z BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA. ROBERT ERNEST COWAN. Reprinted from the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1904, pages 269-278. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1905. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA.^ CO — O a: By Robert Ernest Cowan. \ § fc> '2. In the annals of recorded history, ancient or modern, there is perhaps no section of territory that in its growth and development presents so many remarkable features as does that of California, whose entire history is almost a unique annals of romance and reality. Discovered in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (if we disregard the earlier and someAvhat apochryphal claims of Ulloa, Alarcon, and Melchor Diaz), California appears to have lain dormant for more than two and a quarter cen- ^ turies, and, considering the temper and disposition of the ^ period, this fact is at least worthy of passing notice. Columbus had added to the map of the world the shadowy outline of a western continent; Cabot and Vespucci had projected these outlines further; and succeeding the discov- eries of these great pioneers, the next half century witnessed the greatest explorations and the most feverish lust for con- quest the world has ever known. Balboa had discovered the Pacific Ocean ; Magellan, beat- ing through the strait that yet bears his name, had plowed the trackless Pacific to India ; Vasco di Gama had rounded the Cape of Good Hope; Pizarro, Cortez, and Bernal Diaz had invaded and planted the banner of Spain in the ancient empires of the Incas and Montezumas ; further, many hardy adventurers had sailed into unknown waters, or had ex- plored pathless wastes beset by savage men scarcely less wild than savage beasts. In the full flush of this fever came Cabrillo, landed at the Bay of San Diego, where he remained for six days, and which he named San Miguel, the expedition proceeding along « Read at the meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the Association, November 26, 1904. Co. 270 AMEKICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. the coast northward until Mendocino Bay was reached and named. After the death of Cabrillo, who lies in an un- known grave upon this coast, his pilot, Ferrelo, succeeded to the command. A report of the expedition was trans- mitted to the viceroy, the vessel sailed away, and thence- forth for two and a quarter centuries, practically unknown save to its aboriginal children, California slumbered in ob- livion, bathed in the sunlight of its perennial summer. In actual fact, during this long period a few explorers sailed along the coast of what is now known as California, some of whom effected a landing. The principal of these have been Sir Francis Drake, in 1579; Francisco Gali, 1584; Sebastian Eodriguez de Cermeiion, in 1595, and Sebastian Viscaino, in 1602. The object of these expeditions, save that of Drake, was in no wise concerned with colonization, but was chiefly the hope of discovering a northwest passage and the yet mythic Strait of Anian. The Spanish navi- gators also entertained some indefinite notion of finding a harbor that would be of service to the Philippine vessels. The accounts of these expeditions will be found in many sources, but mention of the earliest is sufficient. The origi- nal diary of Cabrillo is among the Spanish archives of Seville. Further accounts of this and the others may be found in the collections of Ramusio,*^ Hakluyt,^ Torque- mada,'' Herrera,'' Burney,^ and other contemporary authori- ties, besides references which exist in a great number of later works. Drake's narrative will be found in his '' World Encom- passed," f published in London in 1653. The bibliography of California is as varied in its many aspects as is the history of the State. Some of the familiar features so common to the bibliography of other localities, especially to the eastward of the Mississippi, are in that of California almost entirely wanting, more particularly those « Ramusio, G. B. Navigation et Viaggi. Venice. 1563-1574. 3 vol- »Hakluyt, Ricli. The Principal Navigations. London, 1590-1600. 3 voi- umes. « Torquemada, Juan de. Monarquia Indiana. Madrid, 1723. 3 volumes. " Herrera, Ant. de. Hist. General, etc. Madrid. 1725-1730. 4 volumes. « Burney, James. Clironological History of Discoveries in South Sea. London, 1803-1817. 5 volumes. 'Drake, Francla. Sir Francis Drake Revived. London, 1653. NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA. 271 relating to town history, genealogy, and the history and lin- guistics of the American Indians. These important fea- tures, which form the body of history of every eastern locality, constitute little more than a tenth part of the bibli- ography of this State. The absence of early productions of a local press is also noticeable. The earliest imprint from a Californian press bears the date of 1833 — almost tAvo cen- turies after the establishment of the press of New England — and the entire number of documents issued from this press is about 60, most of which are broadsides of but a single sheet. On the other hand, the bibliography is especially wealthy in certain features in wdiich the other localities are more or less entirely deficient. In this enumeration may be men- tioned the great number of works relating to the gold dis- covery ; the many j^rinted documents upon the Spanish and Mexican land claims, which comprehend also the history of the Californian missions and the Pious fund; the exten- sive literature of the Chinese question ; and finally, though to a lesser extent, the history of the several vigilance com- mittees. ^>^WJ? But if there be these discrepancies and differences in the bibliography of the printed documents relating to Cali- fornian history, their presence is not evidenced in the manu- script documents of this territory. Here is wealth even to prodigality. Every feature of sociology is presented ; every phase of history can be found. The many affairs of the State — political, civil, military-, official, commercial, and domestic — are all amply and even extravagantly represented. The State archives in the office of the surveyor-general of California have probabl}^ never been fully enumerated, but are estimated at many thousands. The manuscripts in the Bancroft Library add to these many thousands more, and if there be included the great mass of wianuscript material that exists elsewhere — some in scattered institutions, some in the possession of the Catholic Church, and others retained in private hands — this feature of the bibliography of Cali- fornia is a formidable one and fabulously rich in resource. The aggregate number of these various manuscript docu- ments can be left only to conjecture, but some faint indica- tion of the use of the word thousands m-ay be formed if we cite the fact that the collection of the Vallejo documents alone prf 272 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. numbers 20,000, which is perhaps not much more than 5 per cent of the entire number of California's historical docu- ments. For obvious purposes the bibliography of California may be divided into three periods — from 1510 to 1768, from 1769 to 1848, and from 1849 to the present time. Prior to 1769, generally speaking, the name " California " was applied to w^hat is now known as Baja, or Lower Cali- fornia, but as at that time no di^dding line existed such refer- ences are properly included in the bibliography of Alta, or Upper California. The term " the Calif ornias " Avas in vogue for nearly tAvo centuries. The earliest mention of the name " California " is to be found in the " Sergas da Esplandian," by Montalvo/^ pub- lished in Seville in 1510. This antedates the actual discov- ery of California by over forty years, and is of course purely imaginar}^ Strangely enough this fact remained in obscur- ity and forgotten for three hundred and fifty years, being brought to light by Edward Everett Hale ^ as late as 1862. Following Cabrillo's report in 1542, for the next two cen- turies there are but few printed authorities on California. Drake's " World Encompassed " is perhaps the most impor- tant, although the old geographers gave California a consid- erable share of attention. Nearly all of the old collections of voyages contain a map of California. The earliest figure California as a peninsula, which practice Avas continued dur- ing the sixteenth century. In some cases the location and configuration was remarkably correct; in others exceedingly doubtful. In some maps California is found joined to Mex- ico ; in others it extends to the Arctic, and there ends at the Straits of Anian, or, the latter being ignored, is joined directly with Asia. The inspiration of one early cosmogra- pher who outlined California as an island was folloAved by nearly all others for two centuries ; in fact some geographical works published as late as 1800 continue to describe Cali- fornia as an island. The old cartographer apparently regarded it of impor- tance that California should exist on his map, and in placing " Sergas de Esplandian. Seville, 1510 et seq. * Hale, Edw. E. Name of California. In Amer. Antiq. Soc. Proceed., April, 1862. NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA. 273 it seems frequently to have followed a childlike device. The child drawing the semblance of the human face feels and ob- serves the necessit}^ of investing the drawing with an eye, but is not always careful nor happy in the placing of that fea- ture. So with the old geographers. The name California iden- tifies without doubt their conception of its location, but in- spection of most of these old maps shows that California was usually made to occupy a vacant space above Mexico, of greatly varied form and extent. Probably the earliest known map of California is one reproduced by Kunstmann,*^ in his "Atlas of the Earliest Maps Kelating to America." The original is a manuscript map in the royal archives of Lisbon, the date being uncertain, but ascribed to about 1540. This map shows California to be a peninsula, the western coast of which is continued to the Arctic, to the Straits of Anian, where it ends apparently only for the reason that the chart sheet also ends there. This, as Bancroft observes, was fre- quently done to allow the geographer to set down the names of all the bays, islands, and cities that he fancied existed.^ After the settlement of Lower California the items of bib- liography become more numerous. A work published in London in 1686 contains an account of the " Descent of the Spaniards upon the Island of California." In one of the volumes of the " Lettres Edifiantes," "^ of the Jesuits, in 1705, will be found descriptions by Le Gobien and Picolo, Jesuit missionaries, with the famous map of Padre Eusebius Kino, which has been frequently reproduced in later works. Then come such authorities as Edward Cooke,'^ Woodes Rogers,^ Betagh,'^ Shelvocke,^ and others. Shelvocke, in writing in 1726, asserts it as probable that gold exists in every moun- tain in California. Cabrera Bueno's " Navegacion Espe- culativa " ^ (Manila, 1734), contains accounts of the coast line, with charts. « Kunstmann, Frledr. Die Entdeckung Amerikas. Mayence, 1859. 2 vol- umes. » Bancroft, H. H. History of California. San Francisco, 1884. Vol. 1, p. 108. p Lettres Edifiantes de la Corap. de Jesus. Paris, 1705. Vol. 5. <* Cooke, Edw. Voyage to South Sea. London, 1712. 2 volumes. « Rogers, Woodes. Cruising Voyage Round the World. London, 1718. ( Betagh, William. Voyage Round the World. Loudon, 1728. " Shelvocke, George. Voyage Round the World. London, 1726. Page 400. ^ Cabrera Bueno, J. G. Navegacion Especulativa. Manila, 1734. H. Doc. 429, 58-3 18 274 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. Another remarkable and almost imknown work is the Latin thesis of one Gemeling, printed in Marburg in 1739, bearing the title "A Geographical Dissertation upon the True Site and Condition of California." <» The Jesuit missionaries Kino, Ugarte, and Consag, with others, have also left accounts, both manuscript and in print.^ The great work and body of authority of this period is that of Padre Miguel Yenegas,*' in reality the work of a Jesuit named Burriel. This is a work of much extent and impor- tance. It contains the history — natural, civil, and mission- ary — much about the aborigines, and much of biography of the early founders. No work on California has been more popular nor better known. It appeared at Madrid in 1757, and in ten years was translated into English, Dutch, French, and German. Another curious work published at this time, but almost absolutely unknown, is an Italian tract printed at Rome, 1759.*^ It relates to the discoveries of the Russians upon the northwest coast of America, with accounts of their encroach- ments in California. A few other works, such as the anonymous " Apostolicos Afanes," •'^ (Barcelona, 1754), and Lockman's "Travels of the Jesuits," ^ complete this period. Heretofore all of the works mentioned have referred al- most entirely to Lower California. With the establishment of the mission settlements at San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco, a new epoch begins, the works being more numer- ous and more definite in character. Two accounts of the ex- peditions that resulted in the establishments exist, the im- print being Mexico, 1770.^ These are pamphlets of 3 and 4 leaves, which accounts for their extreme rarity. Costanso, a Spanish engineer, inspected and charted the coast of California.'' This work, which was published in " Gemeling, J. Dissertatio Geographica de vero Calif orniae Situ et Condi- tione. Marburg, 1739. " Baclter, A. A. de. Bibl. des Ecrivains de la Comp. de Jesus. Liege, 1853-1861. 7 volumes. *• Venegas, Alig. Noticfa de la Cal. Madrid, 1757. 3 volumes. "Torrubla, G. I Moscoviti nella California.. Rome, 1759. " Apostolicos Afaues. Barcelona, 1754. 1 Lockman, John. Travels of the Jesuits. London, 1762. 2 volumes. K Monterey. Extracto de Noticfas. Mexico, 1770. '' Costanso, Miguel. Diario IIlst6rlco de los Viages de Mar y Tierra al Norte de Californias. Mexico, 1770. NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA. 275 Mexico, was carefully guarded by the Spanish nation, which then feared that the English might take California, and but few copies are now extant. Jacob Baegert," a Jesuit, after a residence of eighteen years in California, published in Mannheim in 1772 an account of the country. Perhaps no man ever wrote an impersonal book with more bitterness of heart. According to Baegert, the country was absolutely unfitted for habita- tion ; it was inhabited by wild and ferocious beasts ; peopled by inhospitable and cruel savages; water was unfit for use; wood was scarce ; the soil could not sustain life. The Government of Mexico printed in 1781 the " Kegla- mento," ^ or " The Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Calif ornias." Like most of the Mexican documents of this period, this work is of most unusual occurrence. Other important works of this time are the well-known "Life of Junipero Serra " ^ (Mexico, 1787); Clavijero's " History of California,"*^ in Italian; Arricivita's " Cronica Serafica," ^ and Sales's " Tres Cartas." f This latter is three letters on California, written by a priest to his friend. In addition to the geography of the country,, the w^ork contains accounts of the Indians; the affairs of the Jesuits, Francis- cans, and Dominicans; and the Nootka Sound affair. It is also of interest that this has been the only work on Califor- nia published by the Dominicans. Costanso's diary, already mentioned, was translated into English by William Reve- ley,^ and published in London in 1790. It contains, among other maps, plans of San Francisco and Los Angeles. In a collection of voyages published at Madrid in 1799 ^ will be found an account of California, by an unknown writer, one of the most important and extensive to that time. During the latter part of the eighteenth century and ex- '^ Baegert, ,). Naohrichten von der Amerik. Halbinsen Californiens. Mann- heim, 1772; also 1773. " Keglamento para el Gobierno de la Provincias de Callfornlas. Mexico, 1784. ^ Falou, Fr. Vida de Junipero Serra Mexico, 1787. " Clavijero, F. S. Storia della California. Venice, 1789. 2 volumes. " Arricivita, .T. D. Cronica SerSflca y Apostolica. Mexico, 1792. f Sales, Luis. Noticias de Californias. Valencia, 1794. 3 volumes. '^ Reveley, William. Hist. Journal of Expedition by Sea and Land to the North of California. London, 1790. " P., D. P. E. California, 1799. In Viagero Universal, vol. 26. Madrid, 1799. 276 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. tending well into the nineteenth, California was visited and explored by many admiralty expeditions of England, France, and other nations. These works are all of much value, being of scientific as well as of historic interest. Among these are La Perouse, Sutil y Mexicana, Krusen- stern, Kotzebue, Choris, De Mofras, Wilkes, Belcher, and others. A few narratives were written by sailors and overland travelers. Morrell's " Narrative of Four Voyages to the South Sea," « published in 1832, contains accounts of California. Jedidiah Smith, who came overland to California in 1826, left a narrative which appeared in a French geographical publication,^ but which was not issued separately. James O. Pattie, leaving St. Louis, journeyed to California in com- pany with his father in 1828. The}^ were apprehended as spies by Governor Echeandia and imprisoned, during which captivity the elder Pattie died. This narrative was pub- lished in Cincinnati in 1833.^ Of these early travels two printed narratives exist which are- almost completely unknown. In 1838 Zenas Leonard made an overland journey and came in sight of the Pacific at a point somewhere between San Francisco and Mon- terey. His narrative w^as published in Clearfield, 1839.'^ Johnson and Winter traveled from Fort Independence to California in 1843, their narrative appearing at Lafaj^ette, 184^.^ Comment upon the rarity of these works is unneces- sary. During the last twenty years of their domination the Mexicans issued some works on California, a number of which relate to the Pious fund. Two, however, are no- table exceptions. The council of public works printed in the city of Mexico, in 1827, a collection of documents relat- ing to the affairs of upper California.^ An examination of these discloses the curious fact that at that time a project " Morrell, Benjamin W. Narrative of Four Voyages. New Yorlc, 1832. " Smith, Jed. Excursion a I'ouesu Monts Rocky, 1826. In Nouv. An. Voy., vol. 37. Tattle, J. O. Personal Narratives. Cincinati, 1833. '' Leonard, Zenas. Narrrttive of Adventures. Clearfield, 1839. « Jolinson, Overton, and Winter, W. H. Route Across the Roclsy Mountains. Lafayette, 184^^ f Junta de Fomento de Californias. Coleccion de los Trahajos. Mexico, 1827. NOTES ON EARLY CALIFORNIA. 277 was formed to establish a line of vessels from Monterey to China, to be called the Mexican- Asiatic Company, a plan which never materialized. A collection of documents by Manuel Castanares (Mexico, 1845)" contains an account of the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia in 1844, four years earlier than that of Marshall, but so rare is this work that this fact came to light but recently. Among the works relating to the Pious fund is that by \ Carlos Antonio Carrillo (Mexico, 1831).'' This is the first ^ printed literary work of a native Californian. In the year 1833 a local press was established at Monte- rey and continued until 1844. The productions were chiefly broadside proclamations of the governors, all of which are excessively rare, but specimens of most may be found in the archives. Eleven little books were printed. These are even of less common occurrence, as of several of them, but one c6py is known to be in existnece.'" Following the conquest in 1846 the local press was reestab- lished, this time by Americans. The publication of news- papers began at Monterey August 15, 1846.*^ Sundry procla- mations by the militarv governors were also j^ublished. In 1847, at San Francisco, a pamphlet containing some special laws of the town council w^as printed, one copy of which was recently brought to light, though it appears hereto- fore to have been altogether imknown to the student of these matters.^ The first book printing in San Francisco was in 1849,^ closely followed by Sacramento in 1850,^ Benicia '' and Coloma ' in 1851, and in Stockton in 1852.^ " Castaiiares, Manuel. Colecclon de Documentos Relatives at Departa- mento de Californias. Mexico, 1S45. "Carrillo, Carlos Antonio. Exposiclon Sobre el Fondo Piadoso. Mexico, 1831. ''Cowan. Robert E. The Spanish Press of California, 1S83-1844. San Francisco, 1902. " Californian, Monterej', August 15, 1846. Colton and Semple, editors. * The Laws of the Town of San Francisco. San Francisco, 1847. f Wierzbicl