In his studies the books he most affected were the livesof saints and chronicles of apostolic labors, which produced such an impres- (300) JUNIPERO SERRA. 301 sion upon his mind that he resolved to become a missionary and felt willing, if necessary, to shed his blood for the salva- tion of savage souls. 1 This desire, however, was not for some time to be gratified: on the contrary he tui'ned his first atten- tion, in obedience to orders received from his superiors, to the teaching of theology. He became a professor, taught for three years with great applause, had many students, and earned and obtained the degree of doctor. At the same time he practiced himself in literary exercises and preached ser- mons, some of which were said by his admirers to be worthy of being printed in letters of gold. (He was exceedingly devout; his zeal fervid; his imagination active; his command of language great; his voice sonorous: in fine all the circum- stances were such that he could not fail to produce a great effect. But such an effect was not what he specially desired. His early idea of becoming a missionary still possessed him and still predominated; and, as soon as an opportunity pre- sented itself of entering the missionary field, "he was quick to seize it. Win his earlier youth he had been small of stature and feeble of constitution; but as he advanced in life his health improved; he grew physically tall and strong; and, when he finally became a missionary in fact, he found himself capable of bearing- almost any amount of hardship and fatigue and in every respect admirably qualified for the sphere he had chosen."] Among his friends and admirers, in the island of Majorca was a brother priest, named Francis Palou, who became the companion of all his subsequent travels and struggles and afterwards his biographer. At first Junipero had kept his project of becoming a missionary a profound secret even from his friend; but, as soon as Palou obtained an inkling of it, he also resolved to become a missionary; and from that time the two took their measures in conjunction. They together tendered their services for any missionary enterprise that might offer itself; but it was a time when missionaries were not wanted; and it seemed doubtful whether they would 1 " Asi Jo of de boca de dicho mi venerado padre " says Palou, Vkla, 3. 302 THE FRANCISCANS. receive a call. It happened, however, (shortly afterwards that the college of San Fernando in Mexico required recruits and enlisted thirty-three Spanish priests for labor in America. Of these, when the time for embarcation approached, five became frightened at the prospect of crossing a stormy ocean they had never seen; and, upon their declining to proceed, the places of two of them were offered to, and joyfully accepted by, Junipero and Palou. They at once, after an affecting leaye-taking from their companions, set sail from Majorca for Malaga, and thence proceeded to Cadiz, from which place they set sail for America on August 28, 1749, and arrived at Vera Cruz after a tedious voyage of ninety-nine days, includ- ing a stoppage of fifteen at Porto RicoJ^puring the passage three strong points of Junipero's character exhibited them- selves and attracted the attention and admiration of his fellow passengers. The first was the uncomplaining patience with which for two weeks before reaching land he suffered the tortures of thirst; the second was the zeal with which, during his stay at Porto Rico, he established a mission and devoted himself without rest to his self-impdsed duties; and the third was the intrepidity he displayed in the midst of storm and imminent danger of shipwreck.""} /From Vera Cruz to Mexico the distance is one hundred Spanish leagues. For this road it had been provided that convenient transportation should be furnished; but upon the arrival of the ship at Vera Cruz, neither carriages nor animals were on hand; and it was uncertain how long it would take until they would be. There was nothing to do, for those who could not get on otherwise, except to wait. But Junipero's zeal admitting of no delay, he requested and obtained per- mission to make the journey on foot; and, finding a strong and reliable fellow pedestrian, the two immediately set out together. Being, however, as might be supposed, but badly provided for such a journey, it was only by the help of entirely unexpected succor, furnished by benevolent persons along the road, that they managed to get through; and Juni- 1 Palou, Vida, 14-16. -^ JUNIPERO SERRA. 303 pero overexerted himself to such a degree as to cause an ulcer in one of his legs, which troubled him for the remainder of his lifejj Notwithstanding this injury, which might have taught him that he was not exempted from the ordinary laws of nature, he was still disposed to regard himself as the object of miraculous interposition, 1 and even went so far as to believe that on two occasions he had been relieved by no less a person than Saint Joseph, or some devout man whom Saint Joseph had especially sent for that particular .purpose." iJt was on January I, 1750, that Junipero first set his foot in the college of San Fernando. He remained there five months and then proceeded to a remote spot among the crags of the Sierra Gorda to the northward of Mexico, where a mission had been founded six years previously. It hap- ' pening at the time that there was no missionary at that place, he had offered his services and joyfully accepted the appoint- ment that followed. Palou accompanied him as assistant; and the two lived and taught there for the next nine years. They were obliged, of course, to learn the language of the Indians; but, in doing so, they also taught them Spanish. More than this and much more important than this, they taught them to cultivate the ground, raise cattle, sell the surplus yield and clothe themselves. With this sort of guid- ance the mission soon became a model for all the country round about; and particularly so after Junipero had managed, with the help of his willing converts, to build a new church unprecedently large and magnificent for those remote regions, 1 From the Sierra Gorda Junipero returned to the city of Mexico, having in the meanwhile consented to take the place of a missionary on the extreme northern frontier, who had been killed by the Apaches. But while he was making- arrangements to proceed to the country of those blood- 1 "Todo esto pudo ser casualidad; pero no lo atribuyeron nuestros peregrinos sino & singular beneficio de Maria Santisima, ;i quien en reconocimiento dieron las debidas gracias. " — Palou, Vida, 18, 19. 2 " Decia que aquel bienhechor 6 fue el patriarca Sefior San Jose, 6 algun devoto hombre, a quien este Santo toco el corazon para que les hiciera estas obras decaridad." — Palou, Vida, 19. 304 THE FRANCISCANS. thirsty savages, his plans were disturbed by the determina- tion of the government to send a military expedition and chastise them before anything else should be attempted. Under these circumstances, Jum'pero remained at the capital and other places populated by Spaniards and spent the next seven years of his life in endeavoring to convert the sinners he found there, instead of seeking savage souls in the wilder- ness. He preached often and fervently during these years; and many stories are told of the wonderful effects he pro- duced. On one occasion, as Palou relates, while exhorting his hearers to repentance, he drew forth a chain and, uncovering his shoulders, began to scourge them so unmercifully that all the audience shuddered and wept. Suddenly a man among those who heard and saw him, being entirely overcome by his feelings, jumped up and cried out, " It is I, miserable sinner, and not the father that should do penance for my many sins." At the same time, rushing to the pulpit, he seized the chain and, disrobing, smote himself with such force that in the presence of the congregation he fell to the floor and soon afterwards expired. 1 On another occasion, a woman among his hearers, who lived a scandalous life, was made to feel her offenses so poignantly that she forthwith abandoned the partner of her guilt. This partner, unfortunately, was a man either of too violent an affection or too w r eak a brain; for, instead of accepting the situation or struggling against it, he gave way to despair and put an end by suicide to his existence. Upon hearing what he had thus done the poor woman could not contain her grief. She tore her hair and, putting on the coarsest apparel, made a public pilgrimage through the streets, crying out in her great sorrow for the forgiveness of her sins — thus presenting a spectacle, says Palou, which edified all who witnessed it and caused the gain of innumerable conversions to the church. 2 While Jum'pero thus produced a great effect upon others, his zeal and devotion produced an equally great effect upon 1 Palou, Vida, 44. 2 1'alou, Vida, 52, 53. JUNIPERO SERRA. 305 his own character. He came to regard himself as under the especial protection of heaven. When on his way from Vera Cruz to Mexico, as has been already seen, he believed that Saint Joseph reappeared and ministered to his wants. But in these latter years, Saint Joseph alone was not enough; and . he convinced himself that not only Saint Joseph but the I Saviour also and the Virgin Mary reappeared; and for no more important an object than to give him a single night's entertainment. The occasion was a certain evening on a journey in the province of Huasteca. The road was desolate; the sun had gone down; and it seemed as if Jum'pero and his companions would be compelled to pass the night under the open sky, when they unexpectedly beheld a house near the road side. At the door stood a venerable man, with his spouse and a boy child. They received the travelers with great hospitality; spread before them a meal prepared with remarkable cleanliness, and kindly kept them over night. In the morning, after tendering their thanks, the missionaries pur- sued their journey. But they had not gone far, when, being met by a troop of muleteers and asked where they had passed the night, they answered, "At the house by the wayside," pointing towards the place. The muleteers in the greatest astonishment replied that there was neither house nor inhabi- tants at any place along the road; whereupon Juni'pero and his companions, without calling in question the assertions of the muleteers, came to the conclusion that their entertainers could have been no others than the holy family. 1 A still more remarkable exhibition of his faith occurred at one of the religious services he performed during this part of his life. It appears that in some manner or other the wine, I in taking the sacrament, had become poisoned; and Juni'pero, soon after drinking it, was seriously affectod. He would have fallen to the floor if not caught by an attendant. Being at once removed to the sacristy, one of his friends came with an antidote. But Juni'pero refused to touch it. And for this refusal the only reason he had to give, was that as the 1 Palou, Vida, 49. 20 Vol. I. 306 THE FRANCISCANS. bread and wine he had taken had, as taught by the church, been converted into the body and blood of Christ, how, after such divine food, could he be expected to swallow a draft so nauseating as an antidote? * In other words, he was so com- pletely and entirely credulous and believed so implicitly in everything that could be considered a part of his religion that, in comparison therewith, he had no thought or consid- eration for his comfort or even for his life. A man such as has been thus described, devout, zealous, indefatigable, believing himself an instrument chosen by God and under the especial protection of heaven, one who entered with every faculty he possessed into his work and felt with his whole soul that therein lay his happiness and salvation, could not fail to make a great missionary. These his charac- teristics and this his fitness were so well known that, when the proposition to take charge of the missions and prosecute the further spiritual conquest of California was made to the college of San Fernando, its ready acceptance was in great part due to the fact that it possessed a man so eminently well qualified to superintend and manage the business. Its acceptance was based upon the faith that Juni'pero would assume such superintendence and management; and it was not mistaken in the man. Though he was at the time thirty leagues distant from the city of Mexico and ignorant of what was going forward, he was at once named president of the Californian missions; and no sooner did he hear of his appoint- ment than he joyfully accepted it. He now felt that he had a grand opportunity for extensive and wide-spread usefulness in his chosen vocation; and he congratulated himself upon the fact that it was offered him, as it were by Providence, without solicitation or indication of wish on his part. And he was so zealous and impatient to get to work that he could hardly wait for the completion of proper arrangements before he set out with his subordinate and assistant missionaries for Loreto. He arrived there, as has been seen, and received the delivery of the Jesuit missions, in the beginning of April, 1768. 1 J'alou, Vida, 50, 51. JUNIPERO SERRA. 307 A month or two subsequently, Jose de Galvez, the visitador- general, in accordance with the plans previously agreed upon, embarked at San Bias with a large force intended for the proposed settlement of Alta California. On July 6 he pitched his camp at a place called Santa Ana near La Paz. From that place he wrote to Juni'pero at Loreto, who immedi- ately answered; and Galvez rejoined, inviting Junipero to his camp. Though a hundred leagues distant, Juni'pero forth- with made the journey. The two then and there discussed the plans of the king and the means at their disposal for car- rying them out. The result of their conference was an agree- ment that two different expeditions should be dispatched for San Diego, which was to be the initial point of the proposed new settlements. One of these expeditions was to proceed by sea and the other by land; and whichever first arrived at San Diego was to wait there twenty days for the other and, in the event it did not arrive within that time, to proceed to Monterey. The expedition by sea was to employ three ships, two of which were to sail at one time and the third at a subsequent time. The land expedition was likewise to be divided into two parts; one to march at one time and the other at another. The ships were to carry a portion of the troops, the camp equipage, church ornaments, agricultural implements, provisions and in fact everything that could con- veniently be conveyed in that way. The land parties were to be made up of the remainder of the troops and people; and they were to take with them from Loreto the herds and flocks from which the new country was to be stocked. It was also arranged that four missionaries were to accompany the vessels; a fifth was to march with the first land party; and with the second land party Father Junipero himself was to follow and also Gaspar de Portola, the governor. These preliminaries being settled and one of the ships intended for the expedition being then at La Paz, Galvez ordered it to be immediately careened, overhauled and repaired. Upon examination it was found that a coating of pitch would be necessary to put the bottom in good condi- 308 THE FRANCISCANS. tion. But there was no pitch on hand and none to be pro- cured. Under the circumstances Galvez conceived the idea of extracting a substitute for it from certain plants that were found in the neighborhood; and to the astonishment of every- body he succeeded in doing so. 1 Nor did he disdain to labor with his own hands at the work. When this was done and the repairs finished, he directed the packing of the stores; and, as he had taken part in the repairs, so he also took part in the lading. Among other things he packed the sacred vessels and ornaments intended for the contemplated mission of San Buenaventura, which, on account of the special interest he felt in it, he was accustomed to call his own; and, as he did his packing with more speed than Junfpero exhibited in packing the vessels and ornaments intended for Monterey, Galvez facetiously boasted tha t he wa s a better sacristan than Tuniper o himself. At length j on January g, i^z do^all the paciarig_and_lading being com pleted, the vessel was ready for sea. Galvez called the adventurers together and made them _^_ / a stirring oration. Junfpero then came forward, administered the sacrament; blessed the ship and the banners it carried, and recommended all to the guidance and protection of St. Joseph who had been named patron of the expedition. The adventurers therefore settled themselves for their. voyage and set sail for San Diego, 1 " Mando descargar la capitana, y viendole la quilla, determino darle una reconida y nueva carena; pero faltando la brea para hacerlo, no se dedign6 la Christiana piedad del expresado Senor no solo idear de que sacarla sino que por sus mismas manos trabajo para consequirla, como lo logro de los pitayos, quando dtodos parecia imposible." — Palou, Vida, 59. 1 CH APTE R III. THE PIONEERS OF 1 769. THE name of the ship, thus dispatched by Galvez for Alta California, and the first that spread its canvas in the conveyance of permanent settlers, was the San Carlos. It was a small vessel, called in Spanish a paquebot or barco, of not more than two hundred tons burden. Its commander was Vicente Vila. Besides him and its crew, it carried Fernando Parron, a Franciscan father, as missionary; Pedro Fages, a lieutenant of the army, and a company of five and twenty Catalonian soldiers; also Miguel Costanso, an engi- neer; Pedro Prat, a surgeon of the royal navy, and a number of others, including two blacksmiths, a baker, a cook and two tortilla makers. There were sixty-two persons in all. Its cargo, in addition to camp equipage, church ornaments, agri- cultural implements and tools, consisted of a full supply of provisions and, last not least, of many kinds of seeds of the New as well as of the Old World, not forgetting flax, garden vegetables and flowers. 1 As the San Carlos sailed out of the harbor of La Paz, Galvez embarked in another small vessel, which he. had at hand, and bore it company to Cape San Lucas. There on January 11, 1769, after having the satisfaction of seeing the San Carlos double the Cape and head for the northwest with a fair wind astern, he disembarked and forthwith set to work preparing his second vessel intended for San Diego. This 1 " Siembra de toda especie de semillas, asi de la Antigua, como de la Nueva Espafia, sin olvidarse por estas atenciones de las mas minimas, como hortaliza, floresylino. " — Falou, Vida, 59. See further, in reference to the passengers and cargo of the San Carlos, Cali- fornia Archives, P. S. P. I, 15-25. (309) 310 THE FRANCISCANS. second vessel was the San Antonio, otherwise known as El Principe. In the passage from San Bias it had been pre- vented by contrary winds from reaching La Paz, and had run into Cape San Lucas, where Galvez directed it to remain until he could arrive and give the further proper orders. He now made a thorough examination and repair of the vessel, as he had done at La Paz with the San Carlos; and then, after substantially the same ceremonies, dispatched it on the same way. It sailed from the Cape on February 15, 1769, under the command of Juan Perez, a Majorcan, well known as an expert pilot in the Philippine trade. It carried, besides offi- cers, crew and cargo, all the remainder of the people then with Galvez intended for Alta California; and among others two Franciscan fathers, Juan Viscaino and Francisco Gomez. Two of the ships having thus been dispatched, Galvez next turned his attention to the third, the San Jose, which had also arrived from San Bias and was lying at Cape San Lucas. As soon as it was overhauled and repaired, as the others had been, it was ordered to proceed to La Paz and thence to Loreto, where it was to load for San Diego. Galvez followed to the same places and superintended the shipment of the cargo and other preparations for sea. He had intended that a mission- ary should accompany this vessel also; but Jose Murguia, the father assigned, being ill at the time of its departure, none at all went. It sailed from Loreto on June 16, 1769, and, according to one account, was never afterwards heard of. 1 According to another account, it returned in several months badly crippled; was sent for repairs to San Bias, from which place it sailed to Cape San Lucas and left there for San Diego in May, 1770; and from that time was never afterwards heard of. 2 Whichever account be correct, it is certain that it never reached its destination. It was lost; but when, in what man- ner or in what seas, no one can tell. In the meanwhile the first land expedition for San Diego had also started and ,vas on its way. It was under the com- 1 Palou, Vida, 62, 63. 2 Palou, Noticias de la Nueva California, San Francisco, 1S74, II, 31-34. THE PIONEERS OF 1769. 311 mand of Fernando Rivera y Moncada, who had been captain of the presidio at Loreto. He had been directed by Galvez, in the. autumn of 1768, to select such soldiers and muleteers as he might deem necessary and, taking along his baggage and camp equipage, proceed to the northwestern frontier. On his way, he was to call at the various missions and collect all the horses and mules they could spare, also two hundred head of cattle and all the dried meat, grain, flour, maize and biscuit he could carry with him. In pursuance of these in- structions, he had chosen twenty-five soldiers, three muleteers, a gang of Indian neophytes for pioneers and a number of servants; and, after gathering up all the domestic animals and provisions as directed, he marched to the frontier northwest- ward of the mission of San Francisco Borja and pitched his camp there at a place called Vellicata. From this place he reported to Galvez, who was then at La Paz, and asked further instructions. Galvez, instead of answering directly, referred the matter to Father Juni'pero, who having just pro- nounced his blessing upon the San Carlos, as has been seen, was about setting out on his return overland to Loreto. Juni'- pero made the journey as rapidly as possible, and upon his arrival at Loreto sent off word to Father Juan Crespi, then at Purisima Concepcion, to join Rivera y Moncada and proceed as soon as practicable to San Diego. Crespi, upon receiving the summons, left his mission and on March 22, 1769, joined the camp at Vellicata; and the second day afterwards, Rivera y Moncada, leaving a portion of his soldiers, muleteers, do- mestic animals and baggage to be brought on subsequently, gathered up the remainder and resumed his march. The second land expedition, which was under the com- mand of Governor Gaspar de Portola, marched from Loreto on Mar ch 9, 176 9. It had been intended that Juni'pero should accompany it; but, on account of the soreness of his leg, which had become very greatly aggravated by his recent journey to La Paz and back, he delayed starting for several weeks. It was not until March 28, after due devotions and affecting leave-takings, that he finally mounted his mule and, 312 THE FRANCISCANS. in company with two soldiers and a servant, set out upon the march. His way led him first over the rugged trail from Loreto to San Xavier, where his old friend Francisco Palou, into whose hands he was to turn over the presidency of the Lower California missions, was stationed. Upon his arrival there the swelling of his leg was found to have become so severe that it was doubtful whether he could go on. Palou, seeing his condition, proposed that for the time being, they should exchange places, that is to say: that Jum'pero should remain at ease in Lower California, while he, Palou, should accompany the soldiers and settlers into the north- western wilderness. But Jum'pero could not for a moment think of remaining back from the grand conquest he contem- plated. " Let us speak no more upon the subject," he said, " I have placed my faith in God and trust in his goodness to plant the standard of the holy cross not only at San Diego but even as far as Monterey." l Upon this Palou desisted; but he confesses that he still feared that Junfpero's ability to make the journey was not as strong as his faith. Three days afterwards, all the business between the two having in the meanwhile been arranged, Jum'pero, though in great pain yet with the help of his soldiers and servant, remounted his mule and, wishing Palou farewell until they should meet to labor together again in the vineyard of the Lord, proceeded on his journey. Passing from mission to mission on his way north- westward and resting a short while at each, he finally reached the frontier. There he joined Governor Portola, who with his troops and Father Miguel de la Campa Coz who had joined the expedition at the mission of San Ignacio was waiting his arrival; and the entire party then proceeded to the camp left by Rivera y Moncada at Vellicata, which they reached on May 13. This place, Vellicata, was distant about sixty leagues north- west of San Francisco Borja, hitherto the most northerly 1 " No hablemos de eso: yo tengo puesta toda mi confianza en Dios, de cuya bondad espero me conceda llegar, no solo ;i San Diego, para fixar y clavar en aquel puerto el estandarte de la Santa Cruz; sino tambica al de Monterey." — ' Palou, Vida, 67. THE PIONEERS OF i/6p. 313 establishment in the peninsula; and, as it promised well for an intermediate stopping place between that point and San Diego, it was determined before proceeding further to found - a mission there. A proper spot for a church having accord- ingly been selected and cleared by the soldiers, bells were hung and a great cross put together The next morning, May 14, Juni'pero, having clothed himself m his sacerdotal robes, consecrated water and with it blessed the site and its surroundings. The cross was then reared and, having been adored by all, was permanently fixed San Fernando, the [sainted king of Castile and Leon, was named the patron of the new mission, which was thenceforth known as San Fer- nando de Vellicata; and Father Miguel de la Campa Coz was appointed missionary. In the celebration of the mass I and the rendition of the " Veni Creator Spiritus," which closed the ceremonies, there being no wax on hand «for tapers, candle ends were used; a continual fusillade by the soldiers supplied the place of organ tones, and the smoke of gunpowder that of incense. The next day, one-fifth of the (cattle were segregated, marked and turned over; a due pro- portion of the provisions also set apart; and a company of (soldiers, under command of a corporal, assigned to the new j ^ rtission. | ~ All this having been accomplished, on the evening of the same day, Governor Portola, Juni'pero and all the sol- diers not assigned to San Fernando, taking with them the muleteers, servants and remaining supplies, resumed their journey and marched three leagues. During the three days he remained at Vellicata, Juni'pero did not think about his ulcerated leg. His mind was too much absorbed with his religious occupation to feel it. But, when he came to resume his journey, he found it worse than ever. It had become dreadfully inflamed and the pain increased to such a degree that he could neither stand, nor sit, nor sleep. Governor Portola under the circumstances proposed that he should return to San Fernando and remain there at case until restored to health. But Juni'pero replied, in much the same terms he had before used to Palou, that 314 THE FRANCISCANS. he had put his faith in God, who had enabled him to come thus far and would enable him, he trusted, to reach San Diego; and that at any rate he would go on and, if it was the will of God that he should succumb and leave his bones among the gentiles, he was content. Portola, seeing his fixed resolution and also considering that he could neither walk nor any longer sit upon his mule, ordered the construc- tion of a litter upon which he might be carried, in a lying posture, by the Indians who accompanied the expedition. But Junipero, upon hearing of this order, being unwilling to become such a burden to the poor wretches who already had quite enough to bear, was greatly grieved and prayed to God that he might be spared causing them any further hardships. Then calling one of the muleteers, he asked him if he knew no remedy for his ulcerated leg. The muleteer answered, " Father, what remedy should I know ? I am no surgeon. I am only a muleteer and can only cure the sores on the backs of beasts." " Well, son," replied Junipero, "consider this ulcer, which has caused all this pain and deprived me of sleep, as such a sore and treat me the same as one of your beasts." The muleteer smiled at such a request, as did likewise all the bystanders. But he answered, " Father, to please you, I will do so;" and taking a little tallow, mashing it between stones, mixing with it certain herbs which he found near by and heating the whole together, he applied the compound to the ulcerated leg and bound it on. Its soothing effect was such that Junipero slept soundly through the ensuing night and the next morning rose and went about his affairs, as if he had never been affected. The relief was almost immediate; and everybody looked upon the cure with wonder and astonish- ment. 1 Junipero being thus unexpectedly enabled to pursue his journey, the expedition without much loss of time got under way again. It followed the track of Rivera y Moncada. This was for a short distance a trail that had in 1766 been traveled by Wenceslao Line, one of the Jesuit fathers, on an exploring trip to the Colorado river; and it then struck off 1 I'alou, Vida, 73, 74. THE PIONEERS OF 1769. 315 more to the northwestward, keeping to the west of the main chain of the Sierra. The journey was slow; there was con- siderable suffering; a few of the Indians died; some had to be carried on litters; others deserted. But still the expedi- tion kept on. 1 At length, on July 1, 1769, forty-six days after leaving San Fernando de Vellicata, the wayfarers came in sight of San Diego. As they looked down upon the bay they saw the San Carlos and San Antonio riding at their anchors and on the shore the tents and camp of Rivera y Moncada. The sight filled their hearts with joy; and their breasts swelled with enthusiasm, which could not be repressed. As they hastened onward they fired volley after volley; the salvos were caught up and returned by the troops of Rivera y Moncada; and then the ships at their anchors, as if sud- denly awakened into life, joined in the glad acclaim. The unaccustomed echoes thus set flying had scarcely died away, when the new-comers rushed into the arms of those who had arrived before them; and all congratulated themselves that the expeditions were thus happily joined and at their wished- for destination. It appeared, upon comparing notes, that the San Antonio, though it had sailed a month and a half after the San Carlos, was the first to reach San Diego and had arrived there on April 1 1. It had then waited for the San Carlos twenty days and was preparing, in accordance with the instructions of Galvez, to sail for Monterey, when the San Carlos came into port. The latter vessel had arrived in a very short-handed condition On account of leakage of its casks, it had been compelled to stop at Cerros Island to replenish and had filled with water of such bad quality as to cause severe sick- ness. This, combining with scurvy, had produced a malig- nant disorder, which became contagious and in many cases fatal. All the crew, with the exception of one sailor and a cook, had died; and many of the soldiers were very low. The disease, as well as the stoppage, had occasioned delay; and the voyage had been still further prolonged by sailing a degree and a half of latitude too far north, which had to be 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 41-95. 316 THE FRANCISCANS. retraced. The two vessels, thus come together, had then waited two weeks, that is until May 14, when the land expe- dition led by Rivera y Moncada arrived. So that when Gov- ernor Portola came up, none remained behind. All being now united, a council of commanders was called to determine what was next to be done; and the first thing settled upon was to forthwith send the San Antonio back to San Bias for supplies and sailors to take the places of those who had died. This vessel accordingly on July 9, as soon as every- thing could be prepared, again put to sea; and twenty days afterwards it reached San Bias. Unfortunately it carried the seeds of contagion with it; and very few of its people remained alive, nine having died on the passage. In the meanwhile, on the third day after his arrival, Juni- pero sat down and wrote to his friend Palou in Lower Cali- fornia. He dated his letter from what he called " the truly magnificent and with-reason-famous port of San Diego." 1 After giving an account of the coming together of the vari- ous expeditions and what they had done, he spoke of the Indians he had seen on the way; their great numbers; how they generally lived upon seeds; how those along the coast fished upon rafts of rushes or tules made in the form of canoes, with which they ventured far out to sea; how all were pleasant and courteous; how, while the men and boys were naked, the women and girls were decently covered; and how, in their traffic with the Spaniards, what they most desired and most willingly bartered for was not food to eat but cloth- ing to wear. He also spoke of the landscape about San Diego, its valleys studded with trees, its wild vines covered with grapes, and its native roses as sweet and fair as those of Castile. The entire new country he pronounced different in every respect from that of the peninsula and very beautiful. 2 1 " Este puerto de San Diego, verdaderamente bello y con razon famoso." — Palou, Vida, 76. ' l " Empiezan A estar todos los arroyos y valles hecbos unas alamedas. Parras las hay buenas y gordas, y en algunas partes cargadisimas de ubas. En varios arroyos del camino, y en el parage en que nos hallamos, ;i mas de las parras, hay varias rotas de Castilla. En fin es buena, y nmy distinta tierra de la de esa antigua California." — Palou, Vida, 78. CHAPTER IV. SETTLEMENT OF SAN DIEGO. THE first day of July, 1769, the day on which the original pioneers by land and sea came together at San Diego and the day which they themselves celebrated with salvos and salutes, is, as appropriately perhaps as any other, to be considered the natal day of Alta California. It is true the first settlers arrived on April 11, and those who first sailed on May 1 ; but the expedition, taken as a whole, can hardly be said to have arrived until July 1; nor was it till then that Portola, the governor and general-in-chief, and Juni'pero Serra, the master-spirit of the conquest, came up. There were then present at San Diego in all about one hundred and thirty of the adventurers, though a number of them were lying under the hands of Pedro Prat, the surgeon, grievously ill. Of those remaining in health some fifteen or twenty sailed in the San Antonio; a guard of five or six was detailed to watch the San Carlos; another to take care of the sick; and upon the others devolved the duty of commencing the missions and making a beginning of the settlements of San Diego and Monterey in accordance with the mandates of King Charles III. and the instructions of Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general. It had been intended that those of the adventurers, who were to proceed to Monterey, should do so by sea; but as the San Carlos was laid up for want of sailors and there was no other ship at hand, nothing remained for them, if the project were not to be abandoned, but to wait or to march overland. The latter being determined on, arrangements (317) 318 THE FRANCISCANS. were immediately made for setting out; and on July 14, the expedition, consisting of Governor Portola, Fathers Crespi and Gomez, Captain Rivera y Moncada, Lieutenant Pages, Engineer Costanso, Sergeant Jose Francisco de Ortega and a number of soldiers, muleteers and Indian servants, in all sixty-four persons, v/ith their transport animals, baggage and provisions, got ::nder way and marching northwestward along the ocean was soon out of sight. No sooner was it gone than Junipero turned his attention to the principal object of his presence at San Diego, which was the foundation of a mis- sion; and he chose the second day thereafter, July 16, as the day on which the ceremonies should take place. It was the day of the triumph of the holy cross as celebrated by the Spanish church, being the anniversary of a great victory won in 1212 by the Christians over the Moors; and for this reason it was supposed to be peculiarly appropriate for the occasion of planting the standard of the faith among a barbarous and infidel people. On the day thus chosen Father Junipero, assisted by Fathers Viscaino and Parron, fixed upon the spot, which he deemed most suitable not only for the mission but also for the town which it was supposed would in time surround the mission. 1 The place thus selected was on the north side of the bay, in front of what appeared the best anchorage. There, after blessing the site and erecting a great cross, the mass was celebrated and the <; Veni Creator Spiritus " chanted with an accompaniment of fire-arms, much in the same manner as at Vellicata. The fathers then, with the aid of such sol- diers and others as were present and could be spared from other duties, proceeded to erect a few huts; and, having ded- icated one of them as a chapel, they next attempted to attract the attention and gain the good will of the natives, who had stood around and looked upon everything they saw with won- der. These, though they seemed willing to receive almost any gifts that were offered, were yet apparently very suspi- 1 " Levantd el V. P. Junipero el estandarte de la Santa Cruz, fixdndola en el sitio que le parecio mas proprio para la (onnacion del pueblo y A la vista de aquel puerto." — Palovj, Vida, 83. SETTLEMENT OE SAN DIEGO. 319 cious of the Spaniards and would on no account eat or taste anything. Even the children, if sugar were placed in their mouths, would spit it out. They seem to have believed that the sickness in camp was caused by what the Spaniards ate, and on this account nothing could induce them to partake of any food that was offered them. And this in the end proved very fortunate for the adventurers, as their provisions were limited and before long began to run low. But there was one thing that the Indians coveted with all the strength of their savage natures. This was cloth or in fact any kind of manufactured fabric. When they had obtained all of it that the Spaniards felt like sparing, they began to steal whenever they could find an opportunity On one occasion they went out at night in their tule-canoes to the San Carlos and cut a piece out of one of its sails, and on another occasion stole one of its cables. On account of these depredations, several of the soldiers were withdrawn from the camp, or what was then the mission, for the purpose of strengthening the guard on the vessel. The effect of this was to reduce the soldiers, who were able to do duty at the camp, to six; and the Indians, observing the change, began to become very troublesome. They made several open attempts to rob and plunder; and, being each time driven off, they at last conceived the idea of making a general attack and, if necessary for their purposes, of killing off all the Spaniards. Accordingly on August 15, taking advantage of the absence of Father Parron and two of the soldiers who had gone off to the ship in the harbor, they broke into the mission in great numbers, being armed with bows, arrows, wooden scimitars and war clubs, and commenced plundering on all sides and even robbing the bedclothes from the couches of the sick. The corporal of the guard immediately called to arms. As the soldiers hastily put on their defensive armor and seized their fire-arms, the Indians separated and commenced shooting their arrows. On the side of the assailants the numbers were great; on that of the assailed there were present and available to make defense only four soldiers, a carpenter and a black - 320 THE FRANCISCANS. smith. They were, however, all men of vigor and courage and the blacksmith especially so. Palou attributes the unex- pected valor which he displayed to the fact that he had but a short time previously received the sacrament, as if that ex- traordinary aliment had inspired him with fighting qualities. Be this as it may, the blacksmith, though he wore no leather jacket or other defensive armor as the soldiers did, seized a musket; ran out boldly into the open space between the huts, and kept up a vigorous firing, at the same time crying out with a loud voice, " Long live the faith of Jesus Christ; and death to the dogs, its enemies ! " While the battle thus raged on the outside, Fathers Junipero and Viscaino remained inside the hut, which served the pur- pose of their temporary chapel. Being, unlike some of their clerical brethren, non-combatants, all they could do was to recommend themselves to God and pray that no blood might be spilled. At length, however, a considerable time having thus been spent and the fate of the day being still uncertain, Viscaino had the curiosity to raise the mat which formed the door of the structure and look out. As he did so, an arrow struck him upon the hand, whereupon he quickly dropped the mat and betook himself again to prayers. But, alas, this little spice of the comic was destined to be soon followed by an affecting tragic incident. Scarcely had Viscaino dropped the mat, when it was raised from the outside and in rushed Jose Maria, the body servant who waited on the fathers. He was bleeding from a ghastly wound in the neck. Throwing himself at the feet of Junipero he cried, "Absolve me, father; for the Indians have killed me." Junipero hurriedly per- formed the required ceremony; and the poor man immedi- ately afterwards expired. Had his death been known to the Indians they would probably have felt encouraged in their undertaking; but the fathers were careful to conceal it; and in a short time the assailants, finding or imagining their attempts vain, picked up their comrades that had fallen and withdrew. Of the Christians, one only was killed; but Vis- caino, a soldier, an Indian neophyte and the valorous black- SETTLEMENT OE SAN DIEGO. 321 smith were each slightly wounded. Of the Indians it is not known how many perished. A number of the wounded ones presented themselves several days afterwards and were re- ceived and kindly cared for by Pedro Prat the surgeon; and from that time forward the Spaniards were treated with more consideration and much greater respect. Peace being thus restored, Juni'pero again turned his at- tention to the work of conversion. Among the Indians that now frequented the mission was one of fifteen years of age, who had gradually picked up a smattering of the Spanish lan- guage. Through him, Juni'pero proposed to the natives that, if they would send him one of their children, the little fellow should not only be made a Christian and a son of the church, but regarded as related to the soldiers and like them be dressed in fine clothes. The offer being accepted, in a few days after- wards one of the Indians, accompanied by a crowd of others, made his appearance with an infant boy in his arms and by signs indicated that he desired him baptized. Juni'pero was overjoyed; and, to testify his pleasure and gratitude, he imme- diately produced a large piece of beautiful cloth and threw it over the child. He then invited the corporal of the guard to stand god-father and the soldiers to become witnesses of the first baptism. But as he was about to proceed with the ceremonies and apply the water, the Indians suddenly snatched the child away and ran off with it, leaving Juni'pero standing with the shell containing the holy water in his hands. At such impiety on the part of the savages, the soldiers were furious and would have punished the insult on the spot; but Juni'pero called to his aid all his prudence and restrained them For a long time, however, he felt keenly the disap- pointment and with tears in his eyes attributed it all to his own many sins. In the meanwhile the rainy season came on; and in the midst of it the expedition, which had gone in search of Monterey, returned. It had failed to recognize the port, which it had gone to find, and was very much disheartened; though as a matter of fact it had discovered the bay of San 21 Vol. I. 322 THE FRANCISCANS. Francisco and thereby accomplished a result of much more importance than the re-discovery of Monterey. It had suf- fered a great deal from wet weather, roughness of the way and want of provisions. And upon its return to San Diego, there was little of encouragement at that place to revive its droop- ing spirits. Jum'pero, Parron and Viscaino it is true, not- withstanding the bad commencement of their labors of con- version, had persisted in their work and were gathering in a large harvest of souls. But there was little to eat and not much prospect of relief; and, as there was now a large acces- sion of mouths to feed, what provisions still remained were disappearing with great rapidity. Under these circumstances Governor Portola, fearful of being left destitute, announced his intention of abandoning the country, unless the San An- tonio should speedily return or relief come from some other quarter. He fixed upon March 20 as the last day that he was willing to wait, and began making preparations for his depart- ure. It was arranged, among other things, that a sufficient number of persons should be placed upon the San Carlos to navigate it back to Lower California and that the remainder of the adventurers should retrace their journey overland. Such being the orders, nearly every one became very busy; and nothing else was talked about except the return, and particularly as the appointed time approached. But Juni'pero had not for a moment acquiesced, and was not likely to acquiesce, in the thought of abandoning his great enterprise. On the contrary he struggled by every means in his power to save it. He was satisfied that, if now abandoned, the con- quest of Alta California under the auspices of Spain and the Spanish church would be retarded for many years and might perhaps never take place. Being unable, however, to change the resolution of the governor, he prayed the interposition of Heaven; and, as the result of much wrestling of the spirit, he worked himself up to the determination that, as for him- self, come what might, he would under any and all circum- stances stand by his mission. Having thus made up his mind, Juni'pero looked around SETTLEMENT OE SAN DIEGO. 323 him for sympathy and co-operation He first applied to the other missionaries; but only one of them had the courage to come to his assistance. This was Father Crespi, who at once and without hesitation resolved to stand by his chief. Strengthened with this great support, Jum'pero next caused himself to be rowed out into the harbor to the San Carlos for the purpose of discussing the situation with Vicente Vila, its commander. He laid before that functionary the proposed abandonment and the causes which, according to his informa- tion, induced the governor to contemplate such action. One of these was a common opinion, prevalent among those who had taken part in the late expedition, that the port of Mon- terey had been filled up with sand and therefore could not be found. But Jum'pero was clearly of the opinion, which he frankly expressed, that the port still existed, and in exactly the same state as it had been seen by Cabrillo and Viscaino, and that the recent expedition had merely passed without recognizing it. To this Vila on his part answered that, from his own examination of the maps and from all he had heard upon the subject, he was not only of the same opinion as Junipero that the port still existed, but he believed it existed in the immediate neighborhood of the sands which had been supposed to fill it up. The manner and tone in which he gave this answer convinced Junipero that Vila was not satisfied with the search that had been made for Monterey; and, thereupon, announcing the fact that Crespi and himself were determined to remain in the country notwithstanding the departure of the others, he proposed that Vila, instead of immediately sailing for home, should take Crespi and himself on board his vessel; run up the coast, and ascertain the truth as to the reported filling up of the lost port. Vila, interested as a navigator in the geographical question thus artfully pro- pounded, agreed to the proposition; and Junipero returned to shore. ^ But Junipero's resolution thus to remain was not to be put to the test. On March 19, the day before that fixed upon by Governor Portola for his departure, the event, which was to 324 THE FRANCISCANS. n put a new aspect on the face of affairs, occurred. This was the appearance of a sail, which, though at a great distance, was clearly and distinctly seen. It was a somewhat remarkable coincidence that this sail should appear on the last day of the period fixed by Portola and that such day should happen to be the festival of St. Joseph, the patron of the expedition. As a matter of fact, there was nothing at all supernatural in the circumstance. But Juni'pero had such thorough faith in miracles that he firmly believed the appearance of the sail at that particular juncture a special providence and attributed it to the interposition of the saint. In other words, one more was added to the already somewhat prolific list of miracles, which he had experienced. The sail, as has been stated, appeared on March 19. It was far out at sea; but, instead of making for land as might have been expected, it headed northwestward and finally disap- peared beyond the watery horizon. Nor was anything further seen or heard of it until four days afterwards, when the San Antoni o sailed into port. Then all was explained./ The ves sel, which had left San Diego in the previous July, had arrived at San Bias in twenty days. It had then forwarded its dis patches to the visitador-general; but, on account of his absence in the interior of Mexico, it had taken some time for them to reach him and also some time for his replies to get back to San Bias. But no sooner were these received than, in accordance with the directions they contained, the requisite number of sailors and a full cargo of provisions were supplied and the; vessel ordered back immediately. It was, however, specially') instructed not to stop at San Diego on its way back but to proceed at once to Monterey, where it was supposed the? larger part of the people would be found, as the recent dis-j patches had given notice of their intended march for that; place. It was in pursuance of these instructions that the vessel had passed San Diego on March 19 without stopping; and there is no doubt it would, in pursuance of the same, have passed on to Monterey. But when it reached the Santa Barbara Channel its water supply gave out and it was com- SETTLEMENT OE SAN DIEGO. 325 pelled to run in near Point Concepcion to replenish. There, the Indians reported the return of the Monterey expedition to San Diego; and, besides this, the San Antonio while in that', neighborhood accidentally lost its anchor; on account of bothj which reasons it was deemed proper to turn round and first | make San Diego; and this was accordingly done. It was thus that the sail appeared at the time it did, then disap- peared, and again appeared four days afterwards. It was thus also that the supposed miracle was a mere coincidence, and that the Joseph, who wrought it, was Joseph the visita lor-general and not Joseph the saint. CHAPTER V . FOUNDATION OF MONTEREY. THE arrival of the San Antonio with sailors and provis- ions and the evidence thereby afforded of the care and promptitude of the visitador-general completely changed the plans of Governor Portola. He now plainly saw that the government was thoroughly in earnest in its intention of colonizing the country and ready to furnish all the support necessary for carrying its purpose into effect. He also saw that the eyes of his superiors were upon him and that any neglect of duty or remissness in what might reasonably be expected of him would be dangerous. He therefore at once deter- mined to retrace his steps northwestward and immediately renew his search for Monterey. On his first expedition in search of that port, as will be recollected, he had set out from San Diego on July 14, 1769, with a company of sixty-four persons, including Fathers Crespi and Gomez. He had taken a northwesterly course, following the coast and much of the way within sight of the ocean. He thus passed the present sites of San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles, San Fernando, San Buen- aventura, Santa Barbara, Point Concepcion, San Luis Obispo and to about the latitude of San Antonio, where, finding the coast too precipitous to admit of advancing further in that direction, he crossed over the Santa Lucia mountains to the Salinas river and followed that river down to its mouth. Upon reaching that point he supposed, as was in fact the case, that Monterey was close at hand and that the wooded projection on his south was the famous Point of Pines, men- tioned by Cabrillo, Viscaino and others. But when the next (32G) FO UNDA TJON OF MONTERE Y. 32'7 day, with Costanso, Crespi and five soldiers, he mounted a hill near the beach and looked over the expanse of water embraced between the Point of Pines on the south and Point Ano Nuevo on the north, they could see no indications of a port such as had been described. The day afterwards he sent Captain Rivera y Moncada with eight soldiers to exam- ine the Point of Pines; but they also, after an absence of two days and a very careful survey, as well on the south as on the north of it, reported that there was no port to be found. It was then thought, notwithstanding the many respects in which the neighborhood agreed with the descriptions given of Monterey by. old navigators, that there had been some error in reference to its latitude and that it lay further north. Upon this supposition, Portola resumed his march and pro- ceeded up the coast as far as San Francisco. There he satisfied himself that he had passed Monterey; and, after spending about two weeks in that locality, he turned around, retraced his steps to the Point of Pines and, on November 27, recommenced his examination of it. But in vain. Though he camped on the very spot where Monterey was afterwards founded, he could not recognize in the waters before him the port of which he was in search. He then crossed over into the Carmel valley But as he could not find the port where it was, it was of course vain to look for it where it was not; and he soon gave up all hope of finding it or of obtaining supplies, which he had expected to be there awaiting him. Under the circumstances, what to do next became a question; and he called a council to resolve it. Though the provisions were nearly exhausted and there was already much suffering from scurvy and other results of insufficient or improper food, some were in favor of remaining and in the last resort relying upon their mules for meat. Others were for dividing the. company and one-half remaining, while the other half should proceed to San Diego. But to both these propositions there were serious objections; and Portola, taking all things into consideration, decided that all should return to San Diego and as speedily as possible. 328 THE FRANCISCANS. Before getting under way again, however, he set up two great crosses, one on the beach where Monterey now stands and one on a hill in full view of the ocean in Carmel valley. On the former was inscribed a notice that the expedition had returned to San Diego; on the latter the words " Escarba al pie y hallaras un escrito — Dig at the foot and you will find a writing." At its foot he buried a glass bottle containing the document referred to, which was a brief account of the expe- dition — how it had left San Diego on July 14, reached the Santa "Barbara Channel on August 9, passed Point Concep- cion on August 27, crossed the Santa Lucia mountains be- tween September 13 and 17, and first seen the Point of Pines on October 1. It then went on to describe the search that had been made for Monterey and the failure to find it; how the expedition had then marched north in further search and come in sight of Point Reyes and the rocky islands known as the Farallones; how it had been unable to reach Point Reyes on account of several immense arms of the sea, which ran into the land in a most extraordinary manner and would have required a long journey to pass around them; how it had still been believed that the port of Monterey might yet be found; how the expedition had returned from San Fran- cisco and again reached the Point of Pines, and how, at length, after giving up all hope of finding what it had thus sought with so much labor and suffering, and its provisions being re- duced to fourteen small sacks of flour, it had that day, Decem- ber 9, 1769, left for San Diego. And it closed with a prayer to God, the All Powerful, to guide the expedition on its way and to conduct the navigator, whoever he might be that should find the paper, to the port of salvation. At the bot- tom was a note, giving the latitudes of the principal points between San Diego and San Francisco as observed by Cos- tanso and a request to the commander of the paquebot San Jose or San Antonio, if either should arrive within a few days, to immediately sail down the coast and if possible communi- cate with and relieve the expedition. The next day the entire company started on its return to FOl ON OF MONTEREY. 329 San Diego, following very nearly the same route it had come. Fortunately the Indians throughout the entire journey were friendly and in many instances very hospitable; and it was mainly upon the supplies, which they furnished, that the trav- elers existed on their way back. In some places wild geese were plentiful and a number were killed, and several bears and an occasional antelope added to the stores; but it was chiefly upon the food, prepared by the natives, of acorns, nuts and seeds and upon the fish of the Santa Barbara Channel that the wayfarers had to rely, In some places they were obliged to lie over on account of rain; but in general they made longer marches and more rapid progress than on the way up. Upon approaching San Diego, much anxiety was felt as to how they would find the companions, whom they had left there six months before. Would they be alive, or would they be dead ? Would the settlement remain, or would it be a heap of ruins? At length on January 24, 1770, the humble palisade, which had been constructed around the mis- sion and camp, appeared in view. At the sight of it the sol- diers discharged their fire-arms. At the sound of the fire- arms, the San Diego people issued from their inclosure; and the two parties rushed into each others' embraces. 1 The second expedition in search of Monterey was organized almost immediately upon the arrival of the San Antonio and consisted of two divisions, one of which was to proceed by sea and the other by land. The first embarked on the San Antonio and got off on April 16. It was composed princi- pally of Father Jum'pero, Engineer Costanso, Surgeon Prat and Captain Juan Perez. The second or land party con- sisted of Governor Portola, Father Crespi, Lieutenant Pedro Fages, nineteen soldiers, five Lower California Indians and two muleteers, and got off on April 17, the day after the sail- ing of the San Antonio. There were left at San Diego Fathers Parron and Gomez, Sergeant Jose Francisco de Ortega, eight soldiers and twelve neophyte Indians in charge of the mission, and Commander Vicente Vila, his pilot and 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 100-244. 330 THE FRANCISCANS. five sailors in charge of the ship San winch still lay in the harbor. The remainder of tin s irviving people, con- sisting of Captain Rivera y Moncada, Fath r Viscaino, twenty soldiers and a muleteer were absent on an expedition to Vellicata, whither they had gone for the -purpose of bringing up the herds and flocks that had been left there the previous year. Both the Monterey parties startec I; fo.i their com- mon point of destination. But the San Antonio soon after leaving port met with strong northwes lies which drove it several degrees to the southward and pr< /< u.ed its reach- ing Monterey for a month and a half. In the meanwhile the land party followed the trail along the - I on May 24 reached the cross that had been erected on the beach near Point Pinos, as before stated. Upon approaching, they found it surrounded with arrows and plumes of feathers stuck in the earth; on one side, suspended from a rod, was a string of sar- dines tolerably fresh, and at its foot a piece of flesh and a pile of mussels. These articles, it was very plain, had been placed there by the natives and probably on account of some super- stitious fancy; but the explanation of what they thereby meant was reserved for a later time, when the priests came to understand the language of the Indians and the Indians came to understand the credulity of the priests. The Indians then affirmed that the first time they had seen the Spaniards they noticed that each carried in his bosom a resplendent cross; that when they beheld the same sacred symbol erected upon the beach it shone with almost insufferable splendor, and that at night it seemed to loom up into gigantic proportions, fill- ing the whole heavens. They added that they were at first afraid to approach it, but finally drew near and, with the object of ingratiating themselves, offered the flesh, fkh and mussels; and that afterwards, seeing these were not eaten, they had placed the arrows and feathers for the purpose of showing they desired peace with the holy cross and those who had planted it there. 1 1 Palou, Vida, 106. FO UNDA TION OF MONTER LY. 331 Portola and his companions found the same difficulty in rec- ognizing Monterey as before; but the latitude and landmarks indicated that this must be the place. Upon further exami- nation it was observed that between Point Pinos on the south and a distant headland on the north there was an immense circuit of smooth water full of sea-lions and deep enough for whales; and it. was then pronounced the port of which they were in search; and of this they were still further convinced by the arrival of the San Antonio, which anchored there on the evening of May 31, seven days afterwards. Father Juni- pero, when he disembarked and looked around him, called it a " beautiful port; " l and was clear that it was the same, and substantially unchanged, as it had been left by Sebastian Vis- caino in 1603. There, plain to be seen, were the springs of fresh water and next them the very oak with boughs spread- ing over the beach, beneath which the mass had been cele- brated in 1602. 2 Under these circumstances, as there could no longer be any doubt upon the subject and the two parties were happily joined, there was great rejoicing; and arrange- ments were immediately made to take formal possession of the place and establish a presidio and mission in accordance with the royal instructions. It was on June 3, 1770, that the ceremonies were per- formed. In the morning of that day all the people including the crew of the San Antonio, the governor and soldiers in their uniforms and the fathers in their robes, met together on the beach near Viscaino's oak. After throwing up a hastily- constructed booth of branches, raising an altar and hanging their bells, they commenced the celebration with loud and vig- orous chimes. Jum'pero in alba and stole then advanced and invoked the blessing of Heaven upon the kneeling congrega- tion and the work upon which they were entering. The hymn " Veni Creator Spiritus" was next chanted; the place with its surroundings was consecrated; and a great cross, which had been prepared, was elevated and adored. The 1 " Este hermoso puerto de Monterey." — Palou, Vida, ioi. 2 Palou, Noticias, II, 267. 332 THE FRANCISCANS fields and beach were also liberally sprinkled with holy water for the purpose of putting to flight all infernal enemies. Next commenced the celebration of the mass at an altar, upon which had been placed an image of the virgin, the gift through the visitador-general of Francisco Lorenzana, then archbishop of Mexico, and specially intended for the Mon- terey expedition. The mass, in the absence of the usual instrumental music, was accompanied by repeated salvos of artillery and musketry from ship and shore, junipero also preached the gospel. Prayers were then raised to the virgin and the religious observances were concluded with singing the " Te Deum Laudamus." l The civil and military ceremonies of advancing and planting the royal standard and taking formal possession of the country for and in the name of Charles III., king of Spain, were next gone through with. The ceremonies included, as was customary with the Span- iards on such occasions, the uprooting of plants and casting of stones, as a sort of symbolical seizin of the territory, and the entry of everything, that had taken place, in a record. 2 All then joined together in a repast upon the beach; and the day ended with feasting and rejoicing. Thus at one and the same time were founded the royal presidio and the mission of San Carlos de Monterey; and the settlement thus com- menced immediately became and for many years thereafter continued to be the capital of Alta California. As soon as the ceremonies of foundation were completed, Governor Portola prepared his dispatch for the viceroy and visitador-general, giving them an account of all that had been done. He then looked around for a messenger by whom he misrht be able to forward it to Mexico. It was inconvenient to spare any of his soldiers on account of their limited num- ber; but he finally fixed upon one of them and a sailor boy belonging to the San Antonio, both of whom volunteered for the service; and on June 14 he sent them on their way. They proceeded along the coast to a point about a day's journey 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 268, 269 8 " Afiadiendo las acostumbradas ceremonias de avrancar yerbas, tirar piedras y formar acto de todo." — Palou, Noticias, II, 209. FOUND A TlOX OF MO A TERR ] \ 333 south of San Diego, where they met Captain Rivera y Mon- cada, who with his twenty soldiers was bringing up a number of cattle and sheep which may be called the original of all the herds and flocks of Alta California. Rivera y Moncada, being now near San Diego, detached five of his soldiers to accompany the messengers; and, then, while he and his inter- esting train moved slowly northward, the messengers and their new escort hurried on southward. They took the most direct road down through the center of the peninsula and on August 2 reached the mission of Todos Santos near Cape San Lucas, where they were received by Matias de Armona, the new governor of Lower California, who immediately pre- pared a vessel and sent them on their way to San Bias. In the meanwhile Governor Portola himself, having seen to the building of some humble structures for the presidio and mis- sion by the side of an estero or creek and about a musket- shot from the beach and inclosed them with a stockade, delivered over the military command to Lieutenant Pedro Fages, and, embarking on the San Antonio on July 9, sailed for San Bias, where he arrived on August 1, the day before his messengers left Todos Santos. At San Bias, finding that he had outstripped his messengers, he prepared other dis- patches, which he immediately sent forward; and in due time they reached the city of Mexico. The good news was particularly gratifying to the Marques de Croix, the viceroy of New Spain, and especially so to Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general, who was also then at the capital. Both had taken a very great interest in the northwest coast; and the latter, as will be recollected, had not disdained to bend his own back in careening and packing up the cargoes of the pioneer ships. It cannot by any means be supposed that they knew what a country had been saved, by their efforts, to the Spanish crown. It cannot be supposed that they appre- ciated what was never appreciated by any Spanish-speaking people, nor until within a very few years by any people what- soever. But the fact that their efforts had been crowned with success; that the famous port of Monterey was at last 334 THE FRANCISCANS. taken possession of and that the royal standard of Spain floated in that remote region and in the face of those immense tracts of the untraversed and the unknown, was a pleasure that caused them and their friends and the whole country the most lively satisfaction. No sooner had the news come\ to hand than the bells of the great cathedral were set to ringing; and they were answered by the bells of all the other jbhurchcs of the city. The inhabitants were roused by the general clamor; and, upon inquiry and finding out what was eant, they crowded to the thanksgiving mass in the cathe- ral and afterwards to the palace, where they presented to the iceroy and the visitador-general their most hearty congratu- ations. A few days afterwards a bulletin was printed and circulated not only throughout New Spain but throughout jOld Spain as well, giving a detailed statement of the recent •expeditions to Alta California; how they had marched and sailed; how they had finally come together; how San Diego had been settled and Monterey founded; and in fine how a vast dominion had been added to the Spanish crown and an immense territory gained from the common enemy for the' faith of Jesus Christ. 1 While the ceremonies of foundation were thus being cele- brated in Mexico, Jum'pero was laboring for the conversion of the natives at Monterey. At first they had been frightened off by the continual noise of fire-arms and for a long time did not show themselves. The rough booth of branches that had been erected under Viscaino's oak had been improved into a sort of church, and on June 16 had been solemnly consecrated as such; but still, with the exception of the Spaniards them- selves, there was no congregation. By degrees, however, the natives began to come about, allured partly by presents and partly by curiosity; and on December 26 the first baptism, that of a native boy five years of age, who received the name of Bernardino de Jesus, took place. During all this time the site of the mission had remained on the beach, in front of the anchorage, where it had been originally fixed; but, as there 1 Palou, Vida, 107-112. FO UNDA TION OF MONTERE J '. 335 was no soil suitable for tillage at that place, Juni'pero con- ceived the project of moving the location to a spot on the bank of the Carmel river a league or two distant southward, where the cultivable grounds were rich, extensive, pleasantly situated and well-watered. With this object in view he, in the summer of 1771, caused timber to be felled and sev- eral structures to be erected at the Carmel, including chapel, dwellings, barracks, corrals and stockade; and towards the end of the year he moved the mission into them, leaving the presidio as before on the beach guarding the harbor. It is on account of this change of situation that the mission is sometimes known as Mission de San Carlos del Rio Carmelo and sometimes simply as Carmel Mission, though more gen- erally as the Mission of Monterey. The scenery of the new site and its neighborhood were altogether attractive. The buildings were situated upon rising ground, surrounded by a comparatively extensive plain of rich land, through which ran the never-failing waters of the little stream. On every side there were groves of trees, vines in abundance, and a seeming infinity of those delicate and beautiful wild roses, which resembled and were popularly known as roses of Cas- tile. At the foot of the rising ground was a delightful lakelet .of fresh water, which discharged its surplus waters into the neighboring ocean bight just south of Point Pinos. This bight with its shores and the plain with its groves and mean- dering river were all spread out like a panorama to one look- ing from the mission; and the landscape was framed, so to speak, by the hills on either hand, here sloping into pastures and there crowned with forests of pines and cypress. In the meanwhile the sending of new missionaries and the founding of new missions were under contemplation. When juni'pero first wrote to the viceroy and vistador-general of the proposed removal of his mission, he also wrote to the guar- dian of the college of San Fernando, giving an account of the new country, its multitudes of unregenerated inhabitants and the sad want of spiritual teachers. He deplored that so many souls must utterly perish for lack of light and expressed 336 THE FRANCISCANS. his assurance that, if a hundred missionaries were sent as workmen into that extensive harvest-field, each would find more than enough to do. This information having been com- municated to the viceroy and visitador-general, and their zeal being little if anything less than that of Juni'pero himself, arrangements were almost immediately made for five new missions in Alta California, in addition to the three originally provided for, and five new ones in Lower California. Of the former five, one was to be located between San Diego and San Buenaventura, two between San Buenaventura and Mon- terey and two north of Monterey; of the latter all were to be between Vellicata and San Diego. Not only did the viceroy and visitador-general thus provide for new missions, they also made a requisition upon the col- lege of San Fernando for thirty additional missionaries, two for each of the new missions and the remainder for supplying vacant places in the old ones. They likewise provided the necessary vessels, vestments, ornaments and bells and also a fund of a thousand dollars each for the immediate uses of the new missions and four hundred dollars as traveling expenses for each of the new missionaries. The college of San Fer- nando, in accordance with the requisition and to carry out the arrangements thus made, promptly named thirty additional missionaries, all of whom offered themselves voluntarily; and as soon as named they were ordered to report at San Bias for transportation to California. All this took place in the sum- mer and fall of 1770; but it was not until the next year that the new missionaries got under sail. At the beginning of 1771 there were lying in the port of San Bias not only the ship San Antonio, which had already done so much service; but also the old San Carlos that had lain so long inactive in the harbor of San Diego. Vicente Vila, the commander of the latter, after waiting at that place what he seems to have considered an unreasonable space of time without being furnished a new crew, at length got to- gether a soldier or two and a few vaqueros, who had some smattering of seamanship; and, adding them to the pilot and FOUNDATION OF MONTEREY. 337 five sailors already on his vessel, he determined with them to brave the passage to Mexico. He accordingly hoisted his sails in August and, experiencing nothing but good weather, in due time arrived at San Bias. Shortly after his arrival there he died; but the San Carlos, owing to the care he had taken of it, was in excellent condition and, upon being re- manned, was immediately ready again for sea. It was in these two vessels, the same that had carried the first pioneers, that it was arranged the new missionaries should embark; the ten intended for Alta California in the San Antonio and the twenty intended for Lower California in the San Carlos. The former got off on January 2£>, 1 77 1 , and reached San Diegc on March 12, where after discharging a portion of its cargo designed for that place, it again put to sea and on May 21 reached Monterey. The latter sailed about ten days after the San Antonio, but meeting with contrary winds was driven as far south as Acapulco before it could make headway against them. Upon getting to the north again, it was obliged to run into the port of Manzanillo for the purpose of refilling its water casks; but, being apparently under bad management', it went ashore there and ran in very great danger of going to pieces; and it was not until towards the end of August that, having at length gotten off, it finally reached Loreto. Most of its clerical passengers had left the vessel at Manzanillo and thence made their way by slow and painful stages overland to a point opposite Loreto, whence they shipped over to that place. They did not reach their destination, however, until about the end of November, some three months after the San Carlos would have landed them there. As to the ten missionaries intended for the projected new missions of Alta California and who arrived at Monterey on May 21, 1 77 1, as above stated, they were received by Father Junipero with the greatest joy. He now saw himself sur- rounded with a corps of active ^workers and looked forward in imagination to a not far distant future when all would be busily engaged in the plentiful harvest field, which lay ex- tended on every side about them. On May 30, nine days 22 Vol. I. 338 THE FRANCISCANS. after their arrival and before assigning them to the posts they were respectively to occupy, he called them together and cel- ebrated the feast of Corpus Christi. And as he looked around upon the goodly throng and anticipated the golden sheaves of converted souls they were to gather in, his bosom swelled with rapture and his heart overflowed with thanks- givings to God and gratitude to the viceroy and the visitador- general. CH APTE R VI. SAN ANTONIO, SAN GABRIEL AND SAN LUIS OBISPO. TWENTY-FIVE leagues southeastward of Monterey and forming one of the valleys in the middle of the Santa Lucia mountains was an extensive body of rich land covered with oak and nut-bearing pine trees. It was a place of pecul- iar beauty and salubrity and thickly populated with Indians, who lived for a large part of the year upon the acorns, nuts, seeds and grasses which were produced in great abundance all around them. A little stream that took its rise in the mountains and flowed southeastward to the Salinas river ran through the midst of the valley and at such a level in the upper part of its course that its waters might with compara- tively little labor be diverted and carried in irrigating rivulets over the entire cultivable land. It was here in this delightful but wild and remote spot, inclosed among rugged mountains and at a distance of some fifteen miles from the ocean, that the next mission of Alta California was to be founded. This establishment was one of those contemplated and provided for by the viceroy and visitador-general in their recent instruc- tions and was to be known as the mission of San Antonio de Padua. The place had first been seen by Governor Portola and Father Crespi and their exploring party, on their way from San Diego in search of Monterey, in 1769. When, after leav- ing the neighborhood of what subsequently became known as San Luis Obispo and proceeding northwestward along the coast, they found their progress barred by its rough and pre- cipitous character, they turned northeastward for the purpose (339) 340 THE FRANCISCANS. of crossing the mountains. After climbing the first ridge, they descended into a little valley, which as a depression in the very midst of the mountains the soldiers called " La Hoya de la Sierra de Santa Lucia." Crespi on the other hand, on account of the day on which they reached it being that of the impression of the wounds of St. Francis, named it Las Llagas and invoked the intercession of the seraphic saint for the conversion of the natives. Of these there were several rancherias scattered about, who were engaged in gathering pine nuts. It was so pleasant a place that the travelers tar- ried several days, resting and recuperating; and the more they saw of it the more they were pleased with it. When they resumed their march, instead of following the stream and valley, which ran southeasterly, they ascended the heights on the northeast and thus encountered more mountain travel- ing. In fact, upon reaching the summit, after another hard climb, casting their eyes northeastward, in the direction they desired to proceed, they saw mountain chains stretching out before them in apparently endless succession — " a sad spec- tacle," said Crespi, " for poor travelers wearied and worn out with the fatigues of so long a journey, with leveling rough places and opening roads over hills, through thickets, among shifting sands and across marshes." Besides the dis- couraging prospect, the cold on the summit was severe and some of the soldiers began to suffer from scurvy, thus increas- ing the labors of the others. " All these considerations," con- tinued Crespi, "oppressed our hearts; but considering the object for which we had undertaken these labors, which was the greater glory of God in the conversion of souls and the service of the king whose dominions were to be thereby extended, all were animated with a gladdening desire to press forward, blessing our Lord and God, supplicating him for health, and success, and calling for intercession upon the most holy patriarch, St. Joseph, our patron." 1 It was thus partly on account of its own beauty, and partly on account of its contrast with the rough road by which it 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 160-168. SAN ANTONIO. 341 had been approached and the still rougher road by which it had been left, that the little valley in the mountains became a favorite locality with the original pioneers. They talked about it as travelers speak of an oasis in the desert. Attention having thus been attracted to it, and the number and general good character of the Indians in its neighborhood being favor- able, it was chosen as the site of the first of the two missions that had been ordered to be founded between Monterey and San Buenaventura. And but little time was lost, after the choice was made, in getting ready. Very soon after the arrival of the ten new missionaries at Monterey and as soon as his other manifold duties permitted, Juni'pero set out for the spot so chosen for the new mission and fully prepared to establish it. He took with him Fathers Miguel Pieras and Buenaventura Sitjar, two of the new arrivals, whom he had designated as missionaries of the place; also an escort of seven soldiers, three sailors and several Indian neophytes of Lower Califor- nia, and carried likewise the necessary church furniture, orna- ments and bells as well as tools and provisions. Arrived at the chosen valley, whether it was the beautiful prospect which he beheld that excited him or the delicious air which he breathed or his own magnanimous spirit in contemplating so many souls ripe for salvation, or whatever was the reason, Juni'pero could scarcely contain himself. No sooner were the mules unloaded than he caused the bells to be hung upon the branches of the nearest tree and, himself immediately strik- ing them with great vigor, he cried out in a loud voice: "Come, oh ye gentiles; come to the Holy Church; come to the faith of Jesus Christ." Father. Pieras, who stood by and was astonished at what he saw and heard, asked, "Why all this ado ? Is this the place where the church is to be built? There are no gentiles within hearing. It is useless to ring the bells." But Junlpero replied, "Let me alone; let me unburden my heart; and as for the bells, oh that they might be heard throughout the entire world, or at least by all the gentiles that live in these mountains ! " And so he kept on ringing with all his might, calling the dwellers in the wilderness to 342 THE FRANCISCANS. the new life promised in the scriptures. When he had wea- ried his muscles and somewhat cooled his enthusiasm, he turned to the foundation of the mission. By his directions a great cross was constructed, blessed, adored, elevated and fixed in the earth; a booth put up; an altar arranged; and on the same day, July 14, 1771, Jum'pero celebrated the first mass; and a commencement was thus given to what became in time a very populous establishment. As soon as the proper buildings were erected and the missionaries well started in their labors, Jum'pero returned to San Carlos de Monterey. The next mission founded, after that of San Antonio de Padua, was that of San Gabriel Arcangel in the middle of the plain east of what is now the city of Los Angeles. The missionaries, deputed by Jum'pero to found this establish- ment, were Fathers Pedro Benito Cambon and Angel SomeVa.- They were among the ten who had arrived at Monterey in the San Antonio on May 21. In accordance with the instruc- tions which they there received, they on July 7 re-embarked on the San Antonio and proceeded to San Diego, in company with Pedro Fages who since the withdrawal of Governor Portola had been recognized as comandante of Alta Califor- nia. From San Diego, having managed after much trouble to procure ten soldiers as an escort and the necessary train, they on August 6 set out upon their march northwestward, taking the same course which had been traveled by the expe- ditions of 1769 and 1770. At a distance of forty leagues from San Diego they came to the place which had been fixed upon as the site of the new mission. It was on the bank of a river, which flowed through the midst of an extensive plain and was known as Jesus de los Temblores, having been so named by the first expedition on account of four severe earthquake shocks experienced there on July 28, 1769. Such was its name as given by Father Crespi, but the soldiers called it the Santa Ana; and by this latter name it is now known. On its northerly bank there was at that time a large rancheria of Indians, who received the expedition with great affability SAN GABRIEL. 343 and provided it liberally with antelope meat and wild seeds. They were so exceedingly hospitable that, according to Crespi, they begged the travelers to remain and even offered, if they would do so, to share their lands with them. 1 But when Cambon and Somera came to examine the place, they found it unsuitable for a mission; and they therefore proceeded some six leagues further northwestward to the valley of the river now~imown as the San Gabriel. This valley, called that of the San Miguel by the first expedition which had camped there on July 30, 1769, and again on January 17, 1770, was delightful, comparatively well-watered and had many trees, brambles, vines and wild Castilian roses.' \Towards the north-'* ward, at a distance of some seven leagues, rose the lofty, arecipitous line of the Sierra. Towards the eastward the mountains were more remote and apparently less rugged, but /with one pre-eminent peak overtopping all the others and i afterwards known as San Bernardino. Towards the south- ! ward and sweeping around towards the westward, where it rose into a table land, stretched an undulating country, rich, 1 luxurious and unbroken in its gentle swells as far as the eye \could reach. J~~ The accounts preserved of the foundation of these old mis- sions all come from the missionaries themselves; and it seems as if there had been an effort on their part in every case to connect something extraordinary, wonderful or miraculous with the story. The marvelous cross of Monterey had its counterpart here at San Gabriel in a wonder-working picture of the Virgin Mary. It appears, according to the account thus received, that while the party lay encamped on the bank of the river and was engaged in making its survey of the ground, a great multitude of armed Indians, led by two sep- arate chiefs, approached in warlike attitude and made hostile demonstrations. At this, one of the fathers drew forth a piece of canvas, containing a picture of the virgin; and no sooner had the Indians beheld it than, as is averred, they all 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 119, 120. 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 121, 241, 296. 344 THE FRANCISCANS. threw down their weapons and the chiefs, running forward, cast their necklaces at its feet in token of absolute submission. Not only this, but they invited all their neighbors to join with them; and all, children as well as men and women, and each bearing gifts, crowded around the holy image, i Under the changed circumstances, the survey proceeded and- the mission was established on a beautiful rise about half a league from the river and with about the same ceremonies as the others. The date of this foundation was September 8, 1771. 1 The peace and good feeling thus established at San Gabriel might have lasted for a long time, but for an outrage com- mitted by a soldier upon the wife of one of the Indian chiefs. The latter, desiring to avenge himself, gathered together all the natives capable of bearing arms and made an attack upon the soldier, who in company with another was guarding the horses and cattle at a distance from the mission. The sol- diers, seeing the Indians approach, seized their shields and fire-arms. With the shields they turned aside the arrows that were aimed at them and with the muskets fired and killed the injured chief. The remainder of the Indians, frightened at the discharge of the fire-arms and discouraged at finding their weapons ineffective and their leader slain, imme- diately gave way and fled in disorder; and, fortunately for the Spaniards, they did not again rally. But, as it was plain that they felt deeply aggrieved and with reason, and that they might therefore possibly make a new assault, it was deemed prudent, instead of next proceeding to the foundation of the mission of San Buenaventura as had been intended, to delay it for the time being and with the missionaries and soldiers designated for it augment the number of those at San Ga- briel. This being determined upon and the proper arrange- ments made, Comandante Pedro Pages, taking along the cul- prit soldier so as to remove him from the sight of the Indians, returned overland to Monterey. The cause of the disturbance having been thus removed, efforts were made to re-attract the natives, and with so much success that by degrees they began 1 Palou, Vida, 130, 131. SAN LUIS OBISPO. 345 to come in. Before long they solicited baptism; and among the first of those received into the bosom of the church was the son of the dead chief. By the spring of 1772 the converts at the older missions of San Diego and Monterey had become so numerous that the supplies brought up by the San Antonio were no longer sufficient to feed them all. Want began to be felt and it became so pressing at San Diego that the place was on the point of being, and would have been, abandoned but for speedy relief sent overland by a pack train from Monterey. But while San Diego was thus relieved, Motjterey itself began to suffer and particularly so as the San Antonio, upon whose cargo reliance had been had to replace the stores sent to San Diego, did not arrive for months after the expected time. Under these circumstances, Junipero called upon the Indians for relief; and they cheerfully undertook to collect such seeds and nuts as the wilderness afforded. But the most remark- able resource was that put to the test by Comandante Pedro Fages. About fifty leagues southeastward of Monterey and near what is now San Luis Obispo, there was a well-watered valley in which the previous expeditions, both on their way northward and on their return southward, had noticed a great many bears. These animals were so abundant that the place, on account of them, was named and thenceforth known as the " Canada de los Osos." \ Thither Fages now proceeded with the greater number of his soldiers and went to work slaugh- tering and supplying the suffering people with bear-meat. 2 By the help of these means of subsistence, aided by the scanty provisions that were left, the milk of the cows and the few garden vegetables that had been set out, the missions managed to exist until the arrival of new supplies from Mexico. In August news reached Junipero of the arrival at San Diego of the two ships, San Antonio and San Carlos. The courier who brought the intelligence, also brought letters from 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 159, 160. 2 Palou, Vida, 135. 346 THE FRANCISCANS. the captains of the vessels, stating that they had attempted to reach Monterey but that on account of violent winds they had failed and would not again attempt it. This information made it necessary for Juni'pero to proceed to San Diego and confer with the captains in person. But he thought that, while on his way thither, he might as well as not found a new mission and thus accomplish several objects by one and the same journey. In accordance with recent instructions, as will be recollected, there were two missions to be founded be- tween Monterey and San Buenaventura. One of these had been established at San Antonio. It was determined that the other should be located at or near the Canada de los Osos, the scene of Pedro Fages' exploits among the bears. This place had been first seen by the exploring party of Governor Portola and Father Crespi in September, 1769. As they approached it from the south, they came to a valley of oaks, having a small stream running through it flowing among water-cresses and bordered by alders and willows. In this valley was a rancheria of very friendly Indians, whose captain had an immense wen growing on his neck; and on this account the soldiers of the party called the place El Buchon or The Man with the Wen; but Crespi, with the object as he stated of naming a saint under whose intercession the natives might be converted to the faith, called it San Ladis- lao. Thence the party proceeded a couple of leagues over a very rough road into a narrow but rich valley called Canada de Santa Elena and thence into the beautiful valley, which on account of the multitude of bears seen there, as before stated, was called and afterwards known as Canada de los Osos or Bear valley. These animals were so plentiful that they were seen in troops and the ground in every direction was pawed up by them in search of roots. The soldiers killed one; another, which was only wounded, taught them that the sport was dangerous. But, notwithstanding the bears, there were many Indians in the neighborhood; and the place was deemed a proper one for a mission. Upon setting out from Monterey for the journey south- SAN LUIS OBISPO. 347 ward Junipero took along with him Father Jose Cavalier, whom he had appointed missionary of the contemplated new- establishment. Pedro Pages, the comandante, accompanied them with all the soldiers that could be spared. They pro- ceeded first to the mission of San Antonio, where Junipero was greatly pleased with the progress that had been made, and thence twenty-five leagues further southeastward to the valley that had thus been chosen as the locality of the next i mission. Upon reaching it they found a beautiful stream, whose waters were remarkably clear and abundant enough to irrigate the fields on both sides. Following this and carefully examining the neighborhood, they came to a gently-rising • hill, which overlooked the landscape and afforded a charming view of stream, meadows, hills and mountains. Only three ! , leagues distant, and within easy access by a hard, smooth and jlevel road, was the ocean. Here it was at once resolved to found the new mission. Formal possession was according])' taken of the place by Junipero; a large cross hastily put together, elevated and worshiped, and mass celebrated. Five soldiers and two Lower California Indians were detailed to guard the missionary. Thus hastily, on September i, 1772, I was founded the mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. The next day, Junipero and Images having resumed their journey, Father Cavalier and his soldiers betook themselves to the construction of buildings and soon had huts and a stockade erected, which though flimsy still for the time answered all their purposes. There were at first no Indians in the immediate neighborhood; but it was not long until 1 those of the regions round about began to make their appear- ance, and soon their visits to the new-comers became frequent. They were very friendly and among other things very profuse in their thanks for the slaughter recently made among the bears. These fierce animals, they said, had been very destruc- tive; and not a few of the Indians showed that they had been lacerated and maimed by their terrible claws. It was at this mission of San Luis Obispo, and not long\ after its foundation, that the use of tiles for roofing purposes 348 THE FRANCISCANS. was first adopted in California. In the beginning the build- ings erected for churches, as well as those erected for dwell- ings and barracks, were mere huts thatched with straw or reeds. The roof of the mission building here was of straw. This, as soon as the warm sun thoroughly dried it, became very inflammable; and, as it happened, it was thrice set on . fire — the first time by the burning arrow of an incendiary 1 Indian and twice afterwards in some manner unknown. The loss thus occasioned and the danger of still further damage \ caused the missionaries to bethink themselves of how they could produce tiles; and, although no one had any previous knowledge of the art, they managed in a short time to man- j ufacture those heavy, rough, half-cylindrical plates of hard- / burnt clay, which down to a comparatively recent period cov- ered all the mission buildings from one end of the country to the other and are to be found, more or less perfect, scattered among the debris of all those that have fallen into ruins. 1 From San Luis Obispo Father Junipero and Comandante Fages hastened on southeastward. As they passed along the Santa Barbara Channel they were struck with the great number of Indian towns they found; and at one place, which afterwards became the sife of the mission of San Buenaven- tura, they stopped and made a survey. Thence they pro- ceeded to the mission of San Gabriel, where Junipero was delighted, upon this his first visit to the spot, with what had been done and with the bright prospect for the future afforded as well by the magnificent location of the place as by the great numbers and apparent tractability of the surrounding native population. After a short stay at San Gabriel, they again got under way and on September 16, 1772, reached San Diego. Arrived there, Junipero at once, without even taking time to rest, made his way to the ship San Antonio and began expostulating with Captain Juan Perez about his failure to reach Monterey. The latter urged the lateness of the season and the frequency and violence of the northern winter winds; but Junipero showed him how impossible it 1 Palou, Vida, 142, 143. SAN LUIS OBISPO. 349 would be to relieve the northern missions, except by his sail- ing thither with his cargo, and how his failure to do so would involve their speedy abandonment. At the same time he gently hinted that in such case Captain Perez would incur a fearful responsibility. From these reasons passing to others, which struck him as still more forcible and which to such a character as his own would have been the most weighty of all, Junipero set forth the great work in the service of the Lord that had been initiated in those northern missions and assured his hearer that God would certainly not suffer harm to befall any one aiding in an undertaking so void of selfish considera- tions and so pious. It does not appear which of these argu- ments had most effect upon Captain Perez; but it is certain that he changed his mind and immediately prepared to resume his voyage for Monterey. Junipero at the same time arranged an overland train for the same point; and a few days after- wards he had. the satisfaction of seeing the San Antonio sail and the train march; and from that moment he felt that the threatened destruction of his northern labors was averted and a great weight lifted from his mind. While, however, the immediate wants of the missions were thus provided for, there were other matters which gave Juni- pero great uneasiness and eventually obliged him to under- take a long and perilous journey. The principal of these were: first; the withdrawal from America of the visitador- general and the consequent loss of a great coadjutor; sec- ondly, a change in the administration of Mexico and the advent of a new viceroy whose policy, it seemed likely, would be to neglect the northwest coast; and thirdly, a formal de- mand preferred by the order of Dominicans to be admitted into equal participation with the Franciscans in the religious management of California — a demand which, if acceded to by the government, involved the probability and prospect of introducing endless disagreements and distractions. Previous to -the recent arrivals Junipero had very little definite infor- mation in reference to any of these subjects. But now, upon hearing more particularly the state of affairs, it appeared to 350 THE FRANCISCANS. him that there was serious ground of apprehension for the continued prosperity, if not for the very existence, of the entire spiritual conquest. The emergency seemed to him so great that he called to his aid the other missionaries then present at San Diego, of whom there were three, and seriously and prayerfully discussed with them the situation and what under the circumstances was best to be done. All agreed that some one must at once proceed as the representative of the Californian missions to Mexico; and it was plain to the minds of his companions that Junipero, if it were possible for him to undergo the journey, was the proper person. He himself came at length to the same conclusion; and, as soon as he did so, notwithstanding his advanced age and increas- ing infirmities and the risk to which he would thereby expose his life, he immediately prepared himself and on October 20 set sail in the San Carlos for San Bias, where he arrived on November 4. 1 / The only person whom Junipero took along as a compan- ion was. an Indian boy of Monterey, one of the first whom he had baptized there and who, though nothing more than a body-servant, attracted much attention in Mexico as a speci- men of the first fruits of Alta California. With this lad he proceeded to Tepic and thence to Guadalajara. At the latter place both were stricken down with a fever, which in a short time assumed so malignant a type that they were given up to ■ die. Junipero, in view of expected death, hastily made what he supposed would be his final arrangements in this world and then prepared for the last ceremonies of the church. As for himself he seemed to have no concern, but he was greatly grieved for his companion and especially for the bad effect his death, so remote from his relatives and friends, might produce upon the mission at Monterey. In a few days, how- ever, the dangerous symptoms of the disease passed; and before long both were able to continue their journey. At Oueretaro Junipero had a relapse or repetition of the previ- ous symptoms; and now he thought surely he must succumb. He again made himself ready for extreme unction; when a 1 Palou, Vida, 143 147. SAN LUIS OBISPO. 351 skillful physician.^a different and evidently an abler one than the regular attendant, happening to be present asked to see the dying man. Being introduced to the bed-side and tak- ing Junipero by the pulse, he exclaimed, " And is this the reverend father to whom the last sacrament is to be admin- I istered ? It might as well be administered to me. He is not sick; he is a well man and may rise whenever he will." And so upon experiment it proved. There was of course much wonder at what seemed to be so sudden a recovery; but the explanation undoubtedly is that there had been a mistake about the reality or severity of the sickness. Be this~A as it may, Junipero, instead of receiving extreme unction and paying the debt of nature, immediately rose from his bed and in a few days afterwards resumed his journey to the city of Mexico, which he reached on February 6, 1773, very tired, very much reduced and very weak but otherwise sound and in good spirits. 1 Upon his arrival at San Bias, and more fully upon his ar- rival at the college of San Fernando in the city of Mexico, Junipero learned the particulars of the great changes that had recently taken place and of which he had been only partially informed previous to his voyage. It now appeared that the twenty Franciscan missionaries, who had been sent to Lower California in 1 77 r , did not arrive at Loreto until it was too late to effect anything important. It had been intended to found five new missions between Vellicata and San Diego; but by the time the missionaries arrived there were no soldiers on hand to act as guards, and the proposed foundations had therefore to be given up and the friars distributed among the old missions. About the same time, the viceroyalty of Mex- ico had passed from the hands of the Marques de Croix to those of Antonio Maria Bucareli y Ursua; and the visitador- general, Jose de Galvez, had been recalled to be promoted to more important duties in Spain. Both De Croix and Galvez had been deeply and sincerely interested in the progress and prosperity of California and their withdrawal could not be otherwise than a misfortune. This was particularly the case 1 Palou, Vida, 147 151. 352 THE FRANCISCANS. in respect to Galvez, who in all his transactions connected with California had shown himself a man of very great ability and very great zeal. In the long line of distinguished men whose labors have helped to make up the history of the country, he deserves and will always occupy a prominent place. Junipero further learned that about the time of the occur- rences just mentioned and partly on account of them, the order of Dominicans of Mexico had made a demand to share with the Franciscans in the spiritual conquest of California. These two orders, the former of which was usually known among English-speaking people as Black Friars and the lat- ter as Gray Friars, had always been to some extent rivals; and it was doubtless on account of the eclat which Junipero had gained by his labors for the Franciscans, that the Dominicans turned their attention in the same direction. Whatever, how- ever, might have been the moving cause, the Spanish govern- ment had no special reason to be partial; and it therefore directed that the Dominicans should be allowed to take part in the conquest. Negotiations had thereupon been opened by the Dominicans with the college of San Fernando for the purpose of being admitted to a joint possession of California. But the Franciscans, being actuated with a wise policy and a prudent foresight, declined to join or mix the rival orders, and offered rather to give up all their claims to Lower California, settled and regulated though it was, and devote themselves entirely to the more remote wilderness beyond. The Domin- icans did not hesitate to accept the proposition; and the ar- rangement was confirmed by royal decree on April 30, 1772. 1 All the above stated facts had been for some time known in Lower California and dispatches containing the same information had been forwarded to Alta California; but they had not reached their destination at the time Junipero sailed from San Diego. On account of these changes, Palou, the Franciscan president of Lower California, had already made arrangements to deliver over that province to the Dominicans and had sent some of the supernumerary missionaries under his jurisdiction to Alta California, while others had returned 1 Palou, Vida, 117, 1 1 8. SAN LUIS OBISPO. 353 to Mexico. But these were matters of very inconsiderable importance in comparison with another, which Junlpero now found himself called upon to meet. This was the proposed abandonment -of the port of San Bias, which was seriously contemplated by the new viceregal government and which, if carried into effect, would have rendered future communica- tion between Mexico and Alta California impracticable and doubtless involved the destruction of all that had been done. Altogether, affairs, as Junipero gathered up the various strands and threads, presented a very different aspect from that which they had previously worn; and it now became manifest that, whatever he and his companions at San Diego may have thought of the propriety of his journey to Mexico, it was not only by far the best thing but very likely it was the only thing that could have been done to save the country. 23 Vol. I, CH APTE R V I I. BUCARELI. — -SAN DIEGO DESTROYED AND RESTORED. — SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. ANTONIO MARIA BUCARELI Y URSUA, the new viceroy of Mexico, however little he at first knew about Alta California and however damaging his intended policy of abandoning the port of San Bias would have been to the new settlements, was a man of quick perceptions, of sincerity and honesty of purpose and of great energy; and he proved, as soon as informed of all the facts and circumstances, to be one of the firmest and fastest friends that the country ever had. He undoubtedly understood that the general policy of the reigning king was to pre-occupy all the northwest coast and thereby exclude other nations from interference with it; but he did not at first know how this policy was to be carried out or how the desired objects would be best promoted. In this state of facts nothing, perhaps, could have been more fortunate for him than to find such an advocate of the north- west as Junipero; and nothing on the other hand could have been more fortunate for Junipero and the northwest than to find such a patron as Bucareli. Junipero almost immediately upon his arrival at Mexico, having first received the blessing of his titular superior the father guardian of the college of San Fernando, proceeded to the viceregal palace. Being kindly received there by Bucareli, he forthwith, in an open, straight-forward and con- fiding but at the same time zealous manner, stated the objects of his visit and the circumstances under which he had been induced to make it. Upon such a subject and in such an audi- (354) BUCARELI. 355 ence Junipero could not be otherwise than eloquent; and Buca- reli was so favorably impressed with the man and so forcibly- struck with his arguments that he answered that he would do everything he consistently could for the benefit of the con- quest represented by him. He there upon s uggested to Juni- pero to put in writing the main points of what he considered necessary to be done, both with regard to the temporal and the spiritual welfare of Alta California. Junipero replied that he would do so, but that there were two subjects which required immediate attention: one was the supply of the missions that had received nothing from Mexico for many months, and the other was the preservation of the port of San Bias as the only one whence it_was practicable to succor the northwest coast. Bucareli rejoined that so far as concerned the relief of the missions, supplies should at once be for- warded; and that, so far as concerned San Bias, if Junipero would note down his reasons for the continuance of a port at that place, they should receive immediate and serious consid- eration. Junipero thereupon retired for the purpose of draw- ing up his statement in reference to San Bias; and Bucareli proceeded to send off orders for the immediate preparation, lading and dispatch for Monterey of the San Carlos, which still lay at the port of San Bias. These orders being promptly obeyed, the vessei was soon on the way. It was now under the command of Juan Perez, the same who had passed so many times in the San Antonio forwards and backwards from port to port. But unfortunately Perez was not, upon this voyage, as lucky as usual. Soon after spreading his sails he met with bad weather. Instead of getting out to sea and doubling Cape San Lucas, he was driven up the gulf and compelled to unload at Loreto. From that point there was no means of conveyance, or none in any respect practicable, to the remote missions in the northwest; so that, although sufficient effort was made and duly appreciated for its relief, Alta California in fact received no succor; and for upwards of eight months its missionaries and soldiers were reduced to very great straits. 1 1 Palou, Vida, p. 153. 356 THE FRANCISCANS. As soon as Junipero had prepared his statement in refer- ence to San Bias, setting forth the reasons why the port and governmental department connected therewith should not be abandoned, he handed it to Bucareli, who was so much pleased that he forwarded it to Madrid. The result mani- fested itself afterwards in a royal order not only for the con- tinuance of the port but also for the establishment of the department on a much more complete and solid basis than ever before. New officers were named and provision made for their support and the support of the department. And that there might be no question as to what the government intended, an important part of the new arrangement was that it should be carried into effect as soon as possible, which was accordingly done. In all these respects Junipero could not have succeeded better or gained more entirely the object for which he strove, In his other and more extensive statement, Junipero set forth, under thirty-two separate heads, the main points of ■ what he considered necessary to secure the safety and pros- perity of Alta California. He entered minutely into the sub- ject and produced a document which exhibited a remarkable degree of ability as a man of business. ' Bucareli was so much edified that he was completely won to the cause; and, to use the words of Palou, he at once became its advocate and patron ..as well as its judge. He called together his council and pre- •sented to it the different propositions, one after the other; and, when the vote came to be taken, he and all with reat unanimity were in favor of the conquest and conceded almost everything that Junipero asked. One of the matters of most immediate concern was the set- tlement of the relations between the missionaries and the mil- itary authorities Under ordinary circumstances, in the occu- pation and settlement of a new country inhabited by savages, it might have been expected that the military department would be recognized as the dominant power; and to some extent at least its claim to general control had been made and acted on by Pedro Fages, the comandante of Monterey. BUCARELI. 357 But Junipero insisted that the conquest of California was a spiritual one and that the military should be subordinate to the missionary authority. There had already been several petty disputes arising out of this conflict of claims, sufficient to show that Fages was not disposed to be as compliant and submissive as the missionaries desired; and among the very first of Junipero's demands therefore was that Fages should be removed. To give color to the demand it was charged that his government was harsh, immoral and calculated to cause desertions, and that in many ways he had interfered with and thwarted the progress of the conquest. Whether there was any truth in the charges or not, it was certain that the proper kind of harmony did not exist; and it was there- fore resolved that Fages should be superseded. It was also in the same connection resolved that if any missionary should charge any soldier at a mission with bad conduct and demand his removal, the new comandante to be appointed, should at once, and without inquiring into the charge, remove him to the presidio. Another resolution was that the missionaries should have the government, manage- ment, punishment and education of the Indians, baptized or to be baptized, and exercise the same power of control- over them that a father has a right to exercise over his children. In addition to these resolutions, it was provided that property and letters intended for the missionaries should be kept and forwa- 1 ,d separately from those of the military department; and special instructions were to be given that the comandante should not open, meddle with or delay the correspondence ' of the missionaries, that their letters should be free and that whenever a mail or courier was about to be dispatched ample notice should be given to them beforehand. Another important series of orders, asked for by Junipero and conceded by Bucareli and his council, was that, for cul- tivating mission lands and securing harvests, young men qualified to conduct and teach farming might be enlisted in the neighborhood of San Bias and distributed among the missions, as many as six to each one; that they should 358 THE FRANCISCANS. receive salaries and rations like sailors; that they should not be removed or interfered with by the comandante, and that they should be allowed to remain after the first year if satis- fied, otherwise to return at their option to San Bias. Two blacksmiths with forges and the necessary iron were also to be provided and two carpenters, one of each for Monterey and neighborhood and the other for San Diego and neighbor- hood. It was likewise provided that some of the neophyte families of Lower California, if willing to go, might be dis- tributed among the new missions for the purpose of assisting in labor and affording an example of Christian conduct to the gentiles. Ornaments and vestments, wanting at several of the missions, were to be supplied, and also two bells as directed by the king for such missions as were not as yet provided. It was likewise resolved that supplies furnished at San Bias should be properly inspected, measured and packed and a stop put to dishonest and fraudulent practices, which had become too frequent there; and that a full set of sealed measures should be furnished to each of the missions. The cattle intended for the new establishments were to be placed under the charge of the missionaries, so that they might be well cared for and their milk utilized for the maintenance of the new Christians. A surgeon was also to be provided in the place of Pedro Prat, who had died. The matter of the military establishment, which under the circumstances was one of difficulty, was referred by Bucareli and the council to Juan Jose Echeveste, who had been an officer in the department at San Bias and was familiar with the subject, for the purpose of formulating a reglamento or system fitted to the surroundings. Echeveste presented his plan and it was adopted. It provided for a comandante, subordinate to the governor of the Californias, a sergeant, two corporals, twenty-two soldiers, two carpenters, two black- smiths, four muleteers and a storekeeper at Monterey; two sergeants, two corporals, twenty-two soldiers, two carpenters, two blacksmiths and a storekeeper at San Diego, and five corporals and twenty-five soldiers for the five missions of BUCARELI. 359 Alta California. It further provided for a governor of the Californias, who, it was understood, was to reside at Loreto. and a lieutenant, sergeant, three corporals, thirty soldiers and a commissary in Lower California; also for the proper officers and support of the commissary department, ship-yard and arsenal at San Bias, and for the officers, crews and cur- rent expenses of three vessels. The estimated annual cost of the establishment for Alta California was $38,385 ; for Lower California $16,450; for the San Bias department $29,646, and for the fleet $34,037; or in all $118,518. The saleries of all the Californian officers and employees, however, except the governor and commissaries, were to be paid in goods, which were to be furnished in Alta California at an advance of one hundred and fifty per centum on the original cost and in Lower California at an advance of one hundred per centum. As articles that cost a certain price at San Bias were fur- nished at double that price at Loreto and two and a hulf times that price at Monterey, the amount of money actually required was only about one-half the nominal sum. To meet this, there was an annual sum of $33,000, which the king in 1772 when providing for all the presidios of the northern frontier had ordered to be paid out of the royal treasury at Guadalajara for the support of California; and the remainder was to be made up partly from the receipts of certain salt-works in the neighborhood of San Bias, which had been assigned to California and were supposed to amount to some $25,000 annually, partly from the produce of the pious fund, which after paying the salaries of missionaries was expected to yield, some $10,000 annually, and the bal- ance from the royal treasury. In addition to the resolutions and reglamento, which Juni- pero had thus managed to procure and which were to consti- tute for a time at least the code of the new province, he succeeded in having the salaries of the missionaries increased from three hundred and fifty to four hundred dollars, so that each mission was to receive eight hundred instead of seven hundred dollars per annum; and he also succeeded in pro- 360 THE FRANCISCANS. curing from the viceroy a large contribution of clothing, provisions and other supplies amounting in value to over twelve thousand dollars and a hundred mules to be distrib- uted among the missions. 1 The matter of next importance that engaged the attention of Bucareli was the communication between Alta California and Mexico. Junipero had asked in his statement or memo- rial that Juan Bautista de Anza, captain of the presidio of Tubac on the northern frontier of Sonora, might be aiithor- rized to open as he had offered to do a road from there to Monterey. Upon looking into the subject, Bucareli con- curred. It became apparent to him that the passage by sea, with such vessels as were then used, was more or less uncer- tain. If one of them should be delayed, even for a short time, there would be trouble; and, if lost, the consequences might be serious. Such being the case, it appeared very plain that a road, if at all practicable, ought to be opened forthwith between the new province and Sonora; so that, in case of a disaster at sea, relief might be furnished overland. Nothing further was required. Bucareli at once sent word to Anza to open the proposed road; and Anza, who appears to have been as active and prompt a captain as Bucareli was a vice- roy, as soon as he could do so, collected the necessary soldiers and supplies and started off northwestward through the sands and deserts upon his appointed expedition. There was apparently little or nothing more that could have been done for California. But the zeal and warmth of Tunipero had so fired the kindred spirit of Bucareli as to inspire him with a desire to go beyond all that had been sug- gested and accomplish results that should be glorious. He conceived that this might be done by making voyages of dis- covery and exploration into the far northwest and extending the dominion of the Spanish arms and the faith of the Span- ish church into all the immense and as yet comparatively unknown regions beyond Mendocino. He mentioned his thought to Junipero and at the same time stated that, if he 1 l'alou, Noticias, III, 36-147; Vida, 153-155. BUCARELI. 361 had a vessel, he would send it off immediately upon a prelim- inary survey to ascertain the condition of those regions and where a settlement could best be planted to secure them. Junipero answered that the vessel which was shortly to sail for Monterey would be at the service of his excellency for the proposed survey as soon as its cargo should be unloaded; and that, if he so desired, he might put it in commission for service beyond Monterey at once. Bucareli, without hesita- tion, gave the necessary orders to that effect and thus ini- tiated a new series of Spanish voyages of discovery, some of which in their spirit and heroic effort resemble those of Cabrillo and Viscaino. Arrangements for the first of. these voyages and for shipping to the missions having been com- pleted, Junipero prepared for his return to California. Upon taking leave of his brethren of the college of San Fernando, he embraced and kissed the feet of all; begged that they would pardon the example his short-comings had given them, and asked their prayers and benediction, as they should see him no more. He then, in company with Father Pablo Mu- gartegui, set off for San Bias. There were at that time at San Bias two ships, one the San Antonio and the other a smaller vessel, just built there, called the Santiago. The first was laden and sailed with supplies for San Diego. The second was laden and sailed with supplies for Monterey on January 24, 1774, having on board Junipero and Mugartegui, also a commissary or store- keeper for Monterey, a surgeon with his family, three black- smiths with their families and three carpenters. It was the intention of this vessel upon leaving San Bias to proceed directly to its destination, without stopping on the way; but, instead of doing so, it ran in to San Diego, where it arrived on March 13. At that place Junipero, learning that there had been much suffering on account of want of supplies, resolved instead of prosecuting the remainder of his journey by sea to proceed overland, so as to visit the missions of San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo and San Antonio; and, as he did so, he relieved their necessities and rejoiced over the stead- 362 THE FRANCISCANS. fastness they had shown and the progress they had made during his absence. He aJso_had_lhe.sa-tisfaction-of meeting Juan Bautista de Anza, the captain of the presidio of Tubac, who was then on his way back from Monterey, having^apened a road in accordance with the directions given him by Buca- reli from Sonora to that place. Anza, according to Palou, had inherited the zeal which he exhibited for this service. His father, who had likewise been a captain of a frontier presidio of Sonora, had for many years taken a deep interest in the old project, originally conceived by Kino, of opening a communication between Sonora and, California around the head of the gulf. During his lifetime however, nothing important towards the accomplishment of that object had been done. After the father's death, the son manifested equal and even greater enthusiasm for the project. In 1769, when the expeditions by land and sea for San Diego and Monterey were preparing in Lower California, he offered to conduct a separate expedition to the same places from Sonora. The yisitador-general, however, did not see proper to accept his proposition. In 1773, after San Diego and Monterey had both been occupied, he renewed his offer; and Bucareli, feeling as he did upon the subject and having first consulted Father Junipero and also obtained authority from the king to pay the expense out of the royal treasury, ordered the expedition. Anza at once prepared to set out; but just as he was about starting, the Apaches stole his horses and killed some of his men. This delayed him for a time. But, as it happened, the delay was not altogether unfortunate. While he was engaged in supplying his losses, a Lower Californian Indian, called Sebastian Tarabal, a native of Santa .Gertrudis who had been in Alta California, was brought to him. This man had been one of the Indians who accompanied the first expedition to San Diego and had afterwards gone back to and returned from Lower California. He had been employed at San Gabriel but in August, 1773, deserted together with his wife and a Lower Californian companion. Upon flying from San Gabriel they had, for the purpose of avoiding capture, BUCARELI. 363 gone out into the desert, where his wife and countryman died. He himself managed to survive and finally reached the Colo- rado river and was thence taken to Anza at Altar, who received him as a sort of providentially-sent guide for the journey he was about to undertake. • Anza got under way from Altar on January 8, 1774. He was accompanied by Fathers Francisco Garces and Juan Diaz, Franciscan missionaries of the college of Santa Cruz de Queretaro, twenty soldiers and the guide Sebastian, and had a large train of horses and cattle. According to his estimate, it was ninety leagues from Altar to the junction of the Col- orado and Gila rivers; and it took him a month to reach it. There he found the banks of the rivers thickly populated with Indians, who seemed comparatively civilized. They pos- sessed many horses, which they had obtained from Sonora, and cultivated plentiful harvests of maize, wheat, beans, pump- kins and melons. They manifested so friendly a disposition that Anza resolved to leave there some of the cattle and some of the worn-out beasts of burden and a few soldiers to keep charge of them until his return. Then, crossing the rivers, he with the main body of his men and animals struck out into the sands of the desert, led by Sebastian. They wandered about for some time, suffered much from thirst and made very slow progress, but finally reached the greener lands of the west where there were water and pasture; and on March 22 they arrived at the mission of San Gabriel. All were in good health; but their stock of provisions was ex- hausted; and, as they happened to arrive when there were no supplies at San Gabriel, they were compelled to wait until succor came from San Diego before their necessities could be properly supplied. At San Gabriel, Anza waited until April 10 with the ex- pectation of meeting Father Juni'pero, who was then daily looked for. But Juni'pero was detained at San Diego. Under the circumstances, Anza. with a portion of his company con- tinued his journey to Monterey, remained there three days, and on his way back met and conferred with Juni'pero, as 364 THE FRANCISCANS. before stated. He then hurried on to San Gabriel and, with- out loss of time, started off on his return to Sonora. Fages sent along six of the Monterey soldiers for the purpose of learning the route as far as the Colorado river. Upon arriv- ing at that place it was found that the Indians of the neigh- borhood, who had before appeared so friendly, were treacher- ous and had made several attempts to steal the animals left there in charge of a guard the previous February. They also attacked, though without success, the Monterey soldiers as they were setting out on their return. Anza meanwhile con- tinued on to Altar and from that place proceeded to Mexico for the purpose of giving an account of his expedition to the viceroy. 1 In the meanwhile, and during Jum'pero's absence in Mexico, the Lower California missions had been turned over to the Dominicans. Eighteen missionaries of that order had arrived at Loreto on May 12, 1773; and almost immediately the for- malities of delivery had taken place. Of the Franciscans, who had by this change been released from service there, some had returned to Mexico; but eight had been chosen to assist in the spiritual conquest of Alta California. These were Fathers Francisco Palou, who had been president of the mis- sions since 1769, Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, Jose Murguia, Juan Prestamero, Gregorio Amurrio, Vicente Fuster, Miguel de la Campa Cos and Pedro Benito Cambon. Palou and De la Campa Cos had been at Loreto at the time of the arrival of the Dominicans and the latter was left there temporarily, with the title of president, to look after the interests of the Franciscans and settle disputes. Palou, on his part, started for Alta California and on the road, passing by the missions of Mulege, Guadalupe, San Ignacio, Santa Gertrudis and Borja, was joined by Murguia, Prestamero, Amurrio and Lasuen. He was also joined by Sergeant Jose Francisco de Ortega and a company of soldiers, who had been detailed by Governor Fages to escort him and his companions to their destination. 1 Palou, Noticias, III, 154-160. BUCARELI. 365 The party on July 13 reached San Fernando de Vellicata, where they found Fathers Fuster and Cambon. The last was left there to look after matters of importance and inter- est, much as De la Campa Cos had been left at Lorcto; and the other six resumed their journey on July 21. They were accompanied by Ortega with fourteen soldiers and six fami- lies of Indians, three from Santa Gertrudis and three from Borja. At the end of about two weeks they met Fathers Antonio Paterna of San Gabriel and Tomas de la Perto Sar- avia of San Diego, who had been notified of their approach and had come out to assist them along. On August 19 they reached the Arroyo de San Juan Bautista, about fifteen leagues south of San Diego, which had been fixed on as the dividing line between the Dominicans and Franciscans, or between what began to be known as Antigua or Old and Nueva or New California, afterwards more generally desig- nated as Baja or Lower and Alta or Upper California. There they erected a great cross of alderwood, with the inscription: " Division de las Misiones de Nuestro Padre Santo Domingo y de Nuestro Padre San Francisco: Ano de 1773 — Division between the missions of our Father St. Dominic and of our Father St. Francis: year 1773." As the cross was raised, they worshiped and with extraordinary joy chanted the Te Deum Laudamus, thankful for thus safely reaching the land of their destination and future labors. On July 30 they arrived at San Diego. There Palou found that he had been appointed to act as president of thjs new missions during the absence of Jum'pero. In this capacity he immediately began gathering statistics for a report on the condition of affairs and making a new distribution of missionaries to the different establish- ments. On September 26 he left San Diego; and, after mak- ing a few stoppages at missions along the road, he reached Monterey on November 14. At San Luis Obispo he left the Lower California!! Indian families and was joined by Gov- ernor Fages, who had come to meet him. A league out from Monterey he was met by Father Crespi. As he passed over from Monterey to San Carlos, all the populace turned out; 366 THE FRANCISCANS. there was great rejoicing, and not the least happy was Palou himself, who thus at length found himself in the spot to which his thoughts for years had been directed and where he hoped and expected to labor the remainder of his life. 1 On May n, 1774, five months after Palou's arrival at Mon- terey, Juni'pero returned from Mexico. He had been absent nearly two years. He had labored hard and accomplished much for California; had, by the influence he had been able to exert with Bucareli, rendered it possible for the spiritual conquest to go on without any great risk of failure ; and he now returned, according to his language to his brethren at San Fernando in Mexico, to leave California no more forever. His arrival was of course the occasion of celebration and thanks- giving, and particularly so as there had been, for upwards of a month before, much suffering for want of provisions. Palou wrote that he had lived thirty-seven days without a tortilla or morsel of bread and subsisted only on a few ground peas or beans mixed with milk and a little coffee in the mornings instead of chocolate, while the Indians had been obliged to seek the beach at Monterey and eke out an existence by what they could pick up. But this state of destitution had already been relieved by the Santiago, which had sailed into port two days previously; and in a short time everything was in its normal state again. The captain of the Santiago, as has been stated, was Juan Perez, the same who had previously commanded the San Antonio. He had been directed by Bucareli, after unloading his Monterey cargo, to proceed into the northwestern seas and survey the coast to as high a latitude as he could conveniently reach before the bad weather could be expected to set in. He immediately prepared himself for this service; and Juni'pero, in compliance with a request of the viceroy that missionaries should be sent along, named Fathers Juan Crespi and Tomas de la Pena Saravia to accompany the expedition. Pere« sailed from Monterey on June 11, 1774, and returned on August 27. He sailed as far north as latitude 55 and dis- 1 Palou, Noticias, I, 240-270. BUCARELI. 367 covered the large island now known as Queen Charlotte, which he called Santa Margarita. Sailing southeasterly from that point, he surveyed the coast and found many roadsteads; and the whole country seemed populous. At one point, which appears to have been that now known as Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, he attempted to land and erect a cross; but sudden winds came on which put him in so much danger that he ran out as soon as possible and made no second attempt. He had, however, some intercourse with the Indians, numbers of whom came out in immense wooden canoes and bartered various articles of their handiwork, especially wooden ware beautifully carved, hair blankets and mats and hats made of bark, for pieces of iron. These Indians were friendly, of manly forms, and most of them clothed with skins or blankets. The women were decently covered and of good appearance, except that every one including even the girls had her lower lip slit and a disk of wood so inserted that by a simple movement of the lip she could cover and conceal her mouth and nostrils. 1 Upon receiving an account of what had thus been accom- plished, Bucareli, apparently dissatisfied with the result, gave immediate orders for a second expedition. This was to ad- vance further; and, if a port should be found, it was directed that immediate possession should be taken of it. For this expedition he appointed two vessels: the Santiago, which had returned to San Bias, and a schooner called the Sonora.' He named Bruno de Heceta as commander of the ship and Juan Francisco dc la Bodega y Quadra as commander of the schooner. The college of San Fernando at Mexico, at the viceroy's suggestion, appointed Fathers Miguel de la Campa Cos and Benito Sierra to accompany them. These vessels sailed from San Bias about the middle of March, 1775. After being driven about for some time by contrary winds, they reached the latitude of 41 ° north and then ran in for the purpose of procuring water. They there found a tolerably good port and on June 11, 1775, took formal possession; 1 Crespi's journal of this voyage is given in Palou, Noticias, III, 164-224. 368 THE FRANCISCANS. celebrated the mass; set up a cross; sang the Te Deum, and gave it the name of Santisima Trinidad. Sailing thence they ran up to about latitude 47?- north and anchored in a spa- cious and beautiful roadstead; and the next day, July 14, Heceta and one of the fathers landed and planted a cross on the beach, but were prevented from going through the usual ceremonies of taking possession by the violence of the surf. Sailing on towards the north, the vessels on July 30 separated and did not come together again until they met at Monterey. The Santiago proceeded northward as far as 49}4 Q and then turning around ran down to Monterey, which it reached on August 29 with almost all its crew down with scurvy. Heceta afterwards claimed that on August 17, upon his return voyage, he had discovered the mouth of a great river to which he gave the name of Rio de San Roque, and that it was in fact the mouth of the Columbia. But it is plain that he did nothing more at best than notice that there were strong currents and the likelihood of a great river or important pas- sage. It is certain he did not enter the opening; nor is he under the circumstances entitled to any credit as the discov- erer of the river. 1 Bodega y Quadra, on his part, continued in the schooner Sonora to pursue the objects of the expedition; and, running up as far as latitude 58 north, he discovered the spacious and excellent port of Sitka, called by him Puerto de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, where he landed, erected a cross and took formal possession. From that point, upon getting to sea again, the winds drove him southward to about the latitude of 55 , where he discovered a large strait entering inland. He was unable on account of the advance of the season to examine it fully; but from what he could see he made up his mind that, if any passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean existed, that was it. He therefore in honor of the viceroy named it Paso de Bucareli or Bucareli's Passage, and sailed on. Proceeding thence southward, he on October 3 discovered and ran into a bay, about four leagues 1 See Greenhow, 120, 430-433. BUCARELI. 369 north of Point Reyes, which then received and still bears the name of Bodega. After a short stay at that place and run- ning some danger of losing his vessel, he again gained the open sea and on October 7 reached Monterey. Eight days afterwards Bodega y Quadra and every one of his crew went over to the mission of San Carlos at the river Carmcl, where joining in confession and mass they returned thanks for the happy outcome of their voyage. .-*■ Father Junipero in the meanwhile, after his return from Mexico in May, 1774, had devoted himself energetically to his apostolic duties. The then recent supplies having fur- nished him with provisions and clothing in abundance, he soon managed to collect a great number of natives; and bap- tisms were frequent. But what he could thus effect by no means sufficed to satisfy his ardent zeal. He had not founded a new mission for several years. The new regulations pro- vided that there should be no other establishments started until such time as the government could furnish the neces- sary soldiers; but there was a saving clause in favor of one or two, if it should be found that soldiers could be spared from the presidios and missions already established. Acting upon this proviso and actuated by his irrepressible spirit, Junipero soon determined to found a new mission, to be called San Juan Capistrano, at a point on the coast about twenty-six leagues north of San Diego. He accordingly treated with Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, who had just superseded Pedro Fages in the office of comandante, and, arranging with him for eight soldiers to be chosen from Monterey and San Diego, assigned Fathers Fermin Francisco de Lasuen and Gregorio Amurrio and sent them off to commence the new establishment. These fathers with the Monterey soldiers proceeded to San Gabriel, where Amurrio stopped for the time being; while Lasuen went on to San Diego and, procur- ing the San Diego soldiers, returned with them to the site of the proposed new mission. There on October 30, 1775, a grand cross was erected and the first mass celebrated. A few days afterwards Amurrio arrived from San Gabriel and 24 Vol. 2. 370 THE FRANCISCANS. everything seemed to be going on prosperously, when a cour- ier arrived from San Diego with the melancholy intelligence of the murder of Father Luis Jayme of that place and the burning of the mission. This at once broke up the new establishment; and the fathers, as well as the soldiers, pro- ceeded without delay to San Diego, where they found the sad intelligence but too true. 1 Luis Jayme was a countryman of Jum'pero and with Father Vicente Fuster had charge of the mission of San Diego. That mission had been removed in 1774 from the original site on the north of the bay opposite the anchorage and near the presidio to a cultivable spot in the valley of the San Diego river about two leagues distant. There were at the time a number of neophytes, two of whom, however, had apostatized. These, leaving the mission, had gone into the neighboring hills and mountains and incited the wild tribes to attack the establishment and if possible destroy it. On the night of November 4, 1775, the Indians to the number of eight hundred proceeded to the mission and immediately commenced an assault. The only soldiers then there were a corporal and three privates. Beside these there were the two missionaries, a blacksmith named Romero, two carpenters and two little boys, son and nephew of Jose Francisco de Ortega, the commander of the presidio, who had gone off to San Juan Capistrano. In a short time after the attack com- menced Father Luis Jayme, seeing a large body of Indians, approached them with the customary salutation, " Amad a Dios, hijos — Love God, children;" but instead of answering they seized him; carried him some distance; tore off his robes, and beat him to death with their clubs. At the same time other Indians guarded the houses of the neophytes so that they could not assist the Spaniards; others attacked the house where the blacksmith and carpenters were; and still others the house where Father Fuster, the soldiers and the boys defended themselves. The blacksmith sallied forth, sword in hand, against the assailants; but was soon struck 1 Palou, Vida, 173-176. SA N DIE GO DESTRO YED. 37 1 down by the arrows of the Indians. One of the carpenters was fatally wounded as he lay sick; and the other, seizing a musket, fought his way to the house of the soldiers. There the battle raged with greatest fury; for while the soldiers on the one hand fought with fire-arms the Indians on the other, besides discharging clouds of arrows, set fire to the thatched roofs which immediately flamed up with an immense blaze. It fortunately happened, however, that there was a small house near by, constructed of adobes and with a fe»w sticks or boughs only by way of roof. To this thJ Spaniards removed with their arms and munitions. The which they had been subjected first at San Gabriel and now again at Monterey, and desired to be led at once to their destination. But Anza regarded his commission as ended and resolved to set out on his way back to Sonora. He accordingly started with his guard of soldiers and Father Font on April 14. Before he reached San Gabriel, there was one meeting and before he left that place there were several communications between him and Rivera y Moncada who had come up from San Diego. But the ill-humor previously manifested by the comandante towards Anza had not decreased; and before their final parting Anza manifested quite as much ill-humor and even more discourtesy towards the comandante. At their meeting, which was on the road near San Antonio, the comandante had passed by without stopping and with a mere official salute. He had then gone on to Monterey; but a few days afterwards he returned; over- took Anza; sent an apology for what had taken place, and asked an interview. Anza, however, refused to have any communication except in writing. The result was that there was neither an interview nor any communication on the sub- ject of San Francisco, except that Anza's report and map of survey were transmitted to the comandante. At the begin- ning of May, Anza left San Gabriel for Sonora and Rivera y Moncada went on to San Diego. Meanwhile Lieutenant Moraga, who had been left by Anza in charge of the immigrants, recognized Rivera y Moncada as his superior and declined to act further until he should receive instructions to that effect. These, however, soon came. Rivera y Moncada had in fact scarcely reached San Diego and found matters comparatively quiet there, when he dispatched a letter to Moraga directing him to proceed with twenty soldiers to the foundation of a fort at San Francisco on the spot pointed out by the recent expedition. At the same time he wrote, and requested him to inform Juni'pero, that the foundation of the proposed missions would be 398 THE FRANCISCANS. deferred, as he had said before. But as he wrote nothing about how Moraga's soldiers were to be afforded spiritual comfort or who was to say mass and administer the sacra- ments, Juni'pero determined to send Fathers Palou and Cam- bon, the missionaries already chosen for San Francisco, along with the expedition for the purpose of acting as chaplains to the soldiers and being on hand for the new missions and preparing the way for them. Moraga on his part, as soon as he had received his instructions authorizing him to act, gave notice that on June 17, if everything could by that time be made ready, he would proceed to San Francisco and com- mence the contemplated settlement. This announcement had hardly been made, when, very opportunely, the ships San Carlos and San Antonio arrived from San Bias. They had left that place on March 9, laden with what were known as " las memorias " of 1776 or, in other words, the annual sup- plies for the pay of soldiers and support of the establishments. The San Antonio, part of whose cargo only was for Monterey and the remainder for San Diego, arrived on May 21 and was in a few days to run down to the latter port. The San Carlos on the other hand, which arrived on June 3, while some of its cargo was for Monterey, carried the remainder for the proposed new presidio of San Francisco and it had express orders from Bucareli to proceed a second time to that place and assist in the settlement to be there made. This fact enabled Moraga to send the bulkier portions of the furniture and supplies, which he would otherwise have had to carry with him, around by sea; and, being thus relieved of much care, his expedition was fully ready to proceed when the appointed. time arrived. The founders of San Francisco marched from Monterey on the afternoon of June 17, 1776. They consisted of Lieuten- ant Jose Joaquin Moraga, Fathers Francisco Palou and Pedro Benito Cambon, Sergeant Pablo Grijalba, two corporals, six- teen soldiers and seven pobladores or settlers. Moraga had left his family in Sonora; but the sergeant, corporals, soldiers and settlers were all married and had their families with them. In addition to these there were a number of servants attached SETTLEMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO. 399 to the families of soldiers and settlers and five muleteers and vaqueros. 1 The missionaries had two servants, two Lower California Indians and a Monterey Indian. It was supposed that the last mentioned might act as interpreter at San Fran- cisco; but upon his arrival there it was found he could not understand the language and was degraded to the office of cow-herd. There were also, beside the horses used by the travelers, a train of mules laden with provisions and a large drove of cattle, consisting of some two hundred for the pre- sidio and eighty-six for the mission.' A few days after Moraga's party thus marched, the ship San Carlos sailed, carrying the various articles and supplies that could not well be taken by land and, among other things, two cannon from the presidio of Monterey. As each got off, Juni'pero, who was still at Monterey, saw them depart and gave them his blessing. He then made arrangements and on June 30 embarked with Father Santa Maria in the San Antonio for the purpose of visiting and re-establishing the ruined mission of San Diego, as already related. It was only on account of the urgent necessity of his presence in the South that he was not present at the foundation of San Francisco. Moraga took the same route for San Francisco, by the way of Gilroy and the San Jose valley, that he had traveled before with Anza. As he set out, many of the Monterey officials accompanied him for a mile or two. Fernando Quiros, the commander, and Fathers Vicente de Santa Maria and Jose Nocedal, the chaplains, of the San Carlos, went as far as the crossing of the Salinas river; camped there with the travelers, and the next day saw the long line of soldiers, missionaries, families, horses, mule-train and cattle start on its way northeastward across the Salinas plains. " On account of the children and particularly of some of the women, whose condition required care, it marched very slowly and was sometimes obliged to stop. But no untoward accident 1 The names of all appear in a report of Hermenegildo Sal, December 31, 1776. — Cal. Archives, S. P. VI, 226. 2 Palou, Noticias, IV, 158-164; Vida, 205-207. 400 THE FRANCISCANS. occurred. The Indians along the road were friendly and looked with admiration upon the white women and children and with wonder upon the cattle, the like of which they had never seen. In the San Jose valley, about half way between Monterey and San Francisco, the travelers encountered a herd of elks, to which the soldiers gave chase and managed to kill three, whose flesh was carried along and used as pro- visions. Palou says these elks were very large; that a mule could not carry one of them, that they had openings under their eyes, which appeared to be intended for weeping; that they had horns four yards across from tip to tip, and, to finish his description, that, on account of the immense spread of their antlers, they could not run against the wind. Besides elks, antelopes and deer were also seen in abundance. On June 27 the party reached San Francisco and pitched their camp of fifteen tents near the spot which afterwards became the mission. It was on the bank of the lakelet or lagoon, named by Anza that of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, which discharged into the Ensenada de los Llorones as Mis- sion bay had been named. Around it spread a comparatively •level and grassy plain, almost entirely surrounded by hills but affording glimpses of the bay a mile or so distant. On the next day a booth was erected and an altar set up; and the following day, June 29, that according to the Catholic calendar of St. Peter and St. Paul, the first mass at Dolores was celebrated. One of the first things to be done was to station a look-out for the San Carlos. That vessel had been expected to arrive as early as the land expedition; but it had not made its appearance. It was thought that some delay had occurred at Monterey and that it could not be far off. But day after day went by without tidings of it. A month passed and still nothing was seen or heard. In the meanwhile the soldiers were employed in cutting timber for the presidio; and Mor- aga made a very minute examination of the entire northern end of the peninsula. He found various springs, small lakes and green patches of ground suitable for pasture. On the SETTLEMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO. 401 eastern slope of the hill or point, forming the south side of the Golden Gate, he selected a good sice for the presidio, being in view of the port and entrance and not far from the point where the fort was to be constructed, and having near it two springs yielding sufficient water for the use of the set- tlement. It was there that he resolved to locate it; and at length, having waited a whole month in vain for the San Carlos and thinking it high time to commence the foundation, he determined to go ahead Though his orders from Rivera y Moncada only applied to the presidio and not to the mis- sion, he deemed it proper to allow the missionaries to remain and maintain the settlement at Dolores as the nucleus of the future mission. Accordingly on July 26, leaving six soldiers and two pobladores and all the cattle at Dolores, he with the rest of the soldiers and people proceeded to the chosen site of the presidio and immediately began erecting huts of brush and tules and a chapel, in which the first mass was celebrated on July 28. On August 18, about three weeks after the start was thus given to the presidio, the San Carlos sailed into the bay and anchored in the port or cove in front of it, This was the sec- ond time the vessel had entered the Golden Gate. Its com- mander now was Fernando Ouiros and its pilots Jose Caiii- zares and Christoval Revilla. There had been two chap- lains; but Father Santa Maria had gone south with Jum'pero and only Father Jose Nocedal remained. It appeared that they had left Monterey soon after the march of the land expedition, but had experienced violent head winds and been driven out to sea and as far south as the parallel of San Diego. They had managed only with great difficulty to beat up and had run as far north as parallel 42 °, from which they had come down along the coast; run in between Point Reyes and the Farallones, and on the night of August 17 anchored in what is now known as Drake's bay. The next morning they had sailed without trouble into the port. Upon landing, Ouiros, the two pilots and Nocedal proceeded to Moraga's camp and pronounced the site excellently chosen. With * 26 Vol. I. 402 THE FRANCISCANS. tO/^their assistance a square space of ninety-two varas or two hundred and forty-seven and a half feet on each side was laid out and places designated in it for church, head-quarters, store-house, guard-house, barracks and houses for the pobla- dores or settlers. I Canizares drew a plan or map of the whole- * The work of building houses immediately commenced; two carpenters and a company of sailors from the ship assisted at the labor; and in a short time a store-house for the provisions, a house for the comandante and a chapel, all made of pali- sades of wood plastered with mud and thatched with tules> were constructed and also many of the houses for the soldiers and families. As soon as the work at the presidio was well under way, Quiros, Father Nocedal, one of the pilots, the surgeon of the ship and six sailors went over to the site of the proposed mission on the Laguna de los Dolores, which they also pronounced well chosen, and assisted in building a church or chapel and a house for the missionaries. These, like those at the presidio, were of palisades plastered with mud and thatched with tules. By the middle of Sep- tember all were finished — the provisions and supplies from the ships housed and the soldiers and pobladores furnished with habitations. There still remained to be performed the formal celebra- tion of the foundation of the presidio. The day chosen for the ceremonies was September 17, 1776, the day known in the Catholic calendar as that of the Impression of the wounds of St. Francis, the patron of the establishment. On that day all the people congregated, as well those from Dolores and the crews from the ships as those belonging to the presidio. There was also present Father Tomas de la Pena Saravia, who had been named as missionary for Santa Clara and had come up from Monterey to urge forward the foundation of that mission. Everything being ready, the royal standard was hoisted in front of the buildings that had been put up; and formal possession of the place and region around about was taken in the name of Charles III., king of Spain. \ At the same time the cross was elevated and mass performed by SETTLEMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO. 403 Father Palou assisted by his brother missionaries; and at the conclusion of the ceremonies the Te Deum was sung, accom- panied, as was usual whenever practicable on such occasions, with ringing of bells, salvos of artillery and fusillades from land and sea. A collation, the best the circumstances afforded, was then spread for the entertainment of the company by Comandante Moraga; and the day closed with a feast, if not of luxuries, of food seasoned with greater joys than any lux- uries alone could have produced. It is likely that the formal foundation of the mission at Dolores would have taken place about the same time; but Moraga thought proper to await an order for that purpose from Rivera y Moncada. In the meanwhile it was determined to make a more complete examination and survey of the bay than had yet been made. Accordingly, while Moraga with eight of his soldiers started off southeastwardly to pass around the southern arm, Quiros and Canizares of the San Carlos, accompanied by Father Cambon and a few sailors, embarked in the launch belonging to the ship and proceeded to the northward. Moraga marched until he reached the head of the southern bay; and then, passing around it he marched along the eastern side with the intention of follow- ing it up to a point on the Straits of Carquinez, which had been agreed upon for a meeting of the two parties. But, see- ing a large opening in the Contra Costa mountain range and supposing it would afford him a short cut, he marched off to the right and soon found himself involved among the mount- ains, from which it would be impossible to reach the point of union by the time fixed on. This compelled him to give up the idea of joining Quiros; and, turning off and following the valleys northeastward and gradually ascending until he reached the top of the mountains, he looked over into the immense plains beyond. There, by the long lines of wood stretching away as far as the eye could reach, he thought he could distinguish five distinct water courses; and he made up his mind, contrary to the impressions produced by the flooded country in the spring, that five great rivers coming from dif- 404 THE FRANCISCANS. ferent sources joined together to make the one immense river, called the San Francisco, which swept down through the Straits of Carquinez and by the way of the Golden Gate into the ocean. He descended the eastern slope of the mountains and went on to the first of these five rivers, which was the present San Joaquin, and, having managed to ford it, marched eastward into the plains. He finally reached a point from which it appears he could see neither mountain nor hill. All seemed one unbroken plain like the ocean: the sun rose and set on an apparently level horizon. There were no trees; there was no water; it was excessively hot; nothing was to be seen of Indians, who abounded along the river; and even the elks and other game became scarce in those seemingly arid wastes. Under the circumstances, Moraga contented himself with what he had thus seen and retracing his steps returned to San Francisco, where he arrived on October 7. 1 Ouiros and his party, meanwhile, proceeded in their launch into San Pablo bay and up along the eastern shore to the Straits of Carquinez. They seem to have examined what is now the port of Vallejo, which they called Puerto de la Asun- cion de Nuestra Sehora, and pronounced it as fine as that of San Diego." They then passed around towards the westward, examined the shores and entered into what is now known as Petaluma creek, which they at first supposed to communicate with the ocean at or near Bodega; but after a day and night's labor they found an end of their navigation and were con- vinced that the only exit of the waters of. the bay and river of San Francisco was the narrow passage by which the San Carlos had entered. Having completed the survey of San Pablo bay, Quiros returned to the presidio. After Moraga's return the two sat down together, compared notes and made up a joint report of what they had done and seen for his excellency, the viceroy Bucareli. The formal foundation of the mission at Dolores had not yet taken place. Moraga had intended, as before stated, to 1 Palou, Vida, 206-212; Noticias, 164-175. 2 "No menos famoso y seguro que el de San Diego." — Palou, Vida, 213. SETTLEMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO. 405 wait for special orders from Rivera y Moncada; but upon his return from his recent trip to the San Joaquin river, no orders had been received. It was uncertain when they would come. It was getting late in the season. The church, eighteen varas long by five wide, and the missionaries' residence adjoining, ten varas long by five wide, were completed. Ouiros and his sailors, who had aided in building the houses, were about returning to Mexico; and the missionaries were ready and anxious to commence their regular labors. Under these circumstances Moraga consented that the foundation might be celebrated without further delay; and by the joint orders of himself and Ouiros the ceremonies were directed to pro- ceed. It had been intended by the missionaries themselves that the celebration should take place on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis; and in that expectation the church had been blessed with all solemnity on the day before. But Moraga still remained absent. He did not make his appear- ance on St. Francis' day; the celebration therefore could not go on; and "-all that was done was the chanting of a mass. Upon Moraga's arrival, however, preparations were at once made for the ceremonies. They took place on October 9. 1 Flags and pendants had been brought over from the San Carlos; and the altar and walls of the church were adorned as well as could be. All the people were assembled, as at the foundation of the presidio twenty-two days before. On this occasion, the place having been blessed and the cross raised, a procession was formed of all the people and an image of St. Francis borne to and placed above the altar. Father Palou, assisted by his brother missionaries, performed the foundation mass and invoked the saint as the patron of the new mission. Nor were there wanting on the occasion the usual salutes and fusillades, as the soldiers from the pre- sidio and the guard of the mission all had their fire-arms and the sailors from the San Carlos had, with the permission of Quiros, brought over several of their swivel-guns to give eclat 1 Palou, in the Noticias, IV, 177, says October S; but in the Vida, 214, he says October 9; and this seems to have been the proper date. 406 THE FRANCISCANS. to the proceedings. After the ceremonies two beeves were slaughtered and a banquet spread; and, as at the presidio, the day closed with feasting and enjoyment. But there was wanting upon the occasion one element that (might have appeared almost indispensable for the formation /of a mission, and this was the presence of the natives. It | appears that about the middle of the previous August, a tribe called Salsonas, mortal enemies of the tribes inhabiting the extremity of the peninsula and living some six leagues to the ' southeast of them, had made a sudden and unexpected on- } slaught, set fire to the rancherias and killed all they c ould meet/ The San Francisco Indians, unprepared for such an attack, fled for their lives; and those who escaped slaughter threw themselves upon their rafts, paddled out into the bay and took refuge either upon the uninhabited islands or upon the opposite shores. So merciless and unsparing were the ene- mies that not a single survivor remained on the San Francisco shore; and so great was the dread the fugitives entertained of their assailants that none of them, except a few skulking hunters, who were hostile, ventured to return until the next spring; and it was consequently not until then that the work of conversion could commence. • Such were the ceremoniefx and such the circumstances under which was founded the sixth / ( mission of Alta California, known as that of San Francisco or Dolores, or, more properly and in full, the Mission of San Francisco de Assisi at Dolores. 1 1 Palou, Vida, 214, 215; Noticias, IV, 176-181 CHAPTER IX. SANTA CLARA AND SAN JOSE. — EVENTS OF 1 7/7-/9- THE mission of Santa Clara, which had generally been mentioned in connection with that of San Francisco and was intended to have been established about the same time, was not founded until January 12, 1777, three months after that of San Francisco. The great plain, in the midst of which it is situated, attracted the attention of the Spaniards from the first time they laid their eyes upon it. This was in Novem- ber, 1769, when Governor Portola, after discovering San Fran- cisco, marched down the bay shore to the neighborhood of what is now San Jose. It was next seen and traversed by Pedro Fages and Father Crespi in their exploration of the eastern side of the bay in 1772. It was next traversed by Rivera y Moncada and Palou in 1774 and by Heceta, Palou and De la Campa in 1775. In the spring of 1776 Anza, Moraga and Font passed through it and in June of that year it was again traversed by Moraga, Palou, Cambon and the San Francisco soldiers and settlers on their march up from Monterey. At that season, being thickly covered with grass, as yet uncropped by domestic animals, it swarmed with herds of elks, deer and antelopes. In September of that year Moraga saw it twice more, once upon his way around the head of the bay and again upon his return. But it was not until November, 1776, that it was regularly surveyed, nor until January, 1777, as above stated, that it was settled. Comandante Rivera y Moncada, after the troubles rigi- nating out of the uprising of the Indians at San Diego had been settled as has been related, returned to Monterey and (407) 408 THE FRANCISCANS. arrived there about the beginning of November. He had started from San Diego, after reading the last dispatches from Bucareli, with the intention of pressing forward and assisting in the foundation of San Francisco and Santa Clara. But finding that San Francisco had been already founded, he now turned his entire attention to Santa Clara and at once set out with Father Tomas de la Pefia Saravia, one of the missionaries appointed for the new establishment, to visit the neighbor hood and select a site. They proceeded to the Guadalupe river near where it discharges into the bay and examined its course and thfr surrounding plains with great care. They found many small streams of running water, and soon selected as the site of the future mission a place -upon one of them, three leagues from the bay, which seemed the most advan- tageous not only for communication with the surrounding Indians but for cultivation of the soil, which was there pecu- liarly rich and well watered. Having accomplished this task they then proceeded to the mission of San Francisco, where Peha remained, while Rivera y Moncada after visiting the new presidio made another visit to the San Joaquin river and then returned to Monterey. Arrived there, he immediately prepared and sent off the soldiers specially designated as a guard for the mission of San Francisco and also those intended for Santa Clara. All these being joined in one party, and their families accompanying them, they took up their march first to San Francisco, where they arrived towards the end of Decem- ber; and thence those intended for Santa Clara marched back, under the leadership of Moraga accompanied by Father Pefia, to the site of the proposed new mission. On January 12, 1777, as before stated having reached the chosen spot, they con- structed, sanctified and erected a cross; put up a rude chapel; built an altar, and Pena celebrated the first mass. Soon afterwards a square of seventy varas in each direction was marked off two sides of which were intended for the church, missionaries' residence and various shops and offices, and the other two for a guard-house, barracks for nine soldiers and a ppblador, and a store-house. The work of building was com- SANTA CLARA AND SAN JOSE. 409 menced almost immediately; and, as soon as it commenced, a messenger was dispatched for Father Jose Murguia, who had been named as the associate missionary of the place and who still remained at Monterey. Murguia, upon receiving notice of the foundation, set out with the various articles of furni- ture designed for the new mission and arrived on January 21; and^ thereafter the work went rapidly forward. 1 f "Tlie Santa Clara valley, which seems to have been first called " El Llano de los Robles — The Plain of the Oaks " and ) ^ after wards the Plains of San Be rnardino/ was described by Palou as thirty Spanish leagues in length by from three to five in breadth. It contained the richest of soil and after- wards, when cultivated, bore great harvests of wheat, maize, beans and in fact every kind of grain and vegetable and every species of European fruit that was planted. The yield was so luxuriant as not only to maintain the missionaries and neophytes and to feast and thereby attract the wild Indians of the neighborhood, but also to furnish supplies for the troops and people at San Francisco. The Guadalupe river and the many springs and rivulets furnished water in abun- dance for irrigation; and the river also afforded in the win- ter season large and excellent salmons; but there were no shell fish or mussels within easy reach. The oak trees scat- tered over the valley bore great quantities of acorns, and the open spaces and hills various kinds of seeds and wild oats, all of which, previous to the advent of the missionaries, had served as food for the numerous natives whose rancherias were seen in every direction. The natives seemed to be of the same or nearly the same blood and to speak nearly the same language, as those of San Francisco. They were very friendly and in a short time after the foundation of the mission began to repair to it. But it was rather for what they could beg or steal, that they came, than with any object of conversion. They were great thieves. One of their first exploits was to run off and slaughter some of the mules belonging to the soldiers; and, though they were 1 Palou, Noticias, IV 197-199; Vida, 218, 219. 410 THE FRANCISCANS. pursued, a few killed and others flogged, the time can hardly be said to have ever come when they were not ready for a theft, if an opportunity presented itself. In May an epidemic broke out, which carried off most of their children. The missionaries, by going about among the rancherias, managed to baptize some fifty of them before they died; and these being the first baptized and dying, as they did, within the communion of the church, were regarded as the first fruits of the mission. Afterwards the work of conversion progressed rapidly and in less than eight years the number of neophytes amounted to nearly seven hundred. 1 Santa Clara, as well as San Francisco, had thus been ini- tiated in the absence of Jum'pero. But no sooner did that zeal- ous founder of missions arrive at Monterey from his south- ern labors, which was about the beginning of January, 1777, than he made preparations to visit the new establishments. In the spirit he had been present at them all the time. It was under his presidency and in his name that all had been done. It was his energy that had opened the way and his foresight that had laid the foundations for the new settle- ments. But as a matter of fact he had never yet seen either San Francisco or Santa Clara or any part of the bay or the mountains surrounding it. He had heard much about them; and there can be no doubt that his yearnings were almost limitless; but even yet there were various causes to delay his intended visit. The principal among these was the arrival of Felipe de Neve, the recently-appointed governor, who had been directed by BucareH to change his residence from Loreto to Monterey and reached the latter place on February 3. With him, as the future head of the civil and military authority, Jum'pero had much to discuss in reference to the government of the country and especially the adjustment of the ecclesi- astical with the civil and military jurisdictions. He also had many arrangements to make in reference to the new mis- sions, which were to be founded in the neighborhood of the Santa Barbara Channel; and at the same time he felt called 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 199, 200; Vida, 219-221. SANTA CLARA AND SAN JOSE. 411 upon to labor sedulously and steadily at his more exclusively apostolic duties. In the early part of the autumn, however, he finally got away. On September 28 he reached Santa Clara, whence, after performing mass and preaching one day and resting another, he proceeded to San Francisco which he reached on October 1. Three days afterward was the festival of St. Francis; and the occasion was taken advantage of for a celebration displaying all the pomp and ceremony of which the place was capable. The people of the mission were joined by the soldiers and settlers from the presidio; a mass more than ordinarily imposing was performed by the father pres- ident; there was jubilee on every side; and among all who were congregated not the least joyful, according to Palou, were the newly-made Christians of the mission, of whom there were already seventeen adults. After remaining with his old friend Palou at the mission ten days and fully resting from the fatigues of his journey, Juni'pero proceeded to the presidio for the purpose of seeing both it and also what was then known as the port. This, as has been stated, was the anchorage immediately in front of the presidio. As he cast his eyes for the first time upon the Golden Gate, he broke out in thanks to God, which he re- peated many times. " At length, at length," he exclaimed, " has our Father St. Francis advanced the sacred cross of his missions to the very last extremity of California: to go further requires ships." In his exultation, however, though contem- plating the great advance thus made, he could not help look- ing back and reflecting that the eight missions so far estab- lished were very far apart and that to fill the gaps between them would require further efforts. But to him efforts like these were a labor of love; and, as he faced around and re- turned to Monterey, it was only to renew his exertions and work on unfalteringly to the end. It was soon after this time, or, to be exact, it was Novem- ber 29, 1 1777, that the town of San Jose, or to give the full Spanish title, "El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe," was 1 Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 324. 412 THE FRANCISCANS. founded. In the spring of that year, Governor Felipe de Neve, while on his way to visit the port of San Francisco, had stopped at the mission of Santa Clara and while there had taken careful note of the luxuriant plains surrounding it and their adaptability, both as respected soil and climate, for cultivation. It had been a favorite part of the viceroy Buca- reli's plan for the settlement of California to plant at least a few pueblos or towns of Spanish people; and, when De Neve was transferred from Loreto to Monterey, he received special instructions upon this subject. The settlers, who had been sent up under the leadership of Anza from Sonora and who had, in accordance with instructions, gone to San Francisco, did not find the site of either the presidio or mission of that place suitable for raising grain or fruits. But here, at a distance of but little more than a day's journey and near the shore of the same bay, there were fields which for extent, richness, salubrity and in fact everything that could make them suitable for settlement and cultivation, were not to be excelled. Under these circumstances the governor deter- mined upon San Jose as the best place for the pueblo which Bucareli desired founded on the bay of San Francisco; and he accordingly designated as the site the eastern bank of the Guadalupe river, opposite the mission of Santa Clara, and along that river to its source. 1 To this place, after reporting to the viceroy and asking that a number of industrious and intelligent settlers might be sent up from Mexico by sea, the governor directed Lieutenant Moraga to proceed with nine soldiers and five of the pobla- dores or settlers who had come with Anza from Sonora and were then with their families at San Francisco. To each of the pobladores was given a yoke of oxen and farming imple- ments, two cows, two horses, a mule, two sheep and two goats. They left the presidio of San Francisco on November 7 and proceeded very leisurely. Counting children and all 1 "LessenalJ sitio y repartio terras para forraar un pueblo, titulado de San Joseph de Guadalupe, serialandoles para la ubicacion arriba de la mision de Santa Clara, al otro lado del Rio hiicia al nacimiento de el nombrado de Guadalupe, distante de las casas de la mision tres quartos de legua." — Falou, Vida, 225. SANTA CLARA AND SAA JOSE. 413 there were sixty-eight of them. Upon arriving at the spot, Moraga, in the name of the king and as directed by the gov- ernor, designated the square where the houses were to be erected; distributed building lots, and marked out for each one a field for cultivation, sufficient for the planting of a fanega or about two bushels of maize and for beans and peas. He then commenced the building of houses, which were con- structed of palisades or upright stakes of wood plastered with mud, according to the style then in vogue. As soon as these were finished, the fields were prepared and planted; and then an irrigating canal was constructed so as to bring water from the river to the fields. Thus was started the pueblo or town of San Jose, the first of purely civil settlements in California. Its pobladores had from the beginning all the privileges belonging, under the Spanish laws, to inhabitants of provincial pueblos. On account of the near neighborhood of the mission of Santa Clara, the missionaries of that place were requested by the governor and they consented to regard and treat them as parishioners, and to administer to them the necessary sacraments. But so far as their government was concerned, as soon as their organization was completed, they were under the jurisdiction of an alcalde or magistrate of their own class, who was subordinate to the governor only. They also maintained their own guard, consisting of a cor- poral and three soldiers, so that both in a civil and military point of view they were entirely distinct from the mission. 1 The pueblo and the mission were so distinct in fact that in the course of time a dispute arose in reference to their bound- ary line; and there was a long and bitter quarrel between them before the controversy was finally settled. While San Jose was thus being founded, Juni'pero renewed his missionary labors at Monterey. The converts there had largely increased and he baptized great numbers. But there was one difficulty which caused him much uneasiness. This was the fact that he could not confirm. As a priest, he had 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 203-205; Vida. 225; Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 324, 325- 414 THE FRANCISCANS. the authority, under the laws of the church, to baptize; but as a mere priest he had no authority to confirm. The rite of confirmation could be administered regularly only by a bishop It was not likely, however, considering the remote- ness of California, that any bishop would visit it; and conse- quently it was not likely, if Juni'pero's newly-made Christians had to wait for a bishop, that they would ever be confirmed He was too sincere in his convictions of the necessity of such confirmation not to be greatly exercised in spirit. If he had been more of a politician, or if the church had had more appreciation for modest worth, Junipero would long already have occupied a high ecclesiastical office. But, as is often the case with those of the greatest merit, he found his happi- ness in quiet labor and shrank from everything that might seem calculated for his own aggrandizement. For this reason, though he sought and zealously labored to be invested with the power of confirmation, to the end that the Californians might enjoy all the fruits of their conversion, he studiously avoided asking any accession of ecclesiastical dignity for him- self If the asseverations of Palou, which seem borne out by the character of his illustrious superior, are to be believed, it may be doubtful whether Junipero would have been really pleased to have been made a bishop. But whether so or not, his great object of being invested with the power of confir- mation was accomplished by the reception of a patent, founded on a bull of Pope Clement XIV., which gave him that authority. The bull was issued on July 16, 1774, and conceded the power for ten years. But the patent, under which Junipero acted, had to come through the prefect of missions; there were formalities and delays; and it conse- quently did not reach his hands until the end of June, 1778. No sooner did it arrive, however, than he zealously went to work and as rapidly as possible confirmed all the people of his mission of San Carlos. The ceremonies kept him until August 25. He then embarked for San Diego and after a short stay, confirming all the people there, he proceeded northward from mission to mission, repeating the same cere- E VENTS OF 1779. 4 1 5 monies of confirmation at each until January 5, 1779, when he again reached Monterey. He got back much worn with his labors and the fatigues of his journey, but laden with golden sheaves of merit. 1 In June, 1779, news came from Mexico of a great political change that had taken place. The seven northern provinces of New Spain known as the " Provincias Internas," including California, had been in 1776 ordered to be withdrawn, so to speak, from the viceroyalty and erected into a separate juris- diction under the government of a comandante-general, who was to have his official residence in Sonora. This change, though previously known, had at length -been carried into effect; and the news, though the person appointed to the office of comandante-general was Teodoro de Croix, nephew of the former viceroy and an officer who had already expressed himself as a warm friend of the missions, gave Jum'pero and his associates serious concern. They had or supposed they had good reason to believe that no other per- son would take such interest or make such exertions in their behalf as the viceroy Bucareli had done. They felt that there could not be any change for the better and that there- fore any change could not be but for .the worse. There was, however, no help for what had already taken place; and Jum'pero, instead of repining, accepted what could not be altered as the will of God, and addressed himself with more assiduity than ever to his missionary labors. The summer wore on and passed into autumn. Jum'pero had not as yet administered the ceremonies of confirmation either at Santa Clara or San Francisco. But he now resolved to defer this duty no longer, and particularly as he heard that the last expedition of discovery, that had been fitted out by Bucareli, had arrived at San Francisco on its return from the north. His, recent fatigues and the old trouble of his ulcerated leg rendered him very feeble: nevertheless he put himself upon the way and on October 1 1, 1779, reached Santa Clara. At the same time the officers of the exploring " Cargado de meritos y de trabajos." — Palou, Vida, 228. 41 G THE FRANCISCANS. expedition, accompanied by Father Palou, arrived at the same place from San Francisco. While Juni'pero had been on his way northward to see the officers, they on their part had been on their way southward to see Juni'pero. Neither had been aware of the setting out of the other. Their meeting at Santa Clara was therefore a mutual surprise and a mutual pleasure. But Juni'pero was so much enfeebled that he could hardly stand. It was a matter of great wonder and admira- tion to his visitors that under such circumstances he should keep up, and still more so that he should insist on contin- uing his labors of confirmation. In these labors, however, he worked with all the spirit, ardor and enthusiasm of the time when he first landed in the New World. During his two days' stay at Santa Clara and his subsequent three weeks' stay at San Francisco, he confirmed all the people, who were ready for the ceremony, and among others all the unconfirmed sailors of the exploring expedition. These labors done, on November 9, 1779, he again started off and returned by the way of Santa Clara and San Jose to his mission of San Carlos. The expedition of discovery, which had arrived at San Francisco in September, 1779, and to which reference has just been made, was the third and last sent out by the viceroy Bucareli. The first, it will be recollected, was that of Juan Perez in 1774, which examined portions of the coast as far north as Queen Charlotte's Island. The second was that of Heceta and Bodega y Quadra in 1775, one vessel of which, under the last named commander, reached the latitude of 58 north, discovered Sitka, observed and named the great opening known as Paso de Bucareli or Bucareli's Passage, and on the way down the coast discovered and named the port of Bodega to the north of Point Reyes. In this expe- dition Heceta did himself no credit; but Bodega y Quadra proved to be an able, active, and reliable navigator; and, as will be seen in the sequel, he did not afterwards lack employ- ment. When Bucareli learned the result of the last expedition and EVENTS OF 1779. 417 particularly when he heard mention made of a great passage running inland and possibly leading from ocean to ocean, it only whetted his appetite for further exertions in the way of exploration and discovery. He at once began to make preparations for a third expedition. With this object in view he directed the building of a new vessel at San Bias, from which place the late expedition had sailed, and sent off to Callao in Peru to purchase a second one, that was lying there and seemed suited for the purpose. It took him, however, three years and upwards to procure, prepare, man and dis- patch his new vessels. The one built at San Bias was called La Princesa; the other, purchased in South America, La Favorita. They were provisioned for a year. Ignacio Arteaga was named commander of the former and Bodega y Quadra of the latter. They sailed from San Bias on February 12, 1779, and proceeded directly to the Paso de Bucareli, enter- ing which they spent about two months in making surveys. They found it to lead into a great mediterranean sea, full of islands. There were numerous passages; but whether any of them led into the Atlantic, it was impossible, in the time allotted to their examination, to tell. On July I they sailed out into the open sea again and, steering northwest, on August 1 reached latitude 60, ° where they found a spacious and secure port. Landing there they took formal possession of the country and named the port Santiago. It formed a part of an arm of the sea, which ran far into the continent northwardly. In the region and upon the waters round about there were many natives; but they did not manifest any sur- prise at seeing the Spanish vessels. This was at first a won- der; but it was soon afterwards explained by one of them, who said that beyond a certain high hill, to which he pointed, there were many ships. Upon hearing this the Spaniards began to feel that they had met the Russians and were prob- ably near one of their factories; and they were the more convinced of it by the snowy summit of a lofty volcano, which looked down upon them and which they felt satisfied could be no other than the one discovered by the Russians 27 Vol. I. 418 THE FRANCISCANS. and named by them Mount St. Elias! Sailing on along the coast the navigators soon found that the land trended slightly towards the southwest; so that as they advanced, passing along many islands, they came at length to a bay in latitude 59°, where they again landed and again took formal posses- sion of the country. By this time there were so many sick and the season was so far advanced that they resolved to run rapidly down to one of the California ports to recruit. Turn- ing round in accordance with this resolution and sailing with both wind and current they reached the bay of San Francisco by the middle of September; and running in they remained there until the end of October. It had been the intention of Arteaga to stop at San Diego and not at San Francisco. But, on September 14, upon approaching the latter place, the vessels being then separated, Bodega y Quadra of the Favorita determined to run in and look for the Princesa; and the next day Arteaga of the Prin- cesa followed, apparently with the object of looking for the Favorita. There was, however, another object in stopping on the part of Bodega y Quadra. He carried in his vessel an image of " Nuestra Sehora de los Remedios," which he desired to present to the mission church; and he therefore resolved to at least run in and, if he should not find the Princesa, to leave the image and then proceed to San Diego. But, upon the arrival of the latter vessel the next day, the plan of going to San Diego was changed; and it was resolved that both vessels should remain at San Francisco so as to cure their sick, many of the crews being down with the scurvy, and also to afford an opportunity of making charts of their recent surveys and writing up their diaries. On October 3, the festival of Nuestra Seilora de los Remedios, the image was carried in procession to the mission and with great solemnities, including mass, sermon, salutes and fire- works in which all the people participated, placed in the church over the altar. And the next day, being that of St. Francis, another grand celebration took place at which all were likewise present; so that there were two days of ceremony, EVENTS OF 1779. 419 feasting' and enjoyment. Towards the end of October news came by a courier from Monterey that war had broken out between Spain and England. This hastened the return of the vessels. The sick were by this time nearly recovered and the charts and diaries completed. An arrangement was made by which Father Cambon of the mission, who was ill, exchanged place with Father Matias Noriega, one of the chaplains of the Princesa. On October 30, both the vessels shook out their sails again and proceeded directly on their way to San Bias. 1 Bucareli, however, did not live to receive their report. News of his death reached San Francisco about the middle of October, 1779, very shortly after the arrival there of the navigators on their return from the north. The melancholy intelligence, as soon as it was communicated, caused great sorrow not only to the voyagers but to every one who was in any way interested in California and particularly to Father Jum'pero. He had lost a great friend and coadjutor. Almost from the first moment that these two earnest men had met, Bucareli had become as zealous in the interests of California as Jum'pero was, and from that time forward till his death had devoted the best of his energies and the sincerest of his wishes to forwarding its advancement. It was during his adminis- tration, under his auspices and at his express direction, as has been seen, that the bay of San Francisco was sailed into and explored and San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Jose, among other important places, were founded and settled. He thus did eminent service to the country. He well deserved the general sorrow that was felt at his death. He still de- serves to be held in grateful remembrance by all Californians. 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 221-220; Vida, 165-170. C H APTE R X. JUNfPERO'S TROUBLES. — THE COLORADO MISSIONS.— LOS ANGELES. — SAN BUENAVENTURA. — SANTA BARBARA. IT was not without good grounds that Juni'pero apprehended difficulty from the transfer of the Californias from the government of the viceroy to that of the comandante-general; but the anticipated trouble did not come in the way or at the time expected. It had been feared that Teodoro de Croix, the comandante-general, might be lukewarm or perhaps ad- verse; but on the contrary he proved to be a fast friend of the spiritual conquest and the missionaries; and when he entered upon his office he not only assured Juni'pero of his good will but went so far as to give orders for the recruiting of more soldiers and the foundation of more missions in Alta Califor- nia. This action was in great part due to Bucareli, who upon the transfer of the government had specially recommended the northwest coast to the comandante-general; but at the same time the comandante-general was a ready and willing listener. Everything, therefore, bid fair for the future of the new province even under the new arrangement. But after the death of Bucareli, difficulties altogether unlooked for were started by Felipe de Neve, the governor of California. He had been appointed to his office by the viceroy and charged by him to cherish the missions; but no sooner had his patron passed away than he conceived scruples about the power to administer confirmation, notwithstanding that power had been exercised long and extensively and without question. He claimed tha^, as the jurisdiction cf the Internal Provinces including California had been separated from the viceroyalty, (420) JUNIPERO' S TROUBLES. 421 the authority to confirm should be approved by the coman- dancia of those provinces. Junipero on his part offered ar- guments to show that his authority was legitimate; but the governor, either having some ulterior purpose in view or being very technical in his constructions, would not or could not see their force and pertinaciously persisted in his objections. In view of this condition of affairs, his authority being thus called in question, Junipero suspended the exercise of the rite; transmitted his patent and an account of the controversy to the college of San Fernando; asked that the questions involved might be submitted to the proper tribunal, and in the meanwhile shut himself up in his mission of San Carlos and refused to stir abroad until the matter should be decided. The subject of confirmation and the laws in relation thereto are hardly of sufficient general interest or importance to justify even a recapitulation of the points in issue. Suffice it to say that the controversy was laid by the college of San Fernando before the new viceroy and comandante-general and that in due time instructions were made out to the effect that the governor should throw no more impediments in the way of the father president's administration of the rite of confirm- ation, and further that whenever the father president desired to travel from mission to mission he should be furnished with an escort of soldiers. These instructions, having to pass by the way of Sonora through the hands of the comandante- generalj did not reach California until September, 1781. But as soon as information of them arrived, Junipero immediately resumed the exercise of the interrupted rites and confirmed all who were ready for the ceremony at San Carlos and San Antonio. He then traveled northward to San Francisco, where he arrived on October 26, and after a stay of two weeks returned by the way of Santa Clara, having in the meanwhile performed the necessary ceremonies at each of those places; and he got back to his own mission of San Carlos before the setting in of the winter rains and consequent swelling of the rivers and streams. 1 1 Palou, Vida, 234-237. 422 THE FRANCISCANS. Upon the above mentioned visit of Junipero to San Fran- cisco, he was accompanied by his friend and coadjutor Father Juan Crespi, the same who had been with Governor Portola in 1769, when San Francisco was discovered. It was now twelve years since that time. During the intervening period Crespi had been constantly busy, most of the time in mis- sionary labor at San Carlos but a very valuable portion of it in travels and explorations, the result of which he trans- mitted to posterity in his numerous journals. It is chiefly upon his record that the history of the first years of the set- tlement of Alta California, including the foundation of San Diego and Monterey and the discovery of San Francisco, depends. Under these circumstances, having thus been not only one of the discoverers but also the historian of the dis- covery of San Francisco and not having seen it since those days of its primeval wildness, it was a matter of great interest to him to revisit it and behold the changes which a few years of missionary domination had wrought and which in part at least he 'might contemplate as his own work. There was perhaps a tinge of melancholy in his reflections. He could hardly fail to see that there was a great future for the im- mense bay, which he had been one of the first to behold and of which he had spoken in terms of the highest admiration, while, as for himself, he was now worn out with his manifold labors and could not expect to be much longer a participant or even a witness of the march of events. However this may have been, his days were nearly numbered. In a very short time after getting back to San Carlos he sickened; and on January 1, 1782, in the sixty-first year of his age and the thirty-first of his ministry among the savages of the New World, he rendered up his final account. During his sickness Father Junipero attended almost constantly at his bedside and administered the last rites of the church. After his death, Junipero called together all the people of the mission and the neighboring presidio of Monterey and in their pres- ence gave the body sepulture under the altar in the mission church of San Carlos. As was to have been expected, every THE COLORADO MISSIONS. 423 one present was loud in praise of the virtues and merits of the deceased; and, as the sad information of his death spread further and further among those who had known him, newer and newer tributes of respect were paid to his memory. But the greatest honor paid him, that with which he would have himself been most affected, was the touching request made by Father Juni'pero a few years afterwards, when, feeling his own end approaching, he begged that he might be laid by the side of his beloved disciple and companion Juan Crespi, who had thus gone before him. 1 In the meanwhile Teodoro de Croix, the comandante- general of the Internal Provinces in response to the previous recommendations of Bucareli and in fulfillment of his pledges to Juni'pero, had projected the foundation of a presidio and three new missions on the Santa Barbara Channel and the settlement of a new pueblo near San Gabriel. For this pur- pose he had ordered Captain Fernando Rivera y Moncada, who had formerly been comandante at Monterey and was then comandante at Loreto, to recruit seventy-five soldiers and the necessary settlers in Sonora and Sinaloa. About the same time, but as an entirely independent movement, he recommended to the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz at Queretaro the foundation of two missions on the Colorado river at or about the point where the road from Sonora to California crossed it. This locality had for years been re- garded as very important; and the comandante-general thought it should be occupied and settled, as well for the sake of Sonora as for that of California. It will be recollected that Father Kino, in the prosecution of his magnificent project of connecting the Jesuit missions of Sonora with those of Lower California by carrying- them around the head of the gulf, had several times visited the re- gion of the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers. From his days down to the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits, efforts were made to accomplish the same object by extending the missions northward on both sides of the gulf; but there was a 1 Palou, Vida, 237-239. 424 THE FRANCISCANS. long space still unoccupied. After the Franciscans took pos- session of Lower California and while they were preparing to occupy San Diego and Monterey, Anza proposed his project of opening a road from the frontier of Sonora to the proposed new settlements. His offer was at first declined; but after- wards in 1774, under the orders of the viceroy Bucareli, he made the trip and, so to speak, opened the road. On that occasion he took along with him two missionaries of the col- lege of Santa Cruz, one of whom was Father Francisco Garces. These stopped and spent some time at the crossing of the Colorado river, which was just above the mouth of the Gila, and had an opportunity to make friendships with the Indians and inspect the rich river bottoms inhabited and cul- tivated by them. Though the countries generally on each side of the rivers were arid and desert, these bottoms were luxuriant; and the reports of the travelers pictured them as extensive and extremely favorable for settlement. On Anza's second expedition in the latter part of 1775 with the soldiers and settlers intended for San Francisco, Father Garces again accompanied him and also two other missionaries from the college at Queretaro, one of whom was Father Pedro Font. But while Father Font continued on with Anza to Monterey, Father Garces and his companion stopped at the Colorado and undertook to make surveys of the region and prepare the minds of the natives for missions. Among these Indians, known generally as the Yumas, the chief man was one Palma. He had on their first visit mani- fested great friendship for the whites; and on this second visit he was flattered by Anza, who in the name of the viceroy presented him with a suit of clothes and a silver- mounted cane. An arrangement was easily made with Palma for the protection of Garces and his companion; and, while Anza and the rest of the people went on, they remained and com- menced their labors. Father Garces appears to have been a man of extraordi- nary aptitude for traveling alone among the Indians. His first undertaking was to examine the country along the west THE COLORADO MISSIONS. 425 bank of the Colorado. This he did in company with Palma, several other Yumas and the Lower California Indian Sebas- tian Tarabal, who, as will be recollected, had crossed the des- ert as a fugitive from San Gabriel in 1773 and afterwards guided Anza on his first expedition. Father Garces, being a missionary as well as an explorer, carried along with him a banner, having on one side a picture of the virgin beaming with celestial radiance and on the other a devil or lost soul writhing in the flames of hell. As he traveled about among the natives, he unfurled his banner and was pleased to notice that they expressed approval of the pretty picture while they turned with apparent loathing from the other. Thus he passed to the mouth of the Colorado and back again. Upon his return, leaving his companion with Palma and taking only Tarabal and another Indian or two, he traveled across the desert to San Gabriel. He there expressed a desire to open a new road, in addition to the one by San Gabriel, to San Luis Obispo; and, as Anza had by that time gone to Monterey, he applied to Rivera y Moncada for supplies and a couple of soldiers to assist him. But Rivera y Moncada, who was busy with his investigations of the then recent outbreak at San Diego and had satisfied himself that the Colorado Indians were implicated in it, expressed himself as opposed to every- thing that could tend to render the communication with the Colorado any easier and to everything that Garces sought or was attempting to effect. He accordingly refused his request. Father Garces, nothing daunted, renewed his request for sup- plies to the missionaries of San Gabriel; and, being provided by them, he started off again with his Indians; traveled north- westward; then ciossed over the _ southern end of the Coast Range into the upper part of the San Joaquin valley, and thence, crossing the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, pro- ceeded southeastward over the deserts again to the Co'orado and down to his starting point opposite the mouth of the Gila. He was, however, too late to meet Anza, who had already passed that point on his way back to Sonora; and Garces after continuing his travels for some time (urthcr, 426 THE FRANCISCANS. examining the eastern bank of the Colorado, made his way back to the Sonorian settlements. 1 Upon the return, in 1776, of Anza and Garces from their expeditions and hearing their reports of the great number of Indians at and about the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers, said by Garces to amount to some twenty-five thou- sand, and of the luxuriance of the river bottoms and the adaptability of the region for settlement, the college of Santa Cruz manifested a desire to plant missions there. Anza had said that, to safely accomplish the purpose, it would be neces- sary to found a strong presidio and keep on hand a sufficient number of troops to withstand the savages. But there were others who thought it could be done, or at least that missions could be started among Indians so apparently friendly with- out so much expense as the establishment and maintenance of a presidio would involve. Among these latter was Teo- doro de Croix, the comandante-general. He either persuaded himself, or allowed himself to be persuaded by the others, that a few missionaries, a few settlers and a few soldiers would be sufficient to commence the enterprise; and he accordingly authorized the foundations of the proposed mis- sions to proceed. While Rivera y Moncada was going on with his recruiting for the Santa Barbara Channel in Sonora and Sinaloa in the autumn of 1780, De Croix in connection with the college of Santa Cruz sent sixteen soldiers with their officers and six- teen settlers with their families and established two mis- sions upon the Colorado. The first of these, which was located on the west bank of the river nearly opposite the mouth of the Gila, was named Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima; the other, which was on the same bank but three leagues down the river, received the name of San Pedro y San Pablo The missionaries of the former were Fathers Francisco Garces and Juan Barranechc; those of the latter Fathers Juan Diaz and Matias Moreno. The system adopted in the foundation of these establishments was, however, so 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 130-139; Vida, 251; Forbes, 156-162. THE COLORADO MISSIONS. 427 entirely different from that employed in the other California missions, that Father Palou called it "el spiritual nuevo modo de conquistar — the new method of spiritual conquest." The missionaries were to pay no attention to anything but relig- ious teaching. The Indians were not to be collected into communities; nor was any government to be established over them. There was not even to be any distribution of food or in fact anything done which would powerfully attract them or make it their special interest to be peaceable and submis- sive. The converts, instead of being maintained or taught to maintain themselves, were to be left among their wild neigh- bors and to support themselves as best they could. The underlying spirit of the new establishments seems to have been economy, and economy not only of means and labor but also even of interest in the natives. With a system so defective and with Indians of a character so intractable as these ought to have been known to be. it is no wonder that difficulties sprang up. There wanted but an occasion, and this soon presented itself in the occupation by the Spanish settlers of the narrow spaces of ground, fit for cultivation, along the sides of the river and the consequent crowding out of the Indians. This led first to disagreement; then to quar- rel, and finally to bloodshed and massacre. Soldiers, settlers and missionaries were all involved in one common ruin. The new missions had scarcely been established when want began to be felt. The limited supply of provisions soon ran out. The Indians, who had expected to be kept in good humor with presents, became dissatisfied and most of those who had accepted baptism apostatized. Affairs began to look very bad. The missionaries sent over to San Gabriel, as the nearest source of relief, and gave notice that they were in great straits; that it would be impossible to obtain succor from Sonora in time to do any good, and that unless supplies could be furnished them at once, they would be compelled to abandon the establishments. The missionaries of San Gabriel furnished such articles as they could spare, consisting chiefly of clothing; but these did not go far, and in the meanwhile 428 THE FRANCISCANS. the difficulties about the occupation of the cultivable lands grew more and more frequent and more and more aggravated There were no open struggles; but the Indians, seeing how the lands were being occupied and their own harvests, most of which were wild, were being interfered with, compared their grievances and whetted up their dissatisfactions. As they could see no advantages either present or prospective in the missions, but on the contrary could only look forward to being eventually driven out from their fields and heritage, and as, with the inadequate forces of the whites, there would be no great danger in making a combined attack, they resolved to rise; kill the missionaries as well as the soldiers and settlers? and destroy the missions. In the summer of 1781, while affairs at the new missions were in this condition and the missionaries on account of the threatening aspect were, according to Palou, more than ordi- narily active with religious sacraments and exercises appro- priate to anticipated martyrdom, Rivera y Moncada arrived with a large party of recruits and a long train of horses and mules on his way from Sonora to Santa Barbara. The sol- diers and settlers, whom he had recruited in Sinaloa, he had sent directly across the gulf to Loreto with instructions to proceed thence up the gulf to the bay of San Luis and thence overland to San Gabriel, where he agreed to meet them as soon as he could collect the necessary people and animals to make up the required complement and get through with them by the way of the Colorado. He thus had with him the remainder of the soldiers, not sent off through Lower Cali- fornia, whom he had been directed to recruit, being some forty in number with their families, and all the horses and mules amounting to not less than a thousand bead. There also marched with him, as an additional guard and escort, Ensign Cayetano Limon and nine soldiers belonging to one of the frontier presidios of Sonora. Meanwhile, as the recruits from Sinaloa who came up through Lower California had already reached San Gabriel, Governor Felipe de Neve had gone thither from Monterey to meet them and be on hand THE COLORADO MISSIO XS. 429 when Rivera y Moncada should arrive; and, as t-he latter was known to be approaching the Colorado with a long train and could not well have too large a guard, De Neve sent off Ser- geant Juan Jose Robles with six soldiers from Monterey and San Diego to meet him, increase his escort, and assist him in conducting the new-comers and the large train of animals to their destination. When Rivera y Moncada reached the Colorado, he found many of his animals so weakened and exhausted with the journey that they could not go forward; and he thereupon determined, while the people and all the animals that were in good condition should go on in charge of Ensign Limon and his nine Sonora soldiers, he himself, with Sergeant Robles and his six California soldiers, w r ould lie over at the Colorado until such time as the exhausted animals should recuperate and might be able to proceed. But scarcely had Limon and the others departed, leaving Rivera y Moncada and his seven soldiers in charge of the horses and mules on the east bank of the river, when the Indians, having been for some time meditating their treachery, carried it into execution. Collect- ing together in great numbers, they fell upon the missions and massacred all the whites with the exception of the women 'and children, whom they made prisoners, and a few men, who escaped. At both the missions the slaughter was complete. It is said that the missionaries, who were the last to suffer, exercised their apostolic duties during the massacre, confessing some and encouraging others with fervent exhor- tations until they were themselves struck down. The Indians then set fire to and destroyed the missions and all the build- ings that had been erected, so that only the smouldering ruins and the dead bodies that lay scattered about remained. They also crossed the river; fell upon Rivera y Moncada and his seven soldiers, and slew them likewise. But Rivera y Moncada, Robles and their companions sold their lives much more dearly than the mission soldiers and killed many of their assailants before they were finally overpowered. In the meanwhile, Ensign Limon, having safely conducted 430 THE FRANC/SCANS. the people and animals he had in charge to San Gabriel, turned around with his nine Sonora soldiers on his return. Upon approaching the Colorado again, he was informed of what had occurred but was unwilling to believe the report until he arrived at Concepcion and saw the ruins. He had little time, however, to make investigations; for the Indians, as soon as they were aware of his presence, attacked him with great fury. One of them wore the uniform of Rivera y Moncada. Limon and his men immediately turned back towards San Gabriel and, by a masterly retreat, bravely repel- ling the hordes which for several days followed, managed to get back to that point, losing only two men. Upon reaching San Gabriel and imparting his melancholy intelligence, Limon proposed to Governor De Neve, if furnished with twenty sol- diers, to go back, chastise the Yumas and avenge the mas- sacre. But the governor, judiciously declining so great a risk, ordered him and his men to return to Sonora by way of Loreto; and at the same time he forwarded by them to De Croix, the comandante-general at Arispe, an account of the sad occurrences and suggestions as to the proper measures to be taken in reference thereto. But before Limon's arrival the comandante-general had already learned all and had ordered Pedro Fages, who still remained in Sonora, to proceed with a large number of soldiers to the Colorado; ransom or rescue the captives; ascertain and seize the ringleaders of the out- break, and inflict the necessary punishments. Pedro Fages with a large company of soldiers, consisting partly of Catalonian volunteers and partly of presidial sol- diers of Sonora, proceeded, as soon as the necessary prepara- tions could be made, to the scene of destruction. Upon reaching the Colorado he found that the Indians generally had abandoned the neighborhood. Crossing over to the ruins of the missions everything appeared as if undisturbed since the massacre. The bodies of the dead still lay exposed, all except those of Fathers Garces and Barraneche. As these were not found among the rest, it was hoped they still lived. It was thought possible and not improbable, as Garces had THE COLORADO MISSIONS. 431 always been exceedingly popular among the Indians, by whom on account of his usual salutation he was familiarly known as " El Viva Jesus," that they had spared him and his companion. But upon further search an extraordinary spot of ground was discovered. It was green while everything around it was burned and blackened. It was not only cov- • ered with growing grass, but was also adorned with blooming flowers, among which were marigolds and others that were not known, but all bright and beautiful. Upon digging in the marvelous place, the bodies of the martyred missionaries were found, still clothed in their sacerdotal robes. These circumstances produced their natural effect — natural among a people so superstitious; it was at once believed there was something miraculous about them. But, unfortunately for the credit of the miracle, it appeared upon subsequent inves- tigation that an old Indian woman, to whom the missionaries had been kind, had had the charity to cover their bodies with earth and plant grass and flowers upon their graves. After the dead were gathered up and properly buried, Fages proceeded in search of the captives. The Indians had moved some eight leagues down the river and carried them along. There they had taken up their quarters in dense thickets, whither Fages deemed it unadvisable to follow. But he suc- ceeded in opening communication with the savages and in ransoming the captives; and, taking them with him and carrying along the bodies of the dead missionaries for the purpose of giving them sepulture in the nearest mission, he returned to the settlements of Sonora. In the investigations, which were subsequently made, as usual upon such occasions, in reference to the circumstances of the outbreak, a very strange story was related. It was said that, on the night after the murder of the missionaries and the burning of the missions, a procession of figures dressed in white robes, bear- ing a cross, with long candlesticks and lighted tapers in their hands, was seen to issue from the ruins and, after marching around them several times, chanting in an unknown tongue, to disappear as mysteriously as it had issued forth. It was 432 THE FRANCISCANS not once only that this ghostly throng u but it reap- peared night after night until, as was ited by the ransomed captives, though they themv ted upon the apparition with joy, the Indians were 1 and ter- rified that they abandoned the regior. and n 1 down the river. Thus the destruction of the C iions had its miracle after all; and it was accepted not r v the common people only but also by the officers a the first men of the time. It was certified to as the judicial pro- ceedings. Fagcs repeated it to had previously transmitted it to the president o( t e of Queretaro; and Palou, in the utmost good faitl it in his histories as a perfectly well-authenticated fact As there had as yet been no pu of the Yumas, De Croix, in the early part of l?pi Fages and his sol- diers to return to the Colora did as directed and then, in further obedience to • :d, leaving the larger portion of the forces, which i soldiers under Pedro Fueros, at that place, proceeded on v ith the remainder to San Gabriel for the purpose of conferring with De Neve and concerting measures for a regular campaign against the Yumas. He arrived at San Gabriel on March 26; but by that time De Neve had gone to Santa Barbara. Upon his return in response to a message from Fages, and after a full consultation, it was decided that the proposed campaign should be deferred until September when the river would be low and easily fordable. This being determined on, Fages marched back to the Colorado; sent Fueros and his soldiers to their presidio in Sonora to wait until August, and then himself, with his own soldiers, returned to San Gabriel for the same purpose. About the middle of August the Sonora troops intended for the campaign, about a hundred in number, started on their march for the Colorado under the command of Jose Antonio Romeu. A little later De Neve and Fages, with about sixty soldiers, started from San Gabriel; but upon approaching the Colorado they were met by couriers with dispatches to the effect that De Neve had been promoted to LOS ANGELES. 433 the inspectorship of the presidios of the Provincias Internas and wotld required to reside at Arispe, and that Fages had been appointed governor of the Californias. This infor- mation n I a change of plan necessary. Fages returned to San G 1 for the purpose of taking possession of his new govc i.ile De Neve continued on to the Colo- rado and j lomeu and the Sonora troops. They prose- cuted the ca 1 while, but very languidly. De Neve was exec 5; and, doubtless, very properly so. He was unvviilin to risk the lives of his comparatively small number of m the savage multitudes who were op- posed to him later experience abundantly showed, were not to be few skirmishes took place; and a number of In* s were killed; but the Yumas as a people and particularly Palma and the other ringleaders, who had destroyed the mi i never punished. On the con- trary they defied I Spanish arms and remained independ- ent and unsubdued. The attack upon and destruction of the Colorado missions, on account of the supposed necessity they occasioned of keep- ing all the newly-recruited soldiers together at or near the mission of San Gabriel, so as to be able to resist any attempt that might be made upon that place, retarded the foundation of the projected new presidio and missions on the Santa Barbara Channel. But there was nothing to prevent the speedy establishment of the proposed new pueblo in the neighborhood of San Gabriel. On September i, 178 1, ac- cordingly, having already issued various instructions in refer- ence to the subject, Governor Felipe de Neve collected together the pobladores or settlers and their families, who had been recruited by Rivera y Moncada in Sinaloa and sent up by the way of Lower California for the express purpose, and conducting them to the spot selected, four leagues west of San Gabriel, laid out and founded the new pueblo. The location was a choice and beautiful one on the west bank of a little river, running there in a southerly direction through a 1 Palou, Vida, 240, 241; 247-254; Noticias, IV, 228-234; 246-248. 28 Vol. I. 434 THE FRANCISCANS. delightful valley among hills, and about twenty miles north of San Pedro bay. This river had been first seen by white men on the first expedition of Governor Portola and his compan- ions in search of Monterey in 1769. They had reached it on August 2 and, on account of the festival of the day pre- vious, known in the Catholic calendar as that of Nuestra Sehorade los Angeles de Porciuncula, had given it that name. 1 And it was for this reason that the settlement, founded on its bank, received the name of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles or, more commonly, that of Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles de Porciuncula. The river, for a long time called the Porciuncula, was afterwards and is now generally known as the Los Angeles. The original settlers appear to have consisted of twelve men, eleven women, eleven boys and twelve girls. The men were two Spainards, four Indians, one half-breed, two negroes one mulatto and one called a chino. The women were five Indians and six mulattoes. They appear to have gone to work under the directions of the governor and in charge of a corporal and three soldiers; lots were assigned for cultiva- tion as well as for building; houses of palisades plastered with mud in the usual style of the day were put up, and an irrigating canal or ditch projected and constructed. 2 As the same governor, who had laid out and superintended the set- tlement of San Jose, also laid out and superintended the set- tlement of Los Angeles, and as the objects and circumstances of both were about the same, the establishments were similar in general character. In both cases the spots chosen were selected with a view to agricultural purposes. Both had ex- tensive arable and irrigable grounds around them, in which almost everything in the way of grain, fruit or vegetables could be produced and with a luxuriance elsewhere unsur- passed. San Jose, being further north, was better calculated for the hardier fruits, while Los Angeles, whose sun was warmer, would also ripen the productions of subtropical 1 Palou, Noticias, II, 123. * Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 420,421; Palou, Vida, 243; Noticias, VI, 237. SAN B UENA VENTURA. 435 climes. For grain the extensive plains about San Jose were more favorable than those near Los Angeles; while for oranges, figs and pomegranates the fields at Los Angeles were best; but both were good for vines and for almost all the grains, fruits and vegetables of the temperate zones that could be named. In equability of temperature and moisture, causing freshness of verdure, San Jose excelled; but in topo- graphical beauty and variety of landscape Los Angeles had the advantage. It is not intended to say that the Spaniards or Mexicans in either case ever turned these capabilities to full account. But that the pueblo grounds possessed these advantages was plain to everyone who examined them. The slightest trials showed that with anything like skilled treat- ment the fields would overflow with plenty and abundance; and all the labor ever bestowed upon planting and cultivation was many and many times over again repaid by the returns. In February, 1782, Governor Felipe de Neve, finding at length that there was no trouble to be anticipated at San Gabriel from the Indians of the Colorado, wrote to Father Juni'pero that he proposed going on with the foundation of the new missions on the Santa Barbara Channel. He also stated that, until the arrival of the new missionaries expected from Mexico, he desired to be furnished with two padres from the other missions, one for San Buenaventura and the other for Santa Barbara. Junipero forthwith wrote to Father Pedro Benito Cambon, former missionary of San Francisco, who was then at San Diego, having just returned from a health-seeking trip to the Philippine Islands, to meet him at San Gabriel; and then himself set out, by the way of San Antonio and San Luis Obispo, for the same place. He was so anxious for the new foundations that he determined in his own person, in conjunction with Cambon, to supply the places of the regular missionaries until they should come from Mexico. On March 18 he arrived at the new pueblo of Los Angeles and the next day proceeded to San Gabriel. There he found Cambon and Governor De Neve, with whom he immediately made arrangements for the new missions. On 436 THE FRANCISCANS. March 26, everything being prepared, the expedition of founders started off, consisting of Juni'pero and Cambon, seventy soldiers with their officers, the wives and families of those who were married, and a number of muleteers, servants and Indian neophytes with a long train of animals, utensils and provisions. Felipe de Neve, with ten soldiers belonging to Monterey, accompanied them; but being overtaken at the end of the first day's journey by a courier from San Gabriel, announcing the arrival there from the Colorado of Pedro Fagcs and his desire to consult the governor upon the meas- ures to be taken in reference to the recent outbreak, he di- rected the expedition to go on while he himself and his ten soldiers turned back to San Gabriel. Junipero and his companions meanwhile proceeded to the site which had been chosen for the first mission. It was a rich and beautiful spot, well watered by a perennial stream and lying near the sea-beach at the southeastern extremity of the Channel. It was occupied by an Indian rancheria, consisting of some thirty comparatively large habitations, hemispherical in form, built of coarse wicker-work and thatched with grass, and containing about four hundred inhabitants, who made excellent canoes and lived principally upon fish. Portola's expedition of 1769 had named the place Assumpta or Asuncion de Nucstra Senora and provisionally selected it as the location of a future establishment. This choice, being subsequently approveeh it was fixed upon as the site of San Buenaventura, that one of the three missions, originally projected for Alta California, which was to lie mid- way between San Diego and Monterey and which Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general, on account of the special interest he took in it, was accustomed to call his own. Juni'pero, on account of its important position as well as on account of his great respect for Galvez, had always been anxious to estab- lish this mission. But various obstacles had retarded the fulfillment of his wishes. On this auspicious occasion, how- ever, having reached the site on March 29, he and the people with him spent the next day in forming a great cross and SANTA BARBARA. 437 / erecting a chapel and altar. On March 31 the cross was elevated, fixed and adored. Junipero next took possession, \; blessed and consecrated the place, and in the presence of all the company and a large congregation of wondering natives celebrated the first mass and preached. He and his people then proceeded more at leisure to erect houses, barracks and stockades and afterwards to lay out gardens and fields and then to divert the waters of the running stream in such a manner as to afford constant irrigation. 1 The mission of San Buenaventura had hardly been founded when Governor De Neve and his ten soldiers again made their appearance. They had gone to San Gabriel and met Pedro Fages and his soldiers; but in the consultation that had taken place between the two leaders it was thought best, as has already been stated, instead of proceeding at once to the chastisement of the Indians on the Colorado, to defer their expedition until autumn, when the waters of the rivers would be at a lower and more favorable stage for military operations. This delay having been resolved upon, Fages returned to Sonora while De Neve and his soldiers made their way back to the northward, reaching San Buenaventura by the middle of April. From there, leaving Father Cam- bon and fifteen soldiers in charge of San Buenaventura, De Neve with all the other soldiers and people, and accompanied also by Father Junipero, proceeded northwestward along the coast to the neighborhood of what is now Santa Barbara. Stopping at a point, which they supposed to be opposite the center of the Channel, they made a survey; and, finding a large plain of rich land, gradually sloping to the sea, directly in front of an extensive roadstead where vessels could safely anchor, having also an eminence suitable for a fort and flanked at some distance by high mountains, they pitched upon it as a favorable place for the proposed presidio. It was ten leagues a little north of west from Sa-n Buenaventura. There was a lagoon next the beach. The expedition of 1769 had named the place Laguna de la Concepcion, but it seems 1 Palou, Vida, 243-247; Noticias, IV, 238-241. 438 THE FRANCISCANS. also to have been known as San Joaquin de la Laguna. There was a large rancheria near it and, at the time of the first expedition, several ruined rancherias not far distant, the inhabitants of which had been exterminated in recent wars. On both sides east and west, a few leagues apart from one another, were various other large rancherias; so that the place was a center of population as well as of position on the Channel. As soon as the selection had thus been made, a great cross and altar were prepared; and on April 21, 1782, Junipero performed the usual ceremonies of consecration and preached a fervid sermon, after which the governor carried out his part of the programme by taking formal military pos- session. The next day they began to cut wood and to build a chapel, dwellings, barracks, warehouses and stockades; and by degrees the presidio was final'y established. 1 It had also been the intention to found a mission at the same place immediately after the presidio; but when Juni- pero urged the foundation the governor found excuses to delay it. The principal of his reasons was the fact that the six missionaries, who were to serve at the three new missions on the Santa Barbara Channel and who had been-, sent for and were expected from Mexico, had not yet arrived. Juni- pero, in the eagerness of his apostolic zeal, thought the new mission might be established in anticipation of their arrival. But the governor was of a different opinion. As it soon become plain that no other mission was to be founded and that there was therefore no further work for Junipero at Santa Barbara, which could not just as well be performed by a subordfnate and leave himself free for more important duties, he wrote to Father Cambon of San Buenaventura to take his place at Santa Barbara and to Father Fuster of San Juan Capistrano to temporarily supply Cambon's place at San Buenaventura. These changes having been made, Juni- pero administered the rite of confirmation to all prepared for it and then set out, by the way of San Luis Obispo and San Antonio, for Monterey, where he arrived about the middle of 1 Palou Vida, 254, 255; Noticias, IV, 241. SANTA BARBARA. 439 June, 1782. On the road he was met by a courier from San Francisco, who announced the arrival there of the ships from Mexico. But, alas for his hopes, they had not brought the expected six new missionaries; and, upon examining the dis- patches and letters which were placed in his hands, he found other subjects of disappointment. Serious difficulties had arisen in Mexico, which would delay the intended new estab- lishments for the present and might even occasion the de- struction of San Buenaventura. It appeared that the college of San Fernando had duly appointed the six new mission- aries; but when they came to ask for the usual governmental supplies for ornaments, vestments, salaries, expenses of the journey and to enable them to collect and keep together the Indians at the respective new missions until those establish- ments could be made self-supporting, Martin de Mayorga. the new viceroy of Mexico, declined to furnish them, and gave as a reason that both the comandante-general and governor of California had informed him they were unnecessary. From this it seemed plain, as was thought, that the intention of the government was to establish the new missions much on the same plan as that on which the Colorado missions had been founded. In view of the indication that such was to be the policy and also, probably, on account of the difficulty that any innovation of the kind would be sure to occasion in the other establishments, the missionaries refused to proceed unless their demands were complied with; and the college of San Fernando, in support of the same view of the situation, wrote Junipero to suspend the foundation of the new missions until such time as they might be founded in the same manner as the old ones. Upon the reception of these orders Junipero was greatly afflicted, believing that the suspension of the intended work had been brought about by the wiles of the arch enemy. But like a true son of the church, he submitted without a murmur and even contemplated withdrawing the missionary from San Buenaventura upon the ground that it was one of the mis- sions referred to. Having, however, some doubt as to whether 440 THE FRANCISCANS. the destruction of a mission already established and in suc- cessful operation could have been intended by the letters he had received, he called together a convocation of the ecclesias- ties of the four missions nearest San Carlos and laid the matter before them for their consideration and advice. The convocation, in view of all the circumstances, and especially in view of the fact that San Buenaventura was one of the three missions originally contemplated and had been estab- lished on the same principles as the other missions of Alta California, decided that it should be upheld, at least until pos- itive orders to the contrary should be received. In accordance with this decision, Juni'pero resolved to retain it and appointed Fathers Francisco Dumetz and Vicente de Santa Maria its regular missionaries. Fuster was sent back to his own mission of San Juan Capistrano. As the appointment of Dumetz and Santa Maria left Juni'pero without assistance at San Carlos, he called Father Matias Noriega from San Francisco and directed Father Cambon to resume his old place there. The result of the new arrangement was that, though Santa Barbara presidio was left without a missionary, each of the nine mis- sions had two. But there were no supernumeraries; and, as the regular ordinary duties at San Carlos required the con- stant attention of both its missionaries, Juni'pero felt obliged to forego his usual visitations to the other missions. This was hard to do; but he submitted to necessity, merely asking to have what he had done approved and a few supernumerary missionaries furnished as soon as might be. The college of San Fernando, upon being informed of all that had taken place, not only approved, ratified and confirmed everything he had done; but the next year sent him two new mission- aries. 1 1 Palou, Vida, 256-260. CHAPTER XI. LAST DAYS, DEATH AND BURIAL OF JUNlPERO. THE labors of Father Junipero now approached their close. Notwithstanding his accumulating bodily ills, originating from the injury to his leg in 1749, he had still kept unremit- tingly at work. At various times he had suffered more or less from the ulceration thereby produced and never seemed willing to take the rest or subject himself to the treatment, involving cessation from labor, which his condition required. On the contrary his apostolic zeal had drawn him repeatedly from one end of the country to the other, increasing his cares and aggravating his ailments. Of late years, in addition to the old trouble of his leg, he had also suffered from an affection of the chest, which had been seriously increased, if not altogether brought on, by the extravagance of his religious fervor. Besides the chain with which he was accus- tomed, in imitation of St. Francis, to scourge himself, he had more recently provided a huge stone, which he carried with him into the pulpit. Often at the end of the sermon, in what was known as the act of contrition, he would elevate the image of the crucified Christ in his left hand and with his right, seizing this stone, strike himself repeatedly in the breast; and he did so with such earnest violence that many of the spectators were afraid he would give himself a fatal blow and fall dead before their eyes. On some special occasions, and particularly when preaching upon the subject of purga- tory and perdition, he made use of another invention still more dangerous and painful. This was to inflame a large taper having four wicks; open the bosom of his habit, and (441) 442 THE FRANCISCANS. place the burning mass next his flesh. In these days such actions would be regarded as the outbreaks of a distempered brain; but in those they were the most forcible manner of reaching and affecting an audience; and, with this object in constant view, there was hardly anything which Junipero would not have been willing to undertake or endure. 1 It may be a matter of surprise that a man so merciless to himself should have lasted so long. It was only his great spirit that kept him up and enabled him to triumph over the weaknesses of the flesh. But now his vital forces were fast wearing away; and in proportion as they declined, the trouble with his breast, beaten and bruised and burnt as it had been, occasioned him great suffering. In June, 1783, he had a very grievous attack and felt as if his end were near at hand. His labors, however, as it proved, were not yet completed. He grew* better; and, as he grew better, he resumed work. Fathers Juan Rioboo and Diego Noboa, the new missionaries forwarded by the college of San Fernando, arriving about this time and furnishing substitutes to leave in his stead at San Carlos, he prepared, though still very feeble, to make a final visit to the various other missions and administer the rite of confirmation in all cases where not already done. This seemed to him the more indispensable for the reason that the bull of Pope Clement XIV., under which he derived his authority to administer the rite, granted the power for ten years only; and, as the bull was issued on July 16, 1774, all authority under it would expire on July 16, 1784. Not only, therefore, was Junipero unwilling, on account of the uncertainty of his health, to defer these visits; but he also felt that, if he was to get around to all the missions before the expiration of his power, he must commence soon. He consequently took the opportunity of the return of the vessel, that had brought the two new missionaries, and embarked for San Diego, where he arrived without accident in the early part of September. Commencing at that point and traveling northward he passed from mission to mission, stopping at each only long enough 1 Palou, Vida, 261, 262. LAST DA YS OF JUNIPERO. 443 to look into its administration and to confirm all the recently- baptized neophytes who were ready for the ceremony. At San Gabriel he had a new attack of his disease; and this time it seemed certain it would carry him off; but he again recuper- ated and put himself upon the road for the next mission of San Buenaventura. At this establishment, the last that he had founded, finding that a much larger number of conver- sions had taken place during the single year of its existence than he had anticipated and that he would therefore be kept early and late in confirming them, he was so delighted that he could scarcely contain himself for joy; and, his thoughts being thus diverted into a channel which engrossed all his attention and interest, his condition improved. By the time he had finished his labors there, he was so much stronger that he was able to travel again, without fear every moment of sinking down upon the way. 1 In January, 1784, having thus visited each of the missions south of Monterey and since the previous September trav- eled a distance of a hundred and seventy leagues and up- wards, Junipero arrived at San Carlos. Those, who had seen him depart from the same place four months before and who had been doubtful whether they should ever see him again, were astonished to find that, notwithstanding his constant labor and fatigues, he was apparently much better than when he had started on his journey. He was, however, still very weak and very ill; and it was hoped he would now take the necessary rest. But, instead of doing so, he applied himself with his accustomed zeal to missionary labors and through rain and shine kept continually at work. He had still his last visits to make to the northern missions; and, as soon as the weather settled, towards the end of April, 1784, he again set out. Passing by the way of Santa Clara, but without tarry- ing there, he hurried on to San Francisco, where he arrived on May 4, and threw himself into the arms of his old friend and disciple Father Palou. The two expected, for a few days at least, to enjoy each other's society undisturbed; but in this 1 Palou, Vida, 263-265. 444 THE FRANCISCANS. they were disappointed; for they had scarcely met when Palou was suddenly called away to attend the death-bed of a brother missionary at Santa Clara. Father Jose Antonio Murguia, after serving as missionary for twenty years in the Sierra Gorda of Mexico and five in Lower California, arrived in Alta California in 1773. On January 12, 1777, he assisted in the foundation of the mis- sion of Santa Clara and became the principal missionary there. During his service in the Sierra Gorda he had become noted for building a sumptuous church of stone and lime, the first of the kind in those mountains; and, very soon after he took charge at Santa Clara, he commenced the erection of a somewhat similar structure at that place, using adobes, how- ever, instead of stone. It took a comparatively long time to build for the reason that Murguia was compelled to act as both architect and builder. But he had finally brought it to completion and all that remained to be done was its formal dedication, which was fixed to take place on May 16, 1764. On May 6, however, news reached San Francisco that Mur- guia had suddenly fallen seriously ill; and Palou was obliged to hasten to his bedside. When he arrived, the sick man was so far gone that all that could be done was the adminis- tration of the last sacrament; and on May 1 1, five days before his new church was to be dedicated, he died. Jum'pero, as soon as he was informed of the melancholy event, was very sensibly affected, not only on account of being reminded of his own approaching dissolution, but also on account of los- ing another of his old comrades whom he loved. Neverthe- less, it being resolved that the dedication of the new church should proceed notwithstanding Murguia's death, Junipero, after seeing that all the neophytes at San Francisco were confirmed, took his last departure from the Mission Dolores and, in company with Governor Pedro Fagej, who was to par- ticipate in the ceremonies, proceeded to Santa Clara. They arrived there on the morning of May 15; and the next day, in the presence of all the people of the mission and the adjoining pueblo of San Jose and all the natives of the LAST DAYS OF JUMPERO. 445 neighborhood, Murguia's church, which was the largest and finest in all California, was formally dedicated; and it was observed that Junipero performed the mass, preached to the people and administered the rite of confirmation with as great spirit and fervor as ever. Notwithstanding his activity, however, Junipero felt that his days were about numbered; and before parting with Palou he made his last dispositions, as if it were likely they would never meet on earth again. He then, while Palou returned to San Francisco, proceeded to Monterey, whence he sent a new priest to take the place of the deceased Murguia at Santa Clara, and himself retired to his mission of San Carlos. It was now the beginning of June. By the middle of July his power of confirmation would expire. He therefore immedi- ately set to work and confirmed all the neophytes of San Carlos; and on July 16, 1784, the day on which his commis- sion ran out, he had the satisfaction of knowing that there was not one left unprovided for, and that he had in all con- firmed the large number of five thousand three hundred and seven persons, whom he sincerely regarded as so many souls saved from the unquenchable fire. Well might he exclaim with the first apostle of the Gentiles, " I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith." It happened on the very day, upon which Junipero's power to confirm expired, that a ship arrived at San Francisco from San Bias, bringing letters to the effect that the college of San Fernando, on account of the scarcity of missionaries in the New World, could furnish no more for Alta California and that therefore the foundation of the projected two new mis- sions on the Santa Barbara Channel, which it was hoped had merely been suspended, would have to be deferred for an indefinite time. When this information reached Junipero, it seemed as if his course was indeed finished. If new mission- aries had come and new missions were to have been estab- lished, it is likely the dying spark would have again flamed forth and the fervent spirit rallied for further efforts. But as it was, Junipero could not bear up under the great disappoint- 446 THE FRANCISCANS. ment. On the contrary, feeling that every day might be his last, he sat down and wrote to each of his fellow labor- ers, inviting those who were nearest to visit him and bidding those who were further distant an eternal farewell. These letters were placed in the hands of couriers; but the only per- son thus addressed that reached him in time was Father Palou of San Francisco, who, immediately upon receiving the message, started off and arrived at San Carlos on August 18. 1 Palou found the venerable president very weak and failing rapidly, though he still managed in the afternoons to crawl to the church and conduct religious ceremonies. His sleep- ing apartment was a small chamber or cell, constructed of adobes, near the church; and it was there he lay most of the time. But it now seemed to him even more narrow and con- tracted than it really was. He felt oppressed and found difficulty in breathing. Still he uttered no complaint. Five days after Palou's arrival, the ship which had landed at San. Francisco touched at Monterey on its return voyage; and its surgeon passed over to the mission to visit the sufferer. Find- ing him grievously afflicted with pains in the breast, the surgeon proposed the application of the cautery, apparently with the idea, by counter irritation, of drawing off the oppress- ive humors to some other part of the body; and Junipero, though he himself despaired of finding any relief, resignedly consented to the excruciating treatment. But the only effect was to consume the flesh and cause unnecessary pain, all of which, however, the patient bore without a murmur. On August 26, having passed a very bad night, Junipero spent the day in prayer and in the evening with many tears confessed himself to Father Palou. The next day, desiring to receive the communion, he insisted, sick and feeble as he was, upon going to the church for that purpose and was accompanied thither by the comandante and a large number of the soldiers of the neighboring presidio, who knowing that the end was not far distant had come over to pay their last respects. Upon reaching the altar he threw himself upon 1 Palou, Vida, 265-269. LAST DA YS OF JUN1PER0. 447 his knees and so remained during the ceremony; and all present were affected to tears, some at beholding the extra- ordinary scene before them and others reflecting upon the loss they were so soon to sustain. From the church the sufferer returned to his cell and passed the remainder of the day in prayer. That evening, feeling much worse, he desired Palou to administer extreme unction, which was accordingly done. That night, being unable to sleep, he spent either upon his knees or in the arms of his devoted neophytes, who were now allowed to be present and crowded around in great numbers The next morning, being visited by Captain Jose Cailizares and Chaplain Cristobal Diaz of the vessel then in port, he received them with an embrace and ordered a peal of the mission bells to be rung in their honor. Both these persons had been in California before; and in addressing them Juni- pero referred to their old acquaintance and. took occasion to thank them for coming to attend his funeral. They were greatly surprised and shocked to hear him speak in this man- ner and answered that they trusted in God he would recover and go on with the conquest. But he replied in all serious- ness that there was no hope and he begged them for charity's sake and as a favor to him to scatter a little earth upon his remains. Then turning to Father Palou he desired to be buried by the side of Father Juan Crespi and to remain there until such time as they should come to rebuild the church, when they might dispose of his body as they pleased. Palou, as soon as his tears allowed him to speak, assured the dying man that everything should be done as he desired; but he begged Junipero, when he came to be ushered into the pres- ence of the Blessed Trinity, to intercede for all he left behind and especially those then present. All of this Junipero prom- ised, if the Lord in his infinite mercy vouchsafed him such felicity, faithfully to do. 1 Ih the afternoon early, having shortly before joyfully ex- claimed that God had entirely taken away his fears, Junipero expressed a desire to go to rest and lay down upon his bed. 1 Palou, Vida, 269-275. 448 THE ERANCISCANS. All supposed he meant sleep, as he had slept none the night before; and they went out of the apartment so that he might not be disturbed. But soon afterwards, upon returning, Palou found him in exactly the same position, in which he had left him, and motionless. Junipero had indeed gone to rest; but it was the rest which knows no waking. He seemed to be in a calm slumber; but he had ceased to breathe. He had passed away peaceably, without a struggle, without a sign of agony. So died, on August 28, 1784, in the seventy-first year of his age and the thirty-fourth of his ministry as a missionary/ this remarkable and in some respects great man. He was not a man of commanding intellect; he was not a man of liberal views; he was superstitious; but at the same time he was a sincere man; and probably none was ever more ready or anxious to perform his duty and his whole duty, according to his light. He possessed in an eminent degree all that the church teaches as the Christian virtues; and few or none can be found, even among the saints, who were more perfect in their faith and devotion. Few or none ever accomplished more under such untoward circumstances or labored with more assiduous and undivided zeal for so long a period. At the time of his death he had baptized in Alta California alone five thousand eight hundred persons, nearly all of whom he also confirmed, and left fifteen establishments, two of them pueblos, four presidios and nine missions. If any man were ever deserving canonization, it seems Junipero was. But his memory will live longer and be preserved greener as the Founder and First of Pioneers of Alta California than either as a missionary or a priest or even as a saint. As soon as it was ascertained beyond question that Juni- pero was dead, the mission bells were tolled and the whole population burst into tears. It was but a short time until the sad news passed over to the presidio; and the people from that place, including soldiers and sailors, soon increased" the number of the mourners. These became so many and were so anxious to see and touch the remains that it was found necessary to close the door and exclude them, so as to give DEATH AND BURIAL OF JUNIPER O. 449 an opportunity for properly laying out the body and placing it in the coffin, which at Juni'pero's own request had already been prepared by the carpenter of the presidio. This, how- ever, took but a short time. The devout sufferer, some days before his death, had expressed a desire to be buried in the habit of his order and had removed an under garment, which he sometimes wore, leaving only his long robe with its cowl and the cord about his waist. All that had to be done in fact was to remove his sandals, which were given to the cap- tain and chaplain of the vessel, who were present as before stated. This being arranged and the body placed in the coffin, six lighted tapers were placed around it. The door of the cell being then again thrown open, the Indian neophytes crowded in and adorned the bier with flowers; while the Spaniards pressed around and reached out their rosaries and medals that they might be sanctified by contact with the hands of their now blessed father. At nightfall a procession was formed and the body conveyed to the church, where it was placed before the altar and soldiers stationed to protect it from the pious violence of those who sought memorials and relics. Nor was it possible, with all the watching of the guards, to prevent pieces of the robe and locks left by the tonsure from being cut off and carried away. 1 On Sunday, August 29, the burial took place. There were present the comandante and nearly all the soldiers of the presidio, the captain, chaplain, inferior officers and nearly all the sailors of the ship then in port, all the settlers of Monte- rey, four priests, and all the neophytes of San Carlos. The people having gathered, appropriate religious services were performed; and after every one had been afforded an oppor- tunity to see and touch the body for the last time, a solemn procession was formed and the remains carried with cross and candles and deposited in their^final resting place by the side of those of Father Crespi under the altar of the church. During the ceremonies the bells were tolled from time to time ; and every half hour during the entire day the distant boom 1 Palou, Vida, 276-278. 29 Vol. 1. 450 THE FRANCISCANS. of a cannon from the presidio was heard, answered by another from the vessel in the habor. Palou evidently impressed with these military noises, boasted that^Junipero was honored as if he had been some general 1 , 1 apparently forgetting for the moment that he was much more honored by the tears of his neophytes, the love and devotion of his comrades, the crowd- ing of the people to touch his body, and even by the fact that his remains had to be guarded to protect them from injury by those who wanted relics and memorials, than he would have been by all the guns that could have been fired and all the requiems that could have been rung. On the seventh day afterwards, Sunday, September 4, the ceremonies, with some variations suiting the difference of cir- cumstances, were repeated. The same soldiers, sailors and settlers and a few more missionaries, who had arrived in the meanwhile, were present. The same kind of vigils were kept and masses celebrated; and the bells were rung and the guns fired as before; nor were there wanting renewed tears from the neophytes as well as from the old companions of the dead leader. These honors, however, were but the earnest of others yet to come. His memory was cherished; and his name, especially among those who had known him, was never mentioned without awakening a feeling of veneration. But the greatest honor paid him was by his devoted admirer and disciple, Father Francisco Palou, who upon returning to San Francisco wrote his biography. This work, which forms a very interesting volume, was printed at Mexico in 1787 under the title of "Relacion Historica de la Vida y Apostolicas Tareas del Venerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra, y de las misiones que fundo en la California Septentrional, y nuevos establecimientos de Monterey — Historical Narrative of the Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Father Friar Junipero Serra and of the missions, which he founded in Northern California, and the new establishments of Monte- rey." With the exception of the "Noticias de la Nueva Cali- fornia," a compilation of historical notes, diaries and journals 1 "Como si fuera algun General." — Palou, Vida, 279. DEATH AND BURIAL OF JUNIPERO. 451 written or collected by the same author, covering most of the same ground and constituting the ground-work of the latter volume, it was the first book written in what is now California; but as has been well" remarked, it is by no means the worst one. In speaking of it himself, Palou complained that he had to write among a barbarous people and without books or companions to consult; and he expressed a fear lest he had not done his subject justice; but when it is considered that he not only called Junipero " the servant of God," but showed by the narrative of his life and labors that he was well worthy of the appellation, no one will feel that he has fallen below his mark or that either neglect or oversight or want of skill can be imputed to him. He may have been too much of the priest, too ready to believe in miracles, too superstitious; but he was consciencious, indefatigable and often eloquent; and he produced a work which for literary merit is eminently fit to lead the long line of its successors. Palou, though he protested that no further credit was to be given his book than was due to purely human testimony, clearly considered Junipero a saint and believed him entitled to canonization. He seems to have had this idea in his mind, without venturing directly to say so. He represented Juni- pero as possessed of all the virtues, and compared him to an august temple, the foundation of which consisted of humility, the columns of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and the principal structure or sanctuary of faith, hope and charity. 1 But whatever may have been Palou's idea, it is cer- tain that the church has hitherto taken no action in reference to Junipero's memory and that, so far as it is concerned, one of the best of its servants, and one of the purest in his great office, has been allowed to rust in obscurity. Nor has it been until now, when a new people have occupied the country he first planted, that his services as the Founder of Alta Cali- fornia rescue his name and commend it as one to be -long remembered and greatly honored. 1 Palou, Vida, 287-327. CHAPTER XII. PRESIDENT LASUEN. — SANTA BARBARA, PURlSIMA, SANTA CRUZ AND SOLEDAD. AMONG the missionaries in California at the end of Au- gust, 1784, there was no one equal to Juni'pero; no one of his extraordinary energy, his unflagging zeal, his untiring patience; no one who could do what he had done; no one, whp, like him, could conquer and add a new province not only to the church but to the crown. The only person who might, perhaps, have attempted something of the kind, was his bosom friend, Father Palou. For many years, as has been stated, he had been the sympathizing companion of his labors and his struggles. It was to him that Juni'pero had confided his last instructions. And it is possible that, having sat so long a disciple at the feet of such a master, he would have pursued to a much greater length than any other the path that had been entered upon and perhaps have extended the missions throughout the northwestern coast as far as the Spanish flag had been carried by the Spanish discoverers. But Palou, though he assumed and for a couple of years exercised the functions of the dead president, 1 was reserved for the less glorious but more prominent position of father guardian of the college of San Fernando in Mexico. Thither he pro- ceeded in 1786," after he had written the Life of Juni'pero, and there, after eight or nine years of further labors, and most of them in the interests of California, he died in the year 1794. 3 1 I a I. Archives, P. R. I, 4^5- « Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 361. 5 Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 362. (452) PRESIDENT LASUEN. 453 Meanwhile, and even before the death of Jum'pero, a new project in reference to the government of the missions, had been started, which caused Palou, during the two years he admin- istered the presidency, great apprehension and trouble. This was the erection of Sonora and the Californias into a bishopric and the proposed division of the diocese into two " custodias; " one, to be known as that of San Carlos, to embrace the estab- lishments of Sonora, and the other, to be known as that of San Gabriel, to embrace those of the Californias. The object was to withdraw the missions from the control of the colleges and their appointees and place them under subordinates of the bishopric. In pursuance of this plan Father Antonio de los Reyes was appointed bishop of the new jurisdiction. In September, 1782, he was consecrated at Tacubaya in Mexico. Thence he proceeded to Sonora for the purpose of entering upon his office and effecting the contemplated changes. But, on account of the radical alterations thus projected, there was very determined opposition on the part of the colleges; and the consequence was a quarrel which, even for an ecclesias- tical squabble, was exceptionally bitter. So far as Sonora was concerned, however, the bishop carried his point; in 1783 the custodia of San Carlos was erected, and the college of Santa Cruz was obliged to submit. It had been the bishop's inten- tion, after thus carrying out the first part of the plan, to pro- ceed to Loretoand complete the project by the erection of the custodia of San Gabriel. But the opposition of the college of San Fernando succeeded in occasioning a respite; further de- velopments showed the plan to be impracticable; the custodia of San Gabriel never was in fact erected; and the missions of the Californias remained under the same control as before. 1 On account of these troubles, the refusal of the govern- ment to furnish supplies and the want of missionaries, no new missions were founded during Palou's administration of the presidency. But those already established progressed rapidly. At the end of 1783 they had altogether four thou- sand two hundred and forty-four neophytes. Of these San 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 243, 244, 250-252. 454 THE FRANCISCANS. Diego had seven hundred and forty; San Carlos, six hundred and fourteen; San Antonio, five hundred and eighty-two; San Gabriel, six hundred and thirty-eight; San Luis Obispo, four hundred and ninety-two; San Juan Capistrano, three hundred and eighty-three; San Francisco, two hundred and fifteen; Santa Clara, five hundred and fifty-eight, and San Buenaventura twenty-two. 1 Each one had advanced regularly and very nearly in proportion to the length of time it had been established with the exception of San Francisco, where, as will be recollected, there had been an onslaught by hostile rancherias and the Indians driven away, The same kind of regular progress continued for year after year, though in some of the missions, on account of the larger numbers or more tractable disposition of the natives or of the superior activity and success of particular missionaries, it was greater than in others. According to the census, taken at the end of 1796, there were in the same nine missions eight thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight neophytes; and as many more had died. Of those remaining San Diego had nine hundred and eight; San Carlos, eight hundred and thirty-five; San Anto- nio, eleven hundred and sixty-eight; San Gabriel, thirteen hundred and thirty-one; San Luis Obispo, eight hundred and fourteen; San Juan Capistrano, nine hundred and ninety-four; San Francisco, seven hundred and twenty; Santa Clara, four- teen hundred and thirty-three, and San Buenaventura seven hundred and twenty-five." At the same time there had been numerous improvements in buildings, many of the old pali- sade structures being replaced by adobe erections with tiled roofs; the fields and gardens had been enlarged, and the herds and flocks had greatly increased. The next president of the missions of Alta California, after the withdrawal of Palou in 1786, was Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, a native of Viscaya in Spain, 3 born about the year 1720. He was one of the Franciscan mission- 'Cal. Archives; M. I, 44-46. * Cal. Archives, M. II, 544. 3 Cal. Archives, M.I, 427. SANTA BARBARA. 455 aries, connected with the college of San Fernando, who had been engaged at the same time with Junipero in the Siena Gorda in Mexico, and was among the little band of sixteen who had crossed over to Lower California in 1768. 1 There he was assigned to the charge of the mission of San Francisco de Borja, 2 where he remained until the transfer of the mis- sions of the peninsula to the Dominicans. He then passed to Alta California and in 1775, under the orders and direc- tion of Junipero, founded the mission of San Juan Capistrano. In 1786 he was appointed by the college of San Fernando to the office of president and entered upon the discharge of his duties as such towards the end of that year. In a letter directed to him by Governor Fages on September 30, refer- ring to his recent appointment, he was directed to assume without delay the responsibilities of his new position; and, besides being furnished with a copy of the reglamento or plan of government and reminded of his obligations to conform strictly with its requirements, he was informed that a new mission was ready to be founded; and he was urged to pro- ceed at once in making the necessary dispositions for its im- mediate establishment. 3 The new mission referred to was that of Santa Barbara. Its foundation, as will be recollected, had been contemplated by Junipero immediately after the establishment of the pre- sidio of the same name in 1782; but various untoward cir- cumstances had intervened to prevent its establishment. Now, however, as Fages further wrote to Lasucn, all difficul- ties had been obviated; the priests and soldiers were ready; even the site for the new building, which had been chosen by Junipero, had been resurveyed by himself and Father Vicente de Santa Maria of San Buenaventura and found in every respect suitable; and nothing remained but to proceed. This, the new president almost immediately did, taking with him Father Antonio Paterna, 4 who was to have charge of the new 1 Palou, Noticias, I, 176. 2 Talou, Noticias, I, 21. a Cal. Archives. P. R. Ill, 89, 90. * Cal. Archives, M. I, 4S8. 456 THE FRANCISCANS. establishment as missionary, a corporal, and five soldiers who were to constitute the guard and had been detached for that purpose from the little garrison at the neighboring presidio, 1 and being accompanied by Governor Pedro Pages, Felipe de Goycoechea, comandante of the presidio, and many others. The ceremonies, which consisted of little more than the erec- tion of a cross and the celebration of mass, took place on December 4, 1786. Father Paterna was succeeded in a few years by Fathers Esteban Tapis and Jose de Miguel, who were younger and more active. In a short time after the founda- tion, the construction of an adobe church and other buildings was began and diligently continued, so that in July of the next year Comandante Goycoechea was enabled to write to Governor Fages that the walls of the church were up, 2 and in 1794 that it was completed and was a handsome and con- venient structure. 3 It was beautifully located on rising ground, three-quarters of a league back towards the mount- ains from the presidio and overlooking the valley, in which sits the present city of Santa Barbara, and the glancing waters of the Santa Barbara Channel, with the hazy outlines of the islands Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa in the dim distance. The conversions proceeded rapidly. In 1795, the year after the completion of the church, the neophytes numbered five hundred and forty-nine.* At the end of 1796, the number was six hundred and forty-six. 5 In August, 1797, an entire rancheria of three hundred inhabitants was added to the con- gregation, 6 and was received in the presence of the father president himself, but only on condition that, though they should contribute to the labors of the mission, they might continue to live as before in their huts on the sea beach and not be obliged to remove, as was the case with the Indians in general, to the immediate neighborhood of the church. 7 At 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. II, 475. 2 Cal-. Archives, P. S. P. VII, I. 3 " Aunque es de adove, est;i may decente." — Cal. Archives, M. II, 319. 4 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 136. ' 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 544. Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 192. » Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 274. PURISJMA. 457 the end of 1805, the number of neophytes, then living, was seventeen hundred and fifty-six, larger than that of any other mission in the country at that time. 1 The old adobe church, in which they worshiped was injured by an earthquake in March, 1806," and again in December, 1812; 3 after which it had to be rebuilt, 1 and the new structure was not completed until 1820:' At the same time that preparations were being made for the foundation of Santa Barbara, it was also in contemplation to found another mission, to be called Purisima Concepcion, near the western extremity of the Channel, and thus complete the occupation of the country in that direction. In June, 1785, accordingly, Sergeant Pablo Cota was dispatched from the presidio of Santa Barbara to look out for a site; and he chose a spot, called by the natives Alsacupi, 6 on the south bank of the river then known as the Santa Rosa, where there was much land adapted to cultivation, easy of irrigation from the river and with abundant pasture and timber in the neighbor- hood. The road to it and thence northward was more direct and better than along the immediate coast; and it had the advantage of being within convenient reach to the Indians of the mountains and along the river as well as to those of the coast.' It was some fifteen miles almost due north from Point Concepcion and forty a little north of west from Santa Bar- bara. The Santa Rosa river or as it is now generally known the Santa Inez, upon which, about twelve miles from the ocean, it was situated, rises in the mountains northeast of Santa Barbara; flows some seventy miles in a nearly westerly direction between mountain and hill ranges, parallel to and from ten to fifteen miles north of the Santa Barbara Channel, and empties into the ocean about twenty miles northwest of Point Concepcion. 1 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 592. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 327. 3 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 213. 4 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 302. 5 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 616. 6 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 264. 7 Cal. Archives, I'. R. I, 526. 458 THE FRANCISCANS. The mission of La Purisima Concepcion, usually known \ simply as that of Purisima, was founded by the Father Presi- dent Lasuen, on the spot thus selected by Sergeant Pablo Cota, on December 8, 1787. The ceremonies of foundation consisted of the same simple formula pursued in other cases. The first missionaries appear to have been Fathers Jose de Arroita and Cristobal Orames. Sergeant Pablo Cota, with the soldiers and servants destined for the new foundation, proceeded thither from the presidio of Santa Barbara; felled timber in the neighboring wood, and began a stockade and habitations. 1 On April 7, 1788, Governor Fages issued his instructions for the government of the guard." In the early part of 1794, all the Indians of the place seemed to be seized with a panic and fled; but in the course of a month or two they were all brought back by the soldiers, when it was ascer- tained that the flight had been occasioned by two boys, who had acted as pages of the missionaries. These were punished, and the Indians induced to return to their obedience and labors. 3 But the church was of slow construction. In the early part of 1795 materials had been collected, but the church proper had not been commenced. 4 In 1797 ornaments and sacred vessels had been provided,' and new houses were built for the missionaries; 6 but still the church itself was hardly begun; 7 nor was it completed until 1803. It then con- sisted of an adobe structure seventy-five feet long, twenty- seven and a half feet wide and upwards of thirty high, with out-buildings and a garden two hundred varas square. 8 The neophytes at the end of 1796 numbered seven hundred and sixty; 9 at the end of 1799 nine hundred and twenty-three, 10 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. VIII, 293. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. VIII, 71. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. I, 614. ■> Cal. Archives, M. II, 45. h Cal. Archives, M. II, 724. 6 Cal. Archives, M. II, 624. 7 Cal. Archives, M. II, 724. 8 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 421. 9 Cal. Archives. M. II, 544. 11 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 179. PURIS1MA. 439 and at the end of 1805 thirteen hundred and eighty-five. 1 In December, 18 12, this church and the buildings connected with it were almost totally destroyed by the same earthquake that temporarily ruined the mission of Santa Barbara.' 2 In the spring of 1813, Fathers Mariano Payeras and Antonio Ripoll, the then missionaries, instead of rebuilding on the old spot, removed the mission to a more desirable location ; t a place, called by the natives Amun, on the north bank of the river a few miles distant from the old site and alongside of what had then become the mainly traveled road from Santa Bar- bara to San Luis Obispo. There a new establishment was immediately commenced. By the end of the year various buildings had been erected; a new stockade constructed; a new garden planted; and a new church started. It had been found, by this time, that the river was liable to run very low in the summer season and could not always be depended on for the necessary irrigation; but to supply the defect several springs in the neighborhood were brought together and led down to the new mission; and a sufficiency of pure and crys- talline water, even in the driest years, was thereby provided. i While the missions of Santa Barbara and Purisima were thus being founded and the spiritual conquest extended, there was no one in California that could administer the rite of confirmation. It will be recollected that the power to administer this rite, which had been granted for ten years to Junipero, the only person who possessed it in the country, expired on Jul)- 16, 1784; and as yet it had been conferred on no one else. But on March 13. 1787, the father prefect of the apostolic colleges of Mexico, under authority of a decree of convocation issued at Rome in 1785, granted his patent, giving the same power as had been possessed by Junipero and for an equal length of time, to the Father President Lasuen and in case of his death to Father .Pablo Mugar- tegui, and in default of both of them to Father Pedro Benito Cambon. 4 It required some time, on account of the circui- 1 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 592. 2 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 210. 3 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 266. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. IX, 629. 460 THE FRANCISCANS. tous course which the documents had to take by the way of Chihuahua, the capital of the Internal Provinces of the West which had been carved out of the old Provincias Internas, and various other delays, for the necessary authority to reach Monterey; but reach it at last it did; and in March, 1790, Governor Fages was directed by Jacobo Ugarte y Loyola, the comandante-general of those provinces and his immediate superior, to throw no obstacles in the way of its execution. Being in this manner armed with all the powers deemed requisite not only to convert souls but also to save and secure them from perdition, Lasuen addressed himself with renewed energy to the great work. It was six years since the rite of confirmation had been exercised; and there was consequently an accumulation of labor on hand both in the southern mis- sions and in the northern. He commenced with the latter as the nearest home. But he had not progressed far before he was again called upon, this time by Jose Antonio Romeu who had succeeded Fages in the office of governor, and also by the Conde de Revillagigedo the new viceroy, to found and put in working order two new missions; and he at once turned his attention to the proposed new establishments. 1 Hitherto all the missions had been founded or may be said to have been founded, either directly or indirectly, by Juni- pero. Even Santa Barbara and Purisima, though not actu- ally organized until after his death, had been so prepared and arranged for by him, that they may not improperly be called his work. But the new establishments, notwithstand- ing they were in the line of the influences he set in operation and in that regard results of his labors, were the work of others and particularly of the college of San Fernando and the new viceroy. It was by them, and without any very urgent call from any one in California, that the new projects were started and all the necessary arrangements made. The orders reached their destination in the latter part of 1790 and four new missionaries, the principal of whom were Fathers Esteban Tapis and Antonio Danti, were sent along. 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 49. SANTA CRUZ. 461 The first of the two new missions thus directed to be founded, that of Santa Cruz, was to be located on the ocean shore at the northern end of the great indentation known as Monterey bay. The place had been named by Portola's ex- pedition in 1769. It was about twenty-five miles in a direct line across the b.ay from Monterey and thirty miles a little west of south from Santa Clara. Though nearer to Monterey it was within the jurisdiction of the presidio of San Francisco- For the purpose of making a reconnoissance and survey, Lasuen proceeded thither in company with Corporal Luis Peralta and five soldiers of the latter presidio; and on August 28, 1 79 1, he fixed upon the site and gave the initiation to the new mission. 1 Peralta, who a few days afterwards returned to San Francisco, pronounced the spot, on account of the many advantages it presented, one of the very best for a new establishment in the entire province." But, though there was thus a commencement made in August, it was not until Sep- tember 25 that the ceremonies of foundation were performed; and at these Lasuen was not present. He had proceeded to Santa Clara and from that place gave the necessary direc- tions to Ensign Hermenegildo Sal, who was acting comand- ante of the troops at San Francisco, 3 and then proceeded to Monterey to attend to other duties, which required his im- mediate personal superintendence elsewhere. Hermenegildo Sal, in accordance with the, directions of Lasuen but acting more directly under the orders of Governor Romeu, as soon as he could make the proper dispositions, took with him Corporal Peralta and two soldiers, leaving the other three belonging to the guard to follow with the spare horses and baggage, and proceeded. to Santa Clara. He was there joined by Fathers Alonzo Salazar and Baldomero Lopez, the missionaries destined for the new establishment, and some soldiers and Indians, who were employed to drive a band of thirty cattle, and thence marched direct to Santa 1 Cal. Archives, M. IT, 544. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 42. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 48. 462 THE FRANCISCANS. Cruz. He found the spot chosen by Lasuen a beautiful loca- tion near the ocean, not more than a musket shot from the San Lorenzo river, with considerable level land of great fer- tility and capable of easy and plentiful irrigation, and within a mile or two of the mountains which were densely covered with redwood and pine trees. Within a league there was timber enough to build many large towns. Springs abounded, and there was limestone near by. Throughout the whole length of the country from San Diego to San Francisco, as Sal reported to Governor Romeu, there was no other place so well supplied with natural advantages, though the ground for cultivation was comparatively small. Almost the only objec- tion to it was that the spot was off the main road from Mon- terey to Santa Clara, and communication to and from it might in times of flood be difficult. On Sunday, September 25, 1791, although the mission was regarded as already founded and some slight structures for the accommodation of the missionaries had already been built, the formal ceremonies of foundation took place. On that day the missionaries robed themselves and the soldiers bur- nished up their arms and the Indians of the neighborhood collected. The " capitanejo " or principal man of these was called Sugert. Being invited to attend the celebration, he came with his wife and two daughters. These young women, one of whom was called Lucenza and the other Clara, had already become Christians and were instrumental in render- ing not only their father but all the Indians under his influ- ence well disposed to the new-comers. They accordingly one and all looked upon the ceremonies, including the mass, the act of possession, the salutes and the Te Deum Laudamus, with great interest and favor and promised cheerfully to assist in building up and sustaining the mission. 1 On the same day Hermenegildo Sal made out a formal certificate, sub- scribed by himself, the missionaries, Corporal Luis Peralta and citizen Salvador Higuera, that upon that date at 8 o'clock in the morning, in the presence of the witnesses mentioned 1 Cal: Archives, S. I'. II, 818 824. SANTA CRUZ. 463 and in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, he had taken possession of the place for his Catholic majesty, King Charles IV. 1 Upon his return a few days afterwards to his head-quarters at San Francisco, Sal issued a series of instructions to Cor- poral Peralta for the government of the guard at Santa Cruz and also prepared a report of all his proceedings for Governor Romeu. This report, with accompanying docu- ments, constitutes the most minute account, perhaps, that has been preserved of the foundation of a mission. In one of his papers he says that he had been obliged, for the pur- pose of making up the guard, to withdraw a soldier from Santa Clara and two from San Francisco, so that at the latter place there were left only a corporal and seven soldiers not- withstanding it was the frontier." In another paper, he says that on account of the remoteness of Santa Cruz he had sent thither a small piece of ordnance, which he had found at San Francisco. 3 In a third, he gives a list of the supplies furnished, among which are mentioned, as the food upon which the founders were to live, maize, beans, tallow, choco- late, tobacco and salt. There were four cooking pots and pans, one of iron, three of copper, and one metate or stone slab upon which to crush and knead maize for tortillas. That there might be no waste, a pair of scales and a wooden meas- ure for gauging rations were added. The ammunition sup- plied consisted of twelve hundred musket cartridges, and about forty pounds of powder and five hundred grape-shot for the field-piece. There was also some soap, a crowbar, a few axes, hoes and cutlasses. These, with a few blankets and mats, arms and clothing, in addition to the domestic animals driven over from Santa Clara, constituted all the prop- erty with which the pioneers of Santa Cruz commenced their settlement. 4 In his instructions Sal was very particular in designating the exact amount of maize, beans, tallow, cigars, 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 813. a Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 832. :! "Un pedrero de campafia. " — Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 834. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 837. 464 THE FRANCISCANS. soap and chocolate to be given weekly to each of the sol- diers and the six servants of the mission, the married soldiers to have a little more than the others; and the corporal was cautioned not to allow any excess of the rations thus pre- scribed. When meat was required and an animal slaughtered, none was to be given to the Indians for fear of the evil con- sequences that might result from teaching them the taste of beef. The soldiers were to obey the orders, either written or oral, of the missionaries. A sentinel, armed with musket and sword, was to be maintained day and night; and the In- dians were not to be permitted to associate with the guard. If an Indian approached he was to be met and disarmed before being allowed to enter the mission; and the strictest precautions were to be observed against surprises or uprisings. The horses and cattle were to be constantly under observation; and, for the purpose of promptly meeting contingencies, two horses ready saddled during the day and four during the night were to be kept picketed near at hand. In case an animal strayed, it was to be sought for; if stolen and the thief captured, he was to be informed of the magnitude of his offense and punished with fifteen stripes; and in case of repe- tition or of his killing the animal, word was to be sent at once to the presidio for further orders. Care was to be taken that no damage should be done by the fires which the Indians were accustomed to set to the dry grass in the autumn. When a missionary should leave the mission, if on foot and for only a short distance, he was to be accompanied by a sol- dier with his musket; if on horseback, he was to be asked his destination: if for a short distance, two soldiers were to ac- company him; if for a long distance, three. Gambling was not to be permitted among the soldiers, nor between soldiers and servants. Nor were contracts or communications to be allowed with the Indians and especially not with the Indian women, on pain of severe punishment. Prayers were to be punctually attended. On the last week of every month a re- port on the condition of affairs was to be made out and trans- mitted to Santa Clara and thence, with a like report in refer- SOLEDAD. 465 ence to Santa Clara, to head-quarters at San Francisco. In conclusion it was provided that, in consideration of the late- ness of the season and the approach of the rains, the Indians should be invited to assist in constructing the buildings necessary for immediate use and paid for their labors with blankets and maize. 1 Corporal Peralta was a man to follow his instructions strictly; and in a short time the buildings, including a church, were up; and the work of conversion commenced. But it was soon found that the new establishment was too near the river.' 2 A few years afterwards the church was destroyed by an inun- dation, 3 and had to be rebuilt on higher ground. The new church, however, was no more fortunate than the old one; for in January, 1799, it too, with other structures in the neighbor- hood, was destroyed by a violent storm which did great damage throughout all that portion of the country; and the Indians had to be called upon to do the work over again for the third time. 4 It consisted, like most of the other churches of the time, of an adobe structure roofed with tiles; and con- nected with it were numerous adjuncts in the way of priests' houses, barracks, warehouses and shops. There was also near by a rude water-mill for grinding grain, which was destroyed by the same storm. The conversions, owing no doubt in great part to the mediation of Lucenza and Clara, the Chris- tianized daughters of the Indian capitanejo, were rapid. At the end of December, 1796, the neophytes numbered five hun- dred and twenty-three, 5 nearly as large a number as the mis- sion ever at any time had. Contemporaneous with the preparations for the foundation of Santa Cruz within the jurisdiction of the presidio of San Francisco, went on those for Soledad within the jurisdiction of Monterey. The latter was the second of the two new mis- sions, which the viceroy Revillagigedo had ordered to be 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 826-831. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. II, 562. 3 Cal. Archives, M. II, 742. 4 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 741. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 544. 30 Vol. I. 466 THE FRANCISCANS. founded. As early as January he had written to Governor Romeu that he had provided the necessary ornaments and sacred vessels for the new establishments and directed their transmission to California, and urging him to see that the foundations were proceeded with without delay. 1 He also wrote directly to Father Lasuen upon the same subject; and as Romeu likewise wrote, 2 Lasuen could not hold back for the want of prompting to go forward. Forward he did go with Santa Cruz, as has been seen; and at the same time he was pushing forward Soledad. It was the necessity of his pres- ence at Monterey on account of the latter that prevented his participation in the formal ceremonies of foundation at Santa Cruz. The mission of Soledad, or, to give the full title, Mision de Maria Santisima de la Soledad, was founded on October 9, 1 79 1. It was situated on the west side of the Salinas river, near the head of the great level valley, known as the Salinas Plains, and about thirty miles in a direct line southeast of Monterey. It was of slow progress. In 1793 its missionaries, Fathers Garcia Diego and Francisco Miguel Sanchez reported the number of baptisms up to that time as one hundred and ninety-eight. An adobe church was in progress, 3 which appears to have been finished before the end of 1797. 4 At the end of 1796 the neophytes numbered only two hundred and eighty-nine, little more than half the number at Santa Cruz; 5 but at the end of 1799 the two missions were about equal, each having nearly five hundred; 6 and in 181 1 Soledad had six hundred while Santa Cruz had only five hundred and nine 7 The building was a long and comparatively narrow one thatched with straw, never a place of any great beauty, and in its decay some thirty or forty years after its erection 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. X, 471. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 49. 3 Cal. Archives, M. I, S20. * Cal. Archives, M. II, 736. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 544. 6 Cal. Archives. M. Ill, 11S, 270. 7 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. PRESIDENT LASUEN. 4G7 described as the gloomiest, bleakest, most abject looking spot in all California. 1 It was in the early part of Lasuen's administration, and near the time of the foundation of the missions last described, that two famous navigators visited California, each of whom has left a very intelligent and valuable account of what he saw and of the condition of the Indians at the missions at that period. The first of these was Jean Francois Galaup de la Perouse, commander of the French frigates Boussole and Astrolabe. He was the first foreigner of distinction that landed on the soil in a spirit of friendship. He came by the way of Cape Horn, Chili, the Sandwich Islands and the extreme northwest coast, and anchored in Monterey bay on September 14, 1 786 . A few days after his arrival, he and his officers rode over in company with Governor Fages to the mission of San Carlos, where they were received with dis- tinguished honors. Their approach had been announced by a horseman, sent on in advance by the governor. As soon as they appeared in sight, the bells were set to ringing a peal of welcome; and all the lamps and tapers of the mission were set ablaze. At the gate of the church they were met by the father president, dressed in his ceremonial habiliments and with aspergillus in hand, who sprinkled over them the holy water of purification and then, after conducting them to the foot of the high altar, chanted the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the happy success of their voyage. A large number of .stolid Indians of both sexes were collected and ranged in line in front of the church; and there they remained during the ceremonies, taking no interest in what was going on — too stupid in fact even to exhibit surprise, as the strangers from another hemisphere passed before them. The Indian population of San Carlos at that time con- sisted of seven hundred and forty persons of both sexes, including children. They lived in some fifty miserable huts near the church, composed of stakes stuck in the ground a few inches apart and bent over at the top so as to form oven- 1 Robinson, Life in California, New York, 1846, 78. 4G8 THE FRANCISCANS. shaped structures, about six feet in diameter and the same in height, and illy thatched with trusses of straw. In such habitations as these, closely packed together at night, they preferred to live rather than in houses such as the Spaniards built, alleging that they loved the open air which had free access to them, and that, when their huts became uncomfor- table on account of fleas and vermin, they could easily burn them down and in a few hours build new ones. The condi- tion of the neophytes was that of abject slavery. The moment an Indian allowed himself to be baptized, as La Perouse observed, that moment'he relinquished every particle of liberty and subjected himself, body and soul, to a tyranny from which there was no escape. The church then claimed, as its own, himself, his labor, his creed and his obedience, and enforced its claim with the strong hand of power. His going forth and his returning were prescribed; the hours of his toil and of his prayers fixed; the time of his meals and of his sleep pre-arranged. If he ran away or attemped to regain his native independence, he was hunted down by the soldiers, brought back and lashed into submission. His spirit, if he ever had any, was entirely broken — -so much so that in a short while after the establishment of a mission anything like re- sistance was almost unknown; and its three or four hundred or a thousand neophytes were driven to their labors, by three or four soldiers, like so many cattle. At the mission of San Carlos, and the case was substan- tially the same at the other missions, the Indians were roused with the sun and collected in the church for prayers and mass. These lasted an hour. During this time three large boilers were set on the fire for cooking a kind of porridge called "atole," consisting of a mixture of barley, which had been first roasted and then pounded or ground with great labor by the Indian women into a sort of meal, and water. As soon as prayers were over, a representative of each hut came with a vessel, made out of the bark of a tree, and received its allowance of atole, which was carried off and eaten ; and after all were supplied the remnants and thicker portions at PRESIDENT LASUEN. 469 the bottom of the boilers were distributed as rewards to those children who had said their catechism the best. Three- quarters of an hour were allowed for breakfast. Immediately- after it was over, all the neophytes, both men and women, were obliged to go to work, either tilling the ground, laboring in the shops or gathering or preparing food, as might be ordered by the missionaries, under whose eyes, or the eyes of other taskmasters appointed by them, all the operations were performed. At noon the church bells announced the time for dinner, when the Indians stopped work, returned to their huts and sent for their midday allowance, which was served in the same vessels as their breakfast and consisted of a porridge, somewhat thicker than theatole, made of a mixture of ground wheat, maize, peas and beans and water. This constituted their "pozoli." About 2 o'clock they were compelled to re- turn to their labors again and continue until about 5; when they were again collected in the church for an hour of evening prayers, after which there was a distribution of atole, the same as at breakfast. Day after day, week after week and month after month, it was the same, with the exception that on Sun- days and festival days there was no labor but three or four hours more of prayers. Sometimes the weather would inter- fere with outdoor labor; but then indoor labor was increased. If particularly good and obedient, they were sometimes re- warded with small distributions of grain, of which they made cakes baked in ashes; and on rare occasions an allowance of beef was given them. This was eaten raw and particularly the fat, which was regarded as the greatest delicacy. When a cow was slaughtered, the poor wretches, who were not at work, would gather around like hungry ravens, devouring with their eyes what they dared not touch with their hands and keeping up a croaking of desire, as the parts for which they had -the greatest avidity were exposed in the process of dressing. In summing up the impressions produced upon his mind by the Indians, their black color, their subjection to the mis- sionaries, the tasks and taskmasters, the relations between 470 THE FRANCISCANS. governors and governed, the manner in which they lived respectively, and in fact by all he saw and heard, La Perouse was reminded of nothing so forcibly as of a West India slave plantation; and the resemblance was considered perfect when he saw both men and women in irons and heard the sound of the lash as it descended upon the bare backs of those who were undergoing punishment. It was, however, only men that he saw flogged. They were whipped in public. When it came to the punishment of women, they were taken to an enclosure removed to such a distance that their cries might not be heard or the sight of their sufferings excite too lively a compassion in the breasts of spectators. The main differ- ences between the mission and the slave plantation were that the tyranny of the church was more extensive than that of the planter, overshadowing, as it did, with its baneful influ- ences the souls as well as the bodies of its victims, and that the missionaries really believed, what could certainly not be claimed for the planters, that their tyranny was the greatest service they could do to God as well as to the slaves them- selves. La Perouse remained but ten days in California and saw no other porcion of it except the neighborhood of Monterey; but the most cordial relations existed between him and the missionaries, from whose statements, as well as from his own observations, he derived his information. On September 24, 1786, he sailed for the East Indies, whence he sent his jour- nals, and thence to the waters of the South Pacific, where his ships were wrecked and he and all his people lost. But before leaving California he conferred upon the country several great boons by introducing the cultivation of potatoes, which he had brought with him in good condition from Chili; by supplying the missionaries with different kinds of seed from France, and by furnishing a* hand-mill for the grinding of barley, which not only saved labor and did better work than either mortar or metate but suggested the need and opened the way for other mills in the country. 1 1 I, a IVrouse, Voyage, London, 1799, I, 437-456. PRESIDENT LAS UEN. 171 The next distinguished foreigner, who visited California and has left an account of the condition of the Indians at the missions, was Captain George Vancouver of the British sloop- of-vvar Discovery. He arrived at San Francisco upon his first visit on November 14, 1792, and after a stay of eleven days sailed to Monterey, where he remained until January 14, 1793. Upon his second visit he arrived at San Francisco on October 19, 1793, where he stayed on this occasion five days. From there he sailed to Monterey, stopped five days and then sailed down the coast, stopping at Santa Barbara, San Buena- ventura and San Diego, which last place he left on Decem- ber 9, 1793. Upon his third visit he arrived at Monterey on November 6, 1794, and finally left the country on December 2. Having thus visited all the four presidios, on which occa- sions he carefully examined the neighboring missions, and having in addition made special visits to Santa Clara and San Buenaventura, Vancouver might, perhaps, be supposed to have been better qualified to speak of the condition of the Indians and the results at that time accomplished by the mis- sion system than La Perouse, who had seen but Monterey alone. On the other hand it must be borne in mind that La Perouse was of the same faith as the missionaries, who freely communicated to him all the facts in relation to the subject; while Vancouver, though received and treated by the ecclesi- astics with distinguished respect, being of a different and in their opinion heretical religion, was not so unreservedly admitted into their confidences; and many things "against which reason so strongly exclaims" which La Perouse saw and heard, were concealed from the protestant visitor. Vancouver did not mention the word slavery, did not, like La Perouse, compare the condition of the Indians to that of the negroes on a West India plantation, did not speak of the tasks the neophytes were compelled to perform or the irons or stripes with which their neglect or disobedience was pun- ished; yet in what he did say, his account substantially agreed with that of La Perouse and showed that the mission system had not only failed to accomplish any improvement but was 472 THE FRANCISCANS. not calculated to advance the neophytes in civilization. They were, perhaps, more regularly fed and a little better clothed than in their aboriginal state; but many of them, and especially the young women, were kept confined within the mission buildings as none but slaves could be. He spoke of the little huts outside the mission enclosure, each one the res- idence of a neophyte family; but he described them as the most miserable of human habitations, infested with every kind of filth and nastiness. In contemplating the neophytes them- selves, it was with a sentiment of compassion at the sight of their wretchedness. He could observe scarcely a sign of their having been in any respect benefited or having gained a single ray of comfort by their change of condition from the wild state to that of children of the church; and he expressed astonishment, which doubtless would not have been so lively if he had known all the facts, that so little advantage had attended their conversion. 1 There can be no doubt, however, that with few exceptions, the missionaries were kind masters and according to their light benevolent and well-meaning men. Both La Perouse and Vancouver, who met Father Lasuen and various of his associates, spoke of them in this respect in terms of the high- est praise. La Perouse pronounced Lasuen one of the most worthy and respectable men he had ever met and said that his mildness, charity and affection for the Indians were be- yond expression. 2 But the most interesting account, illus- trating the kindness of the missionaries to the neophytes by the reciprocal affection produced in them, was furnished by Vancouver. Father Vicente de Santa Maria of San Buena- ventura, being on a visit to Santa Barbara at the time the navigator touched there on his way southward in November, 1793, was offered a passage back to his mission in the ship. He expressed his satisfaction at the proposal of this easy and pleasant mode of traveling and ordered the four or five In- dian servants, who had accompanied him, to return home with 1 Vancouver, Voyage of Discovery, London, 1801, III, 8-400. ' l La IV'rouse, I, 450. PRESIDENT LASUEN. 473 the horses and mules by themselves, as he should go thither by sea. But the Indians, fearful for his safety and thoroughly convinced if he went with the strangers that they should never see him again, instantly cried out as with one voice and prayed him for God's sake not to persist in his determination. Nor was it in the power of language, either by argument or assurances, to remove their ill-founded anxieties. To the last moment they remained with him on the beach, supplicating in the most earnest manner that he should pay attention to their advice and repeating that though they had hitherto con- fided in everything he had told them, yet in this instance, if they trusted, they were sure they should be deceived. After- wards, when the vessel anchored at the roadstead of San Buenaventura and a landing was effected, Father Santa Maria led the way to the mission, distant about three-quarters of a mile. He had advanced a very little distance, however, before the road became crowded with Indians of both sexes and of all ages, running towards the advancing party. Van- couver at first attributed the great assemblage to curiosity and a desire on their part of seeing the strangers; but he was soon undeceived and convinced that it was not to see stran- gers that they crowded around but to welcome the, return of their pastor. Although it was yet early in the morning, the tidings of his return had reached the mission, whence the Indians had eagerly and tumultuously issued, each pressing through the crowd, unmindful of the feeble or the young, to kiss the hand of their paternal guardian and receive his bene- diction. 1, 1 Vancouver, III, 338-345. CHAPTER XIII. • SAN JOSE, SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, SAN MIGUEL, SAN FERNANDO AND SAN LUIS REY. THE four missions last founded filled up a few of the gaps that had been left by the early establishments; but still there were a number of places remaining in the great distance between San Diego and San Francisco, where the Indians continued in their native state of independence. It was thought desirable by the government as. well as by the mis- sionaries to reach these yet unsubjugated tribes and fill up with new missions the long intervals between those already founded. The object, as had been likewise the plan of the Jesuits in Lower California, was not only to gather all the Indians within the spiritual fold and thus render them obe- dient subjects of the state as well as of the church; but also to plant posts or stations at such convenient distances from one another that the missionaries might be, for the purposes of, mutual aid and assistance as well as of companionship and society, within easy communication, in no case exceeding more than a day's journey, of their next neighbors. To accomplish this object it was necessary to found five new missions, one between San Francisco and Santa Clara, so as to reach the Indians on the east side of the bay of San Francisco; one between Santa Clara and Monterey, more on the direct line of travel- between those places than Santa Cruz; one between San Antonio and San Luis Obispo; one between San Buenaventura and San Gabriel, and one be- tween San Juan Capistrano and San Diego. It might be difficult to name with certainty the first mover of these pro- (474) SAN JOSE. 475 jects, which were but a continuation of the plan of spiritual conquest adopted from the beginning; but it seems to have been Diego de Borica, who, after the death of Romeu in 1792, became the next regular governor of California. It was he. at least, among whose papers are found the first suggestions of these new missions; and it was he under whose energetic and skillful administration their successful foundation was accomplished. In 1795, the next year after he assumed the functions of his office, recognizing the need of the new es- tablishments, he directed the necessary surveys to be made; and before the end of that year the returns were all in and submitted for consideration to the father president, who in January, 1796, wrote to the governor the result of his delib- erations and choice of sites. 1 In February Borica addressed the Marques de Branciforte, then viceroy at Mexico, urging the necessity of the new foundations, giving an account of what had been done, and describing the advantages of the different sites that had been examined. He hoped, when the new reductions should all be completed, that the neo- phytes would no longer be required to gather acorns, pine nuts and wild seeds to help out the supplies of the missions, as they were still obliged to do at most of the establishments; and that, when the entire country should be thus reduced to a state of quietude and fidelity ; the fifteen thousand and sixty dollars of annual expenses, required by the existing thirteen missions for military guards, might be saved. At the same time he hinted that though he could manage, with the troops already in the country, to provide a corporal and five soldiers for each of the five new foundations, the means at his disposal were very limited and would not admit of extending the boundaries of actual occupation either to the north beyond San Francisco or to the east beyond the coast range of mountains. And in conclusion he reminded the viceroy that, if he concurred in his views as to the advisability of the new foundations, it was indispensable to provide and pay over to the college of San Fernando in Mexico a fund of a thousand 1 Cal. Archives, M. II, 269. 476 THE FRANCISCANS. dollars for each, and cause the college to provide and forward additional missionaries. 1 Branciforte was no less ready than Borica — both seemed animated with the same zeal for the advancement and pros- perity of California. Upon a reference of the subject with their conjoined recommendations to the fiscal officers of the government, the latter reported favorably; and in August, 1796, the viceroy wrote that the funds had been provided; that the father guardian of the college of San Fernando had been notified; that the proper orders had been issued to the naval department at San Bias for the transportation of mis- sionaries, and that the new foundations should proceed.' 2 In December Borica acknowledged the receipt of Branciforte's letter; transmitted copies of the surveys and of the diaries of the missionaries and soldiers who had made them, and then turned his attention to the arrangements and preparations necessary for carrying out the improvements thus projected, recommended, approved and authorized. 3 The first founded of the five new missions was that of San Jose on the easterly side of the bay of San Francisco and about twelve miles north of the pueblo of San Jose. In the old documents it was spoken of as lying between San Fran- cisco and Santa Clara and filling up the interval between those two missions; and in one sense this was correct; but as San Jose mission and San Francisco lay on opposite sides of the bay, which ordinarily there was no convenient means of crossing, the usually traveled road from one to the other was around the bay and through Santa Clara, which lay near its head. The original reconnoissance and survey had been made in November, 1795, by Ensign Hermenegildo Sal and Father Antonio Danti of San Francisco. 4 The site selected was on slightly elevated ground about four miles south of the mouth of the deep canon through which Alameda creek empties its waters, having the steep mountains a few miles off on the 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 64-67. •>■ Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 4S3-488; P. S. P. XIV, 438-441. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 728-730. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 559. SAN JOSE. +77 east and the head of the bay about seven miles off to the south- west. Looking northwestward the view is down the bay with its wide margins, skirted on the right by the Contra Costa mountains and on the left by the redwood covered heights of San Mateo. In the far northwest looms up the short but high San Bruno ridge and to the right of that, barely seen above the horizon, the San Francisco hills. Father Lasuen, in his report of January, 1796, pronounced it an excellent place for a mission but somewhat scarce of wood and timber, 1 though there was plenty not far off." It appears to have been originally called by the Indians Oroyson; 3 Sal and Danti called it San Francisco Solano; 4 but it lost both these names, and in most of the papers relating to the foundation of the mission it was called the Alameda 5 — a name which seems, however, to have been applied rather to the region than to the particular spot. Since the foundation in 1797, it has been known as the mission of San Jose. On June 9, 1797, Father Lasuen and Father Garcia Diego, accompanied by Sergeant Pedro Amador and a party of soldiers belonging to the presidio of San Francisco started out from Santa Clara for the purpose of founding the new mission. They reached the site selected the same day and spent the next in examining the neighborhood. In the course of their explorations the soldiers encountered and killed at Alameda creek a very large bear,- which did not fall before receiving eleven musket shots. 6 On the next day, Sunday, June 11, 1797, the feast of the Holy Trinity, in the presence of a number of Indians who had collected, they took formal possession of the place, founded the new mission by the erection and adoration of a huge cross and gave it the name of La Mision del Gloriosisimo Patriarca Seiior San Jose. As usual upon such occasions, mass was performed, 1 " Hay un sitio muy del caso para mision, aunque algo escaso de leua y madera." — Cal. Archives, M. II, 269. « Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, 52. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 376. 4 Cal. Archives, M. II, 269. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 159; P. S. P. XV, 19. 6 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, 52. 478 THE FRANCISCANS. salutes fired and the Te Deum Laudamus chanted. But sev- eral special features marked this foundation. One was that the mass was performed in a booth or enclosure adorned from floor to ceiling with the many kinds of wild flowers with which the whole neighborhood was at that season profusely covered; another was that Lasuen preached a sermon to the soldiers and the Christianized Indians present; and the third was that after the ceremonies were over the entire party left the place and went back to Santa Clara. 1 A few days after- wards Sergeant Amador and his soldiers returned with oxen and began cutting timber at Alameda creek and tule on the bay shore, which they hauled to the mission, and commenced the construction of the necessary buildings for missionaries, soldiers and store-house. 2 On June 28, Amador turned over the military charge of the place to Corporal Alejo Miranda and five soldiers, who on the order of Borica 3 had been selected by the comandante of San Francisco as the guard of the new mission. Miranda took with him the sacred ornaments and utensils that had been forwarded by the viceroy from Mexico and also two oxen furnished for constant use at the cost of the royal treasury. 4 The first regular missionary at this mission was Father Isidro Barcer.illa. He had not been there long before he be- came involved in a bitter quarrel with Corporal Miranda; and both sent recriminatory letters to Comandante Arguello at San Francisco. Arguello forwarded these letters to Governor Borica at Monterey and in November the latter replied. From his letter it appears that Barcenilla was dissatisfied with the rough and rude condition of his quarters and had required of Miranda the performance of various kinds of manual labor in remedying the defects, which the latter con- sidered beneath the dignity of his standing as a soldier and had accordingly refused to comply. Borica, in deciding be- tween them, said that if Father Barcenilla was unwilling 1 to 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 394. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, 52, 53. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 159. J Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 34. SAN JUAN BA UTISTA . 479 conform to the inconveniences to which his ministry and the circumstances of the new mission subjected him, it would be lost time to attempt to convince him that the duties of the soldiers were entirely of a military nature and not to perform menial offices which at other establishments were the work of Indians. But at the same time he cautioned Miranda to treat the missionary with the greatest respect and comply with all his wishes so far as his superior instructions would permit. This decision seems to have had a soothing or at least a quieting effect upon both parties; their differences were composed; and the work of the new establishment pro- ceeded. By the end of the year Father Agustin Merino had become Barcen ilia's assistant; and there were thirty-one neo- phytes, 1 though it is likely that most of these had been bap- tized at other places." In 1805 the neophytes numbered eight hundred and twenty-one. 3 In 1808 an adobe church, roofed with tiles, was completed, forty-four varas long by eleven wide and a sacristy eleven varas long by eight wide. 4 At the same time that the preparations for the mission of San Jose were going forward, similar preparations were under way for that of San Juan Bautista, the second of the five new missions or that one of them which was to fill up the interval on the road between Santa Clara and San Carlos. The re- connoissance and survey for this mission had been made by Ensign Hermenegildo Sal and Father Antonio Danti of San Francisco in November, 1795, about the same time they se- lected the site for San Jose. But in the case of San Juan Bautista they reported two places, some three or four leagues apart, as suitable for the purpose. Both were near the main road; the most northerly one, which was eleven or twelve leagues south of Santa Clara, was called San Bernardino; the other, which was about the same distance from San Carlos, was called San Benito. There were man)- Indians in the 1 Cal. Archives, M. II, 741. -' Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 376. 3 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 601. *Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 844. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 559; M. II, 272-281. 480 THE FRANCISCANS. neighborhood of each; and each had its peculiar advantages, so that Lasuen was for a long time in doubt as to which of the two to select. 1 He finally determined that the second, or the one named by the Spaniards San Benito, promised the most abundant harvest of souls. It was originally called by the natives Popelont 2 or Popelontchun. 3 The site was on a table- land overlooking a large and beautiful valley, well adapted to cultivation and with rolling hills adjoining, suitable for grazing. The old road from San Carlos to Santa Clara, on account of the conformation of the country, made a large detour to the eastward, so that the site chosen was about thirty miles northeast of the fofmer place and about forty miles southeast of the latter and within the jurisdiction of the presidio of Monterey. In May, 1797, Governor Borica gave his instructions to Hermenegildo Sal, who was then in command at the presidio; and under his supervision the necessary preparations were promptly made. 4 Not only were the corporal, Juan Balles- teros, and guard of five soldiers selected; but buildings, in- cluding a chapel, were erected in advance. 3 Accordingly when Father Lasuen had finished the foundation of San Jose and wrote to Borica that he was ready to proceed to the foundation of San Juan Bautista, 6 he was informed that every- thing was waiting for him. Proceeding, therefore, at once to the spot, in company with Fathers Magin Catala and Jose Manuel de Martiarena, on St. John's day, June 24, 1797, in the presence of a large assemblage of gentiles and with sub- stantially the same ceremonies as had been observed at San Jose, he took formal possession of the place; dedicated it " al Glorioso Precursor de Jesu Cristo, Nuestro Sefior," arid founded the new mission of San Juan Bautista. 7 The first 1 Cal. Archives, M. II, 268. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 376. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 392. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, S69, 870; XVII. 258-263. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, 447; P. K. VII, 668. •Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 394. 7 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 392, 393; P. R. VII, 670, 671. SAN MIGUEL. 481 regular missionaries here were Fathers Martiarena and Pedro Adriano Martinez. 1 The neophytes at the end of 1799 num- bered three hundred and forty-four, 2 and at the end of 1805 twelve hundred and nineteen.' The next or third of the five new missions, which was to be located between San Antonio and San Luis Obispo and to be called that of San Miguel, was ready for the ceremonies of foundation as soon after the natal day of San Juan Bau- tista as Father Lasuen could rest himself, notify the different persons who were to assist him to be present, and travel to the site selected for it. This selection had been made in August, 1795, by Father Buenaventura Sitjar, Sergeant Maca- rio Castro and Corporal Ignacio Vallejo. 4 It was a spot called by the natives Vahea and by the Spaniards Los Pozos or the wells. It was on the west side of the Salinas river, there a comparatively small stream except in time of flood, and on the main road nearly exactly half way between San Antonio and San Luis Obispo and about thirty-three miles distant from each. The river at this place, after pass- ing in its northwesterly course the defile, famous for its medic- inal springs, known as Paso Robles, widens out into a rich and level valley, surrounded by hills, some covered with grass and others with oak trees. Lasuen in 1796 pronounced it beautiful and in every respect satisfactory. The instructions that had been given in May, 1797, by Borica to Sal in reference to selecting a guard of soldiers for San Juan Bautista applied also to a guard for the new mis- sion of San Miguel; and Sal was equally prompt in the latter case as in the former. When therefore Father Lasuen and Father Buenaventura Sitjar, who was to assist him and take charge , of the new mission, were ready, they found the guard, which had been placed under the command of Corporal Jose 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, 447; M. II, 619. 2 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 118. 3 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 603. 4 Cal. Archives, M. II, 256. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 268. ,; Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, 869. 31 Vol. I. 482 THE FRANCISCANS. Antonio Rodriguez, prepared for operations. They all pro- ceeded to the spot indicated and there, on July 25, 1797, in the presence of a very large concourse of gentiles of both sexes and of all ages, with ceremonies similar to those of San Jose and San Juan Bautista, took possession of the place, ded- icated it " al Gloriosisimo Principe Arcangel San Miguel" and founded the new mission. In the afternoon of the same day, after the ceremonies, the Indians, struck with admiration at what they had seen, presented fifteen of their children for baptism; and with these commenced the conversions of the new establishment. 1 The first missionaries of San Miguel were Fathers Buena- ventura Sitjar and Antonio de la Concepcion. They began, as was usual in the case of new missions, the erection of a church and other necessary buildings; but had not proceeded far when Father Concepcion was noticed to be acting very strangely and it soon became clearly evident that he was insane. Instead of attending to his duties as a missionary in keeping the Indians at work, he appears to have conceived the idea of making a grand military display and compelled the soldiers to fire rounds of blank cartridges and the Indians to discharge flights of arrows. The sound of fire-arms and the sight of mimic warfare fed his disordered imagination; and, fancying himself a great ruler, he assumed despotic authority and in a short time, by his extravagances and violence, threw everything into disturbance." Father Sitjar, becoming frightened, posted off to Santa Barbara to consult with Father Lasuen; the soldiers were perplexed; the neophytes of San Antonio and San Luis Obispo, who had been sent to assist in the labor, ran off to their respective missions; and the gentiles of the place looked on in astonishment and terror. 3 Lasuen, upon being notified of the state of affairs, adopted swift measures of relief. He immediately dispatched Father Jose de Miguel of Santa Barbara with instructions to remove Concepcion, peaceably if he could but forcibly if he must, and 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 390, 391; P. R. IV, 384; VII, 674. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 190. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. VIII, 22. SAN MIGUEL. 483 take him to Monterey; and at the same time he wrote to Governor Borica that Concepcion was insane and should, as soon as he arrived at Monterey, be put on board a frigate, which was about to sail for San Bias, and sent to Mexico. 1 Father Miguel executed his commission like a man who was not to be trifled with. Calling to his assistance a couple of soldiers, without explanation or parley, he seized Concepcion; secured him, and marched him off.' 2 At Monterey he was taken before Borica, who pronounced him undoubtedly insane and approved all that had been done. Upon careful examin- ation it was discovered that the lunatic carried concealed in his sacerdotal robes a pair of pistols, which were taken from him; and shortly afterwards he was put on board the frigate and sent off, by the way of San Bias, to the care of his breth- ren of the college of San Fernando. 3 Soon after his arrival there, he wrote a long letter to the viceroy, setting forth what he believed to be abuses in the practical working of the mis- sions of California; representing himself as a reformer; com- plaining of the treatment he had received; charging that there had been a wide-spread conspiracy against him and that, on account of the machinations of his enemies, his life was not safe even at the college of San Fernando, and asking to be sent to the province of Michoacan, where he conceived there was more virtue in the church and he could be of more use in the saving of souls. 4 There can be but little doubt that many of his statements of abuses were true and that some of his complaints were well founded. But at the same time there can be just as little doubt that he was really an insane man ; that, as Borica said in reference to his examina- tion, though quiet and rational upon most subjects, he was wild and even dangerous upon others, and that it would have been unsafe to allow him to remain in California. As soon as he was removed, Father Juan Martin was appointed in his l Cz\. Archives, S: P. VIII, 22. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVII, 93. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 190, 191. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVII, 91-98. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 678-680. 484 THE FRANCISCANS. place; and under him and Sitjar the work of the establish- ment proceeded. By the end of 1797 a church and other buildings were erected — not very extensive ones, it is true, but sufficient for the time. 1 At the end of 1799 the neophytes numbered two hundred and eighty-five,' 2 which number de- creased to two hundred and twenty-three in 1805, 3 but increased to nine hundred and seventy-one in 181 I. 4 The fourth of the five new missions was to be founded between those of San Buenaventura and San Gabriel. The site had been selected in August, 1795, by Father Vicente de Santa Maria, Ensign Pablo Cota and Sergeant Jose Ortega. 5 It was at first objected to as being too far from the former mission and too distant from timber; 6 but on further examin- ation these objections were considered as more than out- weighed by the advantages it presented of extensive cultiva- ble and-grazing lands and proximity to multitudes of Indians. The spot is on a slightly elevated divide, with large val- leys and rolling hills near by, about forty -eight miles east from San Buenaventura and thirty miles north from San Gabriel. It was called by the natives Achois Comihabit 7 and by the Spaniards Parage del Encino. 8 Being within the jurisdiction of the presidio of Santa Barbara, it became the duty of Felipe de Goycoechea, the comandante there, to pro- vide the guard for the new mission; and he accordingly, at the end of August, 1797, immediately after Lasuen started for San Buenaventura on his way to the new location, dis- patched Sergeant Ignacio Olivera and five soldiers to overtake and accompany him. 9 From San Buenaventura, as soon as he was fully prepared, Lasuen set out in company with Father Francisco Dumets, 1 Cal. Archives, M. II, 624. 2 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 118. 3 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 589. 4 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 245-254. 6 Cal. Archives, M. II, 268. 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 389. 8 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 277. 9 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 273. SAN LUIS REY. 485 whom he had assigned for the new foundation, and the sol- diers sent after him by Goycoechea. They proceeded to the spot selected and there on September 8, 1797, the day of the nativity of Alary, Most Holy, in the presence of multitudes of gentiles of both sexes and all ages and of the soldiers, with all the usual ceremonies, they founded the new mission of San Fernando Rey de Espaiia. The Indians presented ten of their children, five of each sex, for baptism; and there was of course great rejoicing and loud thanksgiving. 1 In a short time afterwards Father Juan Cortes, who had recently arrived from Mexico, 2 was sent to assist Father Dumets; and under their joint care the new mission prospered. The mis- sionaries took up their abode in the house of Francisco Reyes, 3 who had previously occupied the place as a rancho. 4 By the end of the year a chapel and other structures were built and by the end of* 1799 a church, store-houses and a new residence. 6 At the latter date there were about two hundred neophytes 7 and in 1805 eleven hundred. 8 There now remained but one of the five new missions, or that one of them which was to fill up the interval between San Juan Capistrano and San Diego, yet to be founded; and it was intended to found it in November of the same year, 1797, in which the other four had been established. 9 A recon- noissance and survey had been made by Ensign Juan Pablo Grijalva, Corporal Juan Maria Olivera and Father Juan Mariner in August, 1795; 10 and they had selected a spot called Pale, considerably nearer to San Diego than to San Juan Capistrano, which Lasuen in 1796 pronounced excellent. 11 But 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 389; P. R. IV, 200; VII, 682. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 26. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI, 941. *Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 277. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 624, 724. 6 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 94. ' Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 179. 8 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 592. 9 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 201. 19 Cal. Archives, M. II, 23S-243. 11 Cal. Archives, M. $1, 268. 486 THE FRANCISCANS. upon further consideration it was thought that there might, be other places presenting greater advantages; and Lasuen, after finishing the foundation of San Fernando, determined to make a new survey before fixing definitely upon the site or proceeding with the foundation of the fifth mission. In the early part of October, accordingly, taking with him Father Juan Norberto de Santiago, Pedro Lisalde, seven soldiers and five Indians, he started out from San Juan Capistrano; spent four or five days in carefully examining several different spots, which seemed adapted for the purpose, and then proceeded to San Diego. 1 The result of his survey was, that he fixed upon a spot called by the natives Tacayme and by the first Spanish discoverers many years previously Canada de San Juan Capistrano." But by the time he had made up his mind upon the subject it was too late in the year to think of pro- ceeding with the foundation; and he retired to spend the rainy season with Father Santa Maria at the mission of San Buenaventura. 3 It was nearly the middle of the next year before all the preparations for the new foundation could be renewed. But, as soon as everything was ready, Lasuen took with him Father Santiago of San Juan Capistrano and Father Antonio Peyri, whom he had appointed as the missionary of the pro- posed new establishment; and, having Comandante Antonio Grajera of San Diego meet him with the guard selected from that presidio, he, on June 13, 1798, with the usual ceremonies and in the presence, as in other cases, of an immense throng of gentiles, founded the new mission and dedicated it to San Luis Rey de Francia.* This was, as before stated, the fifth and la^t of the five new establishments suggested by Borica and ordered by-Branciforte. It was located on a little stream five or six miles from the ocean, about thirty-five in a direct line north of San Diego and thirty southwest from San Juan Capistrano. The cultivable lands in the immediate neighbor- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 563, 564. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 717. ' Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 688. 4 Cal. Archives, V.. R. VII, 717. SAN LUIS REY. 487 hood were limited; but within a few leagues there were rich fields, and pasture was plentiful. 1 The Indians in the neigh- borhood were numerous and manifested a great desire to be received into the bosom of the church. On the day of the foundation they presented fifty-four of their children for bap- tism; 2 and within seventeen days the conversions numbered one hundred. Among others the three principal capitanejos or chiefs of the region offered themselves.'' The first missionaries were Father Antonio Peyri and Father Jose Faura. Both of these had recently arrived in California, Peyri in 1796 4 and Faura only a month or two before the new foundation.'' They doubtless found it rough at first to be left comparatively alone with the Indians, not understanding them or being understood by them and with mere huts instead of houses to live in; but Peyri, who was the soul of the mission and who proved to be one of the most active, most successful and most respected of all the Franciscan friars, was young and zealous and devoted him- self to his work with enthusiasm. By the end of 1799 he had a number of adobe houses built, thatched with tules; and from that time he kept building and improving until he had one of the finest churches and establishments in the country, with overflowing granaries and almost countless herds and flocks. The neophytes in 1805 numbered nearly nine hundred; 7 in 181 1 there were fifteen hundred; 8 in 1820 twenty-six hundred and five, 9 and in 1830 twenty-seven hun- dred and seventy-six — nearly twice- as many as in any other mission in Alta California. 10 And during all these years Peyri remained the principal missionary. 1 Cal. Archives, M. V, 204, 205. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 717. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 718. * Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 126. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. VIII, 87. « Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 88. ' Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 5S9. 8 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. 9 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 622. 18 Cal. Archives, M. V, 307. 488 THE FRANCISCANS. The last of the five missions having thus been founded, Lasuen returned to San Carlos; and thc'e he remained, laboring actively but traveling little and founding no other missions. On his return from the south, when passing from Santa Barbara to Purisima, he appears to have cast longing eyes upon a place called Calahuasa; and upon reaching Mon- terey he spoke to Borica about the advantages it presented; and as a matter of fact its neighborhood was afterwards selected as the site of the next new mission that was founded. But it was not for Lasuen to found it. During the fourteen years that he had been president of the missions, he had labored steadily. In 1797, when, buoyed up with enthusiasm and zeal, he founded four new establishments within a few months, he displayed such remarkable activity for a man of seventy-seven years of age that Borica, regarding it as some- thing extraordinary, complimented him upon the copious sweats of his pious work and observed that he seemed to have renewed his youthful vigor by bathing in the holy waters of another Jordan. 1 A few years before, he had been unwillingly relieved of a portion of his regular labor by the expiration of his authority to administer the rite of confir- mation, which was not renewed. But in 1797 he was ap- pointed "vicario foraneo" or representative in Alta California of Father Francisco Rouset de Jesus, the then bishop of Sonora; and his duties, though they did not include the right to confirm, were thereby again increased. 2 Upon his return to San Carlos in the autumn of 1798, therefore, he not only required rest; but, even if he had been as young and vigorous as ever, there was more than enough for him to do without stirring abroad. There were now eighteen missions, the supervision and administration of which were by no means a sinecure; and yet the old man devoted himself to his work ■ without pay, 3 his salary as a regularly assigned missionary having ceased when he became president. He lived, as he 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 675. s Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 332; P. S. P. XV, 106; XVI, 124. 3 "Treinta somos los Franciscanos que nos exercitamos en ella [Nueva Califor- nia], los 26 con sinodo y los 4 sin el, y yo soy uno de estos ultimos." — Cal. Ar- chives, S. P. IX, 496. DEATH OF LASUEN. 489 said, upon the alms of his Franciscan brethren 1 and was chiefly anxious for the welfare of a poor sister named Clara, whom he feared he must soon leave unprovided for." In the year 1798 Branciforte retired from the viceroyalty of Mexico and in 1800 Borica retired from the government of California, both of which events affected Lasuen deeply But he was still more poignantly moved the next year when news came of Borica's death. By this time his own health had begun to fail and, though he still continued to work, he was fast wearing away. It was not, however, until a year or two later that he finally took to his bed; and twelve days afterwards, on June 26, 1803, ne died at the age of eighty- three, worn out with years and labor. 3 His body was buried the next day with all possible solemnity; and six mission- aries from neighboring missions assisted at the obsequies.* The records do not state the place of his sepulture; but, as he died at San Carlos, his remains were doubtless placed near those of his illustrious predecessor, Father Junipcro. There were many fine traits in the character of Lasuen. He was a man of refinement and scholarly attainments. Though bred a monk and devoted to his profession, he had much broader views and was much less tinctured with super- stition than could have been expected from one in his situa- tion. His solicitude for his sister Clara shows him to have been a man of kindly feelings; and his correspondence with Borica, as well the letters to him as those from him, exhibit him in an agreeable light as a man of culture, worthy of high respect for learning, ability and probity. La Perouse, who, fresh from the most polished court in Europe, visited him at San Carlos in 1786, pronounced him one of the most worthy and respectable gentlemen he had ever met and tes- tified that his mildness, charity and affection for the Indians were beyond expression." 1 " Me mantienen absolutamente de limosna los Frailes Franciscanos. " — Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 452, 453. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. II, 452. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 82. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 605; P. R. X, 519. 5 La Perouse, I, 450, note. CHAPTER XIV. SANTA INEZ, SAN RAFAEL AND SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO. THE fourth president of the missions of Alta California was Father Estevan Tapis. He was a native of Cata- luna in Spain and born about 1757. 1 He came to California about 1790, and was one of the first missionaries at Santa Barbara, where he remained until the office of president devolved upon him by the death of Lasuen in June, 1803. He then removed to San Carlos and at once assumed the duties of his office." The next year he was appointed vucario foraneo or representative in California of the bishop of Sonora, 3 the same as Lasuen had been. But before he re- ceived the information, he had left San Carlos for the purpose of founding the mission of Santa Inez. It will be recollected that Lasuen in 1798, when traveling from Santa Barbara to Purisima, cast longing eyes upon a place called Calahuasa and upon reaching Monterey spoke with Borica about the advantages it presented for a new mis- sion. In view of this recommendation, Borica, in October of the same year, directed Felipe de Goycoechea, the com- andante of Santa Barbara, to make a reconnoissance and survey of the place and report to him all the information he could gather in relation to it and in reference to the Indians in the neighborhood. 4 At the same time Lasuen directed Father Tapis to go along and also make a report. In ac- cordance with these directions, Goycoechea and Tapis, with 1 Cal. Archives, M.. I, 427. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 352; IX, 82. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 832. < Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 1S6, 187. (490) SANTA INEZ. 491 five soldiers, immediately proceeded to the spot and, after an examination of several days, reported at large and in favor of the new establishment; as did also Ensign Pablo Cota, who likewise went out to examine the place later in the same month of October. 1 In December, 1798, Borica addressed a letter to the new viceroy Azanza who had succeeded Branci- forte, enclosing these reports and recommending the founda- tion of the new mission, but adding that from conversations he had had with Ignacio Ortega, a man of excellent judg- ment and great practical experience who had lived for sev- eral years at the Rancho del Refugio three leagues southward, he was satisfied that a spot, called by the natives Lajalupe and five or six miles distant from Calahuasa, was much bet- ter adapted for the new establishment. He described the lands capable of cultivation, the ease with which they could be irrigated, the abundant pasturage and especially the many rancherias of Indians in the vicinity, their peaceable character, their friendship for the Spaniards and their desire to have a mission and to be converted; and he urged the viceroy to provide the necessary funds and order the work to proceed.'' The viceroy Azanza continued in office about a year after receiving Borica's letter; but he did nothing in reference to the proposed new mission; nor was anything further done until 1803, when Jose de Iturrigaray had become viceroy of New Spain and Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga governor of Cali- fornia. One of the very first acts of Iturrigaray was an order informing Arrillaga that the necessary funds had been pro- vided and directing him to proceed in accordance with the recommendations of Borica. 3 But before this order reached Arrillaga who still remained in Lower California, or before he could prepare the proper instructions for his subordinate officers in Alta California, Lasuen had passed away and Tapis had succeeded him. For a time the new president found enough at San Carlos to engage his attention. But as soon as other duties would permit, he turned his face south- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Presidios, 1780-1821, 862-872. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 474-478. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 687. 492 THE FRANCISCANS. ward and set off to accomplish the orders that had been received. Taking along Father Marcelino Cypres of San Antonio, he proceeded to Lajalupe, or Lajulap as it was sometimes called, and there on September 17, 1804, with the usual ceremonies of erecting and adoring a great cross, cel- ebrating the mass and chanting the Te Deum, he founded the new mission of " Santa Inez, Virgen y Martir," that is to say, of the virgin and martyr Santa Inez. There were present, besides Fathers Tapis and Cypres, Fathers Antonio Calzada and Romualdo Gutierrez, who had been appointed the first missionaries of the place, Raymundo Carrillo, then comandante of the presidio of Santa Barbara, the soldiers of the guard selected by Carrillo and a large number of Indians, who immediately presented twenty-seven of their children, twelve boys and fifteen girls, for baptism. 1 A sort of chapel, composed of branches, had been built;" but more solid build- ings were soon commenced; and in 1806 a long structure of adobe, roofed with tiles, was completed. 3 This was badly shattered and one corner thrown down by the earthquake of 1 812. The mission church, properly so called, which con- sisted of an adobe structure partly faced with bricks, about one hundred and forty feet in length by twenty-five in width and the same in height, was finished in 1816. 4 In 1805, the year after the foundation, the neophytes numbered five hun- dred and twenty, and in 181 1 6 six hundred and twenty-eight, which was about as large a number as they ever reached. The mission was located on the north bank of the Santa Inez river, eighteen miles a little south of east from Purisima, twenty-two miles north of west from Santa Barbara, and ten miles north of the coast at the Rancho del Refugio The foundation of Santa Inez, which was the nineteenth mission of Alta California, finished the filling up of the inter- vals between the older missions and constituted the spiritual 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 876; XIX, 116; P. R. IV, 63; XI, 399, 400. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. I'. XVIII, 876. 3 Cal. Archives. M. Ill, 656. * Cal. Archives, M. IV, 423. B Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 592. 6 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. SANTA INEZ. 493 occupation of the entire territory between the coast range of mountains and the ocean from San Diego to San Francisco. Governors, comandantes, missionaries, soldiers and citizens, such as were obliged to travel, could now ride conveniently from one end of this long distance of five hundred miles to the other and enjoy the hospitalities of a mission every night, without being under the necessity, as had been formerly the case, to load themselves down with provisions and frequently sleep on the road side. At each of these establishments domestic animals were, or soon became, abundant; and fresh horses could be procured without trouble or expense. In only a few cases did the distance from one mission to the next exceed thirty miles. There were no roads in the sense in which that term is now usually understood; but the horses were hardy and swift and, though unshod, good travelers and accustomed to the work; and as locomotion on horseback for one purpose or another was more or less the daily business of nearly all the white population, communication from mis- sion to mission was easy and frequent. In the old diaries of corporals of mission guards, some of which have been pre- served, it appears that nearly every day some traveler came or some traveler departed; and sometimes the visitors were numerous. With Santa Inez and the thereby closing up of the gaps or unoccupied spaces in the territory south of San Francisco, the work of founding missions in Alta California for mere religious purposes may be said to have ceased. No attempt had been made to cross the Golden Gate or take possession of the vast and rich regions to the north. The bay, which could not be crossed without vessels — and vessels neither the government nor the missionaries possessed or could build — imposed an almost insuperable obstacle to further advance; nor is it likely, considering the rapid decay of the Spanish power and the exhaustion of its resources, that any attempt would have been made to found new missions, had it not been for other reasons entirely different from those which induced the old foundations. In 1812 the Russians established them- 494 THE FRANCISCANS. selves at Bodega with the ostensible object solely of hunting for otter, seal and beaver skins. But by degrees they extended their occupations; bought cattle; established farms, and built a fortified post, where a Russian governor took up his resi- dence. This fortification, called Fort Ross, was on the ocean coast only sixty-five miles in a direct line northwest of San Francisco; and the farms, which in order to avoid the rough mountain neighborhood of Ross extended towards the south- east into the Bodega region, were considerably nearer. The Russians also took possession of one of the Sandwich Islands and it began to look as if they intended to make a perma- nent stay in the settlements they had thus fixed and were gradually extending. And it was thought that they might perhaps claim sovereignty over the land by right of seizure and prior occupation. Under these circumstances it did not take long for both the government and the missionaries to become seriously alarmed; and the result was the establish- ment of two new missions to the north of San Francisco bay- as a barrier against the unwelcome foreigners, one that of San Rafael founded in 1817 and the other that of San Fran- cisco Solano or Sonoma, founded in 1823. 1 Father Estevan Tapis continued president of the missions until about 1813, when he retired to and took principal charge as missionary of Santa Inez. 2 He was succeeded in the office of president by Father Jose Seiian of San Buenaventura, who had come to California in 1798. 3 Seiian filled the office till the latter part of 181 5, when he also retired; and Father Mariano Payeras of Purisima, who arrived in 1796, 4 became president. It was Payeras who first sounded the note of public alarm against the Russians. This he did in May, 1817, by addressing a report upon the subject to the king of Spain and by getting ready to found, and before the end of the year founding, a new mission between San Francisco and the Russian settlements, which he dedicated to the as yet unrep- 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 3-6, 2 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 263. 8 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 6S5. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 126, SAN RAFAEL. 495 resented archangel San Rafael. The foundation took place on December 18, 1817. 1 The spot chosen was one of the most picturesque, pleasant and healthful in all California. It was at the foot of a high hill in a narrow but very fertile val- ley having a small stream running eastwardly through it and emptying into the bay. Looking southward from the site of the old mission, which has long since entirely disappeared, one saw at the other side of the valley, less than a mile dis- tant a long steep ridge of moderate height densely covered with evergreen trees, the whole forming a thicket of dark green foliage. High over this, some five miles distant, rose into the clear air the deep purplish-blue peak of Mount Tamalpais. To the right, up the valley, the view was closed in with wooded hills, here and there bearing a clump of tall red- wood trees; but to the left it opened out over several miles of tule marsh to the bay, with several small islands in sight; and beyond all the Contra Costa mountains and the dim double-humped summit of Monte Diablo upwards of thirty- miles distant. The new mission was about twelve miles in a direct line a little west of north from the presidio of San Francisco; but the difficulty, with such launches as the Cal- ifornians possessed of crossing the channel of entrance to the bay, rendered it practically a very distant establishment. The first missionary was Father Luis Gil de Taboada. 2 The buildings, which were gradually erected, consisted of an adobe church, roofed with tiles, and other structures; but they were not as large, nor were there as many of them as at the other missions/ The baptisms in five years amounted to upwards of eight hundred; but in 1830 they amounted to over six- teen hundred, about a thousand of the neophytes being then still living. San Rafael offered some, but a very weak, barrier to the Russians. Their settlements did not come down into the mountainous region in that neighborhood, but it -seemed likely that they would extend eastward along the lower part 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 5. a Cal. Archives, P. R. IX. 584; XII, 370, 39S, 40 , 408. 3 Cal. Archives, M. V, 942. 496 THE FRANCISCANS. of what is now known as the Russian river valley and over into the rich agricultural plain of Santa Rosa. Their advance was not very rapid ; but by degrees they were improving their farms and, being industrious and frugal, their progress though slow seemed solid. The alarm, which had been sounded by Payeras, did not in the meanwhile decrease. It was, however, overshadowed by the more serious alarm caused by the progress of the revolution for independence in Mexico and South America, which to a great extent para- lyzed and finally destroyed the Spanish power on the Ameri- can continent. During those troublous times there could be no thought of founding new establishments. But in 1823, after the revolution was accomplished and the Mexican sov- ereignty seemed settled and established, the necessity of further barriers against the Russians again became the subject of prominent consideration; and it was determined to found at least one and perhaps two new missions to the east of their farms. By this time Father Seiian appears to have again become president of the missions, and Luis Antonio Arguello was governor. In order to proceed understanding^ and select a proper site for the new mission or missions, it was necessary to make a careful and complete reconnoissance and examination of the country northward and northeastward from San Rafael. This duty was entrusted by Ignacio Martinez, then in com- mand at San Francisco, to Ensign Jose Sanchez, who imme- diately started off with two corporals and seventeen soldiers. He was accompanied by Father Jose Altimira who had arrived in California in 1820 1 and was to be the missionary founder of the new establishment.' 2 Leaving the presidio of San Francisco on June 25, they crossed over to San Rafael and thence marched, by the way of a large Indian village called Olompali, to the neighborhood of what is now Peta- luma, where they camped in company with some Petaluma Indians, who were hiding from the fury of a neighboring ran- cheria called Libantilogomi with which they were at war. 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVIII, 437. j Cal. Archives, S. P. XI, 216. SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO. 497 The next day Sanchez, Altimira and their party crossed over the lower or southern part of the ridge of mountains eastward of Petaluma, saw and examined several elevated grassy val- leys and tule-bordered lagoons giving promise of abundant pastures, and descended into a beautiful, oak-covered, and vine-bearing valley called by the Indians Sonoma. Through the middle of the level land flowed a little river or creek of remarkably clear and sweet water, upon the banks of which, in the thick shade of crowded trees, the explorers established their head-quarters; and thence they made excursions in dif- ferent directions, thoroughly examining the entire neighbor- hood. 1 They remarked the extreme mildness of the climate or, as they termed it, the benignity of the temperature, and observed the luxuriance of the vegetation from the tall red- wood, oak, alder, laurel and other trees down to the wild vines and thick grasses. The valley was well watered — so much so that Sanchez pronounced it a fountain head of fountains. 2 For cultivation, as well as for pasturage, it seemed unequaled except perhaps by the next eastern valley, very similar to it, which was called by the Indians Napa and which they also examined. 3 They then ascended a high eastern hill and looked over into the famous plain called by the Indians Suisun.* In their explorations they found lime and stone suitable and plentiful enough to build many cities. During their marches they met numbers of Indians, who were peace- able; and to those in Sonoma they made various presents. The whole country was full of game; and one day, while they remained at head-quarters, they amused themselves with killing ten bears. 1 " Descubrimos un arroyo que tendra unas 500 plumas de agua muy cristalino y apetecible para beber, bajo entre una muy frondosa espesura de varios arboles agradables & la vista y utiles para varios usos." — Cal. Archives, S. P. XI, 336. 2 " No dudamos de que Sonoma es un manantial de manantiales." — Cal. Ar- chives, S. P. XI, 350. 3 " Especial sitio por cierto! aunque en lo que reconocimos no encontramos de mucho las aguages que en Sonoma, exceptuando este renglon Napa en todo es una efigies equivoca con Sonoma por su puntual semejanza." — Cal. Archives, S. P. XI, 343. 4 "Vimos cerca nosotros el famoso llano del Suisun asi nombrado de los Yndios anterioramente pobladores de aquel parage." — Cal. Archives, S. P. XI, 344. 32 Vol. I. 498 THE FRANCISCANS. On July 3, Jose Sanchez, the leader of the party, and Father Altimira and Francisco Castro, whose opinion was also asked, selected the site for the new mission. In doing so, they chose Sonoma not only on account of its own ad- vantages but bearing in view also its position between the Petaluma and Napa valleys and its proximity to the Santa Rosa plain some eighteen or twenty miles to the northwest. The spot selected was the center of the present town of Sonoma, on the easterly side of the valley, about the middle of its length north and south and within three or four miles of navigable tide water in Sonoma creek. It is north of the center of San Pablo bay and in a direct line about twenty- three miles a little east of north from San Rafael. It had formerly been a rancheria or village of the Sonoma Indians. There, on July 4, 1823, at six o'clock in the morning, in the presence of the soldiers and many congregated aborigines, an altar was prepared and a huge redwood cross, nearly twenty feet high, erected. The moment it rose, the soldiers fired salutes; and Father Altimira. and two neophytes, whom he had taken along, raised their voices in hymns of praise and adoration. By eight o'clock mass was over and the cer- emonies of foundation completed; after which the whites took up their march and returned by the way of Petaluma and San Rafael to San Francisco. The launch, with which they had crossed from San Francisco to San Rafael, had followed them and ran into Sonoma creek; and when they returned it ran down to Saucelito, whence on July 6 it transported them back to San Francisco. 1 On August 23, Father Alti- mira set out a second time, on this occasion taking along ten soldier colonists, an artilleryman and a corporal, a two- pounder field-piece with fifteen charges, shotted and ready for action, and five hundred musket cartridges. 2 His object now was permanent occupation, which thereupon followed; and it is for this reason that August 25, 1823, the day of their settlement, is generally recognized as the date of the foundation. The new mission was dedicated to San Fran- 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XI, 332-361. ' I ;il. Archives, S. P. XI, 546. SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO. 409 cisco Solano, 1 though it was quite frequently known simply as the mission of Sonoma. From the beginning it was rather a military than a religious establishment — a sort of out- post or barrier, first against the Russians and afterwards against the Americans; but still a large adobe church was built and Indians were baptized. Progress however was slow. In 1824, the year after foundation, the supplies of food ran short and the soldiers were compelled to rely upon wild game, which they hunted in the surrounding mountains, for their support. 2 In 1830 the neophytes numbered seven hundred and sixty, considerably more than half of whom, however, appear to have been baptized at <5ther missions, 3 and this seems to have been the extreme limit at any one time of the neophyte population.* With San Francisco Solano or Sonoma in 1823 ended the foundation of the twenty-one missions of Alta California- There appears to have been a twenty-second talked of, and an attempt was made to found one at Santa Rosa in 1827; but the project proved abortive. 5 By that time, it was found that the Russians were not such undesirable neighbors as in 18 17 it was thought they might become; for while on the one hand they were peaceable, quiet and as it proved unambitious, on the other hand they were always ready to purchase the surplus produce of the country and always met their engagements and paid their debts with scrupulous good faith. As a matter of public politics there continued to be a feeling of jealousy against them, as against all foreigners; but as a matter of private interest the most friendly and amicable relations existed. Though there may have been the same reasons for new missions as at any previous time, the Russian scare, for the time being at least, was over; and as for the old enthusi- asm for new spiritual conquests, there was none left. The spirit of Junipero was dead, and for it there was no resurrec- tion. Cal. Archives, M. II, 269. Cal. Archives, S. P. XIV, 1, 16. Cal. Archives, M. V, 307. Cal. Archives, M. V, 307; VI, 599. Duflot de Mofras, II, 6. 500 THE FRANCISCANS. In the meanwhile all the old missions, or those south of San Francisco bay, were, so to speak, finished and in flourish- ing condition so far at least as their temporalities were con- cerned. Each had its large church, usually with a tower and chime of bells, and every one was a picturesque-looking structure, which it had taken from ten to fifteen years to build. Each had its houses for the residence of the mission- aries, its apartments for guests, its workshops, its dormitories for unmarried female neophytes, its guard-house and prison, its store-houses and granaries. The buildings were generally arranged in the form of a square, with a court-yard in the center, the church being on one side or at one corner and next it, on the principal front, in almost every case a long corridor, sometimes with brick pillars and arches and some- times with wooden supports and, like the finished church and buildings, roofed with tiles. There was considerable variety of architecture, no two missions being alike; but all were of the same general character. That of San Juan Bautista, which was a fair average, may be taken as an example of them all. The church, which had been commenced almost immediately after the foundation in 1797, was not finished and formally dedicated until St. John's day, June 24, 1812, that is to say fifteen years afterwards. It was about one hun- dred and ninety feet long from the entrance door in front to the altar at the rear, thirty feet wide and forty feet high from floor to ceiling, having the chancel separated from the nave by a railing, over which was sprung an arch spanning the full width of the church. The nave was subdivided on either side into seven sections by as many arches. The church and adjacent buildings, which as usual throughout the country were of adobe, occupied two sides of a court-yard which was completed by a wall; and in front, next the church, there was a corridor of twenty arches, resting on pillars of brick. 1 In the meanwhile and at or about the same time that most of the church structures were completed, several impor- tant changes took place in reference to the government of the missions. One was the creation about 1816, or perhaps a few 1 History of Monterey County, 1881, 144. SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO. 501 years earlier, of the office of prefect of the missions, which divided with the presidency the general supervision and administration of ecclesiastical affairs and, as a special part of its business, carried on the ecclesiastical correspondence. While Payeras was president, Father Vicente Francisco de Sarria was prefect; afterwards about 1820, when Father Jose Seiian became president for the second time, Payeras became prefect; and in 1823, when Payeras died both offices were united in Senan, 1 who seems to have held them until 1825, when Father Narciso Duran became president and Father Sarria prefect for the second time.'"' Another and still more important change was the gradual withdrawal of the college of San Fernando of Mexico from the management of the missions. It had been under the auspices of this great college that the country had been settled and the missions established; but in the course of time its resources failed and it could no longer respond to the demand for new missionaries. In 18 16 Pablo Vicente de Sola, who had shortly before been appointed governor, made a report to the viceroy in reference to the missions and missionaries of Alta Cali- fornia and complained, among other things, that while many of the old priests were rapidly wearing or were already worn out, no new recruits were forthcoming and that the country was consequently suffering for the want of spiritual instruc- tion and consolation. This, he said, was especially the case at the presidios, the pueblos and the ranchos; and it was necessary in some way or other to provide a remedy in the form of a fresh supply of missionaries; and, if San Fernando could not furnish them, there were other colleges, such as that of Orizaba, that could and, if afforded a proper opportu- nity, would gladly do so. 3 When this report reached Mexico the Conde de Venadito, who had just become viceroy, made the subject a matter of consideration; and, as the college of San Fernando acknowledged its inability to meet the require- ments of Sola, an arrangement was made to relieve it of the 1 Cal. Archives, D. R. I, 21. a Cal. Archives, D. S. P. II, 16. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 491-494. 502 THE FRANCISCANS. care of all the southern part of the country; and in Septem- ber, 1 8 17, a formal transfer was executed by the father guar- dian and directory of San Fernando of all ecclesiastical juris- diction over the missions and presidios south of San Luis Obispo, including- the pueblo of Los Angeles, to the college of San Jose de Gracia de Orizaba. 1 It was with great regret that San Fernando found itself obliged to make the transfer, though the college of Orizaba belonged to the same order of Franciscans as itself. The memory of its former greatness and what it had accomplished in times gone by, compared with its present exhaustion and weakness, caused it and the remnants of its old friars many a bitter pang. But there was no help for it. Nor was this by any means the end of its humiliation; for in 1821 the Spanish cortes issued a decree that its management of the temporalities of missions should cease; 2 and had it not been for the revolution, then on the eve of consummation, which nullified the Spanish power, it is likely that the grand old college and California would soon have been entirely and forever separated. A third great and important change in the ecclesiastical affairs of the missions was effected by the revolution itself. While it destroyed the Spanish power and prevented the execution of the decree of the Spanish cortes depriving the college and friars of San Fernando of, the management of their temporalities, this was a mere incident to other changes of far greater moment which were being worked out. If the revolution had involved only a transfer of sovereignty from Spain to Mexico, the blood and treasure that it cost would have been spent in vain; and in view of the broils, the strifes and the discords that have disturbed the country from that time almost to this, it would have been an unmixed evil. But there was much more involved than a simple transfer of sovereignty. The seed of civil liberty, sparsely sown it is true and hardly recognizable in its feeble upspringings, had really takcn root. The true underlying cause of the movement, little as it was known to the movers themselves, was revolt 1 Cal. Aichives, P. R. IX. 607, 608. 2 Cal. Archives, S. !'. XVII, 560. THE CHURCH AND THE REPUBLIC. 503 against that political and ecclesiastical interference and inter- meddling with the natural course of civilization, which the his- torian Buckle has so finely described as the protective spirit. Had it been otherwise, the empire might have lasted a long time and Agustin I. have worn his crown and transmitted it to a line of successors as long as that of Banquo. 1 But the fundamental principles, upon which the Mexican emperor attempted to build up his government, were the same in sub- stance as those of the Spanish monarchy, which he had ejected; and the same underlying causes, working deep down and out of sight, that had lifted him up, pulled him down again. The attitude of the church towards the revolution and especially towards the republic, which was the outcome of the revolution, was one of decided hostility. Hardly anything could have been more opposed to all the principles and all the traditions upon which the Spanish priesthood was founded than a republic, or rather the liberty implied by a republic. The absolute and unquestioning obedience, which it was their business to teach, were inimical to freedom; and everything like liberty and everything that even in name was calculated to encourage liberty was their abomination. Under these circumstances and for these reasons the priests were opposed to the republic and to the independence that produced it. This was particularly the case in California, the most remote and the most loyal of all the provinces. 2 If the empire could have maintained itself, there seems no reason to doubt that the church would easily have reconciled itself to the change of sovereignty; but it could not give a hearty support to the republic. In 1822 Father Tapis made no difficulty in swear- ing to the imperial independence; 3 but when the republic was established and the new constitution promulgated, almost all the missionaries refused their allegiance and some of them persisted to the end in their recusancy. In 1826 a circular was addressed by the governor to the various comandantes of 1 Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. I, 254. - Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 575. 3 Cal. Archives, M. X. 359. 504 THE FRANCISCANS. the presidios to ascertain exactly how the missionaries within their respective jurisdictions stood affected and to require their obedience; 1 and answer was returned that they were in general opposed to the republican independence and that some of them were even traitorously opposed. 2 Some few had taken the oaths; but most of them declined; and it was evident that none had any enthusiasm for the new order of things. There was in fact a rupture between the government and the missionaries; and it was so serious that, instead of healing as the republic became more and more settled, it became more and more inflamed and violent. Among those who refused to swear was Father Narciso Duran, who in 1825 had become president of the missions and vicario foraneo. 3 He had hardly entered upon the dis- charge of the duties of his office when he was required to come forward and take the oath; and at the same time, and apparently for the purpose of quickening his compliance, he was informed that the government had ordered the arrest of Father Francisco Vicente de Sarria, the prefect, who had also refused to be sworn. 4 Duran, however, still held back; and as he was a representative man, occupying a prominent posi- tion and his example would have a great influence, it was thought necessary if possible to compel his compliance. To effect this, it was proposed by some to deprive him and the other non-juring missionaries of their temporalities; but this was'opposed by Governor Arguello and others on the ground that if the missions were deprived of their spiritual heads, the result would be their irreparable ruin.' 1 This difference of opinion prevented any immediate action; but in 1828 the matter of the recusant and recalcitrant missionaries was again agitated ; and affairs soon grew so hot that several of the non-jurors thought it prudent to escape out of the country. One of them, Father Luis Martinez of San Luis Obispo, was 1 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. I, 493, 492. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. XIV, 549-552; I). R. VII, 149-156. : < Cal. Archives, D. R. I, 84. 1 Cal. Archives, D. R. II, 16. 5 Cal. Archives, L. R. I, 67, 68. THE CHURCH AND THE REPUBLIC. 505 charged with having surreptitiously sent off six thousand dol- lars belonging to his mission and intending to follow in person; and it was even said that he contemplated killing all the cattle and ruining the mission before his "departure. 1 Fathers Antonio Ripoll and Jose Altimira concealed themselves on the American ship Harbinger and in that manner escaped. 2 Father Sarria had attempted to effect a sort of compromise by asking to be allowed to proceed to the Sandwich Islands and establish a mission there; 3 but this was refused; and orders came to ship him out of the country unconditionally. 4 About the same time arrangements were made by the gov- ernment at Mexico to have the places of the non-juring mis- sionaries filled by more compliant substitutes to be furnished by the Franciscan college of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe of Zacatecas. 5 > The records are sufficiently full in relation to the difficul- ties between the government and the non-juring missionaries; but very little is said about the quarrels among the different classes of missionaries themselves. That there were such quarrels and that much ill-feeling, between those who took the oaths and those who refused to take them, must have existed, there can be no doubt. Some evidence of this is found in the fact that Father Antonio Peyri of San Luis Rev, one of the former, became president for a short time in 1829, 6 and that Father Jose Sanchez, another of them, became pres- ident in 1830. 7 At or about the same time new orders came for the banishment of Father Sarria; and Father Duran was included in the sentence. 8 Both these missionaries were men of ability and positive character; and partly on this account and the consequent favor they found among numbers of the peo- ple and some of the soldiers, 9 and partly on account of the ac- 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XIV, 549,550. a Cal. Archives, S. P. X, 751; S. G. S. P. IV, 184. 3 Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. XIX, 497, 498. 4 Cal. Archives, D. R. VI, 158. 5 Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. IV, 184-186. 6 Cal. Archives, S. P. XII, 575, 576; D. R. VII, 783. ' Cal. Archives, D. R. VIII, 447. 8 Cal. Archives, D. R. VIII. 402. » Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. VI, 242, 243. 506 THE FRANCISCANS. cession to the governorship of Manuel Victoria, who spoke in terms of high praise of Sarria and the opposite of his enemies,' the orders were not executed. In 1832, after the fall and ex- pulsion of Victoria and the triumph of his adversaries and the adversaries likewise of the non-juring missionaries, the orders for the banishment of Sarria and Duran were repeated; and Jose Figueroa, then on his way to take charge as governor of California, was specially charged with their execution.' 2 But Figueroa, upon his arrival at Monterey, found it entirely im- practicable to take any immediate hostile action against them. On the contrary he addressed Duran, who was still recognized as the president of the missions remaining under the control of the college of San Fernando, in the most respectful tone and begged his assistance in restoring peace and harmony to the distracted country. 3 Soon afterwards, in a letter to the gov- ernment at Mexico, Figueroa described the attitude of Sarria and Duran as in theory very decidedly opposed to the repub- lic but in practice acquiescing in the established order of things. They denied the sovereignty of the people, opposed the liberty of the press as the corrupter of morals, and advo- cated the establishment of the inquisition as the only means of preventing the spread of impiety.* Though otherwise good men, they did not hesitate to preach these doctrines; and, though perhaps harmless enough in quiet times, they might, as Figueroa thought, become very dangerous in case of invasion or counter revolution; and on the whole he was of opinion that they, as well as all the non-juring missionaries, ought to be sent out of the country as soon as their places could be supplied. But at the same time their advanced age and past services were also to be taken into consideration and 1 Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. VIII, 198-204. -' Cal. Archives, S. G. S. I'. VIII, 291. 3 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. III. 258, 259. 4 " Desaprueban el J epartimiento de terrenos baldios y todo acto emanado del ejercicio de la soberania. Se han deslizado en predicar contra este dogma poli- tico, negando que reside en el pueblo la soberania; combaten la libertad de im- prenta, atribuyendo a su estabilidad la relajacion de costumbres; abogan por el restahlecimiento de la Ynquisicion, por cuya falta dicen se ha propagada la impie- dad." — Figueroa's Letter of January 17, 1834. — Cal. Archives, ] ). S. I'. Ill, 552. THE CHURCH AND THE REPUBLIC. 507 their expulsion conducted with as great leniency as the nat- ure of the case would admit. 1 A few months subsequently an officious subordinate denounced Duran and several others as conspirators against the government and addressed a con- fidential communication upon the subject to the governor; 2 but Figueroa replied that he could perceive nothing criminal in the charges preferred and thus put an end to this last attempt to reopen the old sore. 3 By this time the seculariza- tion of the missions had commenced; and as the missionaries were thereby deprived of their temporalities and shorn of their powers, it seemed from this time forward to make little or no difference whether they had taken the oaths or not or whether they were well affected to the government or the contrary; and nothing further was said or done about their expulsion. It thus appears that up to the time of the establishment of the republic, the missionaries were in accord with and, so to speak, under the protection and fostering care of the govern- ment; but that from that period onwards there was mani- fested an ever increasing antagonism between them, com- mencing with the recusancy of the missionaries, leading to repeated struggles, in which treason on the one hand and spoliation on the other played large parts, and ending in the so-called secularization of the missions which proved in a very short time to be their absolute destruction. It is true that the Spanish government had from the very beginning contemplated secularization by finally transforming the mis- sions into pueblos; but the plan was based upon the idea of first educating the neophytes up to self-sustaining industry and citizenship. How long this education would have taken, w r ith such subjects as the Indians and particularly under the tuition of such teachers as the missionaries, it might be diffi- cult to say. But it is very certain that the neophytes of Cal- ifornia v, no respect fit for emancipation when the Mex- ican government, impelled by the popular cry for freedom 1 Cal. Ai >. S. P. Ill, 551-554. 2 Cal. An ! .- '>. S. P. Ben. LXXVIII, 643-645. D. S. P. Ben. LXXVIII, 701; D. S. P. Ill, 692-694. 508 THE FRANCISCANS. and urged on by the clamors of greedy officials, seized the temporalities and undertook to change the missions into municipalities. From the moment it did so, or that it was known that it would do so, the religious establishments, by which the country had been settled, commenced to sink; and they declined with astonishing rapidity. The buildings gen- erally fell into decay; the fields and gardens were neglected; most of the Indians relapsed into wanderers or died off; the herds and flocks were killed or stolen; and in a few years little was left of the old missions except crumbled and crum- bling walls, rotten timbers and heaps of broken tiles. The work of the Franciscans in Alta California was there- fore no more destined to stand than that of the Jesuits in Lower California. Notwithstanding the admirable character of some of the missionaries and the great labors they per- formed; notwithstanding their earnest endeavors and their unswerving belief that they were accomplishing good; not- withstanding their building of mission after mission and their infinite toils in what they conceived to be harvests of immortal souls, nothing, or substantially nothing, of all their labors now remains. The temples of the Greeks are buried under the debris of ages; the forums of the Romans are barely trace- able among the dust of centuries; the chapels of the early church are nearly obliterated; but their influence survives in civilization. Every great work in the right path bears good fruit and leaves a beneficent impress upon the future. But the work of the missionaries in California was not of this kind. It looked only to the aggrandizement of a system and dominion that had long outlived their usefulness. It did not contemplate or in any proper sense regard the progress of true civilization. It evolved no germs out of which were to spring higher and better forms. It was barren and unprof- itable. BOOK IV. THE SPANISH GOVERNORS CHAPTER I. • PORTOLA, BARRI, DE NEVE AND FAGES. THE first governor of California was Gaspar de Portola. He was a captain of dragoons, a man of experience and ability in the profession of arms and well chosen for the duties which he had to perform. He had at first merely to command the fifty soldiers, who in October, 1767, were sent to expel the fifteen Jesuit missionaries from Lower California. This duty he performed promptly and energetically, but with all the kindness and consideration that the nature of his in- structions would admit. It will be recollected to his credit how courteously he embraced the fathers, when they took their last sad farewell of their weeping congregation in the little church of Loreto on February 3, 1768. His next duty was to turn over possession of the properties and inventories of the missions, which had been placed in his hands, to the Franciscans who soon afterwards followed; and he did so with business-like precision and military promptitude. He was next directed to lead the land expedition, composed of missionaries, soldiers and colonists, who settled Alta Califor- nia, and to act as military comandante and governor of the new territory. He marched in company with Father Junipero to San Diego and raised the royal standard there. He com- manded the two expeditions northward from that point, the (509) 510 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. first of which discovered the bay of San Francisco and the second of which, in connection with an expedition by sea, took possession of and settled Monterey. This last duty having been well performed, he embarked, with the news of what had been done, for Mexico; and his connection with California ceased. It is usual to speak of Portola as governor of California from his arrival at Cape San Lucas in October, 1767, to his departure from Monterey in July, 1770. This is not en- tirely correct. In very early times, while the country was supposed to be an island or rather several islands, it was com- monly known by the plural appellation of " Las Californias — The Californias." Afterwards, when its peninsular character was ascertained, it was called simply California; but the ter- ritory so designated was unlimited in extent. When the ex- peditions for the settlement of San Diego and Monterey marched, it was understood that they were going, not out of California, but into a new part of it. The peninsula then began to be generally spoken of as Antigua or Old California and the unlimited remainder as Nueva or New California, subsequently more commonly called Alta or Upper California. At the same time the old plural name of The Californias was revived, but with a more definite signification than before. Portola was the first governor of the whole country. But when he marched to San Diego in 1769 he was succeeded in the governorship of Lower California by Matias de Armona. On account of this appointment, though Armona hardly acted, and did nothing of importance in his office, 1 Portola could no longer, strictly speaking, be said to be governor of Lower California or of anything more than New or Alta California. But he was nevertheless usually called, and in fact called himself, governor of the Californias. There is not as much known about Portola as might be wished. Such accounts as are left make one feel kindly towards him and desirous of a more intimate acquaintance. There was evidently much to like in his character-.'^ He was not a brilliant man; but he was one whom it must have been 1 Palou, Noticias, I, 65-127. FELIPE DE PARRL 511 pleasant to be with and thoroughly reliable. He was called upon to perform a number of very difficult tasks; but he did them so smoothly, with so little noise and friction, that they seemed easy. The manner in which he conducted his ex- peditions through an unknown wilderness; the prudence with which he provided against contingencies; the skill with which he managed circumstances; the equanimity with which he met and overcame obstacles, and the success with which he accomplished everything he undertook; all marked him as a man of ability. He was kind to his soldiers, careful of their health and comfort, and willing to share their hardships. He had no quarrels. He got into no difficulties. He was well liked and respected by everybody; and he well deserved to be. The next or second governor of the Californias was Felipe de Barri. He was appointed soon after the return of Portola to Mexico and entered upon his office at Loreto in the spring of 1 77 1. While Portola was governor, everything had gone on harmoniously, as has been seen. Possibly during his time there was not much occasion for any disagreement with the missionaries. But very shortly after his departure, dissensions arose; and they vexed and continued to vex the peace of the country for a number of years. There were various occasions of quarrel; but at bottom the real cause of all the disagreements and difficulties was the determination on the part of the missionaries to rule as they thought proper, and the opposition on the part of the civil and military powers, represented by the governor and comandantes, to be subor- dinated to ecclesiastical dictation. The trouble commenced in Lower California. Armona, after remaining a short while as governor and finding out the unpleasantness of the posi- tion, made an effort to be relieved. The administration of his office was thereupon carried on chiefly by lieutenants, of whom at different times there were three, Juan Gutierrez, Antonio Lopez de Toledo and Bernardino Moreno. Almost immediately disagreements sprang up in relation to the em- ployment by the military of Indians, whose labor the mis- sionaries claimed to belong exclusively to the missions, and 512 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. in relation to numerous alleged interferences by the military with the management of the mission temporalities. On June 10, 1770, a long list of complaints, directed chiefly against the governor and his lieutenants, was formulated by Father Dionisio Basterra as the representative of the missionaries and presented to the visitador-general, who replied with promptitude that the matters complained of should be reme- died and affairs in the peninsula placed on a satisfactory basis. 1 Jose de Galvez, the visitador-general, who, as the special representative and minister of King Charles III., had taken control of California affairs and, in so far as those affairs were concerned, acted with an authority equal and even superior to that of the viceroy, was a man of excellent good sense, versed in policy and practiced in business management. While he remained in Lower California and exercised per- sonal supervision, everything had gone forward with eminent success. He had himself looked into every department; when anything was to be done he had given minute and carefully drawn instructions, models in their way; and when anything went wrong, he had himself applied the proper remedy promptly, pleasantly and efficaciously. It was only after his departure and return to Mexico that the troubles, between the missionaries on the one side and the civil and military authorities on the other, began. Had he been present, he would undoubtedly have put a speedy stop to the difficulty. As it was, he took the circumstances into serious considera- tion. But, being then at a distance from the scene of dis- turbance and his attention being engrossed by other matters of greater public importance, which required his presence else- where, nothing further was done by him in reference to com- posing the disorders at Loreto. He not long afterwards turned over the supervision and control of California to the viceroy and, having fulfilled the objects of his commission as visitador-general in America, returned to Spain. He had previously been a member of the council of the Indies and an 1 Palou, Noticias, I, 84-90. FELIPE DE BARRI. 513 officer of high rank at court. These positions he resumed and afterwards became one of the ministers of state, in which office he died some twenty years after he had given the first start to Alta California. While troubles had been thus brewing in Lower California, others of much the same general character were springing up in Alta California. When Portola sailed in 1770, he, in accordance with instructions from the visitador-general, turned over the government to Pedro Fages. This arrangement was distasteful to Rivera y Moncada, who, as a captain and second in rank to Portola while Fages was only a lieutenant, consid- ered himself entitled to the position; and the dissatisfaction thus produced afterwards become the source of additional trouble. But for the time being, Rivera y Moncada, who was then in Lower California, remained away; and Fages entered upon the duties of his office, first as temporary governor and afterwards, upon the arrival of Barri at Loreto in 177 1, as his subordinate or lieutenant-governor. Scarcely, however, had Portola left, before Fages got into substantially the same kind of a quarrel with the missionaries that Armona and his lieu- tenants had been engaged in. The question in Alta Califor- nia, as it had been and in fact still was in Lower California, was whether the civil and military power should be entirely subordinate and subject to the missionaries, or independent of them. Fages was of the same way of thinking upon the sub- ject as Armona; and Barri, when he assumed office, took the same view. In the latter part of 1771, after the visitador-general had resigned the control of California to the viceroy without set- tling the controversy that had arisen at Loreto, a new series of complaints on the part of the missionaries, but on this occa- sion in reference to the civil and military administration at Monterey, was formulated. They demanded that the instruc- tions of the visitador-general, which they claimed subordinated the civil and military to the missionary authority, should be strictly carried out or, in other words, that the government should be conducted with a view solely to the benefit of the 33 Vol. I. 514 THE SPAXISH GOVERNORS. missions. While they asked for more military force, they also required that it should be placed in effect under their command. While mission Indians might be employed on public work, they insisted that the missions should be paid for their labor; and in numerous other particulars, in which they represented that the main purposes of the occupation of the country were not being forwarded, they called for change and alteration. It could hardly be expected that the viceroy would under- stand all the minutiae of the quarrel or appreciate the merits of all the details of the controversy. But he deemed it proper to caution both Fages and Barri to be more compliant; to recognize the spiritual conquest as the main object, and at all events to preserve harmony with the missionaries. 1 In a special letter, written to Fages on December 2, 1772, he be- rated him soundly for the scandalous controversy; pronounced it not only unseemly in itself and contrary to the objects for which California had been occupied but calculated to lead to pernicious and possibly fatal consequences; ordered him to lay aside personal considerations and labor exclusively for the service of God and his king, and concluded with a hope that he should hear nothing further of the disagreeable business. 2 The cautions, however, did not accomplish their purpose. Fages either could not, or would not, comply with the de- mands made upon him by the missionaries; and the result was a widening of the breach already existing and another series of charges and complaints, including a prayer for his removal. At the same time the quarrel in Lower California continued. Barri was no more disposed to submit than his predecessors had been. The relations of the respective parties were such that there was no want of occasions for disagree- ment and conflict. But there was one which more than any other evoked bitterness. The Dominicans, after the missions of Lower California had been turned over to them, refused for a time to deliver up certain church vestments and other property, which' were claimed to belong of right to the 1 Palou, Noticias, I, 127-131. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. J'. I, 206-209. * FELIPE DE BARRI. 515 missions of Alta California. Barri's countenance of this refusal and the active part he took in the controversy in favor of the Dominicans touched the Franciscans in a very tender spot; and the provocation he thus gave could neither be for- given nor forgotten. There were consequently troubles all around. Matters were becoming more and more complicated and something had to be done. The visit of Junipero to Mexico in 1773 and the favorable impression he made upon the viceroy Bucareli determined the course that was taken. It was in favor of the mission- aries and involved the removal of both Barri and Fages. The government immediately began looking about for a new gov- ernor for the Californias. As a preliminary, Captain Rivera y Moncada, who in the meanwhile had not been inactive, was by special commission on September 7, 1773, 1 appointed military comandante of San Diego and Monterey or, in other words, of all there then was of Alta California, 2 thus super- seding Fages; and in October of the next year Barri, who during all the time of his incumbency had resided at Loreto, was superseded by Felipe de Neve, 3 Barri therefore was governor from about March, 1771, to October, 1774, a little over three years and a half. Fernando Rivera y Moncada was a captain of cavalry in that branch of the service in which the soldiers were known as " soldados de cuera," so called on account of the jacket of "cuera" or leather which they wore. This was a sort of cas- sock, without sleeves, composed of six or seven layers of deer skin, pressed or sewed together so as to be impenetrable to the arrows of the Indians. Besides the cuera, each soldier carried a target or shield, made of several thicknesses of- raw ox-hide, which he wore on his left arm and was intended to parry blows. Each man also had a leathern apron fastened to the pommel of his saddle and falling on both sides so as to cover his thighs and protect his legs as well against arrows as against thorns and branches in passing through underbrush 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 329. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 327. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 448-454. 516 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and chaparral. His offensive arms were the lance, the broadsword or saber, and the carbine or short musket, which, when not in actual use, was generally carried in a leather case. 1 Almost all the soldiers in California, and especially those who were detailed as guards for the missions, were of this class. The other soldiers in the country, excepting a few artillerymen at the presidios, were of a body of light infantry, sent out from Spain in 1767 and known as Catalonian volun- teers. 2 To these latter Fages belonged, having come as a lieutenant though in 1771, while in command at Monterey, he had been promoted to a captaincy. 3 There was of course some differences in the rules and regulations applicable to the respective kinds of troops. But for all the purposes of service in California, there is no reason to believe that either Fages or Rivera y Moncada was in any respect deficient in general military knowledge and skill for the command of either kind. Nevertheless, when the missionaries quarreled with Fages, they charged that he was unfit to manage the sol- dados de cuera and that he was heartily hated by them. However this may have been, there could be no objection on this score to Rivera y Moncada; and therefoVe, when he was appointed, it was supposed that things would go on with much greater smoothness than before. Junipero himself had advocated and urged the appointment of Sergeant Jose Fran- cisco Ortega, who had shown himself entirely devoted to the missionaries. But the viceroy and his advisers, being of opin- ion that Ortega was not of sufficiently high rank for the posi- tion, merely promoted him to a lieutenancy at San Diego; gave the superior, command, as before stated, to Rivera y Moncada, and ordered Fages to return to Mexico. 4 On August 17, 1773, a few weeks previous to the appoint- ment of Rivera y Moncada, the viceroy Bucareli issued a series of very important instructions, defining his powers and regulating the government. Among other matters, these 1 Historical Journal of the Expeditions by sea and land to the north of Cali- fornia in 1768, 1769 and 1770, &c, London, 1790, pp. 24, 25. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, I. 3Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, nS. * Palou, Noticias, II, 143, 144. FELIPE DE BARK I. 517 instructions conferred authority to make land grants and con- stituted the first or one of the first legislative acts upon the subject. After expressing the high opinion he had formed of Rivera y Moncada's good conduct and experience, the vice- roy, in order to enable him to encourage speedy population in the new territory, authorized him, as comandante, to desig- nate lands to be held in common for the use and benefit of the people in general and also to grant lands in private own- ership to such Indians as should dedicate themselves to agriculture and stock-raising, or to such white colonists as might by their industry show themselves worthy of conces- sions. The grants were to be gratuitous; but care was to be taken that the beneficiaries should live in a pueblo or at mis- sions and not dispersedly over the country. The comandante was also to see that the new colonists should possess the requisite arms for their own defense as well as for assisting the garrisons of the presidios or missions in case of necessity; and he was further instructed that, in case it should become expedient to change a mission into a pueblo, he was to give it a name, declare for its patron the saint under whose patronage the original mission had been founded, and provide a civil and economical government in accordance with the laws observed in other pueblos of the kingdom. 1 It was in virtue of the authority thus conferred that the first private land grant in Alta California was made by Rivera y Moncada in November, 1775. It was a concession of a lot one hundred and forty varas square at the mission of San Carlos to a soldier named Manuel Butron and his Indian wife Margarita Maria, who is styled in the old documents " a daughter of the mission," and to their descendants. 2 At the time of Rivera y Moncada's appointment, he was at Guadalajara. He immediately posted off to Mexico to con- fer with the viceroy and then, in accordance with instructions, returned and proceeded on to Sinaloa to recruit more soldiers and families for California. In March, 1774, having collected fifty-one persons, he sailed with them to Loreto; from there 1 Cal. Archives, M. & C I, 812. * i Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 431-439. 518 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. proceeded to San Fernando de Vellicata, and thence, after making arrangements for the subsequent continuation of their journey, himself hastened on and reached Monterey on May 23. The next day he presented his commission to Fages, who delivered up the command and in the course of a few weeks marched to San Diego and thence sailed to San Bias. Most of the Catalonian volunteers retired with him or about the same time. 1 The soldiers and families, recruited in Sinaloa, arrived at Monterey in November. Almost as soon as they came, Rivera y Moncada, urged on by the loud and repeated demands for the speedy settlement of San Francisco, marched with a portion of them on his expedition of exploration of November and December, 1774, to that place. In November, 1775, occurred the Indian outbreak at San Diego, in which Father J ay me was murdered and the mission burned. Rivera y Moncada, upon hearing of it, immediately made prepara- tions for a march thither. Gathering his soldiers he proceeded to San Gabriel. Being joined there in January, 1776, by Juan Bautista de Anza, who had just arrived with settlers for San Francisco, the two proceeded to San Diego. There, on account of a difference of opinion as to what was best to be done, Rivera y Moncada being in favor of slow and cautious movements and Anza of swift and bold ones, they disagreed; and shortly afterwards, while Rivera y Moncada proceeded in his own way to deal with the rebel Indians, Anza withdrew and continued his journey with his settlers to Monterey. It was "not long afterwards that difficulties sprang up between the comandante and the missionaries of San Diego. The origin of the trouble was substantially the same disposi- tion of the missionaries to trench upon the civil and military authority, which had caused controversy almost from the beginning. The comandante made up his mind that he would not tamely submit. An open breach took place, as has already been related, on the occasion of the protection afforded by the missionaries, under the plea of sanctuary, to one of the Indian murderers; and the result was the violent seizure of 1 Palou, Noticias, III, 150-153. FEL1TE DE BARK I. 519 the criminal by Rivera y Moncada and the excommunication of the latter by the missionaries. The position, in which affairs had thus ranged themselves, obliged Rivera y Moncada to return to Monterey for the purpose of seeing Juni'pero, endeavoring to relieve himself of the anathema that had been pronounced and making some kind of an arrangement by which he would be allowed to carry on his administration without too much interference. But he was in no temper to be as cool and judicious as the occasion required. He had been subjected to so many annoyances that he had lost for the time his usual good disposition and even his accustomed courtesy. A strange exhibition of his ill humor took place in his fur- ther intercourse or rather want of intercourse with Anza. It will be recollected that when Anza arrived from Sonora with settlers for the foundation of San Francisco, Rivera y Mon- cada, on account of the outbreak at San Diego, insisted that the proposed settlement should be deferred. Anza had con- curred for a while; but finally, becoming dissatisfied with the cautious policy of the comandante, he had gone off, taken his settlers on to Monterey, and himself proceeded to make a survey and select a site for the new foundation. He had next returned to Monterey; transferred the charge of the settlers to Jose Joaquin Moraga, and then, regarding his commission ended, prepared to march back to Sonora. Rivera y Moncada considered Anza's proceedings reprehensible; but, as the latter was acting under an independent authority, the former could not compel his obedience. He showed, however, that he was very much displeased. Anza had written to him; but he had not answered. As Anza was about leaving Monterey on his return to Sonora, he sent off a courier in advance to notify Rivera y Moncada of his coming and asking for an interview at San Gabriel, where he would give an account of his expe- dition to San Francisco. Anza's courier, Sergeant Jose Maria Gongora, had been gone only a few days, however, before he returned with information that he had met Rivera y Moncada near San Luis Obispo. Upon their meeting the comandante 520 THE SPANISH GOVENORS. had asked him where he was going. He had answered that he was seeking the comandante with a letter from Anza. But the comandante refused to receive it and ordered Gongora to keep at a distance and not camp near him. The next morn- ing, however, the comandante called to him, demanded the letter and, without opening it, handed Gongora a letter for Anza and directed him to return to Monterey and deliver it at once. Gongora was of opinion that the comandante's actions indicated an unsettled brain. Anza had already left Monterey and that same evening, when he camped near San Antonio, Rivera y Moncada passed by without manifesting any disposition to stop or have any communication. A few words of official salutation passed, and that was all Rivera y Moncada continued on his way to Monterey and Anza, after requesting a certificate from those who were present of what had taken place, proceeded on to San Luis Obispo. Shortly afterwards Rivera y Mon- cada, failing to prevail upon Jum'pero to absolve him from the excommunication, started back in pursuit of Anza and endeavored to bring about an interview, at the same time apologizing for any former want of courtesy * But it was now Anza's turn to be discourteous; and he absolutely refused to have any communication with the comandante except in writing and only in relation to the survey of San Francisco. Rivera y Moncada, upon receiving this reply, immediately resumed his journey to San Gabriel, whither Anza followed, taking care to keep far enough behind not to join. At San Gabriel, Anza continued to act in much the same spirit; but, upon leaving that place for Sonora, he notified the comandante that he would carry any letters he might desire to send to the viceroy. The comandante replied that he had not finished his letters, but would send them after him. A few days after- wards the comandante's messengers overtook Anza with two letters, one to the college of San Fernando at Mexico and doubtless on the subject of his difficulty with the mission- aries and excommunication, and the other to Anza himself stating that he did not send any dispatch for the viceroy, on FELIPE DP AEIE. 521 account of the absence of an important paper left by oversight at San Diego, and requesting him to carry and deliver the other letter. Anza, however, refused to do so, sending back word that he was not a letter-carrier; and thereupon he con- tinued his march to Sonora and thence communicated with the viceroy. Bucareli no sooner heard of this ridiculous quarrel than he sent word to both parties that their petty questions of eti- quette were calculated to seriously injure the service; and, as it had already been determined that the governor of the Californias should change his residence from Loreto to Mon- terey, he immediately sent off orders that Governor Felipe de Neve should at once proceed to Monterey and that Rivera y Moncada should retire to and take charge of the presidio at Loreto. 1 In obedience to these orders De Neve arrived at Monterey on February 3, 1777, whereupon Rivera y Moncada turned over the command; marched to Loreto, and did not again see Alta California except upon his fatal journey to the Colorado in 1781. Felipe de Neve, the third governor of the Californias, was at the time of his appointment a cavalry officer at Oueretaro or, to give his exact title, " sargento mayor del regimehto de caballeria provincial de Queretaro." 2 He had been picked out, as already stated, to supersede Governor Barri. In a letter addressed to him on October 28, 1774, by the viceroy, informing him of his appointment, he was notified of the quarrel that had taken place between Barri and the mission- aries and cautioned, in the exercise of the duties of the office thus conferred upon him, to proceed with moderation and prudence/ But the caution was unnecessary, as De Neve proved to be a man of marked ability and statesmanship. He at once turned his attention to his new employment and labored earnestly and zealously. But he found so much to do in Mexico, in the way of providing supplies and recruits for the new country, that he did not reach Loreto until March, 1 Palou, Noticias, IV, 144-158. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 459. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. I' I, 448-454. \ 522 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. 1775. It was intended at first that he should reside there, as Barri had done, leaving the affairs of Alta California to be administrated by Rivera y Moncada, nominally as his subor- dinate but in fact with nearly complete independence. But soon after De Neve's appointment, it was determined by the Spanish government to make Monterey, instead of Loreto, the real capital of the Californias and the residence of the governor. The difficulties in which Rivera y Moncada be- came involved in 1776 hastened action and occasioned the orders, already referred to, in accordance with which De Neve marched to and took up his residence at Monterey in Febru- ary, 1777. Immediately upon his arrival there, bearing in mind the troubles of his predecessors and the cautions of the viceroy, he put himself in intimate and friendly communica- tion with Junipero and the missionaries; and until his pro- motion to a higher office, five years afterwards, he worked in comparative harmony with them for the advancement and prosperity of the province over which he ruled. 1 _^ Felipe de Neve is entitled to the grateful remembrance of Californians as the founder of the two old Spanish pueblos of San Jose and Los Angeles. But his chief title to fame is the authorship of the " Regiament'o," constituting a complete sys- tem or code of legislation for the province of the Californias. He drew it up and dated it on June I, 1779, at the " Royal Presidio of San Carlos de Monterey;'' and it was afterwards, on October 24, 1781, approved in a royal order by the king of Spain. These celebrated regulations contained fuil and mi- nute provisions for the government of the presidios, the cloth- ing, feeding and payment of the troops, and the support and maintenance of their families and other persons dependent on or connected with the military service. But their most inter- esting provisions were those relating to colonization. After setting forth the importance of the reduction and settlement of the country, the promotion of agriculture, stock-raising and other branches of industry .and the establishment of pueblos of gente de razon, whereby the territory might become self- 1 I'alou, Vida, 223. FELIPE DE NEVE. 523 supporting, they proceeded to state that the pueblo of San Jose had already been founded with these ends in view; that another pueblo, referring to that of Los Angeles, had been determined upon, and that others, as the country should pro- gress in population, were in contemplation which in time would furnish soldiers and supplies and finally relieve the royal treasury from the burdensome expenses to which it had hitherto been and was still unavoidably subjected. They then provided that each "poblador" or colonist, meaning thereby each white male inhabitant of a pueblo, should receive a cer- tain fixed amount of money annually for five years in lieu of another amount previously provided for but not properly secured; and that this amount should be payable from the moment of his arrival. The amount so fixed was about ten dollars a month for the first two years and five for the last three years. Each was to receive at cost price certain breed- ing animals, including two mares, two cows, two sheep and two goats; also a yoke of oxen, a plow and various agricul- tural implements, two horses and a pack-mule, a musket and a leather shield; for all which he was to pay in horses and mules at a future time; and to each pueblo were to be given for community use a number of male animals, a few swine, a forge, blacksmith and carpenter tools, and various implements and instruments such as crowbars and shovels. In reference to the distribution of pueblo lands, each pob- lador or colonist was to receive a house-lot of such size as might be found convenient and four "suertes" or lots two hun- dred varas square for cultivation; and commons or pasture lands, as well as lands for municipal purposes, were to be designated for the general use of the community. The house- lots, which were to be arranged in streets, and the cultivable lands and commons were to be distributed on equitable prin- ciples by the government and in the name of the king. These lots and lands were to be. hereditary from father to son and inalienable, but with the power in the father to designate one of several sons, or in certain cases a married daughter, who was to succeed; and with the further power in proper cases cf 524 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. dividing the cultivable land among several children. In no case, however, was a suerte or cultivable lot to be divided, nor was any poblador or heir to be able to mortgage or impose any condition or burden upon either house-lot or suerte; and any attempt to do so was to be good ground of forfeiture. Each poblador or colonist was to be exempt from paying tithes or taxes for five years, provided he built a house and lived in it within a year and provided further that he did certain work for the benefit of the pueblo or municipality relating chiefly to public buildings, granaries and irrigating canals. All the colonists were to enjoy common privileges of water, pasture, fire-wqod and timber, in so far as these were afforded by the common lands; but, in order to prevent dis- putes in reference to pasturage, brands were to be used and herders employed; and, in order to prevent monopolies, no one person was to possess more than fifty head of the same kind of cattle. There were many other minor provisions, in reference to the distribution of increasing wealth, the furnish- ing of supplies to the presidios, the obligations of the colo- nists to hold themselves in readiness for military service and the appointment or election of magistrates and other munici- pal officers. 1 The whole system was admirably calculated for the condition of the country; and, if it had been carried out in the spirit in which it was conceived, pueblos would have superseded missions throughout the country and the develop- ment of California under the Spaniards and Mexicans would have been very different from what it was. It was in accordance with these regulations that the pueblo of San Jose had been founded and the pueblo of Los Angeles was afterwards laid out. A plan of the latter, as originally located, shows twelve house-lots arranged on three sides of a very large public plaza, each lot having a frontage on the plaza of one hundred varas and a depth of two hundred varas, except at the corners where the shape of the lots was differ- ent though the frontage and area were the same. Nine of these lots had been distributed to as many pobladors and three were vacant. In the neighborhood was the Porciuncula 1 Cal. Archives. M. & S. P. XXI, 273, 274. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 236. JOSE JOAQUIN DE ARRILLAGA. 551 began fortifying it with cannon that had just arrived from San Bias. 1 A few days afterwards Goycoechea and his party returned from Bodega. That officer had spent several days in cruising over the intervening country and reaching Bodega; but upon arriving there he ascertained that the schooner and launch, after touching and finding the place vacant, had aban- doned the proposed settlement and sailed for San Francisco; and, there being nothing left for him to do but to retrace his steps, he had accordingly done so. 2 While Arrillaga was building his fort at San Francisco, hlT gave a description to the viceroy of the different presidios. That of San Francisco consisted of the house of the com- andante and six others, constructed of thick adobe and mud walls and roofed with a thatch of tules, which had to be re- newed every year. There was also a small chapel and a few store-houses, built in the same manner and all liable to be destroyed in the course of a single rainy season. These formed two sides of the presidio square : the other sides were open and entirely exposed, except for the guard-house, which, however, was so badly planned and built that it afforded no protection. The presidios of Monterey and Santa Barbara were in better condition, the first on account of the repairs recently made by Governor Fages and the second on account of its recent construction, while that of San Diego was in so bad a state, owing chiefly to the rottenness of the timbers that had been used, as to be threatened with complete ruin at almost any moment. 3 To remedy the worst of the defects a few improvements were made by order of the governor in each of the presidios; but they did not amount to much. Even the labor that was expended was so unskillfully applied as to do very little good. When Arrillaga undertook to build his San Francisco fort, he could not find among his people any person that understood the mason business; and it is likely that he would have had to give up his plans, had it not been for one Toribio Ruiz, a roving journeyman who had 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 2S6, 287. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI. 287, 188. :t Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI. 288 292. 552 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. happened to drift into Monterey the year before and, being enamored of the country, 1 had settled there. This indi- vidual, for want of somebody more competent, Arrillaga employed ; and under his directions, apparently acting in the threefold capacity of architect, superintendent and builder, the work, such as it was, was done.' 2 From San Francisco Arrillaga in September returned to Monterey; and in January, 1794, he wrote out, for the inspec- tion of the viceroy, a short account of his administration. One of his main objects, as he said, had been to preserve public peace and tranquillity, and there had been nothing to wish for in that respect. Progress had been made in the conversion of the gentiles and in the recovery of fugitives who had escaped from the missions. A few individuals had been granted tracts of land in the vicinity of Monterey and encour- aged to cultivate them. Some useless soldiers had been dis- charged and regulations put in force to prevent the vice of gambling among others; and, lastly, particular attention had been paid to the religious observances, which were required of the troops; and he thought he was justified in saying that, although there was room for great improvement in these respects, still there had been much progress and much more was to be hoped for. 3 It was about this same time that news arrived of the ap- pointment of a propietario or regular governor in the person of Lieutenant-colonel Diego de Borica; and Arrillaga began making arrangements for transferring the government. In contemplation of this, he drew up a long document, consist- ing of thirty-two separate paragraphs, for the information of his successor, setting forth the condition of the province and giving a brief account of what had transpired during his in- cumbency. In addition to a substantial repetition of what he had already written to the viceroy, he called attention to the dangers of the fires which the Indians were accustomed to kindle for the purpose of burning off the dry grass; next, to 1 " Enamorado del pais." — Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 309. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 309. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. I". XXI. 321, 322. JOSE JOAQUIN DE ARRILLAGA. 553 certain disturbances in the two pueblos of San Jose and Los Angeles, chiefly in relation to the use of municipal property and the pasturage of cattle on the common grounds; next, to the qualifications and conditions under which the lands near / Monterey had been granted; next, to the regulation of the business of stock-raising; next, to the fortifications going for- ward at the different presidios, and, next, to the skilled mechanics, who were in the country, and their employments. He then spoke of the chief prisoners, who were to be turned over to the charge of the new governor. One was a Christian Indian of San Antonio, named Macario, confined at San Francisco for having cruelly beaten and perhaps murdered his wife. Another was a Christian Indian of San Francisco, lamed Charquin, who was confined at Santa Barbara on account of flight from his mission and harboring other fugi- tives. There were three Indians confined at San Diego, two gentiles and one neophyte, for attempting to burn the mission and murder the guard of San Miguel. And in conclusion he spoke about the necessity of greater care and circumspection on the part of the troops in guarding the province and the means on hand for paying them their salaries and wages. 1 Having thus, in anticipation of his successor's arrival, put all the affairs of his office of governor interino in order, Arril- laga prepared to return to Loreto and resume the special duties of his office of comandante of that point. There was much to be done there. Since the year 1773, when the Fran- ciscans turned over the missions of Lower California to the Dominicans, the latter had extended the mission system northward along the ocean coast by the foundation of five new establishments. The first of these, commencing with the most southerly, was the mission called by them Rosario, though different of course from the old Jesuit mission of Rosario de Mulege. The new Rosario was located to the south of San Quentin bay and about one hundred and fifty miles in a direct line southeasterly from San Diego. The second, going northwesterly from Rosario, was the mission of San Domingo. It was to the north of San Simeon bay and 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XII, 491-498. 554 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. about thirty-six miles in a direct line from Rosario. About the same distance northwest of San Domingo was San Vicente. The fourth was Santo Tomas, some eighteen or twenty miles from San Vicente; and the fifth and last was San Miguel to the north of Todos Santos bay and a day's journey south- erly from San Diego. With the foundation of these new mis- sions the entire northern part of the ocean coast of Lower California was occupied. But there was nothing yet done for the northern part of the gulf coast and the territory about the mouth of the Colorado river. It had for many years been regarded as a matter of great importance to establish one or more missions in that neighborhood, both on account of the numbers of gentiles inhabiting those regions and also on account of securing safe and direct overland communication between the Californias and Sonora. It had been with these objects in view that the Franciscan college of Queretaro had established the two missions on the Colorado, which were destroyed by the Indians in 1781 at the same time that Cap- tain Rivera y Moncada and a number of his soldiers, then on their way with horses and cattle from Sonora to California, were overpowered and killed. After that catastrophe no fur- ther steps were taken until Father Juan Crisostomo Gomez, the president of the Dominicans in Lower California, began writing letters to the viceroy, setting forth the urgent neces- sity of missions in the Colorado country and soliciting the requisite aid and assistance to found them. In 1791 the vice- roy addressed a communication in relation to the matter to Governor Romeu; but by the time it reached its destination Romeu was dead and Arrillaga occupied his place. In No- vember, 1792, Arrillaga, who was doubtless the most compe- tent man in the whole country to give advice upon the subject, answered the viceroy and spoke favorably of the project; and it was in substance determined to found at least three new missions and a new presidio in the territory indicated. 1 In addition to the work, which the foundation of these new establishments would involve, there was other labor awaiting Arrillaga in Lower California as soon as he should be relieved 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 202 210. JOSE JOAQUIN DE ARRJLLAGA. 555 of his office of governor interino. It had been found that two of the old missions, one that of Santiago near San Jose del Cabo and the other that of Guadalupe between Mulege and Pun'sima, were useless; and it was resolved to suppress them and consolidate their possessions and interests with the neighboring establishments. But Arrillaga's presence was necessary to carry the resolution into effect. 1 It is likely that Arrillaga, having thus many matters to attend to in Lower California, in which he took a deep inter- est, and having substantially finished his work in Alta Cali- fornia, would have set out on his return to Loreto much ear- lier than he did; but he could not leave until his successor should arrive. In the meanwhile he went back to San Fran- cisco, where it seems the work of fortifying the entrance to the bay was still going forward; and from there, in June, 1794, he wrote to the viceroy that it was important, in view of the labor that was awaiting his presence in Lower Califor- nia, the great amount of traveling he would have to do, the surveys he would have to make and the advance of the sea- son, that he should get under way for Loreto as soon as pos- sible. 2 At length in September, it being then known that the new governor was approaching San Diego, Arrillaga, without waiting any longer, set out on his march and hastened south- ward as rapidly as he could travel. 3 He had been temporary governor of the Californias from May, 1792, to September, 1794, a period of two years and four months. During the period of his administration as such governor, the public business was conducted with great regularity; there was no discontent, there were no disturbances; it became apparent that he was a man of great industry as well as of ability; and it was doubtless owing to the reputation he established for himself in this position and the good character he manifested, that he afterwards was promoted to, and for many years en- joyed, the office of gobernador propietario. It was somewhere about the time of Arrillaga's return to 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 279-282. s Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 341, 342. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 357. 556 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Lower California, or possibly a year or two earlier, that a strange piece of good fortune is said to have befallen Our Lady of Loreto. The pearl fisheries, which had long been held in the grasp of monopolists, being at length thrown open to private enterprise, the Dominican missionaries ordered a grand fishing. For this purpose they collected their Indians; prepared a number of light and tastefully-ornamented canoes, and, proceeding to the oyster-beds, opened the season with religious ceremonies, invoking the blessing of God upon their efforts and consecrating to Our Lady of Loreto all the pro- duct of certain specified days of labor. The divers went to work with a will; and for some reason, whether it was the favor of heaven or the greater zeal of the Indians when labor- ing for their patroness or some other reason not necessary to be explained, the share of the virgin proved to be extraordi- narily large and valuable; and Our Lady of Loreto, whose image had been brought across the gulf and set up and guarded with such tender solicitude by Salvatierra and his associates nearly a hundred years before, and was now covered and adorned with pearls without number and of the most ex- quisite forms and orient, became one of the richest ladies in the world. But among the many splendid jewels, to which the virgin thus became entitled, there was one of extraordinary splen- dor. In form and size it resembled a pigeon's egg; its sym- metry was perfect; and in brilliancy and irreproachable pur- ity, the like had not before been seen in those regions. It was so magnificent and at the same time probably so tempt- ing to sacrilegious hands, that the question occurred to the padres, whether Our Lady, in her vast and superabundant wealth, could not spare it for more effective use and wider admiration than it would find in a remote province of poor priests and unappreciative Indians. They thought she could well do go; and accordingly the treasure, which was known as " La Peregrina " was by them, but in the name and as the act of Our Lady of Loreto. made a present to the queen of Spain and thus became one (if the crown jewels of the Spanish JOSE JOAQUIN DE ARRILLAGA. 557 monarchy. The sovereign who then occupied the second seat at the Escurial, eminent for her liberality as well as for her piety, was not to be excelled in generosity. Sensible of the compliment thus paid her and with a determination that the virgin should not be a loser by her delicate attention, she set aside a fund from her royal revenue and ordered that out of its produce wax and oil should be purchased and a perpetual flame maintained in the presence of the image. And from that time down to the Mexican independence, when all con- nection with Spain was entirely and forever severed, the royal blaze illumined the sacred shrine at the ancient capital of the Californias. 1 1 See Lassepas, 92. See also Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XII, 108- 116. CHAPTER III. BORICA. DIEGO UE BORICA, the seventh governor of the Cali- fornias, and the most genial and chivalrous as well as wise and laborious of the old Spanish stock, was appointed to the office by a royal order of June 10, 1793. He appears to have come to America from Spain while still a very young man and to have been at the time of his appointment some fifty years of age. He had entered the military service about 1763 and served in various capacities, most of the time in the northern provinces of Mexico, sometimes in campaigns against hostile Indians, sometimes on tours of inspection, and some- times on commissions to quell disturbances and reduce out- breaks. By degrees he rose in the ranks until he became teniente-coronel or lieutenant-colonel of cavalry; and while occupying this position he married, taking for his wife a lady, who had landed property in New Viscaya. 1 In 1793, when he was promoted to the high office of gobernador propietario of the Californias, he was ayudante-inspector of the Internal Provinces of the West and had his head-quarters at Arispe. It took some months for the royal order of his appoint- ment, issued in Madrid, to reach Mexico; and it was com- paratively late in the year before Borica was aware of it. The viceroy Revillagigedo wrote in September, giving the infor- mation and directing him to take possession of his province as soon as he conveniently could; and at the same time he sent off dispatches to Arrillaga at Monterey, ordering him to 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 520-523. (558) DIEGO DE BORICA. 559 turn over the government as soon as the new governor should present himself. 1 In the meanwhile Borica was living on terms of the most intimate companionship at Arispe with various persons of scholarly attainments. A few private let- ters, which he afterwards addressed to them and which have been preserved in the California archives, indicate on his part, as well as on theirs, a much higher degree of culture than could have been expected in those remote regions. It must have cost him a severe struggle to break up his hand-to- hand and face-to-face intercourse with such associates and travel away off into a country, where it was difficult to find anybody that could even read and much more so anybody who could appreciate intellectual cultivation. There was, however, one great solace, which he possessed in all his strug- gles, and that was a devoted wife and daughter, who were ready and willing to accompany him wherever his duty called; and together they got ready and in the spring of 1794 traveled down to the gulf coast to embark for Loreto and thence to Monterey. The gubernatorial party consisted of the governor himself, the gobernadora, their daughter, a Sefior Andres, a Seiiora Narcisa, a cook and a negro servant. In their passage across the gulf they met with rough weather; and all with the excep- tion of the gentlemen and negro, suffered the most distressing sea-sickness. They reached Loreto on May 13, where it took them several days to recuperate. It had been the original intention to travel the entire distance by water; but the gob- ernadora and her daughter had acquired, from their recent experience, such a horror of the sea that they could not think with any patience of the ocean and insisted upon prose- cuting the remainder of the journey, notwithstanding its length and difficulties, by the overland route Owing to their persistence, the governor found himself placed in some doubt as to how he should decide; and he wrote to his friends in Arispe, giving an amusing account of the difficulties which he had already encountered in the business of governing and humorously comparing himself to Sancho Panza in his island » Cal. Archives, P. R. I, 647, 648. 560 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. of Barataria, his wife to Teresa Panza and his daughter to Sanchica. 1 As might have been expected, gallantry and kindness finally prevailed; and the arrangements for his journey were changed from those of an ocean voyage to those of an expedition by land. The alteration of plan and vari- ous matters of business, which he found to engage his atten- tion at Loreto, detained him and his party at that place until July 24, when they took a short coasting passage by schooner to the military post called Santa Ana; and thence, with a dozen riding mules, a dozen pack mules, several muleteers and a number of Indians on foot, they set out on their jour- ney for Monterey. On August 4, they were at the mission of San Ignacio; and thence they traveled by the way of Santa Gertrudis, San Francisco Borja and San Fernando Vellicata and so on from mission to mission along the ocean coast 2 till November 9, 1794, when they, happily and without accident though only at the end as they declared of a million of labors and inconveniences, reached their destination at the capital. 3 Borica had already on May 14, at Loreto, taken possession of the government; he had been publicly pro- claimed at Monterey; 4 and consequently, upon his arrival, there were no formalities requisite but to introduce and set- tle himself in his office. Captain George Vancouver and Lieutenant Puget were at that time with their vessels at Monterey, having been on the coast since 1792; and between the English officers and the new-comers there were many meetings of civility and social intercourse. It was a something unexpected for Borica to meet men of the highest acquirements so far from home; and his wife, the gobernadora, found her attention pleasantly occcupied in doing the honors of her mansion towards the polite foreigners. But notwithstanding frequent merry meet- ings, for which the lockers of the English vessels yielded up dozens after dozens of rhenish, port and madeira, Borica's 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 514-520. " Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 569-588. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 533, 534. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XII, 400. DIEGO BE BORIC A. 561 thoughts reverted to his old friends in Arispe; and for a num- ber of weeks it seemed as if he could satisfy himself only with writing numerous letters. Nearly all of these productions were lively and humorous, their gaiety and wit being some- times set off by the use of a French phrase or an English expression; but others contained serious and sagacious ob- servations upon political characters and events. In giving his first impressions of California, he called it a grand coun- try, with a healthy climate intermediate between cold and temperate, especially rich in beef, fish, table delicacies and, best of all, in " bonne humeur." ' At the same time that he was thus entertaining his friends a-t Arispe, he was corresponding with, and cultivating the friendship of, the missionaries. Even before he had com- menced his journey, he had written to the respective presi- dents of the missions of Alta and Baja California, soliciting their good will and tendering them his services." He also wrote to the comandantes of the various presidios, requiring them to make monthly reports to him of the condition of their commands and diaries of all important or interesting events transpiring within their jurisdictions. 3 But the chief matter that engaged his attention was the fear lest the foreign vessels visiting the coast might make a lodgment at Bodega or some other poinl to the north; and upon this subject he wrote various confidential letters to the comandante of San Francisco, enjoining secrecy and prudence but prompt action in case of necessity. 4 His orders from government were to admit no foreign vessels, except in cases of such urgency that hospitality could not be refused; and even Vancouver and the English visitors, then at Monterey, were not to be encour- aged, unless it were certain that they would soon leave the country, as was expected of them. 5 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 536-538. He said: " Este es un gran pais; temperamento sano y entre frio y templado; buen para riquisima carne de rez, pescadus, regalados, y bonne humeur, que vale por todo." — 537. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 569. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XII, 1%,. 4 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 81. 5 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XII, 485, 4S6. 36 Vol. I. 5GL> THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Having thus disposed of the correspondence and business, which he deemed of most pressing and immediate concern, Borica next turned his attention to other matters of impor- tance. Among these, one of the most interesting related to the disposition of lands in private ownership. Some incon- siderable grants, particularly in the neighborhood of Mon- terey, Santa Barbara, San Gabriel and Los Angeles, had already been made; but the demand was growing; and it became a question as to the circumstances under which, and the extent to which, further grants should be made. The increase of the Spanish population was recognized as one of the great needs of the territory; and it seemed necessary to provide some system of granting lands for agricultural and stock-raising purposes. But it was plain that a prime require- ment, in view of such a system, was the assignment of limits to the missions. There were at that time thirteen of these establishments in Alta California including San Francisco on the north and San Diego on the south; and each of them claimed that its limits and jurisdiction extended at least half way to the next adjoining missions. Most of the lands inter- vening between these missions were occupied by rancherias of gentile Indians, who though they were gradually being reduced to mission government, were, in Borica's judgment, legitimate owners of the soil; and he was of opinion that it would be unjust, and for various reasons impolitic and dan- gerous, to despoil them of their rights. 1 Under the circum- stances he advised that land grants should be made only in exceptional cases, only where the grantee was a man of known probity, only in the vicinity of a mission or pueblo, and only in cases where no prejudice could result to the Indians either gentile or Christian. 2 Borica next turned his attention to the condition of the neophytes at the missions; and he found many occasions for the exercise of the great kindness and consideration with 1 " Ocupadas en el dia mucha parte de las tierras intermedias de mision & mision por sus legltimos duefios los Indios gentiles, no parece regular se les despoje de los frutos, semillas, aguas y montes que sirven a su manutencion." — Cal. Ar- chives, P. R. IV, 131. * Cal Archives, 1'. R. IV, 130-133. DIEGO DE BORICA. 563 which -he invariably treated them. During the earlier days of the spiritual conquest and particularly during the life-time of Father Jhuni'pero, little or no complaint of injustice or ill- usage had been made; but, within the last few years, there were numerous instances of cruelty, and even of brutality, in the conduct of some of the missionaries towards their charges. They not only compelled them to almost incessant labors, but failed to furnish them with sufficient food to sus- tain them in working condition; and at the same time for the most trivial offenses they hand-cuffed, imprisoned and unmercifully beat them. When the miserable Indians, learn- ing too late that their former gentile life even with its pre- cariousness and constant warfare was far preferable to chris- tianization such as it was thus exhibited, attempted to regain their lost freedom by flight, they were hunted down and punished with tenfold rigor. Nor were stripes reserved for the men alone, but the women too were stripped and flogged: the only difference being, that the men were lashed publicly while the women, as related by La Perouse, were removed to an enclosure at such a distance that their sobs and screams could not be heard. These barbarous cruelties, added to the miserably slavish kind of existence which the neophytes were compelled to live at the missions, rendered them in many instances desperate; and, whenever an opportunity occurred, notwithstanding the risks they ran, they took to flight and trusted themselves rather to the mercies of savage gentile tribes, even though their hereditary enemies, than return to the stocks and whipping-posts of the missions. It cannot be affirmed that the ill-treatment and cruelty practiced towards the neophytes of San Francisco were much more severe than those common at other missions. But there were several circumstances that called particular atten- tion to them. The first of these was the murder in 1795 of seven Indians, who had been sent across the bay in pursuit of fugitives. On account of the frontier position of San Francisco and the facilities for escape afforded by its peculiar topography, desertions there had become so frequent that 564 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the soldiers could not attend to them all; and for this reason Father Antonio Danti, the principal missionary of the post, undertook to send out an expedition of his own. Danti's party consisting of fifteen christianized Indians, upon whom lie could rely in any action against their country people, crossed over to the neighborhood of Bodega, where they were overpowered and half of them slain. 1 These events occasioned discussion; and discussion evoked inquiry as to the reasons that caused so many as two hundred and eighty runaways from the mission up to September, 1795." As the facts became more and more known, a few persons, whose humanity was greater than their prudence, stepped forward as advocates of the Indian cause and demanded reform. The most prominent of these was Father Jose Maria Fer- nandez, who in September, 1796, after vainly trying his per-, suasions upon Father Martin de Landaeta of San Francisco, called Borica's attention to the subject and thus initiated a long and bitter controversy, in the course of which there were many exposures, derogatory to the missionaries, that would otherwise perhaps never have seen the light of day) 3 Upon receiving Fernandez' missive, Borica sat down almost immediately and wrote in very plain and feeling lan- guage to president Lasuen, setting forth the cruelties in the three respects of treatment, labor and food to which the San Francisco neophytes had been and were still exposed, and demanding that vigorous measures should be taken to alleviate their miseries. It would have been impossible for the poor creatures to have found a more firm and steadfast advocate, friend and protector than Borica at once showed himself to be. It was a scandal, he wrote, as well to the secular as to the ecclesiastical government, that during the single year 1795 there had been two hundred and three cases of death and two hundred of flight at San Francisco. It was a. matter that deprived him of sleep and caused him 1 Cat. Archives, P. R. IV, 153, 171, 172. a Cal. Archives, P. S. ]'. XIII, 335. , 3 Cal. Archives, P. R."VII, 637. DIEGO DE BORICA. 565 great uneasiness, 1 a matter the gravity of which compelled him to speak; and he hoped that the frankness with which he spoke was a sufficient proof of his earnestness and sin- cerity." Lasuen's own kindliness of disposition, thus prompted by Borica's zeal, was not slow in providing at least a temporary remedy for the evils of which Father Fernandez had com- plained. The Indians at San Francisco, it was promised, should be thenceforth treated with affection; their hours of labor should be reduced; they should be afforded regular recreations and amusements; they should be furnished with three sufficient meals of cooked food daily, and their health and comfort should be sedulously attended to. Upon these assurances, Borica addressed a second letter to Lasuen, expressing his satisfaction at the result of his interference but at the same time asking, in language denoting his chiv- alric sense of honor and propriety, that the peremptory tone of his former communication might be excused. "Your reverence is aware," he wrote, "of my manner of thinking and will do me the justice of being persuaded that whatever 1 speak, whatever I write, whatever I meditate, is, and always will be, on the side of justice and humanity. If sometimes I use strong expressions it is for the purpose of animating and invigorating those who have it in their power to contribute to such beneficial objects as may be in contemplation. I am a soldier, while your reverence fills a sacred office. It is not unnatural that the soldier in his fiery manner ma)*, in his desire for the prompt co-operation of the priest, overlook or disregard considerations of prudence which the latter may deem of great importance." 8 But however satisfactory in some respects the remedy applied by'Father Lasuen to the evils existing at San Fran- cisco may have been and however energetic his efforts to pre- vent other troubles, new causes 'of dissatisfaction soon arose. 1 " Es asunto que me quita el sueno y me hace hablar solo." — Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 640. » Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 639, 640. 3 Cal. Archives, 1 P, R. VII, 646.^ 566 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. The Indians continued to seize every opportunity for escape that presented itself; and the missionaries seemed determined, on -their own account and without application to the proper authorities, to hunt them down. In" 1797 they fitted out an expedition of Indians under the leadership of one Raymundo to cross the bay in search of a number of wretches, who had thus fled. But, as had occurred on several other expeditions of this character, the hunters were worsted and found great difficulty in escaping with their lives. The result was that Jose Dario Arguello, the comandante, called the missionaries to account for their unlawful proceedings. They replied that it had become a custom, in all the missions, to send out after fugitives and they deemed it no more than a part of the obligations of their ministry, like good shepherds, to look out for and gather in the lost sheep. Arguello, not being convinced by the answer, ordered Raymundo and his Indians under no circumstances to attempt such an expedition again and threatened them, in case of disobedience, with severe punishment, and at the same time. he wrote to Borica, giving an account of all that had occurred. 1 In the meanwhile Father Fernandez, whose dissatisfaction with the state of affairs at San Francisco still continued, wrote another letter. Taking as his text the expedition of Raymundo, he insisted that the real cause of all the troubles was the cruel manner in which the Indians, notwithstanding some temporary improvement, continued to be treated. 2 This letter was written before the return of Raymundo and his companions and while ^ was still uncertain, on account of their long absence, whether or not they would ever return. After they made their appearance, one by one, from different points along the west side of the bay to which they had managed, after being defeated and dispersed, to escape, Fer- nandez wrote a third letter, rejoicing in their safety, but urg- ing the governor to interpose his authority and prevent any further proceedings of the kind. 3 Borica on his part, thus » Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 57-66. a Cal. Archives, P. S P. XV, 60-62. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV. 63, 64. DIEGO DE BORICA. 567 addressed by both Arguello and Fernandez, and apparently fully recognizing- the abuses which had been practiced at San Francisco, issued positive orders that no further expeditions in search of fugitives should be sent out from the missions and that the missionaries should be obeyed by the neophytes only in such matters like religious exercises and regular labors, as were within their undoubted jurisdiction. 1 It may, not be out of place in this connection to state that Father Fernandez suffered the fate of many another good man, who has attempted to stem the evil current of his times. He had taken up the 'pen, as he wrote to Borica, with the sole object of accomplishing good for the Indians. He loved them and felt for the evils under which they groaned. Their mis- eries had cost him much suffering, many sad days, continual sleeplessness and not a few bitter tears. In their behalf he had been willing to consecrate his life even to the last drop of blood that flowed in his veins; and to this sacred service he had accordingly devoted himself with all his energy. He had succeeded in saving them from a thousand oppressions, as was well known; but he now found that his health was broken down and he feared his strength would not hold out much longer. And for all his efforts, he continued with pro- found melancholy, his reward had been nothing but infamy and dishonor. His actions were impugned as wanting in judg- ment; his zeal as false; his motives as sinister and malevo- lent. But he had the satisfaction of knowing that in the sight of God and his own conscience, he had fought the good fight and preserved his integrity, and, notwithstanding the heavy burdens he was obliged to bear, he felt justified." Shortly after so writing, he was obliged to retire to his college in Mexico; and there, to all appearance, his reforming spirit was quietly silenced. Father Fernandez was at heart, by the very excess and energy of his humanity, a non-conformist and evident!}' a man not to be advanced in the church or well spoken of by missionaries and ecclesiastical bodies. But Borica, whose 1 Cal. Archives, V. S. V. XV, 67. 2 Cal. Archives, 1'. S. Pi XV, 64. 5G8 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. good word more than counterbalanced all the calumnies the poor philanthropist suffered, paid a just tribute to his virtues the year after his retirement. In writing to the viceroy of the great changes that had taken place in the treatment of the Indians at San Francisco, contrasting the kindness and justice then exercised towards them with the former rigor and cruelty, he said that although he had, by frequent private conversations and confidential communications, aided the good work, the merit of the reform was not to be attributed to himself but entirely to Father Fernandez, who had been the true author of all that had been accomplished. 1 - At the same time that complaints of abuses came from San Francisco, like complaints came from other parts of the country; and for a time Borica had his hands full in attend- ing to them. Other missionaries, besides those of San Fran- cisco, sent out unauthorized expeditions after fugitive neo- phytes; and there were at other missions many instances of cruelty no less barbarous than those exposed by Father Fer- nandez. It was admitted that the missionaries had jurisdic- tion over the domestic and religious affairs of their establish- ments, including the power of inflicting corporal punishment for delinquencies not exceeding twenty-five lashes; and as long as this extent of punishment was not exceeded, the government did not feel authorized to interfere." But as in the case of San Francisco, so at various other missions, not, only were neophytes sent out with hand-cuffs and scourges after runaways and thus turned into what may not, improperly be called slave-hunters; but the power of inflicting lashes, and especially in cases of fugitives, had come to be shamefully abused. Fxcessive punishments had become so general that even for the most trivial offenses, it was the usual practice to inflict, instead of twenty-five, fifty or even more lashes? Bo- rica, "lleno de fuego — full of fire," as he described himself in his letter to Father Lasuen, insisted that these abuses should 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 403, 404. - Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 4S2. In a letter to lather Mariano Apolinario, dated September 26, 1796, Borica said: "La autoridad paternal se estiende a. veinte y cinco [azotes] ; pues quanclo hay delito grave que exija mayor castigo, corresponde & la jurisdiction real."— 1'. R. VII. 641. DIEGO DE BO RICA. 569 cease; and as he soon approved himself a man who meant what he said — one with whom, notwithstanding his accus- tomed good humor, it would not do to trifle — he succeeded, after calling a number of the missionaries to account, in put- ting a stop to their transgressions. But while he was thus a friend and protector of the Indians and did not hesitate to take their part when they were ill- treated, he believed, as a soldier and a governor, in requiring them to perform their duties and pay proper respect to their superiors. He had occasion in 1796 to exhibit his views upon these subjects. A San Francisco neophyte, who stayed away from prayers, had been arrested by a soldier and was being conducted to the mission, when he turned upon the soldier, struck him down with a stone and escaped. Being subse- quently again arrested and thrown into prison for a month, Borica pronounced the punishment insufficient and directed the comandante, as soon as the term of imprisonment was finished, to inflict a further punishment of twenty-five lashes in presence of all the neophytes of the mission. He also at the same time caused it to be publicly stated that any further offense of like character, being subversive of public order, would be punished with still greater rigor, and that it was imperatively necessary for the Indians in every case to pre- serve proper discipline and attend faithfully to the duties prescribed for them. 1 By this kind of strictness on occasions which in his judgment demanded it, but at the same time exhibiting his sincere good will and kindness towards the Indians and convincing them that his object was their welfare and that in him they had an advocate, Borica in the course of his administration effected a great change in the condition of affairs. In 1799 he had the satisfaction of writing the results of the pplicy, which he had thus adopted as a maxim of his government. Abuses in the treatment of the neophytes, which had been frequent and oppressive, had to a great extent been reformed; and there was a much better feeling among all the Indians, as well gentiles as Christians. Many of the fugitives from San Francisco, and among them numer- 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 135. 570 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. ous fierce Cuchillones and Sacalanes of Contra Costa, had been induced to return and were peaceful. At one time seven and at another eighteen voluntarily presented themselves. At still another time thirty-three presented themselves for admis- sion at the mission of San Jose and, with the consent of Father Lasuen, were accepted there. They represented that they still felt such a horror of what they had suffered at San Francisco that they were unwilling under any circumstances to go back to that place but were desirous of being again restored to regular government. So also at other missions, there was a marked improvement in the temper of the Indi- ans. Those, who before had been turbulent and rebellious, were living in quiet and tranquillity; and many gentiles, appreciating the advantages of peace and assured subsistence, were coming forward and asking for baptism. 1 Another matter, which engaged much of Borica's attention during the first few years of his administration, was the ways and means of defending the country in case of invasion. In March, 1793, Spain declared war against France, and the declaration was published at Monterey in October, 1793. 2 At that time, with the exception of some little fortification and a few pieces of ordnance at San Francisco and Monterey, Alta California was almost entirely defenseless. There were only about two hundred and seventy-five soldiers in the country: some sixty at each of the presidios of San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey, thirty-six at San Francisco and the others in small parties of from five to eight or ten at various missions. 3 In July, 1793, all the small arms at the four pre- sidios, that were of any account, consisted only of one hun- dred and sixty-one muskets, fifty-nine pistols, one hundred and seventy-seven swords and two hundred and twenty-three lances. 4 To these a few more were added by the vessel which had been sent up from San Bias with the object of fortifying Bodega. But still it was clearly impossible to offer anything 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 505, 506. 2 Cal. Archives, 1'. S. P. XXI, 301. 3 Vancouver, III, 410. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 358. DIEGO DE BORICA. 571 like a defense in case French vessels should see fit to make an attack, which, as a state of war actually existed, was a not impossible event. In view of these facts Branciforte, who was then viceroy, bestirred himself to put the territory in some sort of condition to resist; and Borica co-operated with great energy. In 1794 Branciforte ordered up from San Bias a company of Catalonian volunteers, consisting of seventy-two soldiers well armed and fully accoutred for general service, and a sergeant, three corporals and fourteen artillerymen for working the recently erected batteries at San Francisco and Monterey. At the same time he directed the marine depart- ment of San Bias to dispatch a vessel or two to guard the coasts of California and give notice in case of invasion. 1 In June, 1795, he suggested the propriety of a general and gen- erous contribution throughout the country to raise funds for the purpose of aiding in carrying on the war;" and from that time on until the supposed danger was over, he exerted him- self on behalf of California in a manner which was far from usual with the authorities at Mexico. Borica, on his part, thanked the viceroy for the reinforcements sent and under- took to do everything in his power to carry out the wise provisions of his excellency and to punctually and zealously fulfill his own duties and obligations as governor of the threat- ened province. 3 If either the port of San Francisco, Monte- rey or San Diego were attacked by a single vessel or by forces that were not entirely too powerful, it was his intention, he said, to make a defense. If on the other hand, there should be a formal invasion in force, it was apparent that he could not successfully resist. But in such case he would retire into the interior; drive off the cattle; lay waste the country, and endeavor, by every means in his power, to so incommode the enemy as to force him to abandon the coast. 4 So far as the suggested contributions was concerned, he engaged to do all that could be done and at once headed the list with a sub- 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 38, 39. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 34, 35. 3 Cal. Archives, S. V. XVII, 39. * Cal. Archives, S. 1'. XVII, 40. 572 THE SPA XI SI I GOVERNORS. scription of a thousand dollars, which sum was soon after- wards increased to nearly four thousand dollars by contribu- tions from the officers, soldiers and population in general. 1 The fund and its object, under his management, became so popular in the territory that everybody, even the Indians that were able, contributed to it — all except the missionaries. When they were invited by Borica to join the remainder of the people, they replied at great length, through Father La- suen, that the war against France was a just one and God grant that it might redound to the glory of the Catholic relig- ion, the Spanish nation and his august majesty, the king. But he and his companions were poor clergymen, engaged in the holy and pious work of administering to the spiritual and temporal welfare of their flocks. They already had done and were doing a very great deal of gratuitous labor for the gov- ernment; and it ought to be considered that in their own pro- fession, which was in the very highest degree important and recommendable, they had use for all, and more than all, the means at their disposal. It was only in view of these consid- erations that they were able to bear the torture into which the request for a contribution had thrown them. 2 But neverthe- less, in view of the justness of the war and its importance, involving as it did the honor and safety of the nation, they were willing to and would contribute ail that they were able, that is to say, their fervent and continued prayers to the God of Battles for the glorious triumph of the Spanish arms/ There can be no doubt that Borica's bravery and zeal, aided by Branciforte's substantial aid and comfort, in concert with the patriotism and hearty good will of the people, few and weak as they undoubtedly were, would, in case of an invasion, have availed much more for the honor and triumph of the Spanish arms than all the prayers of the missionaries, how- 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. V, 900-912. - Lasuen wrote, October 18, 1795 " I >er o constituidos los P. P. en esta su po- breza de profesion y los hijos en la suya de naturaleza, empleados unos yotros en im servicio que le es a nuestro Catolico Soberano tan grato, considero que S. M. no quiere de nosotros (y es lo que me deja respirar en la tortura en que me ha puesto la presente solicitud untie mis ansias de vasal lo Espanol y mi suerte de pobre Franciscano) otra temporal contiibucion que la que estamos franqueando." J Cal. Archives, S. I'. IX, 498. DIEGO DE B0K1CA. 573 ever fervent and continued. Nor can there be any doubt, judging from the character of the man in other respects, that under any circumstances Borica would have made a gallant defense and acquitted himself with personal credit and per- haps with glory, had he been called upon to fight. The reinforcements sent by the viceroy arrived in due time; a small vessel of war, named the Concepcion, was dispatched from San Bias to guard the coasts; 1 and the governor vtas prepared, as the emergency might require, either to combat or to retreat and hang threatening like Fabius on the crests of the Sierra. But France had use for all its forces in Europe; and none of its ships swooped down upon the coasts of Cali- fornia. The war itself was of very short duration. About the beginning of 1797, Borica called his soldiers together; but, instead of leading them to battle, he announced peace and proclaimed an alliance between Spain and the French re- public." The excitement respecting the war with France was scarcely over when rumors arose of war with England; and there was talk of an English invasion. In view of possibilities, Borica directed a strict lookout to be maintained on the principal promontories, 3 and ordered all the people along the coast to be ready at short notice, in case of a descent by the English, to retire into the interior; drive off all the horses and cattle, and as far as possible carry the grain and other movable property out of reach or destroy it. At the same time he directed that, if by any mischance he himself should be seized and made a prisoner, no concessions were to be made on his account and no attention paid to any orders purporting to come from him, no matter how urgent; but the comandantes were in all events to go on and defend the province. 4 But notwithstanding these precautions, with the experience he had recently gained he seems to have soon begun to look upon an invasion of any kind as a very improbable event. 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 634. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 255. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 121- 123. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 354, 355. 574 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. In the multitude of wars and rumors of war, with which the eighteenth century closed, there was also considerable talk of an American invasion — that is of an attempt by the rising young giant on the other side of the continent to take not only California but all of New Spain. At another time such a rumor might have disturbed him. But he now simply waved it aside as idle and vain and pronounced the notion of such an invasion "una idea platonica que se deve despreciar — a platonic idea not worthy of consideration." l 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 794. CHAPTER IV. BORICA (CONTINUED). AMONG the reinforcements sent by the Marques de Bran- ciforte to California in 1795, in contemplation of a possible invasion by France, the most valuable was an able engineer, named Alberto de Cordoba. He was a military officer who had attained the high rank of " ingeniero estra- ordinario," and was known in California indifferently by his official name or simply as " the engineer." It was by the latter name that Governor Borica first mentioned him in returning thanks to Branciforte for the interest he had manifested in California affairs and the aid and comfort he had transmitted for the defense of the country. 1 Cordoba arrived in 1796 and at once put himself in com- munication with and under the orders of Borica. As soon as they met, each recognized the other's ability; and the most friendly and cordial relations were immediately established between them. Upon discussing the condition of affairs and comparing notes as to what ought to be done and the most practicable mode of accomplishing it, they found themselves in perfect accord and both eager to proceed with the work without delay. The first object was of course to distribute the reinforcements of soldiers who had recently arrived, so as to render them most effective. These consisted, as before stated, of a company of seventy-two Catalonian volunteers and eighteen artillerymen. The former were under the com- mand of Lieutenant-colonel Pedro de Alberni; the latter under that of Sergeant Jose Roca. Alberni with twenty-five men and a few of the artillerymen was stationed at San 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 40. (575) 576 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Francisco and the others distributed among the other presid- ios. The next object was to make surveys for, and if possible to found, new pueblos and increase the Spanish population of the territory. It had always been a prime object in the settlement of the country to build up pueblos. This had been contemplated in the original instructions of Jose de Gal- vez, the visitador-general. It had been intended from the beginning in fact that the mission establishments themselves should eventually be converted into pueblos; and Governor Felipe de Neve had in the very early days, in carrying out the general plan of colonization, founded San Jose and Los Angeles. Branciforte's instructions were full of the same subject; and he urged its importance as second only to the defense and preservation of the domain as a possession of the Spanish crown. The importance of San Francisco and its grand bay was wellknown; and it was determined, if practicable, to com- mence with one or more pueblos at or near that point. As soon, therefore, as other business would allow, Borica and Cordoba, accompanied by Alberni, proceeded to survey the country in that neighborhood and as far south as the parallel of Santa Clara with the purpose of selecting suitable sites. But after a long examination they 'found none that appeared adapted to their purpose. 1 As Cordoba and Alberni, who con- tinued their survey after Borica had been obliged to return to Monterey, were traveling backwards and forwards, however, their eyes fell upon a spot, which seemed to offer peculiar advantages for the building of a city and the support of a large population. This was in the immediate neighborhood of the mission of Santa Cruz, where there was land suitable for building, for cultivation and for pasturage, water in abun- dance, timber of the best quality and unlimited quantity, and stone and lime inexhaustible. In view of all these advantages they proposed, instead of the pueblos originally contemplated, to found a city at this place and give it, in honor of the vice- roy, the name of the Villa of Branciforte. They communi- cated the proposition to Borica, who in turn communicated it 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 108. DIEGO DE BORICA. 577 to the viceroy; 1 and he, in due course of time, approved it; drew up his instructions, and ordered the foundation to pro- ceed. 2 The spot thus selected was at the northern extremity of the extensive bay of Monterey, at a distance of about thirty miles in a direct line a little west of north from the cap- ital at the southern extremity of the same bay and about sixty miles southwesterly from San Francisco. It lay on the eastern side of the San Lorenzo river, opposite the mission of Santa Cruz. The port or anchorage in front of it, which was pronounced a good one, was well protected from northwest- erly winds; and vessels could lie there with safety during the six summer months of the year and easily change their anchorage and find shelter at Monterey during the six winter months. Taking the place altogether, it was supposed to be the very best for a city in California — all the way from Cape San Lucas to the bay of San Francisco. 3 In drawing up his instructions, Branciforte had before him the old instructions of Felipe de Neve, under which the pueblos of San Jose and Los Angeles had been founded and governed. But these were, in his judgment, entirely inadequate for the new enterprise. They had been suitable enough, perhaps, for the circumstances of those early times, when the country was a wilderness and all the colonists were obliged to come up overland, with infinite toil, from Sonora and Sinaloa. But it was plain that San Jose and Los Angeles had not advanced as could have been wished. With all their advantages of climates as fine and fields as rich as any in the world, they were still small and miserable towns; their houses still of palisades and mud thatched with tule, and their inhab- itants so poor that they were scarcely able to support and clothe themselves. The villa of Branciforte, on the other hand, was to be populated by colonists already in the country or to come by sea, who were to be attracted by offers of extraordinary privileges. Each colonist was to have an adobe 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 672-684. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 642-645. 3 " El mejor de quantos se hallan desde el Cabo de San Lucas hasta San Fran- cisco." — Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 642. 37 Vol. I. 578 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. house, roofed with tiles, built for him at the expense of the king, besides being maintained for a year out of the public treasury and furnished, on easy conditions of repayment, with two horses, two mares, two cows, two sheep, two goats, a yoke of oxen, a musket, a plow and other agricultural im- plements. Borica in his communications with the viceroy was anxious as to the character of the colonists to be sent up from Mexico and requested that they might be men of robust health and strength, agriculturists, carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, hatters and other artisans, not excepting a few fishermen to hunt the multitudinous whales of Monterey bay. He was also particular to suggest that sufficient supplies and clothing should be furnished not only for the voyage but for a reasonable time in California. 1 All these suggestions commended themselves as judicious and proper to the mind of Branciforte; and in his instructions he adopted them, thus producing a combination of his own prop- ositions with those of Borica, Cordoba and Alberni, each of them having entered into the project with all his enthusiasm and energy. In April, 1797, the viceroy's instructions having arrived shortly before, 2 Borica gave notice that he would found the villa of Branciforte in person; 3 and he thereupon issued orders to Cordoba to lay it out on a scale commensurate with the instructions, so as to include a church, government buildings, hospitals, and comfortable houses for the colonists, and also to make specifications and estimates. In addition to these gen- eral directions, and in view of the admitted inadequacy of the old regulations, he enclosed a copy of a set of regulations called the Plan of Pitic and directed Cordoba to proceed in all respects, except where specially otherwise ordered, in accordance with its provisions. 4 Cordoba, as was usual with him, fulfilled his orders with promptitude; and in May, Borica, being furnished with the engineer's plat, gave notice that the 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 671, 672. 2 Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 395. ^Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 356. 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 644, 645. DIEGO JDE BORICA. 579 new villa was ready for population; that in addition to other colonists, any inhabitants of Los Angeles or San Jose, who had had no lands assigned to them, would be accepted as settlers at Branciforte and should enjoy all the priviliges of other col- onists, and that no obstacles should be thrown in the way of their changing their residence to that place if they so desired. 1 The Plan of Pitic, a famous document among the Spanish Americans of those days, originated in the province of So- nora and was promulgated at Chihuahua on November [4, 1789. Its object was the establishment of a pueblo of white people as a barrier or protection against neighboring Indians, who were hostile or might at any time become so. The par- ticular occasion for such a pueblo in the case of Pitic was the presence of a fierce and warlike tribe, called the Seris, who had destroyed a mission on what is now the site of Guaymas and were threatening further devastations. To guard against them, the presidio of San Miguel de Orcasitas was moved to Pitic, now known as Hermosillo; and under its protection the settlement of a new pueblo at that place was ordered to pro- ceed in accordance with the directions contained in the plan, the main idea seeming to be the gradual raising of a popula- tion which should supply the presidio and by degrees occupy and civilize the entire neighborhood. But at the same time, while the plan was principally intended for Pitic, its authors contemplated that it should also furnish a general plan for the founding of pueblos throughout the comandancia of the Internal Provinces of the West, embracing the Californias, New Mexico and New Vizcaya as well as Sonora; and when it came finally to be adopted and approved by the king of Spain, which was before its promulgation at Chihuahua, it was with the express declaration that its main provisions were to apply in other cases of new foundations of a civil or municipal character throughout the jurisdiction. The chief features of the plan were that whenever a new pueblo was to be founded, which was in all cases to be in accordance with law and so as not to cause injury or detri- ment to any private individual nor to be within five leagues 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 130; VII, 663, 664. 580 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. of any other city, town or village of Spaniards, there was to be granted to it a tract of four square leagues of land, to be selected and marked out by definite and fixed boundaries either in a square or oblong form according to circumstances of topography. A portion of this tract was to be laid out into a town plat, with building lots and streets so arranged as to be as straight, regular and symmetrical as the nature of the case would allow, having in view convenience, cleanliness, health and adaptability to ornament and embellishment. Around the town plat commons were to be laid out for the general use of all the inhabitants and as a reserve for future building lots, and streets; and beyond the commons pasture lands, in the same manner. Of these commons and pasture lands, those portions which were best calculated for cultiva- tion were to be selected and reserved for distribution as culti- vable lands; and, if necessary, provision was to be made for constructing irrigating canals and ditches. Each establish- ment of this kind was to have a " comisionado " or chief mag- istrate, who, among his other powers and duties, was to have charge of the distribution of the building lots; and, whenever the population reached thirty pobladores or settlers, an ayun- tamiento or town council was to be elected, consisting of two ordinary alcaldes, six regidores or councilmen, a syndico or prosecuting attorney and certain other subordinate officers. The grants of lots to settlers were to be to them and their descendants forever, but on condition that they should keep arms and horses and be ready to march against an enemy whenever called upon; and within two years they should at least commence building houses on their town lots and culti- vating their agricultural land. After four years of residence, during which they were to be unable to alienate, mortgage or encumber, if in the meanwhile they complied with all the con- ditions imposed, they were to become and to be the absolute owners in fee, with full powers of sale and disposition except to a church, monastery or ecclesiastical community. There were many minor provisions; but all were calculated to carry out the main objects and purposes indicated. 1 » Cal. Archives; M. & C. I, 853-868. DIEGO DE BORICA. 581 The first importation of colonists for Branciforte arrived at Monterey on board the Concepcion on May 12, 1797. There were seventeen of them, nine of whom were men. 1 But, unfortunately, instead of being the strong, healthy and well- provided settlers desired by Borica, they were all miserable, half-naked individuals, and some of them afflicted with dis- ease. 2 With these, such as they were, no others having pre- sented themselves, Borica prepared to proceed with the foun- dation; and on July 17, after appointing Corporal Gabriel Moraga comisionado of the proposed establishment and issu- ing to him a series of instructions for his guidance and gov- ernment, he set out from Monterey and on July 24, 1797, founded the new villa. 3 It was not, under the circumstances, an encouraging begin- ning. But the colonists had been clothed and provided with necessaries before leaving Monterey; they carried along with them agricultural implements; they found shelter furnished and lands assigned for cultivation; and Moraga was enjoined to keep them at work and watch over their morals. 4 As soon as they were established, Borica returned to Monterey; and soon afterwards he wrote to the viceroy that it was impor- tant, among the new importations which were to be for- warded, to send enough young women to provide the unmar- ried men with wives. There were among the colonists then at Branciforte five bachelors. It was possible, he observed, to supply the want of wives in part from the Indian women at the mission. But this resource could not be relied on. One reason was because it was difficult to induce, the Indian women to separate themselves from their relatives. Another was because the missionaries objected to marriages of this kind, unless the proposed husbands were of exemplary habits. Under the circumstances he was of opinion that marriages between the colonists already at Branciforte, or those of a 1 Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 906. 2 " Todos llegaron cuasi desnudos y algunos enfermos de galico." — Cal. Ar- chives, P. R. IV 359. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 383, 384. * Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 869-871. 582 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. second importation of nineteen petty criminals from Guana- juato about to be sent up from San Bias, and Indian women of the missions would be extremely rare. It would be best, therefore, for the interests of the new foundation to send a sufficient number of women from Mexico; but at the same time he suggested that if they came as illy provided as the last immigrants, provision should be made for clothing them as soon as they arrived. 1 In the meanwhile Moraga put the colonists at work. They occupied houses built for them and cultivated fields, which were provided with irrigating canals laid out by Cordoba. They already possessed means of maintenance for a year; and all they had to do to secure abundance for the future was to turn up the generous soil and plant it." In January, 1798, Moraga reported the progress of affairs as entirely satisfactory.^ In September the second importation of colonists arrived, 4 increasing the population to some thirty-five or forty. The first crops had turned out well; everything seeme.d to promise better than could have been anticipated from the character of the population; and Borica felt encouraged in believing that the objects he had contemplated in the foundation would be accomplished. 5 But the establishment was not destined to be a success. For various reasons, notwithstanding the ad- vantages it possessed, it was not fitted for a large town; it did not become a popular or favorite place of residence; from the very start there grew up a prejudice against it; 6 and conse- quently it never advanced sufficiently to compare either with San Jose or Los Angeles. When the Americans came to occupy the country, fifty years after the foundation, it was almost forgotten that such a place as the villa of Branciforte had ever existed. When Cordoba and Alberni, in their surveys for new pueb- los in the early part of 1796 examined San Francisco, they 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 194, 195. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 653-655. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 749. 4 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 403, 404. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 251 253. 6 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 530. DIEGO DE HO RICA. 583 found it in very bad condition. The entire military establish- ment consisted of less than a dozen small adobe houses thatched with tule and partially surrounded with an adobe wall plastered over with mud They were all in a ruinous state and liable to be overthrown by every storm; nor did a winter pass without damage to them. Such was the presidio. About a mile distant, on the bluff overlooking the narrowest part of the entrance of the bay since famous under the name of the Golden Gate, was the fort or battery, also known as "el castillo" or the castle, built and furnished with a few pieces of ordnance by Governor Arrillaga in 1793. Borica, in 1795, upon his first examination of the place, considered the dis- tance between the presidio and the castillo as too great and proposed that the presidio should be removed to the neigh- borhood of some springs on the hill just back of the castillo. 1 But Cordoba and Alberni, upon the proposition being re- ferred to them, found that the springs referred to by Borica had entirely dried up and they reported that, on this and other accounts, it was impracticable to change the location. 2 Both, however, were impressed with the necessity of building a new presidio; for, as Alberni said, the actual establishment was an imaginary presidio rather than a real one. s As, however, the building of a new presidio was a matter requiring time and consideration, Cordoba set himself at work to make such repairs and improvements as were immediately necessary. He devoted his attention first to several sentry boxes, which he built in place of one that had been blown down by a storm the preceding February. 4 He also repaired the powder-magazine, which had also been injured. 5 He then projected and commenced a number of repairs to the castillo or fort, which he found in equally bad condition. There were thirteen cannon. there, three of them twenty-four- pounders, one of which was useless; two twelve-pounders, ' ' Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 177-179. - Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 602-604. 8 "EI actual presidio, cuyo titulo es imaginario," — Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 60 j. * Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 591: P. S. I'. XIV, 548. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 597. 584 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and the others smaller. But they had been so illy mounted and planted that they could have afforded little or no protec- tion against any vessel determined to force an entrance. 1 Even the twenty-four-pounders, according to Alberni, would not carry to the opposite shore, except when so elevated as to render anything like an aim altogether impracticable. 2 To make the fort in any respect useful required much labor and expense; and Cordoba could do nothing more than merely project and start the repairs, when he was called off to lay out the villa of Branciforte, after which he set out for Santa Barbara and San Diego to plan and get under way such re- pairs and improvements as were necessary in those places. 3 During all this time Borica was quite as busy as Cordoba, not only in providing for and assisting in the work actually going forward, but also in writing letters to the viceroy and urging upon him the importance of fortifying every exposed point and putting the territory in a complete state of defense. In the early part of 1797 Borica directed Cordoba, who in the meanwhile had returned from his trip southward, to return to San Francisco; push forward the repairs and improvements at the Castillo, and also to build a battery at the most suitable point to prevent enemies from anchoring or landing at Yerba Buena. This Yerba Buena was, properly speaking, the little valley and cove between Telegraph Hill on the north and Rincon Point on the south, now the central portion of the water front of the city of San Francisco, though what is now known as North Beach seems also to have been sometimes included in the general designation. It was then, and for many years afterwards continued to be, a mere waste, the northern and western portions rough and deeply gullied and the central and southern portions covered with sand ridges. Most of it was overgrown with bushes, chaparral and a few scrubby oak trees. There were no human inhabitants, except now and then a few strolling Indians; but wild cats and coyotes were plentiful; deer were often seen, not unfrequently 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIV, 255-261; S. P. XVII, 144-148. a Cal. Archives, S. I'. XVII, 148, 149. 3 Cal. Archives. S. P. IV, 686-688. DIEGO DE BO RICA. 585 cougars, and sometimes grizzly bears. Among the under- brush, there was to be found in great quantity the little aromatic or mint-like vine, called by the Spaniards " yerba buena " or good herb; and from its abundance the place seems to have derived its name. It is uncertain by whom it was first so called; for though Borica appears to have been one of the first in whose writings the name is found, he speaks of it as if familiarly known. 1 There can be no doubt that the shelter afforded vessels at North Beach and in the cove referred to, while the usual anchorage in front of the presidio was more or less exposed, had already attracted attention to it. But the first structure erected there was the battery of eight embrasures and five cannons projected and ordered by Borica in the spring of 1797 2 and afterwards before the end of the year built by Cordoba at what is now known as Black- Point. 3 The advantages of Yerba Buena as a place of anchorage appear to have been w r ell known at the time of a severe and disastrous storm which raged at San Francisco on the night of March 23, 1797. Much damage was done; but the greatest loss was that of the ship San Carlos, which had recently arrived from San Bias with ordnance and stores. This was, however, not the famous old "paquebot" San Carlos, which had brought up the first pioneers in 1769 and was afterwards the first vessel to enter the bay of San Fr"ancisco. That ship had been sent to the Philippine Islands in 1779 with news of war between Spain and England. It accomplished the voy- age to Manila with success; but that was substantially the end of its glory. It remained there while a new vessel, also called the San Carlos, sometimes with the additional name of "El 1 The mention of Yerba Buena referred to occurs in a letter of Borica to Cordoba, dated April 4, 1797. After directing Cordoba to make certain improve- ments at the Castillo, Borica proceeds: "Concluida esta operacion como mas urgente, despondra V. MD. la omstruccion de otra bateria en el parage mas pro- posito para impedir fondeen losenemigos en la Verba Buena y hagan su desem- barco: en ella se colocaren los canones sobrantes de la de San Joaquin y los que facilitar el teniente de fragata, Don Ramon de Saavedra." — Cal. Archives, P. S. p. xx r, 629, 630. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 187. 3 Cal. Archives. S. P. II, 429-431. 586 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Felipino," was sent back in its place; and this latter was the vessel that was lost. It appears to have been lying in front of the presidio. According to Vancouver, the invariable method adopted by the Spaniards in securing their vessels was by mooring them both stem and stern with many anchors and cables, never less than four and seldom less than six — a very injudicious practice, as he observed, where the tides are strong and irregular, 1 and still more so where such tides are combined with violent winds. It is obvious that a vessel will ride better under such circumstances when fastened by the stem alone, so as to allow it to swing like a weather-vane against the opposing forces; but if fastened at both ends, with its broadside against the wind or current or both com- bined, the difficulty of holding fast is much increased. How- ever the case may have been with the San Carlos, whether it was torn from its moorings or was caught in the storm after leaving them, as seems more probable, it is certain that the ship, after being driven on the rocks somewhere near the pre- sidio, attempted to run for the assured safe place of anchor- age at Yerba Buena, but failed to reach it, 2 and became a total wreck. 3 Fortunately most of the cargo had been previ- ously landed and among other things the ordnance, which Borica ordered to be placed in the new battery. 4 There was still another work at San Francisco, besides the presidio, the Castillo and the battery at Yerba Buena, which engaged Borica's attention in 1797. This was what was known as "el rancho del rey" or the royal cattle ranch. For three consecutive years a drought had prevailed and the cattle belonging to the government in the neighborhood of Monterey had become reduced to twelve hundred head, so that difficulty was anticipated in providing for the needs of the troops at San Francisco and the crews of the royal vessels touching there. In view of these circumstances Borica re- solved to found a separate establishment for raising cattle on 1 Vancouver, III, 47. 2 Cal. Archives, V. S. 1'. Ben. XXIV, 878. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 328; P. S. P. XV, 561. 4 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 629, 630. DIEGO BE BORICA. 587 government account in the neighborhood of San Francisco. Availing himself of the surveys of Cordoba and Alberni he fixed upon the rich valley and grassy hills just south of San Mateo as the location of the new establishment, and sent thither some two hundred and fifty head of cattle to start it. 1 It was the fate of this enterprise, like almost even-thing else that was done in those days on behalf of the civil government, to excite the opposition of the missionaries. The founding of the villa of Branciforte had caused a controversy as to juris- diction and boundaries with the mission of Santa Cruz; 2 a controversy of the same character had been long going on be- tween the pueblo of San Jose and the mission of Santa Clara; and now the missionaries of San Francisco objected strenu- ously to the government cattle ranch, claiming that it was cal- culated to unduly interfere with their rights of supplying the troops and vessels with beef at their own prices.* Borica was prudent enough to keep on as good terms as possible with the missionaries and did not allow their complaints to cause a quarrel or rupture. But at the same time he did not for an instant suspend the work he had projected or in any respect alter his plans. On the contrary he went on perfecting his arrangements at San Mateo; and the next year he had the satisfaction of learning that the viceregal government at Mexico thought as he did of the missionary complaints and that it fully and unqualifiedly approved all he had done. 4 The narrative thus given of city-founding, fortification- building and other public work projected, planned and more or less completely carried out since 1795, exhibits only in part the vast amount of labor performed by Cordoba. There was hardly an engineering work in the country that he did not inspect and where practicable improve. He thus in 1796 made- surveys and valuable improvements in the system of irrigation for agricultural purposes at San Jose. 5 Besides his other 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 192, 193. ? Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 247, 248. :i Cal. Archives P. R. IV, 411-417. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 840, 841. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 465. 588 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. work at Branciforte, he built a bridge over the river between the villa and the mission of Santa Cruz, 1 also a water-mill 2 and lime-kilns. 3 On his visit to Santa Barbara and San Diego he made various repairs and improvements in those presidios and constructed a battery at the latter place/ He also busied himself in collecting materials for a new map of California, which after his return from San Diego he com- pleted and sent to Borica, D who in November, 1797, trans- mitted it to Mexico. 6 He also undertook to give the Indians, and particularly those of Santa Clara, instructions in the art of building houses. 7 It is true that the most, if not all, of this work was suggested and pushed forward by the unceas- ing and indomitable energy of Borica; but it was Cordoba, more than any one else, who did it; and without him little or nothing would have been accomplished. He was evidently a man of capacity, whom it would have been a happiness for any country to permanently possess. Unfortunately for California, Cordoba was only a sojourner. He had been sent up with special reference to putting the country in a state of defense on the Occasion of the war with France. Almost as soon as that was over, the viceroy di- rected his return to Mexico. 8 It doubtless caused a pang to Borica to lose him; nor was it pleasant to Cordoba to part from a friend with whom his relations had been so cordial and for whom he entertained so high a respect as is evidenced by the tone of their correspondence. But Cordoba had other and more powerful ties of affection in Mexico than in Califor- nia. He had left his wife and children there; and, though favorable news of their health reached him from time to time, 9 his absence from them could not have been otherwise than 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 655. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 241. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 250. 4 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 671. 5 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 671. 6 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 223. " Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 681. 8 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 6cS2. "Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 6S0, 693. DIEGO DE BORICA. 589 painful. The viceroy had ordered his return in November, 1797; but the order did not reach him until the following April. He left California in October, 1798, carrying with him the well-merited compliment of Borica, that he had with promptitude and exactness in all respects performed all the duties with which he had been charged. 1 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 431. CHAPTER V. BORICA (CONTINUED). IT is almost impossible within any reasonable compass to describe the great variety of subjects to which Borica felt called upon, during his administration, to direct his attention, and to explain the influence he exerted and the effects he produced. Entirely apart from what may be called his polit- ical and military duties, his foundation of Branciforte, the important part he played in the establishment of five new missions, the repair of the fortifications at the four presidios, the erection of new batteries at Yerba Buena and San Diego, and the amelioration of the condition of the Indians, he found other matters to busy himself with more than sufficient in themselves to engage the time of an ordinary governor. Few other men would have done, or could have done, what he did. He was a remarkable man. His intelligence and ability, his benevolence, integrity and energy were uncommon. In view of his time and surroundings, he was an extraordinary gov- ernor. Upon his arrival in California, with his mind full of proj- ects for making a great and progressive country and his enthusiasm ablaze with the idea of pushing it far forward in the path of civilization, the first and greatest difficulty that stood in his way was the inherently lazy, ignorant and vicious character of the Spanish population. There were among them many good families; even among the earliest pioneers, there were such names as those of Alvarado, Amador, Ber- nal, Carrillo, Estrada, Guerrero, Noriega, Vallejo and others of respectability; 1 but as a general rule the population were > Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 577. (5■ Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 528. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 556. 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 529. ' A Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, S22. 38 Vol. I. 594 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. would entertain confidential complaints against the comis- lonado and alcalde themselves. 1 And vnot long afterward-, having apparently succeeded in gaining the desired informa- tion, he wrote to the alcalde a scathing letter, charging him in direct terms with violations of his duty and with assisting crime instead of preventing or punishing it. " Ever since you have exercised the office of alcalde," said Borica, " noth- ing but ill reports have been heard from San Jose. Proceed, henceforth, with prudence and j.ustice, or I shall feel obliged to take such measures of punishment as the circumstances deserve." ' A few weeks afterwards he accepted the alcalde's resignation and directed him to turn over the office to a suc- cessor. 3 What Borica required of an alcalde is to be seen in the charge he delivered, apparently to the same individual, who had thus fallen so far short of his expectations. " I approve of the election of your honor by the inhabitants of San Jose as alcalde for the ensuing year and am persuaded that you will exercise the duties of your office with the integrity of .an honest man. You will present in your own person an exam- ple of well regulated demeanor and application to business. You will consent to no immoral practices, to no drunkenness, to no species of gaming that is prohibited by law. You will encourage and stimulate every poblador, who does not enjoy military exemption, to work his land and take proper care of his stock. You will permit no idleness. You will in fine be zealous in complying with all the obligations of your employ- ment, treat the Indians both Christian and gentile with kindness and consideration, and fulfill the orders of the gov- ernment without attempting to put strained interpretations upon them." 4 Borica not only thus endeavored, by wrestling with existing evils among the adult population, to bring about an improved condition of affairs; but he also, with wise forethought for 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 765, 766. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 772. s Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 777. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 750. DIEGO DE BORICA. 595 the future, concerned himself about the youth of the country and, by every means in his power, encouraged education. He may be called the founder of secular schools in California. The first, or first important, document found in the California archives upon the subject is a letter of his to the comand- ante of the guard at San Jose, dated December 17, 1794, relative to contributions to be made for the pay of a school teacher, named Manuel Vargas, and expressing his satisfac- tion at the fair prospects of establishing a school at that place, where the children might be instructed in religion and taught to read and write. 1 But promises are cheaper than performance. When the time came, the people of San Jose did not respond. Borica, however, had the matter at heart and was determined. In July, 1795, he ordered the alcalde at San Jose to compel the colonists to send their children to the school and to pay the teacher two and a half reals monthly for each child. In other words he instituted a system of compulsory education.'"' In 1796 he ordered the comand- ante of San Diego to call together the parents of the Spanish youth of that place, who had objected to having their boys apprenticed to mechanical occupations, and to con- vince them that they were acting strangely against their own interests. It was plainly advantageous, he directed him to say, that the youth should be enabled to support themselves by honest labor and that in the meanwhile they should be kindly treated, well fed and clothed and receive a regular education. And he, therefore, ordered a list of all the boys between the ages of seven and eighteen years to be sent to him. 3 A few months afterwards, he wrote to the same com- 1 This interesting document is as follows: " Sefior Comandante de la Escolta del Pueblo de San Josef. Monterrey, 17 de Diciembre, 1794. Por el parte de V. MD. de 9 de corriente quedo enterado de la comformidad con que todo esse honrrado vecindario accedi6 d prestar la troxe al maestro de escuela, Dn. Manuel Vargas, respecto k no necesitarse de ella hasta la cosecha proxima. Hagale V. MD entender lo gusto que me ha sido y que espero contribuyen todos segun sus facultades & sostener un establecimiento tan util a sus hijos y por el qual lograron instruirse en los dogmas de Nuestra Santa Religion, aprendiendo al mismo tiempo k leer y escrivir. A. V. M. encargo el cumplimiento exacto dequanto se previene en las instrucciones que le goviernan; sera medio para que sea atendido en sus ascensos. " — Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 520, 521. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 544. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 400, 401. 596 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. andante that the progress of the school at that place did not correspond with the pay of the teacher and that he should hold the comandante, who had charge of the business, respon- sible unless there was speedy improvement. 1 The character and attainments of the secular school teachers of those early days do not appear to have been of a very high order. The teacher at San Diego, as has just been stated, was not up to his work. In 1797 the comandante of Santa Barbara wrote that the school teacher of that place and a cabin boy of the ship Princesa then there had exchanged places, and that there was a consequent improvement in the school department. 2 In 1798 Manuel Vargas, the old teacher at San Jose, seems to have drifted down to Santa Barbara and to have fallen into the bad habit of drinking too much aguardiente. Borica accordingly wrote to the comandante that drunkenness was a detestable vice, in fact a forerunner of all other vices; 3 that it would not be tolerated in a school teacher and that Vargas should be turned out of his employ- ment, if he did not at once amend his conduct. 4 Fortunately Vargas was open to reason. No second order from Borica was necessary. There was a sudden and complete change in the manners of the pedagogue; and six months afterwards Borica was as profuse in his encomiums on the advances made in the school as before he had been severe in his cen- sures of the short-comings of the teacher. 3 Besides secular schools for youth, Borica was instrumental in establishing a more regular system of instruction for the neophytes. In 1795 he issued a circular to the presidents of the missions of both Alta and Baja California, directing them to form a school in every establishment and teach the Indians to speak, read and write Spanish, to the absolute exclusion of the native languages. This circular was based upon a royal order of July 23, 1793, in which the Spanish government undertook to destroy and abolish the Indian languages and 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. V, 407. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 197. 3 " Un vicio detestable que sirve de guia a todos los demas." — Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 195. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 195. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 208. DIEGO BE B0R1CA. 597 supplant them with the Castilian. It may be doubtful whether Borica entirely approved of the plan; but he com- plied with superior orders and enclosed a copy of the royal cedula with his circular. 1 He evidently felt more clear in the practicability of teaching' the Spanish youth in their own language, and also in teaching the soldiers, which he likewise ordered to be done." While his care for his own people was exemplary, his regard for the Indians was no less so; and he invariably spoke of them and acted towards them with the most tender and commiserating solicitude. But at the same time it is clear that he regarded the amelioration of their con- dition in respect to food and clothing as of more immediate importance than the supplanting of their language. 3 The school system, as a means of stemming the tide of existing evils, was supplemented by Borica with the encour- agement of a new branch of agriculture, which promised large returns. This was the cultivation of hemp and flax. These articles were in large demand for cordage, particularly in the marine department at San Bias. California seemed pecu- liarly adapted for their growth; and Borica hoped that the love of gain, to be anticipated from their easy and abundant production in the territory, would furnish a powerful aid in his efforts to civilize and improve the country. In 1795 he wrote to the viceroy that he had recommended the cultiva- tion to the president of the missions and comandantes of the presidios, and that he would encourage it by all means in his power. 4 In 1796 he wrote to San Bias for four fanegas ot seed, 5 and about the same time to Ignacio Vallejo at San Jose, deploring the poor condition of the hemp that had been grown there and directing him to come to Monterey and learn something about its culture. 6 In 1797 he ordered new fields to be sown at San Jose and Indians to be employed and fairly paid to cultivate them. 7 He made arrangements at the same 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 250, 251. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 462, 463. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 441-443. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 45. b Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 12. Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 459. 7 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 729, 737. 598 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. time that the product should be carried to Monterey and thence transported by sea to San Bias. 1 Unfortunately the first year's yield was spoiled by Mateo Bello, who had charge of its curing, and turned out when it reached San Bias to be worthless. All Borica could do, under the circumstances, was to summarily dismiss Bello and order better care to be taken next year. 2 Besides hemp, Borica encouraged other branches of agriculture and also manufactures. He had a flouring-mill built at San Luis Obispo, as well as at Branciforte, 3 and a soap factory near Monterey. 4 There was in fact hardly any branch of industry to which he did not direct more or less attention. In 1799 he wrote out a lengthy report of the prog- ress of the country, stating that the harvests of wheat, maize, barley, beans and peas had been abundant; stock-raising sat- isfactory; manufactures of blankets and coarse cloths in good condition, and the various trades in manifest advance. Hemp culture continued to be, to a certain extent, an experiment, but with fair prospects for the future. 3 Another matter, which engaged much of Borica's attention, was overland communication with Sonora and New Mexico. It had for years been regarded as an object of the greatest importance. But various causes had conspired to prevent its accomplishment. Chief among these were the fierce and intractable character of the Indians inhabiting the interven- ing country and the arid and desolate character of the inter- vening country itself. On both sides of the Colorado for hundreds of miles above its mouth extend sandy and stony deserts, hot, waterless and comparatively herbless. Only cacti and other thorny vegetation, characteristic of the waste places of the earth, grow there. Along the beds of the streams in some places, however, there are rich alluvial bot- toms, made up of the sediment brought down a distance of a thousand miles from the heights of the middle of the conti- nent; and there the vegetation is rank and very little labor 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 730. 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 742, 743. 3 Cal. Archives, P. K. IV, 241. * Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 569. ■ r > Cal. Archives, P*. R. VII, 487-489- DIEGO DE BORICA. 599 yields abundant returns. In all these places there were In- dian populations, most of them warlike and treacherous to the last degree. Several attempts had been made to convert them, and to render the passage through their territories practicable; but all had failed. The most conspicuous of these attempts had been the establishment of the two Franciscan missions on the Colorado, which were destroyed on the occasion when Captain Rivera y Moncada lost his life in 1781. But that failure did not prevent other attempts from being made. Some thirteen years afterwards the Dominicans of Lower California, after establishing their five new missions along the ocean coast south of San Diego, undertook the foundation of several new missions on the upper gulf coast; and in doing so they had in view the same general objects as had been con- templated by the Franciscans; that is to say, the occupation of the mouth of the Colorado and the protection of overland communication with Sonora and the countries beyond. When Arrillaga in September, 1794, left Alta California and hurried southward, one of his objects was to assist in the foundation of the contemplated new missions. He accord- ingly put himself in immediate communication with the Dominican missionaries interested in the subject and espe- cially Father Jose Loriente, who appears to have been the leading spirit in these new enterprises; and on April 27, 1795, they founded the mission of San Pedro Martir de Verona at a place, called by the natives Casilepe, east of Santo Domingo and some forty or fifty miles south of the mouth of the Col- orado. 1 Two years afterwards, on November 12, 1797, they founded the mission of Santa Catalina Virgen y Martir at a place, called by the natives Xaca Tabojol, on the eastern slope of the mountains near the Colorado. 2 Both these foundations took place under the general supervision of Borica. In 1796 he had written to the viceroy that he contemplated opening communication with the people of New Mexico and had col- lected such information as was possible in relation to the sub- ject; and he referred in terms of commendation to travels in »Cal. Archives. P. S. P. XII, 282: XIII, 236. a Cal. Archives, M. II, 682; P. R. V, 716. 600 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. those regions made by Fathers Dominguez and Escalante and by Father Garces. He had even arranged with Felipe de Goy- coechea, the comandante of Santa Barbara, to send an expe- dition into those countries; but his plans had been thwarted by the opposition of the missionaries and the difficulty of procuring the necessary soldiers. 1 In 1797 he wrote to Arril- laga on the same subject, approved his views as to the most practicable and least dangerous means of accomplishing the desired communication and commended the prudence he had displayed and the zeal for the service of the king he had manifested.''' As a magistrate Borica, so far as any account of his ad- ministration remains, appears to have been just; but his justice was always tempered with kindness and consideration for the weakness of humanity. Most of the punishments in aggravated cases, which he was called upon to inflict, however, were such as had either been pronounced or were approved by the viceregal government at Mexico. One of these cases was the punishment of a neophyte of San Luis Obispo, called Silberio, who had killed his wife Rebecca. He was sentenced to labor in chains for eight years at the presidio of San Diego; and Borica directed that if practicable he should be employed on board the launch engaged in supply- ing the fort on Point Guijarros, now Loraa, with water and provisions. At the same time he sentenced an Indian woman accomplice, named Rosa, to domestic labor for the same length of time in the family of Jose Dario Arguello at the presidio *of San Francisco. By this means, he remarked, better results might be accomplished than by inflicting the ordinary punishment murder deserved. 3 In another case of murder of a neophyte of San Buenaventura by other Indians of the same mission, the punishment was one hundred lashes, twenty-five on each of four days, and four years of penal labor at the presidio of Santa Barbara. In inflicting these sentences, the viceroy had evidently been influenced by 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 683-686. 2 Cal. Archives, I'. K. Y, 735. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 449, 450. DIEGO DE BORICA. 601 Borica's suggestions that the ignorance and natural brutality of the criminals should be taken into account and their lives spared. 1 There were other cases of murder and other pun- ishments more or less similar to those stated; but no capital executions. 2 In a case of incest committed by a soldier named Jose Fernandez at Santa Barbara, the chief criminal was condemned to ten years of penal labor on the public works at San Bias and was accordingly sent out of the coun- try, while his daughter Mariana was sentenced to two years of domestic servitude in California. 3 1 In addition to criminal jurisdiction, Borica was also called upon to act judicially in various civil matters. A specimen of his manner of proceeding was afforded in 1796 by his action in reference to a controversy between the missionaries and Manuel Nieto about irrigable lands at the mission of San Gabriel. As the litigation between the parties promised to be long and bitter and breaches of the peace and disturbances of public order seemed likely to occur unless specially prevented, he deemed it proper to issue a preliminary or interlocutory decree. He therefore directed that, as it was important not- withstanding the controversy that the lands in contest should be cultivated, each party should until final adjudication con- tinue to hold and cultivate the land then in his or their pos- session; and he charged the comandante of Santa Barbara to see to it that his orders in this respect were strictly enforced and respected. 4 The variety of work, to which it was thus necessary for a zealous and conscientious governor of both the Californias to attend, and especially the difficulty of devoting proper atten- tion to every part of the long extent of territory from Cape San Lucas on the south to San Francisco on the north, in- duced Borica, at an early period of his administration, to favor a division of government. A project of this kind had been under discussion for some time, owing principally to the fact 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, 160-164. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, S43-S45. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 472. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 75. G02 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. that in accordance with the existing system, it took entirely too long for superior orders intended for Lower California to be received and executed there. It was necessary for them to pass in the first place from the capital at Mexico to Monterey and thence back again, as it were, to his subordinate at Lorcto, thus requiring about two thousand miles of trans- mission which would be unnecessary if there should be sep- arate governments of the two Californias. In March, 1796, the subject being again mooted among the authorities at Mexico, the viceroy requested Borica's views upon it. 1 In September he replied fully. He said that it required about three months for dispatches to reach him from Mexico and a month or more longer to reach the comandante at Loreto through him; and consequently that much time was lost. There were many matters of great importance relating to the affairs of Lower California, such as the management of the missions and Indians, the government of the whites, the regu- lation of mines and pearl fisheries, the administration of the military and revenue, and others, which could be much better attended to by a governor at Loreto than by one at Monterey. This would especially be the case if a man of such great intelligence, application and experience as Arrillaga were charged with them. It was to be further noted, he went on in effect to say, that there was a difference between the two sections arising from the fact that the missionaries of Lower California were all Dominicans while those of Alfa California were all Franciscans; and, as there was a diversity in the plans and interests of these two religious orders, it would not be ill to have a diversity of governments. Each might do better. Under a distinct governor for Lower California, the Dominicans might be better enabled to extend their estab- lishments around the head of the gulf and clasp hands, so to speak, with the missionaries of Sonora. Under a distinct governor for Alta California, the Franciscans might be better enabled to fill up the country north of San Diego between the ocean and the Sierra. In view of these and like consid- erations, Borica was decidedly of opinion that the govern- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIV, 4S0 48.3. DIEGO DE BO RICA. 603 ment should be divided by a line drawn below San Diego, the most southerly of the Franciscan missions, and above San Miguel, the most northerly of the Dominican establishments. 1 Though the proposed division of government did not then, nor for several years afterwards, take place, Borica's report upon the subject is interesting. It exhibits in a remarkable manner his readiness, his frankness and his honesty of pur- pose. He was plainly a man who regarded his duty more than himself. He was clear in his great office. It is pleasing, therefore, to know that the viceroy Branciforte fully recog- nized his merits and did himself the honor of publicly express- ing his satisfaction. In June, 1797, he complimented him in the highest terms of praise for his efforts in the cause of edu- cation and in the encouragement of agriculture and manu- factures; for the various improvements which he had effected; for the flourishing state to which he had brought the country, and for the wise measures he had recommended; and he added that as soon as an opportunity presented he would present a fitting account of them to his majesty, the king. 2 Whether this representation was made or not is uncertain. But, as Branciforte retired from the viceroyalty and returned to Spain in 1798, it is more than likely that a man, who had impressed him so favorably as Borica, must have been fre- quently mentioned and with great commendation in his reports on American affairs. At the same time it may be added that he could not well have been mentioned oftener or praised higher than he deserved. The immense labor he did from the time he landed in Cal- ifornia and the changes wrought by his transfer of residence from Arispe to Monterey produced bad effects upon his phys- ical constitution. He seems to have endeavored to preserve his old regimen and for this purpose had several barrels of wine, such doubtless as he was in moderation accustomed to, sent after him from Mexico. 3 In November, 1797, the gober- nadora presented him with a California daughter; 4 and in his 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 652-659. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 782. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. Y, ^77. < Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 688. 604 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. good humor he commended her for augmenting the Christian population. 1 But his health began to fail. In May, 1798, he wrote to Goycoechea that spectacles, which had been sent him, did not suit; 2 and it seems likely that the trouble was not in the spectacles but in the eyes, which had been over-taxed and were growing dim. Soon afterwards he found an old injury, caused by too constant and too severe riding on horse- back, so aggravated as to prevent him from attending to his duties with his usual celerity. He therefore deemed it best, both for the public service and for himself, to ask to be relieved at least temporarily. He accordingly on April 1, 1799, addressed a letter to the viceroy, setting forth that after thirty-five years of active service, in the course of which he had ridden over ten thousand leagues, his constitution was so shattered that he deemed it necessary to return to Mexico for medical or surgical treatment and he consequently asked to be relieved of his government or at least allowed leave of absence for eight months. 3 About the same time, in address- ing one of his friends, he excused his brevity by saying that it was as difficult for him to dictate a letter as to write one — that he felt old and had lost his energy.* In September, his request to be relieved having been com- plied with, he appointed Arrillaga to act as gobernador inter- ino at Loreto until a regular successor should be appointed, and ordered Pedro de Alberni, comandante at San Francisco, to take charge of affairs at Monterey. 5 He then, with his wife and family, which at that time consisted of three children, 6 set out for San Diego; and on January 16, 1800, sailed from that port on board the Concepcion for San Bias. 7 As the vessel passed out into the ocean and he looked back upon the dim form of Point Loma gradually sinking in the distance, it was 1 He wrote to Cordoba, November 26, 1797: "TieneV. MD. una nifla mas ;i quien mandar, por que Maria Magdalena no quiere ser menos que otras en esto de aumentar la Cristianidad." — Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI, 671. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 176. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 520, 523. * Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 761. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 566, 567. e Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 522. 7 Cal. Archives, 1'. S. 1'. XXI, 91, 92. DIEGO DE BORICA. 605 his last sight of Alta California. He reached San Bias and thence managed to travel as far as Durango; but at the latter place his career ended. He died there on July 19, 1800. 1 He had been governor of the Californias counting from his arrival at Loreto in May, 1794, to his departure from San Diego in January, 1800, five years and eight months. 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. JX, 157. CHAPTER VI. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. JOSE JOAQUIN DE ARRILLAGA became the eighth governor of the Californias. He had already acted as tem- porary governor from the death of Romeu in 1792 to the arrival of Borica in 1794. He had then gone back to Loreto and for the next six years served as captain of the presidio at that place, to which office he had been originally appointed in 1783. During these six years he did much traveling from point to point; made many explorations and surveys; attended to the suppression of the old missions of Santiago and Guad- alupe and the foundation of the new ones of San Pedro Martir and Santa Catalina; and in the meanwhile, as the lieutenant of Borica, managed all the other public business, both political and military, of Lower California. Towards the end of 1799, when the resignation and retirement of Borica were determined upon, he, at Borica's suggestion, wrote to the royal government, soliciting the office of gobernador propie- tario about to be vacated. 1 The letter, containing his peti- tion, he sent to Borica, who was then about to embark at San Diego; and Borica on December 29, 1799, wrote a marginal note, setting forth Arrillaga's long and able services, his knowledge and experience, his prudence and discretion, the discipline he had maintained among his troops, the rectitude and disinterestedness with which he had fulfilled all his duties; and, in the highest terms of praise, recommended his appoint- ment. 2 The document thus strengthened was forwarded to Mexico and thence to Madrid. l Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXVI, 450-452. 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXVI, 450. (606) ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 607 In the meanwhile the old proposition of separating the governments of Alta and Baja California continued to be dis- cussed in official circles; and in view of its speedy settlement, the appointment of a gobernador propietario was reserved. In March, 1804, it was determined at Madrid to make the separation and substantially as had been recommended by Borica; and a royal order to that effect was issued the same month. 1 By the same royal order, Arrillaga was appointed "gobernador militar y politico " or permanent governor of the upper or northern province, which was named in the paper Nueva or New California, with an annual salary of four thousand dollars, and directed to serve as temporary governor of the lower or southern province, which was called Antigua or Old California, until such time as a gobernador propietario of that province also should be appointed. 2 It was not long, however, before that event took place. The choice fell upon Felipe de Goycoechea, the comandante of Santa Barbara. His commission was made out and trans- mitted from Madrid in 1805. 3 Goycoechea was then fifty- eight years of age, had been in service twenty-three years, had approved himself an able officer and in consideration of his services had been, in 1797, promoted to the rank of cap- itan. 4 In 1806, soon after his installation in his new office, the dividing line between the two provinces, thus distinctly separating his jurisdiction from that of Arrillaga in Alta Cal- ifornia, was fixed at the Arroyo de Barrabas 6 del Rosario, some fifteen or twenty miles south of San Diego. 5 At the same time the military jurisdiction over the Dominican mis- sion of San Miguel just south of the dividing line, which had theretofore been exercised by the presidio of San Diego, was transferred to the presidio of Loreto; 6 and thus the separa- tion of the two governments became as complete in military 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 441. » Cal. Arcnives, P. S. P. XVIII, 441-444; P. K. IX, 604. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXXIX, 493, 494; P. R. X, 23, 33. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 248. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. X, 4, 8. «Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 120. G08 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and political matters as it had for many years been in ecclesi- astical matteis. When Borica left California in 1800 and Arrillaga became governor for the second time, the military establishment con- sisted of about four hundred persons, who were maintained at an annual cost of a little over ninety-eight thousand dollars. Of these persons, there were thirty-eight regularly attached to San P'rancisco; sixty-five to Monterey; sixty-one to Santa Barbara and San Diego respectively, and seventy-one to Loreto. There were thirty belonging to the marine depart- ment stationed at the latter place. Besides these there was a body of seventy Catalonian volunteers and eighteen artillery- men, who had been sent from San Bias in anticipation of an attack from England and who were scattered at various points. 1 There were a few batteries, one at Yerba Buena, one at San Francisco, one at Monterey and one at San Diego; but they amounted to very little as means of defense. No one of them could have successfully resisted an assault by a single ship of war. The only protection upon which the country could depend was its remoteness, its weakness and its supposed poverty. The only defense it could have made was that planned by Borica, of abandoning the establish- ments along the coast and retiring, carrying as much property as possible and driving the stock into the interior. The population of whites was so sparse that there was little or no opportunity of recruiting among them; and the Indians were not reliable enough for soldiers. A few attempts had been made to gather recruits; on one occasion by drafting the young reprobates of San Jose, 2 and on another by raising a company in Lower California. 3 But neither attempt yielded adequate results, while in the natural course of events the ranks were being rapidly thinned by death. Two officers of high rank died about this time. One was Hermenegildo Sal, the other Pedro de Alberni. The former had come to the country with Anza and was made store- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVII, 423, 424. 2 Cal. Archives, V. R. VI, 738, 740. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVII, S07-813. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 609 keeper at San Francisco in 1776. In 1782 he was a sergeant, then thirty-six years of age. 1 In 1792 he was an ensign and in command at San Francisco when Vancouver landed there in November of that year. The English captain spoke in high terms of Sal and particularly of the decorous and pleas- ing behavior of his wife and children on the occasion of the navigator's visit to their mud residence at the presidio." He was in fact so much pleased that he afterwards gave the name of Point Sal to a promontory near San Luis Obispo. In 1796, Sal, who in the meanwhile had risen to the rank of teniente or lieutenant, delivered over the command at San Francisco, with a very full report on the condition of military affairs at that place, to Jose Dario Arguello and removed to Monterey, where he also became comandante. 3 In the early part of 1800 he complained of his infirmities and asked to be retired with the rank of capitan.* In September, while sit- ting with his family in his own house, he was attacked by a settler whom he had been obliged in the course of his official duties some months previously to punish, and was severely wounded in the right hand. 5 The hurt was not mortal, but it seems to have aggravated his failing condition of health. He died on December 8, 1800, and was buried in the mission church at San Carlos. 6 Pedro de Alberni was captain of the first company of Catalonian volunteers, having the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and at Borica's departure was left in mili- tary command of the four presidios of Alta California. He appears to have been afflicted with dropsy 7 and died at Mon- terey on March 11, 1802. Like Sal, he received extreme unction and made an exemplary ending; and his remains were likewise buried in the church of San Carlos. 8 1 Cal, Archives, S. P. I, 491. '-' Vancouver, III, 13. :| Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIV, 57S-580. * Cal. Archives, S. P. IV, 484. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, 165-168. u Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVI II, 54. 7 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII. 506. 8 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 490, 491. 39 Vol. I. 610 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. The death of Alberni left the chief military command of Aha California in the hands of Jose Dario Arguello, the com- andante of San Francisco; and he continued to exercise it until the separation of the two governments. Up to that time Arrillaga had remained at Loreto; ' but, as soon as he was appointed gobernador propietario, he prepared to change his residence to Monterey and arrived there, traveling over- land and making various stoppages on the way, at the beginning of 1806." Arrillaga's first care on assuming his new government of Alta California was to inspect the various presidios and mili- tary establishments. He found them in what he called v an unhappy and most deplorable state. Five years had elapsed since the departure of Borica; several severe storms had occurred, causing great damage; and no repairs had been made. During the last eight days of 1798 and the first twenty days of 1799, there had been a hurricane of wind and rain at San Francisco, which battered down the adobe walls of the fortifications there; 3 and in February, 1802, another furious storm at the same place blew off roofs and beat down palisades, completing so to speak the destruction of pre- vious years. 1 The ordnance, which had never been of much account, was ruined. At Monterey the condition of affairs was little better. At Santa Barbara the buildings were in a somewhat more inhabitable state; but there w r as only a single cannon. At San Diego the situation resembled that at San Francisco, with the exception that the guns at Point Guijarros were in good condition. But they were so illy mounted as to be almost useless. The number of troops was also con- siderably diminished by the withdrawal in 1805 of the Cata- lonian volunteers. 6 Such troops as remained were in general but an idle and spiritless set who did little and cared less for the welfare of the country. The missionaries attributed 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. XI, 408-411. < il. Archives, P. R. VIII, 80-190. a Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 499-501. ' Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 519, 520. Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 230-232. '• 1 ;il. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 11S 120. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 611 the sad state of affairs to the remissness of the soldiers in performing their religious duties. The}' especially called attention to several at San Francisco, who had neglected their Easter obligations to the church, and to the fact that very soon afterwards news came of an earthquake' at that place, showing that God was angry; and Arrillaga seemed disposed to think there might be something in these absurd notions. 1 As, however, there was no longer any expectation of an attack from foreign powers and the troops, poor as they were, were still sufficient to keep down the miserable Indians, the military were sufficient for the needs of the times. The population of Alta California in 1805, counting the Spaniards and mission Indians or all who were registered at the then existing nineteen missions, four presidios, two pueb- los and one villa, was a little over twenty-two thousand six hundred, of whom only about two thousand were whites or gente de razon.* In 18 10 it was a little over twenty thousand eight hundred, of whom over two thousand and fifty were whites. 3 The whites were slowly increasing, while the Indi- ans were rapidly diminishing. This was owing, so far as the Indians were concerned, chiefly to two causes: first, epidemics, and, secondly, desertions. In 1798 Borica wrote that the small- pox, then prevalent at San Bias, had not attacked California notwithstanding several vessels had come from there; and he hoped the climate was inimical to it. 4 Like a wise and pru- dent governor, however, he had taken very efficient measures of prevention, ordering a complete system of quarantine, fumi- gation and hospital service, and thus doubtless kept it off:' But there were other epidemics, affecting the head and throat; and these were in many cases fatal- especially at Soledad in 1802, 6 and at Monterey in 1805. 7 /The desertions referred to 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 727, 728. a Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 589-603. 3 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. 4 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 423, 424 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 170, 171. ,; Cal. Archives. P. S. P. XVIII, 500, 501. • Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 178. 612 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. were the result of cruelties exercised towards the neophytes, which after Borica's time became as frequent as they had been before. It seems clear that Arrillaga was altogether in too much accord with the missionaries to properly protect the Indians. Expeditions became frequent — partly in search of fugitives and partly to chastise the gentiles between whom and the neophytes at the missions there grew up a mutual and deadly hatred. 1 In 1800 the gentiles in the neighborhood of San Juan Bautista threatened that mission with destruction. 2 In 1805 Father Pedro Cuevas, while on a visit among the gen- tiles in the neighborhood of San Jose, was attacked and wounded and several of his partv killed; and there might have been a very serious uprising, had not Sergeant Luis Pe- ralta promptly gone out with eighteen soldiers and about as many volunteers from the pueblo and killed a dozen and cap- tured twice as many more of the Indians. 3 In 1808 several Indian women were publicly flogged with twenty-five lashes each at the mission of San Jose, and the result was by no means a quieting one.* Arrillaga objected strenuously to the publicity, but not to the whipping; 5 and, as his action was of a piece with the general treatment the Indians received throughout the country, their hostility and desperation in- creased. In 1 8 10 there was an outbreak at San Gabriel, which was put down without much trouble by soldiers from San Diego; 6 but another uprising the same year near San Jose required all the force and resources of the famous Ga- briel Moraga — who was noted as the best' Indian fighter of his day — to overcome. He and his soldiers were kept at bay for five or six hours; and, though they finally triumphed and overpowered the Indians, it was not without a desperate struggle in which several of the whites were wounded and one killed) 7 1 ( :.il. Archives, P. R. XII, 385. a Cal. Archives, S. P. VIII, 623-626. »Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 178, 179. * Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 728. 5 Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 732. 6 Cal. Archives, 1'. R. XI, 44, 45. 7 Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 565^; P. S. P. XIX, 1016-1019. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 613 The result of these expeditions and castigations was to repress uprisings for a time; but the bitter feeling of the Indians continued much the same. It showed itself in other ways. In 1811 a neophyte of San Diego attempted to poison the missionary; 1 and in 1812 several of the neophytes of Santa Cruz murdered Father Andres Ouintana of that place." They did it so secretly and carefully that for some time it was uncertain who the criminals were; but they were at length detected, convicted and sentenced to two hundred lashes and ten years at public labor. On being asked the reason of their committing so heinous a crime, they answered that Father Quimana had ordered a scourge of iron to be made and caused them to be lashed with it. ! Whether this was in fact the real cause of the murder may perhaps admit of some doubt. It was disputed by the friends of the dead mission- ary, who claimed that he was a devout man and of good char- acter. But it seems certain that there must have been some special reason of murderous bitterness against him. And that there were many cases of outrageous cruelty practiced, suffi- cient to excite in savage breasts the thought and desire for bloody vengeance, and quite as likely by him as by any other, there can be no question. While the Indians at the missions were decreasing in num- bers, the whites, including the offspring of soldiers ana other whites who had married Indian women, were gradually in- creasing. There was nothing to prevent their rapid growth in population. The climate of the country, as was noted by Vancouver, had the reputation of being as healthy as any in the world; 4 and this reputation became stronger and stronger as the country became more and more known. The great wonder to Vancouver was that it had not been populated faster and turned to more account by the Spaniards, instead of being neglected as it was. 5 For many years the chief 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XLIX, 101-121. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 1048, 1049; P. R. XII, 595. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 451-474. 4 Vancouver, III, 72. 5 Vancouver, IV, 413. 614 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. increase was by births and very little by immigration. But the births in most of the families were numerous; and the children, owing to the open air and freedom in which they lived, grew up strong and vigorous. There were few diseases, fewer physicians and hardly any drugs. In 1/99 a very im- portant bando or order, which doubtless saved many lives or at least prevented the loss of many, was published by Borica to the effect that barbers should not exercise the art of blood-letting. 1 Pablo Soler, the most noted and probably the best surgeon in the country during Spanish times, had arrived as an officer in the royal navy about 1796 and was directed to remain in the country. He was stationed at Monterey and for a while- seems to have been contented. But at length he became very weary of his seclusion from learned men of his class. In 1798 he wrote to the king, complaining of his sad and unhappy fate in being thus confined within the walls of a remote presidio surrounded by gentiles and comparatively deprived of society, and begged to be relieved. At the same- time he gave an account of his services — his gratuitous at- tendance upon officers, missionaries, soldiers, pobladores and Indians both gentile and Christian when called on; his trav- eling sometimes as far as forty leagues to visit a sufferer, and the difficult operations he had performed. In one case he- had saved an Indian, who had been gored by a bull so that his entrails protruded, and in numerous cases cured severe attacks of scurvy, chronic dysentery and dropsy. He also added as a further reason for relief that his father in Spain was old, decrepit and blind, and needed the care of his only son. 2 It was, doubtless, this filial solicitude, much more than his good services which were too valuable to be readily dis- pensed with and were so recognized by his superiors, 3 that procured a favorable reply to his petition. He left Califor- nia about the beginning of 1800. All the whites in the country in those days, with the ex- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P XVII, 500, 501; P. R. VII, 548. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. V, 930-933. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 527. A RR ILL AG A AGAIN. 615 ception of the soldiers and missionaries and a few others who were at the presidios and missions, lived at the villa of Branciforte, the pueblo of Los Angeles or the pueblo of San Jose. Branciforte had been intended for a city, to be popu- lated by pobladores or colonists from New Spain, persons unprovided for at the pueblos and retired soldiers. But the original nine pobladores were not desirable companions and therefore not calculated by their society to make the place attractive; 1 and retiring soldiers, notwithstanding the induce- ments held out, did not fancy it but preferred the pueblos or the presidios." In 1802, both Borica and the viceroy Branci- forte being out of the way, the public works projected at the villa were suspended. 3 In 1806 the number of pobladores had dwindled down to five, only one of whom was married and his wife was in New Spain Besides these, there were two unmarried new-comers and seven invalid soldiers with their families. There were seven houses made of palisades and mud, badly roofed with tules, which were inhabited, and seven, one of adobe formerly occupied by the comisionado, which were uninhabited. 4 The name Villa de Branciforte still re- mained; but besides the name and the remembrance of vast projects there was next to nothing. The pueblo of Nuestra Seiiora de Los Angeles, sometimes called Santa Maria de Los Angeles 5 and sometimes La Reyna de Los Angeles, 6 founded in 1781 by Governor Felipe de Neve, was slowly growing. In 1790 its population was one hundred and forty-one, forty-four of whom were married per- sons. 7 In 1795 there were seventeen houses. 8 In 1796 there was a new distribution of building lots. 9 In 1798 Borica or- dered the irrigating canal then existing to be extended and 1 Cal. Archives, S. P IV, 624-632. a Cal. Archives, P. R. VII, 530. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 651. * Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 237. 5 Cal. Archives, M. II, 247. 6 Cal. Archives. P. R. VI, 55. ' Cal. Archives, P. S P. IX, 279. 8 Cal. Archives, M. II, 310. 9 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 55, 56. 616 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. more fruit trees, vines, and gardens to be planted. 1 In 1799 the population was two hundred and sixty-nine 2 and in 1805 three hundred and seventy-two, of whom one hundred and forty-four were grown persons. 1 Between the last named year and 181 1 there was a small decrease; 4 and then the pop- ulation slowly rose again to six hundred and twelve in 1820. 5 The character of the inhabitants was little if any better than that of those of San Jose, which, however, was more noted for its wickedness. Idleness, gambling, and vice of all kinds abounded. In 1809 the comisionado wrote that drunkenness and disorderly conduct had risen to such a scandalous height that the prison was full and the stocks always occupied and that, though he had ordered the sale of wine and aguardiente to be stopped, there was need of stronger authority than he possessed to preserve the public peace. 6 The pueblo of San Jose de Guadalupe, founded by Governor Felipe de Neve in 1777, contained in 1795 a population of one hundred and eighty-seven persons. 7 They were infamous for laziness, 8 and theft. 9 In 1796 irrigation was greatly im- proved and agriculture, particularly of hemp, encouraged," and in 1797 sheep-raising added as one of the principal oc- cupations of such of the people as would do anything. 11 But a large portion of the inhabitants were inherently vicious; and disorder and crime continued unabated. The old records are full of accounts of outrages of all kinds. It was not to be regretted that such a population decreased rather than increased. In 1800 it was one hundred and sixty-six. 1 " The harvest the same year amounted to about fourteen hundred 1 Gal. Archives, F. R. VI, 184. 2 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 179. 3 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 592. 4 Cil. Archives, M. IV, 192. : "' Cal. Archives, M. IV, 630. « Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XL. 5S8-590. 7 Cal. Archives, M. II, 315. 8 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 557. 9 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 560. 10 Cal. Archives, P. K. VI, 465, 46S. 480. 11 Cal. Archives, P. R. VI, 716. 12 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Will, 449, 450. ARRILLAGA AGAIX. 617 fanegas of wheat, sixteen hundred of maize and one hundred and twenty-five of beans. 1 In 1805 the population had in- creased to one hundred and ninety-four; 2 and it is said that during that year the beautiful alameda or double row of wil- low trees about three miles long, connecting the pueblo with the mission of Santa Clara, was planted. As these trees, in time grew large, their branches interlaced over the road which was kept in tolerable repair; and for man)- years it formed and in fact still forms one of the most charming and delightful drives or walks in all California. But it was to Fathers Magin Catala and Jose Viader, the missionaries of Santa Clara, or rather the Indians under their direction and orders, and not to any public spirit on the part of the popula- tion of San Jose, that the country was indebted for this mag- nificent vista of beauty and grateful shade. Very soon after the original foundation of the pueblo of San Jose it was found that the site was subject to overflow by the Guadalupe river; and in 1785 Jose Joaquin Moraga, the comisionado, recommended that it should be removed to higher ground on the other side of the stream. 3 In 1797 Cordoba, the engineer, was directed to make the necessary surveys and effect the proper changes. 4 In 1798, a dispute arose between the authorities of the pueblo and the neighbor- ing missionaries of Santa Clara as to the boundary between the two places; and the controversy caused considerable dis- sension until 1800, when the dividing- line was fixed at the river Guadalupe, giving the pueblo, however, certain rights on the mission side of the stream. 6 There was a like dispute be- tween the pueblo and the mission of San Jose, which was not settled until 1809. 7 In 181 1 the population of the pueblo was only one hundred and ten," and in 181 5 only one hun- dred and thirty-seven. 9 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XVIII, 6. a Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 603. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. V, 25. * Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XXI 641. ''Cal. Archives. P. R. VII, 459. '• Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, 35; P. K. IX, 638, 686. 7 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 726, 727, 730. 8 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192 * Cal. Archives, I". S. P. Ben. XI VI. 540. 618 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. The lists of population of the entire province of Alta Cal- ifornia for the five years between 1810 and 1816, including the last four years of Arrillaga's administration, show that at the end of tha t period the gente de razon numbered twenty- five hundred and thirty-eight and the mission Indians nine- teen thousand four hundred and sixty-seven. During the five years referred to six hundred and fifteen whites had been born and two hundred and seventeen had died. Of Indians during the same period three thousand three hundred and twenty-three had been born and seven thousand three hun- dred and ninety-four had died. 1 But these figures do not include the gentile Indians north of San Francisco and in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, where the proportion of births and deaths was perhaps more evenly balanced. Arrillaga was not often called upon to exercise judicial functions and certainly did not watch over the general welfare with the pains-taking and tender solicitude of a Borica. In 1805 some of the pobladores of Los Angeles complained that the pasture grounds of their cattle were too limited or had been encroached upon by others; and the subject was referred by the comandante of Santa Barbara to Arrillaga; but he sent back word that the comandante should attend to the matter and everything of like character himself.' 2 The only notable case in which he acted was in reference to an unnatural crime committed in 1800 near the mission of San Buenaventura by a soldier named Jose Antonio Rosas of the presidio of Santa Barbara. He was detected by a couple of Indian women and, after trial and confession, was sen- tenced to be hung and his body burned. The case was then referred to Arrillaga, who sent it to the vice-regal government at Mexico, by which the judgment was approved and Arril- laga ordered to have the punishment inflicted as adjudged and a like punishment upon a mule which was charged and declared by the judgment to be a particeps criminis; and in February 1801 both man and beast were marched out by a file of soldiers a short distance west of Santa Barbara Cal. Archives, M. IV, 390 Cal. Archives, P. k. XI, 407. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 619 and the horrid sentence carried into execution. 1 In 1810 an insidious attempt was made by the guardian of the college of San Fernando in Mexico to exercise judicial power through one of the missionaries of San Diego; but Arrillaga denied the jurisdiction and put his foot firmly down upon the pro- ceeding. 2 By this action he showed that there was a very marked distinction between the ecclesiastical and the civil authority and that, friendly and subservient as he usually was to the missionaries, he was determined to prevent the former from encroaching upon the latter.. For this, if for nothing else that he did as a magistrate, he is entitled to credit. During Arrillaga's time the Spanish jealousy of foreigners was manifested on various occasions and especially by Arril- laga himself. Even in 1793, while he was gobernador inter- ino, on the occasion of Vancouver's second visit, he exhib- ited his feeling and spirit in this respect in a very marked manner. He gave the English navigator to understand that there was no royal order for his reception, as there had been in the case of La Perouse; that the attentions that had been paid him on his first visit were for that time only, and that in fine he was not welcome a second time. 3 In this, however, he may not have acted on his own responsibility, though the Spanish government at that time pretended to be rather favorable than otherwise to the English and in 1794 took the trouble to ship from Cape San Lucas to San Bias and from San Bias to Alta California five deserters from Vancouver's vessels and order them to be delivered to him. 4 It is certain that general orders had been received to admit no foreign vessel except in case of urgent necessity and to prevent examinations by foreigners into the state and condition of the country; and similar orders were received in I796. b This feeling against foreigners was particularly strong against Americans. In 1796 the treaty of friendship, boundaries and » Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXVIII, 488, 523-527. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 271, 272 s Vancouver, IV, 297, 310; Cal. Archives, 1'. S. P. XXI, 304. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. IX, S2; XII, 514. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. XII, 4S5. 6 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 72, 73. 620 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. navigation between the United States and Spain was received and proclaimed in California. 1 Towards the end of the same year the ship Otter of Boston, Captain Ebenezer Dorr, the first American vessel that visited California, ran in to Monterey and surreptitiously left there a few of its sailors, some Amer- icans and some English. Borica afterwards, before sending these persons out of the country, utilized them in building a launch, a mill, and some much better wagons than were in gen- eral use in the country; 2 but their superior mechanical skill does not seem to have had any effect in reconciling the Spaniards to the Yankee nation. The impression appears to have been, and it was perhaps correct, that American vessels in those days were mostly engaged in contraband trade. In May, 1799, another American ship, named the Eliza, Captain James Rowan, arrived at San Francisco and asked permission to remain for a time; but the authorities made up their minds that its object was contraband trade and compelled it to leave without delay 3 On February 15, 1803, the American brig Lelia Byrd, Captain William Shaler, anchored at San Diego. Its object was to purchase otter skins. The next day Manuel Rodriguez, the comandante of the presidio, appeared with a company of soldiers; placed a guard of five of them on board; forbade any trading, and ordered the adventurers to leave as soon as they could be supplied with necessaries. Shaler was also informed that the American ship Alexander, Captain Brown, had been there only a few days before and purchased a num- ber of skins; but that the comandante had forcibly seized them and sent the vessel off empty. It was thus very apparent that the purpose of the Lelia Byrd in landing at San Diego could not be openly accomplished. On March 21, the neces- saries were supplied and paid for; and the brig was ordered by the comandante to leave the next day. But that night the Americans sent off several boats to gather up such skins as could be purchased by stealth. A few furs were thus pro- 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 278. 1 al. Archives, P. R. IV, 290. J Cal. Archives, I'. P. VII, 53b, 537; P. S. P. XVII, 450. ARRTLLAGA AGAIN. 621 cured; but one of the boats being discovered by the alert com- andante was seized and its men made prisoners and bound. In the morning a party of the Americans, armed with pistols, after finit securing the guards on the vessel, landed and res- cued the prisoners. The brig then weighed anchor and got under sail; but in working out of the bay it had to pass within musket shot of the battery or fort on Point Guijarros, to which the Spaniards rushed, hoisted their flag and loaded their three nine-pounder cannons. There being very little wind, it took the brig some time to get within gun shot; but, when it did so, the Spaniards opened fire and kept up a cannonade for three-quarters of an hour. The Americans in the meantime had placed the Spanish guards in conspicuous positions on the side of the vessel towards the fort; and these lustily implored their countrymen to desist firing. But it did no good. The shot that struck, however, injured only the rig- ging and sails until the brig was directly in front, when the hull was struck several times. Up to this conjuncture the Americans had not returned a shot, though they had moved their six three-pounders into position. But when immediately abreast the battery, they too opened fire. At the first broad- side, they observed most of the Spaniards scampering up the hill at the back of the fort; and at the second broadside they saw the remainder abandon their guns and run, with the exception of a single soldier who mounted the ramparts and waved his hat in token of giving up the fight. The Spanish guard on board was soon after put ashore uninjured, at which they were much astonished and hurrahed for the Americans; and the brig went on its way rejoicing that no one had been hurt and that the only damage of any moment done was a hole which was easily plugged with a wad of oakum. 1 After the adventure of the Lelia Byrd the visits of the American traders or smugglers were not uncommon. Hardly a year passed without one or two of them touching. Yankee ingenuity soon learned how to avoid or satisfy the Spanish authorities and at the same time make immense profits. The 1 Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises, by Richard J. Cleveland, Boston, 1850, 194-198. 622 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. vessels usually left Boston with cargoes of miscellaneous arti- cles, liquors, cutlery, cottons and soon, costing a few thousand dollars. These were bartered along' the coast of California for otter and beaver skins, which were carried to China and bartered for teas and silks. The cargoes on the return to Boston, after all expenses paid, usually netted ten or twenty times the original investment. In this way many a New England fortune of those days was built up. But the author- ities still continued jealous of the American people and would not allow any of them to remain or even to travel in the country. In 1809 a party of five Americans appeared at San Jose, representing themselves as shipwrecked sailors who had been wandering about the country for three weeks. Arrillaga pronounced them deserters and sent them off as soon as an opportunity presented itself. 1 In 1 8 14 the British ship Raccoon, Captain William Black, touched at San Francisco and was better treated than was usual with foreigners. Considerable correspondence took place between Black and Arrillaga; and it was of a friendly character; but at the same time Black found it necessary to deprecate the feeling of antipathy entertained by the Span- iards against the English and especially the prejudice caused by their difference in religion. 2 In one of his letters he spoke about eight men, who had deserted from the British ship Isaac Todd and whom he asked to be delivered up to him. He then went on to say that some of his own men, who con- templated desertion, were for the purpose of rendering the Californians favorable to their project pretending to be Catholics; but he begged that no encouragement should be given them. As the Spaniards and the English, he observed, were fighting together as allies and friends in Europe, they ought to be ready and willing everywhere to do each other reciprocal favors. Nor was there any good reason why ani- mosity on religious grounds should separate them. On the contrary, he continued, " we have had sufficient proofs from many glorious victories, gained over the common enemy in 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 733-735- 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 1221-1246. ARRILLAGA AG A IX. 623 the Peninsula by the Spaniards and English, that their differ- ence in religion has never in any way prevented their acting together in the most cordial manner." 1 But the first foreigners who were received with sufficient favor to be allowed to settle, or at least were not prevented from making a settlement -in the country, were the Rus- sians. The way for them was made in 1806 by M. de Resanoff, chamberlain of the Russian emperor. Having been sent out from St. Petersburg in the interest of the Imperial Russian-American Fur Company, after visiting the stations in the North Pacific, he ran down the American coast with the object of founding an establishment at the mouth of the Columbia; but bad weather, want of pro- visions and the difficulties of the bar at the mouth of that river rendered his attempt impracticable and he continued his voyage to San Francisco. 2 On arriving there he wrote to Arrillaga at Monterey, who at once replied in a very gracious letter, congratulating him upon his safe arrival after the severe equinoctial storms that had been raging and informing him that he had received instructions from the court of Madrid to offer him and his people all possible aid and assistance.* The hospitable reception thus tendered was duly appreciated by the Russians and by none more so than by their commander Resanoff. His eyes, long unaccustomed to female charms, had fallen upon the fair Concepcion, daughter of Jose Dario Arguello, comandante of San Francisco, and his heart was enslaved. 4 He plighted his troth to her. It was necessary, however, before he could marry to obtain his emperor's con- sent; and, as soon as the affairs of his voyage in California were settled, he departed for St. Petersburg to solicit the requisite consent and then return and claim his bride. But 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 1241. 2 Duflot de Mofras, II, 1, 2. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. VIII, 194, 195. 4 G. H. von Langsdorff, who accompanied Resanoff and afterwards published an account of his voyages and travels, described Concepcion Arguello as follows: "Dofia Concepcion was lively and animated, had sparkling, love-inspiring ey< -, beautiful teeth, pleasing and expressive features, a fine form and a thousand othei charms; yet her manners were perfectly simple and artless." — Voyages and Travels &c, by G. H. von Langsdorff, London, 1814, II, 153. 624 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. unfortunately, on his way through Siberia, he was killed by a fall from his horse. When the melancholy news reached California, Dona Concepcion was inconsolable; and, after years of mourning, she renounced the world and dedicated the remainder of her life to the instruction of the young and the care of the sick. 1 The plans of Resanoff were much more extensive than would at first sight appear. It is true that when he left the Russian possessions in the far north, his sole purpose was to found an establishment at the mouth of the Columbia river, and he had no eye upon California; but afterwards, upon reaching San Francisco and beholding the magnificent bay and country round about it, his views enlarged and he con- ceived the idea of joining hands with the Californians and uniting the Russian and Spanish settlements on the Pacific in firm bonds. The good understanding then existing between the courts of St. Petersburg and Madrid was favorable to his project. The former had given notice to the latter of the sailing of its ships, the Nadeschda and Neva, under Captains Krusenstern and Lisiansky, on what proved to be the first Russian voyage of circumnavigation, and of the possibility of their touching in California; and the Spanish court, in view of this possibility, had sent word that the Russians should be treated with extraordinary respect and consideration. These vessels, with Resanoff on board the Nadeschda, proceeded by the way of Cape Horn to Kamtschatka and did not reach California; but Resanoff sailed thence in another vessel to Sitka and there purchased a small American trading-vessel, called the Juno, with which he ran down as has been stated to the mouth of the Columbia and thence, without stopping, to San Francisco. His object being to provide regular supplies of grain for the Russian establishments in the north, he at once saw that California and especially San Francisco with its grand bay was the very spot of which he was in search. He immedi- ately bent all his energies to the establishment of such rela- ' Narrative of a journey round the world &c, by Sir George Simpson; Lon- don, 1847, I, 377-379- ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 625 tions with the Californians as would tend to accomplish his newly-conceived project. While he was at San Francisco Arrillaga the governor, for the purpose of showing him especial honor, rode up from Monterey to pay a formal visit; and thereupon Resanoff endeavored, with all the eloquence of which he was master, to negotiate an agreement to open an immediate trade between the Russians and the Spaniards. Arrillaga admitted that such an arrangement would be highly advantageous; but he was afraid to take the responsibility and could only promise to submit the proposition with rec- ommendations to the cabinet at Madrid. Resanoff, though he failed to open immediate commercial relations with the Californians, by no means abandoned the project. His engagement with Dona Concepcion Arguello indicated that he was in earnest. When he left California, after a delightful sojourn of about six weeks including the whole of April, 1806, he went with the intention of proceed- ing as soon as practicable to St. Petersburg, obtaining from his emperor, besides a license to marry, a commission to Madrid, and there negotiating a treaty, which would bind the Russians and Spaniards in the North Pacific firmly together. He proposed then to cross over to Mexico, proceed thence to California, claim his bride and devote himself to the build- ing up of the new trade and Russian-Californian interests in genera!. 1 There may be some doubt whether any very great amount of trade could have been established between Russian Amer- ica and California for the reason that, though the Russians required grain and beef, there was little or nothing produced in the Russian establishments of which the Californians stood in need. It is likely, however, with the example of so promi- nent a man as Resanoff taking a Californian wife and devoting himself to Californian affairs, that many others would have followed and the country gradually have become in great part if not entirely Russianized. But when Resanoff died, hi -; proj- ect died with him;^and afterwards, when the Russians came 1 Langsdorff, II, 152-183. 40 Vol I. 626 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. to the country, it was only as temporary sojourners — only, so far at least as professions went, for the temporary purpose of hunting and fishing and not as permanent settlers or for the purpose of joining and amalgamating with the Californians. Notwithstanding Resanoff's death and the failure of his plans for the want of some one to take them up and carry them out, his reports of the beauty and fertility of the coun- try and the immense number of otters and seals found along the coasts attracted the immediate attention of the Russian court to the neighborhood of San Francisco. Negotiations were at once set on foot with the Spanish court and, in the course of a few years, permission obtained to found a Russian establishment on the coast for the sole purpose of hunting and curing skins and furs. In the beginning of 1812, accord- ingly, M. de Baranoff, the governor of Russian America, dis- patched M. de Koskoff with one hundred Russians and one hundred Kodiak Indians to Bodega, where they established themselves and commenced their hunting and fishing. They brought along with them their seal-skin canoes, called cayu- cas or baidarkas, with which they explored the coasts and islands and both arms of the bay of San Francisco, with all its coves, creeks, sloughs and marshes, and gathered great numbers of skins. There are said to have been weeks in which they killed seven or eight hundred otters in the bay of San Francisco alone. The skins were at that time worth at Kiakta or Maimakin on the borders of Russia and China, to which they were sent, from eighty to a hundred dollars a piece; so that the profits of early Russian adventures in Cali- fornia were enormous. Meanwhile they found that they could easily procure in California the grain necessary to sup- ply the northern establishments, for which they had often been obliged to go as far as Chili, and also fat. tallow and dried meats; and a considerable trade in these articles soon commenced. At first the Russians paid in coin, but after- wards they imported merchandise, which the Spaniards were glad to get. The hunting and the trade thus originated rap- idly enlarged; and the Russians increased in numbers. In ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 627 181 5 they bought cattle of their own and established a few farms near Bodega, where they began to raise stock and wheat on their own account. In October, 1816. the Russian ship Rurick, which was on a scientific voyage into the North Pacific, dropped anchor at San Francisco. It was under the command of Otto von Kot- zebue, a lieutenant in the Russian imperial navy, and had on board several celebrated naturalists, among them Dr. Esch- scholz, from whom the large, orange-colored Californian poppy derived its scientific name of " Eschscholzia." Kot- zebue remained in California about a month; and, as the good understanding between Russia and Spain still continued, he was received and treated with much the same favor as Resanoff had been. Pablo Vicente de Sola, the then gover- nor, followed the example of Arrillaga and paid him a cere-' monious visit from Monterey; and everything was done that could be thought of to render his stay interesting and pleas- ant. But by this time the Californians had begun to grow alarmed at the prosperity and rapid growth of their neigh- bors at Bodega and especially in view of the fortification they had set up at Ross. Sola complained of the apparantly per- manent character of their settlement; and, at his instance, Kotzebue sent for Koskoff, the Russian comandante in Cali- fornia, for the purpose of making explanations and if possible coming to some satisfactory understanding. Koskoff, or, as he was more commonly known among the Spaniards on ac- count of his having a wooden leg, old " Pie de palo — Timber- toe," came down from Ross; and a conference was held on board the Rurick. His answer to all complaints was that he had no discretion; that he was acting strictly under the orders and in accordance with the instructions of his superior, M. de Baranoff, who was head of all the Russian settlements in America, and that all he could do was to refer to him. Un- der the circumstances, nothing satisfactory could be agreed upon. It was understood that the governor's complaints would be submitted at St. Petersburg, but this promised no very 628 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. positive and certainly no very speedy relief. On the other hand the superiority of the Russian settlement to any made by the Spaniards in California, which became more and more apparent as the facts became more and more known, caused bitter feelings; and from that time forward the same jealousy felt against other foreigners was felt against the Russians also. 1 In 1808 Charles IV.. king of Spain, abdicated and Fernando VII. mounted the throne. The news reached California about the beginning of February, 1809, and Arrillaga, as directed by Garibay, the incoming viceroy at Mexico, proclaimed the new king and ordered a salute of forty-five guns, fifteen at sunrise, fifteen at noon and fifteen at sunset, to be fired by each of the presidios and forts in his honor. 2 A subsequent date, August 10, 1809, was appointed as the time for the governor to take the oath of allegiance to the new sovereign. On that day, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Arrillaga made his appearance in the hall of the mission of San Carlos. There were present there Father Esteban Tapis, the president of the missions, Fathers Vicente Francisco Sarria and Juan Amoros, Surgeon Manuel Quixana of the royal navy, Ensign Jose Mariano Estrada and others. Arrillaga advanced; knelt before the crucifix; placed one hand upon the Holy Evangels, and, hold- ing up with the other the cross of his sword, swore to bear true allegiance to king Fernando VII.; to uphold and maintain all the rights of his dynasty and his kingdom of the Indies, and to obey and execute all the orders of his supreme council as depositary of those rights, pledging the last drop of his blood in their defense and preservation. 3 On September 13, 18 10, the revolution against Spain, which finally resulted in Mexican independence, commenced in the province of Guanajuato. The uprising was at first regarded as a mere riot of ignorant and drunken Indians, which could easily be quelled by a few soldiers. But, there being disaf- 1 Kolzebue's Voyage of Discovery &c., London, 1821, I, 93-292; Duflot de Mofras, II, 3-6; History of Sonoma County, by J. P. Munro-Fraser, 41. * Cal. Archives.. P. R. XII, 739. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 702-704. ARRILLAGA AGAIN. 629 fection everywhere, the revolution spread with rapidity and soon assumed serious proportions. A motley army, illy armed but inspired with vengeance against the Spaniards, collected. The patriot-priest, Miguel Hidalgo, throwing a military jacket over his priestly cassock and hanging a sword next the crucifix at his side, put himself at its head and began his march towards the capital. For a time he carried all before him. But in March, i Si [, he was defeated at the bridge of Calderon; shortly afterwards he was betrayed and captured; and in July, 181 1, at the city of Chihuahua, he was shot, ejaculating with his last words a prayer for Mexican independence. In the meanwhile, and during all the troub- les in Mexico, nothing was further from the thoughts of Arrillaga or any of the Californian authorities or people than revolution. To the very last moment, the province remained intensely and unreservedly loyal to the crown. Soon after Hidalgo's rising, a wild proclamation against his projects issued by the bishop of Michoacan was sent to Arrillaga; and he, in September, 181 1, published it to the people. 1 As a mat- ter of fact Hidalgo was then in his grave and the revolution for the time being repressed. It continued repressed for sev- eral years. But the time was fast approaching when the Aztec spirit was to rise triumphant over oppression and the richest of its jewels to be torn forever from the Spanish crown. Arrillaga did not live to see the new era. He died at the mission of Soledad on July 25, 1814. He was at the time of his death sixty-four years of age. He had been gobernador interino of the two Californias for the second time from Jan- uary, 1800, to March, 1804, a period of four years and two months, and gobernador propietario of Alta California from March, 1804, to July, 18 14, a period of ten years and four months. He had never married. His next relatives were a brother and four sisters, three of them married, all residing in Spain. Ten days before his death he made a will, leaving a few bequests to his servants but constituting his unmarried sister, Maria Josefa de Arrillaga of the province of Guipuzcoa, 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. VII, 233. 630 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. his heir. He directed that various masses for the repose of his soul should be said, and among them one hundred at the mission of San Antonio and one hundred at the mission of San Miguel. He had been in service and office continuously for about thirty-seven years; but his estate at the time of his death did not amount to over three thousand dollars. 1 His body, in accordance with his will was buried in the church of the mission of Soledad, where he died. 2 Two years after- wards Jose Mariano Estrada, whom he had appointed his executor, paid out five hundred and ninety-nine dollars for masses at the rate of a dollar apiece. The missionaries claimed six hundred dollars for a round six hundred masses; but on counting them all up there appeared to have been one less than the number claimed; and the estate consequently saved a dollar. 3 It might have been better, and would cer- tainly have been pleasanter to record, if the dollar saved had gone to the missionaries and the five hundred and ninety- nine, paid out, to Dona Maria Josefa. 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXXVIII, 49S-503; P. S. P. XX, 842-548 S. P. XVII, 522-524. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P Ben. XXXVIII, 49S; P. R. X, 266. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XLV, 428. +/ CHAPTER V I I . ARGUELLO (THE ELDER) AND SOLA. THE death of Arrillaga devolved the temporary or inter- ino government of Alta California upon Jose Dario Arguello, then comandante of Santa Barbara. Arguello was born at Queretaro about the year 1755; but, being of pure Spanish blood, he was called a Spaniard. At the age of eighteen he entered the military service as a soldier and in the course of the next few years made various campaigns against the Indians of New Vizcaya and Sonora In 1776 he came to California in the second expedition of Juan Bautista de Anza. In 1781, being then an ensign, he was appointed by Governor Felipe de Neve comisionado of the pueblo of Los Angeles, which was founded that year. About the same time he married Ignacia Moraga; and out of this marriage arose one of the most prominent and respectable of the old Cali- fornian families. He became teniente or lieutenant and com- andante of San Francisco in 1787. 1 In 1797, having shortly before made a campaign in the Colorado country." he was promoted by the king to the rank of capitan. 3 In 1806, on account of the appointment of Felipe de Goycoechea to the governorship of Lower California, Arguello was transferred to the vacated comandancia of Santa Barbara and left that of San Francisco in the hands of his son, Luis Antonio Arguello, who a short time before had been promoted to the rank of teniente. Upon delivering over the command of San Francisco, 1 Cal. Archives. M. I, 327. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. Y, 735. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, S17; S. P. VIII, 159. (631) 632 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Capitan Jose Dario Arguello, as was usual upon such occasions, made out a list of instructions for the new comandante. The first and principal objects of the latter's attention, he said, should be the preservation of peace and harmony among the troops and their families, the proper subordination to superior officers, the prevention of gambling and scandalous conduct and the infliction of punishment in due proportion to the grade of offenses committed. There should be regular and careful periodical inspections ot the clothing, arms, equip- ments and horses of the soldiers, and sedulous supervision exercised over the guards at the missions and especially over that at San Jose, where the Indians were disposed to be sedi- tious. The presidio should be repaired, and for that purpose Indian workmen of the missions employed, and care taken to keep correct accounts and see to their payment. In case American vessels should arrive, their papers should be in- spected and, if unsatisfactory, permission to remain should be refused; but in reference to this subject, in order to avoid bad results, great prudence was to be exercised and infor- mation transmitted at once to the government. To these instructions were added others relating to the religious exer- cises of the troops, the commissary department and precau- tions against fire, making altogether eighteen articles and furnishing directions for action in almost every contingency. 1 When Arguello became comandante of Santa Barbara, he transferred his residence to that place and carried with him most of his family, among whom were his sons Gervasio and Santiago, who afterwards became prominent in the southern part of the province, while Luis, having become comandante of San Francisco, remained in the north. In 1814, when Arrillaga died, Jose Dario Arguello was still comandante of Santa Barbara; but on becoming temporary governor he as- sumed the command in chief of the entire province and held it until the arrival of his successor, Pablo Vicente de Sola, in August 181 5. In the meanwhile, on December 31, 18 14, he was appointed gobernador propietario of Lower Califor- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXXVII, 492-494. PABLO VICENTE BE SOLA. 633 nia ' and, upon being relieved at Santa Barbara soon after Sola's arrival, he proceeded to Loreto where he remained until 1 82 1, when at the age of about sixty-six years, find- ing his health broken, and feeling that he could no longer properly fulfill the duties of his office., he resigned. 2 Dur- ing his incumbency as temporary governor of Alta California, which lasted about a year, affairs were conducted with so much quietness and regularity that there is nothing of spe- cial moment in the account of his administration to record. He felt called upon merely to preserve peace and tranquillity; and he did so with great success. Pablo Vicente de Sola, the tenth governor of Alta Cali- fornia, was born about the year 1760 in the province of Viz- caya in Spain. He entered the military service and came to America about the year 1796. 3 He gradually rose in rank; in 1805 was captain and commissary/ and afterwards became a teniente-coronel in the royal army at Guadalajara. He was a staunch royalist and bitterly opposed to the revolution and revolutionary ideas. For this reason perhaps, as much as any other, he was on December 31, 18 14, appointed by Calleja, the viceroy of New Spain, gobernador propietario or political and military governor of Alta California. As soon as his appointment reached him, he took the oath of office before the president of the royal audiencia of Guadalajara and started for his province. It required eighty days of naviga- tion from San Bias to reach Monterey, where he at length arrived on August 30, 181 5; and a few days afterwards he issued circulars to the comandantes of the presidios and fath- ers of the missions, giving notice of his appointment, his arrival at the capital and his assumption of office. 5 The white people of Alta California and especially the mis- sionaries had awaited the arrival of the new governor with great impatience. There had already been much feeling in 'Cal. Archives, P. R. X, 312. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 1236-123S, 1263-1265. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 545, 546. 4 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XXXIX, 493, 494; P. R. IX, 208. ; ' Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIX, 1254, 1255; P. R. XII, 280. 634 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. reference to the revolution then in progress, and the Califor- nians were intensely loyal to the crown. Sola, being the rep- resentative of the monarchical or anti-revolution sentiment, was popular before he came; and his arrival was therefore the signal and occasion of extraordinary celebration. Never before was a governor of California inaugurated with so much solemnity and so much rejoicing. The principal missionaries collected, with Father Esteban Tapis the president at their head. They brought along all the best Indian musicians to take part in the grand mass to be celebrated in his honor in the church of the presidio at Monterey. At the same time the chief military men of the province gathered together at the capital; and there were not wanting most of the residents of the country within reach and great numbers of Indians, who came from far and near to witness a ceremonial so unac- customed and to partake of festivities so much talked about in advance and so magnificent as these were to be. The presidio of Monterey at that time consisted of a square of adobe buildings, roofed with tiles, opening upon an inclosed court-yard on the inside. Each of the four walls on the out- side was two hundred varas or five hundred and fifty feet long On the inside, running along the fronts of the buildings all the way around the court-yard, was a grand corridor, ten feet wide, the tile roof of which was continuous with the roofs of the buildings and supported next the plaza on great pillars of redwood. The principal wall of the structure, which was towards the west, consisting partly of stone and ten or twelve feet high, had a large gate-way, which was the only entrance and exit to and from the interior. There was only one great door or gate, which as a general rule was closed and locked every evening at sunset and not opened again until the next morning at dawn. The key was usually kept by the com- andante. On the south side of the court-yard and consti- tuting a part of the southern wall of the enclosure was the presidio church, a structure of stone and mortar, which still remains in a tolerably good state of preservation as a monu- ment of times long gone by. PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 635 Upon the occasion of Sola's inauguration all the inside of the inclosure and particularly the pillars of the corridor were ornamented with evergreens from the neighboring woods; and among these were distributed great numbers of lamps or cruets consisting of little pots of suet with cotton wicks, such as were generally used for lights in those days. Almost the whole of the previous day had been spent in preparations; and when evening came on and it began to grow dark, the lamps were all lighted and the festivities commenced. All the people gathered in social reunion to meet and speak with the governor, to promenade along the corridors; to romp in the court-yard, and to witness the illumination. It was a pleasant and romantic spectacle, and whatever may have been lacking in splendor and refinement was more than made up in harmony, good-feeling and enjoyment. Alvarado, afterwards governor, then a boy of six years, born and bred on the spot, was present and carried through his long life a remembrance of the scene as one of the most vivid recollections of his childhood. The next morning high mass was celebrated on a grand scale in the church. The missionaries dressed in their sacer- dotal vestments took their places at the altar and the Indian musicians, thirty or forty in number, ranged themselves near by to act as choir. They were all dressed in bright colors and carried viols, violins, flutes, drums and other musi- cal instruments, with which they accompanied the chants of the priests. The troops, both cavalry and artillery, were drawn up in front of the church, the former in the form of infantry with their muskets, and the latter further off with a few pieces of flying ordnance. All being arranged, the gov- ernor and chief officers made their appearance; and, as soon as they had marched through the files of soldiers and entered the church, the intonation of the Te Deum Laudamus com- menced, emphasized with discharges of musketry and can- nons which were kept up until the religious ceremony was concluded. This, "la gran funcion " as it was called, being finished, the cavalry mounted their horses and put themselves 636 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. in position for parade. They were dressed in their cueras or sleeveless jackets of four or five thicknesses of buckskin. On their shoulders were loose cloaks which covered their bodies, and on their heads small low-crowned hats, fastened with yellow straps tied under their chins. Upon their left arms were rough shields, made of the thickest portions of bull-hides, and in their right hands stout lances of wood tipped with steel. Their muskets or carbines were carried in leather cases attached to the saddles of their horses and at their sides hung sheath knives. The horses were the largest, strongest and hardiest in the province, chosen in view of severe campaigns over rough places for their endurance and obedience to the slightest touch of the rein. As soon as the governor, chief officers and priests left the church, they proceeded to the foot of the flag-staff in the center of the court-yard, and the mounted soldiers, after a few evolutions, formed in a circle around them. Over all at the mast-head floated the royal colors of Spain. Sola then opened his lips and spoke of California and the admiration with which he greeted it and its people. When he had addressed the crowd for a half hour or more, and all were listening with breathless attention, he turned to the troops and cried, " Soldiers of Cortes, you have conquered a vast territory. To your valor and discipline and to the counsels of these venerable fathers, who have accompanied you in all your dangers and participated equally with yourselves in all the difficulties, privations and inquietudes of forty-six years of labor and fatigues, are owing the abundance and plenty which we see around us. Behold them on every side. Be- hold the missions with their thousands of Indians living in peace and in willing subjection to the sacred sway of the evangel of Christ. Behold the desert places smiling under cultivation. Behold the establishment of industry and in every direction the promise and proof of general prosperity." Closing with these words the address was greeted with loud acclamations of "Long live the king! Long live the gov- ernor! Loner live the fathers missionaries!" PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 637 A banquet, as magnificent according to the ideas and means of the time and place as it was unexpected., awaited the governor, officers and missionaries at the conclusion of the harangue. This had been prepared with great secrecy by the ladies of Monterey and consisted of the best that the country afforded. There were olives from San Diego; grapes and wines from San Gabriel; cakes and pastry of the wheaten flour of San Antonio, celebrated for its exquisite taste, and dishes without number, such as had been made by mothers in earlier days and were remembered by sons as among the triumphs of the culinary art. As the guests entered the ban- quet hall, a new surprise awaited them. They were met by a troop of young girls dressed for the occasion, who greeted them with the ceremony of kissing of hands; and, upon the governor's expressing his astonishment, one of the number stepped forward and in the name of all said that they had come to congratulate his excellency upon his inauguration and wished him many happy and fortunate years in his ad- ministration. The governor, highly delighted, made a gra- cious reply and gave to each a present. This scene, like the others which had preceded and the banquet which followed, was long remembered; and a few old men still living remem- ber and speak with lingering enthusiasm of the grace of Mag- dalena Vallejo, Magdalena Estudillo and Josefina Estrada, who took principal parts in the occurrences of the festive occasion. After the banquet, the governor was invited by the com- andante to witness a bull-fight in the same court-yard decked with evergreens, where the parade of the morning had taken place. A portion of the corridor had been safely railed off and prepared for the use of the spectators. As soon as they were seated, two mounted horsemen dressed in the customary brilliant array of the Spanish bull-ring made their appear- ance; and as they advanced strings of bells attached to the trappings of their horses kept up' a jingling accompaniment to all their movements. There was nothing in these to spe- cially attract the governor's attention, nor was there in the 638 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. fierce and savage bull that was soon afterwards brough ; forward, tossing his huge front and pawing the ground. Such spectacles he had often seen in Spain and Mexico. But he opened his eyes wide with wonder when he saw a grizzly bear, held by four mounted vaqueros each with a reata fastened to a separate leg, bound into the arena, struggling against his captors and snapping with such fury as to cause terror even in those accustomed to the sight. The governor turned with an inquiring look to the comandante, who replied that the bear was a specimen of the animals, abundant in the neighboring mountains, which often came down to regale themselves upon the cattle in the valleys. Meanwhile the bear and the bull were fastened together by the feet with a stcut chain of sufficient length to allow them considerable freedom of action; and then the reatas were thrown off, and the beasts confronted each other. The bull lowered his head and looked threatening, and the bear rose upon his haunches as if awaiting the onset. But for ten minutes neither advanced. The spectators began to grow impatient. The vaqueros rode up and prodded the bull; and with a roar of pain he rushed upon his adversary. The bear, with a quickness and agility astonishing in a body so appar- ently unwieldy, avoiding the horns, threw himself with a grasp upon the bull's neck and both rolled over and over in desperate struggle upon the ground. The noise was terrific and the dust rose in clouds, while the onlookers shouted and yelled as they saw that the fight was deadly and witnessed the flow of blood. Presently the bull, fatigued with exertion and hot with thirst, protruded his tongue, and the bear made an attempt by a change of position to seize it. But the attempt cost him his life. The bull was wary and on his guard and with a sudden plunge transfixed his enemy and with a tre- mendous effort threw him into the air. As the bear fell with a ghastly wound, the bull infuriated with his own injuries pursued his advantage; and with a second and deadly plunge closed the combat. In the evening there was a ball in the apartments of the °ABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 639 comandantc. It was grander than any that had taken place in the territory. The dresses were for the times elegant: those of the men were close-fitting" coats of dove color, short breeches fastened at the knee with silver buckles, and white stockings; those of the women white skirts of fine muslin covered with gilt spangles, and colored jackets; hair elaborately done up in waves and curls partly confined in silken nets; necklaces of pearls from the gulf, which were plentiful in those days, and pendants of the same, and slippers of white satin with heels of a hard wood, which clacked as they danced. The same Indians, who had assisted in the mass of the morning, furnished the music for the dances; and they did it well, being much more accustomed even for their church music to lively and inspiriting operatic airs and danc- ing tunes than to slow and lugubrious elegies and dirges. The programme consisted of contradanzas, minuets, Aragonese jotas and various other dances usual among the Spanish pop- ulation; and the entertainment lasted all night, though the governor withdrew in time to set out early the next morning for San Carlos. This was to attend a celebration in his honor .by the Indi- ans of the mission. A part of the road from Monterey to Carmel was called that of Calvary. Along it at equal dis- tances were planted twelve crosses, representing the twelve stations of the "via crucis;" and here on every Good Friday religious ceremonies, appropriate to the season, were cele- brated. On entering upon this part of the road, the governor and those who accompanied him from Monterey were met by the missionaries in their ecclesiastical robes, church officers, incense bearers and great multitudes of Indians, who all formed in procession and escorted their guests to the church, where another high mass was performed. This over, the whites repaired to the corridors and seated themselves while the Indians gathered in parties and exhibited their various games, ending with a sham battle for which the braves painted and adorned themselves with feathers. At the con- clusion of the mock fight, the chiefs of the respective parties 640 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. brought all their arms and deposited them at the feet of the governor, who as he rose and mounted his horse to return to Monterey remarked that he felt honored with all that had been done and pleased with all he had seen. But there were two things that had attracted and deserved his especial attention. One was the grizzly bear at Monterey, and the other was the mimic battle of the Indians of San Carlos, the like of which he had never before witnessed. 1 These long ceremonies of inauguration being at last ended, Sola turned to the more serious business of his administration. His first care was to ascertain the exact condition of the country; and he spent much time in tours of examination and inspection, He traveled from point to point as he found opportunity, and in the course of a couple of years visited and studied every part of the territory 2 He found the four pre- sidios in tolerable condition as head-quarters for soldiers who were merely designed for guards at the missions and for Indian expeditions. But none of them was any more suitable than it had ever been for resisting an invasion or making a defense against a single war-ship of any civilized nation. There were only forty-two cannons, all told, in the territory, and half of them were of substantially no use. Of these cannons there were three twenty-four-pounders, one sixteen- pounder, five twelve-pounders, thirteen eight-pounders and the others were smaller. There were fifteen, including the twenty-four-pounders, at San Francisco, twelve at Monterey, two small ones at Santa Barbara, seven at San Diego; and the other six, which were very small, were at missions. 3 The population of whites was nearly twenty-four hundred and of 1 Alvarado MS. The manuscript, from which the foregoing account of Sola's inauguration and the festivities connected with it is taken, was written by Don Juan B. Alvarado, Governor of California from 1836 to 1842. A few years after the American occupation he moved from Monterey to San Pablo and lived there until his death in 1882. At the request of the author, who became acquainted with him in 1S6& he wrote out a number of his reminiscences of Sola, Arguello and Echeandlaand would probably have gone further, had he not oeen prevented by the infirmities of his last sickness. Though irged especially to write about his own administration, he expressed an unwillingness to do so or to speak about himself. The manuscript is in Spanish, consists of some sixty pages of closely written legal cap and will be cited, when referred to, as the " Alvarado MS." 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 583. 3 Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 444. PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 641 mission Indians a little over twenty-two thousand. 1 There were nineteen missions and all were flourishing. Most of them had their great churches built; others were building, and new structures of some kind were going up at all of them. All or nearly all were cultivating grounds of greater or less extent and carrying on manufactures of coarse cloths and other articles for wearing apparel. The herds of cattle and flocks of sheep had increased so largely that it had been found necessary to kill off a number of the superabundant horses which interfered with the pastures of the more useful animals. The harvests of wheat, maize, beans, barley, peas and other grains and vegetables were plentiful, though sometimes in- jured by grasshoppers, locusts, smut or rust. The Indians were quiet, though there were occasional forays or cattle- stealing expeditions by " cimarrones " or fugitive apostates and gentiles from the coast range of mountains between San Jose and San Antonio and from the San Joaquin and Tulare countries." On account of the low state of the royal treasury and the diversion of its funds to other purposes, there had been no new foundations for upwards of ten years; nor had any per- manent settlement as yet been made to the north of San Francisco. At the same time it seemed plain to Sola that there was danger in that direction, not only from the Rus- sians who were continuing to extend and strengthen their establishments at Bodega and Fort Ross, but also from the Americans who had settled themselves at the mouth of the Columbia. 3 Sola was more suspicious and jealous of the Rus- sians than Arrillaga had been. In January, 1816, he received a letter from Luis Antonio Arguello, the comandante of San Francisco, announcing the arrival there of Alexander Koskoff, the comandante of Fort Ross, who had come down for the purpose of settling a commercial transaction; and in his reply he spoke bitterly of the Russians and the insult their pres- 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XLVI, 546. il Archives, M. IV, 303. ; Cal. Archives, M. IV, 303. 41 Vol. I. 642 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. ence in the country was to the Spanish flag. 1 In October of the same year when the Russian explorer Kotzebue was at San Francisco, a conference was held on his vessel, as has been already stated, between himself, Koskoff and Sola with the object of coming to some satisfactory understanding in reference to the Russian settlements. But nothing could be accomplished, for the reason that Koskoff was a mere subor- dinate and could not act without the concurrence of his supe- rior Governor Baranoff of Sitka; and the result of the meeting, by calling attention to the subject, was rather to increase the prejudices already existing than to allay them. In May, 1817, Father Mariano Payeras, who was then president of the mis- sions and represented the ecclesiastical government, issued a manifesto against the Russians still further fanning the flame of bitter feeling; and at the end of the same year the mission of San Rafael was founded as a kind of rampart or bulwark against them. In April, 181 8, Sola wrote confidentially that he had received a communication from government as to ways and means of seizing the establishments at Bodega and Ross, expelling their possessors from the territory and founding several new missions in those regions to secure the Indians; 2 and it is probable that some attempt of this kind would have been made, if other occurrences had not supervened which engaged all the governor's attention and put him on the defensive, instead of allowing him to think of becoming an aggressor. In the progress of the revolt of the American provinces against Spain, Buenos Ayres had thrown off its allegiance. In the war of independence which followed, the revolted province sent out a number of privateers to prey upon Span- ish commerce and Spanish possessions and especially upon the exposed ships and coasts still loyal to the crown on the Pacific side of the continent. In the early part of 1816 sev- eral of their privateers under the command of an American, named William Brown, made their appearance on the coasts of Chili and Peru, captured a number of vessels; took a few 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. Ben. XLVI, 6o5 ; 606. ■•Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 612. PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 343 towns including Guayaquil; threatened the entire coast as far north as California, and spread terror over the whole country. 1 News of these events reached Sola by letters from the gover- nors of Mazatlan and Lower California in June. He at once set about making preparations for a vigorous defense in case of an attack; issued a circular announcing his determination, and directed the missionaries, upon the appearance of hostile vessels in their neighborhood, to drive their cattle into the interior. At the same time he ordered each of the missions to furnish and send to the comandantes of the nearest presid- ios from fifteen to twenty Indian vaqueros, well-mounted and armed with their best reatas, to be used as occasion might require.' 2 The Buenos Ayres privateers were most commonly known by the name of " insurgentes " or insurgents, but almost equally as well by that of corsairs or pirates. They were officered and manned in general by mere adventurers, bent only upon plunder, and differed little except in sailing under the Buenos Ayres flag from the outcast robbers and rovers of the seas, known in earlier times as buccaneers or pichilingues, enemies of all mankind. Their very name was synonomous with rapine and cruelty; and the possibility of a visit from them was a matter of terror to the people of California. Such being the case, strict watch was kept from the various lookouts along the coast; couriers were always in readiness to carry dispatches, so that timely notice might be given in the event of an invasion; and every new and unfamiliar sail was looked upon with suspicion. One morning, while the excitement was about its height, a mounted sentinel, who had been on the watch at Point Pinos, came galloping furiously into Monterey and, without stopping to answer inquiries on the outside, rushed through the gateway of the presidio to the house of Jose Maria Estu- dillo, the comandante. Throwing himself from his horse, he ran in; and in a few minutes afterwards the comandante came out and ordered the " generala '' to be sounded. This was a 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 379-384. J Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 335. 644 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. general alarm upon the drum, intended to call together all the soldiers and men of arms within hearing and indicating news or exigency of very great importance. At its sound every- body dropped his or her work and rushed to the comandante's house; and even the little children in the primary school, heedless of their teacher, cast aside their primers and copy books and followed their elders to learn the cause of the startling summons. It was soon found that the guard had seen the sails of a strange vessel a great way out at sea, and it seemed heading for the port. In a short time all was bustle and preparation. The artillerymen went off to the batteries, manned their cannon and lighted the ovens for heating their balls red-liot; the soldiers donned their uniforms, mounted their horses and placed themselves in readiness for action; and the governor, who had taken his position at their head, after making such dispositions as he considered necessary at head- quarters, seized a large speaking trumpet and a map or chart of the various national colors and marched down to the beach followed by the soldiers. There was a certain large rock at the water's edge near the fort, from which communications were usually made with vessels riding at anchor in the harbor, Upon this the governor stationed himself. It was not long before the vessel approached and it turned out to be a schooner of about two hundred tons. It ran in and dropped anchor near the rock where the governor stood, who de- manded, through his trumpet, what vessel it was. A man on deck, who seemed to be the captain, answered in very bad Castilian that he did not understand Spanish. The governor then spread out his chart of colors to ascertain the nationality of his visitor, but could find nothing corresponding with the flag at the mast-head of the vessel. He immediately announced that the stranger was a suspicious character, not only because its flag was not on his chart but also because it was a for- eigner; and he ordered the captain to present himself at once and give an account of himself at head-quarters. While the governor retired to his apartments in the pre- sidio, where the alarm had very sensibly decreased as soon as PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 645 it was seen that the cause of it was but a small schooner which a few well directed shots could shiver to atoms, the comandante and soldiers made their way to the usual landing place and waited the arrival of the captain of the schooner who had put off in a small boat. He brought with him an interpreter, who could speak a little Spanish. As soon as they landed they \vere surrounded by the troops and marched off to the presidio. The captain was a man of small stature and wore a black coat with very long skirts and a fur hat with a very high crown. His costume seems to have been similar to the typical "swallow-tail'' and "beaver" of Brother Jonathan; but to the Californians of Monterey it was ridic- ulous in the last degree. As he passed along he was laughed at by the whole population. Arrived in the presence of the governor, he declared that he had sailed with a cargo of merchandise from China bound for the Sandwich Islands; but had been compelled for want of water to put into Cali- fornia. In attestation of his statement he presented ship's papers; but no one was able to read them except the inter- preter, and he knew so little Spanish that he could not explain them. Sola was not entirely satisfied; but he was prudent; thought it a vessel with which he had better not interfere, and made up his mind that he would not treat it as a pirate. Nevertheless he called a council of officers and ordered the captain to be detained until its determination should be known. Thereupon the stranger was placed in charge of a soldier with a long lance, who inarched him out into the center of the court-yard at the foot of the flag-staff; and, as he did so, the school children gathered in a sufficiently distant circle and looked and laughed at a sight so strange and unaccustomed. The women, more cautious, merely peeked and peered out of the doors and windows to catch a glance Some said that the captain was the Wandering Jew and had a tail; others that he was the man come down from the moon. Every one had a gibe or a jeer for him. At 12 o'clock, when the church bells struck, the chil- dren, according to the religious customs of the times, threw 646 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. themselves upon their knees and recited their prayers. The soldiers did likewise and ordered the captain to do the same. But just then a messenger came from the governor, who ordered the stranger again into his presence and told him to return to his vessel; send his launch to a certain point near the fort for water, and, as soon as he was supplied, to hoist his sails and proceed on his voyage. The stranger thereupon took his departure, watched by the soldiers; did as he was directed, and immediately afterwards hoisted his anchor, spread his canvas and sailed out into the wide ocean. The Californians were never entirely certain who he was; but it afterwards came to be believed very generally that, instead of being engaged in lawful trade, he was a spy of the insurgents and had visited the country to look up points for attack and plunder. 1 In the following year a second great excitement was pro- duced by the appearance of another strange sail heading towards Monterey. The alarm and preparations for defense were much the same as they had been in the case of the schooner. But when the vessel drew near, it could plainly be seen that it flew English colors, which were clearly indicated in the governor's chart of national flags. There was still much suspicion. Nevertheless, when an officer came off from the ship to pay the respects of the commodore in command to the governor, he was received with politeness and urbanity. Upon being told that the vessel had been sent out by the British government bound on a scientific expedition and that the commodore in person would visit the governor the follow- ing morning, Sola ordered the customary salutes to be fired. The next day, according to notice, the commodore made his formal visit, but the soldiers and especially Sergeants Ignacio Vallejo and Dolores Pico continued to suspect the visitors of treacherous designs, and, having already persuaded themselves that the strangers were only another party of Buenos Ayres insurgents, they thought they saw enougn in the winks and 1 Alvarado MS. It is probable that the excitement was caused by an American trader, named James Smith Wilcocks, who was at Monterey in June, 1S17. See Cal. Archives, P. S. I'. XX, 696-726. PABLO VICENTE DE SOLA. 647 nods of the foreign sailors, when they were offered cigar- ritos to smoke and aguardiente to drink, to convince them of the fact. Sola did not fully share in these suspicions when they were communicated to him. But still he was excessively cautious. When the commodore invited him on board his ship to inspect it and hear his band of musicians, he declined upon the plea that his stomach was capriciously squeamish upon salt water and that he was unable to put his foot in a boat without suffer- ing violent sea-sickness. At the same time, however, not to be outdone in courtesy, he asked the commodore to dine at his table the next day. The commodore, who had or pre- tended to have no idea of the suspicions with which he and his people were watched, readily accepted; and the next day he came off with several of his officers and his band of musi- cians; and while the dinner progressed, the musicians treated the inhabitants of Monterey to the first music of a full brass band they had ever heard In the evening the strangers returned to their vessel and the following day set sail in pros- ecution of their voyage, apparently in ignorance of the fact that every hour, both day and night during their stay, can- nons were kept ready shotted, soldiers under arms and extra guards stationed; and that every step they took and move- ment they made was under the strictest and most suspicious surveillance. 1 1 Alvarado MS. CHAPTER VIII. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. THE fear of an attack by the Buenos Ayres insurgents, which during the years 1816 and 1817 caused general and violent excitement throughout California, gradually sub- sided. Various circumstances contributed to weaken it. The false alarms occasioned in 18 16 by the appearance of a little schooner, which had run into Monterey in search of fresh water, and in 1817 by the appearance of what was generally supposed to be a scientific explorer bound on a most unwar- like expedition, began to be regarded as ridiculous. A long length of time also had elapsed since the privateers under the American Brown had made themselves felt on the coasts of Chili and Peru; and since then there had been no news of them or of any appearance by them at any of the ports of New Spain. The Californians had at length come to believe, and supposed they had reason to believe, that they were safe. But they were mistaken, as the sequel proved. In the middle of the summer of 181 8 Sola had visited San Francisco and, taking advantage of an unusually fine and quiet afternoon, had reviewed and harangued the troops there, complimenting them upon their efficiency and hoping they would continue to receive and merit the praises of their com- andante. He had then returned slowly and leisurely to Mon- terey, stopping at the various intervening missions, examining their progress and condition, establishing intimate relations with the missionaries and strengthening, if that were possible, their attachment to monarchy and loyalty to King Fernando VII. He had scarcely got back to his head -quarters and (G48) SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 649 commenced enjoying rest and tranquillity, when news came that two of the Buenos Ayres privateers were fitting out at the Sandwich Islands for an attack upon California and that their arrival might be at any time expected. In view of this intelligence, he ordered that all the plate and valuables of the missions, except those indispensable for every-day use, should be packed up and deposited in places of safety; those of San Francisco and the most northerly missions at the pueblo of San Jose, and the others at various designated points in the interior. At the same time he ordered all the families at Monterey to be prepared to retire on short notice and the horses and cattle to be collected and driven into the back country. He also gave orders for a strict lookout to be kept along the entire coast; for speedy communication of informa- tion, and for the rapid collection of reinforcements at any point that might be attacked. In case he should fall or be disabled, he directed that Jose de la Guerra y Noriega of Santa Barbara should become temporary governor and assume command ; and he finally hoped that everybody in the prov- ince would manifest his love for his king and country and fulfill his duty with alacrity and honor in every respect. 1 The foregoing orders were issued in October and in accord- ance with them the Californians were prepared to receive the enemies or at least to suffer as little as possible from an attack by them. They did not have long to wait. On November 22, 1 8 1 8, the two privateers appeared in front of Monterey. They were comparatively small vessels, but looked large and formidable to the threatened people on shore. One of them, called the Argentina, carried thirty-eight guns, and the other, called the Santa Rosa, twenty-eight; and the two together had over five hundred men. As soon as they rounded to, they sent off a captain with a flag and a message to the gov- ernor, stating that they belonged to Buenos Ayres and were under the command of General Hypolite Bouchard of France; that the king of Spain had declared a bloody war against the American colonies, and that California should throw off its allegiance to Fernando VII. and join in the common defense: 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 1090-1093. 650 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. otherwise see itself ravaged and its towns reduced to ashes. Sola answered, in brief words, that the sovereign had de- clared war only against rebels in arms against his authority and not against his colonies; that he would consider himself beneath contempt to be influenced by the threats that had been sent him, and that the only guide of conduct which he and his people recognized was that of honor and loyalty. So he answered though he had only twenty-nine regular soldiers, four of them artillerymen, and eight cannons, two eight-pounders of them in good condition and the others com- paratively useless. 1 Besides these he had twenty-five militia- men levied and drilled within two years — making fifty-five soldiers against five hundred of the enemy. But notwith- standing the inequality, he determined to fight." As soon as the curt and defiant reply to the summons to join the insurgents was dispatched, the military men were sent to their respective posts; and the governor took his sta- tion in the tower of the presidio church, having the two ser- geants Ignacio Vallejo and Dolores Pico mounted on active horses to serve as aides-de-camp and communicate between him and the fortifications. Lieutenant Manuel Gomez com- manded the castillo or principal fort; Jose de Jesus Vallejo a separate battery recently constructed near the presidio and Jose Maria Estudillo the cavalry. At the same time the governor issued an order that the families living at Monterey should look out for their own safety; and in a few minutes afterwards they began leaving the place with great precipita- tion and hurrying towards the neighboring hills — all except a few of the women, who being well mounted and expert riders approached the fort under cover of the trees growing near it to animate the troops and encourage them to make a heroic defense. While these occurrences were taking place on shore, the smaller of the vessels was seen to separate from the other and draw near the fort. The governor had given orders that the enemy should be left to fire the first gun but that, as soon as it should do so, the fort and battery should 1 Cal. Archives, I*. R. X. 304. ' Alvarado MS. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 651 open and continue firing without interruption until further order. In consequence of this direction and the silence of the Californians, those in charge of the privateer seem to have regarded them as badly frightened and accordingly ran in close to the fort before delivering their fire — so close in fact that their balls overshot their mark and did no execution. The attack was immediately answered not only from the fort but also from the battery in charge of Jose de Jesus Vallejo and his raw Californian levies, who like himself were young men and ardent combatants. Though their guns with the exception of two were of little account, they kept firing them, according to Sola's order, as fast and continuously as they could. The shot of the fort on account of the close proxim- ity of the vessel, like those of the vessel for the same reason, passed over their mark and did no damage; but those of the battery were effective and every one of them told. Under these circumstances, the battle lasted for two hours, when the privateer suddenly stopped, ran out a white flag in token of surrender, and its people called for a suspension of hostil- ities. Sola from his post of observation, seeing the white flag and supposing the battle won, sent orders for the firing to cease. The fort obeyed. But Jose de Jesus Vallejo and his -companions in the battery, excited with the work they saw they were effecting, continued their firing until Sergeant Ignacio Vallejo, Jose de Jesus' father, acting as the gover- nor's aid-de-camp as before stated, rode up to his son and threatened him with severe punishment if he did not instantly desist. Thus commanded, young Vallejo very unwillingly stopped; but at the same time remarked, according to the account current among the Californians, that it would cause the loss of all that had been gained. Be this as it may, it is certain that the privateer, availing itself of the cessation of the firing, hastily embarked its men in boats; and they escaped to the other vessel which was far enough away to be out of range of the guns on shore. Once there, the plan of attack was immediately changed. Instead of attempting anything fur- ther from the vessels, Bouchard disembarked four hundred 652 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. of his men, fully armed and having with them several field- pieces, in one of the coves of Point Pinos which was shel- tered by the intervening heights from the fort and battery. As soon as the landing was effected, the insurgents imme- diately formed and commenced their march for the fortifica- tions and the presidio. Sola, perceiving too late that he had been deceived by his enemy and seeing that there was little or no use with his few men attempting to dispute the approach of so large a force, ordered a retreat; and he and his men, after spiking their guns and setting fire to the powder magazine, taking with them only such ammunition and articles as they could con- veniently carry, mounted their horses and retired to the Rancho del Rey or government rancho on the site of what is now the city of Salinas, whither their families had preceded them. The enemy meanwhile advanced and, finding Monte- rey abandoned, took possession and then commenced exam- ining and as well as they could repairing the damages they had sustained. Their ship, the Santa Rosa, was badly injured; but they set to work and patched it up. As for the Califor- nians, the battle had been bloodless; but five of the insur- gents had been killed and many wounded by the fire from Jose de Jesus Vallejo's battery. The dead were buried and the wounded cared for on the vessel. There was little or nothing of value in Monterey for them to plunder; but what there was they seized, and what they did not take with them they destroyed. At the end of five days, having finished the repairs of their vessel, they set fire to the presidio and, betak- ing themselves to the ships, hoisted their sails and stood out to sea. During the time the enemy held Monterey, Sola was active in collecting auxiliary forces in the interior. The families, which had temporarily stopped at the place which he made his camp, were distributed in the nearest missions of Soledad, San Antonio and San Juan Bautista; and as soon as they were gone the auxiliaries, who had been summoned from all quarters by special messengers, began to come in. Among SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 653 others Luis Antonio Arguello, the comandante of San Fran- cisco, as soon as he received notice of the attack, gathered all his available men and hastened by forced marches for the scene. The comandante of Santa Barbara did the same. The nearest missions also sent such of their soldiers as could be spared and a number of Indians armed with bows and arrows. Upwards of two hundred whites and a large number of Indians were soon collected; and with them Sola prepared ta march back to Monterey and either openly attack the enemy or harass him by cutting off the stragglers of his forces, who were roaming about hunting and plundering in the neighborhood. By the time the governor was ready to march, however, the enemy had set sail. As he approached, he saw the flames of the presidio and the ships with their canvas spread far out at sea and lessening in the distance. The sight quickened his advance and he hastened as rapidly as possible, in hopes of putting out the fire and saving at least a portion of the buildings. But nearly everything, except the stone church and the adobe walls of the houses which resisted the flames, was destroyed or ruined. Upon getting back to Monterey Sola found two men of the enemy, who had been hiding in flie neighboring woods and as soon as he approached made their appearance and sur- rendered themselves. One of them named Echevarria, a native of Buenos Ayres who acted as spokesman, said that they had voluntarily deserted and concealed themselves until after the ships had sailed. Upon being interrogated fully, he affirmed that the schooner, which had visited Monterey two years previously and pretended to be a trader on a voyage from China to the Sandwich Islands, was in fact a spy of the insurgents and that the frigate of the previous year, which pretended to be an exploring expedition sent out by the British government, was no other than the vessel, now called the Santa Rosa, which had been handled so roughly in the recent battle. He further affirmed that the real object of the frigate s visit on that occasion was to enveigle the governor and his officers on board and, after seizing them, to proclaim 654 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the independence of the province and set up a revolutionary government — all of which had been prevented by the gov- ernor's prudence. He still further affirmed that Bouchard and his motley crew of adventurers, when they sailed for California, believed the country to be rich in gold and silver and expected, upon taking possession of Monterey, to gain great plunder; but that they had retired satisfied that their expectations in this respect had been false, as the country was purely an agricultural one; and that, in view of their disappointment in this regard, they would not return. As for himself and his companion, he said they had become heartily sick of the pirates and wished to have nothing further to do with them; but that, if allowed, they would settle in the country at their regular business of agriculturists and live peaceful lives in obedience to the laws. The stories told by Echevarria about the schooner of 1816 and frigate of 1817 do not look very probable; but it seems to have been pleasant to the governor to hear a good reason given to justify his great caution and suspicions on previous occasions as well as to have a good reason for believing that the insurgents would not return. These were so satisfactory that the men were ordered to be released and allowed to settle in the country. Sola then turned to examine the pre- sidio in all its parts; and, finding no portion of it suitable for his residence, he removed to the mission of San Carlos and immediately commenced repairing the damages caused by the insurgents. For this purpose he called upon the neighboring missions for aid and assistance; and, as they willingly con- tributed and sent all the Indian workmen who could be put to use, the work progressed rapidly. In a few months the presidio and other buildings were rebuilt; the governor and all the families returned; and Monterey was in better condi- tion than before the attack. 1 The insurgents meanwhile sailed down the coast and ran in to the Rancho del Refugio nine leagues west of Santa Bar- bara. This ranch belonged to the Ortega family. Those 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. X, 295-306; S. P. XXII, 625-627; P. S. P. XX, 1049, 1050; Alvarado MS. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 655 who were then there, having had notice of what took place at Monterey, as soon as they saw the vessels approach, sent information of the fact to the neighboring presidio and them- selves set off, driving their horses and cattle before them, for the interior. The enemy upon drawing near, sent a few boats to procure wood and water and at the same time disembarked a party of fifty armed men to visit and to plunder the ranch buildings which were a couple of miles from the shore. This party, upon reaching the buildings, found little or nothing to seize; but they rested awhile and then, setting fire to every- thing, started back for their boats. But they had scarcely got halfway on their return, when they saw thirty horsemen galloping towards them from the direction of Santa Barbara. These were soldiers of the presidio, who, upon receiving infor- mation of the landing, had thrown themselves upon horseback and rode as fast as possible for the scene. Their horses, how- ever, were jaded; and, as the marauding party ran as soon as they appeared in sight, they were unable to intercept them. Two of the insurgents, nevertheless, were captured, and a few shots were exchanged before the boats rowed out of range, the results of which were the wounding of a number of the retreating party and of four of the Californian horses. From Refugio Bouchard sailed to Santa Barbara, where, under a flag of truce, he appears to have gained possession of the prisoners that had been taken from him. To effect this he delivered up, and was probably glad of the opportunity, a citizen of Monterey, whom he had found in a state of stupid intoxication when he took that place; and he also promised, without landing at any other point on the coast, to abandon California forever. From Santa Barbara he sailed to San Pedro, where he anchored a short time and then ran down to the mission of San Juan Capistrano, where, notwithstanding his promise at Santa Barbara, he landed a number of his men. They were met, however, by Ensign Santiago Argucllo and thirty men from the presidio of San Diego, who disputed their advance; and, being thereby prevented from doing any further damage than burning the brush houses of the Indians, 656 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. they retreated to their ships, all excepting a Scotch drummer, two soldiers and a negro servant who were disgusted with the service and like Echevarria and his companion at Monte- rey deserted and delivered themselves up to the Californians. While these events were happening, reinforcements were gathering and among others Jose Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega, the comandante of Santa Barbara, came up with his soldiers and a body of Indians. With De la Guerra y Nori- ega was a missionary who manifested an extraordinary spirit. This was Father Luis Antonio Martinez of San Luis Obispo- When he heard of the attack of the insurgents at the Refugio rancho, although ill and confined to his chamber, he instantly rose; gathered a body of thirty-five of his stoutest Indians; armed them with the best weapons he could; placed himself at their head, and marched with them to Santa Barbara. He there joined the comandante and his soldiers and with them marched all the way to San Juan Capistrano, willingly and enthusiastically undergoing all the fatigues cf the hard cam- paign. Such a man would have fought well and in a conge- nial sphere of action might have done great deeds. But Bouchard did not afford him an opportunity of distinguishing himself. That night he put to sea; and in the morning he and his vessels were entirely out of sight of land. 1 Sola wrote in February, 1819, that he had heard of the insurgents being seen in January at the bay of San Quentin off the mission of Rosario in Lower California, and that it was likely they were bound for the mouth of the gulf with the object of preying upon the commerce of San Bias. 2 In the latter conjecture he was correct. It appears that Bouchard had obtained information of a Spanish ship called the Maria, then lying at San Bias, laden with silver and about to sail for Manila. For this ship he lay in wait with the largest of his vessels near some small islands. At the same time he heard that a Spanish cruiser called the Fidelidad had been ordered to run out in advance of the Maria for its protection and to convoy it at least a part of its way across the ocean. This 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 627, 628, 66i, 672, 673. 2 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 630. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 657 was true. But as it happened, the chief pilot of the Maria was exceedingly anxious to proceed on his voyage and induced the captain and owner to consent to sail a short time before the cruiser was ready, it being however understood that it would follow. Bouchard was entirely ignorant of the appearance of cither vessel. Accordingly when he saw the Maria sailing out with all canvas spread and coming directly towards the islands where he lay, he crowded his sails and ran off in another direction, with the remark that the vessel he saw was not the one he sought but the one that was seeking him. The Maria continued its course, without apparently taking much notice of Bouchard's vessel, and was soon out of sight. The next morning the Fidelidad sailed out of San Bias. The commander Jose Martiga soon perceived Bouchard and, immediately understanding the condition of affairs, saw that his enemy had a swifter sailer than his own and that he would have to use strategy to bring about an encounter. He at once closed his port holes and sent most of his men below; partly changed his coursre as if trying to avoid a meet- ing, and manceuvered as if anxious to keep out of the way. The more he did so the more anxious was Bouchard, who felt certain that it was the Maria with its precious cargo, to come up. After a short chase Bouchard approached close, when the Fidelidad, suddenly wheeling broadside to, lifted its ports and delivered a raking fire, which did great execution and came near sinking the Buenos Ayres vessel. With this Bouchard's eyes were opened and, having the advantage of wind and sailing qualities as well as of headway caused by his chase, he managed to run ahead of his adversary and get out of range, though with the loss of many men and very great damage to his ship. The Fidelidad pursued; but Bou- chard, being now thoroughly convinced that he had made a serious mistake as to which of the vessels it was that he sought and which sought him, threw out all his canvas and escaped. This seems to have been the last of his ventures. The loss of a million of Mexican dollars carried by the Maria 42 Vol I. 658 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and the broadside of the Fidelidad, delivered under such circumstances, disgusted him with privateering and probably with Buenos Ayres independence along with it. In the earlier part of his career he had considered himself rich and lucky; but of late fortune had been against him. He retired to Lima and is said to have died there some five years after- wards in great penury and misery, supported in his last days only by charity. 1 Soon after the attack on Monterey, Sola, besides giving a full account of it, wrote for reinforcements and asked the viceroy for at least two hundred and fifty or three hundred more men, together with money to pay them, and for arms and munitions. It was not at all impossible, he said, that the insurgents would return. But whether they did or not, there was in view of the small number of troops in California, the large extent of territory, the great preponderance of Indians whose fidelity could not be relied on and the proximity of the Americans at the Columbia river, an absolute need of an increased military force in the country. 2 In answer to this earnest call, the Conde del Venadito, then viceroy of New Spain, bestirred himself; and in the course of a few months a force of one hundred Mazatlan troops under command of Pablo de la Portilla was dispatched in the brigantine Cossack for San Diego, and an equal number of San Bias troops under command of Jose Antonio Navarrete in the brigan- 'Osio MS. Many of the circumstances in the foregoing account of Bouchard, and especially in reference to his adventure at San Bias and his retirement at Lima, are taken from an unpublished manuscript written by Don Antonio Maria Osio and by him bequeathed to Don Juan Malarin, to whose courtesy the author is indebted for an examination of it. Osio was a prominent man in his day and occupied various high offices in the country, being at one time a member of the old departmental assembly, at another in charge of the custom house and at another a minister of the superior tribunal of justice. In his later years he amused himself with writing in Spanish a historical sketch of California from about 1815, but more particularly of what he himself had known and seen of California from 1825 down to the American occupation in 1846. His work con- sists of upwards of two hundred pages of closely written legal cap, entitled "Memorias de la Alta California," and contains a dedication, dated Santa Clara, April 4, 1851, to Father Jose Maria Suarez del Real, at whose suggestion and solicitation it purports to have been written. It embraces some interesting par- ticulars not found in other works. When referred to, it will be cited as the "Osio MS." * Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 625-628; P. R. X, 295, 306. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 659 tine San Carlos and ship Reyna de Los Angeles for Monte- rey. They arrived at their several destinations in August, 1 8 19. With the San Bias vessels Sola also expected the money, arms and munitions for which he had written and which had been promised. But nothing of the kind came. There was not a real in money; there was no clothing; there were no muskets, nor any arms whatever except four hundred old and worn-out sabers with wooden handles and without scabbards. They were unfit, as Sola said, even for sickles; and he immediately ordered them to be carried back to the comandante of San Bias who had sent them. Nor was this failure on the part of the authorities in New Spain to send what was requisite for the reinforcement and defense of Cali- fornia the worst, of which Sola and the Californians had to complain. It soon appeared that the troops from San Bias, then stationed at Monterey, had been collected just previous to their sailing partly from the prisons of that place and Tepic and partly by impressment. 1 Taken as a class they were a set of convicts and incorrigible scoundrels; and they had hardly landed before robberies, stabbings, assassinations and every species of d'isorder and crime became common. The conduct even of most of the officers was by no means exemplary; and, as was said of them afterwards, they knew not honor because they were unacquainted with honesty, out of which it springs.' 2 With these soldiers, however, such as they were, Sola was obliged to get along. He did so as best he could. He en- forced discipline as far as he was able and managed for a time to restrain their excesses to a much greater degree than could have been expected. The missionaries, who had con- tributed liberally for the rebuilding of Monterey when it was destroyed by the insurgents and more than repaid the losses sustained, 3 continued to furnish all the supplies that were needed; and, as there was always an abundance of provisions and no severe service, the rascally troops of San Bias, with 1 Cal. Archives, P. R. X, 345, 349, 358, 359. ■ Osio MS. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 661. 660 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the exception of private brawls and occasional murders among themselves, were for a while kept in a tolerable state of sub- jection. On the other hand there was some satisfaction for the governor to hear from the viceroy that his actions had been approved at head-quarters; that in recognition of his services he had been promoted to the rank of " coronel de milicias provinciales," and that his name had been published with the thanks of the government in the official gazette. At the same time he was pleased to find that his old handful of troops, to whom as partners in the defense of Monterey he had become attached, had also been duly complimented; that his subordinates Manuel Gomez and Jose Maria Estrada had been promoted from the rank of ensigns to that of lieu- tenants, 1 and that, while the thanks of the king had been sent to the Father President Mariano Payeras and all the mission- aries for their contributions of aid and assistance, special thanks for the gallant conduct and extraordinary exertions of Father Luis Antonio Martinez, the warrior-priest of San Luis Obispo, had not been forgotten. 2 But notwithstanding these causes of satisfaction, Sola re- garded and represented California as in a very bad condition; and in letter after letter he bitterly complained that it had been shamefully neglected. In April, 1819, he wrote of the favorable situation of the province, its great natural fertility and what it might have become if it had been properly fos- tered and cared for. It might be called, he said, the key on the Pacific side of all New Spain; and if it had been popu- lated with six or eight hundred families of sober, honest and industrious European artisans and laborers, as it ought to have been, it would have become the most productive and flourishing of the American possessions of the Spanish crown. Instead of this, however, it was in fact a poor, weak and com- paratively useless country, exposed to attack on every side and inhabited chiefly by Indians of low grade and of aban- doned character, who were entirely ignorant of patriotism or 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 245; S. P. XVII, 663. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 186, 187. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 661 loyalty and full only of "el mal Galico." 1 In July he wrote that he had received information that the comandante of Jalisco had been ordered to send him cannons and other arms." In September he again complained of the miserable and degraded state to which the country was reduced; 3 and he begged, in view of the bad results that might at any time be anticipated, that not an instant should be lost in applying the proper remedy. 4 Later in the same month, when he had become still better acquainted with the outcasts called troops who had been sent him from the jails of Tepic and San Bias, he wrote that, as their vices caused continual disorders and their evil example debauched the minds of the Indians, they had been a great injury instead of a benefit to the country; and that therefore the costs that had been incurred in their collection and transportation had been worse than thrown away. In October he wrote that in order to place the unhappy plight of California before the viceroy and make him fully sensible that something must be done, it had been determined in a council of all the chief officers of the province to send Jose Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega, the comandante of Santa Barbara, to Mexico. 6 In March, 1820, he wrote again and still more complainingly, stating that it would take the pen of a St. John the Evangelist, to adequately depict the miseries of the country a's they actually existed, and repeat- ing that serious consequences were to be anticipated, if any further time were lost in granting the relief which was not only needful but indispensably necessary. 7 The vice-regal government sent replies to Sola's complaints; but nothing except replies. The relief which he asked, and in fact implored, was not forthcoming. All he could do, therefore, was to repeat his complaints. In April, 1820, he wrote that fault had been found by the government with the 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 638. * Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 657. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 679, 6S0. 4 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 682. 5 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 684. «Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 686. 7 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 707. 662 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. sale of California grain to the Russians, and that an order had been received to put a stop to the trade and to forward all the surplus produce of the harvests to New Spain. This might all be very well, he continued, except for one difficulty; and that was, that there were no ships in which to forward it. It was a rare thing for a vessel to sail from California to New Spain at all; and when one did sail, the only thing it was willing to carry was suet or tallow, purchased on account of and for the benefit of its owners at the very lowest prices. Such had been the case with the ship Reyna de Los Angeles, one of the vessels that had brought up soldiers from San Bias, which had sailed on its return the previous November. He had urged upon the missionaries the utility of having vessels of their own; but hitherto all his representations had been in vain; and they therefore saw themselves compelled to sell, if they sold at all, at the lowest prices and to buy such articles, as they were obliged to buy, at the highest prices. He was well aware that the strict letter of the law prohibited the trade with the Russians; but the law of necessity obliged it; and he suggested that some allowances ought to be made in favor of a people, among the most faithful and loyal of all the subjects of the crown, who had not received their pay or any substan- tial aid or relief for ten years. 1 In another letter of the same date, Sola wrote in substance that fault had also been found by the government that a country, so rich in pearls, in fisheries and in ad kinds of nat- ural productions as California, should still be so backward. As to the pearls, he remarked that there were none in Alta Cal- ifornia; and as to the fisheries, that the people of the province were not fishermen but on the contrary had an unconquerable repugnance to that kind of occupation. It was true that the country was or rather might be made exceedingly productive; but without means and conveniences of exportation and im- portation, surplus production would not furnish such articles from abroad as were necessary and was therefore entirely use- less. There had been, it was also true, in early days, a start made in the cultivation of hemp and a commerce initiated for 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 710, 711. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 66^ its utilization by the marine department at San Bias; and the cultivation and commerce were both for a time prosperous and promising. But they had been interrupted by what he was pleased to term " la desgraciada insurreccion " — meaning Hidalgo's revolt — and came to a sudden close in 1810; and since then nothing had been done to reinstate them, or to pro- vide any method by which the people could make use of or get a return for the fruits of their labor over and above the grain and cattle they needed for their own subsistence. 1 In other words, Sola, after a few remarks upon the general character of the people of California and their unfitness for anything but agriculture, stock-raising and other kindred pursuits, showed that their advance in these pursuits was of little bene- fit to them for the reason that they had no commerce, and without commerce they had no market. In what was nat- urally one of the richest and most productive countries in the world, the people were miserably poor and suffering and must continue so until relief came; and this relief must, under the circumstances in which the country was placed, come from the government and only from the government. But during all the time that Sola was thus praying for assistance, and affairs were growing worse and worse, the government, as has been stated, did nothing. It is doubtful whether it could have done much. There was at least a good reason, besides its claim that California was or ought to be rich enough to maintain itself, why it afforded no relief. The revolution, which had been raging with, more or less violence in various parts of New Spain ever since 18 10, had diverted its funds and almost exclusively preoccupied its attention. In 1 82 1, when the royal army seemed to have almost entirely crushed out opposition, a great change was on the eve of taking place. Little as Sola and the loyal people of Califor- nia imagined, the revolution was about being consummated and the vice-regal government destroyed forever. In Febru- ary of that year Agustin Iturbide, a colonel in the royal army who had shortly before been commissioned by the viceroy to proceed with a division of troops from Mexico to 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 715 717. fi64 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Acapulco to put down the revolutionists in that direction, 1 suddenly himself raised the revolutionary flag; promulgated his famous " Plan of Iguala," and almost immediately made New Spain independent of the Spanish crown. In Septem- ber Sola, who had just heard of what was going on, wrote that his information was of great gravity and much to be deplored, as its effect would be to plunge the country into the calamities of renewed wars. It was doubtless, he said, in chastisement of the sins of the people that these misfortunes were visited upon them; but he prayed God to have mercy and in effect to save the Spanish dominion. 2 His prayers, however, as well as his loyalty, were in vain. In the same September Iturbide, who had forced the viceroy to sign the treaty of Cordova, took possession of the capital; established the empire, and instituted the regency with himself at its head; and in May, 1822, he mounted the throne as Agustin I., emperor of the new, sovereign and independent empire of Mexico. Meanwhile in March, 1822, Sola received information from Jose Dario Arguello the governor of Lower California that a hostile force belonging to the insurgent or revolutionary squadron of Chili, commanded by Lord Cochrane, had on February 18 attacked the mission of Todos Santos near Cape San Lucas, killed some of the soldiers, captured others, and committed various excesses; and that, according to report, three ships of the hostile squadron were on their way to attack Alta California. Sola immediately issued orders to the various comandantes similar to those issued by him in 18 1 8, on the occasion of the previous visit of insurgents, and directed as then that the coasts should be watched; property as far as practicable be placed in places of safety, and the families be ready on short notice to remove to the interior/ All was excitement again. It was feared that there was to be a repetition of the disasters and sufferings of 18 18, only increased and aggravated by the superior number and strength 1 Cal. Archives, Y. R. XI, 258. 2 Cal. Archives, P. R. XI, 265. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. I, 36. SOLA AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. 665 of the enemy and the weaker condition of the province to resist the attack. While affairs were in this posture and the most fearful apprehensions were entertained, a war vessel sailed into the port of Monterey and dropped its anchor just beyond range of the guns of the fort. The alarm it created was even greater than that caused by the appearance of the insurgents in 1 8 1 8. A strange flag fluttered at its mast-head, composed of three distinct parts of green, white and red, with an eagle and a crown in the center. It was not noted in the gover- nor's chart of national colors; and Jose Maria Estudillo, the comandante, insisted that the stranger was plainly an enemy and to be welcomed only with bloody hands. The soldiers rushed to their guns and prepared for desperate conflict. But Sola, who had shortly before received confidential advices from friends in New Spain which he had communicated to no one, seeing that the new flag was no other than that of independ- ent Mexico, ordered the troops to calm their apprehensions and patiently await the actions of the visitors who doubtless brought important intelligence. The vessel proved to be the San Carlos from San Bias. In a short time a boat, manned by twenty-four oarsmen dressed in gay colors, put off from its side and made for the shore. Besides the sailors, it car- ried a personage of seeming very great dignity. It took its course directly to the landing place, where Comandante Estu- dillo and the soldiers, one hundred and fifty in number, had collected. Upon reaching the shore, the personage rose and, stepping forward and presenting himself to the comandante, said in a firm voice sufficiently loud to be heard by all: " I am the Canon Agustin Fernandez de San Vicente. I have come from the imperial Mexican capital with dispatches directed to the governor of this province, Don Pablo Vicente de Sola. I demand to be conducted to his presence in the name of my sovereign, the liberator of Mexico, General Don Agustin de Iturbide." These words caused a murmur among the troops; but, to the surprise of their officers, it was a murmur of approbation rather than the contrary. Estudillo, who as a native of Spain 666 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and attached to the Spanish cause would have willingly heard the contrary, felt himself obliged to suppress his feelings and submissively led the canon to the governor's presence. Sola already knew what was coming and had prepared himself to act gracefully and graciously. He had some difficulty in doing so. Only fifteen days previously he had harangued the troops in the court-yard of the presidio and announced his intention to shoot down without formal trial any individ- ual, be he high or low and of whatever condition in life, who dared to say a single word in favor of the traitor Iturbide. But the position of affairs had changed since then. He had learned facts, of which he was then ignorant. His friends in Mexico had assured him that the Spanish cause was lost beyond reclaim and cautioned him to act with prudence and submission. Sola, though by nature quick, hasty and irascible and though he would unquestionably have been willing to fight to the last drop of his life's blood in defense of his king, was sufficiently intelligent to appreciate the condition of affairs and accept the situation. When therefore Fernandez pre- sented himself and by way of introduction decorated Sola with a badge of the new imperial order of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he was received with punctilious ceremony. Fer- nandez then presented his dispatches from the imperial gov- ernment, which described the surrender of the capital by the viceroy O'Donoju to the liberating army, announced the absolute and complete independence of New Spain and all its provinces, set forth the proclamation and establishment of the new empire of Mexico, and called upon the governor of Cal- ifornia to submit to and acquiesce in the new order of things. Sola replied that he was a soldier, ready on all occasions to respect and obey the orders of his superiors, and that as such he recognized the new government at Mexico, to which he accordingly, as an act of military obedience, then and there transferred his allegiance. The news was then communicated to his subordinate officers, and they too acquiesced. The next day, by the governor's order, all the troops were collected in the court-yard of the presidio. The royal colors SOLA AND MEX/CAA of Spain still waved from the top o, the castle or fort near the water side, soldiers and, it is hardly necessary to add, a. Monterey and its neighborhood were present, So addressed them. He spoke of the great changes tna taken place; of the independence of the country from tnv Spanish crown, and of the new empire that had been estab- lished. It was unnecessary, he said, to enter into a discus- sion of the political questions that were involved ; but as a simple matter of military subordination it behooved every soldier and in fact every inhabitant of California to render to the imperial government of Mexico and its flag, which were now supreme, the same obedience they had always rendered to those of Spain. There had been, he repeated in conclu- sion, a complete change in the government; and no one could be called a traitor to his government who submitted to his government. With that, he ordered the Spanish colors to be hauled down and the new imperial flag of the Mexican empire to be hoisted in its place ; and as the new standard unfolded in the breeze, it was greeted with a salvo that had been arranged from all the guns. There was less of enthusi- asm manifested than might have been expected upon such an occasion; but this was attributed, as explained to Fernandez, to the fact that the spirit of independence had not as yet been cultivated in the country. 1 Orders were immediately issued to the other presidios and inhabited points in the province to follow the example of Monterey and to put the new government into possession and operation. In a few weeks the imperial flag — soon to be changed into the simple Mexican tricolor — waved over the length and breadth of the land from San Francisco to San Diego and from the extreme eastern outposts where the Spanish language was spoken to the ocean. California was no longer a Spanish but had become a Mexican province; and Sola, for the few additional months that he continued in his office, was no longer a Spanish but had become a Mexi- can governor. 1 Alvarado, MS. CHAPTER IX. THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. THE progress of navigation in the North Pacific and along the northwest coast during the times of the Spanish gov- ernors, if not an integral part of the History of California, has at least so important a bearing upon the subject that it cannot be omitted. It will be recollected that soon after Spain and Portugal entered upon their careers of maritime discovery and while they were quarreling as to their respect- ive rights, Pope Nicholas V., to whom the controversy was referred, assumed to grant to Spain all the territory and the oceans west of a certain meridian. Under this extraordinary grant, Spain claimed nearly all of America and the exclusive right of navigating its coasts; and, if it had preserved the pre-eminence it then enjoyed as the first country of Europe, it is likely it would never have permitted or recognized the right of any other people to interfere with what it thus claimed as its own. But, fortunately for the world, its power rapidly declined and it was compelled first to submit and afterwards to consent to the inroads of other nations. The English, as a protestant people, denied the authority of the pope to make any partition of the globe or in any manner exclude them from the New World ; and, as the ene- mies of Spain, they were ever ready to dispute its claims and intrude upon its possessions. At a very early period, accord- ingly, they began depredating upon the commerce it carried on with its American provinces, as well in the Pacific as in the Atlantic Ocean, and planted the colonies along the At4arr- tic border which afterwards developed into the great nation, of which California now forms a part. All their voyages (668) THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 669 across the Atlantic and all their settlements in America were made in direct opposition to the pretensions of Spain and in open defiance of its power; and it was not until the year 1667, when for the purpose of resisting the encroachments of France it acquiesced in the treaty of Aix-la-Chapclle and joined the triple alliance of England, Holland and Sweden, that it formally recognized the right of the English to a por- tion of the American soil. By the tenor of that treaty it was agreed that the English king should enjoy the plenary right of sovereignty and property over all places then possessed by him or his subjects in the West Indies or any part of America, and that neither party should in any way interfere with the American possessions of the other. In the meanwhile the French also had penetrated the wilds of America and established their settlements along the line of the St. Lawrence, the Lakes and the Mississippi. They had thus hemmed in the English settlements along the Atlantic coast ; and, if they had succeeded in their designs, the English- speaking part of America, instead of embracing the best part of the country, would have been confined to narrow limits and the history of the world been doubtless very different. The French were a much more formidable enemy to the English than the Spaniards had ever been. But the English colonists were not to be hemmed in either by the Spaniards or the French; and the result of their long and bitter struggles was that the English, aided by the course of events in Europe, suc- ceeded at length in driving the French almost entirely from American soil. This was the effect of the treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, by the terms of which England became the recognized owner of all the territory east of the Mississippi including Canada and Florida, and Spain the recognized owner of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. France retained New Orleans and the right to navigate in common with the others the Mississippi river; and that was about all that was left of its once extensive possessions in the New World. While the eastern side of the continent thus passed as the result of long and bitter controversy into the hands of the 670 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. English, there was comparatively no interference with Spain on the western side. A few adventurous privateersmen, fol- lowed by pirates and buccaneers, attacked its commerce in the Pacific; but they founded no permanent settlements and made no lasting impression upon the western world. Under the extraordinary grant of the pope, Spain still claimed all the land and all the water on the west side of America from the extreme south to the extreme north; and it was not disposed to admit the claims of any other nation even to the ice-bound coasts of the arctic regions. It has already been seen with what zeal it prosecuted its discoveries in the extreme north and how it kept steadily in view the importance of extending the Californian settlements further and further northward. But while the treaty of 1763 fixed, so to speak, the nationality of the eastern side of the continent, it left the western side open to incursions, which under the name of scientific expe- ditions and voyages of discovery finally culminated in a lodg- ment of the English on the northwest coast somewhat similar to what they had effected about two hundred years previously on the eastern side. The first of these expeditions, which specially concerns California, was what is known as the third and last voyage of the famous Captain James Cook. It was at that time still supposed in England that a practicable passage from ocean to ocean to the north of America might yet be found; and, if so, its discovery, in view of the acquisition of Canada and particularly in connection with the continuously asserted claim to Drake's discovery of New Albion, was a matter of prime importance. The British government was so thoroughly im- pressed with this that in 1745 it had offered a reward of twenty thousand pounds sterling for the discovery by a Brit- ish ship of a northwest passage through Hudson's bay; and in 1776 it repeated the offer for any British ship that might discover and sail through any northern passage from ocean to ocean in any direction. Cook had just returned from his second voyage, in which he had completely disproved the existence of a habitable continent about the south pole. Rich THE NORTHWEST-COAST EUR TRADE. 671 in his experience of antarctic navigation, he now offered him- self for similar service in the arctic regions and proposed an expedition to the extreme waters of the North Pacific and with especial reference to the discovery of the much-desired passage. This offer having been accepted by the govern- ment, two vessels were prepared and placed under his com- mand ; and he was instructed to sail with them by the way of the Cape of Good Hope and Otaheite to New Albion and thence to the extreme north, where he was to prosecute his search. Cook sailed from Plymouth in July, 1776. After spending more than a year in important investigations among the islands of the South Pacific he, in the beginning of 1778, turned northward and on January 18 of that year discovered the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands. Thence he sailed for the northwest coast of America and on March 7, 1778, came in sight of it about two hundred miles north of Cape Mendocino. From that point he coasted northward; but on account of rough weather he was compelled to keep at a considerable distance from the land, so that he did not examine it as care- fully as he otherwise might have done. On March 22, he observed a prominent headland, to which he gave the name of Cape Flattery. Proceeding onward and doubling a pro- jection against which the surf broke with excessive violence, he entered and anchored in Nootka Sound. Notwithstand- ing his skill and care, he failed in his coasting to observe either the mouth of the Columbia or the Straits of Juan de Fuca. From Nootka he proceeded northwestward but at such a dis- tance from land that he was unable to examine the coast until May 2, when he observed the peak, named San Jacinto by Bodega y Quadra and by him called Mount Edgecumb. Beyond that he observed and named Mount Fairweather and on May 4, descried the stupendous mass of Mount St. Elias. At that point he commenced his special search for a passage by which he might pass around the north of America into the Atlantic Ocean. He accordingly followed the coast, carefully examining all the inlets, and thus passed along westwardly 672 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and then southvvestwardly until, on June 27, he arrived at Unalaska. On his way he named Prince William's Sound and Cook's Inlet. But the further he proceeded the more he became convinced there was no such passage as that of which he was in search. On July 2, leaving Unalaska and passing northward he proceeded along the coast until August 9, when he reached the extreme northwestern point of America, to which he gave the name of Cape Prince of Wales. From that point he crossed over to the easternmost point of Asia, which he named East Cape; but he did not assume to change the name of the passage, only fifty miles in breadth, sepa- rating these two capes and therefore dividing the continents, which retained and will probably for many ages retain in honor of its illustrious discoverer the name of Behring's Straits. Beyond Behring's Straits, Cook traced the American coast northeastward as far as Icy Cape and the Asiatic coast north- westward as far as North Cape. These respectively were the extreme limits to which the arctic ices would permit him at that season of the year to advance. He therefore deemed it prudent for the time being to retire and did so with the inten- tion of renewing his search the next spring. Accordingly, turning to the southward, he returned to Unalaska, where he arrived for the second time on October 3, and thence sailed to the scene of the most famous of all his discoveries, the Ha- waiian Islands. On his first visit to this important group he examined only the island of Kauai. He now, on his second visit, discovered Hawaii, called by him Owyhee, and Maui, called by him Mowee. He passed several months at Kara- kooa bay on the westerly side of Hawaii; and there on Febru- ary 16, 1779, he met his death at the hands of the natives. Captain Charles Clerke, who succeeded to the command of the expedition, endeavored to prosecute the search into the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 1779 and proceeded by the way of Petropaulovski in Kamtschatka to and beyond Behr- ing's Straits; but, on account of the great rigor of the season, Clerke found himself unable to advance even as far as Cook THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 673 had reached the previous year. He therefore, both for this reason and because his health was rapidly failing, returned to Petropaulovski, near which place he died on August 22, 1779. Lieutenant John Gore, the next in rank, then assumed com- mand of the ships. He might possibly have turned again to the north; but it was found upon examination that the vessels were in such bad condition that it was deemed prudent to return immediately to England; and Gore accordingly turned southwestward and in December anchored at the mouth of the river near Canton in China. There the importance of the northwest coast in an entirely new point of view became demonstrated in a very unexpected manner. It appears that when Cook lay at Nootka and afterwards when coasting along the shores of Alaska, he, as well as his officers and even the common seamen, procured from the natives a quantity of furs in exchange for knives, buttons and other articles of trifling account. There was no thought of their being valuable as articles of commerce. They were in fact considered of so little importance that they were used as common bedding; and, by the time the ships set out on their return for Europe, most of them were so worn as to be comparatively worthless. But as soon as the Rus- sian traders at Petropaulovski caught sight of these skins, worn as they were, they immediately offered unexpected prices lor them and made good their offers by purchasing a number. They showed themselves so anxious to buy all they could procure that the eyes of the English were opened; and, as the result of a few rapid inquiries, it was ascertained that such furs as had thus been procured for almost nothing were of immense value in China. Upon the strength of this information, the skins that had not already been disposed of were carefully gathered up and packed away; and, upon the arrival of the vessels at Canton, they were offered for sale in the market of that great city. The information of their commercial value in that market, procured at Petropaulovski, proved to be far below the fact: on the contrary the Chinese began outbidding one another in their eagerness to purchase; 43 Vol. I. 674 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and by judicious bargaining the English managed to realize immense profits — so much so that they became convinced that with a full cargo of such furs, as might easily have been procured if they had been aware of their value, all would have been enriched. Such being the case, there was a gen- eral desire on the part of the sailors, notwithstanding the length of time already spent in the cruise and the bad con- dition of the ships, to turn immediately around and make a second voyage to the northwest coast; and they almost broke out into mutiny when their requests in this direction were denied and their prospects of becoming suddenly rich were thus thwarted. They were, however, at last obliged to yield; and the ships, after finishing their business at Canton, pur- sued their return voyage by the way of Good Hope to England, where they arrived in October, 1780. At the time Cook left Plymouth on the voyage just referred to, England had already become involved in the war of the American revolution, and on the return of the ships that war was still in progress. There being then little prospect of any speedy termination of the struggle, France having joined the Americans and Russia having proposed and carried its project of armed neutrality, by reason of all which England found that it had a much more hopeless task on hand than it had at first anticipated, the British ministry deemed it proper to withdraw from publication all accounts of Cook's voyage and its results; and it was not until 1784, after the close of the war, that the journals of the expedition were given to the world. The information contained in them as to the geogra- phy of the northwest coast and particularly as to the abun- dance and commercial value of the furs, which that coast yielded, immediately attracted the attention of all the mari- time nations to the North Pacific; and in the course of a very few years a number of vessels of various nationalities were fitted out and got under way for the new avenues of gain thus opened up. The next important voyage of discovery to the North Pa- cific under the auspices of a nation other than Spain, after that of Cook, emanated from France. It was that of Jean THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 675 Francois de Gallaup, Count de la Perouse. He sailed from Brest in August, 1785, with two vessels and under instruc- tions to explore the portions of the northwest coast which had not been examined by Cook, and also to search for a northern passage eastward into the Atlantic. He proceeded by the way of Cape Horn to Chili, where he arrived in Feb- ruary. Thence he sailed by the way of the Sandwich Islands to the northwest coast of America, which he first saw at Mount Fairweather on June 23, 1786. From that point he examined the coast southward and particularly the western shore of Queen Charlotte's Island. Continuing on to the southward, but either relying too implicitly on Cook's exam- ination or for some other reason keeping too far out from land, he also failed to observe either the Straits of Juan de Fuca or the mouth of the Columbia. In September he reached and anchored at Monterey, where he remained six- teen days. During his stay he gathered up a considerable amount of information in reference to the country and made a number of keen observations, which were afterwards pub- lished in his journals. But perhaps the most important serv- ice he did and one for which he must be considered a bene- factor was the introduction into California of potatoes, which he had brought from Chili, 1 and the dissemination of various grains and seeds, which he had brought with him from France, all of which were in a perfect state of preservation. 2 He also, or rather M. de Langle of his expedition, upon seeing the slow, tedious, and laborious method of grinding grain upon metates, presented the missionaries of San Carlos with a hand-mill by means of which four women could do the ordinary work of a hundred. 3 It is doubtful, however, whether this gift was considered as beneficial as the donor thought it- would be. Both the missionaries and the Indians were accus- tomed to the old plan and by no means disposed to adopt what they thought new-fangled notions. Although the French mill may have been tried by way of experiment or 1 La Perouse, I, 460. 2 La Perouse, I, 441, 442. 3 La Perouse, I, 450. G76 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. curiosity, the method of grinding grain by a machine does not appear to have become popular. A few rude mills, some driven by mules and others by water power, were introduced a few years afterwards; but there does not appear to have been any great desire for improvements of this kind. ( Langs- dorff, in 1806, was informed that the missionaries were op- posed to mills for the reason that they had so many Indians that they wished to keep them constantly employed and were afraid of making them idle if labor were too much facilitated. 1 That some may have argued in this manner in those primitive times is possible; but there were other reasons. Either because tortillas made upon metates were considered sweeter than those made of machine-crushed meal, or because the old method was considered the best merely because it was the old method, the metates held their ground against the mills and, among some of the very old Californians, metate-made tortillas are preferred to this day. From California La Perouse crossed over to Asia and among other places visited Petropaulovski, from which place he forwarded his journals to France. From Petropaulovski he sailed to the Navigators' Islands where De Langle and a number of his men were killed by the natives. Thence La Perouse proceeded to Botany Bay, whence he sent word in February, 1788, of his intention to sail to the Isle of France; and that was the last direct information received. An expe- dition was sent put in 1791 in search of him; but no traces could be found. He and his ships and his people had all dis- appeared so completely that more than ordinary interest in his fate was felt; and for many years speculations of all kinds as to what had become of him were rife. Some forty years afterwards, it was heard that two vessels had been wrecked and all their people killed or lost about that length of time previously at one of the New Hebrides Islands; and on the supposition, which was doubtless correct, that they were those of La Perouse, a monument was erected near the spot at the cost of the French government/ 1 Langsdorffs Voyages and Travels, London, 1814, 169. J See Wood's Natural History of Man, II, 307. THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 677 After Cook and La Perouse, a number of voyages for the purpose of commercial gain were made to the North Pacific chiefly by private English adventurers. They served to establish the fur trade between the northwest coast and China; but in other respects are of little or no concern. They made no discoveries and, except in so far as they encouraged that trade, had no appreciable influence upon the history of California. By this time the famous South Sea Company had secured from the British parliament the right, exclusive of all other British subjects, to the navigation of the Pacific by the way of the Straits of Magellan or Cape Horn, while the still more famous East India Company had secured a similar right to the navigation of the Pacific by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. ' The private adventurers, being thus excluded from entering the Pacific as British subjects, were obliged to assume another nationality; and for this reason almost all of them sailed under Portuguese colors. But as already stated their voyages had little bearing upon California and do not require further notice. The next voyage worthy of special mention was that of Nathaniel Portlock and George Dixon. They sailed from London in 1785, under the auspices of the King George's Sound Company, with the object of monopolizing the fur trade between America and China. For this purpose they had obtained a license to navigate the Pacific from the South Sea Company. Proceeding by the way of Cape Horn and the Sandwich Islands they reached Cook's Inlet in July, 1786, ran along the coast to Nootka and thence to the Sandwich Islands, where they wintered. The next year they returned to Cook's Inlet and Prince William's Sound, at which latter place they separated, Portlock devoting his attention to trading in that neighborhood while Dixon ran down the coast and visited and imposed the names of Norfolk Sound, Dixon's Channel and Queen Charlotte's Island upon the places which are still so called. From the latter place Dixon ran down to Nootka and thence to Canton, where he rejoined Portlock, who had proceeded there direct from Prince Wil- 678 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. liam's Sound. They both carried with them to China a large- quantity of furs; but by that time the market had become glutted; and their voyage, in so far as it was intended to monopolize the fur trade or as a commercial venture, proved a failure. While Portlock and Dixon were at Prince William's Sound in 1787 they found there Captain John Meares, who had sailed in a small vessel under the flag of the East India Com- pany from Calcutta in 1786 and, after visiting the Aleutian Islands, had arrived at Prince William's Sound, where he- spent the winter. At the time he was thus found, his vessel was frozen up in the ice; one-half his crew were dead and the survivors were suffering dreadfully from the scurvy. Portlock and Dixon also found on the northwest coast in 1787 Captain Charles Duncan in command of the sloop Princess Royal and Captain James Colnett in command of the ship Prince of Wales, who had likewise been sent out by the King George's Sound Company for the purpose of prosecuting the fur trade and aiding in establishing the monopoly contemplated by that association as before stated. In the same year 1787, that coast was also visited by Captain Berkeley, or Barclay as he was sometimes known, another Englishman, who however carried the flag of the Austrian East India Company. His ship was called the Imperial Eagle and had sailed from Ostend the preceding year. Each of these persons did some- thing to acquire distinction and merits passing notice. Captain Berkeley, running south from Nootka, discovered the broad arm of the sea which constitutes the mouth or entrance of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. He did not enter it or attempt to explore it; but he was the first, if the claims of the old Greek pilot Juan de Fuca himself are to be excluded, who made its existence known to the world. It had been frequently passed and repassed; but no other navigator had seen it under such circumstances as to place its existence beyond further doubt or question. From that locality he sailed down the coast to a small island which, on account of the massacre of a boat's crew, whom he had sent ashore, he THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 679 called Destruction Island, a name it still bears. Thence he proceeded to China. 1 Captain Duncan on the other hand confined his investigations principally to the land and water north of Nootka and ascertained the insular character of Queen Charlotte's Island and discovered, explored and named the Princess Royal archipelago. These discoveries revived the old stories of Juan de Fuca and Admiral Fonte and theif pretended passages from ocean to ocean. Juan de Fuca's account, in so far as it referred to the western entrance of his supposed passage, corresponded so nearly with Berkeley's dis- covery that his name became indissolubly attached, so to speak, to the straits thus discovered. As for Fonte, it was long supposed that among the many inlets observed by Duncan one would be found leading into a great river as asserted by him; but further investigations proved the entire falsity of his story; and his name was relegated to compara- tive oblivion. Captain Meares and Captain Colnett, although they accom- plished little or nothing in the way of discovery, exploration or successful fur-trading, yet managed to fill a large space in the notoriety of their day and came near embroiling two great nations in a war. Having carried the furs they collected in 1787 to China, Meares there fitted out a new expedition con- sisting of the ship Felice and the brig Iphigenia, which sailed from Macao in January, 1788. These vessels seem to have been owned by private Englishmen resident in China, having no connection with either the East India or the South Sea Com- pany and without license therefore as Englishmen to navigate the Pacific Ocean or engage in the fur trade. Under these circumstances and for the purpose of avoiding the English laws, it was pretended that the vessels belonged to Juan Cavallo, a Portuguese merchant of Macao. Their papers were made out in Cavallo's name and in the Portuguese lan- guage; and they sailed under the Portuguese flag. As Por- tuguese vessels they also carried instructions, duly made out, to the effect that, if interfered with by either English, Spanish 1 Greenhow, 171. 680 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. or Russian vessels, they should resist to the utmost of their power; and, if successful in making captures under such cir- cumstances, they should bring their prizes to China for adju- dication. The Felice proceeded directly to Nootka, where Meares landed his crew and set them at work building a small vessel, which he named the Northwest America. Leav- ing a portion of his men to complete this vessel, he proceeded with the remainder down the coast; made a partial examina- tion of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and then sailed down as far as the cape which forms the northern point of the mouth of the Columbia river, in search of a port supposed to exist in that neighborhood. He found there a sort of bay; but the swell was so prodigious, the water so shoal and the breakers so violent that he deemed it prudent to keep out from the land and sailed over to the headland forming the southern point of the bay. Having thus failed to find a port, he named the cape at the north of the bay Cape Disappointment and the bay itself Deception Bay. He thus passed the mouth of the largest and grandest river on the west coast of America, without seeing it. There existed a vague sort of a rumor that a great river, called by the Spaniards the San Roque, discharged in that vicinity; but Meares, having thus passed along and not observed it, confidently asserted that no such river existed. It would appear that the extraordinary swell, the remarkable shoaling of the water and the violent breakers and especially when thus combined, should have attracted his attention and quickened his perceptions; but, carelessly sailing on, he ran down as far as Cape Lookout; and then turning round and keeping out to sea he returned to Nootka. The Iphigenia, meanwhile, sailed from Macao to Cook's Inlet and after collecting a cargo of furs also proceeded to Nootka, where it joined Meares towards the end of the summer. It was now determined that the cargo of the Iphigenia should be transferred to the Felice, which should return with Meares to China, while the Iphigenia and the small Northwest Amer- ica, which had by this time been completed at Nootka and was just launched, should cross over to the Sandwich Islands; THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 681 winter there, and in the early spring return to Nootka, where Meares would rejoin them for the business of the next year and further prosecution of the object of the general venture. Upon his arrival in China, Meares found that Juan Cavallo, the Portuguese merchant under whose name he had been conducting his expedition, had become a bankrupt. It there- fore became at once necessary to make new arrangements. These were soon perfected by a compromise and accommo- dation with the King George's Sound Company, by the terms of which the Felice was sold and a new ship, called the Argo- naut, purchased and prepared for the northwest coast. This vessel and the Princess Royal, which had previously been under the command of Captain Colnett as before stated, were then prepared for the northwest coast and sailed from Macao for that destination in April, 1789. Colnett was placed in command of the Argonaut and Captain William Hudson of the Princess Royal. Possessing the license of the King George's Sound Company and having therefore no need of the Portuguese flag, they sailed under English colors. While these vessels were on their way across the ocean, the brig Iphigenia and the schooner Northwest America, which in accordance with Meares' instructions of the previous year had wintered at the Sandwich Islands and which still sailed under the Portuguese flag, returned to Nootka. They arrived there in April, 1789, in very bad condition — so wretched in fact that the brig was compelled to lie up and only the schooner, with the assistance of aid supplied by some ships of the United States then in those waters, was enabled to keep the sea and prosecute trade along the coast. In the meanwhile, Spain had been observing with great dissatisfaction the movements of the fur traders on the north- west coast, regarding them as interfering with its own claims to the sovereignty of those regions. These feelings con- tinued to grow stronger and stronger until at length Manuel de Flores, the then viceroy at Mexico, resolved to send an expedition of inquiry thither. For this purpose two vessels, 682 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the corvette Princesa under command of Estevan Martinez and the schooner San Carlos under command of Gonzalo de Haro, sailed from San Bias in March, 1788, and proceeded to Prince William's Sound. From that place they sailed to Unalaska, carefully examining the Russian establishments as they went along, and then returned to San Bias. They had scarcely dropped their anchors, however, when the viceroy Flores, who by this time had become thoroughly roused to the dangers threatened to the Spanish sovereignty of the northwest coast, ordered them to prepare for a new expedi- tion; and on this occasion he directed them to proceed at once to Nootka and maintain there the paramount rights of the Spanish crown. Martinez and De Haro sailed from San Bias, upon this mission, in the early part of 1789 and arrived at Nootka in May of that year. They immediately landed their artillery and supplies and began the erection of a fort. They visited and were visited by the officers of the Iphigenia. Great good feeling seemed to prevail for a week and upwards^ when suddenly Martinez, having invited the officers of the Iphigenia on board his vessel, informed them that they were his prisoners and that their ship was seized. William Doug- las, the master of the brig, demanded the cause of such arrest and seizure and was told that as his ship's papers required him to seize any Spanish vessel found on the coast and as he was about to be reinforced by vessels on their way from China, the Spanish authorities did not feel disposed to run the risk of being interfered with and thought proper to pre- vent such interference by making the first seizure. Upon this, negotiations were at once opened; and the result was the execution of a bond by the officers of the Iphigenia in the name of Juan Cavallo of Macao, the reputed owner, to pay its value provided the seizure should be pronounced by competent authorities a legal one, and the release of the ves- sel and its officers. A short time afterwards the Iphigenia, having in the meanwhile been furnished by the Spaniards with supplies, proceeded on its trading voyage up the coast and, after collecting a cargo, sailed for China. THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 683 Some week or ten days after the departure of the Iphigenia, the schooner Northwest America returned to Nootka and as its papers were substantially the same as those of the Iphi- genia, it was also seized by Martinez. A few days subse- quently, the Princess Royal, one of the vessels that had last left China, arrived with the news of the failure of Juan Ca- vallo, whereupon Martinez expressed his determination to hold the Northwest America as security for the bond which had been executed by the officers of the Iphigenia in Cavallo's name. Its cargo was accordingly taken out and placed on board the Princess Royal and the schooner was equipped and sent out on a trading voyage by Martinez. Such was the position of affairs when Colnett arrived from China in the Argonaut. The day after dropping his anchor Colnett was invited on Martinez' vessel. He repaired thither in his uniform and with his sword at his side. Upon being asked for his papers, he informed Martinez of his intention to take possession of Nootka and erect a fort there under the British flag. Mar- tinez replied that he could not permit this to be done as the place was already occupied by the forces and in the name of the king of Spain. An altercation ensued, in the course of which Colnett drew or attempted to draw his sword ; and he was thereupon arrested and placed in confinement by Mar- tinez. This treatment inflamed the natural violence of his temper to such a degree as to render him insane, in which condition he continued for several weeks. In the meanwhile Martinez seized the Argonaut, and a few days afterwards the Princess Royal also, and transferred their cargoes to the Spanish ships. Subsequently the Argonaut was placed under command of a Spanish lieutenant and sent to San Bias with Captain Colnett, his officers and a large portion of his crew on board as prisoners of war, while the Princess Royal and the Northwest America were detained and used by the Span- iards for trading voyages on their own account along the coast. Martinez, having thus according to his understand- ing of his instructions asserted the paramount rights of the G84 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Spanish crown, continued in the same general manner to maintain them until November, when on account of further orders from Mexico he broke up the establishment at Nootka and with all his ships returned to San Bias. The Argonaut had in the meanwhile, on August 16, arrived at San Bias and proceedings were at once commenced for its condemnation as lawful prize. Colnett and his men were removed on shore and kept prisoners until the arrival of Bodega y Quadra, the comandante of the department, then temporarily absent. That gentleman, himself a navigator who had sailed the northwestern seas and an officer of great capacity and prudence, as soon as he understood the state of affairs, treated Colnett with distinguished consideration and sent him to the city of Mexico, where the matter of the seizure of the Argonaut and other British vessels and incidentally the conduct of Martinez in making the seizures and thus main- taining the paramount rights of the Spanish crown were under investigation. In the course of a few months the result of the inquiry was announced — a result evidently induced rather by political than judicial considerations and very different from what might have been expected in the high and palmy days of the Spanish monarchy — to the effect that Martinez had proceeded in conformity with law and the vessels might be retained as lawful prize; but, on account of the apparent ignorance of Colnett and his people of the rights of Spain in the premises and also for the sake of preserving peace with England, they should be released with the simple condition not again to attempt to settle or trade with the natives at any point on the Spanish American coasts. Colnett, being thus if not justified at least excused at the hands of the Spanish authorities, immediately returned to San Bias and, after receiving back the Argonaut and gathering up those of his people who still remained, sailed for Nootka where he expected to receive the Princess Royal, for which he carried an order. Upon arriving there, however, he found that place deserted and he therefore sailed for China. In 1791 he pro- ceeded from China to the Sandwich Islands, where the Prin- THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE. 685 cess Royal was at length restored, having been retained and employed by the Spanish for a period of about two years. Meanwhile the news of the seizure of the British vessels was carried not only to Meares, who was still in China and who forthwith began to fulminate thunders with which he hoped to shake the Spanish throne, but also reached the courts of Spain and England and gave rise to a long and bitter contro- versy which for a time threatened the most serious conse- quences. In February, 1790, the Spanish ambassador at London presented a note to the British ministry communi- cating the facts of the seizure, complaining of the infringe- ment of the Spanish rights to the northwest coast by British subjects and demanding that the guilty parties should be punished by their own government, and interference with the rights of Spain prevented for the future. To this the British minister answered that the seizure of British subjects and property, as described in the ambassador's note, was an act of violence and that no discussion of the matters of which he complained could be admitted until the seizures should be restored and satisfaction given for the insult offered to the British flag. This answer being transmitted to Madrid, the Spanish cabinet suspected that England was using the occa- sion as a mere pretext for a rupture and at once began to make preparations for war. At the same time, however, the Spanish ambassador at London was directed to address a second note to the British ministry, announcing the release and restoration of the seizures; asking that the affair might be considered as concluded without entering into any dispute or discussion as to the rights of Spain, and desiring only that British subjects might be commanded to respect those rights in future. The controversy was at this stage when Meares arrived in London, armed with affidavits and complaints in nowise cal- culated to further a peaceful solution of the difficulty. On the contrary, in consequence of his representations, orders were given for the arming of two large fleets; and the subject, as a matter of great national importance, was by royal mes- 686 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. sage submitted to parliament. At the same time the repre- sentative of the British government at Madrid presented to the Spanish government a formal demand for full reparation and asserted as a principle, which would be maintained by England, that British subjects had an indisputable right to free and uninterrupted navigation, commerce and fishery and to the possession of all such establishments as they might form with the consent of the natives of any country not occu- pied by any other European nation. This demand called forth from the court of Madrid a circular letter addressed to the other courts of Europe, in which the facts of the dispute were recited, disclaiming any intention to commit an act of injustice and declaring the readiness of Spain to satisfy any well-founded claims that might be made against it. The result was a conference between the representatives of En- gland and Spain; and finally it was agreed that Spain, besides restitution of the seized vessels and cargoes, should indemnify their owners for all losses and make satisfaction for the supposed insult to the British flag, it being provided however, that the extent of such insult and satisfaction should be first determined by further negotiation or by a referee to be selected by England among the crowned heads of Europe. In the meanwhile the king of Spain, in view of the attitude assumed by England, had applied to the king of France for assistance; and the French king, being under treaty obliga- tions to render such assistance, had ordered an increase of his navy. It happened, however, at this juncture that the cur- rent of national affairs in France was fast rushing into the vortex of the Revolution. The king was already powerless; the national assembly was in session; and, when the subject of the Nootka broil and the action of the king in relation thereto were brought before it, occasion was taken by that body to determine that it was no longer the king but only the nation that could declare war and ratify treaties. At the same time, the French nation, while it could not regard itself bound by the obligations of the French king, recognized the fact that a spirit of hostility had been fomented; that arma- THE NORTHWEST-COAST FUR TRADE, 687 ments were preparing; that at any moment a conflict might commence; and, in view of the dangers to which it might and doubtless would in such case be exposed, it repeated, on its own behalf, the orders of the king, that the navy should be forthwith increased and repared for immediate action and effectual service. CHAPTER X. LATER NORTHWEST-COAST VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. THE quarrel between Colnett and Martinez, in a remote, obscure and at that time out-of-the-way corner of the globe, threatened to involve the most powerful nations of Europe in war. It was the spark which might have been the occasion, in the then state of European affairs, of a great conflagration. But England, though desirous of seizing upon any favorable opportunity of pouncing upon Spain, suddenly became aware, from the progress of events in France, that it would soon have conflicts enough upon its hands without provoking any fresh ones. The tone of the British ministry was immediately changed; and now, instead of rupture with Spain, peace and even alliance were sought. France aided in bringing about an accommodation; and the controversy was finally arranged in October, 1790, by what is known as the Nootka Convention. This instrument provided that buildings and lands, of which British subjects had been dis- possessed on the northwest coast since the beginning of the difficulties there, should be restored; that reparation should be made for all acts of violence or hostility committed by subjects of either party against those of the other; that in case subjects of either party should have been forcibly dispossessed of lands, vessels or other property the same should be restored or just compensation made for the losses sustained; that the subjects of neither party should thereafter be molested or dis- turbed in navigating or fishing in the Pacific Ocean or landing on the coasts thereof for the purposes of settlement or trad- ing, subject, however, to the restriction that British subjects should not navigate or carry on fisheries within ten leagues of (6S8) LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. C89 any part of the coast already occupied by subjects of Spain; that as to the places restored to British subjects, as first pro- vided for, and as to other parts of the northwest coast north of parts already occupied by Spain, if the subjects of either party had already made settlements or should thereafter make settlements, the subjects of the other were to have free access and might carry on trade there without disturbance or molestation; and that as to the coasts of South America south of those parts already occupied by Spain, no settle- ments were to be formed; but subjects of cither party should retain the liberty of landing for the purpose of fishing and, for such purpose, of erecting huts and other temporary build- ings. It cannot be said, if regard be had to the mere words of this convention, that Spain lost any substantial rights to the northwest coast or that England gained any. But it must be borne in mind that England thereby strengthened itself against the coming storm in European affairs then brewing in France, and also as the much stronger nation retained the power of putting its own construction upon the terms and conditions of the instrument, without any great fear of contradiction from the much weaker nation. There could be no justice in the claim that the English possessed either buildings or lands at Nootka of which they had been de- prived by Martinez; but nevertheless commissioners were afterwards appointed and went through the form of deter- mining what buildings and lands were to be restored. And, as will be seen further along, England did in substance put its own interpretation upon the treaty and Spain was in no condition to dispute or resist it. For the time being, however, Spain, unwilling as yet to succumb to the demands of its haughty rival, deemed it proper more strenu- ously than ever to insist upon or at least make a show of insisting upon and maintaining its rights to the Nootka set- tlement. Accordingly after Martinez returned to San Bias, his vessels, together with the Princess Royal which he had seized from the English, were placed under command of 44 Vol. I. 690 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Francisco Elisa, with instructions to re-establish the Spanish settlement and make it permanent. Elisa sailed in the spring of 1790 and again planted the Spanish standard at Nootka. Under his directions, Lieutenant Fidalgo in the schooner San Carlos made a voyage as far north as the' Russian settlements at Cook's Inlet; and Lieutenant Ouimper in the sloop Prin- cess Royal made a partial examination of the Straits of Juan de Fuca; but neither one nor the other added anything of importance to what was already known. Elisa was still at Nootka when a new Spanish expedition, consisting of the corvettes Descubierta and Atrevida, under command of Alejandro Malaspina, arrived there. The main purpose of this expedition was the determination of the old and still unsettled question as to the existence of the famous Straits of Anian or, in other words, a practicable passage of communication through North America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. All the recent voyages to the north- west coast had concurred in representing it as cut up into numerous inlets and passages, the precise direction and extent of which were still to a great extent a matter of conjecture; but every new development tended to confirm the accounts of the old navigators. Under these circumstances the mar- velous story of Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado and his pre- tended passage in 1588 from ocean to ocean was revived and found a powerful supporter in the person of a French geographer named Buache, who as the result of long and persistent study persuaded himself of the truth of Maldo- nado's narrative and in 1790 presented a learned paper upon the subject to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, then the center of everything that was new and startling. This paper attracted great attention from all the maritime powers and especially from Spain, which was most directly interested in the question; and one of the immediate results was that Malaspina, who was an accomplished Italian navigator then engaged in the service of Spain in making surveys in the Pacific, was directed to turn his attention to the northwest coast and, if possible, settle the long-mooted controversy. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 691 Malaspina sailed from Acapulco on May I, 1791, and on June 23 reached the neighborhood of Mount Edgccumb. Upon careful examination of the coast and especially of the highlands in the interior, he could find no indication of a pas- sage such as was described by Maldonado, until he approached Admiralty bay where a break in the sierra seemed to prom- ise that the Straits of Anian had at last been found. The corvettes accordingly sailed into the bay and lay-by to await the dissipation of the clouds and mists, which covered the snowy summits of the mountains and prevented him for several days from pursuing his observations. Meanwhile upon anchoring he was presented with a delightful spectacle. He found himself surrounded with picturesque hills and islands covered with foliage and flowers. Here and there, scattered in rustic simplicity, were Indian habitations. On the level places and along the beaches were old men, women and children engaged in industries, while the smooth waters swarmed with canoes full of grown men coming out to meet him with all the signs and demonstrations of amity and singing, as he described it, " the harmonious hymn of peace." l This agreeable scene was still further heightened in interest a few days afterwards, when the clouds and mists of the upper skies cleared away and the magnificent landscape took in the summits of the majestic cordillera rising in brilliant contrast above the dark green forests of illimitable pines. But it was especially in the evenings, when everything seemed suffused with the splendors of the sunset reflected from the glowing peaks, that Malaspina felt enraptured and recalled the pic- tures "of the golden age" as imagined by the poets. 2 These pleasant appearances, however, did not prevent the com- mander from pursuing the objects of his voyage and preserv- ing a prudent caution against too great a familiarity with the natives. In the course of a week he ascertained to his entire satisfaction that the passage he sought did not exist — in fact he could see, now that the sky was clear, an unbroken line of mountains extending in both directions north and south as 1 " El himno armonioso de la paz." — Kelacion, Introduccion, CXIV. * " De la edad dorada." — Kelacion, Introduccion, CXY. 692 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. far as the eye could reach. Thence he proceeded northward, making minute examinations and surveys of the coast as far as Mount St. Elias, at which place, deeming the object of his expedition accomplished, he turned around and ran down to Nootka. After remaining there a week and upwards, he again set sail, still devoting his attention to the examination and mapping of the coasts; on September 13 stopped at Mon- terey, and on October 9 reached San Bias. 1 The next Spanish voyages to the northwest coast and the last were those of Dionisio Alcala Galiano and Cayetano Valdes in the schooners Sutil and Mexicana and that of Ja- cinto Caamano in the frigate Aranzazu. Malaspina in his recent expedition had shown that there was no truth in Mal- donado's story of a passage between the oceans; but it did not therefore follow that there might not be some foundation for the story of such a passage attributed to Admiral Fonte; and it was now sure that there were Straits of Juan de Fuca, though it was still uncertain how far they extended and in what direction their various passages ran. To clear up the doubts about Fonte's passage and to ascertain the exact truth about Fuca's straits were objects quite as important to the Spanish court as those for which Malaspina sailed. Caa- mano was the man chosen for the former object. He sailed from San Bias on March 20, 1792, and reached Nootka on May 14. From that place he slowly proceeded northward, minutely examining all the inlets, until he reached the neigh- borhood of the southern limit of Malaspina's search; but there was nothing to be found of Fonte's passage. Having thus accomplished the object of his mission, he turned around; on September 7 ran into Nootka again; on October 22 stopped at Monterey, and towards the end of the year again dropped anchor in the port of San Bias. 2 Galiano and Valdes in the Sutil and Mexicana had for their special purpose the examination of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. They sailed from Acapulco on March 8, 1792. After a short stay at Nootka they addressed themselves to their 1 Relation", Introduction, CXII-CXXIII. 1 Relacion, Introduction, CXXIII-CXXXI. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. G93 work of examination and commenced by a careful survey of the northern shore of the straits. They had, however, not proceeded far when they met the British vessels under Van- couver, engaged in the same business and now on their re- turn from a survey of Puget Sound. The meeting, whatever may have been the real feelings of the respective parties, was to all appearance civil and friendly. They exhibited to each other their charts; compared observations, and agreed to unite their labors. Under this arrangement they remained together three weeks and examined in conjunction the waters called the Gulf of Georgia and the Canal del Rosario. Upon the completion of this examination they separated — the English passing up northwestward through the intricate arm of the sea called Johnstone's Straits; and the Spaniards, who on account of the paucity and inefficiency of their crews were unable to keep up, following more slowly. The English again emerged into the Pacific at Queen Charlotte's Sound on August io; the Spaniards on September 4; and both pro- ceeded directly to Nootka. There Galiano and Valdes placed their charts in the hands of Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra, who had recently arrived as successor, to Elisa, and then set out on their return to Mexico, stopping for some time at Monterey on their way down. The meeting at Nootka at this particular time of the two great navigators, George Vancouver on the part of the En- glish and Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra on the part of the Spanish, was not a casual one. The former, it is true, had come out from England mainly with the scientific object of examining and surveying the northwest coasts; and the latter, who was then superintendent of the marine department of San Bias, had come up from that place to take command of the Spanish forces. But both had been selected, as a matter of fact, as the respective commissioners to decide as to what buildings and lands were to be restored by the Spaniards to the English in accordance with the provisions of the Nootka convention and to carry out the stipulations of that instru- ment upon the ground. They met and discussed the sub- 694 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. ject much more like gentlemen than as the mere representa- tives of quarreling nations. As a preliminary, it was agreed that the great island, which had just been circumnavigated, should thenceforth be known, using their joint names, as that of Quadra and Vancouver. They then proceeded to the inter- pretation of the treaty. Vancouver claimed as the English construction of its terms, that Spain was to give up all the territories of Nootka and its surroundings, while Bodega y Quadra declined to surrender any more than a small spot said to have been temporarily occupied by Meares in 1788. As a compromise, however, he offered to surrender Nootka provided the English would recognize it as having been at the date of the treaty the most northerly settlement of the Spaniards and thus virtually abandon all claim to the territory south of it. In other words, Bodega y Quadra, being a man of spirit, refused to interpret the treaty otherwise than as it read and would only swerve from its terms by way of a compro- mise which would still preserve the honor of his country. It seems, as a matter of fact, that his instructions authorized him, if he should deem it proper, to yield to the English; and it is probable that some such action was contemplated by the Spanish government; but, if so, it now became clear that a more accommodating instrument than Bodega y Quadra would have to be chosen to execuie the purpose. Under the circumstances, the object of the English could not be accom- plished; the whole subject had to be referred back to the governments of the respective parties; and it was not until 1795 and after various negotiations, the outcome of which however could not be other than a foregone conclusion, that Spain finally abandoned Nootka and substantially the entire coast north of the Columbia river. If Nootka had remained a Spanish settlement or if the Spanish government had been uniformly guided by the spirit of such men as Bodega y Quadra, there is every reason to believe that Alta California would have continued for a long time to extend, as it was then supposed to extend, into the far northwest. But by the operation of this Nootka business LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 695 a northern limit, though an undefined and indeterminate one, was put to the Californian frontier. If, on the other hand, the English, who had thus secured a footing" on the northwest coast and were not likely judging from the precedents of their history to confine themselves to narrow spaces, had not been met and thwarted by a younger and more active antagonist, there is every reason to believe that the British possessions would have looked over into the Sacramento valley and might even have come down within sight of the Golden Gate. It was at the very commencement of the Nootka quarrel between the English and the Spanish, which thus arose like a mere fleck of vapor on a distant horizon but in time gathered and spread into a black and portentous cloud threatening the peace of the civilized world, that the Americans made their first appearance and laid the foundations of their future em- pire on the Pacific. Almost immediately after the peace of 1783, which recognized the United States as a nation, its citizens engaged largely in the trade with India and China and the whale fisheries of the Pacific. Their first ship that came out was the Empress, which sailed from New York and reached China in 1784. In the course of a few years after- wards there were a number of vessels, chiefly from New England ports, employed in the saint business. They enjoyed the advantage of being able to sail the seas free from the restrictions imposed by the British monopolies; but they labored under the disadvantage of having no commodities of home production which were saleable in the East Indian and Chinese markets and of being therefore obliged to pay for their cargoes in articles of which they themselves stood greatly in need — that is to say, gold and silver. In the meanwhile the journals of Cook's voyage were published; and the Americans, thus early displaying their alertness and enterprise, at once saw and seized the opportunity of remedying their difficulty. They resolved to combine the fur trade of the northwest coast with their Indian and Chinese trade. The merit of this masterly stroke belongs to an association of Boston mer- chants, who in 1787 fitted out two small vessels, laden with 696 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. blankets, knives, nails and other small articles calculated for Indian traffic, and sent them out to pioneer the way for that continuous and frequent trade, which afterwards rendered the name of " Boston" and " Bostonman " as familiar on the north- west coast as on the shores washed by Massachusetts bay. These two small vessels were the ship Columbia, com- manded by Captain John Kendrick, and the sloop .Washing- ton, commanded by Captain Robert Gray. The ship was of two hundred and ten tons burden; the sloop of ninety. They left Boston on September 30, 1787; sailed by the way of the Cape de Verde and Falkland Islands, and in January, 1788, doubled Cape Horn. Soon after entering the Pacific, the two vessels were separated by a violent storm. Gray continued his course in the sloop and in August made land about the parallel of 46 north latitude, where in attempting to enter what appeared to be the mouth of a river he grounded and was attacked by the savages. He managed, however, to get off with the loss of one man and continuing his voyage northwards reached Nootka on September 17, where he found Meares lying with the Felice and Iphigenia. Kendrick, whose ship had been injured in the storm off Cape Horn, had been obliged to put into the island of Juan Fernandez for repairs but also managed to reach Nootka a few days after Gray had anchored there. In the spring of 1789, after wintering at Nootka, Gray commenced a series of short trading voyages along the coast, making frequent returns and depositing the furs collected by him in the Columbia, which remained at its moorings. Upon his first return, he found Martinez there; and upon a subse- quent one he was present when Colnett arrived and was a witness to many of the circumstances of the quarrel which afterwards made so great a noise in the world. From the very beginning, the most friendly relations appear to' have been established and to have continued to exist between the Americans and the Spaniards; while there were also many friendly interchanges between the Americans and the En- glish though the national animosities, engendered by the then LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. G97 recent war of independence, tended to prevent entire cordi- ality. The Americans were, therefore, not only allowed to remain entirely undisturbed when the troubles sprang up between the English and the Spanish; but on many occasions they acted as mediators. During all the time, however, Gray was taking advantage of the difficulties under which the con- tending parties were laboring and was diligently piling up treasures in the hold of the Columbia. In June, 1789, Gray explored the entire east coast of Queen Charlotte's Island. Duncan had sailed through the same arm of the sea the preceding year and ascertained its general character; but Gray was the first to visit and trade with the islanders. On a subsequent voyage, he entered the opening now known as Queen Charlotte's Sound, being the northern end of the strait between Vancouver's Island and the main- land. Into this he sailed southeastwardly fifty miles and then turned round with his cargo for Nootka. Upon ap- proaching that place, he met the Columbia, which had just sailed from there for China. The vessels hailing each other lay-to^; and, after a short consultation between the captains, it was arranged that Gray should take charge of the Colum- bia and proceed to China, while Kendrick should take charge of the Washington and remain upon the northwest coast. In a short time all the proceeds of his late trading voyage were transferred on board the Columbia and, assuming the command of the larger vessel, Gray spread his canvas for Canton. Arriving there in December, he sold his furs; took on a cargo of tea, and then sailed by the way of Good Hope for Boston, which he reached on August 10, 1790 — having thus, first of all navigators, carried the flag of the United States around the world. 1 After the departure of Gray for China, it seems that Ken- drick, in the course of his trading with the Indians, passed through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and entirely around Vancouver Island. Whether he did so or not is not entirely clear; but it is certain that from information derived from his 1 Greenhow, 199, 200. 698 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. voyages and that of Gray, the insular character of Vancouver Island was determined upon. This, it is to be borne in mind, was before Vancouver reached the northwest coast and made those minute and admirable surveys, which to a great extent fixed and established the geography of that part of the globe. 1 After trading for some time in those seas and, among other things, bargaining with the Indians for immense tracts of land in the neighborhood of Nootka, Kendrick conceived the project of opening up an entirely new kind of trade with China. He had learned that there were growing in some of the South Sea islands a species of evergreen tree, the heart of which was of great and permanent fragrance, similar to the sandal-wood of India. His notion was that large profits m'ght be realized by shipping this wood to Chinese ports, and selling it for the manufacture of cabinet-ware, fans and ornaments. He re- solved to make the experiment and mentioned his intention to Vancouver, who was then on the northwest coast; but. the English navigator, who was more of a scientist than a specu- lator, deemed the scheme chimerical. Kendrick, however, pursued his project and started the trade in sandal-wood between the islands and China, which has ever since been prosecuted with vigor and advantage. His life was lost and career cut short at the Sandwich Islands in 1793 by a shot from a British vessel, which was unintentionally discharged while saluting him." The next trading voyage from the United States to the northwest coast after that of Kendrick and Gray was that of Captain Metcalf. He sailed from New York in the brig Ele- onora and proceeded first to Canton, where he purchased a small schooner which he named the Fair American and placed under the command of his son, a youth of eighteen years. He then proceeded with the two vessels to Nootka, where they arrived in November, 1789. In January, 1790, they sailed for the Sandwich Islands, but were separated on the voyage. The Eleonora reached Maui and anchored. During the first night the natives seized one of the boats and the man 1 Greenhow, 200, 217-219. 2 Greenhow, 22S, 229. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 699 in charge of it. The next day they assembled in large num- bers and gave indications of hostility and one of them attempted to scuttle the vessel. Metcalf, being satisfied of their intentions, opened fire upon them and burnt their village. He then moved to another position; but in a few days the natives followed in their canoes; and # it soon became evident from their actions that they contemplated mischief. Among other things, after agreeing for a certain reward to restore the man and boat that had been seized the first night after the vessel's arrival, they produced a piece of the boat and the bones of the man and then demanded their pay. Though it was plain the man had been murdered, the stipulated price was paid in the hope that it would tend to conciliate the sav- ages. But the payment under such circumstances produced a contrary effect. The savages regarded it as an indication of fear and surrounded the ship in great numbers. Metcalf thereupon ordered all his guns, which were charged with grape, to be fired into the mi'dst of the savages and caused an indiscriminate slaughter of more than a hundred and fifty of them. He then sailed for Hawaii. Not long afterwards the Fair American in charge of young Metcalf reached the Sand- wich Islands and anchored at a bay on Hawaii about thirty miles north of where the Eleonora was lying. The natives seemed peaceable and were allowed on board. The treach- ery of their savage nature, however, soon manifested itself. One of the chiefs with his attendants, while pretending to do honor to young Metcalf by placing a crown of feathers upon his head, suddenly threw him over the side of the vessel^ where he was immediately killed by the other savages. The sailors were then thrown overboard and all killed, after which the schooner was drawn on shore and rifled of its cargo. 1 he only man spared was Isaac Davis, the mate; and he was badly wounded. About the same time a plan was formed by the principal chiefs of Hawaii to seize and destroy the Eleonora; but its execution was prevented by John Young, the boat- swain, who had succeeded in winning the favor of the natives and was then on shore. Through his good offices, Metcalf 700 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. was informed of his danger and immediately left, without even learning his son's melancholy fate. As for Young and Davis, they remained on the islands and, entering the service of Kamehameha, the principal chief, assisted in subjecting the entire kingdom to his sway and materially aided in shaping the policy of his councils. 1 Gray, upon his return to Boston in August, 1790, found a number of vessels fitting out for the northwest coast. One of these was the brig Hope. It was placed under the command of Joseph Ingraham, late mate of the Columbia, and sailed on September 16. Passing down the Atlantic, "doubling Cape Horn and running up the Pacific, Ingraham on April 19, 1791, discovered a group of six islands, said to be the most delightful of all those of the South Sea. They are situated almost in the center of the ocean, some eight or ten degrees south of the equator, and are known as the Washington Group. They are next north of the Marquesas Group. Thence he sailed to the Sandwich Islands and thence to Queen Char- lotte's Island on the northwest coast. After spending the summer in trading, he crossed over to China; disposed advan- tageously of his furs; invested in a cargo of tea, which he shipped to Boston, and then returned again to Queen Char- lotte's Island which by this time had become the principal resort of the American fur-traders. 2 Though Gray's recent voyage had not proved as remunera- tive as had been expected, it was determined that he should immediately return to the northwest coast. He accordingly repaired his ship, the Columbia, and on September 28, 1790, set sail from Boston for the second time. On June 5, 1791, he reached Clyoquot on Vancouver Island and thence pro- ceeded to the eastern shore of Queen Charlotte's Island, where he remained until September, trading with the Indians and examining the many inlets and passages between it and the mainland. In September he returned to Clyoquot; erected a fortified habitation, which he called Fort Defiance, and spent the winter there employing his leisure time in building a 1 Greenhow, 224, 225. 2 Greenhow, 226-229. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 701 small vessel, which he launched and named the Adventure. In the spring of 1792, while the Adventure was dispatched northward for the purpose of collecting furs in that direction, Gray turned the prow of the Columbia to the southward. It will be recollected that in August, 1788, upon his first arrival on the coast, he had run aground at or about parallel 46 of north latitude and near what appeared to him to be the mouth of a river. He had had on that occasion consid- erable difficulty in getting off again, having been attacked by the natives and losing one of his men. He now, being in much better condition to make investigations as well as defend himself against hostile attacks, resolved to return to the same spot. Running down the coast accordingly, after passing the Straits of Juan dc Fuca, he found it bold and unindented until about the latitude of 47 , where on May 7, perceiving an opening, he ran in and discovered an extensive bay to which he gave the name of Bulfinch's Harbor. It is the same which has since received and still bears the name of Gray's Harbor. After remaining there trading with the natives three days, he resumed his voyage southward and on the morning of May 1 1, 1792, doubling a point, came in sight of the scene of his former misadventure. He could plainly perceive an inlet between two well-defined points and at once, notwithstanding the fact that a continuous line of foam seemed to warn him off, set all his sails; plunged through the break- ers, and in a short time found himself in a large river of fresh water. He sailed up stream along the northern shore for about ten miles, when he anchored and remained three days, trading with the natives and obtaining new supplies of fresh water. He then got under way again and sailed up the river ten or fifteen miles further, when the channel, which he had selected and which he soon ascertained was not the main channel of the river, came to an end; and the ship grounded. In a short time, however, it floated again and, backing out, it was allowed to drop down stream. Gray now attempted to get back into the Pacific but for nearly a week was baffled by winds and waves; and it was not until May 20 that he finally 702 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. succeeded in beating out over the bar and regaining the open sea. Before doing so, he gave to the great river he had thus found the name of the Columbia. 1 This discovery, which among all the discoveries on the west and northwest coasts was second in importance only to that of the bay of San Francisco, was the most consequential ever achieved by an American. It not only reflected honor upon and gave character to American seamanship; but it after- wards enabled the United States to claim and secure the sover- eignty of most of the territory washed by the Columbia. And Gray was as absolutely and exclusively entitled to the credit of its discovery as was Columbus to that of America. It is true that the Spaniard Martin de Aguilar in 1603 reported the discovery of a great river, which he located about the parallel of 43 north and which was supposed to indicate the western entrance of a passage between the oceans. But it cannot be claimed that he ever saw such a river or ever made such a discovery. It is also true that the American traveler, Jona- than Carver, who in 1766 visited the upper waters of the Mississippi, heard of a great river which was said to take its rise in the center of the continent, run westward and. discharge into the Straits of Anian and which was called the Oregon. 2 But there is nothing, in the account he gave of it, to in any manner show that it had been actually discovered or was known to exist by any civilized man. It is also claimed by the Spaniards that Bruno de Heceta made the discovery in August, 1776, and called the river Rio de San Roque. But it is admitted that he did not enter it or describe it or know anything of its character. In 1778 Cook passed along in front of the entrance and was at the time in search of a passage inland, yet he failed to observe it and virtually declared that no such entrance existed. In 1788 Meares sailed down the coast from Nootka for the principal purpose of searching for the river, whose mouth was said to have been discovered by Heceta; and he actually rounded the north point and ran into and across the bay formed between the two points of the 1 Greenhow, 235, 236, 434-436. 1 Greenhow, 141-145. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 703 entrance; but for some unexplained reason he did not see it; satisfied himself with the assertion that there was no such entrance and no such river, and thereupon, as have been shown, named the point Disappointment and the bay Decep- tion. In 1792 Vancouver passed along the coast northward from Cape Mendocino and carefully examined it under the most favorable circumstances of wind and weather. He noticed Cape Disappointment and the opening of Deception bay and even observed that the sea changed there from its usual tint to river-colored water; but at the same time he saw an apparently continous line of surf and concluded that the coast there, like that to the south of it, presented a compact and unbroken barrier to the ocean. He therefore considered the opening as unworthy of attention and passed on. 1 Upon approaching the mouth of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, he met Gray, then on his way to the actual discovery, and com- pared notes with him. Gray spoke, among other things, of his having run aground near what he took to be the mouth of a great river about the latitude of 46 in the year 1788 and added that he was unable to enter it on account of the vio- lent outset and reflux of the tides. But Vancouver paid little or no attention to the information and sailed on to the north- ward, while Gray persisted in the course that rendered him famous. 2 Ftom the Columbia river, Gray sailed to the east coast of Queen Charlotte's Island, where his ship was injured by run- ning on a rock, and thence to Nootka for the purpose of making repairs. At the latter place he communicated the particulars of his discovery of the Columbia and Bulfinch's Harbor to Bodega y Quadra and also to Ingraham, who about the same time arrived there in the Hope. In September, 1792, having completed their business on the northwest coast, both Gray and Ingraham sailed for China and thence home to the United States. The latter subsequently entered the United States navy and was lost at sea in 1800; the former continued 1 Greenhow, 232, 233. 2 (Jreenhow, 233, .234. 704 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. to command trading vessels out from Boston until 1809, about which year he died. But while the Americans, Gray, Kendrick, Ingraham and Young, thus earned distinction, each in his particular depart- ment, undoubtedly the most thorough navigator that visited the northwest coast and made it best and most reliably known to the world was the Englishman, Captain George Vancouver. This accomplished officer was instructed to examine and survey the entire west and northwest shores of North America between the parallels of 35 and 6o° and especially with reference to any passage or communication between the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans. In pursuance of his instructions he left Deptford, England, in January, 1791, in command of the sloop-of-war Discovery, accompanied by the armed tender Chatham in charge of Robert Broughton. Proceeding by the way of the Cape of Good Hope and the Sandwich Islands, they in April, 1792, reached the neighborhood of Cape Mendocino. On April 27, as already stated, they were off the mouth of the Columbia; but, deeming the place of little importance, they passed on and proceeded to the survey of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Sailing along the southern shore of that arm of the sea, they reached Admiralty Inlet, which they carefully surveyed and named, as they did likewise its principal branches, Hood's Canal and Puget Sound. Arriving at the end of those waters and seeing that they were closed in by lofty mountains on the east, they turned around and retraced their course to what they called the Gulf of Georgia. There they met the Span- iards Galiano and Valdes; in conjunction with them examined and surveyed the shores of that gulf; threaded the intricate passage known as Johnstone's Straits, and then ran out into Queen Charlotte's Sound and around to Nootka, as related in the account of the voyage of the schooners Sutil and Mexi- cana. At Nootka Vancouver found the store-ship Daedalus, which had just come out from England, bearing among other things his instructions as commissioner under the Nootka convention. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 705 His negotiations as such commissioner with Bodega y Quadra and their failure to agree have been already stated. After remaining at Nootka a few months, Vancouver on October 13 left that port with the three vessels now under his com- mand and sailed southward for the purposes of continuing his survey and particularly of examining Gray's Harbor and the Columbia river, of the recent discovery of which by Gray he had received information from Bodega y Quadra. Arriv- ing off Gray's Harbor he detached the ship Daedalus in charge of Joseph Whidby to examine it and himself with the Dis- covery and Chatham, proceeded to the mouth of the Colum- bia. It was his intention to enter that river with both his vessels; and the Chatham seems to have experienced no great difficulty in running in; but, owing to the rapid shoaling of the water and the rough surf which extended across the entrance, the Discovery did not venture the passage. In these days, when the channels are well known, vessels of very large class cross the bar in almost any weather. But, as nothing was then known of these channels, it was no more than prudence on the part of Vancouver, though his ship was only of three hundred and forty tons burden, to keep off and leave the survey of the Columbia to Broughton. He accordingly con- tinued his voyage southward and ran into the bay of San Francisco, where he arrived on November 14; and before the end of the same month he was rejoined by the Chatham. Broughton, upon entering the mouth of the Columbia, found the British brig Jenny, Captain Baker, lying anchored there. It had left Nootka a few days before and had run in to trade with the Indians. The Chatham, after exchanging the usual courtesies, proceeded to ascend the river; but the channel proved so intricate that Broughton determined to leave his vessel and take to his cutter. In this he ascended about a hundred miles to a bend formed by a prominent point, around which the current swept so rapidly that he could not without great difficulty advance further. He therefore resolved to return to the Chatham and, after imposing the name of Point Vancouver upon the limit of his survey and 45 Vol. I. 706 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. going through the ceremony of taking formal possession of the country in the name of the king of Great Britain, he dropped down to his vessel; again set sail; ran out into the ocean, and proceeded to San Francisco. Upon reporting his observations to Vancouver and particularly the fact that the lower part of the Columbia for a distance of twenty-five miles from the mouth was much wider than the stream above and in some places as much as seven miles, the two came to the conclusion that the true mouth of the river was twenty-five miles from the ocean and that the waters between it and the ocean were an inlet or sound. They accordingly applied the name of Gray's bay to the place about fifteen miles from the ocean where the Columbia anchored, and the name of Baker's bay to the place directly within Cape Disappointment where the Jenny lay. It can hardly be supposed that Vancouver intended, by this distinction between what he considered the river and what he considered as only an inlet or sound, to rob Gray of the glory of having discovered the Columbia. As a matter of fact Gray's discovery first became generally known to the world through the publication of Vancouver's journal. But there could be no doubt that if the true mouth of the river were twenty-five miles from the ocean, then Gray never saw it and consequently, strictly speaking, never discovered it. Even if this distinction were allowed, it is plain that Gray's merits and glory would not be diminished. But the world has not been willing to adopt it. Though the names of Gray's bay and Baker's bay still remain, they are bays in the river and the river is regarded as discharging directly into the ocean. 1 Vancouver remained at San Francisco until November 25, when he proceeded to Monterey and stopped there until January 14, J 793. At the latter place he had further nego- tiations in regard to the Nootka controversy with Bodega y Quadra, who in the meanwhile had come down from the north; and it was finally agreed between them that Brough- ton should proceed by way of Mexico to Europe with state- ments of the difficulties which had prevented their settlement 1 Greenhow, 246-248. LATER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 707 of that vexed question. During his stay at San Francisco and Monterey, Vancouver was entertained with great courtesy by the Spaniards. From the latter place, having been first joined there by the Daedalus which he thence dispatched to New South Wales, he sailed with the Discovery and Chatham to the Sandwich Islands and thence back to the coast of California in the neighborhood of Cape Mendocino. After examining that coast and particularly Port Trinidad, where Heceta and Bodega y Quadra landed and of which they took formal possession in 1775, he proceeded to Nootka and spent the summer in completing his surveys of all the shores between the latitudes of 51° and 54 . From there he again sailed to San Francisco and spent two months in examin- ing the coast between that place and a point a short distance south of San Diego. In all his examinations of California and the Spanish establishments there, which were very care- ful and minute, he continually spoke of the country as New Albion and seemed to regard it as of right belonging to En- gland. Speaking of the mission of San Domingo, the south- ern limit of his survey, he described it as " the southernmost Spanish settlement on what I have considered as the coast of New Albion as discovered and named by Sir Francis Drake or, as the Spaniards frequently call the same country. New California. 1 " Towards the end of December Vancouver sailed again for the Sandwich Islands and reached Hawaii on January 9, 1794. By this time Kamehamehahad succeeded in establish- ing his supremacy over almost all the other native chiefs and had assumed the title of king. But he was still perfectly well aware of the weakness of his title and knew that the whole superstructure of his dominion could be easily overthrown. In a month or so, with a few ships, any of the maritime pow- ers could sweep it away. Occasions of difficulty with any of these powers might arise at any time, and, however remote such contingencies might seem, the astute potentate could not and did not feel averse to securing protection against them. On the other hand Vancouver, looking forward to a time 1 Vancouver, IV, 385. 708 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. in the not-far-distant future in which he expected England to vindicate its claim to the entire coast of New Albion, considered the control of the Sandwich Islands of prime- importance to British interests. He was therefore careful to impress upon Kamehameha the idea that, by invoking the protection of England, he would not only strengthen his title against the other native chiefs but also secure himself against any foreign interference. To render his propositions more acceptable to Kamehameha, Vancouver built for him a small vessel upon which the guns taken from the American schooner Fair American were mounted, and gave him reason to expect that the British government, upon accepting the protectorate, would send him out a ship-of-war. Under these circumstances and upon a further distinct understanding that there was to be no interference in any respect with the relig- ion, government or domestic concerns of the island, it was agreed that Hawaii should be ceded to the British crown. On February 25, 1794, accordingly, Kamehameha and his prin- cipal chiefs assembled on board the Discovery and went through the ceremony of a formal cession; while Peter Puget, then in command of the Chatham, landed upon the island, displayed the British colors and took possession in the name of his Britannic majesty. In this manner Vancouver pre- pared the way for a future English occupation and subjuga- tion of the islands, if the home government should at any time deem such a step advisable. But, as events subsequently turned out, nothing further in that direction was done. The ceremonies of cession and taking possession, therefore, proved to be mere ceremonies. England gained nothing by them; and the only party that derived any benefit was the savage statesman, Kamehameha, who, by virtue of the vessel fur- nished him and the prestige of being " brother to King George III," was enabled to overcome all the remainder of his do- mestic enemies and finally establish his dynasty. 1 After this stroke of policy, which if it had been followed up by England would have been regarded as masterly, Van- couver took his final leave of the Sandwich Islands and 1 Greenhow, 251-254. LA TER VO YA GES AND DISCO SERIES. 709 returned a second time, making his third visit, to the north- west coast. On this occasion he ran up to Alaska and thence proceeded eastward and southward, carefully and minutely surveying the entire shore as far as Queen Charlotte's Island, thus connecting with his surveys of previous years. He then took formal possession of the whole country extending from the Straits of Juan de Fuca north and northwestward as far as latitude 59 in the name of the British sovereign. He next ran down to Nootka, where he found the Spaniards still in possession and learned that Bodega y Quadra had died the preceding spring at San Bias. Thence he proceeded to Monterey, where he received information of the final adjust- ment of the Nootka controversy by the courts of London and Madrid on substantially the same terms that he had urged upon Bodega y Quadra and which the latter had had the manliness to reject. His work being now finished, and it being ascertained beyond all question that no navigable passage existed between the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, he on December 2, 1794, sailed from Monterey on his return to Europe; and, passing down by the way of Val- paraiso and doubling Cape Horn, he arrived in England in November, 1795, having completed the most extensive and reliable nautical survey ever made in one expedition. After Vancouver's departure, Nootka was formally deliv- ered up by the Spaniards to the English; but for various reasons it was found by the English to be a possession not worth the trouble and expense of maintaining. The prin- cipal of these reasons was the fact that the monopoly of the Chinese trade and the navigation of the Pacific still continued in the hands of the East India Company and consequently British merchants in general, who might otherwise have found it a field for their energy and enterprise, were restrained from engaging in it. Therefore, soon after the Spaniards withdrew, the English also abandoned the spot; and from that time for nearly twenty years, very (ew of their vessels ever visited it or .my part of the northwest coast. This left the valuable trade of that part of the world almost exclusively in the hands of 710 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the Americans; and they were by no means backward in tak- ing advantage of the circumstances. Following in the track originally opened for them by Gray and Kendrick, for year after year and in comparatively large numbers, they would set sail from Atlantic ports with a few trinkets and such sale- able commodities as they could obtain under the gradually increasing commerce of the United States. On their way they would take on West India productions; in the South Pacific they would pick up various articles of traffic; at the Gallapagos they would lay in turtles and turtle-shells; at Nootka and other ports of the northwest coast they would trade for furs, which at the end of the season they would carry to the Sandwich Islands; then, leaving the greater portion of their people to dress and prepare the peltries, they in the spring would embark crews of native islanders, or Kanakas as they came to be called, and return to the northwest coast for more furs. Thus industriously gathering up almost enough to fill their ships, they would afterwards complete their cargoes with sandal-wood and run into China, where they would exchange their valuables for still greater valua- bles in the shape of teas, silks and nankins and in the course of three or four years return home greatly enriched. 1 1 Greenhow, 266, 267. CHAPTER XI. OVERLAND EXPEDITIONS AND EXPLORATIONS. WHILE navigators were engaged in exploring the pas- sages and examining the shores of the northwest coast, land expeditions commenced opening up the interior com- munications and advancing the frontiers in the same direction. The first person, who contemplated crossing the continent, appears to have been Captain Jonathan Carver of Connecticut, an old soldier of the French and Indian war. After the close of that conflict, having apparently no other employment to satisfy his enterprising spirit, he conceived the project of an overland journey to the Pacific. He set out from Boston in 1766 and made his way along the Lakes to the head-waters of the Mississippi, where he spent two years among the Indians, learning their customs and languages and gathering all the information he was able in regard to the countries beyond. From there it was his purpose to cross over, by the way of the Lake of the Woods and Lake Winnepeg, to the head-waters of the " Great River of the West, which falls into the Straits of Anian." His ultimate object was to induce the British government to establish a post at or near the Straits of Anian, which he regarded as having been discovered by Sir Francis Drake, and thereby facilitate the discovery of a northwest passage between Hudson's bay and the Pacific Ocean. It was his idea that there was a point in the center of the continent, on what he called the Shining Mountain, at which four great rivers took their rise within a few leagues of one another and, running off in different directions, emptied into different oceans two thousand miles from their source. The first called the Bourbon he supposed to run northerly to 711) 712 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Hudson's bay; the second was the St. Lawrence running- easterly to the Atlantic; the third was the Mississippi running southerly to the Gulf of Mexico, and the fourth he called the Oregon and described as running westerly and emptying into the Straits of Anian. From whatever sources Carver derived his information as to the rivers Bourbon and Oregon, it is plain he knew nothing about them. He was unable to exe- cute his plan of traveling westward from the Mississippi; but, even had he done so, he would not have found any such place as the Shining Mountain of which he spoke. He may have heard, and probably did hear, vague reports of great rivers in the north and west; but he never saw any part of any of them; and all his notions about them were fanciful and altogether unreliable. It was through his writings, however, that the word Oregon came into use and was applied some- times as a name of the Columbia river and afterwards to des- ignate the territory drained by its waters. 1 The first really important discoveries in the northwestern interior and beyond the countries that were known in Carver's time were made by Samuel Hearne, an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company. This association had been incorporated in 1669 by a charter of Charles II., which granted to Prince Rupert and his associates and their successors the exclusive right of trading to Hudson's bay and the countries drained by its waters. It had organized; established posts at different points on and about Hudson's bay, and drove a thriving busi- ness, principally in the collection of furs, which it shipped to England and thence distributed to the various markets where they could be sold at the highest profit. For many years it enjoyed the monopoly of this trade in much the same man- ner as the East India Company enjoyed the trade of Eastern Asia and the Pacific Ocean; and in process of time it became a great and powerful institution. Hearne was stationed at Fort Prince of Wales on the west shore of Hudson's bay, from which point in the years 1770 and 1771 he made several journeys to the west and northwest of that post. In the course of his explorations, he discovered the Great Slave Lake 1 Greenhow, 141-144. OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. 713 and other waters in that neighborhood and among them the Coppermine river, which he followed to its mouth in the far north, where he observed the tides to ebb and flow and found the beaches strewn with the relics of whales that had been thrown up by the- waves. The water system thus discovered was entirely distinct from that of Hudson's bay and showed that there was no passage or channel of water communication from it to the Pacific. 1 Next after Hearne's the most important discoveries in the northwest interior were made by Alexander Mackenzie. 1 ie was also engaged in the fur trade and was stationed at Fort Chipewyan at the southwesterly corner of Athabasca Lake. From this post he made several extensive journeys. In 1789, having descended in canoes from Athabasca to Great Slave Lake, he discovered a large river flowing out of the western extremity of the latter. This stream, to which he gave the name of Mackenzie river, he followed some nine hundred miles in a northwesterly direction to its mouth in the Arctic Ocean. In 1792, starting out in a westerly direction from Athabasca Lake, he ascended Peace river to the Rocky mountains, where he spent the winter. Resuming his journey the next summer, he followed the course of Peace river through the Rocky mountains to its head-waters on the west- ern side of them. From there he crossed over a short dis- tance to the head-waters of a stream flowing in a southerly direction, called by the natives the Tacoutchee-Tessee, which he supposed to be the Columbia but which afterwards proved to be Fraser river. This he followed some two hundred and fifty miles, when striking off westerly and traveling about two hundred miles in that direction he on July 22, 1793, reached the shore of the Pacific north of Queen Charlotte's Sound and near latitude 50°. Mackenzie was thus the first white man who crossed the continent at its widest part and is enti- tled to the name of the pioneer overland explorer." But the most famous and interesting of all the overland expeditions was that of Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke. 1 Greenhow, 145, 146. 2 Greenhow, 263, 264. 714 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. These persons were employed by -the United States govern- ment, at the suggestion of President Jefferson, to explore the upper waters of the Missouri river and then to seek and trace to its termination in the Pacific any stream they might find, which would offer the most direct and practicable water com- munication across the continent. This was in the early part of 1803, while negotiations were pending for the purchase by the United States from France of the vast and undefined territory of Louisiana — -a territory which was supposed to extend from what is now called Louisiana to an almost un- limited distance northward and westward, just as California was originally supposed to extend from what is now called California to an almost unlimited distance northward and eastward. At that time nothing was known of the interior of the continent north of Mexico and south of Mackenzie's line of travel. There was some information that the Missouri, Rio Grande, Colorado and Columbia flowed for immense distances; but about their head-waters and the countries drained by them there was no reliable knowledge what- soever. The objects contemplated by the new expedition, therefore, being the ascertainment of a practicable route across the continent and incidentally the examination of the countries of the interior, which had never yet been seen by- white men, were of great importance and well worthy the attention and encouragement of government. Lewis and Clarke, in pursuance of their instructions from President Jefferson, set off at once for the west in the expec- tation of commencing their journey and getting well under way before the winter. But for various reasons they were delayed during the summer and autumn, and it was not until the spring of 1804 that they crossed the Mississippi. In the middle of May they began the ascent of the Missouri in three boats, their party consisting of forty-four men. Towards the end of October, after rowing up the river sixteen hundred miles they arrived at the country occupied by the Mandan Indians, where they encamped for the winter. On April 7, 1805, having broken up their camp and sent back a portion O VERLAND EX PL OR A TIONS. 7 1 5 of their men, being now only thirty, they resumed their river voyage and in three weeks reached the mouth of the Yellowstone. Thence, still ascending the main stream, they rowed up to the cataracts or falls of the Missouri, at which place they left their boats and, passing around to a point above the cataracts, constructed canoes out of the trunks of cotton-wood trees; again embarked and pursued their voyage to a point formed by the confluence of smaller streams and regarded by them as the head of the Missouri. The largest of these confluent streams they named the Jefferson river; and up this the canoes continued to ascend till they reached the end of canoe navigation at a distance by water of about three thousand miles from St. Louis. At the place of confluence the leaders with a number of the men, leaving the others to pull up the Jefferson river, struck off into the Rocky mountains, at whose eastern bases they had arrived; and crossing over they reached the head- waters of several streams flowing westward, one of which was traced by Captain Clarke for seventy miles. From the character and direction of these streams and the accounts given of them by the Indians, the explorers satisfied them- selves that they were the head-waters of the Columbia; and, with this information and a determination to trace them to their mouths, they returned to their men at the head-waters of the Jefferson and prepared for the transportation of their supplies over the mountains to such point on the western streams as would be suitable for the construction of new canoes and embarcation upon their currents. The Missouri river canoes and all the goods intended to be used on their return were accordingly concealed in covered pits, or in trapper phrase "cached," and the whole body of travelers then, having procured horses and guides from the Indians, on August 30 commenced the passage of the mountains with their supplies. Between the head-waters of the Missouri and the head- waters of the Columbia the Rocky mountains are exceedingly rugged and the passes over them difficult. In some places 716 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. further south the slopes are so gradual that the traveler can cross the summit almost without noticing the great elevation. But on the route taken by Lewis and Clarke the central chain is precipitous and embraces many extensive spurs and out- lying peaks, upon which more or less snow lies all the year round. The passage, that is to say from the head of canoe navigation on one side to the head of canoe navigation on the other, was about four hundred miles and occupied them three weeks, during almost all of which they suffered much from cold and fatigue. At length, however, after crossing various small streams they reached a considerable one, called by the Indians the Kaskaskia, where they constructed five canoes and on October 7, embarking upon its waters, began their descent towards the Pacific. Three days afterwards they entered the principal southern branch of the Columbia, which they named Lewis' river; and seven days after that they reached the main Columbia, which they regarded as a north- ern branch and named Clarke's river. From the junction, they passed down the rapid current till the last day of Octo- ber, when they reached the falls where the river breaks through the Cascade mountains. Some of the canoes shot these rapids; others with the supplies were carried around by land. At the foot of the cascades they again embarked; soon afterwards they felt the influence of the tides and on November 15 landed on Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia, six hundred miles from where they had embarked on its waters and four thousand, by the way they had come, from the mouth of the Missouri. By that time the winter had commenced and the rains were so incessant and violent and the waters of the river as well as the ocean so agitated by winds that the adventurers could scarcely stir abroad. They accordingly remained in their camp, which they first formed on the north side of the river about eleven miles inland and afterwards on the south side of the river at a spot named by them Fort Clatsop, until towards the end of March, 1806, when they again embarked in their canoes and began to ascend the river on their return. Thev OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. 717 now carefully examined its banks, including the mouths of its large branches known as the Cowlitz and Multnomah or Willamette, as it is now called; and in the course of about three weeks reached the foot of the cascades. There, on account of the rapidity of the current, against which they would have to row if they proceeded further by water, they abandoned their canoes and purchased Indian horses, with which they resumed their journey. At first they traveled along the river side and then crossed over the elevated plains eastward of the great bend until May 8, when they reached the spot on the Kaskaskia river, where they had first em- barked on the western side of the Rocky mountains. Thence they proceeded eastward to the head-waters of Clarke's river, which there flows in a northerly direction. At that point it was arranged that the expedition should divide into two parties, each to take a different course from the other and both to meet again at the' junction of the Missouri and Yel- lowstone. Captain Lewis and his party proceeded northward down the Clarke's river or, as that portion of it is now known, the Bitter Root river, and then crossed over the mountains to the head-waters of the Maria river. Thence they traveled through the country of the Blackfoot Indians to the great falls of the Missouri, where again constructing canoes they floated down to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Captain Clarke and his party on the other hand, after separating from Captain Lewis, traveled southward beyond the head-waters of the Bitter Root river and across various ranges of the mountains to the head- waters of the Yellowstone river, upon which stream they em- barked and floated down to its mouth, where the two parties met on August 12. From that point the expedition as a whole descended the Missouri and on September 23, 1806, arrived at St. Louis after an absence of about two years and four months and traveling upwards of nine thousand miles. An account in the form of a journal of the expedition, writ- ten in plain but graphic language by Nicholas Biddle and Paul Allen and prefaced by a memoir of Captain Lewis by 718 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the able hand of Jefferson himself, was published by the gov- ernment in 1 8 14. It was based upon the original diaries; gave a correct description of the countries passed through as well as the adventures of the explorers, and was more exten- sively read, perhaps, than any other book of travels that had up to that time appeared in the world. Lewis and Clarke were in fact more famous and made known a larger extent of habitable territory than any others of their generation. 1 Another famous explorer of those days was Zebulon Mont- gomery Pike. He also, like Lewis and Clarke,, was commis- sioned by the United States government. His first expedi- tion was to the head-waters of the Mississippi river in 1803. Afterwards in 1806 he traveled southwestward from St. Louis to the head-waters of the Arkansas and discovered the lofty mountain known as Pike's Peak. From there he crossed over to the head-waters of the Rio Grande, which he sup- posed at first to be those of the Red river. While there he was arrested by the Spaniards, on the ground that he had trespassed upon Spanish soil, and carried to Chihuahua. There, after an examination by the Spanish authorities, he was released and conducted through Texas to Nachitoches, where he arrived in July, 1807, having thus passed through much of what is now Colorado — a country next to California among the most interesting on the continent. Pike, then a lieutenant, afterwards a general in the United States army, was a man of scholarly attainments and in 1810 published the journals of his explorations. The results of these various overland expeditions were not only a tolerably thorough knowledge of the countries trav- ersed but also the foundation of a claim on the part of the nations of the respective explorers to the sovereignty of the regions so explored. It was in fact a part of the plan of Mackenzie from the beginning to secure for the British crown all the northwestern portions of America; and he proceeded to accomplish his designs with the skill and foresight of a statesman. Knowing that the possession of those wild terri- tories would for a long time at least have to be maintained 1 Journal of Lewis and Clarke; Greenhow, 282-288. OVERLAAD EXPLORATIONS. 719 almost exclusively by traders and trappers and finding that all the traders and trappers of his nation in America were divided into conflicting parties, he set about reconciling their differences and uniting their interests. On the one side was the Hudson's Bay Company which claimed the monopoly of all the trade in the wide-spread regions drained by waters flowing into Hudson's bay, while on the other hand and arrayed against it was the North West Company of Montreal which had been organized in 1784 and in the course of a few years had absorbed almost all the other business associations and interests of the country. Between these two companies there were continual disagreements and disputes; and the hostility thus engendered spread itself among their respective agents and employees. Mackenzie's plan, in addition to forming the coalition referred to, also contemplated the estab- lishment of a direct trade between the northwest coast and China; and for this purpose he recognized the necessity of engaging the interest of the East India Company in his project. It was thus a very large and a very difficult under- taking that he proposed to himself. But after several years of skillful and persevering labor, he succeeded at last in having his recommendations adopted; and the result in the course of time was the establishment of British dominion and the extension of British commerce over all the northern portions of America." The United States on the other hand, by the purchase of Louisiana on April 30, 1803, acquired a vast territory of unde- termined limits which might very well be claimed, according to the principles in vogue among the English and Spanish politicians of the day, to extend as far as the Pacific Ocean on the west and lap over upon the English in the north and the Spaniards in the south. Having thus no definite bounda- ries to their claims as opposed to the English on the one side or the Spaniards on the other, the Americans considered all the regions traversed by their explorers as belonging to their territory, not only as being a part of their purchase but also by the right of discovery; and in a short time their traders 1 Greenhow, 264, 265. 720 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and trappers began advancing their posts and taking advan- tage of the new fields thus opened for their enterprise. Im- mediately after the return of Lewis and Clarke in 1 806, various individuals on the western frontier engaged in trade with the Indians west of them and made some advances into their territories. But no very important move was made until 1808, when the Missouri Fur Company was organized. This association established posts on the upper Mississippi and at various points along the Missouri and also crossed the Rocky mountains and planted a station on the southern branch of the Columbia, which was the earliest establishment by civilized men in any of the territories drained by that great stream. This post, however, on account of its remoteness and the hostility of the neighboring Indians, was soon afterwards abandoned. About the same time — that is to say in 1 810 — an attempt was made to establish a post at Oak Point on the south bank of the Columbia forty miles from its mouth by Captain Smith of the ship Albatross of Boston; but this also in the course of a few months had to be given up. 1 The next and the most famous of all the American fur- trading posts was that of Astoria on the south bank of the Columbia ten miles from its mouth. This was founded in the spring of 18 11 by an association organized and managed by John Jacob Astor, a merchant of New York who had for many years been extensively engaged in trade and had grown immensely wealthy. His idea was, by means of this company, to monopolize the entire fur trade of all the western countries claimed by the United States and gradually to obtain control of the entire trade between the western coast of America and China. For this purpose he designed the establishment of posts along the Missouri and Columbia and the Pacific coast at whatever points might be found most advantageous; and he arranged a system of communication by means of which the various posts were to be regularly supplied with articles of barter and provisions and the furs they collected to be conveyed to tide waters and thence shipped to the nearest or most remunerative markets. Those 1 Grcenhow, 291, 292. OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. 721 collected east of the Rocky mountains were to be carried to Atlantic ports and disposed of there or in Europe; while those collected west of the Rocky mountains were to be carried to some principal post, to be selected and founded at or near the mouth of the Columbia, and thence shipped to and sold in China in exchange for silks, teas and otlur Chinese goods. He even looked forward to obtaining the car- rying trade in the Pacific from the Russians and the English. With these ends in view, he sent an agent to St. Petersburg to conduct the necessary negotiations in that quarter, and himself undertook to engage the interests of the British, not only by choosing the most skillful and influential English and Scotch fur-traders an his associates but also by offering an entire third of his enterprise to the British North West Company, which was the only rival he had to fear. Under ordinary circum- stances, with the great wealth, energy and administrative ability of Astor, the enterprise notwithstanding the refusal of the North West Company to accept the proposition offered would have succeeded and a great American monopoly have sprung up, inimical to the spirit of American institutions and perhaps of baneful influence upon the subsequent history of the Pacific coast. But fortunately the great project failed; and, when the American territories on the Pacific afterwards came to be opened to immigration and settlement, they were found comparatively free from the shackles and bonds in which the success of Astor's enterprise would probably have involved them. It is in fact very problematical whether, had he been entirely successful in bringing in and making common cause with the British as he contemplated, there would ever have been any American territory on the Pacific. The capital stock of the company was divided into one hundred shares, one-half of which Astor retained for himself and the remainder were distributed among the associates who were to conduct the expeditions, establish the posts and carry on the business in the western wilds. Among these were Alexander Mackay, Duncan Macdougal, Donald Mackenzie, David Stuart, Robert Stuart and Ramsay Crooks, all of whom 46 Vol I. 722 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. were British subjects and had been connected with the North West Company, and Wilson P. Hunt, John Clarke and Robert Maclellan, citizens of the United States. In pursuance of the plans adopted, Mackay, Macdougal and the two Stuarts with a number of clerks and employees set sail from New York in the ship Tonquin in September, 1810, for the mouth of the Columbia with the intention of establishing the main post on the Pacific at that point. In January following, Hunt, Mac- kenzie, Maclellan and Crooks with another body of men set out upon an overland journey for the same point by the way of the Mississippi river; and in October, 181 1, Clarke and a third party sailed from New York in the ship Beaver for the same destination. The Tonquin proceeded by the way of Cape Horn and the Sandwich Islands and entered the mouth of the Columbia on March 29, 181 1. After a short stay on the north bank of the river just within Cape Disap- pointment, the partners pitched upon a point on the south bank ten miles from the mouth, which had been called Point George by Broughton and was still known by that name, as the site of the proposed principal post of the company on the Pacific. They immediately proceeded to erect a fort and in honor of the founder, who bore all the preliminary expenses of the enterprise, gave the name of Astoria to the new estab- lishment. In the course of a few months it was sufficiently advanced to dispense with the further presence of the Ton- quin, which accordingly on June "5, 181 1, with Mackay and the necessary assistants on board sailed for the northern coasts with the object of making the proper arrangements and open- ing the trade in that direction. The overland party under Hunt, Mackenzie, Maclellan and Crooks, after reaching St. Louis, ascended the Missouri and crossed the Rocky mountains near the head of the Yellow- stone river. Thence they attempted to descend one of the branches of the Columbia, but encountered so many obstruc- tions in their navigation that they were compelled to abandon the stream and make their way by land. For this part of their journey they were badly provided: winter overtook them OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. 723 while still at a great distance from the Pacific; they were compelled to separate into smaller parties and pursue sepa- rate paths; they suffered many privations and lost a number of their men; and it was not until towards the spring of 1812 and more than a year after leaving St. Louis that the scattered divisions reached their destination and found rest and shelter in the new fort. On May 5, 1812, soon after the overland party had come in, the ship Beaver arrived with Clarke and the last detachment of employees from New York. All the Pacific adventurers, with the exception of those who had sailed in the Tonquin, those who had been lost in the journey across the continent and a few who were out among the Indians of the Upper Columbia, were now united; and, although there was much in the wildness of the country and the great distance from civilization to cause dissatisfac- tion, the prospects for the future of the establishment were sufficiently promising; and but for unforeseen occurrences the new post might have been the chief center of Anglo-Saxon settlement upon the coast. . Astoria or the fort bearing that name consisted of a num- ber of buildings, including warehouses and shops, surrounded by a stockade square in form and about fifteen feet high. On two of the corners diagonally opposite each other were bastions, two stories high, in each of which there was a six- pounder cannon and a number of small arms. The stockade itself was pierced with loop-holes suitable for musketry and around on the inside beneath them was a gallery on which the men in case of an attack could station themselves and ply thei» guns. The ground in front sloped down to the river, which swept majestically by. On the right, up the river and about three miles distant, a long, high, wooded point connected with the mainland by a narrow neck pro- jected into the stream, while to the left ten miles distant was Cape Disappointment and the long line of breakers which marked the horizon in that direction with incessant foam. Directly in front of the fort was a vegetable garden, and a few hundred yards beyond a wharf running out a short dis- 724 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. tance into the water. Across the river was the bold, high, thickly-wooded shore and in the rear and on the sides was the almost interminable forest of gigantic firs so thickly grown as to seem next to impenetrable. The men, all told and includ- ing some three dozen Sandwich Islanders, numbered near a hundred and fifty. They had a small vessel, the frame of which had been brought out from New York in the Tonquin ; they established a few subordinate posts, one at the junction of the Columbia and Okinagan and one on the Spokane river ; and they collected for the time they were engaged in the work a large number of furs. But owing to events, now to be adverted to, the enterprise of the Pacific Fur Company came to a sudden halt and Astoria as a fur-trading post never advanced far beyond its primeval condition of forest and wil- derness. The first misfortune which befell the establishment was the loss of the Tonquin. This vessel, after leaving the Colum- bia in June, 1811, sailed up the coast to Clyoquot bay just beyond the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Anchoring there, its people opened trade with the Indians who surrounded the ship in great numbers and apparently with the most friendly dispositions. But suddenly they seized and put to death all the crew and passengers with the exception of a few, who managed to get into the cabin and with their fire-arms drove the savages off. That night four of the survivors quitted the vessel in a boat and attempted to escape; but they were taken and also butchered. The next day the savages again boarded the ship and were engaged in rifling it, when the whites who still remained alive and chief among whom was Mr. Lewis, Mackay's clerk, resolving to sell their lives as dearly as possible, applied fire to the powder-magazine and blew themselves and their enemies all together into eternity. But one man of those who had sailed in the ship escaped and this was an Indian interpreter, who was saved and carried off by some women on the occasion of the first attack. He was kept a prisoner for two years, at the end of which time he was allowed to depart ; and it was from his account that the OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. Tib particulars of the loss of the vessel and the manner of its destruction were learned by the whites. When the loss of the Tonquin was ascertained, Hunt under- took to fulfill the mission upon which Mackay had sailed and accordingly in August, 1812, embarked for the northern coasts in the Beaver, leaving the control of Astoria in the hands of Macdougal while Maclellan, Crooks and Robert Stuart left on a return trip across the continent for New York. But in the meanwhile the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain had broken out; and, as soon as it was known in Astoria, affairs there assumed an entirely new phase. The British North West Company had from the beginning looked with disfavor upon the American project; there was as yet an unsettled dispute about the sovereignty of the territory ; and it was now resolved that the new settle- ment should be broken up or pass into British hands. The latter result was accomplished on October 13, 18 13, by Mac- dougal, Mackenzie and Clarke selling out and delivering over to the agents of the North West Company the entire estab- lishment for between fifty and sixty thousand dollars. Hardly had the bargain been completed, when the British sloop-of- war Raccoon, Captain William Black, arrived with the inten- tion of taking the place; but, being thus forestalled, it had nothing to do but witness the hauling down of the Ameri- can flag and the hoisting of the British colors in its place. The name of Astoria was changed to that of Fort George and until the end of the war the Columbia and in fact the entire country remained in the hands of the British. Had the Pacific Fur Company embraced only American citizens instead of including British subjects, the loss of Astoria, though it would have caused a temporary suspension of business, would probably not have been sufficient to break up the enterprise; but under the circumstances Hunt, upon his return to the post in 18 14, found he could do nothing bet- ter than wind up the American interests in that quarter; and no attempt was made on the part of Astor or his American associates to revive them. Afterwards, when peace was re- 726 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. stored and an article had been inserted in the treaty between the two nations that all the territories taken by one party from the other during the war should be restored, the Ameri- cans demanded that the mouth of the Columbia should be given up. The British government for some time resisted the demand on various grounds, the chief of which was the ques- tion of sovereignty; but it was finally agreed that the pos- session should be restored and the settlement of title left for further consideration. Accordingly on October 6, i8i8, Fort George was formally delivered back to the Americans. The British colors, which had floated over the Columbia for the space of five years, were hauled down and the flag of the United States run up in their place and saluted by the retir- ing British guns. Thus again the stars and stripes looked out upon and exposed its folds to the broad waves of the Pacific. 1 Up to the time of the restoration of Astoria to the Amer- icans, its history and the history of the entire northwest coast had more or less intimate relation with the history of Cali- fornia. This was not only on account of the influence which a settlement on any part of a remoter coast must of necessity have upon a portion of the same coast nearer the centers of civilization; but for the still stronger reason that on the part of Spain at least all that coast was claimed to be a part of California. As Louisiana on the one side extended indefi- nitely northward so as to include Missouri and still more northern territory, so did California on the other side so as to include what is now Oregon and even Nootka; and though such claims might be disputed by other nations and perhaps could not be sustained, it is certain that there was no northern boundary within which the true extent of California could be limited. But now at the same time that the country of the Columbia was thus passing back into the hands of the Americans, negotiations were going on at Washington be- tween the United States and Spain for the settlement of their boundaries; and the result was what is known as the Florida Treaty, signed on February 22, 18 19. By the terms of this 1 Greenhow, 290-310. OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS. 727 instrument, in addition to the sale of Florida and the separa- tion of Louisiana from Texas, Spain relinquished or ceded to the United States all territory and territorial claims north of the parallel of 42 ° north latitude between the head-waters of the Arkansas river and the Pacific Ocean, while the United States relinquished and ceded to Spain all territory and territorial claims south of that parallel. The establishment of the line so fixed settled the northern boundary of Cali- fornia; and it has remained the same and unchanged down to the present time. 1 When Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke in 1821, Cali- fornia, which had thus for the first time been bounded and limited on the north though still indefinite as to what con- stituted its eastern border, became a province of the Mexican Empire and soon afterwards a territory of the Mexican Republic. When afterwards the country became a part of the United States and began to be divided up into territories, the old northern line.continued to be a line of demarcation; and this is the reason why at this day Oregon and Idaho are separated from California, Nevada and Utah, not by a mount- ain chain or a river course or any other natural division, but by a long straight line running directly east and west, the location of which is fixed by measuring forty-two degrees northward from the equator. 1 Greenhow, 316, 317. CH APTE R XII. THE INDIANS. ALTA CALIFORNIA was little if any more densely populated with Indians than Lower California. Though a land of extreme fertility, rich in well-watered plains and luxuriant valleys which afforded as a general rule abundance of herbage, wild fruits, fish and game, these were not always to be relied on; and, as there was no cultivation and very little storing of provisions, the natives were obliged to wander ^ more or less from place to place, as the seasons changed, in search of food. The same people, who in the spring and summer inhabited the valleys or bivouacked along the streams and lived upon clover, grass seeds or fish, in the autumn sought the high-growing nuts and berries of the hills and mountains. There were sometimes long droughts and fail- ures of the wild crops and consequent famines, against which they did not know enough or were too idle to provide. Though there were no places excepting the snowy regions of the Sierras, where a horseman might travel a whole day with- out meeting a human being as in some parts of Lower Cali- fornia, and though in general the earth teemed and the waters swarmed in superabundance, the means of sustaining life were not always certain; and the Indians lived, as the wild animals lived, entirely dependent upon what unassisted nature offered them, fattening and increasing in times of plenty and starving and diminishing in times of scarcity. On account of their low grade in the scale of humanity, being with few exceptions as low. as their neighbors in Lower California and therefore almost as degraded as any human beings on the face of the earth, they can hardly be described (728) THE INDIANS. 729 as divided into distinct tribes, but rather as one people varying only according" to the regions they inhabited and the kind.-. of food upon which they lived. All .were equally stupid and brutish. Some .exceptions from these general remarks must be made for the Indians of the Santa Barbara Channel, who were superior to all the others in the country; but in general they resembled mere omnivorous animals without govern- ment or laws — each family or rancheria living by itself and occupying its own ground until destroyed or driven off by a more powerful one, regarding all other families as strangers and enemies -and almost constantly in a state of warfare and readiness to ki.ll on the slightest provocation. They were a very different race from the red men of the eastern side of the continent and can hardly be considered in any respect of the same blood. In general appearance and characteristics they resembled more the Esquimaux and Kamtschatkans, to whom they were probably more nearly related than to" the Atlantic tribes. 1 It is idle, perhaps, in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, to speculate as to whence they came; for though their resemblance to the northeastern Asiatics is marked and though it is not at all impossible for parties of those people to have crossed over by the way of Behring's Straits and the Aleutian archipelago or for Japanese junks with living per- sons on board to have been cast away on the northwest coast of America, as in fact not unfrequently happened, yet all speculations so far made are entirely inconclusive and worth- less. It seems very certain, however, that if the people on opposite sides of the Pacific were of the same blood, their separation from one another was far back in the incalculable distances of past time, and probably at a period when the geographical distribution of land and sea was very different from what it is now. The day may come when geology or the science of language or perhaps some science as yet unknown will throw light upon the subject; but at present the Indians can only be treated as other native products of the country, to be regarded like the bears of the mountains 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 330, 331. 780 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and the coyotes and spermophiles of the plains as the out- growth of the soil, moulded to what they were by the cir- cumstances under which they lived. Various attempts have been made to divide and classify the Indians into distinct groups; but they have proved of no use except to give names to the natives of particular locali- ties. -There were no governments, laws or customs^aggregat- ing them into large political organizations; there were no great nations or large tribes as on the Atlantic coast; there were no kings or even chiefs exercising sway beyond their own immediate neighborhoods; it was seldom indeed that there was anything like combinations or conjoint action of any kind. 1 They lived in general in rancherias or villages of small extent, more or less numerously populated and close together as the means of sustaining life were more or less abundant. Those inhabiting the same valley or portion of a valley, if large, were more or less nearly related to one an- other and more or less friendly; and sometimes, on account of this proximity and relationship, neighboring rancherias would unite in a common raid or for a common -purpose. But as a rule each rancheria was independent; had its own sectron of sea or river for its fishing, its own section of field or forest in which to hunt or gather seeds, berries or nuts, and had to fight its own battles when these were invaded or inter- fered with by others. Each rancheria had its own name; and it was rare that any number of them called themselves by the same name or acknowledged a general designation, though in some instances, as in numerous small valleys near the head of .Russian river, different rancherias called themselves Pomos — a word which in their language signified people; but each had its distinguishing designation, such as Ki Pomos, Pone Pomos, Cahto Pomos and so on, according to location. For these 1 " Los Indios de esta peninsula no tienen capitanes ni gefe alguno, viviendo cada uno en donde se acomoda en busca de sus seinillas para mantenerse; y asi no se puede poder en practicar el atraher capitanes A. la poblacion para asegurar la lealtad de los subditos y el unico medio que hay para que estos se civilicen es agre- gar un cierto numero de las misiones al pueblo para que trabajen, y se enseuan con los Espanoles, y con el tiempo potlran yohernarse por si solos." — Report of Cordova to Borica, July 20, 1796. — Cal. Archives, M. & C. I, 886. THE INDIAA'S. 731 reasons and for the further reason that almost every rancheria spoke a different language, there were almost as many names as there were villages; and often, in one small valley or within a circuit of only a few miles, it appeared as if there were sev- eral distinct kinds of people only because there were different villages and a multiplication of names. Within what is now the city of San Francisco there were said by some to be four distinct peoples, called the Ahwashtes, the Altahmos, the Rowanans and the Tulomos, while others increased the num- ber five-fold; but all these various appellations hardly afford more, nor indeed so much, information about the inhabitants as the directory in an unknown tongue of an unknown city. It was only after the Spaniards came to the country that gen- eral names were given to distinguish the Indians of particular parts of the country; in some cases the designation of a village being adopted for the people of a whole valley; in others the designation of a river for the people along its banks; in others the designation of a remote people given to them by those who were better known, and in others the designation of a large region or territory for all the people comprised within its limits. But even these names became so multiplied that there is hardly a lake, or a river, or a creek, or a mountain, or a valley, or even a ranch from Siskiyou to San Diego that has not its peculiar Indian name and was supposed to have had its distinct tribe; and notably so where the land or sea was most fruitful and the population thickest. Many of these names, though doubtless originally pro- nounced very differently from that of the orthography now used, having been adopted as geographical designations, are familiar to all Californians. Among them are those applied to the Indians called the Klamaths, the Siskiyous, the Shastas, the Modocs, the Yrekas, the Hoopahs, the Pomos, the Ukiahs, the Sanels, the Tehamas, the Colusas, the Sonomas, the Napas, the Suscols, the Suisunes, the Yolos, the Gualalas, the Petalumas, the Tomales, the Bolanos, the Cosumnes, the Mokelumnes, the Tuolumnes, the Yosemites, the Kaweahs, the Monos and many others which it would be only tedious 732 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and subserve no important purpose to mention. At or in the neighborhood of Monterey two principal divisions were supposed to exist, called respectively the Eslenes and the Runcienes and, among some of the old writers, there wero- supposed to be some marked distinctions between them. In the southern part of the country, with the exception of the Cahuillos who lived near San Bernardino, and the Mojaves and Yumas, which two latter named tribes belong rather to a different race, the Californian Indians may be said to have lost their own names at an early period and become known almost exclusively by Spanish designations, applied to the people of large regions. Thus the wild rovers of Tule Lake and all the upper part of the San Joaquin valley were called Tularenos, as their country was called the Tulares; and all the Indians round about San Diego were called Dieguefios. Notwithstanding these many names, there was very little difference among the Indians from one end of the land to the other, except that those living along the Santa Barbara" Chan- nel were a little less stupid and brutish than the others and that those living in the mountain regions were a little less cowardly than those dwelling on the ocean shore and large river bottoms. 1 All were what the Americans, when they came to the country, termed " Diggers." They did not cul- tivate the soil, but lived upon what they could dig out or gather on top of the ground, and ate everything and any- thing within easy reach that would support human life, not excepting carrion clover, grasshoppers and grub- worms. In stature they were generally speaking, below the average height of human beings, squat and ungainly, with large bodies but ill-developed limbs, though in these respects the northern people were superior to the southern and the moun- taineers to the lowlanders. There were amongst them few or no specimens of physical beauty, either of the women or of the men. Their faces were wide; foreheads low; eyes small; noses flat; nostrils broad; cheek-bones prominent; mouths large; hair straight, coarse, thick and black. As a rule they had no beards, but exceptions to this rule were not uncom- THE INDIANS. 733 mon. At the time of La Perouse's visit it was a much- mooted question whether those without beards had plucked them out or were naturally beardless. Governor Pedro Fages maintained the first proposition, claiming that the hairs had been pulled out with bivalve shells used as tweezers; while Father Lasuen, the president of the missions, maintained that they had never had beards. 1 It is possible, and indeed prob- able, that there were cases in which the beard was pulled out; but there is every reason to believe that Lasuen was correct on the general proposition. However this may have been, it is certain that the hair of the head, both of the men and women, was usually cut or rather burned off in a straight line across the forehead about on a level with the eyebrows, but was left to grow a few inches longer at the sides and behind. In some cases the women had longer hair on the back of the head and wore it in a sort of rough knot; and sometimes, particularly in the southern part of the country, long hair was cultivated. But in general, except in those southern parts of the country where length of hair was considered a mark of beauty, 2 it was short in both, sexes and looked like a black thatch more or less matted and without gloss. Add to the foregoing characteristics the further one that their skin was of a dull, lusterless, reddish brown or brownish black color and that there was no indication of intelligence or nobility of character in their countenances, and it can easily be under- stood that the Europeans did not in their first view of them find much to respect or anything to admire. All accounts agree in representing the Indians, including those of Lower California, as among the most stupid, brutish, filthy, lazy and improvident of the aborigines of America. But notwithstanding the low grade in the scale of humanity in which they lived, there can be no doubt that they possessed intellectual faculties capable of very considerable develop- ment. Their stupidity was the result rather of mental torpid- ity, caused by idleness and the absence of those kinds of stimulus which in other lands have produced civilization, than 1 La P^rouse, I, 438*. 2 Boscana's Chiigchinich, in Robinson's California, New York, 1846, 240. 734 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. of any absolute limitation of their natural powers. In their hunting- and fishing they often displayed remarkable sagacity and skill, and among the neophytes at the missions there were man)' adroit and excellent workmen. After the secu- larization of the missions, when it became the practice to emancipate the most steady and reliable amongst them from missionary pupilage, it was found that there were numbers who might under the proper kind of management have made passably good citizens, but who, under the government as it existed and the untoward influences from which they were not guarded, rapidly relapsed into idleness and vagabondism as bad as, and in some cases worse than, that of their untu- tored ancestors. They regarded the whites, or "gente de razon " as the Spaniards by way of distinction called them- selves, as superior beings and were prone to imitate them, but unfortunately rather in their vices than in their virtues and rather the idle, airy and showy than the solid, sober and industrious. Father Geronimo Boscana relates a curious instance of this disposition to imitate in a rancheria near San Diego soon after the dethronement and death of Agustin I. Understanding that they were under the government of Mexico and that the Mexican people, being dissatisfied with their emperor, had caught and killed him; and, being them- selves dissatisfied with their capitanejo or chief, they made a great feast and, seizing the objectionable potentate, burnt him alive and selected another in his place. When remonstrated with for their inhuman barbarity, they replied, " Have you not done the same with your emperor at Mexico? You say he was not good and you killed him. We say our capitan was not good and we burned him. If the new one is no better, we will burn him too." 1 Boscana relates several other incidents, which, though to him they appeared evidences of extreme brutishness and depravity, indicate considerably more strength of mind than the Californian Indians have usually been given credit fon> One is of a capitanejo at the mission of San Luis Rey, who was present at the baptism of several old men. The mission- 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 337, 338. THE INDIANS. 735 ary, when the ceremony was concluded, attempted to explain the kind of life they were to lead to avoid the influence of Satan and said that, by invoking the sweet names of Jesus and Mary and by the sign of the holy cross well performed, the power of the devil would be destroyed and all unholy thoughts driven off. At this the old chief turned to his com- panions and whispered, " See, how this padre cheats us ! Who believes that the devil will leave us at the sign of the cross? If it were done by dancing, as authorized by Chinig- chinich, he would depart; but that he will do so by the means which the padre describes, I do not believe." The others united with him in laughter; and evidently none of them be- lieved in the efficacy of tame ceremonies. 1 Another incident is of a neophyte, thirty-five years of age, who in 1817 fell sick unto death at the mission of San Juan Capistrano. He had been well instructed; but no persuasions on the part of his friends or expostulations on the part of the missionaries could prevail on him to confess and partake of the sacrament. At the bare proposal, he became frantic and uttered expressions of contempt and blasphemy. A short time previous to his death, Boscana visited him for the purpose of affording the consolations promised by religion to the repentant >ul °"' 1 urged him, since he could do no more, to ask paid sins and receive the extreme unction — for God was infinite in his mercies to those who called upon him. But all in vain. The missionary's words were ineffectual and were spurned with disgust. The apostate's limbs grew rigid; the froth came from his mouth; his eyes rolled back into his head; he pn sented a picture of one condemned to the tormer ts of hell; and three persons were insufficient to restrain 1 sions. These demonstrations seemed at first only the of his malady; but after awhile his consciousness returned; and, upon some one asking why he did not confess, he replied with anger, "Because I will not. If I have been - whilst living, I do not wish to die in the delusio'i." Tl were his last words. Soon afterwards he expired, and, as 736 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Boscana avouches, there remained a corpse truly horrible and revolting to the sight. 1 Some little further light is thrown upon the subject of the natural capabilities of the Indians by a few military and polit- ical events in which they took part. For a considerable length of time, they do not appear to have had any idea that they possessed any rights which the Spaniards were bound to respect, and formed no combinations, confederacies or con- spiracies for the redress of the wrongs they suffered. A rancheria or several rancherias together were almost always ready to attack an unguarded mission, when they saw a pretty sure show of plunder, and hardly anything was more com- mon than prowling bands of sneaking horse and cattle thieves; but they can hardly be said to have ever risen to resist ag- gression or vindicate honor. There were no patriot Chiefs to stay the progress of Spanish advance; nor was there even a highwayman or robber of whom the Spaniards had to be afraid. A handful of soldiers could almost invariably put a host of them to flight and march with impunity into the midst of their strongholds. Single soldiers did not hesitate to ride alone for long distances through thickly settled terri- tories of hostile people ; and in the numerous expeditions by little military parties from the presidios into the mountains or along the frontiers after deserters from the missions or stolen stock, although Indians were killed and children captured and carried off with little or no compunctions of conscience, it was a rare thing for a white man to lose his life or receive a scratch. This was the general rule. But in some instances there was very determined resistance, indicating spirit and valor. In 1797 Sergeant Pedro Amador made an expedition from the then recently founded mission of San Jose against the rancherias of the Cuchillones and Sacalanes, the former of whom occupied the territory now known as San Pablo and the latter a large portion of the present Alameda county betv^m the mountains and the bay. The object was to pun ish trie murderers of seven San Francisco neophytes and to capture fugitives, a large number of whom had escaped from 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 326, 527. THE INDIANS. 737 time to time from the Mission Dolores. Amador marched with some twenty men through the country and on several occasions had to fight his way against enemies in no wise backward to defend their domestic fires. Their arms, how- ever, were no match for the muskets and swords of the sol- diers, who killed seven or eight and took upwards of ninety prisoners, nearly all of whom were fugitives. Both Amador and Governor Borica, to whom he made the report of his ex- pedition, thought that the result would be to restrain for some time what they called the haughtiness and insolence of the Indians. 1 But it is evident that they did not regard them as either cowardly or despicable. 2 In iSio the famous Indian fighter Ensign Gabriel Moraga marched from San Francisco with seventeen men against the natives of a rancheria on the opposite side of the bay called Suynsuyn, whose people had murdered a number of neophytes; and, though he succeeded in killing over a hun- dred of the enemy 3 and capturing upwards of twenty women and children, it was only after a severe conflict of five or six hours, in which the Indians acted in obedient concert under the leadership of a chief and made a very unexpectedly val- orous defense, severely wounding four of his men. 4 In 1824 there was, as has already been related, a serious uprising among the Indians of Purisima and Santa Inez. After kill- ing several whites and burning Santa Inez, they retired to Purisima and there fortified themselves, over four hundred strong. Among other arms, they managed to get hold of two one-pounder guns, sixteen muskets, a hundred and fifty lances and six cutlasses; and, in defending themselves against the army of whites sent against them, they fully demonstrated their ability to use gunpowder and steel. It was in fact only after a very determined resistance that they were finally de- feated; and they then, as has also been shown, displayed a 1 " Abatida asi la insolencia y altaneria que manifestaban los Cuchillones y Sacalanes." — Cal. Archives, P. R. IV, 394. a Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XV, 393-398; P. R. IV, 394. 3 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XX, 486. * Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, s(>5'A- 47 Vol. J. 738 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. very high degree of ability in negotiating an accommodation quite as honorable to themselves as to the whites. Upon inquiries subsequently instituted for the purpose of ascertain- ing the causes of the revolt, it appeared that the natives were dissatisfied with Spanish domination and wished to regain their ancient liberty and that with this end in view they had intended to kill off all the gente de razon. 1 In 1838 one Ambrosio, the chief of a rancheria in the neighborhood of San Jose, attempted to form a conspiracy of Indians and succeeded in gathering a force of some forty or more, with which he intended to join others and attack the mission. Before he could mature his plans, however, or make his conspiracy formidable, an expedition of twenty-five men marched against him ; and, after a fight in which one white man was killed and seven wounded, Ambrosio's force was scattered and himself captured and thrown into irons. \ He was then taken before Jose lie Jesus Vallejo, the administrator of the mission, who, as he naively reported the case, took such infor- mation as satisfied him that the. prisoner was the ringleader of the mutiny and summarily ordered him to be shot. 2 Some dif- ficulty was experienced in getting Father Gonzalez to confess the condemned man in time for a speedy execution ; but a messenger to and from San Carlos soon brought back word from Gonzalez' superior that the welfare of souls was more important than the scruples of a priest 3 and directing the confession to be taken ; and thereupon Ambrosio was shrived and shot; and his body was buried, as Vallejo •expressed it, in the "pantheon of San Jose." 4 In 1839 an -expedition of nine soldiers and six rancheros, under the com- mand of Ensign Pedro Mesa, marched against the Tulareilos in the San Joaquin valley with the object of punishing horse- thieves and recovering stolen stock, but soon found that the 1 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. I, 574-578. 2 " Tomando los infonnes que me parecieron suficientes y hallando en todo reo nl repetido Ambrosio, jusgando como cabeza de motin que daiiaba al bien publico, inando fuese afusilado. " — Cal. Archives, M. X, 219. 3 " I'ues el bien de las almas es proferante & qualquier otro." — Cal. Archives, M. X, 219. * "Se halla enterrado en el Panteon de esta [mision]." — Cal. Archives, M. X, 219. THE INDIANS. 739 Indians were much more formidable than they had anticipated. Mesa and six of his men were severely wounded; three were killed; and all might perhaps have lost their lives if a second expedition, consisting of twenty-seven whites and an auxiliary force of fifty friendly Indians, had not marched out to their relief. 1 A few other events, more of a civil or domestic character, may be referred to as throwing light upon this interesting topic of the mental capacities of the Californian Indians. No writer affords any direct information upon the subject, except to the effect that they had none worth mentioning. But circumstances prove that this was not entirely the case. In 1820, for instance, there was a project, proposed by the missionaries and seriously entertained by the political govern- ment, to arm the Indians in defense of the country, which had shortly before been attacked by revolutionary insurgents from Buenos Ayres and was liable at any time to further attack from almost any of the nations or factions that were in arms against Spanish rule in America. 2 J This indicated a feeling on the part of the Spaniards that they could place some reliance in the Indians. On the other hand an Indian could be guilty of seditious language of sufficient importance to call for governmental notice. • A case of this nature occurred at Los Angeles in 1826,. when a neophyte named Buenaventura from San Luis Rey, having indulged too freely in aguardi- ente, began a tirade against the government, declaring in a loud voice that it was no government at all; that the alcalde and the general were louts, and that it would be in order next year to kill off all the Spaniards; 3 and his drunken abuse was thought dangerous enough to justify not only throwing him into prison but afterwards putting him on a long and tedious trial for it. 4 1 Cal. Archives, M. X, 471, 472. a Cal. Archives, P. R. XII, 525-527. 3 Vicente Sanchez, alcalde of Los Angeles, said: "Que dicho Buenaventura en voz alta me dijo, tu Alcalde eres un hijo de puta, y el General es un Yngles; no hay nacion ni hay nada; y en <*1 ano que viene k todos vosotros he de matar. " — Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ben. LVIII, 464. * Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ben. LVIII, 464-470. 740 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. In 1827 there was a demand on the part of many of the Indians to be emancipated or released from what they regarded as and what was in fact mission slavery, on the ground that the revolution and the acts of the Mexican congress had made them politically free. 1 In some cases, as at San Juan Capistrano and San Luis Rey, they insisted so determinedly upon their rights that they refused to work; and it became necessary to call in the strong hand of military power to keep them to their tasks. 2 Again in 1833 the same Indians, to- gether with those of San Diego and San Gabriel, believing that ex-governor Echeandia had promised them a division of the mission lands and property, espoused his cause as against that of the new governor Figueroa; and it became necessary a second time to strengthen the military to keep them in subjection. 3 At Santa Barbara, in 1838, the Indians refused to gather the harvests unless they were clothed; and they presented their grievances with so much force and clear- ness that it was thought they were guided by some hidden hand; and the government deemed it prudent, instead of invoking force, to promise compliance with their demands. 4 At San Luis Rey, in 1840, the Indians combined to protest against the occupation of the Rancho de Temecula and interference with their own rights in it by the Pico brothers; and, on being remonstrated with, they declared with all the coolness and prudence of statesmen that they intended to obey the laws and would patiently await the action of govern- ment; but they were unanimously opposed to the Pico family; wanted neither them nor their cattle at Temecula. and if the government would not listen to their complaints they would feel themselves obliged to relinquish all their interests and abandon the mission. 5 There was, perhaps, little probability of success in their opposition to the Pico family; but the incident, in connection with those previously instanced, shows 1 See, for instance, Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ben. LXIII, 3-5. 2 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. II, 20-25. 3 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. I, 532; D. S. P. Ill, 273-275. * Cal. Archives, M. IX, 358, 359. 5 Cal. Archives, M. X, 1 17-122. THE INDIANS. 741 that they were not without intelligence and understanding-, which with anything like proper education might have been developed. As for those of them who occupied the shores and islands of the Santa Barbara Channel, all writers agree that they were much more intelligent and industrious and in all respects superior to the other natives of the country. It is impossible to state with certainty the number of the Indians of Alta California, though in reference to those who were baptized and congregated at the missions the most minute accounts remain. In every case of conversion the neophyte received a Spanish baptismal name, which was entered on the mission register and by which he was after- wards known; and his original Indian name, except in case of great fame or notoriety, was dropped and lost. From these registers census returns were made out periodically, so that there was never any great difficulty in ascertaining the population of the missions or of any mission at almost any given period. But the wild, unconverted tribes, or gentiles as they were called, were divided and scattered; they wandered more or less from place to place; and there was no means of telling their numbers except by guess and estimation. La Perouse, in 1786, gave the Indian population of both the Californias in round numbers as fifty thousand, of whom nearly ten thousand were neophytes. 1 Vancouver, in 1793, estimated the number of neophytes in both the Californias as about twenty thousand and the whole native population as eight or ten times as many." It is probable, however, that Vancouver included in his estimate the Indians of much terri- tory then supposed to be a part of California which is not now known as such — just as the estimate by Father Baegert of forty or fifty thousand as the population of Lower California was probably intended as an estimate for the whole country afterwards called the Californias. The records show that in 1795 the population of the missions and presidios of Alta California was twelve thousand two hundred and sixteen and that of Baja California four thousand five hundred and fifty- 1 La Perouse, I, 437. 2 Vancouver, III, 407. 742 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. one. 1 In 1805 the census of the missions, presidios and pueblos of Alta California showed the population to be twenty-two thousand six hundred and thirty-seven, of whom two thousand and eleven were Spaniards and foreigners. 2 In 1 8 10 the neophytes were eighteen thousand seven hundred and eighty-four and the Spaniards and others two thousand and fifty-two. 3 In 1 818 Governor Sola, in a report to the viceroy, gave the number of neophytes then living in Alta California as twenty thousand two hundred and thirty-eight. 4 In 1830 there had been up to that time baptized in Alta California eighty-five thousand three hundred and seventy-seven per- sons, of whom sixty-one thousand three hundred and forty- three had died, leaving a remainder of twenty-four thousand six hundred and thirty-four. Of these, seventeen thousand six hundred and thirty-four were then at the missions and six thousand eight hundred and twenty-two were either fugitives or dead and unreported. 5 The Mexican census of 1 83 1 gave the number of inhabitants of the entire Mexican republic as six million three hundred and eighty-two thousand two hun- dred and sixty-four, estimating that of Alta California at twenty-seven thousand and that of Baja California at fif- teen thousand. 6 In 1842 Wilkes estimated the Indians of Alta California at eight or nine thousand; 7 and Robinson, at ten thousand. 8 It seems probable, taking the most reliable accounts as a basis, that the Indian population of the two Californias never exceeded sixty or seventy thousand or about one to every four square miles of area, and that the limit in what is now the State of California never exceeded forty-five or fifty thousand. Whatever may have been the number of the native popula- tion, it is certain that almost as soon as the whites came 1 Cal. Archives, M. II, 305. 2 Cal. Archives, M. Ill, 589-603. 3 Cal. Archives, M. IV, 192. i Cal. Archives, P. R. IX, 585. 5 Cal. Archives, M. V, 307. G Cal. Archives, D. S. P. XVI, 214. • Wilkes, V, 174. * Robinson, 217. THE INDIANS. 743 amongst them they began to diminish. It was not the mere killing of them off by the whites that reduced them; for it is to be borne in mind that the Spaniards were interested in pre- serving them and there was consequently very little direct slaughter; but they introduced a hideous disease which in a few years affected the whole population and, if it did not of itself cause death, it so shattered the constitutions of the people as to predispose them to the fatal attacks of other diseases. Even as early as 1786 the ravages of this disease had made frightful inroads; and in some cases the death rate was three times greater than the birth rate. 1 In 183 1 the commissioner of the census for California observed that the death rate amongst the Indians exceeded the birth rate more than ten per centum annually." Duflot de Mofras wrote that in 1834, on the breaking out of a disease resembling cholera, twelve thousand Indians died in the Tulare country, and that in 1836, on the breaking out of a contagious fever, nearly eight thousand died in the Sacramento valley; but at the same time he estimated that this fearful mortality was due in great part to syphilitic predisposition." The same author stated that in 1842 the neophyte population was only forty-four hundred and fifty or about one-seventh of what it had been in I834- 4 There were many cases of Indians attaining extraordinary old age. Dana, in his " Two Years before the Mast," spoke of one at the mission of San Diego, whom he supposed to be the oldest man he had ever seen ; and he wondered that a person could exhibit such marks of age and still retain life. 1 " El mal Calico domina a ambos sexos y en tal grado que ya las madres no conciven y si conciven sale el feto con poca esperanza de vida: ay mision de las citadas [de la Baja California] que ha mas de ano y meses que en ella no se a bau- tizada criatura alguna, y la que mas no llega a cinco bautizados; siendo una cosa digna de adrairar, que esceden los muertos en el ano pasodo de los de edad de catorce alios para abajo de los nacidos. Agreguese los adultos y sale en las expresadas misiones que triplican los muertos a los nacidos estos ultimos anos." Monterey, 9 de Agosto de 1786. — Cal Archives, M. I, 31. 2 " Entre la poblacion india se nota anualmente un deficit de mas de un diez por ciento de muertos a nacidos."' — Cal. Archives, D. S. 1*. XVI, 221. 3 Duflot de Mofras, II, 333, 334. 4 Duflot de Mofras, I, 320. 744 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. This superannuated specimen was sitting in the sun, leaning against the side of a hut; his legs and arms were not larger round than those of a boy of five years; his skin was withered and shriveled like burnt leather; and he was so feeble that, when his visitors approached, he slowly raised his hands to his face and, taking hold of his eyelids with his fingers, lifted them up to look at the strangers and then, being apparently satisfied, let them drop again. Inquiries as to his age evoked no answer from the other Indians except, "Ouien sabe — who knows?" 1 Nearly every mission contained one or more of these old patri- archs who had outlived their families; and it was no uncommon thing for a rancheria to have ancient members, who had to be wrapped in thick furs to preserve their animal warmth and to be nursed and fed like infants to keep up nutrition. The care that was taken of these old people and the respect shown them were the best indications furnished of the goodness of the Indian character. The characteristics, which most forcibly struck all writers on the California aborigines, were their extreme laziness and uncleanliness. Vancouver pronounced them " horrid." They were so habitually apathetic that the most zealous and laborious efforts to improve their condition seemed to be almost entirely thrown away upon them. They had no ambition of any kind and seemed to care for or take lively interest in nothing: all the operations both of their bodies and minds appeared to be carried on with- a mechanical, lifeless, careless indifference, which was so general and apparently ineradicable that it was supposed to be inherent in their very natures. 2 Hunger alone compelled them to make some exer- tion in search of food; but they labored no further than was necessary to secure a supply of anything that would sustain life, without much reference to its quality. Their games were not of a kind to require or admit of much muscular effort, but usually such as were played lying or sitting. They were too indolent to be noisy or boisterous even in their amusements. Nothing seemed to give them greater pleasure than to lie 1 Dana's "Two Years before the Mast," 135, 136. 2 Vancouver, III, 36. ' THE IXDIANS. 745 stretched out for hour after hour upon the ground with their faces down, doing absolutely nothing and entirely careless and indifferent to everything. 1 But while the foregoing accounts are doubtless in the main correct, it must not be forgotten that there are descendants of these aboriginal inhabitants still left in the State of California, who hire themselves out as laborers, and that amongst them there are many very steady workmen. There may be an admixture of foreign blood in some of these cases; but, from what can be observed of the remnants of the ancient people, there is every reason to believe that, if the proper means had been taken, they might have been civilized. It would not have taken much to make them into a better people than many of the common herd of Mexican convicts, vagabonds and vagrants who came into the country as soldiers or colonists and who prided themselves upon belonging, in contradistinction to the Indians, to the gente de razon. 1 " En los ratos desocupados se mantienen tendidos horas enteras boca abaxo con sumo placer." — Relacion, 167. CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN RELIGIOUS NOTIONS AND SUrERSTITIONS. FATHER GERONIMO BOSCANA.who was missionary of San Juan Capistrano and died there at an advanced age in 1831, wrote an account of the Indians of that establish- ment. He had lived amongst them for many years and was familiar with their language. From them and particularly from three of their old men, two of whom were chiefs and the third a medicine-man, he learned something of their traditions and from his own observation gathered many particulars as to their manners and customs. His work is by no means a literary model; nor, for reasons hereafter to be stated, can any great amount cf faith be placed in the account he gives of the so-called religious belief of the aborigines; but there are a great many circumstances of interest in what he has written. His manuscript after his death fell into the hands of Alfred Robinson, by whom it was translated into English and published in New York, in the year 1846, under the title of " Chinigchinich: A historical account of the Origin, Customs and Traditions of the Indians at the Missionary Establish- ment of San Juan Capistrano, Alta California, called The Acagchemen Nation." Boscana divided the Indians of San Juan Capistrano into two classes, one of which called in Spanish Playanos lived at the sea beach, and the other called the Serranos lived in the mountains three or four leagues distant; and he said their religious beliefs differed in various particulars. The Serranos believed that there were in the beginning two exist- ences, the one described as the existence above and the other as the existence below; but of natures altogether inexplica- (74G) INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 747 ble and indefinite. They were supposed to be brother and sister. On a certain occasion, far back in the mists of time, the brother, bringing the sun as a present to his sister who was all darkness, offered himself in marriage to her. She at first resisted on account of their near relationship, but finally submitted; and the two were married. The first fruits of their union were the rocks and sands of the earth; then trees, shrubbery, herbs and grass; then animals and finally an ani- mated being called Ouiot. This Ouiot was not a man but a phantom; and he produced a large family of phantoms like himself. As the race multiplied, the earth extended itself from northward to southward and increased in size. Being the progenitor of his people, he became chief and for a long period ruled them as their great captain. In process of time, Ouiot becoming old and unable any longer to govern properly, his descendants rebelled against his authority and, for the purpose of putting him out of the way, gave him poison. This made him so ill that he left the mountains and wertt down to the sea, where his mother pre- pared an antidote; but her intention of saving him was frus- trated by the coyote, which, being attracted by the fragrance of the antidote as it stood fermenting in the sun, approached the shell containing the mixture and overturned it. This coyote was named Eyacque, meaning the second captain. He seems to have been something more than a mere animal, perhaps one of the chief conspirators; for, after Ouiot was dead and after it had been decided to burn his remains, the people, for fear that the coyote would come and eat the body, went out and set fire to his retreat. But Eyacque, having made his escape, afterwards presented himself at the funeral pyre and, declaring that he would be consumed with his great captain, leaped into the flames and tore off and ate a large piece of flesh from Ouiot's body. From this circumstance, as a part of Ouiot's body thus passed into and constituted a part of a living body, it was supposed that Ouiot still lived and it was believed that he would appear again. Soon after the disposition, as above stated, of the great 748 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. captain, a general council of the people was called for the purpose of making provision for the collection of food. Pre- viously they had lived only upon a species of white clay; but; now they began to crave grain, seeds, acorns and the flesh of animals. While they were so consulting, they beheld a spec- ter who for a number of days presented himself, sometimes in one place and sometimes in another. Becoming alarmed at its appearance, they at length summoned it into their pres- ence and demanded if it was not their great captain, Ouiot. "No," answered the specter, "I am not Ouiot, but a captain of greater power. My name is Chinigchinich. My habita- tion is above. On what are you debating and why thus con- gregated?" They replied that their captain was dead and that they were deliberating as to how they should maintain themselves upon the seeds of the fields and the flesh of ani- mals, instead of being obliged any longer to live upon the clay of the earth. Chinigchinich, having heard their reply, said further, " I am the creator of all things and will make you another people. From this time forward one of you shall have power to cause rain; another of you to influence the dews, another to produce acorns; another to create rabbits; another, ducks; another, geese; another, deer." In the same manner he gave to each of them one or other of the supernat- ural powers which were afterwards claimed by the medicine- men, who pretended to be descendants of these most ancient of people and to have thus derived their sorceries by direct tradition from the god. Chinigchinich, having thus provided for the original ances- tors of the native priesthood and recognized them, so to speak, as a race apart from and superior to ordinary mortals, pro- ceeded to create man. For this purpose he took clay from the borders of a lake and kneaded out of it the first man and woman, from whose union sprang the ordinary race of Indi- ans. He also, about the same time, seems to have trans- formed the ancestors of the medicine-men into human beings and to have taught them the laws that were to be followed and the rites and ceremonies to be observed. He also^com- INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 749 manded a temple to be built, where adoration might be paid and sacrifices offered to him, and showed how the dances were to be conducted; how the sacred tobet, or robe of feath- ers to be worn by the priesthood in their great feasts, was to be composed, and how faces were to be painted black and red. When he had taught them all these things and while dancing before them in his sacred vestment — his mission on earth having been accomplished — he was suddenly taken up into heaven and thenceforth lived among the stars. From that time forward Chinigchinich was looked upon as God. His name signified "the all powerful." He was believed to have had neither father nor mother; nor was any- thing known of his origin; nor indeed that he had any origin. No one could see him; though he saw everything, even in the darkest night. He was believed to be ever present in all places and at all times. He was not only omnipresent, but his nature partook of a three-fold qualification, being also known under the distinct names of " Saor," "Ouaguor" and " Tobet," denoting the periods: first, when he could not dance; second, when he could dance, and third, when he danced in his sacred feather-robe. Apart from his mysterious essence, thus attempted to be explained, he was supposed by the Indians to be a friend to the good and a dreadful enemy to the wicked. Upon the latter, before taking his final depart- ure, he laid the terrible injunction, " Him, who obeyeth not or believeth not my teaching, I will chastise. I will send bears to bite him and serpents to sting him. I will over- whelm him with misfortunes, infirmities and death." 1 The Playanos or Indians of the sea coast, on the other hand, held that first of all things there was an invisible and all-powerful being called " Nocuma," who made the earth and sea together with all the animals, trees, plants and fishes con- tained therein. In its form the world was spherical and remained in his hands as a ball; but on account of its being continually in motion he resolved to secure it and for that purpose placed in its center a black rock, called Tosaut, which fastened and has ever since held it firm. At this early time, 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 242-24 750 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. the sea was a small stream, running from south to north and encircling the world. It was so small that the fishes, being all confined to it, were piled one on top of another in such a state of inconvenience that they held a consultation for the purpose of devising means of relief. Some were for landing upon the earth, while others were of a contrary opinion; because, as they suggested, not only would exposure to the air and heat of the sun dry them up, but they had no legs and feet like animals that lived upon the land to move about. At length there came to their aid a large fish, bringing with him a rock, called by the same name, Tosaut, as that which kept the world in its place. Breaking this rock, they found in its center a bag or bladder filled with gall. This they emptied into the sea and thereby converted it from its orig- inal condition of freshness into one of saltness; and at the same time the waters swelled and overflowed a large part of the land and gradually covered the space now occupied by the ocean. With this change in the abundance of the waters of the sea, the fishes were satisfied; and they were also greatly rejoiced in the improvement in its taste. Nocuma, having thus created the world and then animals, trees, plants and fishes, next created out of the earth the first man, whom he named Ejoni, and then the first woman, whom he called Aa. These two had many descendants, one of whom called Ouiot, the son of Sirout, signifying a handful of tobacco, and his wife Ycaiut, seems to have been the same Ouiot in human form, who was known to the Serranos as a monster or phantom. This Ouiot was a great warrior, haughty and ambitious, and soon managed to obtain suprem- acy over all the tribes in his neighborhood and reigned over them. For a time his government was kind and pacific; but he gradually exposed the natural ferocity of his temper and at length ruled with relentless cruelty, putting many of his subjects to death. At last, when his tyranny became alto- gether insupportable, his people conspired to kill him and, for the purpose of carrying out their design, mixed a deadly poison composed of particles of the rock Tosaut. While this INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 751 was being- prepared, a small burrowing animal, called Cacu- mel, betrayed the plot to Ouiot who at once sent out spies to ascertain the truth of the report; but, failing to discover any- reliable information of the conspiracy, he treated the whole matter as a jest. In the meanwhile the conspirators finished their preparation in secret; and, when all was read)', one of them placed a small quantity of the poison on Ouiot's breast, as he lay asleep. Its effect was so potent that he at once sickened and in a short time, becoming worse and worse in spite of all the remedies that could be administered, he died. From this point the accounts of the Playanos agreed sub- stantially with those of the Serranos, excepting that nothing further was heard of Eyacque or the coyote; nor did Cacumel make any further appearance. The body of Ouiot was burned upon the funeral pyre amidst the rejoicing of the people; and, after it was consumed, there was the same council as to the adoption of a diet of flesh and seeds instead of the clay, which they had previously been compelled to eat. In the midst of their consultation there w r as the same appearance of a mysterious being, who came from no one knew where, and the same conversation as in the accounts given by the Serranos. This mysterious being, however, called himself " Attajen," which means rational creature, and, as in the case of Chinigchinich, claimed universal authority. He likewise selected from the people a certain number, upon whom he conferred the powers of causing rain to fall, trees and plants to produce acorns and seeds and game of all kinds to in- crease. It was not until 'a long time afterwards that Chi- nigchinich himself made his appearance, at first under the name of Ouiamot, the son of Tacu and Auzar, and finally as the god who established the laws and ordained the rites and ceremonies of religious observances. He appeared with his body pai-ted black and red and adorned in his sacred robe of feathers known as the tobet. He confirmed the medicine- men as sorcrrers in their priestly offices; gave them the name of "puplem," and taught them how to build the " vanquech " or temple for his worship; how and when to assume the tobet 75l> THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and dance; how to cure the sick, and how, in times of scar- city, to supplicate him for relief. The Playanos seem to have made use of the same trinitarian denominations of Saor, Quaguor and Tobet for Chinigchinich that the Serranos did; but they applied them somewhat dif- ferently. Saor meant the time when he could not dance and was applied to those who were not allowed to assume his vestments; Tobet was the name of the god dressed in his sacred feather robe and was applied to all who had the right to assume it and enter the vanquech or sanctuary; and Quaguor was the name given to the god after he had ascended to the stars. For he too, like the Chinigchinich of the Serranos, when his task on earth was finished, took his departure by ascension. When his appointed time ap- proached, he sickened; and, being apparently about to die, the people asked him as to which one of his rancherias he wished to go when he died. He answered, " To neither of them, for they are inhabited by mortals, and I wish to go where I shall be alone and from where I can see the people of all the rancherias." They offered to bury him; but he said: No, that then they would walk upon him and he would be obliged to chastise them. "No," he continued, "when I depart, I shall ascend above to the stars. From there I shall always see you. To those who keep my commandments I will give all they ask; but those who obey not or believe not my teachings, I will punish severely. I will send bears to bite them and serpents to sting them. They shall have no food to eat and diseases shall overwhelm and destroy them." Having said this, Chinigchinich died and ascended as he had prophesied; and thenceforth he was revered and worshiped as God. He was invoked by the Indians in all their under- takings; he was regarded as th<$ giver of all good things, and to him thanks were returned for all blessings received. Up to the days of the adoption of the new faith of the mission- aries, the old god taught by the native priests or sorcerers retained his influence over the minds of the Indians ; and there was never a plenteous harvest of acorns or wild seeds INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 753 or a successful hunting, but the grateful heathens, turning their eyes to heaven, would cry out, " Guic Chinigchinich," that is, " Thanks to Chinigchinich, who has given us these." 1 In examining with a critical eye and in the light of modern ethnographical research the foregoing accounts of the religious notions thus attributed to the Indians of San Juan Capis- trano, it is difficult if not impossible to believe that ideas of so advanced a character could have been entertained by sav- ages of so low a grade. There is so much in the description of Ouiot and his race resembling Lucifer and his legions of fallen angels and so much more in the description of Chinig- chinich resembling the one invisible, omnipresent God of the Hebrews, that the judgment cannot subscribe to Boscana's supposition that these conceptions were original with the Indians. On the other hand, upon examining the circum- stances under which he acquired his information, several very important observations force themselves upon the mind of the reader, which subtract greatly from the value of these accounts as reliable expositions of what the Indians in their savage state really believed. In the first place Boscana him- self and his brother missionaries were men of narrow range of thought, continually seeking among the superstitions of the natives for resemblances to the true faith and ever ready to catch at the slightest hints and magnify them into com- plicated dogmas corresponding afar off with those which they themselves taught. They assumed that some sort of knowl- edge of the true God was inherent in all human creatures and that this inherent knowledge was only obscured and falsified among the poor savages by the machinations and wiles of the devil. It is for this reason that Boscana finds in the relations above given many allusions to scriptural truths and especially calls attention to the six productions of the mother of Ouiot as corresponding with the six days of the Mosaic creation; to the formation of the first man and woman out of clay as corresponding with the Mosaic Adam and Eve, and to Ouiot himself as corresponding with Nimrod, 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 249-257. 48 Vol. I. 754 THE SFAN1SH GOVERNORS. who was also a mighty hunter before the Lord. In the next place it is to be observed that the old men, from whom Bos- cana derived his information, were not only Christianized adherents of the missions and as such interested in giving a pleasing narrative to the missionaries ; but that they grew up after Jum'pero and his companions had first come into Alta California and spread abroad the doctrines and mysteries of the Christian faith. It cannot be otherwise than that these doctrines, incomprehensible as they must have been to the unlettered and unreflecting Indians, became mixed up in their minds with their own crude notions of powers beyond and above their own and produced the confused and inter- tangled accounts given by them to the missionaries. . Under the circumstances, it is difficult to ascertain what the religious belief of the Indians in their savage state exactly was. They had no writing, letters, hieroglyphics, pictures or characters of any description from which information can be obtained ; nor have there been any writers, who had oppor- tunities of acquaintance with the language and practices of the Indians and who at the same time were sufficiently versed in investigations of this character to guage with discrimina- tion and describe with precision the nature and extent of their religious ideas. Judging from what is known of undoubted authenticity, it is probable that their advance towards a relig- ion of any kind was very limited. There was, it is true, a very marked difference in the degrees of intelligence between the peoples of different regions. Those inhabiting the sea coast and islands of the Santa Barbara Channel were much more advanced than those of regions remote from those favored localities. It is therefore to be expected that there was a very marked difference in the degrees of the develop- ment of their superstitions. But even the most advanced of them were very low down in the scale of barbarism ; and the lowest can hardly be said to have had any religious ideas at all. Taking the tribes or rancherias in general, and allowing for the numerous differences which must have existed between them, each being confined to a small tract of country, speak- INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 755 ing a different language and born and bred the enemy of the neighboring tribes, the chief fact known is that they all had their sorcerers or medicine-men who claimed the supernat- ural powers of curing sickness, causing rain and producing harvests. These sorcerers were their only priesthood; their teachings and particularly the accounts they gave of the origin and sanction of their supernatural claims embraced, in the main, all the ideas that were current as to superior powers and supernatural existences; and their incantations, the dances they performed and prescribed, and the mysterious practices they invented, and by which they imposed upon the common people, were their only rites and ceremonies. It is also known that there was in many if not in all large villages or rancherias, a place set apart as a sort of sanctuary for the cultivation and exercise of their superstition. It was what the San Juan Capistrano tribes called a vanquech and what the voyagers and missionaries designated a temple. Like the other structures erected by the natives, it was very rude in its fabrication, consisting usually of slabs of bark or timber inclined against each other at the top so as to form a kind of hollow cone that would shed rain, or of upright sap- lings interlaced with boughs, twigs or reeds and sometimes covered in by being bent over at the top so as to form a roof. In this vanquech or temple there was always some particular object of reverence, not properly an idol, but what is known among the barbarous tribes of Africa as a fetish. It con- sisted generally of the skin of a coyote or mountain cat or some such animal taken off with great care, preserving the head and forming a species of sack which was dressed smooth on the outside and stuffed with the feathers, beaks, talons, horns and claws of rare birds and animals and stuck through lengthwise with a number of arrows. The whole presented the hairless figure of the animal, dried and stretched out, with the feathered ends of the arrows protruding from its mouth. This grotesque preparation, which was generally elevated on a kind of frame together with a bow and arrows and some- times adorned with other ornaments, represented their god 756 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Chinigchinich, whatever may have been their notions of his nature, attributes and powers. But, as observed above, there is no good reason to believe that these notions were any more advanced than those which characterize one of the lowest grades of that kind of superstition, to which ethnologists have given the name of fetishism. The sorcerers or ministers of this superstition, if not them- selves chiefs, were always in intimate and confidential rela- tions with the chiefs or governing families; so that church and state, if these august terms may be applied to the insti- tutions of barbarism, always went hand in hand. Whatever may have been the authority exercised by the chiefs, it is cer- tain that the influence exerted by the sorcerers or priesthood, and the authority they assumed and succeeded in wielding, were very great. Almost implicit confidence was reposed in their teachings. Being supposed to possess supernatural powers, they were feared; and, being numerous, they often managed to outsway and sometimes to overpower and depose the chiefs. They constituted in great part, if not in whole, the puplem or great council of the wise men of the tribe, to which even the chiefs were subordinate and without whose concurrence and sanction no act of importance could be done. They could levy contributions upon the community for their own support and exact onerous fees for their services when called into requisition. They were active in creating occa- sions for their interference both in public affairs and in the intercourse and relations of private life. It was a part of their policy, for the purpose of maintaining and perpetuating their influence, to render themselves objects of awe; and with this end in view, besides their claims to supernatural gifts and inti- mate correspondence with Chinigchinich, they called them- selves man-eaters and assumed costumes and adopted man- ners the best calculated, according to their circumstances, to inspire terror. While on the one hand their persons were held sacred and inviolate, there was on the other hand hardly any excess of wickedness which they could not, and did not, commit with impunity. It is related, among other things, INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 757 that the females of the tribe without distinction were obliged under all circumstances and without show of reluctance to submit to their desires; nor was the presence of husband, parents or relatives any protection to virtue or chastity. 1 There was no such thing as a general government among the Indians; no consolidation or federation of tribes; no gov- ernor or king. Each village or rancheria, which usually com- prised a distinct tribe, though sometimes closely related to a neighbor, was entirely independent and presided over by its own chief. The people and chiefs of different rancherias sometimes joined for the accomplishment of a common pur- pose; but they never advanced far enough in political science to recognize a common authority or understand the advantages of political union. Their communities or rancherias were therefore very small; and, as they in most instances spoke different idioms and were generally disunited and hostile to one another, they were very weak. Nor did the authority of the chiefs among their own people amount to much. It is true they were the head men, each one in his own rancheria, and bore the insignia of office and honor; they were held in great respect and it was death to injure them; but the people generally speaking lived a life of independence and compara- tive insubordination, every one following the bent of his own inclination without law and without restraint except such as was occasioned by a common danger or a common supersti- tion. It was principally in the appointment of days for the collection of nuts or seeds, for the hunting of game, or the celebration of feasts, or in the settlement of disputes with neighboring rancherias including the declaration and conduct of war, that the chiefs exercised authority. But even in these particulars their powers were much circumscribed by those of the sorcerers and especially by that of the puplcm or great council. It was the sorcerers who kept the run of the sea- sons and observed the phases of the moon, upon which the times for gathering harvests and celebrating feasts were made to depend; and it was the puplem which decided, as a council of last resort, upon all matters of prime importance. Thc- 1 Rnsrana. in Robinson, 276. 758 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. chieftainship was ordinarily hereditary, and it was not un- usual for the son of the incumbent to be inducted into office while the father lived and ruled; but in such instances the junior chief exercised no authority until the senior died or became superannuated. In some cases of premature death of a chief, leaving an infant son, the widow became regent until the son arrived at maturity; but in all these cases the puplem had a controlling voice; and without its acquiescence, no one was able long to occupy the chieftianship. The puplem, or council so-called, was composed of the elders or wise men of the tribe, including the sorcerers. Its mem- bers had the right to assume the tobet or sacred feather-robe, to enter at all times into the vanquech, to dance before Chi- nigchinich and to advise and direct and even overrule the chief. The extent of its power and the manner of its exercise may, perhaps, be best delineated by synthetic description. When, for instance, the chief was advised that the time was at hand for the collection of seeds or the hunting of game, he sent out a herald or crier to convene the puplem and people. All having assembled in front of the vanquech, the figure of Chinigchinich was exposed, and one of the puplem sketched upon the ground in front of it a rude drawing, having some reference to the general purpose in view. This being com- pleted, the ceremonies commenced. The chief and the pup- lem, all painted, dressed in their appropriate costumes and bearing their bows and arrows, arranged themselves in line and advanced, one after the other, until they arrived at the drawing on the ground in front of Chinigchinich. The chief then gave a jump, springing as high as possible from the ground, and at the same time yelled with all his strength of lungs and brandished his weapons as if he were about to shoot at something in the air. Each one in turn performed the same evolutions. They were followed by the women, who approached in the same manner as the men except that, instead of running and jumping, they moved in slow proces- sion and, instead of brandishing weapons, they presented the baskets they used for the collection and carrying of seeds. INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 759 The object seems to have been a sort of invocation or implo- ration of Chinigchinich for success in their pursuits and pro- tection from harm while engaged in them. These ceremo- nies being concluded, they all — men, women, boys and girls — dispersed to the fields, groves or mountains where their food was to be gathered. 1 Upon their return to the rancheria, loaded down with the fruits of their labors, they deposited the greater part with the chief and sorcerers and carried the remainder, each one a portion, to his or her own hut." Again, when a new chief was to be selected, the puplem was in like manner convened by crier and the object of the convocation made known to the members. If the candidate was satisfactory, they expressed their assent ; and a day was fixed for his installation. On such an occasion, all the peo- ple being assembled and the candidate having made his appearance with his body duly painted and his hair plaited and ornamented, the puplem placed upon him the insignia of authority, consisting of the tobet and also a head-dress of feathers. They then led him into the vanquech and pre- sented him to Chinigchinich, before whose figure he danced to the accompaniment of singing and the violent rattling of dried turtle-shells filled with small stones. This ceremony being finished, the puplem, joined by the chiefs of friendly neighboring tribes who might be present, placed him in their midst and danced around him; and from that time forward he was recognized as the new chief and considered duly installed. The puplem and people then gave themselves up to rejoicing and feasting, which usually lasted three or four days. 3 Again, when war was about to be declared, the puplem was convoked and the chief laid before it the occasion which in his judgment called for arms. The main question to be discussed in such case was not the justice or injustice of the proposed hostilities, but their probable outcome and whether they should be waged alone or with the assistance of 1 Boscana, in Robinson. 260. 261. 2 Boscana, in Robinson, 269. 3 Boscana, in Robinson, 264-266. 760 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. other tribes. If alliances were determined on. invitations were sent to the chosen allies; and substantially the same ceremonies were gone through with by the allies as to whether or not they should join the enterprise. As a rule, however, these alliances were not extensive and in hardly any instance embraced more than a few neighboring rancherias. War being thus determined on, the chief sent out the crier to announce the declaration; and, while the women got ready a sufficient supply of provisions for the campaign, the men prepared their weapons and whetted up their courage. On the appointed day they sallied forth, led by the chief, who until their return wielded almost absolute power. Even in case of alliances, each rancheria obeyed only its own chief; and it does not appear that the advantages of permanent combination or subjection to common leadership were ever understood. Such was the puplem — an institution somewhat similar but very inferior to the council of the more advanced Indian tribes of the eastern side of the continent. Among the Californians, as there were no wide-spread confederacies and no King Philips, so also there were no Thayendanegas or Logans. As there was no statesmanship, so also there was no oratory. The respect of the people for their chief, their sorcerers, their puplem and their vanquech was very great. The chief was looked upon, particularly by the younger members of the community, with reverence amounting almost to awe. No one dared to treat him with neglect or injure him either by act or word. If he were so treated and the injury were in any respect a grievous one, the offense was made the subject of public notice. It was said on such occasions that Chinig- chinich was angry and could be appeased only with the death of the offender. The spiritual power was thus called in to the aid of the temporal; the people were thoroughly aroused; old and young put themselves upon the track of the victim thus devoted to destruction; and it was seldom he escaped becoming the object of public vengeance. The respect, which was thus shown by the people for the chief, using INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 761 that term to designate the temporal power in general, was, however, much exceeded by that which was shown for the sorcerers or spiritual power. As has been already stated, the sorcerers were considered familiars of Chinigchinich and endowed by him with supernatural gifts; they were therefore regarded as inviolable in their persons and looked upon with fear and trembling. The vanquech also was a sacred place, sacred not in name only but sacred likewise on account of the actual awe it inspired. No one approached it except in silence; no one presumed to commit any act of irreverence in its neighborhood; no one as a rule dared to enter it except the chief and sorcerers or those composing the puplem; and even these exhibited, in all their conduct and demeanor, the highest degree of veneration. But the most extraordinary circumstance in reference to the vanquech, was its character as a sanctuary. Boscana relates that the greatest criminal, whatever might be the heinousness of his atrocities, if he could succeed in reaching and gaining admittance to the van- quech, was from that moment safe. His crime, indeed, might not be forgiven or forgotten; it might be, and it usually was, remembered for many years and avenged upon his children or relatives; but the offender himself was thenceforward unmolested; and all that could be done by those aggrieved was to deride him as a coward for having thus sought the protection of Chinigchinich. The privileges of sanctuary thus established were so strict that it was inexorable death at the hands of the whole people to violate or interfere with them. 1 Among other objects of superstition, more or less connected with their fetishism, were charms; but these, instead of being possessed by the people, were held exclusively by the sor- cerers. They consisted of black balls, composed of mescal and wild honey, and were carried in a small leather bag sus- pended under the left arm. They were supposed to confer occult powers; and when the sorcerer, being otherwise unable to effect his purpose, was seen to place his right hand upon them, it was believed that great results would be the conse- 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 261-263. 762 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. quence. It is also said that when the sun or moon was eclipsed, it was believed that a great monster was endeavor- ing to swallow it; and that the whole people would turn out, crying and shouting, beating with sticks upon dry hides and throwing sand into the air, to frighten it away. 1 Though they were firm believers in spirits and ghosts, the idea of the immortality of the soul was not developed. The only kind of life after death in which they believed, was con- fined to the chiefs and members of the puplem and was secured only through the services of the sorcerers. There were, among these, certain ones who called themselves man- eaters and claimed to be descendants of the same coyote or Eyacque, who tore off and ate a piece of the body of Ouiot as he lay upon his funeral pyre. When a chief or member of the puplem died, one of these man-eaters was sent for. He came like a ghoul; cut or tore off a large piece of flesh from the neck and shoulder of the dead body, and ate it in the presence of the multitude assembled to witness the perform- ance." It was only in this manner and under such circum-. stances that immortality could be secured and the dead magnate be taken up to heaven and live among the stars. Boscana, in connection^with his account of these superstitions, relates that in 1 821, when a comet appeared flaming across the northwestern sky, it was supposed to be one of the chiefs who had died a short time before and had prophesied that he would show himself again. 3 But whatever their notions upon this subject of immortality may have been, it is certain that the man-eaters were highly remunerated for their services. In fact the whole system of superstition was so arranged and regulated as to redound to the aggrandizement of the sorcer- ers; to extend and perpetuate their power, and to distribute and, as it were, rivet into the very constitution of society their baneful influence. The feasts and dances were so intimately connected with the superstition that they may be said to have formed a part 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 296-298. 1 Iioscana, in Robinson, 299. 8 Boscana, in Robinson, 320, 321. INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 763 of it. Hardly any project could be initiated or undertaken without invoking Chinigchinich; and Chinigchinich could not properly be invoked without feasting and dancing. The occa- sions of festivity, therefore, were numerous and often contin- ued for several days and nights at a time and sometimes for weeks; and the participants entered into the spirit of them with all their enthusiasm. It seems in fact that to neglect them in the slightest degree was to incur the anger of the god who was supposed to have instituted them, and to ex- pose the offender to inevitable chastisement. The dances on the occasion of the commencement of a great hunt or harvest, as also those on the occasion of the installation of a new chief, have already been described. But there were many otiaers, with greater or less variation of ceremonies and doubt- less with different significations. In all of them in which the chiefs and members of the puplem participated, these magnates wore the short petticoat of feathers, reaching from the loins to the knees, called the tobet. They also wore a head-dress or crown of upright feathers called the " eneat ; " while the other parts of their bodies were painted red and black and some- times white. The men in general, who were not members of the puplem, merely painted their bodies, varying the care and completeness with which they adorned themselves with the dignity and importance of the occasion. The women also often participated in the dances; and, when they did so, they as a general rule while retaining their ordinary attire added strings of ornaments, principally beads and shells, about their necks, and painted their faces, arms and breasts with a sort of brown varnish. Though they all danced at the same time, the females never danced with the males but each sex by itself; the males forming one row or line and two or three yards behind them the females forming a second line. The musicians, who kept the time with their rattles of dried turtle- shells accompanied by a sort of song or chant, seated them- selves on the ground in front of all. One of the most popular of their festivals was called the "panes" or bird feast. Panes seems to have been the Indian 764 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. name given to the large vulture, commonly known among the Mexicans as the zopilote and among the Americans as the Californian condor. The Indians are said to have believed that panes was once a woman of consideration, who ran away from her people and retreated to the mountains, where Chi- nigchinich met and transformed her into the bird. Every year at a certain time, which was fixed upon by the sorcerers and of which due notice was given, they seem in some way or other to have possessed themselves of one of these birds, which on the appointed day was carried in solemn procession by the entire tribe to the vanquech. As soon as it was depos- ited there, the puplem began dancing around it, while all the young women both married and single commenced running and racing to and fro and in every direction, as if distracted. These ceremonies ended, the bird was seized and killed by the puplem, care being taken not to lose any of its blood. The skin with the feathers on was preserved for the purpose of making tobets; but the body was buried in the vanquech; while all the old women stood around, weeping and moaning, throwing articles of food upon the grave and exclaiming amidst their sobs: "Why did you run away? Would it not have been much better to have stayed with us ? You might have made pinole, as we do. If you had not run away, you would not have become a panes." The bird thus killed was, by some inexplicable contradiction, still supposed to survive; and the panes of year after year seems to have been regarded as one and the same existence. However this may have been, as soon as the body was sufficiently bewept and bemoaned, dancing in which all participated commenced and was kept up for three days and nights; and the greatest licentiousness was indulged in. Among their dances was one, which took place at night and was introduced by lighting a large bonfire. When this was well under way, and all the participants stood around, the men jumped into the flames and stamped the fire out; while the women at a short distance kept up a continued howling and moaning until not a spark was left. As soon as INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 765 the fire was found to be completely extinguished, the dancing commenced and was participated in by both sexes. Another dance, performed in the day-time, was similar to the foregoing in its introductory ceremonies; but in addition thereto one of the men was dispatched for a quantity of filthy water. This was poured into a hole, prepared for the purpose in the van- quech; and then the men, one after the other, approached and blew into it, at the same time muttering a sort of incantation. All having done so, they approached again in the same order and, dipping their fingers in the dirty liquid, daubed their faces as if it conferred upon them some extraordinary virtue. But from this part of the ceremony the women were rigidly excluded. Another dance was commenced by the men, who after hopping about, first on one foot, then on the other and then on both for some time, formed themselves into a line; when one of the women presented herself with her arms folded across her breast and danced, passing two or three times up and down in front of them. The men then resumed their part of the performance and again formed a line, when a second female presented herself; and thus they alternated until they were all tired out. Still another dance was similar to the last, except that the female, instead of preserving a modest demeanor as in the former, unrobed and displayed her person while the spectators crowded in a circle around and feasted their eyes upon her extravagancies. 1 But some of the strangest of all their dances were those witnessed by Duflot de Mofras three or four years previous to the American occupation. On one occasion, while encamped at night upon the Sacramento river, he was attracted by see- ing sixty seeming skeletons performing a war-dance around a great fire. Upon approaching the place, he perceived that they were Cosumnes Indians, who had painted their black bodies with white stripes in such a manner as to represent, with horrible verisimilitude, all the ribs and bones of the human frame. On another occasion he witnessed the so-called " dance of death " among the Mokelumne Indians. Like the other, it took place at night and in the presence of a great fire 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 2S9-295. 766 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. which was built near the edge of a wood. While some of the Indians seated themselves and sang their songs, the others danced around the blaze, in solemn silence. Suddenly a sharp, piercing cry, resembling that of *the coyote, was heard at some distance off in the darkness; and presently a horrible figure, covered with black, bristling feathers, its head sur- mounted with great horns and carrying in its hands a bow and arrows, stealthily approached. As it drew near, the dancers grasped their bows and arrows and ranged them- selves in a long line, at the same time uttering the most lamentable and lugubrious cries. When the specter finally came up, the dancers still holding their bows bent, sur- rounded him, while he on his part assuming a look of the utmost malignity, selected a victim and fixing his glare upon him let fly a blunted arrow. The Indian thus selected and struck, fell as if dead. His companions immediately separated; one party continuing to dance but now with plaintive songs; another throwing their bows and arrows at the feet of the evil spirit as if to deprecate his anger, and a third going off to seek a sorcerer, who held himself in ready proximity. With the coming of the sorcerer, who was duly dressed for the occasion* the scene changed. All eyes were turned upon him. He approached with wild and violent gestures. Upon reaching the body of the supposed victim, he squatted over him and, applying his lips to the supposed wound, pretended to extract from it an arrow-head which he exhibited to the spectators. The body was then placed before the fire and remained motionless, until the demon, becoming apparently placated by the solicitations and presents of the victim's friends, at length consented to blow back into his nostrils the breath of life, when the supposed dead man jumped up and mingled among his companions who all resumed their dancing. 1 Their feasts and dances were frequently varied with their wars. These were rarely or never waged for the purposes of conquest but in revenge for some trifling affront or fancied insult. Such affronts and insults were easily given and readily received. The tribes, as a rule, were inimical to one 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 375, 376. INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 767 another; and all strangers .from the mere fact of being stran- gers were regarded as enemies. 1 If a member of one tribe stole a rabbit from a member of another, or if one gathered acorns from the trees claimed by another, or if one neglected to pay proper respect to another, it was sufficient cause of war. The chief, if not himself the offended party, took up the quarrel of the man of his rancheria; the puplem was called together; and, if it acquiesced, war was declared. The men were ordered to prepare their arms and the women to provide pinole or pounded seeds. On the appointed day the little army was led forth by the chief; and the women followed, carrying the provisions and extra baggage and with their infants on their backs. Their setting forth was usually in secret, as they hoped much from surprises; but generally the enemy was on the alert and fully prepared. When the oppos- ing forces met, the youngest and strongest warriors advanced shooting their arrows, followed by the older ones; while the women brought up the rear, it being their duty to pick up the spent arrows of the enemy and distribute them to their own fighting men. In case one of their party was wounded or killed, it was also their duty to remove him or his body to a place of safety. In general no quarter was given and no male prisoners taken, except such as were mortally wounded. These, as well as the dead bodies secured, were immediately turned over to the very old men, who amused themselves by decapitating them and afterwards taking off their scalps, which were dried and preserved as trophies. If women or children were taken, they were detained as slaves. Fortu- nately these wars seldom involved any great number of fighters and were of very short duration — the weaker party generally taking to flight, sometimes without resistance, and the stronger party retaining its ground or retiring to its ranch- eria after securing a few scalps and prisoners. A victory was of course the occasion of new feasting and dancing. 2 In some instances causes of quarrel were decided by open and pre-arranged combat. The day and place of battle were 1 Vancouver, III, 328. 2 Hoscana, in Robinson, 306-309. 768 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. fixed in advance. On such occasions the contending parties usually advanced to the place of meeting, painted with ochre and adorned with feathers. The women and children fol- lowed; but with the precaution of remaining at such a dis- tance as would enable them either to take-to flight and escape or rush forward and partake of the joys of victory, according as the results of the contest might be adverse or favorable. The combatants were accustomed to enter the fight singing martial songs, mingled with savage shouts; and they kept close together so as to render their advance and onslaught as terrible as possible. Their main object was to intimidate their enemies; and for this purpose, even before the battle, they were as loud as possible in their preparations and en- deavored by all sorts of stratagems to impose upon the eyes and ears of their adversaries and render themselves dreadful. With the same object in view, they would commit, in sight of the enemy, upon the first victims that fell in their power the most horrible cruelties. 1 A series of battles, apparently of the latter or pre-arranged kind, were fought among the gen- tiles in the neighborhood of Santa Clara in 1788; and the missionaries had great trouble in keeping the neophytes from participating in them. 2 A number of the other species, or what may be called surprise attacks, took place between the highlanders and the lowlanders of the Santa Barbara Chan- nel in 1796 and were occasioned by a quarrel about pine nuts and wild seeds. 3 As the missions increased and the Indians were reduced to subjection, however, these petty wars which in early times were very common became less and less fre- quent, until finally there was not spirit enough left among the aborigines even for a quarrel unless they were led or urged forward by the whites. Prisoners taken in their wars, being chiefly women and children, were compelled to work for their captors and were in one sense slaves; though slavery as an institution did not exist amongst them. Nor can it be said that they were can- 1 Relacion, 169, 170. 2 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. VIII, 225, 226. 3 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 55. INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 769 nibals, though they would sometimes eat small portions of chiefs or braves whom' they had slain in battle. They did this, according to La Perouse, less in token of hatred or vengeance, than as an homage to their valor and from the persuasion that they would thereby increase their own courage and prowess. The same author remarked that, besides eating portions of their slain enemies and scalping them, they also took out their eyes and had the art of preserving them from corrup- tion. 1 There "seems to be no doubt that scalping was some- times practiced though it was by no means general; and it is possible that the eyes may have sometimes been plucked out and displayed as ghastly trophies; but there must have been some mistake in supposing that they had any art to preserve them from corruption. 1 La P6rouse, II, 454. 49 Vol. I. C H A P T E R X I V . INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND MODES OF LIFE. HAVING thus inquired into the so-called religious super- stitions and ceremonies of the Indians of Alta Califor- nia in their aboriginal state, and given an account of their sorcerers, chiefs and puplem, their feasts, dances and wars, it is next important to examine into their domestic relations, their modes of life and ordinary occupations. In reference to these secular subjects, more reliance can be placed upon the missionary authorities than in reference to religious notions and superstitions; 'but at the same time it must be remembered that their accounts relate to the most intelligent and furthest advanced of the tribes and that there were various lower gradations reaching down to almost the very lowest aggrega- tions of humanity then living on the globe. They all recog- nized a sort of marriage, but it was hardly what is generally understood among civilized people by that term. If a young man felt a desire for a particular young woman, he simply expressed it to her or to her parents; and, if there was no objection made, they lived together as man and wife. It seems probable that the wooer knew pretty well in advance whether his proposals would be favorably received and that there were few rejections; but it was usually the parents who made the match, and the daughter submitted, if not with pleasure, at least without reluctance. Where there were several candidates, it is said that in some cases a race decided the contest, and in others a wrestling match or trial of pure physical strength, in which instances the prize belonged to the swiftest or the strongest. But ordinarily the man who best pleased the parents was the chosen husband. He usually (770) INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 7 71 paid a price or came with a valuable gift. Sometimes he took up his abode at least for a time with the family of the bride; sometimes he carried her off to his own habitation. In a few rare cases it seems that mere children were given to each other by their parents; and Father Boscana relates one instance at the mission of San Juan Capistrano, in which he himself as a priest and with all the forms of the Catholic ritual married a boy of two years to a girl of eight or nine months, who had thus been betrothed. 1 In general there was no particular marriage ceremony; but sometimes, and particularly when a couple of consideration united, there was a feast and a dance. On such occasions the bridegroom was placed in a sort of booth or bovver erected for the purpose, while several of the puplem and a few of the old women went off to fetch the bride. She came dressed and adorned in her gayest apparel; but in a short time the female relatives and friends, who were'congregated, pounced upon her, stripped her of her finery and then placed her by the side of the bridegroom. Her dress and ornaments, of which she was thus despoiled, were distributed and kept by those who were fortunate enough to secure a piece as mementoes of the joyful occasion. In case the bridegroom was a chief or a chief's son, however, the bride was treated with more respect ; and sometimes, after being presented to her lord, was invested by the puplem with a dress of feathers resembling the tobet. As she might under certain circum- stances, such as the death of the chief leaving an infant son, succeed to the regency, she was known as the chieftainess or, when Spanish words began to be used, as the "capitaneja." J The so-called " Lady of Sejo," met by Cabrillo near Point Concepcion as related in the account of his voyage, was doubtless one of these regents and not, properly speaking, a permanent governor in her own right. The foregoing account of their marriages applies chiefly to those which took place within the tribe; but it was not unus- ual for a young man, and especially a young man of consid- 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 2S1. 2 Boscana, in Robinson, 278. 772 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. eration, to become enamored of the belle of some other tribe. In such case an embassy was sent to solicit the honor of an alliance. If this was agreeable, the bride was brought home with great ceremony; if not, the lover and his friends had hesitation in resorting to force, deceit or any other mean secure the person of the woman. A man sometimes fell ... love at first sight and, without waiting for ceremony, seized and carried off the object of his sudden fancy; but ordinarily rapes of this kind, unless the lover could afterwards succeed in satisfying the parents, were followed by war and blood- shed. If they had had Homers, there would doubtless have been no lack of Helens or tales of western Troys — for private wrongs devoted to the flames. At the same time that marriage was thus easily contracted, it was just as easily dissolved. Husband and wife separated by mutual consent as readily as they united. Parents could take away their -daughters and husbands could reject their wives with the same facility with which they gave or seized them. But as long as the woman toiled and labored for her lord and supplied him with the means of living an idle and indolent life, she was secure of his indulgence. In fact it was not an uncommon thing for a man of influence to have sev- eral wives, often sisters and sometimes the mother also, all occupying the same wigwam and v vying in their efforts to excel one another by extra exertions in pampering his lazy- appetite. Under the circumstances, the marriage state was not regarded as one of any peculiar sanctity. On the con- trary very great and very general licentiousness prevailed. It is said, it is true, that in some of the tribes adultery was severely punished by corporal chastisement and that in others the seducer was compelled to take the woman and pay the injured husband for her loss; 1 and it is likely that in all tribes interference with the household of a chief or one of the puplem was a dangerous proceeding; but, as a general rule, continence and chastity were not cultivated and were hardly regarded as among the virtues. The most singular, however, of alj the domestic relations 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 371. INDIA X DOMESTIC REIATIONS. 773 existing in the country were those relating to the " joyas," as they were called. These were males who were brought up, dressed and educated in all respects like females. They were married by men the same as if they had been women; but in most instances, perhaps, the chief object was to increase the working force of a polygamous household. Being much more robust than the women, they were much better able to per- form the arduous duties assigned the weaker sex. There is, however, no reason to doubt that in some instances the dis- gusting hints, thrown out by the missionaries in reference to them, were but too true. Palou said there was hardly a rancheria, especially along the Santa Barbara Channel, in which there were not two or three of this " execrable y mal- dita gente — this execrable and accursed race." l Boscana spoke of them in similar terms. 2 Duflot de Mofras was sur- prised to find in such a remote quarter of the globe vices which were supposed to characterize only the degradation and corruption of so-called civilized communities. 3 When a Wife first gave promise of becoming a mother, there was usually a feast and dance in honor of the looked-for increase. Such a wife was regarded as one favored by Chi- nigchinich, while a sterile woman was thought unfortunate. Afterwards when confinement came on, which was ordinarily" attended with but little labor, it was the strange custom of the Indians described by Boscana for the husband to observe the most rigid diet and refrain from diversions and amuse- ments. On the birth of the child, there was no particular demonstration; but the removal of the umbilical cord, which was attended to by the old women, was the occasion of re- newed feasting and dancing. 4 As the child grew up, if a boy and the son of a chief or one of the puplem, he was given a .sort of instruction to qualify him for the rank and station in life which he was to occupy. Some animal or bird, such as a bear, a wolf, a coyote, an eagle, a crow or a rattlesnake, was 1 Palou, Vida, 222. 2 Boscana, in Robinson, 284. 3 Duflot de Mofras, II, 371. 4 Boscana, in Robinson. 2S2, 2S : 774 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. named as his protector and called his " touch " — a word sup- posed by Boscana to mean a devil but more probably mean- ing what was known among the Indians of the eastern side of the continent as the " totem " — in which he was to place im- plicit confidence. He was taught to indure hunger, thirst and hardship and subjected to various kinds of labor and expos- ure calculated to invigorate his frame and strengthen his con- stitution. Upon arriving at a proper age, he was taken in hand by the puplem; placed in the vanquech, and compelled to remain without food or drink until he was reduced to a state bordering on delirium, while his imagination was ex- cited by the incantations of the sorcerers and the supposed presence of Chinigchinich. When his ravings reached the due pitch of extravagance, he was supposed to be initiated into the mysteries; food and drink were given him; and the ceremonies closed with a grand feast. In other cases, when the youth was not of sufficient dignity to be thus initiated in the vanquech, an intoxicating mixture was administered; and, while under its influence, he was kept awake by a crowd of old men and women, who by continual exclamations and exhortations excited his imagination until he saw visious and finally beheld or supposed he beheld his protecting touch. In both cases the candidate was not only expected to con- form to the prescribed regulations; but he 'was threatened with dire punishment if he failed to observe them. Boscana relates the case of a young man, the son of a chief, who man- aged in the course of his seclusion in the vanquech to escape and after appeasing his hunger and thirst to resume his vigils without being detected. Being apparently of a somewhat philosophical turn of mind, he subsequently related the fact and gave it as his opinion that the doctrines taught by the sorcerers were unworthy of belief. Under more favorable circumstances or with greater caution, he might have become a reformer and perhaps taught a more advanced system of religion. But he met the usual fate of those who are too far in advance of their times. His comrades, horrified with his impiety and sacrilegious skepticism, immediately turned against him and dispatched him with their arrows. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 775 After the ceremonies above described, the next thing done with the candidate, before he was considered entitled to all the rights and privileges of the station for which he was intended, was to brand him or administer the "potense" as it was called. This was performed by drawing upon his arm or thigh, and sometimes upon both, an outline of the animal selected as his touch, and covering it with a composition of vegetable substances pounded up together and thoroughly combustible. This was then ignited and allowed to burn until it produced a blister which left a life-long scar, rudely representing the form of the imaginary guardian. Having been thus duly branded, the candidate was next whipped with nettles until his skin became inflamed to rawness; and he was then carried to a nest of stinging ants, upon which he was laid while his attendants annoyed the insects with sticks so as to render them furious. All these tortures being en- dured, and particularly when suffered with patience and equa- nimity, the candidate was regarded as absolutely regenerated and thenceforth a special favorite of Chinigchinich. If the son of a chief, he was now prepared for the investiture of the tobet and qualified for the succession; if the son of a sorcerer or one of the puplem, he was admitted into participation of all the mysteries of his order and took his place as one of the magnates of the tribe. The girls, on the other hand, were taught domestic duties and especially how to gather seeds and prepare food. They were encouraged in these labors with promises, which were ordinarily fulfilled, that the most industrious would have the most admirers — aptitude in providing food being a much greater recommendation to admiration among the Indians than amiable dispositions or charms of person. At the same time personal adornment was not neglected; and there was hardly a case of a girl attaining the age of puberty without having herself elaborately tattooed. This tattooing was done by drawing the desired lines on the body; following them with a series of small punctures produced by pricking the skin with a sharp thorn, and then rubbing powdered charcoal 776 . THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. into the bleeding punctures. The result was an indelible blueish figure, following the lines of puncture, which in ordi-, nary cases commenced at the lower lip and covered the breast and arms but in some instances spread also over the face and most of the body. Being thus taught to be industrious and being adorned and beautified according to Indian taste, there remained but one great ceremony to fit her for marriage. A hole was dug in the ground and filled with stones, over which a fire was built and kept burning until the stones were thor- oughly heated. The fire was then removed and over the hot stones a bed of green branches and leaves was laid; and upon this bed the girl was stretched. She was compelled to remain there, fasting and sweltering with the heat, for several days while troops of young women danced around her and a crowd of old women, hideously painted for the occasion, in lugu- brious tones kept up an apparently never-ending chant. 1 These strange customs, thus described by Boscana, related especially to the San Juan Capistrano Indians and to the households of the principal men amongst them. They were not the customs of all the rancherias, though there was some- thing more or less similar in almost all. But there were also differences. In some, marriage was entirely a matter of pur- chase; in some, there was no polygamy; in some, no joyas. In many the birth of a child was not regarded as an event of any importance. It was no uncommon thing for a woman to work or travel, according as she might be engaged, up to the time of parturition; then merely stop or step aside'for a few moments, and in less than half an hour be at work again or on the march with the new-born baby on her back. Being almost always at labor and generally in the fields, women carried their infants about with them, usually trussed up in a sort of wicker-work cradle slung over the shoulders. A squaw was often seen carrying a heavy load of acorns in a huge basket held in position on her back by a strap around her forehead, and the baby basket on top of that or in front. And in all cases, though it is hardly necessary to state the fact, the maternal affection for her child was strong. In gen- 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 270-272. INDIA N D OMESTIC RE LA TIONS. 7 7 7 eral, children took very little notice cf their father; but often preserved a long attachment for their mother, whose treat- ment of them was as a rule kind and considerate or, to express all goodness in a single word, motherly. As to the ordinary modes of life and occupations of the Indians, there can be no doubt that even the most intelligent amongst them passed a brutish existence. They depended entirely upon wild game and the spontaneous productions of the forests, fields and waters for their subsistence. They were unacquainted with maize or grain of any kind and had no agri- culture or cultivation whatsoever. Being thus solely depend- ent upon the bounty of nature, they were sometimes exposed to scarcity and famine; and, even under the most favorable circumstances, they were obliged to make frequent migrations from place to place according" to the seasons and the wild harvests. This was especially the case with those who inhabited the mountains and large interior valleys; while those who lived upon the sea coast found more permanent resources in the fish and shell-fish, with which the seas and bays abounded. Occasionally a dead whale or sea-lion was thrown up by the waves; and this was invariably the occasion of a great feast or surfeit, which lasted until the bones were scraped clean. It was perhaps on account of this greater plenteousness and certainty of food that the coast Indians were more advanced than those of the interior; and those of the Santa Barbara Channel, to whom the sea was an almost unfailing magazine of provisions, than all the other tribes of the country. It was doubtless on account of the general precariousness of food and the consequent restless, wandering character of the inhabitants that no permanent houses were erected. In the most favored localities, their habitations consisted of cir- cular excavations in the ground, some three or four feet deep and twelve or sixteen in diameter, upon the rims of which timbers, placed on end and inclined towards a point, extended in such a manner as to form rough conical-shaped huts In some instances clay was thrown over the timbers, which in a 778 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. short time became sufficiently hard and compact to shed rain; and only a small aperture was left at the apex for the admis- sion of light and the emission of smoke, and an opening at the side, walled up with pieces of wood or bark, by way of entrance. These were the most pretentious of their dwellings; and the ruins of them, in the shape of shallow pits, now nearly filled up to the level of the surrounding ground and covered with brambles and in some cases overgrown with trees, are to be found scattered over the country. In some of the more remote districts, where remnants of the aborigines yet survive, houses of the same kind, but on account of the use of iron tools of much better construction than the ancestral domi- ciles, are still to be met with. It is a noticeable fact, in ref- erence to these ruins, that the pits are found near one another but seldom more than six or a dozen in the same neighbor- hood, and that they are almost invariably located near groves or fields, which afforded in the proper seasons a tolerably constant supply of nuts, acorns or seeds. But the most com- mon habitation was much more fragile and easily constructed, consisting of upright saplings or poles stuck in the ground, bent over at the top so as to form a sort of roof, and inter- laced at the sides and thatched overhead with twigs and reeds. In other cases the house consisted only of logs and pieces of bark inclined against one another at the top so as to form a kind of wigwam. And of these latter kinds were in general those of the dwellers by the sea, who have left no signs to mark the places of their abodes except those frequent and in some cases extensive beds of crustacean relics, counted the richest for horticulture and garden purposes, which are known and properly designated as " shell-mounds." In their houses, such as they were, all the members of a family — men, women and children and including generally a number of each class — lived promiscuously together. There were no partitions or screens and no beds or berths; but each member of the household seems to have had his or her par- ticularly favorite spot to lie, some nearer and others more remote from the fire which burned in the center. Their INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 779 practice of thus sleeping all huddled up together is said to have given rise to the name " Acagchemen " as the designa- tion of the people about San Juan Capisfrano, described by Father Boscana — the word signifying a pyramidal heap of animated beings. 1 A few logs of wood to keep up the fire, several baskets, a stone mortar or two, their few weapons and scanty clothing and the unused products of their recent hunt- ing and foraging were usually kept in the hut; but there were no tables or chairs or in fact anything in the way of furniture. Refuse food was left to lie where it was dropped or thrown; and dirt, in the aggregated mass of which fleas and other ver- min luxuriated, prevailed on every side. The longer a hut was inhabited the filthier it became, until such a degree of nuisance was reached that it became unendurable even to the Indians; and then the proprietor would apply fire and burn the whole to the ground and move off to some other locality, or in a few hours erect a new habitation upon the site of the old one. With the exception of times previous to great feasts, when large supplies of provisions were required and all the people were obliged to assist in collecting them, the men spent their time in idleness. They would sometimes occupy themselves with the manufacture of bows, arrows, nets and snares and sometimes hunt or fish; but as a rule they devoted themselves to lying stretched out upon the ground, doing absolutely nothing, roaming about from hut to hut, playing, dancing or sleeping. The women on the other hand were kept almost constantly busy with the most laborious occupations. Then- were obliged to provide for the family by gathering seeds, carrying them in some instances for great distances, and cooking them when they reached home. In sunshine or rain, and usually with an infant or two hanging upon their shoul- ders, they were compelled to forage about all day in search of food; and upon their return, almost fainting under their loads, they would usually find the fuel consumed, the fire extinguished and their lazy lords lying asleep beside the ashes. It would then become necessary for them to collect 1 Boscana, in Kobinson, 332. 780 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. wood; and they were fortunate if they succeeded in preparing the meal before the men awoke — otherwise they had to expect nothing but invectives and ill treatment. 1 Almost all the waking hours of the men, not spent in war, hunting, fishing or absolute idleness, were devoted to games, the two principal of which were described by La Perouse. The first, called by them " takersia," was played in a level space about twenty feet square, which was cleared of grass and obstructions and surrounded with stakes. The game consisted of throwing a small ring or hoop, about three inches in diameter, causing it to roll across the cleared space. The players, two at a time, each holding in his hand a small reed or thin stick about five feet long, endeavored to throw it through the ring while it was in motion. If he succeeded, he gained two points; if he struck into the ring but stopped its rolling, he gained but one point. With three points the game was won. To play a good game required great watchfulness, alertness and accuracy of aim, as the person who threw the ring would resort to all sorts of feints to throw the player off his guard. The other game, called " toussi," was more quiet. It was played by four persons, two on each side, sitting or squatting upon the ground. Each player in his turn con- cealed in one or other of his hands a small bit of wood, while his partner would make a thousand extravagant gestures calculated to distract the attention of the adversary players and prevent them from observing in which hand the wood finally remained. The game was to guess in which hand the wood was. A correct guess was one point gained; an incor- rect one was a point lost. This game, as it required little muscular exertion, was the favorite; and the lazy bucks would sit hour after hour at it — usually with a crowd of spectators, squatted around them, looking on. It was not unfrequent to play for stakes, consisting sometimes of beads or other objects of desire and sometimes, as La Perouse relates, for the favors of their women. 2 They also sometimes played with a small ball of hard wood, which, when struck smartly with a 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 286-288. a La I't'i-ouse, I, 454, 455. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 781 long stick or club held in the hands, would bound several hun- dred yards at a time. For this game sides were chosen, the endeavor of each of which was to drive the ball to the opposite base. Sometimes hundreds of players would engage and great ' excitement and noise prevailed. 1 Dana mentions a running game of ball, played by young men, boys and girls in the presence of the older Indians, who sat around in a ring as spectators. The players entered into the spirit of the sport with great zest and energy; the girls particularly ran like greyhounds; and at any accident or exhibition of remark- able agility or skill the old people would set up a deafening hurrahing and clapping of hands. 2 The food most ordinarily used depended much upon the locality and season. In the spring and summer, clover and berries yielded great supplies; in the autumn and winter, seeds, acorns and nuts. These latter were pounded in stone mortars or ground on stone slabs, called metates, into a sort of coarse meal or paste, which after being roasted or baked was known, according to the manner of preparation, either as "pinole" or " atole." Sometimes a basket, woven so closely as to be perfectly tight, was filled with water and hot stones thrown in until it reached the boiling point. The stones were then removed and their place supplied by the coarse meal just described, which in this v^ay became cooked into a sort of gruel or mush. At other times the meal was mixed with a little water and kneaded into dough, which was spread in front of the fire or placed on hot stones and thus baked into a sort of bread or cake more or less tasteful according to the ingredients and the skill of the baker. These ordinary foods were varied in different localities with game and fish. Deer were abundant and some of the Indians were skillful enough to kill them. In doing so, the most usual plan adopted was for the hunter to encase the upper part of his body with the head and hide of a deer prepared for this special object and, thus disguised, to creep cautiously along through the bushes or high grass, carrying his bow and arrows out of sight, and 1 Robinson, 94, 95. * Dana, 136. 782 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. gradually approach the unsuspecting game as it browsed or grazed in fancied security. An adept at the business could* under favorable circumstances easily get near enough for a shot and seldom failed to transfix his victim with an arrow. By constant practice these deer hunters acquired great pro- ficiency in their art; and almost all the old navigators, who visited the country before the general introduction of fire- arms from Viscaino's time down to Duflot de Mofras, speak in terms of the highest admiration of exhibitions of skill of this kind, of which they were witnesses. Bears, particularly grizzlies, and cougars were rather too formidable for the slight weapons of the natives; but, in addition to deer and ante- lopes, small game such as hares, rabbits, squirrels, gophers, field-mice, lizards, snakes and birds of different kinds, and especially geese and ducks in the autumn and spring, abounded almost everywhere. The streams were full of fish, particularly in the winter when all those communicating with the ocean literally swarmed with salmon. These were usually taken with spears; shot with arrows, or caught in weirs, so constructed as to compel the fish in passing to run through a narrow passage where they could easily be entrapped in nets or baskets. These weirs were built in great numbers in all the shallow streams adapted to their use and as a rule required more labor than any other work that the Indians performed. When game or fish was thus taken by the Indians, it was usually eaten raw or very slightly cooked. The eating of raw flesh was so common that in 1818 the viceroy of Mex- ico sent a special order to forbid it. 1 Upon catching a rabbit they would often eagerly suck its blood and finish their repast by eating its raw flesh. 2 And so of other animals — almost every kind and variety of which, that was found in the country and could be taken, they devoured. Nor in the enumeration of their foods must grasshoppers be omitted, which when very plentiful were swept together in great piles and preserved for consumption. These were ordinarily first 1 Cal. Archives, S. P. XVII, 639. Boscana, in Robinson, 239. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 783 roasted and then pounded up, sometimes with and sometimes without other substances, for the composition of cakes, mushes or gruels. There were also certain kinds of sea- weeds which were used as food; shell-fish of all kinds, and wild fruits of various qualities in their seasons. Fish and meats, when not eaten raw, seem to have been roasted on sticks, baked on hot stones or in the coals or ashes, or boiled in baskets of hot water. Salt was unknown; and there was no drying or smoking or other method of preserving flesh. Even nuts and acorns, which in some seasons were super- abundant, were only kept on hand by a few of the tribes. In such instances rude magazines were constructed in hollow- trees or built of closely-plaited wicker-work, raised above the ground on stakes, 1 and filled; but, with these exceptions, there was nothing on any large scale of a provident storing up of provisions against a season of scarcity. The principal weapons in use were the bow and arrow. The bow was about a yard long and from an inch and a half to two inches wide, made of yew, cedar or other fine-grained, tough and elastic wood, and usually wrapped more or less completely with sinews. According to Dufiot de Mofras, its curvature was reversed so as to increase the tension; and, though not large, it was strong and powerful. The bow-string was sometimes made out of sinew and sometimes out of wild hemp and had a small piece of skin attached in such a manner as to prevent any whizzing sound or twang when the bow was discharged." The arrows were from two to three feet long, made of reeds or light wood, sometimes partly of hard wood, and pointed with a head or tip of obsidian, flint or bone, which was bound on firmly with sinews. Man)- of these arrow-heads, and particularly the small ones, were fash- ioned with great skill. In some cases they were so arranged as to become detached and remain imbedded in the flesh, if the arrow itself should fall off or be withdrawn. The opposite or smaller ends of the arrows were feathered for about six or 1 See an article on the Californian Indians by E. E. Chever in the American Naturalist, IV, 129. 2 Duflot de Mofras, II, 377. 784 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. eight inches. It was usual to carry a quiver, made of the skin of a fox, beaver, coyote or other animal of the proper size as it was drawn off and uncut except at the tail end, which formed the mouth of the quiver and held the feathered ends of the arrows. In shooting, the bow was held in a horizontal position in front of the body; and it seems that the right foot and leg were usually advanced. According to all the old writers, the Indians were expert marksmen with their arrows. De Mofras says that their aim was so correct and their skill so great that at a distance of forty yards they could pierce a horse on the gallop through and through; and incautious travelers could receive arrows thrown from great distances without hearing any noise or suspecting the hands that aimed them. 1 Some authors speak of poisoned arrows being used; and it is possible that this may in some localities, and espe- cially in the northern part of the Sacramento valley, have been the case; but it was not usual; nor is it known that the Indians were accustomed to collect any natural poisons or were acquainted with any artificial ones. Besides the bow and arrow, spears or pikes were also some- times used. They were generally from a yard and a half to two yards long and pointed, like the arrows, with heads of obsidian or flint but much larger than arrow-heads. The fish spears were much longer, thinner and lighter. They usually had two prongs three or four inches apart and pointed with bone, having barbs of the same which in some cases were so arranged and attached to the shafts that they would become disengaged, like arrow-heads, upon penetrating into a fish and, turning in its flesh, would hold it secure against all its struggles to escape. There seem also to have been knives, made out of sharp obsidian, but used rather in dressing game than for hunting or the purposes of war. Clubs likewise were sometimes used. In some very rare instances wooden cimeters, which were used in somewhat the same manner as boomerangs, were seen; but they were exceptional. Once in a while a piece of metal of some kind or other was met with, 1 Duflot de Mofras, II, 377. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 789 Vallejo, the military comandante there, who in those days seized every occasion he could to injure the foreign residents, attributed it to the Americans and Russians. 1 The ravages of the disease continuing, various sanitary measures were taken by the government and funds set aside to meet the necessary expenses. 2 Governor Alvarado ordered general vaccination; and it seems that his orders were obeyed. 3 In 1844 the municipality of Los Angeles passed stringent sani- tary regulations; 4 and Hugo Reid, who was a sort of auxiliary alcalde in that jurisdiction, was charged with seeing to their observance at the mission of San Gabriel. He found that vaccination or inoculation had been very general there and that most of the disease in that neighborhood was varioloid. 5 In various cases, however, the patients, reported to be afflicted with small-pox, were suffering in a much greater degree from syphilis; and in one instance when called to visit some Indian girls he found they had nothing but the itch; 6 and, instead of medicine, he recommended cleanliness and dieting. 7 In the same year, 1844, Thomas O. Larkin, consul for the United States at Monterey, established a small-pox hospital at that place towards the expenses of which the government, then in the hands of Governor Micheltorena, contributed liberally. 8 These precautions, it is to be borne in mind, however, were intended more particularly for the white people than for the Indians, most of whom or of such as were left of the neophytes had been obliged to leave the ruined missions and were living a vagabond life. But among the Indians the mortality, caused by this disease, was undoubtedly very great. 1 "For los establecimientos ingleses y rusos que se hallan en contacto con esta parte de la Alta California, nos iue comunicada la horrorosa epidemia de las vir- uelas. Ya invadio esta frontera, senalando sus huellas con muerte y desolacion." — Vallejo to Los Angeles ayuntamiento, May 23, 1838. — Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. XI, 476, 477. 2 Cal. Archives, S. G. S. P. XVI, 20, 41. 3 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. X, 140. * Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. VIII, 155. 5 Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. VIII, 104-106. 8 " Una sarna bastante lea." — Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. VIII, 128. 7 " La limpieza y dieta."— Cal. Archives, D. S. P. Ang. VIII, 128. s Cal. Archives, D. S. P. XII, 629; D. S. P. Ben. C. H. VI, 35. 790 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. Though no statistics give the number, it is perhaps safe to assume that the major part of them died of small-pox. For all their sicknesses the almost universal remedy of the Indians was the sweat-house or temescal, to which they also resorted even in health. This consisted of a hut, mostly underground, with its roof of timber so covered over with clay that the interior was dark and almost entirely excluded from the outer atmosphere. In the middle of this a fire was built, which soon heated the inclosed air to the temperature of an oven. Around this fire the patients would seat or throw themselves upon the floor and in a short time be bathed in profuse .perspiration. This they would endure in some cases until they became thoroughly exhausted and had to be carried out; but ordinarily, before reaching the point of exhaustion, they would clamber out of the heated dungeon and, running to the nearest stream or pond, cold as it might be, plunge their entire bodies into it. There were doubtless cases, in which these hot air and cold water baths were beneficial ; and perhaps in the majority of instances they were not hurt- ful; 1 but in cases of small-pox and other kindred diseases, which sometimes swept over the country, they were almost invariably fatal. Besides the sweat-houses, various drugs and charms and sorceries were made use of, in the application of all which the medicine-men, who were the only professors of the healing art, were alone supposed to be skilled. For cuta- neous diseases, sores, swellings, tumors and rheumatic affec- tions different kinds of herbs, such as wild sage and rosemary and sometimes balsams and resins were applied in the shape of poultices or plasters. When the pain was in the stomach the same kind of herbs was used; but the application was by way of inhaling the smoke of their leaves. They did not possess the tobacco plant, but used the leaves of several kinds of trees and weeds for smoking, some of them more and 1 Humboldt, who seems to have been unacquainted with the customary douche after an ordinary steam bath, says of the effect of the temescal: " This rapid transition from heat to cold and the sudden suppression of the cutaneous transpi- ration, which an European would justl) dread, causes the most agreeable sensa- tions to the savage, who enjoys whatever strongly agitates him or acts with violence on his nervous system." — Humboldt's New Spain (Black's) II, 349. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 791 others less pungent. One of these and the most generally used was a weed, known among the missionaries as tobacco cimarron or wild tobacco. For ordinary pains counter irri- tants, produced by a whipping of nettles or the bites of large ants, were not uncommon remedies. When a person felt seriously ill, the custom was to send for a medicine-man and sometimes for several of them together. They always, upon their appearance, affected an air of great mystery and were not wanting in the arts of winks, nods and head-shakings, which were regarded as proofs of great wisdom. These took place while the patient was being carefully examined from head to foot, apparently for the purpose of ascertaining the seat of the pain; and as soon as the locality of a disease was fixed upon, the next matter was to decide upon the cause. This was almost always declared to be the presence of some foreign body, such as a hair, bone, thorn, stone, stick or something of that kind; and it was seldom that the practitioners did not pre- tend to know exactly what and exactly where the trouble was. The diagnosis thus completed, they next applied them- selves to the treatment of the ailment and eradication of its supposed cause. For this purpose they would perform vari- ous kinds of antic gesticulations, at the same time blowing towards the four cardinal points or making strange sounds and generally working themselves up to a pitch of great excitement, well calculated to impress the patient and his friends with their earnestness and the difficulties of the task they had on hand. Finally one of them would apply his lips to the seat of the disease and pretend to draw out by suction the cause of the disorder in the shape of the supposed foreign substance, which was then triumphantly exhibited. If the disease was persistent and the patient very weak, he was next laid upon a bed of ashes or dry sand, with vessels of food and water at his head and a fire at his feet, and the result sedu- lously watched by surrounding friends. These seem in general to have sat as silent spectators, without calling in question the propriety of the treatment adopted by the 792 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. doctors, obtruding upon the patient their own advice, or vexing his soul with ill-timed consolations. Great confidence being reposed in their medicine-men, the imagination of the patient was often strong enough or sufficiently powerfully- excited to effect a wonderful cure, in which case the fame of the doctors was spread far and wide. Nor did they suffer much in reputation if the patient died; for in such case it was supposed that Chinigchinich had intervened; and there was no escape when he had doomed the sufferer to death. In either case the professional men were well paid for their pains. In case of death, as soon as it was ascertained beyond doubt that life was extinct, preparations were made for the funeral services. Among some of the tribes the body was buried; but the most usual disposition of it was burning. For this purpose a pile was prepared and one of the sorcerers, who generally acted on such occasions, was summoned to act as master of the ceremonies. Everything being prepared under his supervision, the body was borne to the pile and placed upon the faggots. All the articles of common use belonging to the deceased, including his bow, arrows, feath- ers, beads and clothing and also such articles of value as were contributed by his friends, were placed beside him. The friends then retired a short distance, while the sorcerer applied the torch and kept up the fire until the body was consumed. This part of the ceremony being finished, the sorcerer, after receiving his pay, withdrew, while the friends sang funeral dirges in which all the circumstances of the dis- ease and death were recited, and the relatives wept. The women were on such occasions especially demonstrative in their grief; and often the lamentations were kept up without intermission for three days and nights. 1 The ceremonies of incremation differed in some respects in different localities; but in all cases they made a public spec- tacle more or less imposing according to the importance of the deceased. Generally the corpse seems to have been pre- pared by doubling up the knees against the chest and securely binding and tying up the body in as compact a form 1 Boscana, in Robinson, 310-315. INDIA N D O ME STIC RE LA TIONS. 793 as possible. Usually the ceremonies were conducted by medicine-men who performed various juggleries; but some- times they seem to have been under the supervision of the relatives alone. In some cases all the property of the deceased was buried with him; in others, various articles such as his arms were preserved and handed over to his heir or successor Sometimes those who participated in the ceremonies acted with moderation; at other times they worked themselves up into a frenzy of excitement, during which they would perform all kinds of extravagancies, howling, contorting themselves, tearing their hair and flesh, snatching brands from the fire and in some instances tearing off pieces of burning flesh and devouring it. In some cases the ashes of the deceased were collected and preserved or buried; in others they were mixed with grease and plastered on the hair or smeared over the faces of the mourners; and in these latter instances the hideous mixture was allowed to remain as long as it could be kept. Of the languages of the Indians of Alta California a great deal has been written ; but, with the exception of a few notes picked up by some of the older authors, there seems to be but little that is reliable or valuable. From their testimony, as well as from that of later writers, it appears certain, as one important fact, that there were almost as many different lan- guages or at least idioms as there were rancherias. Every little valley had a distinct tongue, which was almost entirely unintelligible to the people of adjoining valleys ; and very often one and the same mission, though its jurisdiction did not extend more than fifteen or twenty miles around, em- braced within its circuit a number of different dialects. In some instances the missionaries, who remained stationed for a length of time at the same place, learned the language most commonly used by their people; but very generally they were obliged to make use of interpreters. It is to be noted also that from the very beginning of the Spanish occupation it was the policy of the church, as well as of the state, to super- sede all the native languages with the Spanish; and for this 794 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. reason not only was the use of their own tongue by the Indians discouraged, but the missionaries were required by law to teach only in Spanish; 1 and it was therefore regarded as a sort of crime in a priest, if not exactly to study and learn an Indian tongue, at least to use it in teaching or com- municating with his neophytes.. But notwithstanding this attitude of the ruling powers, some of the missionaries, as before stated, who remained stationed sufficiently long at the same place, learned the native dialects most commonly spoken by their people; and a few of them, such as Father Geronimo Boscana of San Juan Capistrano, the author of Chinigchinich, and Father Buenaventura Sitjar of San Anto- nio and afterwards of San Miguel, author of a vocabulary of the San Antonio Indians, have left some record of their knowledge. Father Lasuen, according to Humboldt, reckoned that between San Diego and San Francisco, there was not less than seventeen entirely distinct languages spoken; 2 and in this calculation no account was taken of distinct dialects. Duflot de Mofras, who affords more extensive and more accurate information than any other writer upon the subject, says that as the natives were divided up into small frac- tions or rancherias, each separate from the others, there re- sulted an infinity of distinct dialects having little or no kind of analogy with one another. And this was the case not only among tribes strictly separate; but even among people bor- dering upon one another or inhabiting neighboring islands of the same archipelago. 3 He affirms that in the space of two hundred leagues occupied by the missions there were more than a hundred idioms completely distinct. At the mission of San Jose alone, he counted more than forty Indians using different dialects; and at San Juan there were Indians belong- ing to more than fifteen different tribes. In the rude state of barbarism that existed, without writing or letters of any kind, old languages changed rapidly and new dialects sprang up 1 Cal. Archives, P. S. P. XIV, 198. 2 Humboldt's New Spain (Black's) II, 346. 3 Duflot de Mofras, II, 336. INDIAN D O ME STIC RELA TIONS. 795 with almost every change of circumstances. Father Boscana gives an account of a cacique or capitanejo, who finding his people too much circumscribed for territory, divided them into two parts, reserving the control of one portion for him- self and giving the other over to his daughter and ordering her to move off with them to the eastward. And he says that the new tribe had hardly separated from the old one before it formed an entirely new language. This statement is not to be accepted without great allowances, as it is well known that new languages are not formed so readily; but it goes to show that the changes of dialect were rapid. So also languages or dialects readily died out and were lost. A very affecting story, which in a remarkable manner illustrates this fact, is told of a woman, the last Indian resi- dent on the Island of San Nicolas, who for eighteen years lived the life of a female Selkirk. San Nicolas is of small extent, little more than a mass of rocks — the bare peak of an isolated mountain almost submerged by the ocean — and about seventy miles off the coast of Los Angeles. In 1835 there were a few Indians living on it, said to be seventeen or eight- een in number, whom it was determined to remove to the mainland. A schooner was accordingly sent to take them off and carry them to San Pedro. When everything was pre- pared, and the Indians all on the beach ready to embark, one of the women discovered that her child had strayed or been left behind; and she started to look for it. She had not been long away, and the other Indians had in the meanwhile gone on board, when a strong wind sprang up and the schooner was compelled to run before it, leaving her on the island. The wind continuing and increasing to a storm, the vessel could not turn back, but proceeded to San Pedro and landed its passengers. Shortly after arriving there, it suffered ship- wreck and was totally lost. There was at that time no other vessel on the coast large enough to make the trip, or it was not considered of sufficient importance to go after the poor creature; and she was therefore left to shift for herself. Years passed on; all who knew anything of the facts thought the 79'6 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. woman must have perished in her desolate loneliness; and the circumstances of her abandonment were almost forgotten. But in 1853, eighteen years afterwards, George Nidever of Santa Barbara had occasion to visit the island in the prosecu- tion of his occupation of sea-otter hunting. On his first trip he discovered signs of human life, but saw no one. On his sec- ond trip the same year, he searched the island carefully and found the poor woman, living like a second Robinson Crusoe, clad in the skins of birds and covered from head to foot with feathers. As may well be imagined, she presented an ex- traordinary sight. He induced her to enter his vessel and, bringing her to the mainland, took her to his house, where she was properly clothed and treated in the kindest and most humane manner. But no one could understand anything she said. Though many Indians were brought from different portions of the country, no one could interpret a word of her dialect, except another old woman who it appears understood a little, but not enough to get a connected narrative of her strange life or what had become of her child. As she could neither understand nor make herself understood, she was almost as widely separated from her fellow creatures as she had been for so many years among the ocean-girt rocks. Though at first in apparently good health and, as near as could be judged, not over fifty years of age, she lived only thre-e months after her removal from the island. The change of food and of her mode of life was probably too great and too sudden; and she sickened and died; 1 and as the other mem- bers of her tribe had disappeared or been swallowed up in other tribes, her language seems to have died out with her. As there was nothing in the way of writing, either by let- ters or pictures among the Californian Indians, their only his- tory was transmitted by tradition. They had a sort of songs or chants, used in some of their feasts and ceremonies; but even these were in an old language which had passed away, having little or no resemblance to the dialect then commonly spoken. Only the chiefs and medicine-men understood them 1 Huse's Sketch of Santa Barbara, 1876, 29, 30. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 797 or had any idea of what they signified. It is said that there were some conventional signs, such as marks on shells or arrangement of feathers or cuts upon trees, by which they could convey a certain kind of intelligence and particularly fix a time for a rendezvous to celebrate a feast, steal horses or attack an enemy; and that by means of fires lighted on the hills they could telegraph to one another; but there was nothing to fix or preserve the meaning of words, which there- fore changed more or less with every generation. De Lamanon, who accompanied La Perouse and had some opportunities of observation at Monterey, speaks of two dif- ferent languages spoken there; one that of the Achastlians and the other that of the Ecclemachs, corresponding doubt- less to what were otherwise known as the Eslencs and the Runcienes. The language of the Achastlians was adapted to the feeble development of their understanding. As they had few abstract ideas, they had few words to express them. They did not appear to distinguish different species of ani- mals to any great extent by different names. They called both toads and frogs "ouakache;" and in like manner differ- ent vegetables having the same uses were called by the same name. To indicate moral qualities, they used words indica- tive of the sense of taste, like the Lower Californians. Thus " missick" denoted a good man or savory food and "keches" meant a bad man or tainted food. They distinguished plu- rals from singulars and they conjugated some tenses of verbs, but had no declensions of nouns. Their substantives were much more numerous than their adjectives. They did not employ the labials " f " and " b," nor the letter " x; " but they had "chr " as in "chrskonder" bird; "chruk " hut. The diph- thong "ou" was found in more than half their words, as "chouroui" to sing; " touroun " the skin; "tonours"the nails. Their most common initial consonants were "t" and "k." They had words to denote numbers up to ten; but very few of them could go beyond five without counting with their fin- gers. The language of the Ecclemachs, on the other hand, who lived to the eastward of Monterey, was entirely different 798 THE SPANISH GOVERNORS. and was supposed to have a greater resemblance to the lan- guages of Europe than to the other languages of America. Their idiom, though it could not be compared with the lan- guage of civilized nations, was richer than that of any other Californian tribe. Their numerals were " pek " one, " oulach " two, "oullef" three, "amniabou" four, "pemaka" five, " pek- oulana" six, "houlakoalano " seven, " koulefala " eight, " ka- makoualane " nine, "tomoila" ten. 1 Duflot de Mofras, who possessed a manuscript grammar of the language of the Tu- lare Indians composed by Father Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta of Santa Inez, formerly for many years of San Juan Bautista, says that it wanted the consonants "b," "d," " f," "g" and "r," which play a prominent part in most of the languages of the world; but it had many guttural and aspirated articula- tions. All the Indians, however, seemed to succeed in pro- nouncing Spanish with facility; though ordinarily they would change the "r" into "1" and say "pale" instead of "padre" and " Malia " instead of " Maria." 2 Various writers, in addition to those named, have attempted to give some information in regard to the Indian languages — a subject which might perhaps with proper knowledge and proper treatment, lead to important results — but so far little or nothing has been elaborated. With the exception of spec- imens of the Lord's Prayer in different dialects and a few words and grammatical notes, 3 of which philology has not yet been able to make much use, substantially nothing remains. And in this same connection it is to be noted that tl e at- tempts above mentioned to give Indian words, and in fact all other attempts to reproduce Indian or other barbarous lan- guages, are and must in the nature of things be more or less imperfect and vain; for the reason that the original sounds were entirely different from those used by enlightened people. Different nations and indeed different authors of the same nation give entirely different spellings to the same word; and it may safely be assumed that none of them give the correct 1 La P6rouse, I, 466-469. 3 Duflot de Mofras, II, 387, 388. ' Duflot de Mofras, II, 390-400. INDIAN DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 799 pronunciation. The numerals of the Ecclemachs as above given by a Frenchman, were spelled in a very different man- ner and required very different pronunciation when given by a Spaniard. 1 Dana, speaking of the language of the Califor- nian Indians in general, described it as the most brutish that could be conceived. The words seemed to fall off of the ends of their tongues. In other words, according to his descrip- tion, while they were talking there was a continual sound made in their cheeks outside of their teeth; and their lan- guage was a complete " slobber." ' 2 1 Relacion, 172. 2 Dana, 135. ?Mi& UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. £86l t% wi* ^'DID-URL ; #mm> "tftiiw MAR 2 9 1 RKTI LD-UKl JUL 1 9 1985 1989) KB™ tfcfflg 315 tARY : ORNIA L03 h ^ 3 1158 00254 2065 I