UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES / a g CiS^V. r -^■^ -.-'* f FATHKK JINIPKRO SERRA, FROM DOUGLAS TILDEN'S STATUE rrt-scntcil tn the City of San Francisco by Jar^es D. Phelan HISTORl 7 OF SAN DIEGO 1542-1908 AN ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE PIONEER SETTLEMENT ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES VOLUME I. OLD TOWN BY WILLIAM E. SMYTHE Autlior of ""The Conquest of Arid America," "Constructive Democracy," Etc. SAN DIEGO THE HISTORY COMPANY 1908 49139 Copyrit'lit 1907 by \\ ii.MAM i:. smythp: \ • • • • < • * • * . ••••••• • • • •••••••• •.• »•• ••• • • FOR THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE PEOPLE OF SAN DIEGO V b(d 0-, 1 Contents Page Dedication 12 liist of Illustrations 12 List of Works Consulted 12 ■^ Author 's Foreword 17 Introduction: The Historical Pre-eminence of San Diego 21 PART ONE PERIOD OF DISCOVERY AND MISSION RULE i)^ Chapter. •4 I. The Spanish Explorers 27 ■^ II. Beginnings of the Mission Epoch 37 N\,^ III. The Taming of the Indian 48 IV. The Day of Mission Greatness 60 V. The End of Franciscan Rule 71 Priests of San Diego Mission 76 PART TWO .\ WHEN OLD TOWN WAS SAN DIEGO '^ I. Life on Presidio 'Hill Under the Spanish Flag 81 List of Spanish and Mexican Commandants 96 II. Beginnings of Agriculture and Commerce ^98. jl List of Ranchos in San Diego County 112 V)' III. Political Life in Mexican Days ' 114 IV. Early glomes, Visitors and Families 131 V. Pleasant Memories of Social Life 142 VI Prominent Spanish Families 161 VII The Indians' Relations With the Settlers 178 List of Mission Indian Lands 198 VIII. San Diego in the Mexican War 200 IX. Public Affairs After the War 228 X. Accounts of Early Visitors and Settlers 238 XL Annals of the Close of Old San Diego 250 XII. American Families of the Early Time 266 XIII. The Journalism of Old San Diego 295 XIV. Abortive Attempt to Establish Xew San Diego 316 PART THREE THE HORTON PERIOD I. The Founder of the Modern City 326 ■ II. Horton 's Own Story ' 332 m. Early Railroad Efforts, Including the Texas and Pacific 352 IV. San " Diego 's First Boom 366 V. Some Aspects of Local Life 37(1. PART FOUR PERIOD OF "THE GREAT BOOM" 1. Coming of the Santa Fe 391 II. Phenomena of the Great Boom 413 6 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Chapter Page JII. CiKWlh of I'lilili.- IJlililics 435 1\'. \V:itiT |)i'vclii|niiriit 443 l>AR I I ivi-: TIIK LAST TWO DECADES I. L(..;il .\iin;ils, Al'lcr tlir I'.niuii 455 II. r.)lili.;il All'iiirs .iiid M iiiiifijiai Campaigns 464 111. l„itci .li.iinialisiri ami Jjitcratnrc 471) I\'. The [>isastcr Id the Bcmiin-ilou 503 \'. I'lic 'ruciil icili Conturv Days 507 \i. .iuliii 1). Si>nM'k(>ls Solves tlie Railroad Problem 529 PART SIX INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIC LIFE T. dmri'lies ami IJcligioiis Ijit'e 537 1 1 . Siliiiols and I'lducatioa 568 III. JJeeords of the Bench and Bar 582 W. (Irowth of the :Medical Profession 5yS V. The PuMic Library 610 VI. Story of the City Parks .' 616 \\l. The Chamber of Commerce 624 VIII. Banks and Banking 636 IX. Secret, Fraternal and Other Societies 648 X. .Xr-connf of the Fire Department 665 PART SEVEN MISCELLANEOUS TOPp-'S I. History of tlie San Diego Climate ,' 675 II. San Diego Bay, Ilarhor and River ' 687 m. Governmental Activities 697 IV. The Snbnrbs of San Diego 7Q6 V. Political Roster 719 { Li^t of Publications Consulted in the Preparation of this Work . . . A la California; Sketches of Life in tlie Golden State, by Colonel AJbert S. Evans, 1873. A Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises, by Richard J. Cleveland, Cambridge, 1842. Annals of San Francisco, by Soule, Gihon and Nisbet, 1854. Argonauts of "49, by David E. Leeper, 1894. Argument on Behalf of the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, by Ar- temas H. Holmes, New York, 1877. Annals of California, 1860. Army of the United States, 1789 to 1896, by T. F. Rodenbaugh and W. L. Haskill, New York. A Truthful Woman in Southern California, by Kate Sanborn, 1894. Before the Gringo Came, by Gertrude Atherton. Cabrillo 's Voyage, Appendix to Part I, Translation of the Account of, by Richard Stuart Evans. Cabrillo 's Voyage, by Bartholome Ferrelo; U. S. Geogi-aphic Survey, Vol. VII, 1879; Archeology. Cabrillo 's Voyage, by R. S. Evans; U. S. Geographic Survey, Vol. VII, 1879; Archaeology. California 350 Years Ago, ' 1888. California; A History of Upper and Lower, etc., by Alexander Forbes, London, 1839. California As It Is, San Francisco Call, 1888. California for Health, Pleasure and Residence, by Charles Nordhoflf, 1882. California Historical Society, Publications of the California in 1837; Diary of Colonel Philip L. Edwards, 1890. California In Doors and Out, by Eliza \Y. Farnham, 1856. California Inter Pocula, by H. H. Bancroft (Vol. 35 in the series), 1848- 1856. California Life, by William Taylor, 1858. California Missions and How to Get There; Mrs. A. S. C. Forbes, 1903. California of the Padres, by Mrs. E. Hughes. California of the South, by Lindley and Widney, 1888. California Pastoral, by H. H. Bancroft (Vol. 34 in the series), 1769-1848. California Pictures in Prose and Verse, by Benjamin Parke Avery, 1885. California Sketches, by Leonard Kip. Californien. Land und Leute; von Robert von Schlagintweit. 1871. Centennial History of Los Angeles County. Charter and By-Laws of the Southern Trans-Continental Ry. Co. ; Wash- ington, 1870. Chinigchinich, by Padre Jerenimo Boseana; New York. 1846. Chronicles of the Builders, by H. H. Bancroft. City and County of San Diego, by T. S. Van Dyke, 1888. Climate, Productions, etc., of San Diego, by Douglas Gunn, Chamber of Commerce, 1885. Conquest of New Mexico and California, etc., by Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, 1878. Diary of Father Palou, on Serra's first journey through Alta California. Discovery of Our Pacific Coast, by R. A. Thompson (in Out West Mag- azine). Documentary History of the Military Occupation of California, etc., 1846-1849. In the collection of e". W. Morse. 8 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Early Knglisb Voyages to the Pacific Coast of America; V7oodes Eoger.s (Keprint in Out West Maga/.iiu'). El Dorado, by Bavard Tavlor. El Dorado, by D. A. Shaw, 1900. Father Juuipero and the Mission Indians of California, by Mrs. H. H. Jackson, 19u2. Glimpses of California and Its Missions; Mrs. H. H. Jackson, 1902. . Historical Account of the Indians of California, Father Boscana 's. Historical Society of Southern California, Publications of History of Ancient or Lower California, by Clavijero. History of California, b^* 11. H. Bancroft. Historj- of California, by Hittell, 4 vols., 1885. History of Catholic Missions in the U. S., by J. G. Shea, New York, 1855. History of San Diego County, etc.; Wallace W. Elliott & Co., 1883. History of San Francisco, bj" Hittell, 1878. History of Southern California, An Illustrated; The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1890. History of the State of California, by John Frost, 1859. History of the City of San Francisco, by Jno. W. Dwinelle, San Fran- cisco, 1866. Horton Genealogy. In and Out of the Old Missions, by George Wharton James. In the Footprints of the Padres; Charles Warren Stoddard, 1902. Information Eelative to the City of San Diego (and Business Direc- tory); Chamber of Commerce, 1874. Kearny, General Stephen W., Life of Land of Sunshine. Life in California, by Alfred Eobinsou. Manuelita, by Marian C. Wilson. Mediterranean Shores of America, by P. C. Remondino, M. D. Memoirs of My Life, by John C. Fremont, 1887. Millionaires of a Day, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, 1890. Missions of California; Laura Bride Powers, 1897. Missions of New California; Charles F. Carter, 1900. My First California Pastorate, by Bishop Wm. Ingraham Kip. Native Races, by H. H. Bancroft "(5 vols.), San Francisco, 1882-3. Natural Wealth of California, by T. F. Chronise, 1868. Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth in Mis- souri to San Diego in California, by W. H. Emory, Washington, 1848, Senate Document. Notes on the Texas & Pacific Railway (official) ; Philadelphia, 1873. Noticias de la Nueva California, bv" Padre Francisco Palou; Historical Documents, Tomes VI-VII. Old California Days, by James Steele, 1889. On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer; the Diary and Itinerarv of Francisco Garees (Missionary Priest), 1775-1776; 1900. One Thousand Liars, by James Edward Friend. Our Centennial Memoirs, by P. J. Thomas, San Francisco. Our Italy, by Charles Dudley Warner, 1891. Out West ^Magazine. Overland Monthly. Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mex- ico, California, etc., by John Russell Bartlett; New York and Lon- don, 1854. Phoenixiana, by Lieut. George H. Derby. Picturesque San Diego, by Douglas Gunn, 1887. Popular Tribunals, by H. H. Bancroft. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CONSULTED 9 Eamona, bj' Helen Hunt Jackson. EecoUections of Pioneer Work iu California, by Eev'. James Woods, 1878. Eegulations for the Government of tlie Provinces of California, by Governor Felipe de Neve; San Carlos, 1779. Eelacion de la Vida del Junipero Serra, by Padre Francisco Palou; Mex- ico, 1787. Eeport of Survey for the Southern Pacific E. E., by A. B. Gray, 1854. Eeport of U. S. Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian; Vol. VII, Archajology, 1879. Eeport of Viceroy Eevilla Sigedo on California, 1768-1793 (Eeprint in Out West Magazine). Eesources of California, by Hittell, 1879. Ehymes of the Missions, by Will H. Holcomb. Eomance of the Age, or the Discovery of Gold in California, by Ed- ward E. Dunbar, 1867. San Diego and Southern California; Chamber of Commerce, 1870. San Diego City and County; Chamber of Commerce, 1888. San Diego County, California; Chamber of Commerce, 1890. San Diego County Illustrated; W. W. Elliott & Co., San Francisco, 1883. San Diego Publications: Bulletin. Golden Era. Herald, 1851-1860. San Diegan. San Diegan-Sun. " Silver Gate. Sun. Union. Seeking the Golden Fleece, hy J. D. B. Stillman, 1877. Semi-Tropical California, by Major Ben C. Truman, 1874. Serra, Life of the Venerable Padre Junipero, by Very Eev. Francis Palou, translated by Very Eev. J. Adam; San Francisco, 1884. Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings, by Daniel B. Woods, 1851. Sixty Years in Soiithern California, by William Heath Davis, 1889. Southern California, by Douglas Gunn, 1886. Southern Califoruia', by T. S. Van Dyke, 1886. Southern California Guide Book; George E. Place & Co., Los Angeles, 1886. Southern California Illustrated, bv S. L. Welch; Warner Bros., Los Angeles, 1886-7, 1887-8. Spanish America, by E. H. Bonnycastle, Captain in the Corps of Eoy- al Engineers; London, 1818. 2 vols. Spanish Institutions of the Southwest, by Prof. Frank W. Blackmar (Johns Hopkins Series of Historical Studies), 1891. Stockton, Commodore Eobert F., Life of; New York, 1856. Story of San Diego, by Walter Gifford Smith, 1892. Texas & Pacific Eailwav; Eoute, Progress, Land Grants, etc.; New York, 1872. The Golden State and Its Eesources, by John J. Powell, 1874. The Italy of America; Chamber of Commerce, 18 — . The Land of Gold, or Three Years in California, by Eev. Walter Col- ton, 1866. The Spanish Press of California (1833-44), by Eobert E. Cowan (in Overland Monthly). The Squatter and the Don, by C. Loyal; San Francisco, 1885. Tour of Duty in California, by Jos. W. Eevere. Two Years Before the Mast, bv Eichard Henrv Dana, Jr. 10 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Viage de la Expedicion de Terra de San Diego de Monterey, by Padre Juan Crespi; Documentary History of Mexico, Tome VI. Voyage of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean, by George Vancouver, London, 1798. Li^ of Illustrations Page Frontispiece, Father Junipero Serra, from Douglas Tilden's Statuo Medallion given an Indian Girl by Father Serra 24 Ship of Cabrillo's Time 29 Jnan Eodriquez Cabrillo 30 San Diego de Alcala 32 Carlos III 38 I'acsimile of the Title Pago of the Costanso 41 Father Junipero Serra 44 I'acsimile of a page from the Diary of Father Serra 46 Famous Palms of Old Town |. . 50 Statue of Father Serra at Monterey 55 The Old Mission Dam ' 62 Old Mission of San Diego de Alcala 67 Mission Eelics 69 Ruin of San Diego Mission 74 Rough Plan of Presidio Hill 83 Presidio Hill of Todav 86 Old Cannon, ' ' El Capitan, ' ' and ' ' El Nino " 91 Burial of James O. Pattie on Presidio Hill 93 Judge Witherby's Chair 94 Richard Henry Dana 102 William Heath Davis 108 Pio Pico 115 Aquirre House, Old Town 118 Augustin V. Zamorano 120 Serrano House, Old Town 122 Capt. Henry D. Fitch 124 Juan Bandini 126 Machado House. Old Town 132 Estudilio House. Old Town . .■ 133 Old San Diego in 1846 146 Bandini House. Old Town 150 Wrightington House. Old Town 155 Mrs. Henry D. Fitch 159 View of Old San Diego 181 Col. Warner of Warner's Ranch 188 Col. J. Bankhead Magruder 193 Robert D. Israel 196 Capt. Samuel F. Dupont 201 Mrs. Arcadia de Baker 203 Miguel de Pedrorena 205 Santiago E. Arguello 207 Commodore Robert F. Stockton 211 Lieut. Edward F. Beale 215 Sketch of the actions fought at San Pasqual. . . . - 217 Ruins of Fort Stockton on the Hill above Old Town 221 Gen. Andres Pico 225 Gen. Stephen W. Kearny 226 Jose Guadalupe Estudilio 239 Jose Antonio Altamirano 240 George A. Pendleton's House, Old Town 242 Present Appearance of House in Old Town where Richard Henry Dana took dinner with R. E. Doyle in 1859 245 Alfred C. Robinson 246 12 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Page Eichaid J. Cleveland . . . , ^*'' Mrs. Carson -"^^ House of John C. Stewart, Old Town 2o2 House and Store of Thomas Whaley, Old Town 2o3 John G. Capron 255 Old Town School ^-^o The Famous Bells at the Old Town Church 25/ Louis Rose — ^° House of Albert B. Smith, Old Town 259 Lopez House, Old Town 260 View of Old Town in 1906 261 Remaii^ of Old Jail at Old Town 262 Jose Antonio Serrano 263 Philip Crosthwaite 271 "Squire" Ensworth 275 D. B. Kurtz 278 Ephraim W. Morse 283 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Whaley 291 James MeCov 279 William H. Xoyes 301 Lieutenant George H. Derby 313 ' ' The Hermitage " 319 Charles P. Xoell 321 George A. Pendleton 332 Alonzo E. Horton, as he appeared in 1867 334 "Father" Horton in his ninetv-fourth year 335 Capt. S. S. Dunnells ' ' 338 Dnnnells' Hotel, comer State and F Streets 339 Corner of Fifth and D Streets, in 1872 341 •Joseph S. !Mannasse 348 James W. Robinson 355 Thomas L. Xesmith 359 Thomas A. Scott 364 San Diego in 1872 367 The Horton House, 1870-1905 370 View of San Diego in 1873 373 Fifth and B Streets in 1875 377 North Side of K Street in the early '70 's 378 Corner of Seventh and A Streets in" 1875 380 Looking up Fifth Street from K, about 1875 381 View Taken from First and C Streets, about 1875 384 Gordon & Hazzard 's Store 385 Frank A. Kimball 395 D. 0. McCarthy 402 M. A. Luce . .' 403 Warren C. Kimball 409 Theodore S. Van Dyke 415 Hotel del Coronado, during Construction 417 Pierce-Morse Block 420 Horton Building 422 The old :Marston Store at Fifth and F Streets 423 Court House as it Originally Appeared 425 Steamer Santa Rosa 426 Captain E. .\lexander 427 Robert W. Waterman 429 A^iew of the City from Eighth and -\ Streets in 1888 430 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 13 Page First Baud in 8au Diego, organized iu 1878 431 Waldo S. Waterman 440 Dedication of the San Diego Flume 447 Sweetwater Dam in Course of Construction 448 E. S. Babcock 449 C. S. Alverson 450 D. Choate 456 Jesse Gillmore 457 H. C. Gordon 457 Geo. W. Bowler 457 G. C. Arnold 457 "Bum" |. . . 463 Douglas Gunn .■ . . . 465 William W. Bowers 466 Mathew Sherman 467 D. C. Eeed 468 A. E. Nutt 469 D. L. Withington 469 M. L. Ward 469 L. A. Wright 469 Frank P. Frary 470 Captain John L. Sehon 471 John F. Forward 472 Archie F. Crowell 473 Claude Woolman 473 Charles Kellv 473 F. .1. Goldkanip 473 Eugene E. Shaffer 474 John IT. Ferry 475 Lewis R. Kirbv 475 M. M. Moulton 475 W. H. Francis 475 Charles S. Hardy 477 Wm. Jeff. Gatewood 481 J. X. Briseno 482 Edward W. Bushyhead 483 Office of the Union 485 John R. Berry 486 James Maemullen 487 PJdmund F. Parmalee 487 William H. Gould 488 Major Ben C. Truman 489 Joseph D. Lynch 489 Jacob M. Julian 490 W. H. Porterfield 492 Walter T. Blake 493 F. D. Waite 493 Ha rr Wagner 495 INladge Morris (Mrs. Wagner) 495 Walter Gifford Smith 497 Rose Hartwick Thorpe 498 Will H. Holcomb 499 The ' •' Bennington " 504 Louis J. Wilde 507 D. C. Collier 508 Ralph Granger 509 14 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Page E. Bartlett Webster •"'1'^ U. S. Grant, Jr l]\ M. W. Folsom '^l- 0. W. Cotton •'^1^ Ed Fletcher 513 Frank A. Salmons ^^^ L. L. Boone 51f Henrv Timkin . •'51-" diaries L. Warfield 516 F. L. Hieatt 516 Arthur Cosgrove 517 M. Hall . . 517 Charles L. Josselyn 518 T. Isaac Irwin 518 E. Strahlmann 519 August Sensenbrenner 519 J. P. Haddock 519 Melville Klauber 519 U. S. Grant Hotel in Course of Construction 520 E. J. Carter 521 Grant Conard 521 1. D. Rogers 521 E. J. Swayne 521 Marco Bruschi 523 A. Klauber 523 Levis Brinton 's House 524 Mrs. IMitchell's House 525 The Steele Block 527 Glimpse of South Park 528 Front Page of Union of December 14. 1906 529 John T). Spreckels 531 G. A. D 'Hemecourt 533 Father Antonio D. ITbach 538 Father ITbach 's funeral 539 First Church building in New San Diego 541 Daniel Cleveland 542 Rev. Sidney Wilbur 543 Henry B. Restarick 545 Rev. Charles Tj. Barnes 545 First Methodist Church 547 First Free Methodist Church 549 Old Ba])tist Church 551 First Baptist Church 552 Rev. W. B. Hinson 553 Old Presbyterian Church 554 Rev. R. g". Wallace 555 Rev. S. J. Shaw- 555 Rev. E. R. Watson 557 First Congregational Church 559 Rev. W. E. Crabtree 561 New Home of the Y. M. C. A 565 Floral tribute on Father Ubach 's grave 567 Duncan Mackinnon 572 Middletown School 573 B Street School .'574 Sherman School 575 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 15 Page Logan Heights School ;37(; Franklin School 573 W. E. Guy .......... 579 State Normal School 580 Oliver S. Witherby 584 Benjamin Hayes 585 W. T. McJSTealy 586 Levi Chase 587 Xorman H. Conklin 588 E. S. Torrance 589 George Puterbaugh 590 W. E. Andrews 591 Henry E. Mills 594 W. A. Sloane 594 S. S. Knoles 594 E. W. Hendrick 594 H. E. Doolittle 595 Patterson Sprigg 595 Sam. Ferry Smith 595 Eugene Daney 595 Countv .Court House 597 Dr. David B. Hoffman 599 Dr. John S. Griffin 600 Dr. Eobert J. Gregg 602 Dr. Thouins C. Stockton 603 Dr. P. C. Eemondino 604 Dr. Fred Baker 605 Dr. P. J. Parker 605 Dr. A. J. Elliott 605 Dr. Joseph C. Hearne 605 Dr. David Gochenauer 606 Dr. C. C. Valle 607 Building used by Drs. Stockton and Eemondino as a Sanitarium. . . . 608 County Hospital 609 Public Libraiy 611 George W. Marston 618 George Cooke 620 Torrev Pines 622 W. l"; Frevert 627 George H. Ballon .• 627 Homer H. Peters 629 H. P. Wood 630 James A. Jasper 630 Philip Morse 631 Simon Levi 631 J. S. Akerman 631 Dr. Edward Grove 631 Bank of San Diego 638 Commercial Bank of San Diego 639 George W. Fishburn 640 J. W. Sef ton 641 Galusha B. Grow 643 M. T. Gilmore 644 Fred Jewell 644 A. Blochman 644 Ti. A. Blochman 644 16 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Page Julius Wangeuheiui 645 W. K. Rogers 645 Charles L. Williams 645 G. Aubrey Davidson 645 Carl Alex. Johnson 646 W. H. Hubbard 646 Thos. R. Darnall 652 E. T. Blackmer 656 Col. E. V. Dodge 658 John B. Osborn 659 Herbert A. Croghan 663 A. B, Cairnes 667 Richard A. Shute 669 Ford A. Carpenter 676 Rain Map of California 677 Rainfall Chart of San Diego County 678 Point Loma and the Silver Gate 690 Battleships in the Harbor fi92 La Playa, showing Quarantine Station, etc 698 Lighthouse on Ballast Point 699 Old Government Barracks 700 Coronado Tent City 708 Automobile Track at Lakeside 710 C. D. Rolfe 711 View of La Jolla 712 Katherine Tingley 716 AUTHOR'S FOREWORD X WRlTrX(; this ])()()k I h;ive kept several cl)- jects pfoiniih'iitly in ]iiincl. First of all. I have aimed to make a faithful collection of all essential facts pertaining to the history of San Diego, fi-om the day of its discovery bv Europeans down to the time in which we are living. To this end, i)ublic records have been examined ; scores of volumes of history, bi- ogra[)hy, reminiscence, even of fiction, have been studied; news- paper tiles have been patiently searched; and living pioneers have been interview^ed by stenographers. In this Inint for information I have constantly employed one exceedingly competent assistant and, for nuicli of the time, two or three others. As a result, materials have been collected in excess of my ability to use them in this volume, but they will be preserved in some i)ublic place for the benefit of students and of the future historian. In the second phice, I have endeavored to save from ob- livion the rich traditions which cluster about the life of Old San Diego, a place which has all but perished from the earth, yet which should ever ]iossess an alisorliing interest not only for those who dwell about the shores of San Diego Bay, but for all students of American history. Ph-mouth, Massachusetts, is a place of no great modern importance, yet it is one of the shrines of the American people and the traditions of its set- tlement and growth in the quiet years of the seventeenth cen- tury have been written again and again, arid will be read with fascinated interest by all future generations. Old San Diego possesses much the same historical pre-eminence, but its claims have been neglected by nearly all Avriters of American history, including those who prepare text-books for our children. It is, therefore, without apology that a large portion of this work is devoted to Old Town, including some "'ccount of the Spanish and American families who were associated with its political, social and commercial life. ]My only regret is that an entire volume could not be given to tliis phase of our annals. I am keenly aware of the fact that this book contains much which will be chiefly valuable for reference purposes. Thei'e are many things which nnist be collected and preserved in a local history, but which do not lend themselves to literary 18 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO tivatiiiciit 111)1- Ix'loiiii slrictl\- to tlu' luii-ralivc which interests the general reader. Tliis olxservation applies to accounts of oriranizations no one of which inchides more than a small part of^the community, yet each of which has its own peculiar public. It should be remembered also that the web of our histor\- is woven of many separate threads, and that none of these is without iuHuence in inakinu' the color and substance of the whoh' fal)ric. In the department of the work entitled, "Institutions of Civic Life," the reader will find many of the most significant facts of our progress as a community. Acknowledgments are due to many i)ersons for assistance rendered in assembling the facts for this liook. The late E. W. ]^Ioi-se was extremely helpful, and the last days of his life were given freely to lengthy interviews and the explanation of old documents." "Father" Horton patiently submitted to cross-examination on several occasions, furnishing impressions of his own period which might otherwise have been lost. Judge :\I. A. Luce and Daniel Cleveland have been constantly con- sulted and have rendered invaluable assistance, with the ut- most i)atience 'and courtesy. To E. F. Parmelee. business manager of the Saii Di((jo i'liioii, apologies are due, as well as sincere thanks, for he allowed liis office to be cumbered for weeks at a time with desk and typewriter while the newspaper files were l)eing searched in the interest of this work. J\Irs. Davison, Librarian of the San Diego Public Library, the author- ities of the University Library, at Berkeley, and the State Librarian at Sacramento, co-operated in securing rare volumes needed for consultation. To these, and to many other persons. who heli)ed in various ways, and especially to living pioneers who sui)plied recollections of men and events (their names are mentioned in connection with their stories in the text), the author's warmest thanks are tendered. The project of writing this work originated not with me, but with Nathan Watts, who has long felt a deep interest in our local history and who has l)een sti'oimly imi^ressed witli the im- portance of collecting and presei'ving authentic records of the past, and especially the recollections of old settlers, while it was yet possible to do so. Mr. Watts has l)een the constant friend of the enterprise, and is entitled to a very large share of any ci-edit that may be due for the ])erformance. It is also with much pleasure that T acknowledge my indebt- edness to my chief assistant in the preparation of this volume, Millard F. ILidson. An indefaliL^alile scholar and worker, the book could not have l)een produced at this time, nor at any time with the degi-oe of tlioroughness with which I am sure it has been done, without the assistance derived from his enthu- siasm, intelligence, and devotion. Much of llic nai-rative portion AUTHOR'S FOREWORD 19 of the work stands siibstfiiitially as lie i)i'epared it in his full notes of interviews and al)straets from doeumeiits and other authoritative sources. This being' so, he is to be regarded as joint-author of the work. Finally, grateful aeknowledgment must be made to nearly one hundred prominent citizens whose generosity' and civic pride prompted them to subscribe various sums toward a pub- lication fund. It was realized at the beginning that the pro- duction of a volume entailing an expenditure of several thousand dollars, and wholly devoid of "paid biographies" and commercial "write-ups," could not be hazarded on the prospects of sales within a limited field. The financial ])rol)lem was solved by subscriptions for books at prices in excess of the pul)lisher"s rate to the public. These prices are of various amounts voluntarily fixed by the subscribers, but sufficient in the aggregate to reduce the risk of publication to a point where it becomes feasible. Nothing in the book is intluenced in the slightest degree by })ecuniary considerations. Xo one has been included in text or illustration because he subscribed to the publication fund, nor has any one been omitted because he failed to do so. The etfort has been to produce real history and real literature, and to measure men and events by no other standard. AVriting the book in the course of my i)rofession as a literary man, it has yet been largely a labor of love, and I hope it may be regarded in the future as a service to a people who have honored me with constant evidences of their friendship, and even as a modest memorial to my citizenship among them. William E. Smythe. San Diego, California, Januarv 1. 1907. INTRODUCTION THE HISTORICAL PRE-EMINENCE OF SAN DIEGO HE CIVILIZATION of California, and of the whole Western Coast now belonging to the United States, began on the shores of San Diego Bay. AVhat Plymonth is to New Eng- land and the region facing the Atlantic, San Diego is to the great empire which faces the Pacific. ~ This'l'act is not appreciated as it deserves to be by readers of history generally, nor by the people of Cal- ifornia, nor even by the people of San Diego. Here by the Sonthwestern Gateway of the Republic should be one of the great shrines of historical America, where pilgrims should come by thousands to i)ay homage to the past, and where monuments should be erected l)y this generation, to be bequeathed to the keeping of generations yet to come. Plymouth and San Diego ! Each the scene of the first en- vhiring settlement on its own side of the continent; each the off- spring of religious zeal ; each planted by those who, building better than they knew, became the pioneers of a movement which contributed immeasurably to the betterment of mankind; and each showing the way for millions to carve homes from the wilderness — the one hx clearing the forest, the other bv irri- gating the desert ! Nor is this the whole of San Diego's claim to everlasting dis- tinction in human history. Not only was it the birthplace of civilization on the Pacific Coast of the United States, but it was also the scene of the first discovery of that coast by the Spanish explorers of the Sixteenth Century. Thus it happened that the first European footprint was indelibly impressed on the shores of San Diego Bay. Surely, there is no other spot so precious in the entire continental expanse from Plymouth Rock to Point Loma ! This leads me to ask if there is any logical relation between the history of such a city and its future growth. It is unquestionably true that mere priority of settlement, even when this priority is a matter of large historical conse- quence, does not guarantee the growth, nor even the permanence, of a community. Jamestown in Virginia, where English-speak- ing men first built their homes in America, long since perished 22 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO I'l'Miii the earth. IcaviiiL;' liarely eiiouiih i-iiiiis to luarlv the site. Kveii at Plymoiitii, where the comiminitN' lias eiijinetl a vigorous and continuous existence since 1()2(), there was a poj)ulation of less than ten thousan nation has develo])e(l where the Dutch founded New Anisterdaiii in l(i2."). There can he little (juestion that prioi-ity of settlement and its resulting iiistorical pre-emineiu-e are assets of extraordinary value wIkmi joined to the possc^ssion of great natural advan- tages. There was no good reason why i^lyniouth should become a largt' eit\-. for neithei- agriculture, connnerce, nor manufac- tures belonged to it 1»\ natural right, damestown was destroyed in the so-calhd iJaeon's Kebellion of l(i7(i, and never afterwards rebuilt, because there wei-e much !)etter locations elsewhere. l>ut P>oston and .\ew ^'ork enjoyed strategic locations and w-ere thus able to leap tlu^ IxMietits of their early settlement and tlie fame which it bi'ought them. It is to the latter class that San Dieiio belongs, ileuce, its hist(U-ical pre-eminence ought to count heavily as a factor in its future growth and idtimate greatness. Westei-n cities do not patiently await the slow accretions of time. They reckon in decades where the older cities of the East measure their gi'owth by centuries. Their effort at advancement takes the form of tierce competition among themselves in seek- ing to attract the attention of the outside world as a means of reinforcing their capital and recruiting their citizenship. Ill California, this competition is more conspicuously in evi- dence than anywhere else in the United States. San Diego, alone, can challenge the attention of the world by saying: Here came ihc Sjxnns/i discovcn r to hehold for the first time the Pacific Coast of ir/iat is lunr (Ik United Stat(s. I[er( , too, Is t/ie rtjjmonlli of the ^Vest, tv/it ri llii Enropciui firsi l)iilll Iiis liome and reared the Cross. Here ivas the first town. Ihc first irrigation dileh. the first eutiivated field, the frsi scIkh)}, and the first of those historic missions ichie/i ushered in I/k CItrislin)} era in California. And here ice are huilding a mighty city as an erertasting nionumt nt to iln rUgrim Fathers of the We.st. If the ])ublication of this work could be attended by a result above all others gratifying to ]iie. it would fix tlie historical pre- eminence of San Diego as firmly and clearly in the |)ublic mind as the historical pre-eminence of l*l\iiioiith has been established for many generations by its faithful hisloi'ians. And if it could produce a fni'thei- r(>sult in line with this, it Avonhl inspire the people of San Diego to the preservation of all the pn^cions landmarks of the early time and the creation of etidnring HISTORICAL PRE-EMINENCE 23 iiu'iiiuriiils worthy nl tlicii' hislnrv. Willi the rise ol' llic city to a ])lace oi coniniaiidin^' iiifliiciic* in the new world oi' the Pacific, and tlie dawn of a new era in the develo])inent of the vast region which traces the l)e,i;iiniin^s ot its history to tliis spot, the time has come when San Die.uo can no longer atl'ord to he carek'ss of its past, any more than it can afford to neglect its future. And it is (juitc undeiiiahle that San Diego has been careless of its past. Not only so, Init it lias tamely actjuiesced in similar carelessness on tlu' i)ai"t of those whose business it is to record the truth of histon- and to preserve the priceless evidences of civilized man's earliest dominion on these shores. Even the name of Cabrillo is but little known^to American school children, still less to general readers. What is yet more strange, the name of this historic man is neglected by the com- pilers of encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries. You may consult standard works of reference Avithout discovering the man who discovered California. Sir Francis Drake has been more fortunate and reaped a larger renown for a perform- ance of less value, as historical values are usually reckoned. San Diego owes it to its own fame, as well as to Cal^rillb's, to celebrate the achievement of the pioneer navigator and to erect a splendid memorial in his honor. As Farragut stands guard in JMadison Scpmre, and as Colonel Shaw yet marches among his men in St. Claudens' noble monument fronting the Boston State House, so Juan Rodri([uez Cabrillo should look njion the faces of })assing generations of Calif ornians in one of the i)ul)- lic places of San Diego. The Old Presidio Hill, overlooking Old Town, should be j)er- petually presei'ved and made the object of sacred and loving care, for ui)on that hill the first home and the first church Avere builded, and there the music of the mission bell first broke the silence. The hand of decay, now lying so heavily upon the Mission establishment which dominated San Diego and its surroundings for seventy years, should be sharply arrested, for the complete obliteration of that eloquent ruin is unthinkable to men and women who have any reverence for the ])ast. The battle-field of San Pasqual should be marked in some appropriate way; and there are a score of other simple acts which should be performed by a i)eo])le who stand between the past and the future and wdiose obligations extend to both. Most important and beautiful of all, at some sightly ooini in the great park, a noble monument should be reared by Protest- ant hands to the memory of the Catholic Fathers. Through th(^se pages, I trust it is given me to speak not only to a present citizenship, but to a future citizenship who shall hereafter dwell upon the sunny slopes of San Diego and come 24 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO into a great licril.iLiv of memories niid .-lehievemeiit. And to the men and women ot a later tinu^ as to those of today, 1 wouhl say: Guard well the City's fame, and the fame of' the men whose toils and sacrifices gave it birth. ^ MEDALLION GIVEN AN INDIAN GIRL BY FATHER SERRA PART FIRST Period of Discovery and Mission Rule CHAPTER I. THE SPANISH EXPLORERS iTAXl) uixiii the lieitihts in the sunny jifteriioon and turn your eyes to the dazzling waste of Sir'Ii ^\'fitei's, and, with the slightest exercise of rX^ imagination, you may see them yet — those \5 I Spanish ships that crept up the coast, then headed tor the Silver Gate, in September, 1542. Quaint craft they were, with their round bows and square sterns and their poop decks rising in the air, so that they seemed about as high as the\' were long. Although small when compared with the standards of today — only three or four hundred tons — there was a certain grandcTir about them which does not attach to the modern liner. Somehow, they suggested the poverty-stricken Spanish gentle- man who manages to keej) his pomp and pride on an empty stomach. For there were paint and gold, carvings and embla- zonr\' of armorial bearings, but there was probably very little to eat, especially in the forecastle. It is a marvel that they could make long voyages in those days. The ships were clumsy, hard to handle, capable of carry- ing but a small spread of canvas in anything a])proaching a strong breeze, and sailed sidewise almost as well as forward. They seemed to invite every peril that goes with the sea. Be- sides, the lack of condensed foods, of facilities for refrigera- tion, and of sanitary knowledge, entailed hardship and privation upon those who set out upon long voyages into regions of the earth but vaguely knowai. It is little wonder that sailors died like flies from causes which were comprehensively charactei'ized as scurvy, though in many cases the ti-ouble was simply starvation. And yet those two ships which had pitclied and rolled along their uncertain way from ^Mexico made a brave sight as they swept in upon the smo(^th waters of San Diego Bay and dropped their anchors under the sheltei- of Point Loma. They wei'c the first ships that ever rested on those waters — the San Salvador and tlie Victoria — and a new era liad dawned upon the world of the Pacific when Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo. a Portuguese luivigator in the service of S])ain, looked up and down the bay, around the encircling shores, and 28 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO llicii l(> the hills and iiioiiiilaiiis tlia1 make the nol)le baek- yromid. It was the last act in the great drama of Spanish diseuverv which began with ("oliimbus fift\- years before. A train of events in which lie had no part made Cabrillo the star per- former and placed in his hand the lanrel of lasting renown. Hernando Cortes had set his heart on exploring the mystei-ions land which lay to the north of ^Mexico and was popularly believed to be India. He had expected that this would be the crowning glory of his career, but Charles Y. was unwilling to see the figure of Cortes grow larger, lest he sliould set up an empire of his own and divide the glory of Spain. Thus it happened that ^lendoza was made Yiceroy of the Spanish pos- sessions in the New AVorld and Cortes returned to complain to the King. He never saw New Spain again, and his dream of northern exploration vanished forever. One of his former lieutenants, Pedro de Alvarado. had cherished the same ambition and proceeded to l)uild ships as a means of carrying it into effect. He was in favor with the court and with Mendoza, and thus enabled to proceed with his plans. But Fate did not intend that Alvarado should realize the dream of Cortes and become the discoverer of a northern realm. He was drawn into a war with the ]\Iixton Indians in jMexico and killed while assaulting one of their strongholds. Thus it happened that Cabrillo sailed northward from Nativ- idad, Mexico, on June 17, 15-I2, on the long-deferred voyage of discovery. Fortunate, indeed, is the discoverer in the quality of his fame. The achievement of the soldier, of the scholar, of the statesman, of the founder of institutions may be surpassed in subsequent times and relegated to comparative obscurity by those who achieve even more greatly ; but the claim of the dis- coverer cannot be superseded. His distinction endures with the lands he brought .to light and gains with their growth thi'ough the centuries. California is yet in its infancy, so that it may be said that the daj- of Cabrillo 's greatest glory will come in the future. The historic sailor knew a good harbor when he saw it and was the first of a long line of mariners to realize that the l)a>- of San Diego is a spot favored by nature and destined foi- great things. "A land-locked and very good hai'bor," he called it. and gav(^ it the name of San Miguel. On the very day of his arrival, he sent a small boat "farther into the port, which was large." AVhile it was anchored "a very great gale blew from the southwest," Imt this did not disturb the boat ;nul its occupants. "The purl being good, we felt nothing," says the nai-rative, which is onl\- too meager. CABRILLO AND THE INDIANS 29 SHIP OF CABRILLO'S TIME "The ships were clumsy, hard to handle, capable of carrying but a small spread of canvas in anything approaching a sti-ong breeze, and sailed side-wise almost as well as forward." The explorer sent a party ashore to replenish his supply of water. They landed on Point Loma and followed the river channel until they found a pool. It was the driest season of the year, and then, as now, the San Diego River was a little short of water at that season. It was late in the day when the pai'ty set out, and dark when they started to return. Tliey chanced upon the shores of False Bay and looked in vain for the ships. The mistake was natural enough under the circum- stances, and the traveller who approaches the city by rail generally falls into the same error of mistaking False Bay for the true bay of San Diego when he catches his first glimpse of the country. The sailors camped for the night, but were found early the next morning by another party and guided back to the ships. It was not long before the Indian inhabitants discovered the presence of the strangers. Word of the extraordinary event must have passed rjijudly from moiitli to montli. nnd doubtless 30 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO the sloi-y of it \\;is luiiidcd down I'roiii i'jitlicf to son t'oi' iiintiy a long year. In the account of the voyage written l)y one of Ca1)rillo's companions, and translated and })nl)]ished hy the Government in a report of the United States Geographic Sur- veys in 1879. this interesting statement appears: And the following day, in the morning, tiierc eame to the shi|) three large Indians, and by signs they said that there were traveling in the interior men like ns, with heards, and clothes JUAN RODRIQUEZ CABRILLO Who discovered the Bay of San Diego in September, 1542, and first explored the coast of California and armed like those of the ships, and they made signs that they carried cross-bows and swords, and made gestures with the right arm as if they were throwing lances, and went rnn- ing in a postnre as if riding on horseback, and made signs that they kiihd many of the native Indians, and that for this they were afraid. This people are well disposed and ad- vanced; they go cov^ered with the skins of animals. Cahrillo I'cmaiticd l)n1 six (hiys in the hay witli which his name will he forever associated. He took ohservations with su(!h imptM-fect instruments as he had and located the place THE SECOND EXPLORER 31 ill Ijililiidc ;U 20' Xorth. (The true Ijililiidc is. of coufse, 'S2^ 41' 57.6".) This mistake led to some embari-assmeiit in Intel' times wlicii olhcf luiviiiatoi's tried to find the hMrboe I)y means of Cahi'iHos iiolcs. 'I'he discoverer saiU^d away for the North, where he died Toiii- iiioiitlis later, or Januaiy 3, 1543, in constMiuenec ol' ;i t;ill i>ii mii island wiiieli his ('oiii|);iiiioiis lumied in his honor, ".Juan lvodri(|ue/.. " With liis last words, he directed his party to iio forward with the oi'iuinal plan of exploration. His ^I'ave has never been identified, bnl il is interesting to reflect that liis dnst is mingled willi (lie soil which he discovered. The accounts of Calirillo's acliievement slowly percolalc'd to Spain by way of Mexico, but if they produced any exciteuKUif it was successfully restrained for a period of nearly two ;gen<'i'a- tions. In these days, when the news of a fresh mineral discovery sends thousands rushing into the desert on automobiles,g0r to the frozen wastes of the Far North in swift steamships, it woidd seem that hnman nature in the Sixteenth Century iiuist have been ditferent if it could receive the news of the discovery of a land lilce California without feelinii' an irresistible impulse of adventure. The difference, however, was not one of hnman nature, bnt of facilities for spreading' informal ion and for transporting men and supi)lies across distances relalively greater than any now known in all the spaces of the world. The development of new countries waits npon events. Not in that time did events call for the utilization of the resources of the Pacific. Fortunately, nature provides an ample margin of resources for the needs of successive generations. When there are no more lands to be discovered, the genius of dis- covery seeks other chainiels of expression, and men find new and better ways in which to use lands already in their posses- sion. Th(^ discoverer is with us yet, and he will be with those wlio come after us; l)iit he <'xplores the realms of science, or makes his perihnis way to new continents of thought, and so he widens man's dominion of the universe. It was exactly sixty years before the ships of civilization again appeared ofi" the coast of Southern California. Charles V. passed away without any serious attempt to colonize and develop the region, l)iit dur-ing the reign of his son and suc- cessor. l*hilip II., the jiossibilities of the peninsula of Low(>r California, and of the northern regions known as Alta Cali- fornia, were much in the royal mind. It is easy to understand why nothing was accomplished. Philip, Imsy with his European polities and with the terrors of the In(|uisition, liad neithei- time nor money to expend npon the conqm^st of the wildei-ness. Such efforts as were made came to nothing, bnt when, in ir)98. a merciful providence removed the royal fanatic fi-om his blood- 32 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO stained lliruiie, Philip III. iiimiediately took steps to improve the Spanish possessions of what is now the Pacific Coast of tlie Pnited States. Don Sebastian Yiscaino was chosen as Captain-General of the expedition and sailed on i\Iay 5, 1602, from the port of Acapnk'o. willi two ships and a frigate, together with a small vessel to ])e nsed in exploring shallow waters. He was accom- panied by three religions Carmelites, one of whom. Friar SAN DIEGO DE ALCALA From whom the Bay and region derived their name Antonio de la .Vseensioii, became the jonrnalist of the expedi- tion and wrote an acconnt of the voyage, which extended to the norllicni cojist of California. Viscaino pursned liis leisurely course northward, stopping at several points in liower California, and found himself at the pictures(iue islands which rise abruptlA' from the sea oft" San Diego on November 5, 1602, precisely six nioiitlis after leaving Acapulco. He gave the islands the name wliicli they still bear, the Coronados. It was November 10 when his Meet saiU'd into tile harbor which no white man, save Cabrillo and his com- THE POINT LOMA FOREST 33 pjinioiis, li.id visited before. A survey of the harbor was im- mediately midei'takeii, for Vise;iino was l)ent on ()btainini>' ex- aet iiiforiiuition <)s far as it was possible with the faeilities at his eonnnand, and he was able to leave several maps which con- stituted ;i very valuable contribution to the geographical knowledge of the time. It was he who gave the port its present name, though many people suppose that the name originated with the mission which was estal)lished more than a century and a half later, and others suppose it was derived from St. .James of the Bil)l(!. Because his survey was either begun or ended on November 12 — no one knows exactly which, though the former seems more probable — and because that was the day of Saint James of Alcala (San Diego de Alcala) Viscaino gave the port the name of San Diego. It would be pleasant to linger on the virtues of this saint, whose best monument is the San Diego of today; but space forbids the digression. Born in a hamlet of the Archlushopric of Se- ville, Spain, in 1400, he died on November 12, 1463, and was buried in the chapel of his monastery near Toledo, Spain. Ilis sainthood was won l)y a life of loving service, and may well inspire the cit}- Avhich bears his name to loft.v effort in behalf of hunuinity. On the day after his arrival the Cai)tain-General organized a party to survey a forest lying "on the Northwest side of the Bay," — evidently Point Loma. The party was in charge of Ensign Alarcon, and included Captain Pequero, Father Antonio de la Ascension, and eight soldiers. In this forest they found ' ' tall and straight oaks and other trees, some shrulis resemljliug rose- mary, and a great variety of fragrant and wholesome plants." The identity of the spot with I'oint Loma is further confirmetl by the re])ort that "the hi^h ground commanded a view of the whole harbor, which api)eared spacious, convenient, and well sheltered," and by the further statement that "to the North- west of the wood is another harbor," which doubtless refers to False Bay. The forest is described as liordering on San Diego Bay and its dimensions are given as "three leagues in length and half a league in breadth." The existence of anything apiu'oaching a noble forest on the slopes and top of Point Loma in 1602 is a matter of unicpie interest, in view of the fact that nothing of the sort is found toda\'. But the story is unquestioned by the oldest settlers: indeed, those with Avhom I have talked confirm it and furnish some evidence to sustain the vi(>w. Thus Ephraim AV. Morse said : ATmha' Yonrs ngo I saw in the posspssinn of tlio Into ^\v. Hns- worth of San Diogo. a piece of an old book in tlio Si>anis]i language which gave an account of Viscaino 's visit to,- and 34 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO his survey of, the Bay of 8aii Diego iu 16U2. It had neither title-page nor date; consequently I do not know its author. It is stated that at the time of Visoaino's visit there was quite a large grove of oak trees on the slope of the hill on the north side of the bay and flat now known as Eoseville, and ex- tending around the point towards the North Bay, which is now called False Bay, and that the valley of the San Diego River from opposite where Old Town now stands, as far up as could be seen from the top of the hill, was a dense wil- low grove, and that at high tide the waters of the North and South Bays met. It further stated that while the bay was l)eing surveyed, the sailors went uj) the point of the hill (I suppose about where Judge Robinson was buried) and sat under the oak trees, and washed and mended their clothes. And ^liss Marjiaret ^[aegregor, another old settler, says: "There is no doubt that Point Lonia was covered with trees I referring to Viseaino's time]. There are now old stnmps in the ground there, charred by fire, and the Indians used to dig them out for fuel. The Indians said there was once a heavy forest there, but that it was destroyed by fire. They were live oak stumps. They were not very large — about the same as the other trees on the Point. I would not call it timber. There was a good deal of it — the Point was covered with it." This testimony finds very strong corrol)oration in the follow- ing article published in the ISan Diego Ddibj World, June 12. 1S7::5 : The Gipsy yesterday brought into jiort Captain Bogart. In a conversation with that gentleman some very interesting reminiscences were developed. Captain Bogart first visited San Diego in the Black Warrior in 1834, 39 years ago. In those days the hills about the Playa, and indeed all around San Diego, were covered with a thick growth of oak, such as is found in the .Julian mountains now. This was the case, to a very great extent, when Captain Bogart came to San Diego in 1ious worship, and then proceeded to clean and taUow his sliips. His men were also busy yetting wood and watei', and a few were employed in keeping guard to prevent any sudden attack l)y the natives. They obtained water fi-om "a little island of sand," where they dug deep trenches. "During the flood." says the account, ''the water was fresh and good, but on the ebb, salt." Viscaino and his men saw nuich of the Indians during their brief stay and found them both interesting and friendly. On their tirst appearance they came in great numbers, armed with bows and arrows. For the most part, they were naked, but their skins were daubed with black and white. Father Antonio went forth to meet them, attended by six soldiers. They responded to his overtures for a peaceful conference. Presents were distributed by the Spaniards, and the Indians went away pleased with the visitors. It is related that " the kind of ])aiut they used looked like a mixture of silver and gold color; and on asking them by signs what it was, they gave them a piece of the metallic ore, from whence thej' made it." They also signified that they had seen men like the Spaniards in the interior. In return for the food and trinkets which were given them, the Indians left a good many skins of wild animals. The explorers were delighted with San Diego, and their expressions sound much like those of the tourist of today. They admired the beauty of the scene and appreciated the remark- able climate. They declared that the situation ottered "a fine site for a Spanish settlement." Of the mineral possibilities of the country Father de la Ascension wrote: "In the sands of the beach there was a great (luantity of marcasite, golden and spongy, which is a clear sign that in the mountains round the port there are gold-mines, because the waters when it rains bring it from the mountains." They also found in the sand masses of a gray light substance, which it was thouglit might be amber. Some very heavy l^lue stones with which, when powdered and mixed in water, the natives made shining streaks (111 their faces, were thought to be rich in silver-. l>ut most of all, the visitors were impressed during their ten days' stay, with the importance of San Diego as a natui-al sea- port. In their whole voyage they found no more perfect harbor, nor any place upon which nature had written more umnistak- 36 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO ably tlie prophecy of a great destiiij-. In fact, it may be truth- fully said that Viseaiuo and his chroniclers were the first San Diego ''boomers." And yet for a period of one hundred and sixty-seven years after this exploration, which added so richly to geographical lore, civilization held aloof from the tempting opportunity. For one hundred and sixty-seven years — what history was made elsewhere in that space of time ! — the sun rose and set, the seasons came and went, and the ocean roared along the shore, while this land, Avhich daring explorers had rescued from the unknown, slept in ])rimeval silence. The Indian ])a]^ooses that Father de la Ascension blessed in 1602 grew to manhood, and their children and children's children lived and passed away, before the white man came again with sword and cross to plant the first seed of institutions which were destined to take root and flourish. CHAPTER IT BEGINNING OF THE MISSION EPOCH T WAS in the year 1769 that Spain finally sot ready to reap where her explorers had sown generations before. Carlos III. was King, the Marquis de Croix, a man of great energy and enterprise, was Viceroy of New Spain, Don Joseph de Galvez was Visitador General. The royal order came for occupation of the ports of San Diego and iMonterey. xVnd it was high time. Spain could not hope to hold vast territories indefinitely by mere right of discover}', and both England and Russia had eyes upon the Pacific Coast of North America. It was the latter 's aggression which was most feared and which probably gave the specific impulse to the new movement. It is not, however, the name of king or statesman which survives in the popular imagination when the early settlement of San Diego, and the coast line which stretches north of it, is recalled, but the name of an immortal missionary. And it is a fine tribute to the quality of mind and heart which finds its expression in unselfish and loving service that this is so. But as I study the' records of the past it seems clear enough that it was the lust of empire far more than religious zeal which led to the pioneer plantings in California. This judgment is no reflection on the Missionary Fathers, who simply availed them- selves of a favorable political situation to accomplish designs unquestionabh' born of a high conception of duty to God and man. But if we seek the motive behind the movement, we find it when we ask ourselves the (|uestion : If the Spanish King had not wanted to hold California for the advantage of his empire, would it have been within the power of the Franciscans to found a line of missions from San Diego northward, and Ihns to lay the foundation-stones of an enduring civilization ? The (juestion must be answered in the negative, for the missionaries could not have supplied the necessary shijjs and soldiers nor the other provisions essential to the great undertaking. Put the cpiestion in another way and ask: If there had been no niissionai-ies. and if the Spanish King had still desii-ed to occupy the California coast, could he have done so with the men 49139 38 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO ;iii(l iiiini('\- ;t1 liis eonniiriiul .' Un(|uesti()ii;il)l\-, he ('oiild: but lie was wise ('iioii- might have been entirely diffcrenl. Tt might have been settled by Russians, or by Englishmen. or it might have slei)t on until a new nation — almost a1 1liat hour in 1ra^•ail on Ihe Atlantic Coast of North America — sent its pioneers across the plains and mountains to iiive a mnv and strange flau' to the breeze. MOTIVE FOR COLONIZATION 39 It is ti'iie, of coiii'se, tlinl Tor iiumy yt'ars the nii.ssionai'ies had urged the King' to hnid liis assistance to the conversion of the gentiles of the North, and that a Catholic nation like Spain, always intlnenced 1)\' Ihc Papacy, wonhl iiatiically give heed to the claims of the faith. l)Ut while this was douljtiess taken into account, it was clearly secondary to considerations of empire. Nevertheless, when the time foi- action came, a great man, garbed in the cassock of the pi'iest. stood ready to sow the seed of a harvest which men are now but beginning to reap. Junipero Serra was iil'ly-six yeai's ohi when the opportunity came to him. lie had l)eeu trained from childhood for the work he was to do. l>oi-n on the Mediterranean Island of ]\Iallorca, in the humblest circumstances, he was benevolent and devout even in his youth and seemed to have had no other thought than to do good. lie became a Franciscan friar at sixteen and the enthusiasm of the boy gradually evolved into the burning passion of the man for the salvation of souls. He sought the blackest midnight of ignorance that he might spread the light of his faith the most widely, and his (pu^st ])rought him to the North American Indian. For many years he labored in Mexico, among the Missions of the Sierra (lorda, and pene- trated to the farthest frontiei's. When he heard of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Lower Califoi'nia, lie feared that tlie Indians in that country would relapse into utter barbarism, and hastened to occupy the field before this calamity could occur. It was thus that Galvez found him on the gi-ound, ready to co- operate in the scheme of settlement and to raise the Cross under the protection of the sword. In October, 1768. the two leaders met at Santa Ana. .Mexico, to develop their plans in detail. It seems clear that (Jalvez was the master mind at the conference, l)ut that the priest as- sented heartily to all hjs suggestions. When they separated a perfect understanding had been reached and both proceeded to push the organization of the expedition with the utmost vigor. The early days of 1769 found plans wi^l advanced and the lioui- for the actual beginning of the movement close at hand. It was the work of Galvez to get the ships ready for the voyage and to direct the oryanization of the militarv parties who were to go by land and sea ; and the work of Father Serra to select the priests who were to go, some by sea and some by land, to engage in the founding of the new missions. There was nuu^h to be done in securing furniture, ornaments, and vestments for the churches which were to be established. It was arranged that these things, together with iiii|)l('nr'nts. live stock, yrain, and other food, should be taken from the old Jesuit establishments, now fallen into the hands of the Franciscans, and that with the 40 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO exception ol' the few artieles to l)e accepted as gifts, they should be religionsh^ repaid in kind. Thus the old missions were called upon to support the new, after the Jesuit custom. On January 9, ITGf), the San Carlos sailed from La Paz, after the performance of impressive religious ceremonies at which Father Serra presided. The iSaii Antonio sailed from San Jose del Cabo on February 15th, and the third vessel, the San Jose, followed many months later, but went to "the Fort of Missing Ships." It was never heard of again. The land parties went forward fi-oni })()ints where they had been assembled on the Peninsula in the month of March, one proceeding under the leadership of Governor Poi-tola, and the other under Captain Rivera. Father Serra had expected to go with Portola, but when the time came it found him suffering keenlv from an ulcerous sore on his foot, contracted during a long journey in Mexico the previous year. He was thus com- pelled to see the party start without him, Imt he followed soon after and overtook Portola on May 5th. The effort cost him nnich pain and lends a touch of real heroism to a journey which was otherwise unmarked by any special hardship. The sore was healed in a single night by an ointment of tallow and herbs such as was commonly applied to beasts, but tlie ointment was sup- plemented by his own prayers and his touching faith in their ef- ficacy. The cure was only partial : he suffered from the in- firmity to the day of his death. Very good accounts of the progress of the expedition, on l)oth land and water, were kept by several of the participants, includ- ing Father Serra himself. These have been preserved and made accessible to students, some of the most important of the trans- lation having been accomplished by Charles F. Lummis, the most competent and tireless student of early California history. But though the accounts are remarkably complete, it is not un- til the story reaches San Diego that they are of special inter- est to us. Although the San Antonio had sailed over a month later than the San Carlos, it was the first to arrive at its destination. Mis- led by Calirillo's error in placing the port two degrees farther no)'th than its true latitude, both ships went as far as Santa Barbara Channel and th(Mi turned south on discovering the mis- take. The San Antonio saih^d tlu-ough the Silver Gate and dropped anchor in the harbor, April 11th. Two of her crew had died, and many Avere ill. from scurvy. But the condition of the San Carlos, Avhich followed on April 29th, was very much worse. Only four sailors -were able to stand at their post and half the troops were also down -with the wretched disease. The men were just able to reach port and had no energy left to lower a boat find go ashore. Their plight was soon discovered by the THE DIARY OF COSTANSO 41 DIARIO HISTORICO DE LOS VIAGES.de MAR, Y TIER^RA ^ HECHOS AL NORTE DE LA CALIFORNIA - DE ORDEN DEL EXCELENTJSSIMO SFKOR MARQUES DE CROIX. Virrcy. Governador, y Capjtan General de U Nucva Elpanj: Y POR DIRECC'ON DEL ILLUSTRISSLMO SENOR D JOSEPH DEC ALVEZ Del Confejo, y Camara dc S. M. en cJ Supremo de Indias, Intcndente dt Exercito, Vifitador General de efts Reyno. Executados por U Tropa deftioada a aichoobjetoal maad© DE DON CASPAR DE PORTOLA* Capstan de Dragones eo cl Regiir.icnra de Efpana, y Goveraador en dicha Peniofula Y por tos Paqncbots e! S. Carim. y c! S. Antonio al mando DE DON VICENTE VILA, Piloto dcSNumtro deprirowos d; la Real Armsds, Y DE DON JUAN PEREZ, de la Navcgacioa de Philipioas, DE OJlDRN DEL EXGmo.Sr.. VIRREV, £f> !« ImptcaCis dci Superior Gobicrao. FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE PAGE OF THE COSTANSO Diary of the Spanish officer who served as historian of the expedition of 1769 42 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO c'ai)t;iin and cfcw of llic Smi Ai/IohIo, \\ lio i)i"oceeded to remove the sick sailors aiul soldiers to a rude lK)spital which they had improvised on the shore. Like the earlA' explorers, they were eliarmed with the port and its surroundings and soon became enthusiastic over the prospects of settlement. "A country of joyous aspect." they called it, and no one lias im^jrovcd upon the phrase. One of the most valuable records of the time was tliat left 1)\- Costanso, a civil engineer and cosmographer of the expedition, who came on the San Carlos. He gives an interesting account of the Indians, who were pi-esent in large runribers to witness what nuist have l)een a most exciting scen(^ for them — the ar- rival of the first white settlers. The Indians were very shy, at first, but it seemed al)solutely necessary for the Spaniards to make their acquaintance without delay, since they had ui'gent need to obtain a fresh supply of water. The water question ap- I)ears early in the annals of San Diego, and stays late ! The Indians were finally induc(Hl to i)arley and, after pres- ents had been distributed among them, undei-took to show the strangers where they could find a fiowing stream. "They went a matter of three leagues," says Costanso, "until they arrived on the l)anks of a river hennncd in on either bank by a fringe of willows and cottonwoods, very leafy. Its channel must have been twenty varas wide [about 55 feet] and it discharges into an estuary which at high tide would admit the launch and made convenient the accomplishing of taking on of water." This was, of course, the San Diego River, and it is evident that there luid been a fair rainfall in the Winter of 1769. A good-sized Indian village was found in the valley, and Costanso leaves us this item of society gossip: ''These natives are of good figure, well-built and agile. They go naked without more clothing than a girdle of ixtle or very fine maguey fiber, woven in the form of a net." After a better acquaintance with them, he drew this pictui-e of the Indians : ' ' They are of haughty temper, daring, covetous, great jesters and braggarts; although of little valor, they make great boast of their powers, and hold the most vigorous for most valiant. They greatly crave whatsoever rag; but when we have clothed different ones of them on repeated occasions, they would present themselves the following day stark naked." The temporary pest house or hospital erected for the accom- modation of the sick sailors stood at Avhat is now the foot of IT street. It was a rude affair, made of canvas. A third of those who had come on the San Carlos died l)efore the ravages of the scurvy were stayed. They were buried there, aiul henceforth the place was known on the Spanish charts of the harboi- as Punta de los ^luei-fos. (ir Dead Man's Point. ARRIVAL OF LAND PARTY 43 It was oil the 14th of May that Captain Kivcra arrived with the lirst hmd party. This consisted of twenty-five sokliers, from llic I'i'csidio (>r l.iM-i^lo; Father .Iiiaii (Jrespi, Jose Canizares, who had l)een tlesi^natetl to write a diary of the land 1i-ip, thi-ee nndeteers, and a biind of converted natives who had been drawn from one of the missions in the Sonlh. Tlie natives were bronchi along for the purpose of performing the drudgei'.w The part\- had been lifty-one days on the march without incui-ring any special hardship. As the\- a[)i)roached San Diego they met many of the gentile Indians, and when they came in sight of the ships and camp they were welcomed by a salute of fire-arms. Rivera proceeded at once to establish a jnore permanent camj). moving it froin the present site of the city to the neighborhood of what is ]iow' known as Old Town, in ordei* to be near the rivei-. The exact location of tliis first attempt at a permanent camp is not entirely clear. Costanso says it was on the "right bank of the river," and, if he used the term as it is now understood, he must have referred to the north bank of the stream. There is a tradition in Old Town to the effect that the camp was on the north side, though the more general impression seems to l)e that it was on the south side, not far from the famous old palms. The camp was fortified, a few rude huts built, and a corral made for the animals. Here the whole party was busy for six w'eeks, at- tending the sick and unloading supplies from the San Antonio. It was here that the second land ])art\- found them when it reached San Diego at the end of June. Governor Portoh'i ai'- rived June 29th in advance of his men, and Father Serra .iust before noon, July 1st. Besides the leaders, the party included nine or ten soldiers, four muletc^M's, two sei'vants of the (Gov- ernor and the President, aiid forty-four natives of Lower Cali- fornia. The personal letter which Father Serra sent to Father Pahm, his intimate friend and biographer, supplies an account of the expedition which will always be regarded as one of the most precious memorials of San Diego history. The letter in full is as follows : Mv Dear "Friend and Sir: Thank God I arrived the day before vestefday, at this port of San Diego, truly a fine one, and with reason famous. Here T found those who had set out before me, by sea as well as by land, excepting such as died on the way. The brethren. Fathers Crespi, Vist-aino, Parro. and Gomez are here and, with myself, all well, tlianks be to God. Here also are two ves- sels; but the .S'rtH Carlos is without seamen, all having died ex- cept one and the cook. The San Antonio, although she sailed a month and a half later, arrived twenty days Ixfoie the Son Cfirhis, losing on the voyage eight S(>:im('n. In consequence of this loss, tile Sdii Anhiuio will return lo San TJlas, to priK^.irc 44 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO seamen for herself and the San Carlos. The causes of the delay of the San Carlos were, first, the want of water, and, second, the error which all were in respecting the situation of this port. They supposed it to be in thirty-three or thirty-four degrees north latitude; and strict orders were given to Captain Vila and the rest to keep out in the open sea till they should arrive in thirty-four degrees, and then make the shore in search of the port. As, however, the port in reality lies in 32 deg. 43 min. according to observations which have now been made they went far beyond the port, thus making the voyage much longer than was necessary. The jieople got daily worse from the cold FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA The immortal missionary who founded the settlement of San Diego, in co-operation with Spanish governor and soldier, Portola and the bad water; and they must all have perished, if they had not discovered the port about the time they did; for they were quite unable to launch the boat to procure more water, or to do anything whatever for their preservation. The Fatlier Fernando did everytliing in his power to relieve the sick; and although he arrived much reduced in flesh, he had not the dis- order, and is now well. We have not suffered hunger or priva- tions, nor have the Indians who came with us; all have arrived fat ;ind healthy. The tract through which \vc have jiassed is generally very good land, with plenty of water; and there, as well as here, the THE PIONEER SETTLEMENT 45 country is neither rocky nor overcome with brushwood. There are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The road has been in many places good, but the greater part bad. About half way, the valleys and banks of rivulets beg;'n to be deliglitful. We found vines of a large size and in some cases quite loaded with grapes; we also found abundance of roses, which appeared to be the same as those of Castile. In fine, it is a good country and very different from that of Old Califor- nia [meaning the Peninsula]. We have seen Indians in immense numbers; and all those on this coast of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsis- tence on various seeds and by fishing; this they carry on by means of rafts or canoes made of tule [bulrush], with which they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, old and young, go naked; the women, however, and even the female children, were decently covered from their breasts downwards. We found in our journey, as well as in the places where we stopped, that they treated us with as much confidence and good will as if they had known us all their lives; but when we offered them any of our victuals, they al- ways refused them. All they cared for was cloth; and only for something of this sort would they exchange their fish or whatever else they had. From this port and intended mission of San Diego, in North- ern California, 3rd July, 1769. I kiss the hands of your Eever- ence, and am your affectionate broth(*r and servant. Fr. Junipeko Skrra. Between the lines of this remarkable letter glows the optimism of the great missionary, and something of that enthnsiasm foi;^ the region and its possil)ilities which is felt by all who come within its influence. If nothing save this letter had come down to us from the memorable summer of 1769, we should not have been left in ignorance of the fate of the expedition, nor of the aspect of the country and its inhabitants. With the arrival of Father Serra, the great project of Galvez scored its historic success, a fact which reflected the highest credit upon the man Avho had planned it to the last detail. Tie never saw the country himself, l)ut he set the forces in motion which saved it for his king and his flag, at least for a time, and thus he deserves lasting remembrance among the fathers of California. The success of his plans in uniting the four branches of the expedition at San Diego furnished a base from which the larger scheme of settlement could be carried along the coast. The Avork of establishing a real settlement began with the least possible delay. The place selected was "a point of middling height," as Costanso called it. a hill overlooking OUl Town now known as Presidio ITill, on the site of an Indian village called "Cosoy." Standing there today upon the ruins, one can well understand why this spot was chosen and cannot fail to admire the .iudgment which dictated the choice. It is conve- niently located both as to the harbor and as to the indispensable i «t*ex* v"<><«- Lc^if .'!'^J-'^-''- ■ -v^-^^^ / ^^ /n^r./«*r7, y^^^ ^^^.:^ .^sa^^, ^^^-^^ .^ ..'j:,..^ ^^7 ■ffiAe ,'^^:-**r:f Axr. <-'/.• .-f'^' to .^N Kyt v« <-^rrr mj^^/ia p^fc ^slx ?/2aji ,deJa.^^'-'.i 7'/''>^ />*t^-'^<-'!''i'n'.'y c::ic.f>''^^*^•'■f^Iy■x,t^ ^,x .-.^**«? ,^/ 4,,^-/-...v .1- ,' , '-,'. ' _..•/_.. V '!?■•;.■ -■••'; •.-^; r^'- >7/>#« >»7«4" %v/^«>•"/-■'*•-^=i.-'i''^■"--<•"' ''''^-" .i4--*t-''"x . i?<*^.f' •• - cull A»ft»S^tuo- tie-'. ■■■•- ^. •»,<,/>/ '';y« *=»'* .-^.i*-*-*^ - v.v^^^o -'•<•/>«.- *»1^c'>£^.'*nj'A.'.' Cox. . '/it^ /'•.•.l*.; ^/><'»*? ^/ic ,5r^jiU.,'"!'^-;r--' " FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM THE DIARY OF FATHER SERRA, 1769 FIRST MISSION DEDICATED 47 water in llic rivci-. jiiid it ('(HiiiiiaiKls the vnlK'v on one hand, and the shore of the bay, on the other, so as to be reasonably safe from attack from either of tliose directions. It was easy to for- tify, and it has a sightly outlooiv upon land and sea. The soil is deep and I'ieh, and therefore well adapted to support the gardens and orchards wliicli are always a ])art of missi(m establishments. Ilei-e, in the space of little more than two weeks, rude earth- works were tlirown up as the nucleus of a presidio or fort, houses that were little mon^ llian huts were hastily constructed, and the lai-i^cst one set a])art as the mission ])uilding. Every- thing was ready on the 16th of July for the dedication of the first mission on the soil of California. It was named the Mis- sion of San Diego and the old record declares that it was built at the expense "of the Catholic monarch, Don Carlos III., King of . Spain, whom God prosper, defrayed under most ample authority fi-om his Excellency, Don Carlos Francisco de Croix, ]\Iarques de Croix, present Viceroy, Governor, and Captain- General of this New Spain, by the most Illustrious Don Joseph de Galvez, of the Council and Chambei- of his Majesty in the royal and supreme of the Indies, Intendent of the Army, and Visitador General of this New Spain, In' the religious of said Apostolic College, San Fernando of Mexico." The ceremonies attending the dedication were as elaborate and pompous as circuinstances permitted. The military and naval officers were on hand with their troops, who strove to make up in dignity what they lacked in numbers. Father Serra and his priests ])erformed their part with the utmost reverence and solemnity, praying that they might "put to flight all the hosts of hell and subject to the mild yoke of our holy faith the bar- barity of the gentile Dieguinos." The Cross was raised, the royal standard thrown to the breeze, incense sent up from a tem- porary altar, and, from the branches of a convenient tree, the mission l)ell rang out upon the stillness of the valley. This was the true natal day of San Diego — July 16, 1769. The life of the settlement dates from that moment. Presidio Hill, with its mouldering, tile-strewn ruins, is historic ground and should be preserved as such, forever. It is the birthplace (»f civilization on the Pacific Coast of the Fiiited States, CHAPTER III THE TAMING OF THE INDIAN ATI1P:R SERRA and his associates now stot)d at the thresliokl of their real work — the tani- FV^YI ing- of the Indian — and a stnpendons task it jjv\ nnist have seemed, even to the optimistic 2)\\ minds of the missionaries. They were a long distance from any reliahle base of supplies, and the means of' comnnmieation were most uncertain. The country itself produced prac- tically nothing, as yet, for their sul)sistence. The climate, of course, was glorious, l)ut it has been proved again and again that men cannot live on climate, even in San Diego. Water and fuel they had in abundance, and supplies to last them a few months ; Init beyond this they nuist create the situation which shoidd make permanent settlement possible. In order to do so successfully, the^^ nmst convert the Indian in a double sense, for it was not enough to bring him to the foot of the Cross ; he must also be converted to haluts of industry and made a useful mem])er of civilized society. No one but an enthusiast like Junipero Serra, equipped with a fund of experience in sim- ilar work, could possibly have contemplated the undertaking with anything like confidence in the result, and even the stout heart of that great teacher and lover was sorel^y tried before the seed took root and began to tloui'ish. The Indians who swarmed about the bay of San Diego were, apparently, as poor material as ever came to the social mill. All the early observers, except the missionaries, spoke of them with contempt. Humboldt classed them with the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land, who, of all human beings, seemed nearest to the brute. Neither physically nor intellectually did they com- ])are with the Indians of Eastern America nor with those whom the settlers encountered in the region of the jMississippi and its tributaries. No one' ever called the San Diego Indian ''the noble red man." for he was neither nolih^ nor red, but a covetous, thievish, and sneaking creatnre, of a brownish complexion, some- thing like the soil. There were no orators among them and, it is to l)e feared, very few brave men, for when they fought they acted like a pack of cowards. They never attacked an enemy exce]»1 ill overwhelming numbers, and they ran like so many HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO 49 ('Ills Ix'loic' llic snap oi' a wiiip llic iikmiiciiI their eiiciiiy obtained a jiKiinciitary advantaiie. It is iiiii)l('asaiit lo speak harshly of Itic poor cfcatvires, but no jnst a,i)preciation of wliat the missioiiai-ics a('eoiiii)lislied iu later years can l)e had unless we heiiiti wilh a true estinuite of the human material they had lo deal witli iti huihling their institutions. It was very pooi- material, and the Mission Fathers did exeeedinu'ly well in moiildinu' it into some semlilanee of civilization. The Indians had their homes in iiide Inits, made of sticks and mnd, and generally grouped in \illages. Some ol' these villages were large, containing hundreds of huts, with a population which often reached a thousand oi* moi-e. They were governed by heredi tary chiefs, with a captain in each village. Thc\yjiad some simi)le laws, wliich were made from time to time to meet conditions as they arose, and the death i)enalty was inflicted for cei'taiu crimes. The method of execution was shooting with arrows. Prisoners of war were cruelly tormented in the pres- ence of the assembled chiefs. Marriage cjistoms were quite sim- ilar to those now common among Southwestern Indians, and pun- ishment for infidelity fell exclusively upon the wife. They had a vague, instinctive belief in a supreme being, and they showed much reverence for certain animals. The owl. for example, was held in esteem, and the porpoise was regarded as an intelligent being, intrusted with the duty of guarding the world. The men went naked, but the women wore some clothing, for sake of decency, yet furnished scant patronage for the dress- maker. They wore a single garment of deer skin, or were clad in braided strands of rabbit skins, which hung to the knees. Frequently the garment was adorned with bright beads or grasses, for even Indian women had some concern foi- their appearance and desired to make themselves attractive. They A painted, of course, after their own fashion, smearing their faces M with colored nuid. — -J The Indian diet cannot be recommended, for they were fond of rats^Tound-owls and snakes, and regarded a large, fat lo- cust, roasfed on a stick, as a imrticular delicacy. They caught plenty of fish, and knew how to cook them; and they had all sorts of game, together with many things which grew w'ild in the vegetable kingdom. On the whole, they lived pretty well, and it was the life of one large family, genei-ally quite peace- ful, but sometimes marred by fierce tribal wars. The San Antonio had sailed for San Bias on -Inly Oth, leav- ing the San Carlos iu the harbor to await its return with sea- men to take the places of those who had fallen by scurvy and now slept in the sands along the shore. Portola had marched northward to Monterey on the 14th. The little settlement was FAMOUS PALMS OF OLD TOWN Planted at the foot of Presidio Hill (which appears in background) in 1769, and unquestionably the first palms ever planted in California GLOOMY DAYS ON THE HILL 51 jiloiic ill llic wilderness. Tlici-e were forty persons, all told, in- clnding priests, soldiers, sick sailors, and Indians from Lower California. With the dedication of the Presidio and the Mission, the first institntions had been established in what is now the State of California. These institutions were typical of Spanish civiliza- tion — the soldier and the priest working side by side, but al- \\'ays wiih the sword above the Cross in point of authority-. It was essentially a. military government, and the commandant was empowered to deal out justice, civil and criminal. The San Diego garrison was always i^itiably weak and could never have protected the Spanish title to the country against any serious attack. In fact, the whole military establishment along the coast, aftei- the four districts of San Diego, Santa Barbara, ^lonterey, and San Francisco had been organized, was a mere shell, with less than two hundred soldiers. There were, in ad- dition, a few mechanics and numerous native laborers. Each soldier had a broadsword, lance, shield, musket, and pistols, to- gether with six horses, a colt, and a nuile. As settlement in- creased, the carrying of the mails l)etween the missions was the most arduous and useful service the soldiers performed. Father Serra and his associate minister. Father Parron, found it very difficult to make Indian converts. It was no task to assemble the natives, for they swarmed to Presidio Hill in such large numbers as to become a nuisance. They had well-de- veloped bumps of curiosity and were persistent beggars, but. fortunately, they were afraid of the strangers' food. They would have none of it, for they imagined it was the food the Spaniards ate which made so many of them sick. It is dread- ful to think what would have happened to the white men if the Indians had liked their food as much as their cloth and trinkets — they would have been eaten out of h(mse and home! As it was, the Indians became so obnoxious that trouble could not be avoided. They tried to plunder the San Carlos, and it was necessary to keep a guard constantly on board to |)rotect the ship. The trouble reached its acute stage on August 15th, when the new settlement was a month old. It was a feast-day and Father Parron was saying mass on the ship, with a guard of two sol- diers. During his absence, the Indians burst into the ^lission and proceeded to strip the clothing from the beds of the sick. Four soldiers rushed to repel them, but they were greeted with a volley of arrows. A boy was killed — he was Jose Maria Vegerano, the first person of white blood to die a violent death in San Diego — and the blacksmith was wounded. Serra and his fellow-priest. Yiscaino. had just finished mass and Avere sitting together in the hut. Yiscaino rose to shut the door *» "-"e^ 52 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO and received an arrow in the hand at the moment when the boy staggered in and fell dead at Serra's feet. The four sol- diers gave the Indians a volley of nmsket-balls and the black- smith fonght like a demon. The Indians ran away, notwith- standing their superior nnml)ers. but they had the assurance to return soon and request medical aid for their wounded. The Indians had made the acquaintance of gunpowder and it did them good, for they behaved much better after that ad- venture. Nevertheless, the good Fathers had the wisdom to erect a stockade around the Mission and to make a rule for- bidding the savages to come inside without first depositing their weapons. The Indians continued very neighborly, yet none embraced the faith. This does not seem remarkal)le in view of the fact that the missionaries could not converse with them in- telligil)ly. having to rely wholly- upon sign language at first. Even when one of their men had mastered the savage tongue sufficiently to act as interpreter, they were still unable to en- roll a single neophyte. So far as known, this was absolutely the most discouraging experience the missionaries had ever had, for nearly a year had passed without one conversion. But that was not the worst of it. Converts could wait but mouths must be fed. The supplies "were dwindling while sickness increased. Those were gloomy days on Presidio Hill — the Summer and Fall of 1760 — in s])ite of the smiling sky and genial atmos- phere. No converts, no progress toward cultivating the soil, no white sails on the horizon to tell of returning ships from ]\Iex- ico — nothing but sickness and death and the chill portent of coming disaster. Of the forty whom Portola had left when he marched away, nineteen died before he returned, and the sur- vivors were heartsick with the sad work of laying them in their graves. Of those who died, eight were soldiers, four sailors, six Indians, and one a servant. No Avonder the savages wanted none of their food ! On January 24. 1770, the disheartened party of twenty souls living within the stockade on Presidio Hill was startled by a discharge of musketry. It was Portola and his men, re- turning from their futile search for Monterey. But they brought small comfort for Father Serra. Portola had accomplished nothing in the North; he could not see that Serra had accom- l)lished anything in the South, and he declared that San Diego ought to be abandoned while there were yet supplies enough to enable the ]iarty to get back to civilization. Poor Junipero Serra was liearl-brolcen at the decision. He was not a soldier of Ibe llai:, seekini; 1o win t<'i-i'itory for liis King, but a soldier of the Cross, seeking to win souls for his God. He could not abandon the gentiles of California to the fate of the heathen THE COLONY SAVED 53 ;ni(l while lie acknowledged \ho woi-ldly wisdom of Portola's advice, there is every reason to believe that his own private decision was to stay at every cost and. if need be, to offer his life as a sacrifice on the altrir of tlic Mission of San Diegx). For Portola spoke from without, and Junipero Serra only obeyed the Voice Within. Nevertheless, preparations were made for the nb;indonmcnt, and IMarch 19th was fixed as the day for the foi-m;d ending of the work -which had been so auspiciously begun in the pi-e- vi(ms July. But one thing could save San Diego now — not only ScUi Diego, but California as well, for Galvez had planned the conquest of the whole coast. This one thing was the timely return of the San Antonio which had been so long awaited in vain that no one now expected it — no one, save the immortal priest. He went up to the hilltop on that fateful morinng and turned his eyes to the sea as the sun rose. All day long he watched the waste of waters as they lay there in the changing light. It was a scene of marvelous beauty, and, as he watched and prayed, Junijiero Serra doubtless felt that he drew^ very close to the Infinite. So devout a soul, in such desi)erate need, facing a scene of such nameless sublimity, could not have doubted that somewhere .iust below the curve of the sea lay a ship, with God's hand pushing it on to starving San Diego. And as the sun went down he caught sight of a sail — a ghostly sail, it seemed, in the far distance. Who can ever look upon the height above the old Presidio, when the western sky is glowing and twilight stealing over the hills, without seeing Father Serra on his knees, pouring out his prayer of thanksgiving ! Captain l^erez had made a quick trip to San Bias, but had been long delayed in his preparations for returning. His orders were to proceed to Monterey, where it was supposed Portola's men would be found in need of help, and it was the merest ac- cident which sent him to San Diego at the last moment when his arrival could save the colony. This accident Avas the loss of an anchor in Santa Barbara CUiannel and the consequent need of seeking a safe harbor. He had been told by the natives at Santa Barbara that the land party had passed south, but he would have gone to Monterey, nevertheless, in accordance with his strict orders, except for the loss of the anchor. Thus it haiipened that he reached the Bay of San Diego, four days after the missionary had caught the first glimpse of his blessed sail. The arrival of supplies and recruits changed the whole face of the situation. Portola thought no more of abandoning the settlement, and decided to renew the noi'thern exploration and the (piest for INIonterey. Father Viscaino went to Lower Cali- fornia to obtain live-stock and other necessaries. Father Serra 54 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO proceeded with liis work of missiou-building with a g^ad heart and renewed vigor. Presidio Hill was not destined to be the permanent seat of the mission establishment. The story of the two or three years immediately sncceeding the return of Captain Perez cannot be told with any fnllness, since all sonrces of infoi-niation are bar- ren on this period, and since the early mission records were destroyed by tire, but the fact that the mission was removed supplies convincing evidence that it was not prosperous. How- ever, some progress was made and there is good authority for the statement tliat in 1773 seventy-six converts had been enrolled and some material progress made. The live-stock at that time consisted of tlic foUoAving: forty cattle, sixty-four sheep, fifty- five goats, nineteen hogs, two jacks, two ])nrros, seventeen mares, three foals, nine horses, fcmr riding and eighteen pack mules — ■ a total of 283 animals. There was now no thought of abandoning the settlement. It had begun to take hold both of the natives and the soil, but there ^vere evidently imperative reasons for changing its location. One imi)ortant consideration was the fact that the presence of the soldiers seriously interfered with the work of interesting the Indians, both spiritually and industrially. A removal had been suggested by Commandant Pages in 1773, but Serra opposed it. Father Jaume, however, who was in charge of the mission, threw his influence in favor of the removal. He desired an atmosphere which should be wholly free from the distraction of the mili- tary, yet not so far removed from the Pi-esidio as to deprive him of protection. In his walks about the country he had discovered the ideal location. In fact, it must have suggested itself, for he had but to follow the river a few miles up the fertile valley to see where nature ]iointed with unerring finger to the very place which seems to have been created for his purpose. Standing now among the relics of that historic settlement, one can easily imagine the joy which must have filled the old mis- sionary's heart as he took in each detail of the scene and roughly outlined the work which his followers were to do. Junipero Serra was not himself the builder of the San Diego Mission, nor did he personally organize the work which was done there for a period of more than two generations. His was the genius which could conceive great projects, then set others at work to carry them out, inspired with his own confidence in the benefi- cent consequences of the Avoi-k. His name outshines those of all his contemporaries, for there were many lieutenants and an army of followers where there was l)ut one great leader who saw the end fr-om the beginning. "When any important work is accom])lis]ir(l, all who have a i)art in it are entitled to their share of credit; bnl i1 is llic man of liold conceptions. 1lie man (ni- SITE OF THE MISSION 55 (lowed wilti llic ci-calivc iiistiiid to iiiilijitc ui'cjil undertaking's and to set foires in motion to secure their exeeutioii, who changes the face of his times and takes high rank in human history. The spot selected foi' tlie i)ermanent mission is at)()ut six miles \\[) Ihe \alle.\- from the original settlement on Presidio Mill. It possesses every advantage, in tlie way of soil and water, of shel- tering hills and gentle climate, for an agricultural, industrial, and [)astoral establishment iindei- a patriarchal foi'ni ol" govern- ment, likt' that of the Mission Fathei-s. IT there was a di'aw- back. it was the fact that the rivei' did not furnish wa1er ;i1 all STATUE or FATHER SERRA AT MONTEREY seasons, and that some engineering skill and a large amount of labor were required to secure a reliable supply for the oi-chai'ds and gardens. A perennial stream would have been an improve- ment, yet the water problem was readily solved after a time l)y going a few miles u]) the river, l)uilding a <^ar the work proceeded prosperously, with a constant increase in the number of converts, with growing herds and increasing crops, and with Fathers Fuster and Jaume in charge of affairs. All was quiet as the hills and peaceful as the sunshine. The converted Indians seemed to enter more and more into the true spirit of the work. Thus the}^ celebrated the Feast of Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscan order, with every evidence of satisfaction, on October 3 and 4, 1775. On the first day the priests baptized sixty new converts, and on the next day Spaniards and Indians assisted in the solemn mass and procession and. later, joined in sport and Y>\ny. There were horse and foot races. The Span- iards gave exhibitions in the art of fencing and the Indians dis- phiyed their skill with bows and arrows. Evervliody seemed happy and nothing occurred to mar the harmony of the scene. And yet within a month of that time the Indians rose in revolt, the mission was wiped from the face of the earth, and the cause of the Franciscans received a staggering blow at the monnMit when its promoters felt entirely secure. There is no explanation of the event except the innate cruelty of the Indian character. They had received nothing but kind- ness from the missionaries. The soldiers had not attempted to oppress them. Those who liad accepted the new faith had been clothed and fed, while those who rejected the faith had been let alone. The Spaniards had been in the country for more than six years, and if the savages i-esented their ju'csence it took them a long time to discover their state of mind. Had they been a l)eople of any spirit they could have expelled ov ainiihilated the intruders at short notice ami killed the seed of civilization wherever it touched the soil. Instead, they acquiesced in the Spanish occupation, took all they could get from the mission- aries, and then, when they had fully established their friendly THE MISSION DESTROYED 57 clijii-jiclfr, turned into demons ;md sought to strike down the hand that was leading them from darkness to light. Such was the way of tlie Indian. A few days aftei" the feast, two of tlie new converts slyly left the mission and I'eturned to the mountains, where they pro- ceeded to agitate for a movement against the Spaniards, visiting one i'aneh(n'ia after another to urge an ujn-ising. They found most of the vilhiges eager foi' the adveiitui-e, though a few- declined to have any part in it. November 4, 1775, was fixed upon as the date for the attack, and large numbers of Indians wended their way toward the seaeoast to engage in the affaii*. The plan was to divide the forces and attack the mission and Presidio, which were six miles apart, simultaneously, and it was arranged that the firing of the mission should be the signal for the attack on the Presidio. The eagerness of the force assigned to the mission saved tlie l*residio, for the party which was headed down the vallex- saw the flames at the mission and rea- soned that the soldiers at the fort would be alarmed at the sight and thus prepared to resist attack. They overestimated the Spanish soldiei-s, who were sound asleep instead of standing faithfnll\- on guard; and they slept through that fateful night in blissful ignorance of the tragedy in progress a few miles up Mission ^'alle^^ The Indians, however, turned back and joined their comi)anions in the assault upon the mission buildings. Thus it happened that the savages were eight hundi-ed sti'ong wlien they stealthily surrounded the sleeping Spaniards — eight hun(h-ed sneaking cowards, marshaled for a battle against eight friendly whites under cover of midnight darkness! Surely, they should have made short work of them, yet when day dawned there were white men still alive in the mission and it was the savages who were fleeing, laden with dead and wounded. But is was an awful night up there in the shadow of the hills, where the stars looked down upon a scene which seemed eloquent of peace. The first move of the Indians was to surround the huts of the converts, waken them gently, and command them to remain quiet, on pain of instant death; the next, to invade the vestry and steal the church ornaments. Evidently, none of the Span- iards were troubled with insomnia, for these pi-eliminaries were accomplished without rousing them. Then the Indians snatched firebrands from the camp-fire which still burned in fi-ont of the guard-house and applied them to the building, which was soon enveloped in flames. At la.st, the savages were ready to ann(mnce their presence, which they did by sounding a horril>l(> war-cry with all the power of theii' eight hundred lungs. There were sleeping in the mission the two priests, Fathei-s Fuster and Jaume, two children who wcvo the son and nephew 58 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO of Lieutenant Ortega (then absent at Capistrano), four soldiers, two carpenters, and a blacksmith — eleven in all. but only eight who could tight, as one of the carpenters was eonlined to his bed with illness and the children could do little l)ut shriek. The soldiers got to work [)i-()]ii[)tly witii their nniskets and Father Fuster joined them in the guard-house, with the chil- dren. The blacksmith tried to do the same, but was killed in the attemi^t. Oiie of the carpenters succeeded in reaching the guard-house. ])ut the one who was contined to his l)ed was ter- I'ibly wounded and died the next day. "O Indian, them who hast killed me, imxy (lod pardon thee!" he exclaimed, and when he made his testament, the next morning, he left to the mission Indians his small savings and belongings. Could there be a more striking evidence of the lofty spirit with which the Fathers imbued those anmnd them than the Thristlike attitude of this dying cari)enter ? But it is Father Luis Jaiune who will stand out forever in boldest relief as men read the story of that terrible night. He was (juickly awakened and instantly understood wliat was hap- pening, yet he did not seek the shelter of the guard-house nor seize a weapon for defense. He walked straight to the nearest and wildest gi'ou]) of savages and, extending his arms and smil- ing a gracious gi-eeting, said: "Children, love God!" If there was ever a moment when the phrase, "Love God," meant "Love your fellow men," it was the moment when this saintly priest stood without feai' in th(^ midst of those howling demons. lie loved them and would not have harmed a hair of their heads, but they fell upon him in overwhelming numbers, dragged him down to the river, tore his clothes from his 1)ody, tortured and stabbed him, and left him a mutilated mass of unrecognizable flesh. In the meantime the six \mn\ and two children in the guard- house were fighting for their lives in the midst of roaring flames. The place became too hot for them, and they decided to move into a slight building adjoining, which served as a tem]iorary kilcheii. It had only three sides and was wide open to attack' Oh the olhei'. and through this o])en side came con- stant volleys of arrows, clubs, and firel)rands. To improve their situation, the defenders l)rought boxes, sacks, and chests from Ihe adjoining storeroom and thus barricaded the open side. Only lln'ee remained to cai-ry on the fight — two soldiers and j-'^athcr i'^uster — as all Ihe others had been disabled. At this critical moment, the party of Indians who had gone to the Pr(>sidio returnc^d and reinforccMl the crowd at the mission. It was then that the ])riest noticed that one ol' the chests form- ing the ini|)rovis(Ml breastwork contained all the powder that )'<'niaine(l and was in innninetit dangei" of e.\j)loding, for it was A STUNNING BLOW 59 already afire. He seized it, extinuuislicd the llaiiies, and, with the aid of the two ehihlren, proceeded lo lond the .i^uns for the sokliers, who shot as fast as tliey eould, and alwa,>'s shot to kill. So the fearful night woi-e on. Daybreak came, and the craven besiegers liad not dared to carry the frail shanty and overwhelm its two active defenders by bold assault. They picked up their dead and wounded and went back to the moun- tains, leaving the Presidio untouched, but the mission a smok- ing ruin. The neo])hytes crawled out of their huts and, with tears and sobs, assured Father Fuster and his bleeding companions that they had been closely confined throughout the night and un- able to lift a hand in their defense. This was probably true enough, yet it seems a pity that they did not avail themselves of the opportunity to write one noble page to the credit of their race by showing some evidence of loyalty to those who had befriended them. However, Father Fuster recpiired no ex- planations, but sent some of the converts to notify the Presidio, and others to find the missing priest. Father Jaume. They found the lacerated corpse by the river and identified it by rea- son of its whiteness. The la/y incompetents at the Presidio listened with wide- mouthed wonder to the tale which the Indian messengers brought them from the mission. They had heard nothing, seen nothing, during the night, but had slept disgracefully well. The destruction of the ]\Iission of San Diego was a stunning blow to the Franciscans, and, indeed, to the whole scheme of Spanish settlement on the coast of California. The vibrations of the shock did not stop at Presidio Hill, l)ut went on up the coast, and culminated at Monterey in the form of a general alarm. A relief party was at oiice put in motion, and Father Serra hastened south to lend the inspiration of his courage and of his indomitable persistence in the holy cause. There was no serious thought of abandoning the settlement, for this would have encouraged both Indian and foreign aggression and might have put an end to Spanish dominion uuich sooner than it came in response to the inexorable logic of events. The survivors of the mission fight were removed to the Presidio and tenderly nursed l)ack to health. The dead were buried at tiie Presidio, but man\- years afterward the body of Father Luis Jaume was removed to the mission and i)laced between the altars, where it yet rests. The i)lace where he sleeps should be marked by an imperishable moiuiment. for he was one of those rarest of heroes who, refusing to do violence even in self-defense, look smilingly into the face of deatii and go down t(» the dust with a prayei- foi- their enemies on their saintly lips. CHAPTER IV THE DAY OF MISSION GREATNESS aiEX PRESIDENT SERRA heard of the noble (l(uith of Father Jaume, he exclaimed: "God WV^YI he thanked! now the soil is watered; now the j{v\ rednction of the Dieguinos will Ije com- P)\( |)h4ed." And it was indeed a case where the blood of the martyr became the seed of the church. The mission was re-established and dedicated in 1777, though it was not com- pleted until 1784, and was vet to be finally dedicated in 1813. But the uprising in which Father Jaume lost his life really marked the end of the first hard period of struggle in which the outcome seemed doubtful, while the rapid recovery from that disaster signalized tlic l)eginning of the long day of mission greatness. Of that day it is important that we should have a ti'ue con- ception, for it will always supply a romantic and picturesque background to local history; but it would be an error to sup- pose that it is vitally related to the city which finally grcAV up in the neighborhood of the ]iioneer settlements and which now bears the name of San Diego. The real history of the place be- gins at a later period than that which saw the passing of the Mission Fathers and the crumbling of their works under the pitiless footsteps of the years. Nor were their institutions or their influence much more substantial than their adobe walls. And yet, for a period of about two generations, the Spanish soldier and the Franciscan missionary ruled the land and, partly by leading and partly by driving, converted many of the savages to the Vv^ays of religion and civilization. Conflicting tales come down to us from the earliest years of the joint reign of the soldier and the priest, and the written records are so bound with red-tape and saturated with conscious piety that it is frequently difficult to get at the facts ; but there can be no doubt that the sword was the constant ally of the Cross, and that the glory of God and of the King were utterly synonymous to the minds of that generation. Neither is there any doubt of the earnestness of the missionaries in bring- ing souls to Clii'ist. They were so deeply in earnest that they (lid tidl licsi1;ilc 1o (■tii|)loy the uiilitary arm as a uieans of TREATMENT OF INDIANS 61 l'orcil)lc (•(»iivcrsi(ni. Tlu're is i-c.isdii lo believe that whole vil- lau'es were soiiielimes siirroutided ni\d tiieir iiihiihilaiits driven to Ihe missions. Jl ap])eai's that the soldiers themselves had a poor opinion of the Indians, yet co-operated heartily with the priests in bringing them under snhjection. Apparently, neither the military nor ecelesiastieal authorities were under any il- lusion concerning the inherent unfitness of the Indians for real citizenship. Both clearly understood that they could only be utilized in connection with a patriarelial establishment. Somebody else must think and plan and direct; it was their part to labor, and to labor in the fear of God. As to the treat- ment of the Indians, accounts differ widely. They were better clothed, fed, and housed than in their native state. They learned usefid arts. They caught a spark of industry which, had they been made of more inflammable material, might easily have been fanned into a fierce enthusiasm for the modes of civilized life, and thus have lifted them permanently from bai'- barism. But there were man_\' impartial observers who re- garded their condition as no better than slavery. Thus Alfred Robinson, in his fascinating' Ixxtk. Life Id C(iIifofnia, said that "it is ]iot unusual to see numbers of them driven along by the alcaldes, and under the whip's lash forced to the very doors of the sanctuary." lie adds: "The condition of these Indians is miserable indeed; and it is not to be wondered at that many attempt to escape from the severity of the religious discipline of the Mission. They are pursued, and generally taken ; when they are flogged, and an iron clog is fastened to their legs, serving- as additional punishment, and a warning to others." That the g'ood Fathers thought it more important to save the souls of the Indians than to spare their feelings or their backs, is easily susceptible of belief, for their missionary zeal knew no bounds. Better a converted soul in chains than a free heathen ! There is no doulit that they sincerely sid^scribed to this doctrine, and they were no more fanatic than many others of their time all over the world. Nevertheless, the fair-minded student will not forget that while they were saving souls they were organizing a mass of cheap labor which worked for the enrichment of the Fi-anciscan order, and founding settlements which they thought would secure the ]>ermanent possession of an opulent land for the benefit of their sovereign. In other words, their duty and interest happened to b(> the same, and they had thus a double motive for what they did. They thought it was good religion and good statesmanship. When the Spaniards came, the whole beautiful western slojie of the present San Diego County belonged to no one — but the Indians. With the raising of the royal standard it came under i • 4 •>^ '*i> -^ ■ tf > c o a 3 01 5 be 'S o c 0) 3 ca I Q 2 O M M Q J O a MISSION AT ITS BEST 63 the nominal ownership of Spain, and it was a.ureed that each of the missions sliould take so nnieh of the territory as it needed. The San Diego ]Mission laid nnder tribute something like forty square miles, with its religious and industrial head(inarters in Mission Valley and its military base on Presidio Hill. It was exi)ei'ted that the mission would become self-supi)orting, and more. This expectation was grandly fulfilled after the first hard Ncars had been outlived. But ships arrived each year in the harbor with supplies for the military establishment. The day came when they were able to depart with larucr cargoes than they brought, for when the INIission Fathers had enrolled thou- sands of laborers, and when their herds had multiplied, they had a surplus of good things for exportation. The boundaries of the mission domain seem to have been quite indefinite, l)ut when the property was finally transferred to Santiago Argiiello, in 1846. the deed covered 58,208 acres; 22 and 21-100 acres, con- taining the mission bnibliu'^s and gardens, were reserved for the church and still remain in its ownership. In organizing the first expedition, in 1769. Galvez supplied it with nuiterial for ])lanting such field, garden, and orchard croi)s as he thought adajited to the climate. It is probable that the famous olive orchard, which still flourishes, and which is recognized as the mother of all the olive trees in California, owed its existence to the thoughtfulness of Galvez. There were many other varieties of trees of the early planting, such as peaches and pears, but the olive outlives all its contemporaries, and those ancient trees in ^Mission Valley should remain to receive the homage of generations unborn. By 1783 the San Diego ]\Iission had begun to assume some- thing of its permanent appearance. The church occupied a si)ace eighty-two feet long by fifteen wide, running North and South. The granary was nearly as large. There was a store- house, a house for sick women and another for sick men. a mod- est house for the priests, a good-sizt^l larder, and these enclosed on three sides a square one hundred and fifty-one feet long, the remaining side being enclosed by an adobe wall eight feet high. As the years went on the establishment was gradiially extended to provide a series of small shops around the patio for the arti- sans and mechanics and acconnnodations for the increasing num- bers of neophytes outside the walls, but close at hand. It was not until 1804 that the buildings took on the final sliape which is preserved in the pictures of the mission period. But the plan of the Fathers was always the same, with its low, gently-slanting roofs, its interior square, its Roman towers ; and the material was always adobe, with burnt tile for roofs, windows, and doorways. Tlie walls were about four feet thick. Thei-e can be no (juestion that the architecfni-e liai-juonized with the landscape, for it was 64 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO the art'hiteetnre of Sp>' Si)ain in all essential aspects. There is a tradition of unusual interest concerning- the huild- in^' of the San l)ie,uo Mission, which is related as follows in the Sail D'liijd \V( cti 0) X H < ►J < O J <: o o Q Z < m t< o z o -^ M ■/I 68 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO friend, being .'ui old ,'u-(juaintaiice of the Fathers, had considei- able to say to Ihiiu in relation to their travels, which was of great interest to them. At length the church bells announced the hour of noon, when both the holy friars turned around, and knelt upon the Ijcnch u])on which they had been sitting, with faces turned to the building, while three or four young pages knelt by their side, on the pavement, when the elder of the two friars commenced the Aiif/dus Domini, in a very devout manner, and led the prayer, which was responded to by the brother friar and the pages, the bells of the church chiming an accompaniment. During the prayer a large fly alighted on the wall ,iust in front of the Father, who, apparently without any attention to the prayer, was watching the course of the fly and following it with the large round head of his cane, as it moved about, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, and ready to annihilate it, when, at the closing of the prayer, and pronouncing the word Amen! Jesus! he brought Ms cane down on the poor fly and crushed it, and then turned around to renew the conversation, as though nothing had trans- pired. This incident was amusing to the beholder, but serves to show the simplicity of the reverend Father, who was proba- bly not aware of having committee! any impropriety. Dinner was now announced, when they entered through the large reception-room into the elining-room, where the table was spread, at which they sat down, aucl had an entertainment of the usual guisados, their fritos anel azados, fri Jules, and the universal tortilla de inaiz, and plenty of good native wine, with the usual dessert of fruits peculiar to the climate; after which the old friars retired to take their siesta, and the author and his friend hurried away on their return to the town, where they arrived after half an hour's ride. The economic life of the Mission was not confined to the cultivation of the irrigated fields and gardens in the fertile valley or the simple manufacturing that went on in the quaint little shops around the patio. The Mission Fathers w^ere the merchants, the great stockmen, and even the bankers, of their period. They were busy men, indeed, with their spiritual af- fairs, their trade, and their management of immense herds of livestock. Vessels came to the port in increasing numbers, trav- elers constantly passed along the trail from Lower California to the north, anel ranches were gradually established in the mountains. Thus it happened that the mission establishment more and more fulfilled the function of an ordinary town as a trading center. There were great o])portunities for making money, and the shrewd priests made the most of them. Tliey were bent upon the enrichment oF tlicir order Ixn-niise this meant a constant increase of their power, including the power to do good to the gentiles. In those days the waters along the coast swarmed with sea- otters, a vahiabh' 1'iii--1)earing animal. The innests eiUM)uraged llie linnting of lliese animals 1)\- Indians and others, and thus LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY 69 huill ii|) ;i |)r()lil;il)lc I'lir Ir.-idc. Tlu'y also Ijouglit oilier sl^iiis, usually paying for thciii with ,i;oods from their store, and were thus able to make a (l()ul)h_' profit on the ti'ansaction. Tliey were the first and best customers of tlie ships when they began to come arotind the Horn Avith cargoes from New England, and their store became constantly more important as a distr Uniting center for all imported goods re(iiiired in the country, and as a clearing house for surplus prodticts available for shipment. They sometimes had large amounts of coin, which they ke])t beneath the tile flooring in their rooms. Their reputation for integrity was so high that they were implicitly trusted with the MISSION RELICS savings and property of others, and they were thus able to per- form a useful service as bankers for their neighbors. The largest business operation conducted by the priests was in connection with the live-stock industry. They brought onl\' 18 head of cattle, but by the year 1800, they had six hundred cattle, six thousand sheep, and nearly nine hundred hoi-ses. In 1830, the number of cattle had risen to fifteen thousand, of sheep to twenty thousand, and they had thousands of hogs. The hoi*ses which they originally brought to tliis countr,y were shipped from Spain and were of Arabian lilood. The annual harvest also reached large proportions, sometimes exceeding thirty thousand bushels of grain. The cattle were wastefully slaughtered, after the manner of the time, aiul were considered chiefly valua])le for tallow and liides. which were sold to the 70 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO masters of the ships eoiiiiiig to the port. Only the choicest ])ortions of the beef were used for food. From 1777 to 1838 — a period of fifty-six years — life flowed smoothly on at the ^lission and the Franciscans waxed strong and prosperous. Two other missions were established within the County, at Pala and San Luis Rey, the latter being founded on June 13, 1798, by Father Antonio Peyri, and named in honor of Saint Louis, who was Louis IX. of France. These JMissions also prospered and lent strength to the mother settlement in Mission Valley. The total number of baptisms from 1769 to 1846 at the Mission of San Diego, was 7126 ; of confirmations, 1726; of marriages, 2051. It would be inter- esting to know the total value of property accunmlated, and the total amount of wealth pi-odueed, during the same period. These facts are not available, but we know that the half-century of rule by military and ecclesiastical governinent was a day of material greatness, as it undcnialily was of marked spiritual achievement. CHAPTER V THE END OF FRANCISCAN RULE HE EOOTIXG of the Franciscans in California rested from the beiiinning' upon the powei- of Spain. They could not have come at all with- out the financial and military support of the Spanish monarch, nor could they have re- mained save with the aid of his soldiers. When the i)ower of the Castilian began to ■wane, it was inevitable that the Franciscan rule should diminish in proportion, and that even the institutions M'hich they had founded should begin to crumble and. at last, become a mere memory with no monument except mouldering heaps of adobe. Spain's empire in Mexico lasted for three centuries. It was in 1521 that Coi'tes virtually completed his conquest, and it was in 1821 that Iturbide wrested the countr.y from the feeble grasp of Ferdinand VII. The ^lission of San Diego was tlien almost at the zenith of its prosperity, and as the good Fathci's basked in the sunshine or looked out upon their smiling fields, they fondly b(4ieved that their works would endure to bless the land and enrich their order for many generations to eonu^ They knew that the intei'nal fires of revolution had been blazing in ^Mexico for more than a decade, but had little fear that the hand which had held the region for three hundred years would lose its hold, at least in theii- time. The Spanish statesmen had given the missionaries the utmost latitude ])ecause their scheme of converting and utilizing the Indian [)opulation was admira])ly adapted to meet the political necessities of the Empire in this fai- country. But Mexico had dift'erent necessities and naturally {)roeeeded to make ditfei-ent plans. It had no time to lose in strengthening itself against the rising power of the United States. It could not leave so pve- eious a possession as California to the control of an element which, at best, could be but lukewarm toward the new-born ])ower which had overthrown Spanish control, ami thus done violence to the great tradition of which the missions were themselves an important part. Moreover. Mexico had friends to reward as well as enemies to punish. Some of the men who had fought its battles. a)id who would l)e neeih^l to fight its l)attles agaiii, 72 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO looked with longiug eyes upon the rich cloniiuioiis of the mis- sions and began to dream of founding great families and great estates. It is a very convenient thing to be able to pay your debts with other people's property. ^Mexico was in this fortunate position and proceeded to take advantage of it. In 1824 the Coloniza- tion Law was enacted. This authorized the government to make grants of unoccupied lands to ]Mexican citizens to the extent of eleven square leagues. Under this law thousands of acres were parceled out among the supporters of the government. These grants encroached upon the mission holdings and gave the Fathers their first shock of serious apprehension for the future. In 1832 the ^lexican power mustered the full courage of its con- victions, its necessities, and its desires. It passed the Act of Sec- ularization, which was simply an act of confiscation, from the Franciscan point of view. It was the object of this legislation to take all the property of the missions, real and personal, and divide it among those who would use their wealth and influence for the defense and development of IMexico. The attempt of Govei-nor Figueroa to put it into effect in 1838 was a failure, but it was gradually executed, being extended little by little until the day when Mexico lost the country to the United States. With the adoption of the policy of secularization, the Mission Fathei-s knew that their long day was passing into twilight and that it could be. a question of but a few years when they must relin<|uish their hold upon California. Some of them were utterly discouraged and unwilling to aliempt the continuance of their woi'k. Some were frankly hostile to the new rulers aiul went home to Spain. A few persisted to the last and died peacefully at their posts. The effect of the new order of things on the Indians was demoralizing. Their loyjilty could hardly be expected to survive the shattering of priestly power. The only government they understood was the pati'iarchal form, and the very foundation of this government had now disappeared. Nev- ertheless, the ]\Iission of San Diego lived on for more than a dozen years, after its ultimate downfall was clearly foreshad- owed. It was not until 1846 that the ownei'ship of the property was legally and finallv taken from the Chuj'ch. The full force of the blow could no longer be stayed. ]\Iexico was threatened with invasion by the United States and it became imperativelv necessary that the country should be put in the best possible condition of defense. Thus the governors of the various states and departments were vested with extraordinary powers and instructed to adopt drastic measures to strengthen the goverinnent. Governor Pio Pico sf)ld tlie missions as rapidly as i)ossil)le in order 1o raise money for Ihe war which imjx'iided. In June, 1846, he sold to Don Santiago Argiiello so much of the PASSING OF MISSIONS 73 property- of tlie tSan Diego .Mission as had not aJ ready Ijcoil granted to Mexican citizens. The deed of sale read as follows: Being previously jiiitliorized by the Departmental Assembly to alleviate the missions, in order to pay their debts and to avoid their total ruin; and knowing that Don Santiago Argiiello has rendered the government important services at all times, and has also given aid when asked, for the preservation of the legit- imate government and the sefiirity of the De])artment, witiiont having received any indemnification; and, whereas, this gentle- man has, for his own personal benefit and that of his numerous family, asked to purchase the mission of Ban Diego, with all its lands and property belonging to it, both in town and coun- try, he paying fully and religiously the debts of said Mission, which may be established by the reports of the Committee of Missions, binding himself besides to provide for the support of the priests located at said Mission, and of divine worship. In view of all w'hich I have made real sale and perpetual alien- ation of it forever, to Don Santiago Argiiello, according to, and in conformance with, what has been agreed upon, with all the appurtenances found and known at the time as belonging to it, whether consisting of lands, buihlings, improxed real estate, or cattle. The reader will not fail to note the pions tenns in which the instrument was drawn. The object of the transfer Avas "to alleviate" the Mission, and to avoid its "total ruin." The pur- chaser was required to provide for the support of the priests and to maintain divine worship. These diplomatic phrases deceived no one, and least of all the priests. The idea of a proprietary mission dependent for its sui)port upon the bounty of an individual, must have been repugnant to their souls. Certainly, such an arrangement could never have proven work- able, but it was not put to the actual test. The war came on with swift footsteps, and when it had passed, Mexico had gone the way of Spain and the Missionary Fathers had gone with them, so far as the dominion of California was concerned. What was the net result of Spanish dominion in San Diego which nominally began with the discoveries by Cabrillo in 1542 and Viscaino in 1602, and ripened into actual occupation with the expedition plamied by Galvez and .executed by naval, mil- itary, civil, and missionary leaders in 1769? They left, of course, a great memory which will endure to the end of time and which is likely to grow rather than di- minish in the quality of picturesque and romantic interest. They left their nomenclature, and this is somehow so pleasing to the ear and eye of the comiwsite race whieli has evolvcnl into the American population of today that it seems likely to last as the visible expression of the Spanish tradition. Not only does it remain in the name of the city and of landmarks to which it was given by the Spanish explorers and founders, but 74 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO .it bluuiiis ptTcuiiially in iiiaii\ uther forms, including the names of new residences and estates, for which it is frequently pre- ferred to names associated with the racial, national, and fam- ily traditions of their owners. Nothing (-(mid more strikingly illustrate the power of the memories of Si)anish occu[)ati()n upon the popular imagination. The same intluence is apparent in architecture, and this seems to be growing and likely to grow more in the future The Spanish speech still lingers and may do so for a long time, though it tends to disappear and will some day be no more in evidence than the speech of other European peoples who had nothing to do with the earl}' time. »«*# :..i^O-fv PC"-.- , -v- '-■■. ••• RUIN OF SAN DIEGO MISSION Aside from this vii'ile tradition, expressed in the nomen- clature and architecture of the city and its surrounding coun- ti'y, the Spaniard left notliing pertaining to his natioiud life. Jirit the value of this contribution to civilization should not be underestimated. Ilappy is the land which has memories to cherish ! Twice happy when the memories are associated with the pioneers of pioneers ! And thrice happy if, as in this case, those memories chance to be sanctified by the struggle to light the lamp of spiritual exaltation in the darkness of ignorance and savagci'y! As time goes on, the earliest history of San Diego will be revived in art. More and more, it will supply a rich theme for painting, for sculptnre, and for literature. But the institutions which it sought to i)lant deei) in the soil have THE NET RESULT 75 perished almost utterly. English hivv and English speech have taken the place of Spanish law and speech, and even the re- ligion wliich tlie fonnders brought ;ipi);ir(Mitly owes litth' or nothing of its present strength to tlieir teaching or their build- ing. The Catholic Church is powerful, of course, but by no means as powerful in San Diego, whose legitimate child it was, as in Boston, wliich was established bv those who deliberatelv tied from its influence. What shall be said of the missionary achievement? For the most part, the answer to this question depends upon the indi- vidual point of view. No mere material coiKpiest is to be com- pared with the salvation of immortal souls. The Mission Fathers lu'ought thousands to the foot of the Cross and persua- ded them to live in accordance with religious ways. Those who believe that these thousands of souls would otherwise have been lost .iustly place the missionary achievement above the most enduring things done by the soldier, the law-giver, or the founder of institutions. Those who accept distinctly modern views of religion may hold more lightly the purely spiritual conquest accomplished by Junipero Serra and his fellow priests, yet even such must credit them with the noblest aspirations and must concede that the Indian population gained much in sim- ple morality from the missionary teachings. Nor has this gain been wholly lost, even after Father Serra has slept for more than one hundred and twenty years in his grave at INIonterey. The Indian was unquestionably elevated by his spiritual ex- perience and by his manual training, and, dubious as his con- dition seems today, is still a better num because the Mission once flourished under the sunny skies of San Diego. The literature of the missions is voluminous and constantl\' increasing. For reasons already stated, it is somewhat remote from the real history of San Diego. It is not the ])icture itself, but the shadowy 1)ackground of the ])icture. Nothing more finely expressive of the appeal which it makes to the poetic senses has been written than the following extract from a sketeh of the iMission of San Luis Key, by Will II. Holcomb : To behold this beautiful structure for the first time under the softening effect of moonlight requires no great stretch of the imagination, to believe one's self among the romantic surround- ings of some Alcazar in old Spain. Below, among the jiurple shadow? of the valley, which half conceal and yet reveal, lies the river, a counterpart of the Guadalquiver; ranged about arc the hills, dreamy, indistinct, under the mystic canopy of niglit, while nearer at hand are the delicate outlines of arches, fa- cades, and vaulted roofs, reflecting the ])early light, and appear- ing half real, half visionary, against the ambient breadths of starless sky. The land breeze wafts down the valley from the mountain heights, cool and sweet, and whispers among the col- umns and arches, and we are tenqited almost to inquire of these 76 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO voices of the uight something of the tales of adventure, of love, of ambitions gratified and hopes unfulfilled, which eling to tlais sacred spot, from the shadowy period of the jjast. PRIESTS OF SAN DIEGO MISSION 17t)9. July 16. Mission founded by Father President Junipero Serra. Also present: Fathers Hernando Parron and Juan Viseaino. 177U. Fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez had been at San Diego but departed wath tlie land expedition for Monterej' on July 14th. They returned January 24, 1770, and all five priests were pres- ent until February 11th, when Viseaino went south by land to Velicata with Rivera. On April 17th, Serra and Crespi sailed for Monterey with Portola (left at San Diego, Parron and Gomez, the former in charge). 1771. April. The San Antonio came up from Mexico with ten friars and left some of them at San Diego, among them Pedro Benito Cambon, Francisco Dumetz, and Father Somera. Same ship took Gomez to Monterey. Dumetz was in charge. In July, the San Antonio arrived with six friars from the north, and Cambon and Dumetz went overland to Mexico. 1772. May. Crespi came from the north and Dumetz returned witli Father Tomas de la Pena to take Cambon 's place. Sept. 27th, Crespi and Dumetz left for San Carlos and two friars, Usson and Figuer, came from Mexico. 1773. August 30. Father Francisco Palou arrived overland from Mex- ico, with Fathers Pedro Benito Cambon, Gregorio Amurrio, Fer- min Francisco Lasuen, .Fuan Prestamero, Vicente Fuster, Jose Antonio Murguia, and ^liguel de la Campa y Cos, assigned to different missions. September 5. Paterna, Lasuen ;ind Prestamero (lei)arted. October 26. Palou, Murguia, and de la Peiia departed. TJiis left at San Diego Luis Jaume, Vicente Fuster, and Gregorio Amurrio as sui)ernumcrary. 1774. March 3. Serra came by sea from Mexico. With him came Father Pablo Mugartegui, who remained for a time, but later went north. April 6. Father Serra departed for Monterey, by land. 1775. November 5. Destruction of the Mission, Fathers Luis Jaume and Vicente Fuster in charge; the former killed, as related. At the Presidio, Fathers Lasuen and Amurrio. 1776. ,luly 11. Serra arrived by sea from Monterey to arrange for re- building the mission. October 17. Three friars, Fuster, Lasuen, and probably Santa Maria, occupied the new mission. December. Serra departed the last days of the year, for the north, with Amurrio, and never returned. 1777. Juan Figuer came and served to December IS, 1784, when he died and was buried in the clmrch. 17S.J. For about a year after Figuer 's death, Lasuen served alone. In November, 1785, he went to San Carlos and his place at San Die- go was taken by Juan Mariner (arrived 1785). With him was associated Juan Aiitouio Garcia Riboo (arrived 1783), till Octo- ber, 1786, then llilario Torrens (arrived 1786). Mariner and Tor- rens served till tlic last years of tiie century. Torrens left Cal- ifornia at the end of 1708. niid dicil in 1799; Mariner died at the Mission, .January 29, 1800. LIST OF PRIESTS 77 1800. Tin ir successors were Jose Panella (arrived June, 1797), and Jose Barona (arrived May, 1798). Pedro de San Jose Estevan was supernumerary, April, 1796, to July, 1797. Panclla was accused of cruelty to the neophytes and was reprimanded by I'residcnt Lasuen. He left the country in LSOH. Baruiin remained as minister throughout the decade (1800-1810). Panella was replaced for about a year after 1803 by Mariano Payeras, and then Jose Bernardo Sanchez took the place in 1804. Pedro de la Cueva, from Mission San Jose, was here for a short time in 1806, and Jose Pedro Panto came in September, 1810. 1810. Father Sanchez continued to serve until the spring of 1820, when he was succeeded by Vicente Pascual Oliva. Panto died in 1812, and Fernando Martin took his place. "Panto," says Bancroft, "was a rigorous disciplinarian an<] severe in his punishments. One evening in November, 181 J, liis soup was poisoned, causing vomiting. His cook, Nazario, was arrested and admitted having put the 'yerba, ' powdered cucliasquelaai, in the soup with a view to escape the Father's in- tolerable floggings, having received in succession fifty, twenty- five, twenty-four, and twenty-five lashes in the twenty-four hours preceding his attempted revenge. There is much reason to sup- pose that the friar's death on June 30th of the next year was attributable to the poisoning." The new Mission Church was dedicated November 12, 1813 (this is the building whose ruins yet remain). The blessing was pronounced by Jose Barona, of San Juan. The first sermon was by Geronimo Boscaua, of San Ijuis, the second by the Dominican Tomas Ahumada, of San Miguel, and Lieutenant Euiz acted as sponsor. 1820. Father Martinez served for a time in 1827. 1830. Fathers Oliva and Martin continued in charge. Martin died Oc- tober 19, 1838. He was a native of Robledillo, Spain, born May 26, 1770. He was a Franciscan, and arrived at San Diego July 6, 1811. He was regarded as an exemplary frey. He was one of the few missionaries who took the oath of allegiance to Mexico. 1S40. Oliva remained alone, and was the last missionary to occupy the mission, till August, 1846. Upon the secularization of the mis- sions in 183.5, Jose Joaquin Ortega was placed in charge as major- domo or administrator, and 1840 he was replaced by Juan M. Osuna. Others served at different times. Some Indians lingered at the place, and in 1848 Philip Crnsthwaite leased the Mission. Oliva went first to San Luis Rey, then to San Juan Capistrano, where he died in January, 1848. PART SECOND When Old Town was San Diego CHAPTER I. LIFE ON PRESIDIO HILL UNDER THE SPANISH FLAG. ;0R MORE than a hundred years Old Town was San Diego. It began with the founding of the fort and mission iti July, 1769; it ended, as a place of real consequence, with the fire of April, 1872, which destroyed most of the business part of the town and turned the scale decisively in favor of the new set- tlement which had sprung up at Horton's Addition, or South San Diego, as it was then called. It is rare that two historical eras are so clearly marked on the face of the earth as in this case. The site of Old San Diego is a thing apart from the location of the present city, just as the life of the older time is separated from that of the present by a space of years. And yet, it was in the soil of Old San Diego that the seed of the present city was planted and took root, and it was in that mother settlement that civilization began on the Pacific Coast of the TTnited States. From 1769 to about 1830 — a period of over sixty years — San Diego lived within the adobe walls of its garrison on Presidio Hill and became a famous dot on the map of the world. Nothing now remains on Presidio Hill to show the casual observer that it was ever anything but a vacant plot of ground. Weeds cover the earth, wild flowers bloom in their season, and always the ice-plant hangs in matted festoons from the scattered mounds of earth. A closer examination of these mounds, however, shows them to be arranged in something like a hollow square. The soil, too, is found to be full of frag- ments of red tile and to show the unmistakabh^ signs of long trampling by human feet. Looking more closely at the mounds, beneath their covering of weeds and earth, one finds the foundations of old walls built of thin red tile and adobe bricks. These remains are all that is left of the Spanish Pre- sidio of San Diego. Standing on this historic spot, one is moved to wonder how the manifold activities of the ecclesiastical and military affairs of the Southern District, and of the political and social cen- ter of one of the four important towns in Upper California, were ever cam-ied on for so many years u]ioii this little space. 82 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO The commaiiclaiit 's residence was the i)riiicii)al l)uildiii<;'. It was situated in the center of the presidial enclosure and over- looked the garrison, the Indian village, the bay and surround- ing country. On the east side of the square were the chapel, cemetery, and storehouses ; the guard-house was near the gate on the south, and the officers' quarters were ranged around the sides of the square. The whole was enclosed, at first with a wooden stockade, and later with a high adobe wall. It would seem that half a century of life should mean a great deal to any eonununity, even to a frontier outpost on the edge of the workl ; but to San Diego, in tlie period with which this chapter deals, it meant very little. Of the mission activities the men and women at the Presidio were mere spec- tators, while only far echoes of events in the outside world came to their ears. They had enough respect for the Indians to keep well within the shelter of the garrison for all those years. Even A\hen they went down into the valley to culti- vate a little patch of soil, they took care to keep well within range of the guns. They led a lazy, dreamy life, not without som.e social diversions, yet mostly spent in attending to mil- itary and religious routine. As the years wore on and the nineteenth century dawned, the visits of foreign ships became more frequent. These visits must have seemed very grateful to the inhabitants, especially those few which were attended with sufficient excitement to break the monotony and lend a momentary zest to the stagnant life of the community. The Spanish soldiers were usually men of good character. Among them were many cadets and young men of good fam- ilies who had adopted a military career, whose birth and edu- cation entitled them to certain exemptions and privileges, and who afterward became distinguished in civil life. Officers could not marry without the king's consent, and to sc^cure this, those beneath the rank of captain had to show that they had an income outside their pay. The chief officer was the commandant. Discipline was severe. The old Spanish Arti- cles of War prescribed the death penalty for so many trivial oi¥ences that, as another writer has remarked, it was really astonishing that any soldier could escape execution. There is no record of any military executions at San Diego, however, except of Indians. The principal duties of the soldiers were to garrison the forts, to stand guard at the missions, to care for the horses and cat- tle, and to carry dispatches. Both officers and men had usually a little time at their disposal, which they were allowed to employ in providing for their families. Some were shoemakers, others, tailors or woodcutters; but after the first few years most of them seem to have given their leisure hours to agri- PLAN OF PRESIDIO HILL 83 culture. The pay was small and subject to many vexatious deductions. Supplies were brought by ship from ^lexico and the cost was deducted from tlie uien's pay. IZ > < r r > D m ^.iiii»- ROUGH PLAN OF PRESIDIO HILL (Drawn from descriptions) The military establishment on Presidio Hill was always the weakest in the department. The rude earthworks thrown up in July. 1769. grew Init slowly. In August there seem to have been but four soldiers able to assist in repelling the fii*st Indian attack. But when Perez returned, in the following March, good 84 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO use was made of the time. The temporary stockade was com- pleted and two bronze cannon mounted, one pointing toward the harbor, the other toward the Indian village. Houses of wood, rushes, tule, and adobe were constructed. Three years later four thousand adobe bricks had been made and some stones collected for use in foundations. A foundation had also been laid for a church ninety feet long, but work upon this building had been suspended because of delay in the arrival of the supply ship. AVhen the mission establishment was removed up the river, all buildings at the Presidio, except two rooms reserved for the use of visiting friai-s and for the storage of mission sup- plies, were given up to the military. In September of this year there was some trouble with troops which had been sent up from Sinaloa. The following year, at the time of the destruc- tion of the mission, related in a previous chapter, the force at the Presidio consisted of a corporal and ten men. In the panic caused by this tragedy, all the stores and families at the Presidio were hastily removed to the old friars' house, the roof of that building was covered with earth to prevent its being set on fire, and the time of waiting for the arrival of reinforcements was spent in fear and trembling. The work of collecting stones to be used in laying the foun- dations for the new adobe wall to replace the wooden stock- ade was begun in 1778 and the construction of the wall soon followed. The population of the Presidio was then about one hundred and twenty-five. Small parties of soldiers arrived and departed, and some efifort was expended in attempts to find improved routes of travel through the country. In 1782, the old church within the presidial enclosure was burned. Two years later, the regulations required the presidial force to con- sist of five corporals and forty-six soldiers, six men being always on guard at the ^Mission. The visit of the famous English navigator, George Vancou- ver, in the Discovery in 1793, was the most important event breaking the monotony of these early years. His was the first foreign vessel that ever entered San Diego harbor. He arrived on the 27th day of November and remained twelve days. His presence disturbed and alarmed the Spanish officials, w^ho did not relish the sight of the British flag in Californian waters. The San Diego commandant, however, treated him with cour- tesy and relaxed the rigid port regulations in his favor, so far as lay within his poAver. Vancouver gave Father Lasuen, of the San Juan Capistrano Mission, a barrel-organ for his church, made some nautical observations, a.nd corrected his charts. But the most valuable results of his visit, so far as WEAKNESS OF THE PRESIDIO 85 this history is concerned, are his shrewd observations upon the Presidio of San Uiego and the whole Spanish military estab- lishment in Upper California. He says the soldiers "are totally incapable of making any resistance against a foreign invasion, an event which is by no means improbable." The Spanish officials knew this; the relations between England and Spain, too, were strained and war broke out not long after. It is no wonder that Vancouver was regarded willi dread and suspicion. He goes on : The Spanish Monarchy retains this extent of country under its authority by a force that, had we not been eye- witnesses of its insignificance in many instances, we should hardly have given credit to the possibility of so small a body of men keeping in awe and under subjection the natives of this country, without resorting to harsh or unjustifiable measures. And again: The Presidio of San Diego seemed to be the least of the Spanish establishments. It is irregularly built, on very un- even groi;nd, which makes it liable to some inconveniences, without the obvious appearance of any object for selecting such a spot. With little difficulty it might be rendered a place of considerable strength, by establishing a small force at the entrance of the port; where at this time there were neither works, guns, houses, or other habitations nearer than the Presidio, five miles from the port, and where they have only three small pieces of brass cannon. The "three small pieces of brass cannon" at the Presidio Avere somewhat like the toy cannon now used on yachts for firing salutes. One of the original San Diego Presidio cannon is now in the Coronel collection at Los Angeles, and a cut of it appears herein. These cannon were far less effective than a modern ritie, Imt, mounted in the bastions of the old Presidio, they served their purpose of making a loud noise and awing the Indians, who called them "creators of thunder." Vancouver's visit, with its annoying revelation of the weak state of the country's defenses, led to the strengthening of the military arm. In the same year, upon the Governor's urgent request, the Viceroy ordered the Presidio to be repaired. A fort was also projected on what is now known as Ballast Point, then called Point Guijarros (cobblestones), the same spot which Vancouver's quick eye had noted as the strategic defensive point. Plans were drawn in 1795 for installing tliere a battery of ten guns, but the work proceeded slowly and was not completed for five years or more. o a 03 £ < Zj ^c ^ m QJ 2 C '^ ^ J= > m JZl t« c i> Q. P o 1 Tr ■^ 01 , rA ■u rn c <1) 14 ^ n OJ J3 !i! ■o O 3 O M J3 >, CS &H r> •W a>; ^ si ^U I < Q O E-i O J s o w « ft* THE FIRST AMERICANS 87 111 Xovciiiber, 17J)(), the [)iMests wci'c called upon to pert'onu the eerciiiouy of blessing the esplanade, powder maaid a brief Tisit to San Diego, but sailed away without any hostile demon- stration. The last year of the old century found the Presidio with a population of one hundred and sixty-seven souls, mostly soldiers and their families, according to official report made to the Viceroy. During that year a number of foundling chil- dren were sent from Lower California, and eight of them ■were assigned to San Diego. As one of them inelegantlv re- 88 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO marked, long afterward, they were distributed "lii^e puppies among the families." There is no reason to suppose, how- ever, that they were not well cared for. With the year 1800 the Yankee trader began to cast his shadow before him. It was the palmy day of Boston's cap- tains of connneree, when they used to load their ships with the products of New England ingenuity and send them forth upon the seas bound for nowhere in particular, but looking for good bargains in exchange for their cargoes. About all that California had to offer at that time was the trade in furs, chiefly those of the sea otter which, as we have seen in previ- ous pages, was a considerable source of profit to the Mission Fathers. These skins were in great demand and the govern- ment tried in vain to monopolize the business. The command- ants at all the ports did what they could to prevent foreign ships from getting any of the furs, but the Yankee skippers were enterprising and found many a weak spot in the Span- ish lines. The first American ship to enter San Diego Bay bore the good old English name of Betsy. She arrived on the 25th of August, 1800, in command of Captain Charles AVinship. She carried nineteen men and ten guns, remained ten days, secured wood and water, and then departed for San Bias. In June, 1801, Captain Ezekiel Hubbell came in the Enierprise, of New York. Avith ten guns and twenty-one men. All he asked was wood and water, with which he set sail after a stay of a few days. If either of these earliest American captains succeeded in doing any illicit trade at San Diego, they kept the secret successfully, leaving not so much as a rumor of scandal behind them. Such was not the ease with those who came shortly after. Captain John Brown arrived on February 26. 1803, in the Alexander, of Boston. He was bent on getting otter skins, though he failed to mention the fact to the Spanish command- ant. On the contrary, he told a touching tale of sailors down with the scurvy, on the strength of which he was permitted to land, though required to keep away from the fort. He was supplied with fresh provisions and, in view of the condition of his crew, granted permission to stay eight days. In the meantime, the wily captain was buying all the skins offered by Indians and soldiers. On the fifth evening of his stay, the commandant sent a party on board the Alexander to search for contraband. The search Avas rewarded, 491 skins coming to light. The Yankee was invited to leave San Diego without ceremony : also without the otter skins. There was nothing to do but to comph', unless it Avas also to crumble, which the cap- tain did. He complained that his ship had been visited by a rabble before anv demand was made for the surrender of AFFAIR OF THE LELIA BYRD 89 the furs. He also complained that the soldiei^s relieved him of other goods to which they had no rightful claim. The evi- dence seems clear, however, that Captain John Brown, of Boston, abused the Spanish hospitality by perpetrating the first Yankee trick in the history of San Diego. The Lelia Byrd dropped anchor in the Bay on March ITtli, having sailed by the fort on Ballast Point without arousing any protest. But promptly the next day the commandant of the Presidio appeared on board with an escort of twelve sol- diers. He made himself acquainted with the Captain, William Shaler, and with Richard J. Cleveland, mate and part-owner of the ship, a character who gains much additional interest from the fact that he w^as a relative of Daniel Cleveland, a prominent citizen of San Diego. Captain Cleveland left a good account of the exciting events precipitated by the pres- ence of his ship. Anion a- other things, he described the com- mandant as an offensively vain and pompous man, but it is possible that the captain's unsatisfied, desire for otter skins may have prejudiced his opinion in the matter. The com- mandant agreed to furnish needed supplies, but informed the visitors that when these were delivered they must promptly depart. They were expressly forbidden to attempt any trad- ing and five men were left as a guard to see that this injunc- tion was enforced. Three days later, the commandant again visited the ship, received his pay for the supplies, and wisherl his visitors a prosperous voyage. The Yankee crew, in the meantime, had been ashore, visited the fort at Ballast Point, and made the acquaintance of the corporal in charge of the batterv% Jose Velasquez. Thus they learned that the commandant had on hand something like a thousand confiscated otter skins — which he would not sell. The corporal hinted, however, that he might ])e able to deliver some of the forbidden goods, obtained from other sources. Captain Cleveland was ready for the trade and sent a boat ashore that night for the skins. The first trip was successful, but a second boat failed to return. When morning came, the Yankee cap- tain decided on vigorous action. He disarmed the Spanish guards who had been left on his ship, sent them below, and went ashore with four armed men. Tt was found that the crew of the second boat, which had failed to return the previous night, had been captured by a party of mounted soldiers, headed by the commandant himself. They had been bound hand and foot and compelled to lie on the shore, where they were cap- tured, all night under guard. In his account of the affair Captain Cleveland says: "On landing, we ran up to the guard, and, presenting our pistols, 90 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO ordered them instantly to release our men from their ligatures. This order was readily complied with by the three soldiers who had been guarding them ; and, to prevent mischief, we took away their arms, dipped them in water, and left them on the beach." It Avas now necessary for the Americans to make their escape as quickly as jjossible. The men were full of tight, but their situation seemed desperate. There were only fifteen men, all told, ill the crew, and the armament consisted of six three- pounders. Their inspection of Fort Guijarros had shown that it contained a battery of six nine-pounders, with an abundant supply of powder and ball. The force was probably sufficient to work the guns, although Cleveland is doubtless mistaken in thinking the ship opposed by at least a hundred men. He remarks that while the preparations for flight were making on board ship, all was bustle and animation on shore, and that both horse and foot were flocking to the fort; and it is a fair inference that most of this crowd were mere spectators. The difficulties in the situation of the Americans were much increased by -various circumstances. It took time to hoist the anchor and get up sail. There was only a slight land breeze blowing, and the Spaniards were able to fire two shots at the ship, one a blank shot and the second a solid one, before they began to move. They were under fire fully three-quarters of an hour before arriving near enough to reach the fort with their small guns. In the ho])e of restraining the Spanish fire, the guard were placed in the most exposed and conspicuous stations in the ship. Here they stood and frantically pleaded with their countrymen to cease firing, but withcHit avail. At every discharge they fell upon their faces and showed th(^m- selves, naturally enough, in a state of collapse. As soon as they came within range, the Americans discharged a broadside at the fort from their six small guns, and at once saw numbers of the garrison scrambling out of the back of the fort and run- ning away u]) the liill. A second broadside was discharged, and after that no one could be seen at the fort except one man wlio stood upon the ramparts and waved his hat. There is no record of any blood being shed in this first "Bat- tle of San Diego," although the ship was considerably damaged. Her rigging was struck several times early in the action, and Avhile abreast of the fort in the narrow channel several balls struck her hull, one of which was "between wind and water." Safe out of the harbor, the terrified guard, who expected noth- ing less than death, were set on shore. Here they relieved their feelings, first by falling on tlieir knees in prayer, and then by springing up and shouting, "Vivan, vivan los Americanos!"' VALUE OF OTTER SKINS 91 "El Capitan'' cast in Manila in 1783 and brought to San Diego in 1800; now at the Chamber of Commerce. "El Nino" which came with the Spaniards 1769, now in the Coronel Collection at Los Angeles. There is no doul)t that Corporal Velasquez and his men did everything' in their power to sink the Lelia Byrd. The battery was stimulated by the presence of the fiery commandant, and, perhaps, the corporal thought it prudent to make a showing of zeal, in view of his previous conduct. Captain Cleveland ex- presses the opinion that the contraband skins were offered them treacherousl}', for the express purpose of involving them in difficulties. It is a fact, however, that the corporal was placed under arrest for his part in the two affairs of the Alciroulfr and the LcIia Byrd, accused of engaging- in forbidden trade. The priest in charge of the Mission of San Luis Key also wrote the commandant and asked for the return of one hundred and seventy skins which his Indian neophytes had snniguled on board the Alexander, doulitless by his own direction : but be was refused. The animation of the controversy which raged over these otter skins, actually ending in a battle between an American ship and the Spanish fort, naturally suggests a question as to what they were worth in dollars and cents. The question is rather difficult to answer, because the value of these furs fluc- tuated over a wide range at different times and varied again 92 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO with the dilferent markets in which they were bought and sold. It is probable that the thousand skins at that time in posses- sion of the commandant were worth at San Diego not far from $7,000 or $8,000. and that they could have been sold in China for five or ten times that amount. The margin of profit which could have been made on a successful transaction would have represented a good fortune, for those days, for the owners of the Lelia Byrd. And now comes the melancholy part of the story — melancholy or ludicrous, as the reader pleases. After all the trouble they had made, those valuable furs never did anybody good. They rotted before they could be legally dis- posed of and three years later were throAvn into the sea! But the dignity of Spain had been vindicated. The affair of the Lelia Byrd, w^hich caused a tremendous excitement at the time, was long talked of on the Pacific Coast. They were still gossiping about it when Richard Henry Dana visited San Diego, thirty-three years later. The story was always told in a way to reflect great credit upon the Ameri- cans, though it is likely that they would have preferred less credit — and the otter skins. In January, 1804, Captain Joseph O'Cain, on a trading expe- dition in the O'Cnin, ventured to call and ask for provisions. He had been mate of the Enterprise when she was at San Diego, three years earlier. He had no passport and his request was refused. While his ship was in the harbor, a negro sailor named John Brown deserted from her and was afterward sent to San Bias. Probably he was the first negro ever seen in San Diego. There is no record of any American visitors in 1805, but there was much perturbation in Spain and Spanish- America respecting the supposed designs of the United States upon California. Upon Governor Arrillaga's arrival, early in 1806, more strin- gent measures were taken to prevent contral)and trade. It had become something of a custom for the American trading ships to avoid the ports and, by standing off and sending boats ashore, to carry on their trade at will. The Peacock, Captain Kimball, anchored off San Juan Capistrano in April, ostensibly for the purpose of securing provisions. Four men were sent ashore in a boat, but they were seized and sent to San Diego. The ship soon after appearing off the harbor, the men broke jail and endeavored to rejoin her, liut without success. They were therefore obliged to return to the Presidio and later were sent to San Bias. The names of these men were : Tom Kilven, mate; a Frenchman, boatswain; Bias Limcamk and Bias Tame, sailors from Boston. They were the first Americans to occupy a prison in San Diego. TROUBLE WITH O'CAIN 93 In the summer of this year another erat't whose name is not known with certainty, but which is said to have been under the command of Captain O'Cain, was off the coast and gave the San Diego military establishment some trouble and a good deal of fright. The Si)anish accounts call her the Eeizos, and it is possible she was the Racer, which was here in July. The captain, having asked for supplies and an opportunity to make repairs and been refused, went to Todos Santos, in Lower I 1^ ri: 1» 8 <;~>\te.-2 ■ BURIAL OF JAMES O. PATTIE ON PRESmiO HILL The picture is somewhat fanciful, having been made from memory to illustrate the "Narrative" ublished by his son years afterward, but is interesting because it is the only representative we have f the appearance of Presidio Hill when it was an important seat of government. See Chapter IV. California, where he took water forcibly and made prisoners of three guards who had been sent to watcli his movements. He then came back and endeavored to exchange his prisoners for the four men from the Peacock: this failing, he threatened to attack and destroy the fort and Presidio. Hurried prepara- tions were made for meeting the attack, but Captain. O'Cain thought better of the matter and sailed away, releasing his prisoners. The Racer was at San Diego again in 1807. and the 94 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Mercuyi). Captain George Eyres, in the following year. These were the last foreign ships which eame for several years. Again the annals of the quiet years grow scanty. The mil- itary force fluctuated slightly, officials came and went, quar- relled and became reconciled, and the elih and flow of frontier life went on with scarcely a ripple. In 1804 the sum of .^^688 was set apart by the Viceroy for the construction of a flatboat. twenty-five feet long, to be used as a means of trans]iortation between Fort Gui.jarros and the Pre- kjp*^' ■t <**«" , r JUDGE WlTllEKllY'S CHAIR A genuine specimen of mission furniture, made when the mis- sions were in their glory. It was used for many years by Judge O. S. Witherby and is now in Department One of San Diego Super- ior Court. sidio. This boat was actually built and used many years. Evi- dently the San Diego river had not then filled in the tide lands near Old Town. This boat was wrecked at Los Adobes in the latter part of the year 1827, and in the following year the gov- ernor ordered that its timbers should be used for building a Avharf. In 1812 some soldiers were arrested on a charge of being engaged in a plot to revolt and seize the post. Governor Pio Pico in his manuscript History of Califortiia says that his father, THE BOUCHARD SCARE 9& Sergeant -Jose Maria I'ieo, was one of the accused men, and that three of them died in prison. The struggle for Mexieaii indepeudeuee in tho decade fi'om 1811 to 1821, caused very little disturbance in I'pper Califoi-nia. The uncertainty of the soldiers' pay and the irregularity in the arrival of the supply ships were keenly felt; but the archives of the period are almost silent on the subject of the revolution, knowledge of which seems to have been purposely suppressed. Officials were blamed for their negligence, and there was much unrest and complaint, but the department as a whole, both mil- itary and ecclesiastical, was loyal to Spain. The sufferings of the soldiers were severe. Their wants could only be supplied l)y the missions, which took in exchange for their produce orders on the treasury of Spain which they knew might never be paid. At the Presidio thes(^ supplies were traded to foreign ships and sometimes disposed of by less regular methods. Governor Arril- laga importuned the Viceroy in vain on the subject of the neces- sities of the soldiers, and by 1814 the dependence of the military upon the missions was complete. At his visit in 1817, Governor Sola found the Presidio buildings in a ruinous condition. l)ut apparently nothing was done toward restoring them under the Itrief remainder of Spanish rule. In ^March of this same year, there was a slight revival of for- eign trade following upon the visit of Captain James Smith Wil- cox, with the TraveUer. He came from the North where he had sold cloth to the officials for the Presidios and brought with him the share assigned to San Diego. On his departure he took a cargo of grain for Loreto, — the first cargo of grain exported from California in an American vessel. In June he returned and did some trading up and down the coast, seeming to enjoy the confidence of the authorities in an unusual degree. In December, 1818, occurred the episode of the Bouchard scare, which made a deep impression. Captain Hippolyte Bou- chard came to the California Coast with two vessels which he had fitted out at the Hawaiian Islands as privateers, flying the flag of Buenos Ayres. He was regarded by the Spaniards as a pirate, although his conduct scarcely justifies so harsh a term. What his designs were is not clearly known. He may have intended to seize Tapper California. The expedition appears to have been a feature of the wars then raging between Spain and the South American countries, the latter employing the methods of priva- teers, which at that time were recognized by the laws of nations. After committing some depredations at the north, particularly at Monterey, it was reported that the two ships of Bouchard were approaching the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. The Commandant at San Diego therefore sent Lieutenant San- tiago Argiiello with thirty men to assist in its defense. When 96 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Argiiello arrived lie found that the Fathers had removed a part of the church property and concealed it, and he and his men fell to and did all they could toward completing the work. Bouchard arrived the next day and demanded supplies, which Argiiello refused. Re-enforcements soon arrived, and after much bluster Bouchard drew off without venturing to give battle, but not before some damage had been done. For this damage and certain other irregularities the San Juan Capistrano Mission Fathers accused Argiiello. These charges were the cause of much bad feeling and voluminous correspondence, but General Guerra, who Avas friendly to the friars, expressed the opinion that the charges were merely trumped up by the priests to cover their own neglect of duty. Extensive preparations had been made at San Diego to receive Captain Bouchard, even down to such details as red-hot cannon balls. The Avomen and children were sent away to Pala for safety. But the insurgent vessels passed by without stopping, and all was soon serene again. ■ When the news of this attack reached the Viceroy, he determined to re-enforce the Upper Cal- ifornia presidios, at any cost, although he was in extreme diffi- culties, himself, on account of the civil war then raging in Mex- ico. He accordingly managed to send a detachment of a hun- dred cavalrymen, which arrived at San Diego on the 16th of Sep- tember the following year, and about half of them remained here. They were fairly well armed and brought money for the pay- ment of expenses. Up to 1819, the military force at the Presidio was about fifty- five men, liesides a detail of twenty-five soldiers at the Mission, and twenty invalids living at Los Angeles or on ranchos. In that year the number was increased to one hundred and ten, and in 1820 the total population of the district was about four hun- dred and fifty. In August of this year the British whaler Dis- covery put in for provisions — the only foreign ship for several years, and Captain Ruiz got into trouble by allowing her com- mander to take soundings of the bay. At the close of the Spanish rule, San Diego was still a sleepy little military post on a far frontier. The fortifications were dilapidated, the soldiere in rags and destined to lose their large arrears of pay, and the invalids their pensions. The missions had large possessions, but were impoverished by the enforced support of the military for many years. Commerce was dead and agriculture scarcely begun. But a better day was at hand. LIST OF SPANISH AND MEXICAN MILITARY COMMANDANTS AT SAN DIEGO, 1769-1840. Lieutenant Pedro Pages, military commandant of California, July, 1770, to May, 1774. LIST OF COMMANDANTS 97 Lieutenant Jose Francisco Ortega, from July, 1771; made lieutenant and put in formal charge, 1773; continued till 1781. Lieutenant Jose de Ziiniga, September 8, 1781, to October 19, 1793. Lieutenant Antonio Grajera, Oct. 19, 1793, to Aug. 23, 1799. Lieutenant Jose Font, temporary commandant of military post, rank- ing Eodriguez, Aug. 23, 1799, to 1803. Lieutenant Manuel Eodriguez, acting commandant of the company from Aug. 23, 1799, till 1803, when he became commandant of the post and so continued till late in 1806. Lieutenant Francisco Maria Euiz, acting commandant from late in 1806 till 1807. Lieutenant Jose de la Guerra y Noriega, for a short time in 1806-1807. Captain Jose Eainiundo (,'arrillo, from late in 1807 till 1809. Lieutenant Francisco Maria Euiz, lieutenant and acting commandant from 1809 till 1821; then captain and commandant. Captain Ignacio del Corral, nominally commandant from 1810 to 1820, but never came to California. Lieutenant Jose Maria Estudillo, Oct. 23, 1820, to Sept., 1821. Captain Francisco Maria Euiz, Sept., 1821, to 1827, when he retired at age of 73. Lieutenant Jose Maria Estudillo, from early in 1827 to April 8, 1830. Lieutenant Santiago Argiiello, from April 8, 1830, to 1835. Captain Augustin V. Zamorano, from 1835 to 1840; was here only dur- ing 1837-8 and never assumed command of the company. Captain Pablo de la Portilla was nominally commandant of the post by senioritv of rank, whenever present, from 1835 until he left California in 1838. CHAPTER II. BEGINNINGS OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. HE range steer was the first historical char- acter in the commercial life of San Diego. He it was who drew the ships from far-off New England; furnished material for an ('X})()rt trade with the United States. ^Mexico, South America, and the Sandwich Islands; and even laid the foundations of social life at Old Town by supplying an interest to at- tract and support a population, including some families of large means, when the militarv^ society began to pass away. Every early visitor to San Diego refers to the hide-houses which stood out conspicuously near La Playa and which, for many years, served as the emblem of its commercial importance. The trade in hides and tallow was the significant thing during that quarter of a century — 1821 to 1846 — in which San Diego rested under the Mexican flag. The cultivation of the soil was a different story, and one full of human interest. The members of the first expedition of Spanish settlers brought seed with them from j\Iexico and it was planted in the fall of 1769 on the river bottom, directly opposite Presidio Hill, probably at a place now known as Serrano's field. This first crop was a total failure — the ground was too low and the winter rise of the stream in 1770 destroyed the grain. The second crop was also a disappointment. It was planted too far away from the stream to be irrigated and, as it was a season of light rainfall, only a small quantity of maize and of lieans was harvested. The third year the scene of operations was moved up the valley to a place called Nuestra Senora del Pilar, near the site subsequently occupied by the ^fission. The result was not immediately satisfactory, as only about twenty bushels of wheat were harvested, ])ut the priests now bent their minds to the task in earnest, worked out crude methods of irrigation, and finally established their agriculture successfully. By 1790 they were raising fifteen hundred bushels of grain annually, and the production rapidly increased. ^ There is no record of any further attempts at? agriculture in the Eighteenth Century. If any of the soldiers tried it, they probably had a varied experience. THE FIRST GARDENS 99 It was the Spanish soldiers who made the first gardens at Okl Town. Doulitk'ss as they looked down from Presidio Hill they had an eye for choice spots of land where they would one day make a comfortable home for their old age and live nnder their own vine and fig-tree, in the literal sense of the term. The very first house in Old Town was doubtless the tule hut of a retired soldier. And the pioneer of successful gardeners was Captain Francisco JMaria Ruiz. He planted the spot which afterwards came to be known as Rose's Garden , and his pears, olives, and pomegranates bore goodly crops for seventy-five or eighty years. These trees were planted early in the last century and it is only a few years since the last survivors of them, which happened to be pear trees, were removed. This pioneer garden was in the same block as the residence of George Lyons. The oli^'e trees at the Mission, and the famous old palms at the foot of Presidio Hill, were the onl\- plantings which antedated the orchard of Captain Ruiz. There is no possible doubt that the two old palms were the first ever planted in California, and as such they constitute a most valuable and interesting historical exhibit. The seeds from which they sprang were a part of that remarkable outfit with which Galvez had thoughtfully supplied his expedition for the conquest of the new empire. They were planted in 1769, and there is good evidence that they bore a crop of dates in 1869, in honor of their one-hundredth birthday. There is a tradition that they never bore a crop earlier than that — a freak of na- ture, if true. The historic trees were shamefully neglected and abused for many years. They were gnawed by disrespectful horses, and fell victims to those thoughtless vandals who, for some inscrutable reason, never miss an opportunity to carve their own unimportant initials u]'»on everything which the public is interested in having preserved unscarred. In April, 1887, a very modest fence was placed about the trees and now they bid fair to survive for many a generation. By the year 1821 the little patckes of cultivated land had multiplied at the base of Presidio Hill and even spread up and across ]\Iission Valley. Don Bias Aguilar, who was born at San Diego, in 1811, recalled fifteen such rancherias, as they were called, which were occupied prior to the great flood of that year. At two places in tke valley tkere were vineyards. ]\Iost of the rancherias were washed away or greatly damaged by the flood, which occurred in September or October and in a single night filled the valley and changed the course of the river. Large numbers ctf ripe pumpkins were brought down from the fields in the El Cajon country. Dana was able to buy, in July, 1836, a bag of onions, some pears, beans, watermelons, and other fruits. 100 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO The line upper YjlUev of the Sau Diego, includiug the El Cajou, was monopolized by the Mission Fathers ; hence, the military were compelled to look elsewhere for their grazing and farming lands. For grazing purposes, they took possession of that fine district known in later times as the National Ranch, but called by the Spanish the Rancho del Rey, or Ranch of the King. Their grain-fields were located at the Soledad, twelve miles lip the coast. This latter valley was treated as the com- mons of the San Diego military establishment, and, later, of the Pueblo. The land was not divided into individual holdings, but farmed in common. A man cultivating a plot one year had the option of doing so the next season, an arrangement which continued until a short time before the Mexican War. Agriculture never acquired any great importance in all the years of Spanish and Mexican dominion. True, there is* a record of grain exports in 1817, as already noted, and this is evidence of progress when it is remembered that it had for- merly been necessary to import this staple from ]\Iexico ; but the exports never reached an important stage. The easy-going inhabitants were well content if they produced enough to meet their OAvn needs, and their methods and implements were ridiculously crude. Until the Americans came, there were no ploAvs in the country except those made of the fork of a tree shod with a flat piece of iron. Grain was cut with a short sickle, and horses threshed it with their hoofs. But while the agricultural experience was a hard struggle from the beginning, the livestock industry was rapidly devel- oped without encountering any difficulties worth mentioning. It involved but little labor, and that little was of a kind ad- mirably suited to the Spanish disposition, for it could be done mostly on horseback with long intervals of rest between the periods of activity. The pasturage was usually excellent and the cattle took care of themselves and multiplied prodigiously. The Mission Fathers were, of course, also the fathers of the cattle business. It was not until the community acquired a population apart from that sheltered by the Presidio and the ]\Iission that private herds began to appear, but the success of the Fathers inevitably attracted others into the profitable business of raising cattle on free pastures. The Spaniards were lovers of horses and had them in such plenty that it was frequently necessary to slaughter them in order to prevent serious interference with the cattle industry. The Californians — a term which described the whole resident population of Spanish or Mexican blood — were noted for their horsemanship, yet they seem to have taken no pains to breed good stock. This they might easily have done, for they had good Arabian stock to start with, and doubtless the horse might PIONEER HIDE SHIPS 101 have become an iiiipoi'laiit item for export. With the exception of a few shiploads sent to the Sandwich Islands in early days, this opportunity seems to have been neglected. There were a few sheep in early times, but they never grew into large flocks — perhaps because they required more care than the Califomians Avere willing to give them, or because the Californians were not fond of mutton. The pioneer ship in the hide trade between New England and California was the Sachem of Boston, which first came to the coast in 1822. Her Captain was Henry Gyzelaar, while the supercargo was "William A. Gale, a man of considerable note. He had been engaged in the California fur trade, and his glowing report of the resources and possibilities of the country was very influential in developing a fleet of trading ships and giving California its first boom. The Boston merchants who • became interested included Bryant & Sturgis, Trot, Bumstead »& Son, and W. B. Sweet. The important San Francisco firms engaged in this trade at the time were J. C. Jones, and Paty, ]\IcKinlay & Co. Captain Henry D. Fitch, the first great mer- chant of San Diego, was a member of the latter firm. The Sachem did not call at San Diego, securing a cargo elsewhere, but she was soon followed by other ships and a thriving trade in hides was established, which flourished until the Mexican War was well under way. It was the custom of the hide ships to remain some time on the coast, going from port to port and bringing the hides which they collected to the large warehouses at San Diego, there to be prepared for shipment and stored until ready for the home- ward voyage. These trips up and down the f^oast occupied three or four months and seven or eight trips were required for the collection of a cargo, so that two years or more were often spent on a voyage. The best account of this trade is that contained in Dana's Two Years Before the Mad. The cattle were slaughtei-ed from July 1st to October 1st. The methods used were wasteful. About two hundred pounds of the best part of the beef were dried and put aside for future use, and the remainder thrown away, greatly to the satisfaction of the buzzards and wild beasts. The hides were prepared for shipment by immersing them froiu two to four days in large vats of l)rine in order to make them immune against the attacks of insects. They were then spread out on the beach and dried, then hung on ropes and beaten with a flail until all the dust and sand were removed, and, finally, stored in the warehouses to await the sailing of the ships. A sliip-load ranged from 25,000 to 50,000 hides. The tallow was tried out in large pots and poured into bags made of hides, to cool, each bag containinu' f7'oni five hundred 102 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO to a tlioiisaud pounds. In securing the tallow, the part lying nearest the hide was carefully removed and prepared for do- mestic use. A great deal of this grade of tallow went to Lima and Callao, to be used in making candles. The interior fat, weighing from seventy-five to one hundred pounds per animal, furnished the j^rincipal staple for export trade and was worth RICHARD HENRY DANA Author of "Two Years Before the Mast." The portrait shows him as he appeared at the heig-ht of his fame as jurist, politician and author. He died at Rome, January 6, 1882. six cents per pound. This now seems very low, but of course, was due to the exceedingly small cost of producing cattle on the open range and to the heavy expense of shipping ; otherwise the business could not have prospered with such enormous waste and such low prices for products. For the purpose of storing the hides, a number of large warehouses were erected by the Boston firms at a point on the HISTORIC HIDE HOUSE 103 shore nearest the anchorage, known as La Playa (the beach), near the site of the present goverinnent quarantine staticjii. These houses were framed in Boston, sent out in the ships and set up here. They were named after the ships, and the names of four of them are recalled by old settlers as the Admit- tance, the Califovnia, the Steiiiiuj, and the Tasso. There do not appear to have been more than four in existence at one time. For instance, Dana says there were four in 1836. They stood until some time in the fifties. E. W. Morse says he spent his first night on shore, in April, 1850, in one of these old buildings, which was then used as a warehouse. Andrew (Jassidy says there was only one of them standing when he ar- rived, three years later, and that it stood for several years after. Lieutenant Derby, who came in August, 1853, says there were then left the ruins of two of the old hide houses, one being the Tasso. Bartlett, in his Personal Narrative, states that when he was here in 1852, these houses were still standing "exactly as described by Dana in 1836," but this is clearly somewhat inexact. There were also warehouses in San Diego for the storage of the tallow which was to be sent to Peru or JMexico. No hides were exported to Peru or Mexico and no tallow to Boston. The first hide house was built by the carpenter of the Brook- line and occupied by James P. Arthur, mate of that ship, with a small party, while curing hides, in 1829. The Boston Adver- tiser says on his authority: They had a barn-like structure of wood, . . . wliich answered the purpose of storehouse, curing-shop, and residence. The life was lonesome enough. Upon the wide expanse of the Pacific they occasionally discerned a distant ship. Sometimes a vessel sailed near the lower offing. It was thus that the idea of preparing and raising a flag, for the purpose of attracting attention, occurred to them. The flag was manufactured from some shirts, and Captain Arthur WTites, with tlie just accuracy of a historian, that Mr. Greene's calico shirt furn- ished the blue, while he furnished the red and white. "It was completed and raised on a Sunday, on the occasion of the arrival of the schooner Washington, Captain Thompson, of the Sandwich Islands, but sailing under the American flag." So writes honest Captain Arthur. He further states that the same flag was afterward frequently raised at Santa Barbara, whenever in fact there was a vessel coming into port. These men raised our national ensign, not in bravado, nor for war and conquest, but as honest men, to show that they were American citizens and wanted company. And while the act cannot be regarded as in the light of a claim to sovereignty, it is still interesting as a fact, and as an unconscious indica- tion of manifest destiny. The following is a list of all the American trading ships which have been found, known to have called at San Diego during the 104 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO life of the hide trade. A few of these were doubtless whah^rs, and there were probably others of which no record has been found; but it is l:)elieyed this list contains the names of substan- tially all the hide ships. In 1824, Arab, Mentor. 1825, Sachem. 1825-6, Bover. 1828, Andes, Courier, Frank- lin, General Sucre. 1829-31, BrookUne, Louisa. 1829-32-34, Volunteer. 1831, Harriet. 1831-3-6-8-9-40-2-3-4. Alert. 1831-2-3-7-8-9-40-1-2-3-4, Cali- fornia. 1832-3. Plant. 1833. Newcastle. 1833-38-45, Don Quixote. 1833-36-43. Bolivar Liberator. 1833. Harriet Blanchard. 1834, Boxana. 1835. Pilgrim. 1836. Lagoda, Loriotte, Cata- Una. 1836-7, Kent. 1837. Basselas, Sopliia. 1839, Morse. 1840, Alciope. 1840-1, 3Ionsoon. 1841, Thomas Perkins. 1841-2-3-5-7. Tasso. 1842-4-6-7, Barnstable. 1839-43-4, Fama. 1844, Menkar. 1844-5, Sterling. 1845, Maltha. Admittance. 1846, Vandalia. 1847-8, Okja. The hide and tallow trade practically ended with the trans- fer of California to the United States. This was a mere coin- cidence, due to economic rather than to political causes. New England found that she could get her hides cheaper somewhere else. The trade had marked the high tide of prosperity in old California days, and supplied an interesting and romantic epi- sode in the history of the country. Excellent accounts of this period maj^ be found in the writings of Bancroft, Dana, Eob- inson, anci Davis. The latter, perhaps the most competent authority, estimates the total numl^er of hides exported from California at about 5,000,000 and the tallow at 250,000.000 I^ounds. Even after the cattle business passed mostly into private hands, the missions profited largely from it. by means of tithes, a form of ecclesiastical tax scrupulously paid by the rancheros and diligently collected by the missionaries. This tax was col- lected, in some instances, as late as 1850 or 1851. The missions were also the principal customers of the American ships. Their cargoes consisted of sugar, tea, coffee, rum. silk, furniture, calico, clothing, and blankets for the Indians, which they sold to the friars for cash and exchanged for hides. William A. Gale. Alfred Robinson, and William Heath Davis did a large business with the missions for many years. In Robinson's Life in California is an interesting account of the pains which were taken, upon his first visit to San Diego, DISTRIBUTION OF LAND 105 in 1829, to entertain the good Father Autonio Peyri, founder of the San Luis Rev ^lission, and cspeeialh- to impress him with the excellence of the stores brought in the Brookline, from Bos- ton. This entertainment seems to have proven quite profitable, in the end. The missionaries kept the first, and for many years the only, stores, from which they supplied the wants of their neophytes and sold goods to such as desired them. Their suc- cess soon stimulated emulation in this, as in other, lines and private fortunes began to grow. The first storekeeper at San Diego, and the only one for some years, was Captain Henry D. Fitch, who dealt in furs, hides, and general merchandise. After the cattle business began to assume importance and private resi- dences were established in the country, at every important rancho was maintained a general store and depot of supply for the surrounding country. With the growth of the hide and tallow trade, land began to assume more value and private holdings increased. Under the Spanish administration, only the king could make grants of land, and it was many years before the right was exercised toward any except the missionaries. The general laws of Spain provided for the granting of four square leagues of land to newly-formed settlements, or pueblos as they were called, upon certain condi- tions. As early as 1784, application was made to the Governor by private individuals for grants of land, and he issued a few written permits for temporary occupation. Two years later he received authority to make grants of tracts not exceeding three leagues, not to conflict with the boundaries of existing pueblos, and on certain conditions which included the building of a stone house and the keeping of not less than two thousand head of live- stock on each rancho. It was considered that vacant lands outside the pueblos and missions belonged to the Indians, to be utilized by them when- ever they should become sufficiently civilized. In 1793 it was reported that no private grants had been made, but a few years later a number were made near the presidios, subject to con- firmation later on. Several go^'ernors in succession preferred to make these conditional grants, and at the close of the 18tli cen- tui-y the situation was this: The Presidio was without settlers, l)ut expected ultimately to become a pueblo, and was entitled to four square leagues of land whenever proper organization should appear; and there were in the whole department twenty or thirty men engaged in raising cattle on lands to which they had only such possessory permits, but none of these appear to have been at San Diego. In 1813 the Spanish cortes passed a decree relative to the reduction of public lands to private own- ei-ship, designed to improve agricultural conditions and reward 106 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO the country's defenders. Lands might be granted to veterans and invalid soldiers. This decree was unknown in California before 1820. One of the earliest of the grants made under this law was that of the Peiiasquitos Eancho, of nearly nine thousand acres, to the vet- eran Captain Ruiz and Francisco 'SI. Alvarado, on June 15, 1823. This grant was made against the earnest protests of the missionaries, as conflicting with their boundaries. In a report made in 1828 are named the Rancho del Rey, now^ known as the National Ranch, where the Presidio had 250 cattle and 25 horses ; the San Antonio Abad, which had 300 cattle, 80 horses and 25 mules, besides producing some grain ; the Peiiasquitos Rancho, with 50 cattle, 20 horses, and 8 mules; El Rosario, or Barracas. which had 25 head of live-stock and some uTain ; and the San Ysidro stock range. It also appears from a statement of the missionaries in this year that the Temescal Rancho had been occupied by Leandro Serrano, majordomo at San Juan. In January or ^March, 1829. Cxovernor Echeandia granted one league at Otay to Jose Antonio Estudillo, and another to Maria Magdalena Estudillo. From about 1832 grants were rapidly made of the public or unoccupied lands of California ; and subsequent to the acts of secularization of 1833-1, it was the practice of the government to grant to individuals tracts of land belonging to the missions, but which were no longer used or occupied Ijy them. In spite of the opposition of the priests, grants were constantly made by the government within the limits of the so-called mission do2nain, and this continued up to 1816, when the dominion of Upper California passed to the American Government. And so it went on, until the country, except the mission and pueblo lands, had passed into private hands. A table showing these early land grants is given at the end of this chapter. Mr. Theodore S. Van Dyke has written very instructively about these land grants in his Cifij and Coioify of Srni Diego. He says : Soon after the establishment of other missions in California, and the quieting and gathering in of the greater part of the Indians around the missions, settlers from Spain and Mexieo began to come in, and later on a few from the United States, England, and elsewhere. Nearly all these settlers obtained grants of large tracts of land from the Mexican Government, which have since been the cause of much litigation, envy, and quarrelling. These grants were simply Mexican home- steads, given to settle the country .just as the United States homesteads are given, for practically nothing. Instead of selling a man, as the United States then did, all the land he wanted for .$1.2.5 an acre, the Mexican Gov- ernment gave it to him by the square league. The grants were made large ])artly as an inducement to the settler to go into THE FISHERIES 107 such a wild and remote country, but mainly because the raising of cattle for the bides and tallow being the only industry, a large range was absolutely necessary for profit as well as the support of the band of retainers necessary for profit and safety. . . . The first effect of these large grants was to retard settlement. The County of San Diego, in common with the rest of South- ern California, was then believed to be a veritable desert of sand, cactus, and horned toads, fit only for stock range at the rate of about one hundred acres to each animal. Dairying' was practically unknown among the ranchos, and often there was no effort even to keep the tables supplied with 2iiilk. Davis says that he has frequently drank his coffee or tea without milk, on a ranch containing from 3600 to 8000 head of cattle. Other methods were equally wasteful. The horns were not thought worth saving, and the Americans who chose Avere allowed to gather and ship all they cared to, without money and without price. These lax methods may be further illus- trated hy the fact that in 1840 the ^Mission of San Jose ordered the slaughter of two thousand bulls, which were killed simply for their hides, none of the meat, and little of the tallow, being saved. Next to the cattle industry, and the trade in hides and tallow, the fisheries made the most important contribution to the early commerce of San Diego. And the fisheries included the exciting chase for the sea otter, which was very valuable for its fur. The otters were far more plentiful in the north, yet were frequent A'isitors to the San Diego coast, especially to the kelp beds oft' Point Loma and La Jolla. The Indians were acquainted with the use of their furs when the Spaniards came, and one of the early cares of the missionaries was to train their converts to improved methods of catching them. The Indians do not appear to have been remarkably energetic hunters, but enough skins were brought in to form an important item of export and a subject of contention between the cam- mandants and the missionaries, both of whom thought them- selves entitled to a monopoly of the traffic. Tlie heyday of the Spanish trade was about the time of the Lelia Byrd affair, when virtually the whole population had skins to sell, openly or covertly, and the commandant had a collection of about a thousand confiscated skins. By the time the Americans began to settle at San Diego otters were not so common in the bay, but along the coast of Lower California and its adjacent islands there was still good hunting. Philip Crosthwaite was one of the earliest and best known otter hunters. He stated that there were two companies of hunters at San Diego, in 1845, which were fitted out each season by Captain Fitch. The hunting season was during the spring 108 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO and sumniei- luonths. when the otters could be found among the kelp, often asleep, and shot with rifles from boats. This work required a peculiar equipment of patience, keen sight, steady nerves, and marksmanship. Each company sent out three canoes together which hunted in the day and lay up on the beach at night. There were places on the shore known to the hunters, where wood and water could be found, and at night they landed WILLIAM HEATH DAVIS Noted author, associated with Lieut. Gray in abortive effort to found new town, frequently called "Davis's Folly." at such spots through the surf and made their camp. As late as 1857, two otter hunters were drowned in the surf on the beach near Point Loma, while trying to land in a small boat. Otters are, of course, now extinct in this vicinity. In 1845 the skins were worth $40 each at Fitch's store. There are no statistics of the extent and value of the otter catch, l)ut it was very considerable. THE WHALING TRADE 109 That strange animal, the sea-ek^phant, Avas also a native to this coast, and for a short time was a victim of the chase. Very early settlers tell how, on stormy days, the yelps of the elephants lying on the sand at what is now Coronado Beach could be heard in San Diego above the roar of the breakers. They were also plentiful in the haunts of the otter, along the coasts and islands of Lower California. They seem never to have formed an ex- tensive object of the chase by the population. The story of their destruction is short and sad. Some of the Yankee whalers heard of them and conceived the idea that there might be money in elephant oil. There was a rush for them ; they were slaughtered by thousands, and soon exterminated. It is said that some of these ships secured an entire cargo of elephant oil in a single season 's chase. At any rate, these curious animals are gone, forever, from these parts. And does the reader ask, "What is a sea-elephant?" Merely a big seal — the biggest of his family — with a snout so prolonged as to be suggestive of an elephant. The Spanish population never pursued the chase, either by land or sea, with noteworthy daring and vigor. It was great sport for the expert vaqueros to lasso a bear now and then and lead him home, to be baited to death by dogs and bulls ; it never occurred to their uncommercial souls that this sort of thing could be turned into a money-making enterprise. Cattle were plentiful and cheap ; why should a man incur fatigue and dan- ger in the pursuit of articles of luxury which the state of society did not require? Such things were left to the restless and incomprehensible Americans. Cattle were something the Spanish could understand, and it was all very well to shoot an otter now and then as it lay asleep in the sun on beach or kelp ; but to spend one's days amidst the toil and danger of the ocean chase, was nuich too strenuous. The finest of otter skins were worth no more than the hides of four or five bullocks, and there was neither use nor sale for whale oil, until the American ships came. The story of the American whaling trade in the Pacific is one of the most picturesque and romantic in our history, and the half has never been told. The enterprise, hardihood, dar- ing, and skill which made it possible, form a worthy se(iuel to the wonder-tales of England's Elizabethan age. This chase began long before the Mexican War and still continues to a limited extent. The chief rendezvous of the whale ships was first at the Sandwich Islands and later at San Francisco. In 1855 their number had reached five hundred, but it was not until ten years later that San Francisco became the head- quarters. Whales were known to exist on the coast from the time of the earliest settlements. Father Crespi has left it on 110 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO record that upon his arrival at San Pablo Bay, in March, 1772, he saw whales spouting', and there is no doubt the same phenomeno]! had lieen observed here, where whales were no less plentiful. As late as the early forties, San Diego Bay was a favorite resort for female whales in their calving season, and at such times, on any bright day, scores of them could be seen spouting and basking in the sunlight. On North Island there was a spring which the inhabitants of La Playa were in .the habit of visiting in canoes to get a supply of fresh water. Often when these whales were passing in or out, it was deemed unsafe to cross, and the Ijoatmen had to wait for hours. But when the chase began in earnest and steamers began to visit the harbor, the whales abandoned the place and went farther down the coast. They still passed by near the shore, however, in the winter and spring months, and came in near Ballast Point in great numbers. Andrew Cassidy says he has often counted as many as eleven whales inside Ballast Point, all spouting at one time, and in Jamiary, 1872, it is on record that fifteen were seen at one time. Dana tells this story regarding an adventure with a whale at San Pedro : This being the spring season, San Pedro, as well as all the other open ports upon the coast, was filled with whales that had come in to make their annual visit upon soundings. For the first few days that we were here and at Santa Barbara we watched them with great interest, calling out "There she blows," every time we saw the spout of one breaking the sur- face of the water; but they soon became so common that we took little notice of them. We once very nearly ran one down in the gig, and should probably have been knocked to pieces or blown sky-high. We had been on board the little Spanish brig, and were returning, stretching out well at our oars, the little boat going like a swallow; our backs were forward, and the captain, who was steering, was not looking out, when all at once we heard the spout of a whale directly ahead. "Back water! back water, for your lives!" shouted the captain, 'and we backed our blades in the water and brought the boat to in a smother of foam. Turning our heads, we saw a great, rough, hump-backed whale slowly crossing our forefoot, within three or four yards of the boat 's stem. Had we not backed water just as we did we should inevitably have gone smash upon him. He took no notice of us, but passed slowly on, and dived a few yards beyond us, throwing his tail high in the air. The whales passed south from December to February, and on their return trip north in March and April. The local whale companies were formed early in the fifties, at San Diego and other places, notably at Monterey, and they continued in business for many years and were very successful. The business began to assume importance here in 1853. In February, 1858, the THE WHALING TRADE 111 company of whaleiuen at La Playa had killed "about a dozon" whales since they connnenced operations, "only five of which they have been able to get into the port." These five yielded 150 barrels of oil, worth about $2,000. Editor Ames expressed the opinion that if some means could be devised to prevent the whales from sinking, a good business could be done in catching them within ten miles of the harboi'. A little later, they cap- tured five in as many days, each of which produced from thirty- five to forty barrels of oil. By 18G8 the business had grown so that there were two companies with twenty men at work in the boats and a dozen rendering the oil, and it had become a favorite diversion of San Diegans to go out to the lighthouse and watch the chase. In the season of 1870-1, the yield of oil was 21,888 gallons, and in 1871-2 it was estimated at 55,000 gallons and two hun- dred pounds of whalebone were collected. In 1873-4, 21,600 gallons, and in 1874-5 four hundred barrels of oil were produced. As late as 1886, three hundred barrels of oil were made and about a thousand pounds of whalebone gathered. In the eighties the business was declining, however, and soon became unprofit- able and was abandoned. The trying-works were on Ballast Point. The captured whales were towed in and cut up and the flesh thrown into two large iron pots, having a capacity of 150 gallons each. At each pot was stationed a man with a large strainer, whose business it was to fish out the pieces of blubber as fast as they became suffi- ciently browned. These pieces were then pressed to extract the oil, after which the refuse was used for fuel. It seems to have burned very well, but made "a villainous stench." The oil was ladled into casks and when cool was stored awaiting shipment. The method of killing the whales was by a bomb lance from small boats. At first the work seems to have been unskillfully done, but in later years it was carried to great perfection. The whales were of the gray species. No reliable statistics can be given as to the total (Mitput, but it ran well into the thousands of barrels and was an important article of export. Among the older citizens of San Diego are several who came here to engage in this chase, and followed it for many years. The only remains now left of this interesting period are the vertebrae of whales which are used as ornaments and may still be seen in many San Diego dooryards. The Society of Natural History has also col- lected some valuable relics, which are preserved in the public library building. Such were some of the principal commercial features affect- ing the early life of the place. 112 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO LIST OF LAND GEANTS. Following js a list of ranchos of San Diego County, showing tue number of acres in each rancho, names of grantees, and date each grant was confirmed. The names of the grantees do not represent the pres- ent proprietors, the ownership having changed, in many cases, since the confirmation of the grant: Name of Eancho. Owner. Grant Confirmed. Acres. Santa Margarita and Las Flores Pio & Andres Pico 89,742.93 Ex-Mission of San Diego Santiago Argiiello 1846 58,208.00 San Jacinto Nuevo Miguel de Pedrorena 1846 48,823.67 El Cajon Maria Autonia Estudillo de Pedrorena 48,799.34 Santa Eosa Juan Moreno Oct. 10, 1872 47,815.10 San Jacinto Viejo Jose Ant. Estudillo 1846 35,504.00 Cuyamaca Agustin Olvera 35,501.32 La Nacion (National Eancho) .John Forster Aug. 3, 1858 26,631.94 San Jose del Valle (Warner's Eanch) ..J. J. Warner 1846 26,629.88 Pauba Luis Vigues Jan. 19, 1860 26,597.96 Temecula Luis Yignes Jan. 18, 1860 26,608.94 Sobrante de San Ja- Miguel de Pedrorena and Eo- cinto sario E. de Aguirro 22,195.00 San Bernardo .lose Francisco Snook 17,763.07 Santa Ysabel Jose Joaquin Ortega et aL.May 4, 1872 17,719.40 Santa Maria (Valle de Pamo) .lose Joaquin Ortega et al. July 30, 1872 17,708.85 San Vicente Juan Lopez '. 1846 13,539.96 La Laguna Abel Stearns Sept. 3, 1872 13,338.80 Monserrate Ysidro Maria Alvarado..July 17, 1872 13,322.90 Valle de las Viejas Eamon & Leandro Osuna! 1846 13,314.00 Agua Hedionda '. ,Tuan Maria Matron 13,311.01 Pauma .lose Ant. Serrano, Jose Agui- lar, & Bias Aguilar. .Aug. 29, 1871 13,309.60 Guejito George W. Hamley May 24, 1866 13,298.59 Eineon del Diablo Heirs of Juan Bautista Alvarado May 3, 1872 12,653.77 San Felipe Juan Forster Aug. 6, 1866 9,972.08 San Marcos Jose Maria Alvarado 8,978.29 Jamacha Apolinaria Lnreu'^ana 8,881.16 Jamul Pin Pico 8,876.00 La Jolla 8,872.00 San Dieguito .Tuan Maria Osuna 8,824.71 Penasquitas Francisco Maria Euiz & Fran- cisco M. Alvarado 8,486.01 Otay Magdalena Estudillo et al 1846 6,557.98 Tecate Juan Bandini 4,439.00 Janal Victoria Dominguez. . .June 30, 1872 4,436.00 Los Encinitos Andres Ybarra.. April 18, 1871 4,431.03 Island or Peninsula Archibald C. Peachv & Wil- of San Diego liani H. Aspinwall. .June 11, 1869 4,18.5.46 Gnajome Andres «S: Jose Manuel (Indians)... 2,219.41 Buena Vista Felipe (an Indian) 2,219.08 LIST OF LAND GRANTS 113 Potrero San .) u a n Capistrano . . 1,167.74 El Cai'iso aud La Cienega 1,167.00 Ex-Mission of S a n Luis Ecy Bisliop J. S. Alemany, March 10, 1865 53.3!) Ex-Mission of San Diego Bishop Alemaiiy May 23, 1862 22.21 CIIAPTEK TTT POLITICAL LIFE IN MEXICAN DAYS ll/niOUlxH twenty-three Govenioi's — ten Span- ish and thirteen Mexican — ruled California Aj^YI before the days of American dominion, only 3ai ^^^*^* *'^* ^^^^^^ impressed themselves upon the bwl history of Sau Diego. Crovernor Echeandia loved the place so well that he virtually made it the capital during- his administration, and Governor Pico was himself a San Diegan in whom his neighbors felt considerable pride. Several of the oth- ers appeared for a moment upon the stage of picturesque local life, but few exerted any influence upon the course of events in this neighborhood. It must be rememl)ered that for sixty-six years San Diego lived under military rule and that it was not until the estal)lishment of the pueblo in 1835 that civil govern- ment became dominant. Less than a dozen years then remained to the Mexican power, ])ut this brief period was crowded with interesting political episodes. As we study the record, we are strongly , reminded that the men of that time were of the same race as those who have made the turbulent politics of Central and South American states, for there is the same story of mimic wars and of the rise and fall of ambitious rulers. There were but few people to govern, but relatively many who desired to govern them, and the energies which Americans have given to the devel- opment of natural resources the Mexicans preferred to spend on the stormy field of politics. When the Spanish flag went down, and gave place to the em- blem of Mexico, on April 20, 1822, the people of San Diego submitted gracefully, but without enthusiasm. Only far echoes of the revolutionary struggle had reached them during the pre- vious decade and their sympathies clung fondly to the Spanish tradition of the country. It is related that there was no flag- stafip upon which to hoist the new colors; that the soldiers grum- bled because there was no distribution of money; and that the next day they cut oi¥ their queues as an expression of their dis- gust. In December, the imperial commissioner, charged with the change of government in T"^pper California, stopped in San Diego for a week on his way home, but there is nothing to show that he transacted any business at this place. He gambled with a ARRIVAL OF ECHEANDIA 115 rollicking priest, named Fernandez, (|narreled with Santiago Argiiello about it, and de])arted in an nnliappy frame of mind. It was in 1825 that General Jose Maria Ft^heandia, who was both political chief and military commandant of Upper and Lower California, arrived with a detachment of soldiers and a number of subordinates and established himself at the PIO PICO A notable San Diego politician and last Mexican g-overnor of California Presidio. This was after the fall of the Emperor Iturbide and at the very outset of the effort to establish republican institu- tions. The task he had undertaken was by no means easy. The troops were destitute and mutinous ; the old Spanish population was still unfriendly to the new order of things, and the region lacked caj^ital and population and was far from prosperous. Late in 1826, the governor ordered the election of five repre- sentatives to meet in Sau Diego for the purpose of choosing deputies charged with the duty of reorganizing the territorial assembly, as well as to select a member of the national congress. These representatives met in San Diego in Febniary, 1827. They were Francisco de Haro. for San Francisco: Estevan Munras, for Monterey : Carlos A. Carrillo. for Santa Barbara; 116 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Vieeiite Sanchez, for Los Angeles; and Angustin V. Zamoraiio, for San Diego. They chose Pablo de Sola as congressman, but doubts rose as to his eligibility- and the vote was therefore recon- sidered and Captain Jose de la Guerra y Noriega chosen, instead, with Gervasio Argiiello as substitute. De la Guerra y Noriega was a Spaniard, although he had left Spain when quite small. But the Mexican prejudice against Spaniards at that time was so great that, upon his arrival in Mexico, he was not only refused admission to the national assembly, but forced to hurry home in order to avoid serious trouble. Thus ungraciously did Mexico receive the first representative to the national assembly elected in Upper California. Argiiello, the substitute, then took the seat and served out the term, in 1827-8. The San Diego assembly also chose seven members and three substitutes for the assembly which later convened at ^fonterey. Echeandia's choice of San Diego as his capital w-as not popular with the people of the North. His attempt to hold a meeting of the assembly here in the spring of 1827 was barren of results. The members met, protested that San Diego was not conveniently situated for their purpose, and adjourned. In Octolier of the same year they again met here, and chose four new members. Another futile session of the body was held at San Diego in January, 1829. Then the Governor issued a summons for a meeting at Monterey, but his call was ignored. Early in November of this year, from causes arising largely out of the prevailing destitution and discontent of the military, the Solis insurrection l)roke out at Monterey. Echeandia ap- pears to have acted Avith vigor and moderation. He first con- vened a council of seven officers, whom he asked for a frank criticism of his administration. Fortified by their unanimous approval, and assured of the support of the inhabitants of San Diego, he set about his preparations for a campaign. Alfred Robinson was here at the time and gives some description of the bustle of preparation. Guns were repaired, swords sharp- ened, and lances manufactured. The troops departed on De- cember 1, with the governor at their head, and it was several weeks before news of his complete success, after an opera houffe campaign at Santa Barbara and Monterey, reached San Diego. Echeandia was disturbed no more l)y armed revolts, but encountered much opposition in his attempts to carry out the orders of the Mexican government directed against the Spanish population. A number of laws relative to the expulsion of all Spaniards who should refuse to take the oath of allegiance was passed, debarring them from office or employment until Spain should recognize the independence of Mexico. It was undoubt- edly intended that he should enforce these regulations and expel recalcitrants from the country, but he chose to put a THE SOLIS REBELLION 117 more liberal iiilerprelat iuii upon his iiislrLu^lion.s. lie pro- claimed the laws and ])id)lished lists o±' resident Spaniards re- quired to take the oath, but does not appear to have used his power to persecute those who i-efused. Some of the missionaries surreptitiously lied the eountr\-, and others demanded passports and left openly, rather than sulmiit. It ai)pears that Echeandia regarded the presence of these stubborn missionaries as undesir- able, and even went so far as to ship Father ]\Tartinez, of San Luis Obispo, out of the countr\-, after a council of war. on a charge of having given aid and comfort to the rebels in the Solis insurrection. Tie was also desirous of carrying out the wishes of his superiors with regard to the seeulai'ization of the missions, and discussed plans to that end, but no delinite steps were taken during his administration. He did, however, issue a decree of partial emancipation of the neophytes, permitting such as had been Christians from childhood or for fifteen years, who were married or at least not minoi-s. and who had some means of livelihood, to leave the missions. Trade was brisk on the coast during Echeandia's adminis- tration, for it was a time when the hide and tallow business Avas rapidly growing in importance. In 1828, the revenue col- lected at San Diego was $34,000 — nearly six times that at San Francisco. In July of that year, Captain John Bradshaw, of the Franklin, anchored in San Diego Bay after doing consider- able trading on the Lower California coast. A warning had come from Loreto, and he was accused of having been engaged in smuggling, and other ofifenses, although his supercargo, Rufus Perkins, had been allowed to travel overland from mission to mission. Bradshaw was ordered to deposit his cargo in the warehouse and await the investigation of these charges. He promised compliance, but returned to his ship and, once on board, refused to obey any orders given him and changed his anchorage to a point near the harbor entrance. The governor prepared to place a guard on the ship and applied to a French captain then in the port, Duhaut-Cilly, for the loan of a boat. The boat was loaned, but Bradshaw was also warned, and on the morning of the 16th of July he cut his cable and ran out of the harbor, passing the fort, although a shower of cannon balls was hurled after him. The Frenchman met Captain Bradshaw, later, at the Islands, where he learned that his hull had been perforated, rigging damaged, and the gallant capt;iin lii nisei f wounded. The Hawaiian brig Karimol-o Avas also in ti-ouble at San Diego, late in the fall. The records seem to make it clear that she was engaged in contraband trade, having a rendezvous on Catalina Island. Her sails were seized and- Santiago Argiiello was sent to the island to investigate and brnig over the goods. 118 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO In the same year, an American named Lang, with two sailors and two Kanakas, was arrested in a lioat near Todos Santos. The prisoners told a stoi'v about coming from the Sandwich Islands to settle in California; but as Lang's effects included a barrel-organ and two trunks of dry goods, they were confiscated and sold. Lang had previously been at San Diego and confided to a countryman that he was engaged in smuggling. These and other irregularities led to the closing of the way ports to foreign vessels and caused considerable inconvenience to legitimate trad- ing ships. In December, 1830, the rule of Eeheandia ended with the arrival of Colonel Manuel Victoria, the newly-appointed gov- '•'^_. THE AQUIRRE HOUSE, OLD TOWN Later the parsonage owned by Father Ubach ernor. at San Diego. Victoria proceeded north. \\ here the transfer of office was made. With his coming the jurisdiction of L'pper and Lower California was divided and the governor's residence again removed to ^Monterey. The new governor was soon embroiled with his deputies in a fierce quarrel. He refused to convene the assembly, even when petitioned to do so by the members, and a bitter wrangle ensued in which Juan Bandini of San Diego, then substitute congressman for L'pper California, and Pio Pico, senior vocal of the assembly from the same place, were involved, and incurred the governor's displeasure. It was claimed that Victoria was setting up a military dictatorship and ovei'riding the popular will. He was severe in the adminis- tration of justice and shocked the Californians by his strict enforcement of the law's penalties. He also (juarrelled with many prominent men and sent a number of them into exile. In November. 1831, Abel Stearns, a naturalized Mexican citizen, and .fose Antoiiio Carrillo, both of whom Avore among FLIGHT OF VICTORIA 119 the uicii banished hy Victoria, but neither of whom had gone farther than the frontier, secretly met in San Diego with Juan Bandiui and Pio Pico, and laid plans for a revolt. Pico. Bandini, and Carrillo set out with fourteen men besides them- selves, seventeen in all, to seize the post. Bandini went to the house of Captain Argiiello, where he found that officer and Lieutenant Valle playing cards, lie presented tirst an apoloay and then a pair of pistols, and marched the two officers off to prison, where they found Commandant Portilla had preceded them. The troops gave no trouble. Echcandia was persuaded to liead the movement, and soon all San Diego parties were agreed to make it unanimous. A long pronunciamento was drawn up, which Juan Bandini is credited with having written. Portilla was appointed commander, a force was mustered and marched northward and soon took possession of Los Angeles. Victoria had placed implicit confidence in Portilla, who had given him notice of the movement and promised to aid in its suppression. The governor had left Monterey before learning of the revolt, and even upon his arrival at Santa Barbara seems to have re- ceived no accurate information of the nature and extent of the trouble. He started for Los Angeles with about thirty men, full of confidence in his ability to restore order without delay, and spent the night at San Fernando Mission. Next day, the 6th of December, Portilla moved out toward Cahuenga with about two hundred men, and was met by Victoria with his little band of thirty. A war of words ensued, followed by a brief conflict in which two men were killed, and then p]cheandia*s men fled. But Victoria, who had shown great personal bravery, was badlj' wounded and a few days later he surrendered to Echeandia and agreed to leave the country. This promise he kept, arriving in San Diego on the 27th and going at once on board the PocaJiontas, with the Captain of which vessel Juan Bandini had made a contract to transport the exile to Mazatlan for $l.nOO, silver, in advance. On the way down the coast. Victoria had spent some days at San Luis Key, and the venerable founder of that ^lission, Father Antonio Peyri, decided to leave the country with him. He was among the Spanish friars who had suffered persecution under Echeandia. and now quit the country rather than submit further. The ship sailed on the 17th of January, 1832, and Echeandia remained acting governor until the meeting of the assembly at Los Angeles. Pio Pico was then chosen governor, in accordance with the plan drawn up at San Diego, but the officials of the pueblo of Los Angeles refused to recognize him and Echeandia. having paid no attention to the notice of his election, now thought it opportune to repudiate it and declared 120 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Pico incompeteut aiul his election illegal. Pico was goveriioi twenty days, and then the matter was referred to the national government, and in the meantime Echeandia continued to act. A new rebellion now broke ont at Monterey, headed by Cap- tain Zamorano, in which quite a number of foreign residents were involved. After a wordy warfare, the deputies met at San Diego in ^Nlareli at Echeandia "s call, to consider the state of the country. The net result of this meeting seems to have been a circular letter to the governing bodies of the pueblos asking them to preserve order, to recognize the assembly, and to dis- AUGUSTIN v. ZAMORANO For many years prominent in Spanish politics in San Diego. regard the junta of the north. The disalt'ection continued to spread, however, and in a short time the hostile parties were arming and drilling recruits for war. The neophytes at San Luis Key were adherents of Echeandia. and came into camp in large numbers. In April he marched north with about a thousand Indians, but a truce was arranged by which the political jurisdiction was divided between the two leaders and the assembly left with no power whatever. On May 15, 1832. the assembly again met at San Diego and reviewed the exciting events of the vear in an address to the THE HIJAR COLONY 121 president of the repTiblic, especially condemning Zamovano. In the spring of 1832, General Jose Figneroa was appointed governor, but he had an adventurous trip up the coast and did not reach Monterey until the middle of January, 1833. Witli his assumption of office. San Diego ceased to figure as the political headquarters of Upper California. Echeandia wel- comed the new governor and laid down the cares of office, with joy. He gave Figueroa valuable aid in the early days of his administration, but was required to report to ^Mexico, and sailed from San Diego jMay 14, 1833, and never returned. He lived for nearly forty years longer in Mexico, supporting himself by his profession of civil engineer. The estimates of his public services as well as of his character, vary with the point of view of the writers. As an administrator he was inefficient, but personally he was both dignified and affable. The early American tradere regarded him as a man of undecided character, who tried to please everybody ; but he seems to have had strong republican views which he stubbornly strove to carry out in his administration. He is described as a tall, gaunt personage, full of true Spanish dignity. San Diego was never the capital of Upper California in the proper sense of the term. The political events here during the thirties were due simply to the fact that Governor Echeandia preferred it as a residence and chose to order the assembly to meet here. It was. however, for a few years during and following Echeandia 's administration, a hotbed of political activity. In 1831. the first revolution, which ended in the expulsion of Victoria, began here, as related. One cause of this political activitj^ seems to have been a local jealousy between the north- ern and southern establishments. The people of San Diego naturally desired a continuance of the arrangement by which their town served as the capital, and many of the disturbances of the time arose over such questions as the maintenance of a custom house at the port. Monterey was offended by Echeandia 's action, as well as by the choice of congressional representatives from the south. San Diego was gratified by the selection of Pio Pico as Governor in 1832 and again in 1845. On the 1st of September, 1834. the brig Natalie arrived at San Diego, having on board Juan Bandini and Seiior Hijar. with a portion of the political colony sent by the" Vice-President of the Mexican republic, Gomez Farias. Bandini had gone south in May, in time to fall in with the plans of Farias and Hijar. The failure of the enterprise is a matter of history, but does not belong peculiarly to San Diego; onr interest in it relates to the brief entertainment of the party here, and In the disappointment 122 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO of Baiidini at tlie outcome. None of liis larger political ambi- tions, of which he had many, were ever realized. The yatalie is said to have been the vessel in which Napoleon made his escape from the island of Elba. She Avas afterward wrecked by being driven on the beach at Monterey in a storm, Decem])er 21, 1831, and went to pieces. The passengers in Hijar's colony numbered between 130 and 140. For two days the families were sh(^ltered in the hide houses at La Playa, and fed by the owners of the hide houses. Thev were detained in quarantine for fear of measles, and a luimber died and were buried at the ]\Iission. ITi.jar and his fi-iends W(»re entertained -^ iSypB f IHi!'!!! b ^-1*^ 4^ -w ■ ^ i AWii*J«j- . — fr^mmemm ft I . . mm '■f f. QHg )«i •* -v *l m^m j-™' >* ^ ^^'" : • i THE SERRANO HOUSE, OLD TOWN by Bandini, and the others wi^re scattered among the residents of the town and entertained free of cost. The colonists Avere of nearly every occupation except those which the country needed. There were goldsmiths, l)lacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, tailoi's, painters, printers. nmsicians„ and othei- artists and mechanics, but not a single agricultur- ist. ]\Iost of them were finally shipped back to Mexico, but a few settled and remained at San Luis Key and places farther north. The ainials of the Presidio throughout these years are scanty, and merely a story of progressive decay. In 182G a military commission reported the presidial builclings in a "deploral)ly ruinous condition." and estimated the cost of repairs at $40,000. Fort Ouijarros, also, needed repairs to the value of $10,000. It does not appear that anything was done at this time, but in 1828 the battery was repaired. In October of this year, the soldiers sent a committee of five to the commandant to complain of hunger and lack of clothing RETIREMENT OF VETERANS 123 and demand a i)ayment on account of back pay. The connnaiid- ant began to put them in irons, but the threats of their comrades compelled him to desist. They appealed to the General, who promised them justice, which he soon after administered — by distrilmting the tive soldiers among other presidios. In May, 1830, a civilian cut a soldier with a knife and took sanctuary in the church, raising an interesting question of the right of asy- lum. He was sentenced to eight years' labor on the chain-gang. The ranks of the presidial company were not kept fiUl. and by 1830 the total force had dwindled to 120 men. In this year the armament consisted of 13 cannon, 8 of which were brass and 5 of iron ; 3 eight-pounders, 7 six-pounders, and 3 four-pounders. The fort and po^^der magazines were of stone, situated close under the hill at Ballast Point. A reservoir of stone and mor- tar was constructed near the fort, but the water soon broke it. The ruins were visible for many years after. Nothing whatever noAV remains of the Spanish works on Ballast Point. The last traces were obliterated in the construction of the modern forti- fications on the spot, in recent years. A petty uprising of the local military force in 1833 is of some interest. A private of the presidial company of Loreto, named Antonio Alipas. was placed under arrest and confined in the guard-house. On the 26th day of March, Corporal Inocensio Arballo. a comrade of Alipas 's, assembled a squad of seven sol- diers and, all armed and mounted, rode up and demanded the release of the prisoner. The sergeant of the guard refusing this demand, the soldiers broke into the guard-house, released Alipas, and carried him off. This was an exceptional occurrence, and anything resembling vigilante proceedings was rare, among either the civil or military population. The soldiers were harshly treated, but obedience was thoroughly taught. The Spanish military system was continued under Mexican rule. One of its admirable features was a provision foi- retir- ing veterans and invalids on pensions. Privates who had served for thirty years could retire on half pay with the honorary rank of sub-lieutenant, and those who had served forty years, with the rank of full lieutenant, with the pT'i\-ilege of wearing a uni- form. The conditions seem hard, but many of the men, includ- ing some of the early company of Catalonian volunteers, ful- filled them and lived to end their days in peaceful industry. Some of the invalids remained at the Presidio, pei-forming such service as they were able, and were also permitted to settle out- side the Presidio walls. ^Mention has been made of the fact that all soldiers had a little time of their own; and thus, with the pressure of slowly increasing numbers and hard-won knowledge of correct methods of agriculture, the Spanish soldiei-s began to &■ 124 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO ciiltivate successfnlly their little garden plots at the foot of Pre- sidio Hill. The pueblo of San Diego ^vas organized ]»y an election of the necessary (officials on Deeemher 21. 1834. These officials con- sisted of an ahalcJr. or mayor, for which the successful candi- date^ was Juan Alarla Osufia, who was elected over Pio Pico; CAPT. HENRY D. FITCH San Diego's first merchant, who was also very prominent in the politi- cal life of the town. a first nijidoi'. (n- aldciiiiaii. -Juan Bautista Alvarado ; a second rcgidor, Juan .Maria ]\larron ; and a syndico procurador, or town attorney, Heury D. Fitch. Thirteen votes in all were cast, and the officers entered upon the discharge of their duties on the fii-st day of January, 1S35, which marks the beginning of UNSETTLED GOVERNMENT 125 civil iiilc. They constituted the lirst ayuntamiento, or town council. The uew town was a-OTerned by its own council for only three years. The country was not prosperous and population decreased until, in 1838, there were not enough people to entitle it to a council, the number required being five hundred. Accordingly, from the 1st of January, 1838, until the Mexican War, San Diego was part of the sub-prefecture of Los Angeles and gov- erned hy judges appointed annually by the governor. Jose Antonio Estudillo was the first judge, or juez de paz. In 183() a tax was imposed on the hide-salting establishments of foreigners, as had been done before in 1834. In this year, soon after a revolution at Monterey, as a result of which Governor Guiterrez had been banished and Juan B. Alvarado selected as governor in his place. San Diego was again drawn actively into the political affairs of the time. There was considerable local dissatisfaction with the course of events, and Juan Bandini and Santiago E. Argiiello were sent to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara as commissioners to consult with the coun- cils of those towns upon the situation. It was decided to insist upon the carrjdng out of a law alreadj^ upon the books mak- ing Los Angeles the capital, to invite the co-operation of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and a provisional political chief was to be selected to act until the national laws siiould be again in force. Provision for the military support of the movement was also anticipated. The report of the commissioners was ap- proved ui)on their return, but obstacles to the program soon began to appear. The soldiers showed a disposition to make the occasion a pretext for demanding their arrears of pay. The Santa Barbara council, too, failed to endorse the plan in its entirety, and proposed one of its own. It thei-efore aj^peared that nothing could be done, and at the end of the year as the net result, the Los Angeles council awarded the San Diegans a vote of thanks. Early in 1837, new town councils were elected, and that of Los Angeles evolved a new ])lan wliich was indorsed by the restless San Diego politicians. Governor Alvarado left Monterey Avith an army of eighty-five Californians and foreigners, about Christmas. At Santa Bar- bara he was kindly received, and entered Los Angeles without opposition about the 22nd of January. Andres Pico was pres- ent with a body of twenty soldiers, and Pio Pico and Francisco M. Alvarado. also of San Diego, were said to be on the way. but did not ai'rive until all was over. Alvarado succeeded in tem- porarily pacifying the Los Angeles town council, and everything wa.=; quiet in the southern district during February and ^Farch. On account of disquieting rumors, however. Alvarado thought it necessarv to send General Jose Castro southward, with orders. JUAN BANDINI Politician and Revolutionist, forever memorable in local annals as a Spanish leader who stood with the United States in the struggle with Mexico. ATTEMPTS AT REVOLUTION 127 in vi\sc tlu'so I'liinors slioiild |)r(»\r wdl luuiidud, to miiuvc of spike ;i]l tlu' i;iiiis. carry off the horses, sideiice of Jose Guadalupe Estudillo, and long an important landmark, (this house is the ]ucturesque ruin at the south end of the plaza popularl,y, but erroneously, called the "Ramona house") ; the house of Dona Tomaso Alvarado ; the "French bakery"; the house of Rosario Aguilar which was situated on what is now a vacant lot adjoining the house of Louis Rose; and the Carrillo house in "Rose's Garden," adjoining the Serrano house on the east. Bandini and Estudillo were granted a lot in common in 1827. which doulitless marks the time of tlioir beginnins' prejiara- tions to build. Some of the accounts of foreign visitors at this time, though not ahvays accurate, are worth quoting. Vancouver and Capt. 134 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Cleveland have already been mentioned. Benjamin Morrell, junior, on the American schooner Tartar, arrived in April, 1825. He remained twelve days, and in a book which he pub- lished in 1832 told some remarkable stories. According to this veracious chronicler, the form of the Presidio was "nearly cir- cular, and it is surrounded by a wall about 20 feet in height, which forms the back sides of the houses. There are about 250 houses erected in this manner, from one to two stories high, built of freestone and neatly finished. There is also a large church, one nunnery, and a very neat little court-house. This town con- tains about 1,500 inhabitants, principally natives of the coast." Does the reader care for more? Well, it seems that while here, he and seven Spanish companions had a desperate hand-to-hand conflict Avitli fift}' mounted Indian warriors of whom they killed seventeen, while on a hunting expedition. Notwithstanding the gallant captain's evident weakness for drawing a long bow, his statement that a whale boat was built during his stay here is perhaps entitled to belief. In December, 1826, the American explorer and trapper, Jedidiah S. Smith, and party, who had crossed the desert, follow- ing down the Colorado river and reached San Gabriel, were brought to San Diego to he dealt with by Governor Echeandia. They had a somewhat unfriendly reception, but were allowed to secure supplies and depart. The accounts of this visit do not seem to include anything of interest regarding the town or people of San Diego. The next visitor was the French Captain Duhaut-Cilly, who came in 1827 and liked the harbor better than the town. He writes that the port is "without doubt the best in all Cal- ifornia," safer than that of San Francisco even, and that this is due to natural advantages rather than to artificial improve- ments. He continues: "A sad place is the Presidio of San Diego, the saddest of all that we had visited in California, ex- cept San Pedro. It is built on the slope of an arid hill and has no regular form. It is a shapeless mass of houses, all the more gloomy because of the dark color of the bricks of which they are rudely constructed. Under the presidio on a sandy plain are seen thirty or forty scattered houses of poor appear- ance and a few gardens badly cultivated." The American, James 0. Pattie, claimed to have spent the greater part of the year 1828 in the Presidio prison, and after- ward published a narrative in which he described only his prison, thus: "jMy prison was a cell eight or ten feet square, with walls and floors of stone. A door with iron bars an inch square like the bars of window sashes, and it grated on its iron hinges as it opened to receive me. Over the external front of THE PATTIE CASE 135 this prison was inscribed in capital letters' Destinacion de la Callivo." The episode of the Pattie party in 1828 is a most interest- ing one and not as well known as it deserves to be. These eight Americans occupied a prison on Presidio hill for several months, and the leader died there. The feeling of the Californians was not particularly hostile to Americans, perhaps rather less so than to Spaniards ; but all foreigners were regarded with suspicion and kept under as strict a surveillance as the inefficient administration of the time could contrive. The earlier visits of sea rovers on the coast were now being followed up by incursions of trappers and semi-military parties from the interior. Many books had appeared giving glowing accounts of the country, and the mysterious ichor in the blood of the American pioneer which still draws him ever toward the setting sun was full of potency. The Californians had just cause for alarm, as events soon proved. Some acts of violence and injustice resulted, at other places, notably the arrest and deportation to Tepic of a large number of foreigners at Monterey and other places in 1840. But on the whole, considering the volatile temperament of the ruling class and the difficult situation in which they found themselves, it must be said that they acted toward foreigners for the most part with moderation and good sense. The treat- ment of the Pattie party, if Pattie 's narrative is to be believed, is the single notable exception to this rule, so far as events at San Diego are concerned. Sylvester Pattie was a Kentuckian, an Indian fighter, lumber- man, and trapper. In 1824 he and his son, James 0. Pattie, a young man of about twenty, went on an expedition to New Mexico, where they remained three years. In September, 1827, a company was organized at Santa Fe for the purpose of opera- ting on the Colorado river, and the elder Pattie became its cap- tain. Eight of this company, including the two Patties, reached the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers on December 1, 1827. in des|)erate straits for food and supplies. After floating down the Colorado to tide water in a vain search for a mythical settlement of white men, they buried their traps and furs and started westward across the desert. They reached the IMission of Santa Catalina, in Lower California, on March 21, 1828. after suffering severely, and arrived at San Diego, under guard, by Echeandia's order, on the 27th. The names of the com- panions of the Patties appear to have been James Pnter. Jesse Ferguson, Isaac Slover. AVilliam Pope, Richard Lauiihlin. and Nathaniel ^l. Pryor. The governor, for some reason, chose to regard the unfor- tunate men with suspicion and disfavor. He accused them of be- ing Spanish spies, tore up their passport, and ordered them to 136 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO prison. Tliey were quite williug to die resisting this indignant treatment, but they were disarmed, carefully guarded, and locked up in separate cells, so that there was never an opportunity to attempt an escape. The elder Pattie died within a month, and if the account of the son is to be believed, they were all fed on insufficient and nauseating food and subjected to continual taunts and insults. It is clear that he totally misunderstood the character of the Calif ornians, and in the printed accounts can- not sufficiently express his scorn and contempt for the supposed cowardice and treachery of his captors. Through the grated door of his prison he could see the governor at his residence in the center of the Presidio, and the sight tilled him with bitterness. "Ah," he exclaims, "that I had had but my trusty rifle well charged to my face ! Could I have had the pleasure of that single shot, I think I would have been willing to have purchased it with my life." And again: "How earnestly I wished that he and I had been together in the wild woods, and I armed with my rifle!" But Echeandia's mood was not always inflexible. Within a month he allowed young Pattie, who had picked up a little Spanish in New Mexico, to leave the i^rison for the purpose of acting as interpreter during the trial of Captain Bradshaw, of the Franklin. The governor also employed Pattie as an inter- preter and made friendly overtures to him, which the young man regarded from the first as "vile and deceitful lies." He took advantage of the opportunity to plead his cause and debate questions of international law, as well as to endeavor to secure permission to return to the Colorado and recover the buried traps and furs. He even carried the matter, in his own words, to the extent of "teasing him with importunities." But when he re- fused to translate any more letters, Echeandia lost patience, struck him on the head with the flat of his sword, and had him returned to prison. In the following September the governor released the prisoners and proposed a plan by which the buried traps and furs might be recovered. A military escort was to be provided, greatly to the delight of the prisoners, who at once formed the resolution to overpower the guard and escape at the first opportunity. Pattie 's vindictiveness shows itself in his instant resolution to "rise upon them, take their horses for our own riding, flea (flay) some of their skins to show that we knew how to inflict torture, and send the rest back to the general on foot." At the last moment, however, the shrewd old general spoiled the whole plan by refusing to send any horses and by keeping the young fire- eater himself as a hostage for the safe return of the party. ' ' At this horrible sentence," he declares, "breaking upon us in the THE GOVERNOR'S ATTITUDE 137 sanguine rapture of conlidenee, we all gazed at each other in the consternation of despair." The expedition retui'ued in the latter part of September and reported that the furs had been spoiled by a rise of the river and the traps had to be sold to pay mule-hire. While his comrades Avere gone, Pattie seems to have had a stormy time of it in his prison cell, where he lay under constant expectation of a violent death. Pie had some consolations, however; Captain Bradshaw had been kind to him, and W. H. Cunningham, A. W. Williams, and Seth Rogers are named as captains of American vessels who befriended and gave him money. He also had a guardian angel in a Spanish young lady whom he calls Miss Peaks, but whom Bancroft says was Miss Pico. His ungovernable tongue seems to have been largely responsible for most of his troubles, as he would not leave off from importuning and disputing with the governor. There is no doubt his conduct and language greatly exasperated the proud old Spaniard. There is nothing to show that the six men who went after the outfit were incarcerated after their return. The final release of the wliole party was due to an e])idemic of smallpox which broke out in the northern missions. It chanced that Pattie had a small quantity of vaccine matter with him, and he resolved to use it as a means of ol)taining their liberty. As he tells the story, he now became master of the situation and dictated terms, re- fusing to be set at liberty or to vaccinate the governor or even Miss Pico, unless his demands were granted. In return for the liberty of himself and men, he would undertake to vaccinate everybody in Upper Californifi. The stories of Pattie and others do not agree about this and many other matters. He would have it that vaccination was a mystery to the Californians and Russians, which is not correct. It seems strange, too. that if he had this vaccine matter among his effects, the Californians should possess neither the intelligence nor the power to find it for themselves. After his release he vaccinated everybody at the Presidio and ]\Iission and on his arrival at San Francisco, in June. 1829, he claimed to have operated on 22,000 persons. The truth of the matter pi-obably is that Echeandia was tired of the whole business, perhaps convinced that the men were harmless, and anxious to find an excuse for releasing them, and that Pattie 's threats and violent tongue did him more harm than good. At any rate, the governor seems to have seen in Pattie 's possession of the vaccine virus and ability to use it, an opportu- nity to get rid of his unwelcome visitors and to do something for the public health at the same time. The principal points in this story, as related above, are in accordance with Pattie 's Narrative. Considerable doubt has been thrown upon Pattie 's veracity. hoAvever, and the present 138 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO writer cannot vouch for it all. Indeed, it seems higlih' prob- able that the party was not badly treated at San Diego, at all. Pryor, Laughlin, and Ferguson remained in California and lived in Los Angeles, and the stories they told differed materially from young Pattie's. It seems that young Pattie (or. more probal)ly. the man who wrote his Narrative, had an unreason- ing hatred of Catholics and Spaniards, and the whole book is colored by it. For instance, he entirely su]ipressed the fact, which is well authenticated, that the elder Pattie became a Catholic before his death and was buried in consecrated ground on Presidio Hill, although the picture of "The Burial of Mr. Pattie," in his Narrative, itself betrays the fact that the inter- ment took ]>lace on the hill. From 1830 onward, the town grew rapidly and Avas soon, for the time and country, an important commercial and social center. When William Heath Davis first came, in 1831, he found it quite a lively town. Ca])tain J. C. Bogart was in charge of the Pacific IMail Steam- ship Company's coal hulk, Clarissa Andrews, for many years. His reminiscences of the country at that period relate chiefly to trees, agriculture, and live stock. He says: "In 1834 it was good to see the hills about San Diego. Wild oats grew upon them to a height which reached above the head of a man on horse- back. Cattle were abundant and rolling in fat. Whenever any of the crew of the Black Warrior wished to use a horse, the animal Avas furnished by the native Californians for a whole day for a dollar. It made no difference if the rider pressed the horse to death, so he packed the saddle back. Horses Avere too plentiful to be a matter of any consequence." The next visitor, in order of time, was the Avell known Eichard Henry Dana, Avho Avas here in 183(1, and Avhose story has already been drawn upon in earlier pages. In 1838, there Avere nine foreigners in San Diego, among AA^hom Avere Thomas Russell and Peter Weldon, Avho Avere concerned in a search for treasure supposed to be buried at the Mission. In the early part of 1839, a Mr. Spencer came here as one of the creAv of the Boston ship Sophia. In 1873 he revisited San Diego, and in his recollections given at that time recalled the San Diego of his earlier Ansit as "a few miserable huts." He may have had a disagreeable experience here Avhich influenced his opinion of the place. During their stay, they purchased 6800 hides of very fat cattle. "-San Diego," he said, "was at that time a beautiful picture of fertility. A luxuriant vege- tation graced the mesa. Chaparral and mesquite grew abun- dantly and countless herds of cattle pastured around the edge of the bay. ' ' L WILLIAM HEATH DAVIS 139 The deeliiio of San Diego began about 1836 and continued steadily until the Mexican War. In 1840, the population was the smallest for fifty years. De Mofras estimated it at one hundred and Bancroft thinks it was about 150. Late in 1841 the newly appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Upper California, Garcia Diego, came with the intention of making San Diego his residence. He abandoned the idea, however, and located at Santa Barbara, instead, chiefly on account of the poverty of the Mission and town of San Diego. In 1844-6, in an effort to raise troops for the defense of the country in the pending Amer- ican invasion, there Avere only about seventy men capable of bearing arms. The foreign setth^rs living in San Diego in 1845, according to Crosthwaite's recoUectiou, were: Himself, Henr\' D. Fitch, Don Juan Warner, xVbel Stearns, John Forster. Captain John S. Barker, Thomas Wrightington, John Post, Peter Wilder, John C. Stewart, Thomas Russell, Caesar Walker, Captain Edward Stokes, an English carpenter known as "Chips," Enos A. Wall, Albert B. Smith, and two negroes iiamed Allen B. Dight and Richard Freeman. Frequent reference has been made to Alfred Robinson and William Heath Davis. Robinson was a native of ^Massachu setts who came here in 1829 as clerk of the ship Brooklinc. He was baptised as Jose Maria Alfredo before 1833, and early in 1836 married at Santa Barbara, Ana Maria, daughter of Captain Jose de la Guerra y Noriega. This wedding is the one desei'ibed in Dana's book. The following year he and his wife went to Boston. He returned in the Alert in 1840, and remained two years. His employment in these days was as clerk and super- cargo of different ships. In 1849 he returned to California as agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and in later years was engaged in some real estate transactions in San Fran- cisco. His LifQ in California is a standard work and one of the best of its kind. They had eight children. Mr. Robinson, al- though of a somewhat reserved disposition, A\as a competent man and his standing in California was good. He deserves to be remembered among the pioneers who saw clcfU'ly. and judged with common sense. William Heath Davis was born at Honolulu in 1821. and came to California as a boy on the Louisa, in 1831. In Novem- ber, 1847, he married Maria de Jesus Estudillo, daughter of Jose Joaquin Estudillo. His wife lived in San Diego when young, and Mr. Davis's book is full of information about the life here in early days. For many years he was one of the most l)rominent merchants in San Francisco, and engaged in some of the largest trading ventures on the coast. He took little part in ]iublic affairs, but was a thorough and successful business 140 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO num. lie resided at San Diego for a short time and part of his account of his life here is used in the following chapter. He was one of the founders of New San Diego, and built the first wharf there in 1850, a circumstance of which he was always proud, although the venture was not a financial success. In 1S89 he published his Sixty Years in California, which is one of the most interesting and informative books ever written about Cal- ifornia. In this book, like Alfred Robinson, he stands up man- fully in defense of the Calif ornians — that is, of the better families, such as that into which he married. He is still living in Oakland, California, and has a new set of reminiscences written and ready for publication. A DANCE IN OLD SAN DIEGO It is ou the bougli-roofed daiicing-tioor, 'Way back iu the brave days now lui more: It is among the cavaliers, A-tripping with the lissome dears • That bared those famous ankles, down In gay old San Diego town. The viols stril^e up and the guitar. And yonder, as comes the evening star, Her filmy skirt a little lifted — A curling cloud atioat, wind-shifted. Blown now to the left, and now to right — Glides Josefita into sight. Yon rider, he to every dear The boldest, gayest cavalier. Is rocking, rocking in his seat, Keeping the motion of her feet. He turns his horse, he runs him round The circuit of the dancing-ground. The earth is heaving like an ocean, Witched with Josefita 's motion. He comes again, he comes a-riding. And comes, too. Josefita gliding. The bamba! Brighter shines the star; He claps his spurs, he leaps the bar. Dancing! Sweet heavens, look on her now! Not so light arc the leaves that dance on the bough. The brimming glass upon her head Dreams like a lily upon its bed! See! Something she whispers iu his car That you would give the world to hear. Aha! Somebody will come down. Tonight, in San Diego town; But Where's the shape that he wouhi fear. He, Josefita 's cavalier! — John Vance Cheney. CHAPTER V PLEASANT MEMORIES OF SOCIAL LIFE IIATEVER was lackiiig in Old San Diego, the social life was rich and beautiful. This is the testimony of all visitors and all the old residents who have lived to tell the tale. Peoph' did not take life too seriously in those days. They made the most of their oppor- tnniti(^s for ha]ipiness. and collected large dividends of content, whether they had any other sort or not. The echo of their laughter still rings down the pathway of the years, and suggests to the nervous Americans of today that there might he some pleasant compromise l)etween the extremes of energy and indolence which would result in forms of life peculiarly suited to the rare environment of this southern land. The different classes of society were quite distinct in the early time, the division running on lines of birth. Natives of Spain or direct descendants of such natives, constituted the upper class and prided themselves upon the purity of their blood. Aside from this, they had other and better claims to consider- ation, for they were usually well educated and always possessed of considerable culture. In a society accustomed to caste, they naturally assumed a position of leadershi]:). Some of them were gentlemen in reduced circumstances who had taken to soldiering in the hope of retrieving their fortunes. Others were men of good families who had secured official appointments. All of them were proud and dignified in bearing, even when they hap- pened to be very poor. The lower classes consisted, first, of Mexicans with more or less Aztec and Indian blood, and, last of all, the native Indian. Most of the Mexicans were soldiers, some of whom brought their wives, while others married Indian women after coming here. They were a class corresponding to the Spanish peasantry and furnished the labor of the country. The social customs which flourished in the midst of these conditions were so deeply marked with the spirit of common kindness that one can hardly escape the thought that something has been lost, as well as gained, in our present-day struggle to get ahead, as individuals and comnnmities. Take, for instance, SPANISH HOSPITALITY 143 the matter of hospitality to straiiprers. To offer to pay for entei-- tainment was an affront. The traveler was supplied with a fresh horse at every staoe of his .jonniey, and had no care or expense in the matter of returning them to their owners. On a table beside his bed he found a quantity of silver, to which he was expected to help himself, according to his needs, and no questions were asked. If a man needed a bullock, he might send a vaquero to lasso one from the herd of his wealthy neighbor, and pay for it when convenient — and if it did not become convenient, it was no matter. If a horse were borrowed and not returned, it was of no consequence — there w^ere plenty more. The average of wealth among the cattle owners was large and their bounty was as free as air. Incivility was absolutely unknown. Even the poorest peasant saluted you politely and was prepared to carry a message or do any little courtesy without charge and with an air of cheer- fulness and good humor. The kindness of the people was gen- uine and unaffected. It was the custom to call all persons by their C^hristian names, with an easy familiarity. Older men re- ceived the prefix of Don or ^enor Bon, and ladies of Dona or Senorita Dona, if unmarried, and Senora Dona, if married. It was nlso quite usual to playfully nickname one's intimate friends in a humorous manner to which the Spanish language lends it- self most happily. For instance, Wm. A. Gale was known as Quairo Ojos (four eyes), on account of his wearing glasses. Tie was also called ToDvrnfa (gale), and Camhalachr (barter), both for obvious reasons. One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Californians was the very great respect shown to parents by their children. This deference was not abandoned with the passing years, but even a grown man coming into the presence of his father or mother always removed his hat and remained standing until invited to sit. No man, whatever his age, ever smoked in the presence of his father or mother. If a young man met an elder in the street, he would throw away his cigar and lift his hat, whether to his parents or a stranger. Servants showed the same deference to their employers. One scarcely knows what to say about the current stories of old men chastising their grown sons, and the latter, although themselves the fathers of families, kneeling meekly to i-eceive the punishment. They may be true, and do seem fairly well authenticated. The better class of Californians were temperate, with few ex- ceptions. They were fond of smoking, however, and the habit was almost universal with them. The Mexican ladies were also fond of tobacco, and brought the custom of smoking cigaritos to California. 144 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Notions of propriety were strict and young people, even when engaged, were not left to themselves. Courtships were usually arranged by the mother or aunt of the young lady. This was followed by a written proposal for the young lady's hand, from the suitor to her father, and the reply was also given in writing. Weddings were made the occasion of much social gaiety. Davis says that at a wedding which he attended in 1838, he was met on the road by a brother of the groom, gorgeously attired and splendidly mounted. Horses were lassoed for the wedding cavalcade. He had brought his own saddle, according to the custom, even though a guest. There were two cavalcades for the use of the party, one of red roan horses and the other of twenty- five blacks. On returning from the Mission and approaching the house of the groom's father, the old gentleman fired a salute with a brass cannon which ho kept in the plaza in front of the dwelling. It was customary for the Californians to marry young. One reason for this was in order that the young men might thereby escape being drafted into the army. It was not uncommon for boys of sixteen, or seventeen, and girls of fifteen or sixteen, to marry. Balls given at the celebration of the nuptials usually lasted three days. Arboi-s were carefully prepared, with beaten earthen floors, and lined with sheets and other articles to exclude the wind. The feasting and dancing did not cease, night or day. One of the best descriptions of the wedding customs is that contained in Dana's Two Year?ral laugh was raised. The next day two of us were sent up to the town, and took care to come back by the way of Captain Noriega's. The musicians were still there, scraping and twanging away, and a few people, apparently of the lower classes, were dancing. The dancing is ke]it up at intervals throughout the day, but the crowd, the spirit, and the eliie come in at night. A more intimate view is given l)y Robinson himself, in his account of the weddino' of his wife's sistei', a little earlier, both the contracting parties, in this case, being Spanish : On the marriage eve, the bride went with her father to the Mission, dressed in her usual church costume, which was deep black; where the joining of hands took ])lace towards morning, and, at a later hour, the church ceremonies were per- formed. Breakfast was served with considerable taste, a task to which the M^orthy friar was fully competent. At its conclu- sion the bride and bridegroom were escorted to the house of her father. -Padre Antonio had made his Indians hai)py by distributing presents among them; and many of the younger ones, well attired for the occasion, joined in the procession. They approached the town without any regular order, until 146 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO arriving almost within its precincts; when, ixncler the direc- tion of the friar, they formed and marched in the following manner. First came the military band, consisting of about twenty performers, who were dressed in a new uniform of red jackets trimmed with yellow cord, white pantaloons made after the Turkisli fashion, and red caps of the Polish order. Then followed the bride and bridegroom, iu an open English barouche, accompanied by the sister of the former. After these, iu a close carriage, came Don Jose and Father Antonio; iu another the Madrina [godmother] and cousin; and lastly, num- bers of men and women on horseback. Guns were fired, alter- nately, at the Mission and in the Presidio, until their arrival at the house, to the pe.sfa de boda [nuptial feast]. At one o 'clock a large number of invited guests sat down at a long table, to partake of an excellent dinner. The married OLD SAN DIEGO IN 1846 couple were seated at the head with the father spiritual on the right, and the father temporal on the left. Dinner being over, part of the company retired to their homes, whilst some of the younger adjourned to a booth, which was prepared in the courtyard, sufficiently large to contain several hundred people. Here they flanced awhile, and then retired. Early in the evening, people, invited and uninvited, began to fill up the booth, and soon dancing commenced. The music consisted of two violins and a guitar, on which were performed many beautiful waltzes and contra dances, together with a great number of local melodies. During the evening all took active part in the amusement, and as the poorer classes exhibited their graceful performances, the two fathers, from an ele- vated position, threw at their feet, silver dollars and doub- loons. The fandango . . . lasted until the morning light FUNERAL CUSTOMS 147 appeared, accoiiipauied with all the variety customary on such occasions. On the next day. Father Antonio, as a further compliment to the bride, had dinner prepared in the corridor of the Mission — the table reaching from one end to the other, and the place being adorned with flags. Here all the town was invited to participate, when old and young, rich and poor, lame and blind, black and white, joined in the feast. For several succeeding nights the fandango was repeated at the booth, and they bad enough of feasting and dancing intermingled with the amuse- ments of the Carne.stoJeiulas [shrove-tide] to last them for some time. The usual season for Carncstolendas is during the tliree days previous to Ash Wednesday, but here they commence two weeks earlier. Whilst these amusements last, it is dangerous for one to go into a house where he is acquainted, for he is liable to be well drenched with Cologne or scented water. This is accom- plished by the following preparatory process. As many eggs as may be required, are emptied of their contents, by perforating a hole at each end, through which they are blown by the mouth. The shells are afterwards immersed in a large basin of prepared essences, with which they are partly filled, and the holes then sealed with wax. Thus made ready, they are broken upon the heads of individuals; but it must be under- stood, that this is done only where great intimacy exists be- tween the parties. Oftentimes invitations are given for a select company to assemble at a specified place, when all attend at the time appointed, "armed and equipped " for a battle with the eggs. On such occasions, as the excitement grows w^arm, and the ammunition becomes nearly exhausted, they resort to wet napkins, which they slap at each other. From these they have recourse to tumblers of water, and from these to pitchers, and from pitchers to buckets, until, tired and exhausted by the exercise, they desist! Even a funeral was made the occasion of feasting- and danc- ing. Dana thus describes his first encounter with this custom in Santa Barbara : Inquiring for an American who, we had been told, had mar- ried in the place, and kept a shop, we w'ere directed to a long, low building, at the end of which was a door with a sign over it in Spanish. Entering the shop, we found no one in it, and the whole had a deserted appearance. Tn a few min- utes the man made his appearance, and apologized for having nothing to entertain us w-ith, saying that he had had a fan- dango at his house the night before, and the people had eaten and drunk up everything. "Oh, yes!" said T, "Easter holi- days." "No," said he, with a singular expression on his face, "I had a little daughter die the other day, and that's the custom of the country. ' ' At this I felt a little strangely, not knowing what to say, or whether to offer consolation or no, and was beginning to retire when he opened a side-door and told us to walk in. Here I was no less astonished; for I found a large room filled with young girls from three or four years of age up to fif- teen or sixteen, dressed all in white, with wreaths of flowers 148 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO oil their lu-ads aiid bouquets in their hands. Follow- ing our conductor among all these girls, who were play- ing about in high spirits, we came to a table at the end of the room, covered with a white cloth, on which lay a coffin about three feet long with the body of his child. Through an open door we saw in another room a few elderly jieople in comnion dresses; while the benches and tables thrown up in a ^-orner and the stained walls gave evident signs of last night's "high go." Later in the day, the sailors rode out to the Mission and overtook the funeral procession. The coffin was borne by eight girls, who were continually relieved by others, running forward from tlie ])roeession and taking their places. Behind it came a straggling company of girls, dressed as before, in white and flowers, and including, I should suppose by their numbers, all the girls between five and fifteen in the place. They played along on the way, frecpiently stopping and run- ning altogether to talk to some one. or to pick up a flower, and then running on again to overtake the coffin. There were a few elderly women in common colors; and a herd of young men and boys, some on foot and others mounted, followed them, or walked or rode by their side, frecjuently interrupting them by jokes or cpiestions. But the most singular thing of all was that two men walked, one on each side of the coffin, carrying muskets in their hands, which they continually loaded and fired into the air. ^^oiiie of the things at which Dana wondered seem natural and lieantiful enough. ]\Irs. Whaley describes a funeral at Old San Diego, which was very similar, except that the body was carried on a bier and not placed in the coi!in until the cemetery Avas reached. A priest Avalked before, saying prayers, and the musicians walked on both sides playing violins, guitars, and other instruments. At the rear followed a man with firecrack- ers which he was setting off as they moved. The last interment in the cemetery within the presidial enclosure was that of Captain Fitch, in 1840. Nothing now remains to show that the sjiot was ever used for such a purpose. The Catholic cemetery on the mesa was used until February, 1874, when the large new cemetery, on the hill above the town, was laid out under Father Ubach's direction, and has been in use ever since. On the subject of dancing and other amusements, it is again convenient to draw upon Robinson." Don Juan Bandini had his house blessed during the stay of Gale and Robinson at San Diego in 1820. and they were invited to attend. The ceremony took place at noon, when the chaplain pro- ceeded through the different apartments, sprinkling holy water upon the walls, and uttering verses in Latin. This concluded, we sat down to an excellent dinner, consisting of all the lux- uries the place afforded, provided in Don Juan's best style. As soon as the cloth was removed, the guitar and the violin BLESSING BANDINI'S HOUSE 149 were [lut in requisition, and a dance began. It lasted, how- ever, but a little while, for it was necessary for them to spare their exertions for the evening fandango. So poco a poco [little by little], all gradually retired to their homes. At an early hour the different passages leading to the house were enlivened wiUi men, women, and children, hurrying to the dance 5 for on such occasions it was customary for every- body to attend without waiting for the formality of an invi- tation. A crowd of leperoH [dependents] was collected about the door when we arrived, now and then giving its shouts of approbation to the performances within, and it was with some difficulty we forced our entrance. Two persons were upon the floor dancing el jarabc. Thej^ kept time to the music, by drumming with their feet, on the heel and toe system, with such precision, that the sound struck harmoniouslj' upon the ear, and the admirable execution would not have done injus- tice to a pair of drumsticks in the hands of an able professor. The attitude of the female dancer was erect, with her head a little inclined to the right shoulder, as she modestly cast her eyes to the floor, whilst her hands gracefully held the skirts of her dress, suspending it above the ankle so as to expose to the company the execution of her feet. Her partner, who might have been one of the interlopers at the door, was under full speed of locomotion, and rattled away with his feet with wonderful dexterity. His arms were thrown carelessly behind his back, and secured, as they crossed, the point of his scrape [sash], that still held its place upon his shoulders. Neither had he doffed his sombrero, but just as he stood when gazing from the crowd, he had placed himself upon the floor. The conclusion of this performance gave us an opportunity to edge our way along towards the extremity of the room, where a door communicated with an inner apartment. Here we placed ourselves, to witness in a most favorable position the amusements of the evening. The room was about fifty feet in length, and twenty wide, modestly furnished, and its sides crowded with smiling faces. Upon the floor were accom- modated the children and Indian girls, who, close under the vigilance of their parents and mistresses, took part in the scene. The musicians again commencing a lively tune, one of the managers approached the nearest female, and, clapping his hands in acconn)animent to tlie music, succeeded in bring- ing her into the centre of the room. Here she remained awhile, gentlj' tapping with her feet upon the floor, aiul then giving two or three whirls, skipped away to her seat. Another was clapped out, and another, till the manager had passed the compliment throughout the room. This is called a son, and there is a custom among the men, when a dancer i)roves par- ticularly attractive to anyone, to place his hat upon her head, while she stands thus in the middle of the room, which she retains until redeemed by its owner, with some trifling pres- ent. During the performance of the dances, three or four male voices occasionally took part in the nuisic, and towards the end of the evening, from repeated applications of aguardiente [brandy], they become quite boisterous and discordant. The waltz was now introduced, and ten or a dozen couple whirled gaily around the room, and heightened the charms of 150 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO the dance b3' the introduction of numerous and interesting figures. Between the dances refreshments were handed to the ladies, whilst in an adjoining apartment, a table was prepared for the males, who partook without ceremony. The most inter- esting of all their dances is the contra danza, and this, also, may be considered the most graceful. Its figures are intri- cate, and in connection with the waltz, form a charming com- bination. These fandangos usually hold out till daylight, and at intervals the people at the door are permitted to introduce their jaraies and jotas. The haniha was a favorite dance, in which the lady would often dance with a giass of water poised on her head, or with her feet muffled in a handkerchief. The jota and the zorrita were danced by couples and accompanied hj singing. The con- tra-d(i)iza Avas indulged in hy the better classes and young persons seldom participated. Before 1800. few houses had other than an earth floor, and the dancing was done upon the ground, which from constant use became very hard. A wooden ])latform was constructed, upon BANDINI HOUSE, OLD TOWN, (PRESENT APPEARANCE) which the women ;md more skillful males might dance. After the ball was over, the men in groups accompanied the women to their homes, playing nuisic as they went. After this, they, would sometimes ride about the streets and sing or indulge in rougher sports. "How often," exclaims Doiia Refugia de Baudini, "did we spend half the night at a trrfulia till 2 o'clock in the morning, in the most agreeable and distinguished society. Our house would be full of company — thirty or forty persons at the table; it w^ould have to be set twice. A single fiesta might cost $1,000, but in those days the receii^ts at my husband's store were THE GAY FIESTAS 151 $18,000 a iiioiith. Tiie prettiest women were to be found at San Diego." "Ah, what times we used to liave, " exchiims another, "every week to La Playa, aboard the ships — silks! officers! rehozos! music ! dancing ! frolic ! ' ' These "good times" contiuued until long aftei- the American occupation and formed the pleasantest part of the recollections of old settlers now living. "We used to have great times here," says one, "real jolly good times. The people didn't think of anything else, then, but pleasure and amu.sement. We used to have fandangos, or little parties, at niglil. We could get up one of these balls in a couple of hours. There was horse-racing, too." Mrs. Whaley relates that on the day of her arrival, the 8th of December, 1853, there was a festival and ball at the Gila House and she was prevailed upon to go. "We had splendid dances there," she says. "The musicians were Californians and played only Spanish airs. They looked as if they were asleep while they played. I remember particularly the cascarones — eggs filled with tinsel and cologne water, which were broken -over the heads of the dancers. I have had many a cascarone broken on my head. The suppers Avere also fine, but at first I found the Spanish cooking too highly seasoned for my taste." The frequent fiestas w^ere one of the most highly prized fea- tures of the social life of early days, and one which ])ersisted after nearly all the other characteristic amusements had passed away. In the Herald of September 3, 1853, Lieut. Derliy wrote : "The great event of the past week has been the fiesta at San Luis Rev. IManj^ of our citizens attended, and a very large num- ber of native Californians and Indians collected from the vari- ous ranchos in the vicinity. High mass was celebrated in the old church on Thursday morning, an Indian baby was baptized, another nearly killed by being run over by an excited individ- ual on an excited horse, and that day and the following were passed in witnessing the absurd efforts of some twenty natives to annoy a number of tame bulls, with the tips of their horns cut off. This great national amusement, ironically termed bull- fighting, consists in waving a scrape, or handkerchief, in front of the bull until he is sufficiently annoyed to iim after his tor- mentor, when that indi\ndual gets out of his way. with great precipitation. The nights are passed in an equally intellectual manner. ' ' On August 28. 1858, Editor Ames says: "Our quiet village was nearly deserted during the whole of last week, the greater portion of our citizens being absent at the Feast. We have heard it estimated that 3.000 persons were present at San Luis Bev during the Feast week." 152 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO Horse-racing was a common source of diversion and was in- dulged in by all classes. No feast day passed without a num- ber of races, which were always attended with great interest and sometimes large sums of money were lost and won. They were usually run bv two horses, in short heats of from two to four hundred yards. Dana found the population greatly inter- ested and excited by these events. The Old San Diego race- course was on the flat ground between the town and San Diego Bay, and in the fifties and sixties some famous races took place there. In its first number. Octo1)er 3, 1868. the Union says: "To- morrow at two o'clock a two-mile race will be run over the j\Iis- sion track. Alfredo Carrillo names b. h. ^luggins, Jesus Mar- ron names 1). h. Buck. AVe are not advised as to the amount of the stakes, but learn that besides a large amount of money already up, the winner takes the losing horse." In early times, when money was scarce, the stakes were more often in cattle. It is to be feared that bull-and-bear fights were not unknown here, although not so common as in other parts of the territory. The animals were placed in a strong enclosure and the whole population went to see the combat, seats being provided for women and children. A hind leg of the bear and a fore leg of the bull were strapped together, and the combat sometimes lasted for hours before one of the animals succumbed. Far more pleasant to recall are the picnics, in which it was the custom to indulge with .ioyi)us abandon. The married ladies rode on their own saddles, while the young women were carried on horseback by the young men. This service was considered a post of honor, and discharged in the most polite and gallant manner possible. A bride was often carried to church in this manner. Sometimes the jncnickers would ride in Avagons draAvn by oxen, and. if one of their number could play, there would be both instrumental and vocal music, going and coming. At the picnic grounds, mats were spread and a feast held, after which games were played. In the evening, after the return, the day would be finished with the inevitable dancing. The only thing resembling dramatic perfoi-mances were the pastores, or sacred comedies, in Avhich the inhabitants took a deep interest. On Christmas night, 1837, such a pastorela was performed, and Alfred Robinson has left an account of it. Among the performers were Guadalni)e Estudillo, Felipe ^Mar- ron, Isadora Pico, and other girls. He thus describes the per- formance and the midnight mass which preceded it : At an early hour illuminations commenced, fire-works were set off, and all was rejoicing. The church bells rang merrily, and long before the time of mass the pathways leading to the Presidio were enlivened by crowds hurrying to devotion. I A MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS 153 accoiiipaiiiecl Dou Jose Antonio | Estuclillo], who procured for me a stand where I c-oiild see distinctly everything that took place. The mass commenced, Padre Vicente de Oliva offici- ated, and at the conclusion of the mysterious sacrificio he pro- duced a small image representing the infant Saviour, which he held in his hands for all who cliose to approach and kiss. After this, the tinkling of the guitar was heard without, the body of the church was cleared, and immediatel.y commenced the harmonious sounds of a choir of voices. The characters entered in procession, adorned with appro])riate costumes, and bearing banners. There were six females representing shep- herdesses, three men and a boy. One of the men personated Lucifer, one a hermit, and the other Bartolo, a lazy vagabond, whilst the boy represented the arch-angel Gabriel. Tlie story of their performance is ])artially drawn from the Bible, and commences with the angel's appearance to the shepherds, his account of the birth of our Saviour, and exhortation to them to proceed to the scene of the manger. Lucifer api)ears among them, and endeavors to prevent the prosecution of their jour- ney. His influences and temptations are about to succeed, when Gabriel again appears and frustrates their effect. A dia- logue is then carried on of considerable length relative to the attributes of the Deity, which ends in the submission of Satan. The whole is interspersed with songs and incidents that seem better adapted to the stage than the church. For several days this theatrical representation is exhibited at the principal houses, and the performers at the conclusion of the play are entertained with refreshments. The boys take an enthusiastic part in the performance, and follow about from house to house, perfectly enraptured with the comicalities of the hermit and Bartolo. In later days there was an occasional circus, which imist have heen a godsend to the laughter-loving people. The late j\lrs. E. W. Morse, who arrived here in July. 1865, says: A Spanish circus visited San Diego soon after my ai'rival. It exhibited in the evening in a corral with high adobe walls, the company having no tents. The place was lighted b}^ strips of cloth laid in cans of lard and then set on fire. The primitive lanterns were set on high posts and at best furnished a poor light. The spectators included nearly all of the population of the town who could pay the admittance fee of fifty cents. I think the Indians were admitted at half-price. The Americans and Spanish occupied one side of the corral, and the Indians squatted on the ground on the other. The performances on the trapeze and tight-rope looked especially weird and fantas- tic in the smoky light of those primitive lanterns. The Californians were famous horsemen, as everyone knows. Indeed, the Californian who was not a good rider was looked upon with contempt. The greatest tribute which could be made to friendship, was a present of a good horse. The usual gait iu riding was a hard gallop, which was not slackened even when lighting a cigar. The trappings were heavy and gorgeous and 154 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO covered the horse from neck to tail. jMaiiv of the ladies were skillful riders. Their saddles had no stirrup, but they rested their foot in the loop of a silken band, instead. The onh^ other means of locomotion was in the primitive ox- carts of the time, which were truly a survival of ante-diluvian days. They had either two or four wheels, which were made of the section of a tree about four feet in diameter, sawed otf about a foot thick. The body of the vehicle was set upon the axle, with no springs. A lijght canopy was erected over this. Th(\v were all wood, no metal at all being used. The cart was drawn by oxen, the tongue being attached to their horns by ropes. The driver walked in front, to guide the team, and the women and children in the body of the cart prodded them with sticks. This primitive contrivance was the only means of con- veyance, besides horseback riding, for many years. All freight- ing was done in this manner and many long journeys performed, as well as nearby picnics. Considerable skill was required to guide these carts safely over the crude roads. It is said that the Californians were somewhat negligent about keeping the axles greased and did not mind the frightful shrieks which usually accompanied their progress. It is said, too, that it was not uncommon for the oxen to be trained to run races, and that this diversion was often indulged in on the Avay to and from church. E. W. Morse related that one Pedro Gastelhum left his home in Ensenada, with his family, and traveled in such a conveyance to the homes of friends and relatives in Sonora, fully a thousand miles. "It may have taken them six months to reach their des- tination," says Mr. Morse, "but what of it? Unlike the Gringos, they saw no need of hurr^nng and worrying through this life. Their countrymen occupied ranches all along the route, to which they were heartily welcome, without money and without price, whether their stay w-as long or short. This family returned in the same manner, having been gone about two years, and, I doubt not, have always looked upon that trip as the most enjoy- able of their lives." This was the only vehicle in the country until the fifties. In 1858, Abel Stearns imported a carriage from Boston, Avhich was looked upon by the Californians as a deplorable and dan- gerous piece of vanity. At Santa Barbara, where there was more wealth, we have seen that Captain de la Guerra y Noriega owned a barouche several years earlier. The Californians were not, as a rule, fond of hunting al- though they sometimes indulged in such branches of the sport as could be pursued on horseback. It was great fun to lasso a bear and lead him home, gagged and foaming, to be kept for a bull-and-bear fight on the next feast dav. For game which '^to' WHEN GAME WAS PLENTIFUL 155 had to be stalked on foot, oi- in boats, howevei-, tliey had small taste. Thei^e was nothing of the spii-it of the i)ol-lmnter about them. The testimony concerning the abundance and variety of game in the country is (|uite conclusive. Besides those which have been previously mentioned, antelope were very plentiful. In the early fifties, Captain l*>ogart sowed a field of barley on North Island, but reaped nothing, for the antelope came along the peninsula at night and ate it up. In 1853, a party of four San Diegans, who had been camping on the hills for ten daj^s, brought into town forty deer and "a cord" of smaller game, and this was only one instance out of numy. As late as 1868 deer and antelope were plentiful at the Eucinitos. In March, 1869, a son of Captain English, assisted by a Califoi-nian, cap- WRIGHTINGTON HOUSE, SHOWING THE COURT tured a large wildcat on the mesa between old and new San Diego, and in December, 1871, the San Diego markets were well supplied with venison. Dana tells how, while left in charge of a hide house in San Diego for some weeks, a part of his duties was to gather wood for use in cooking. This fuel consisted of scrub oak trees, which they brought in on a hand-cart, from the hills back of La Playa. While so engaged, they had considerable sport with various kinds of game. Coyotes (which Dana calls coatk) were so plentiful that the pack of dogs kept at the hide houses fre- quently caught and killed them. They also shot hares and 156 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO rabbits, and Dana makes quite a story of the killinii,' of a rattle- snake. The rodvos, or "round-ups" of cattle, were held frefjuently for the purpose of keeping the herds together, as well as of brand- ing the cattle. They were more in the nature of sport than of labor and gave fine opportunity for the display of horsemanship. As the importance of the cattle interest increased, regulations were enacted l)y the territorial assembly for the due government of these important functions, which were presided over by the juez del campo, or judge of the plains. These officials were continued under the American administi-ation and regularly ap- pointed for several years. The houses in which the Californians lived were of a type peculiarly adapted to the climate and to their habits of life. The walls were of adolies, or large, thin, sun-dried bricks. Us- ually there was no frame-work, and no wood in the structure except the doors, window frames, and roof timbers. The walls were laid up and cemented with mud and whitewashed without and within. The roof timbers wei'e laid upon the walls, usually without other sui)port, and the roof covered with thin red tiles so shaped and laid as to be an effectual protection against rain. The poorer people used tule or earth instead of tiles, for their roofs. The wealthier classes had board floors, either at first or later on, but others were content with the hard-packed ground. Doors were sometimes of wood, l)ut not infrequently consisted of a dried l)ull()('k's hide, especially on ranchos. When carefully built, these houses were very comfoi'table as well as dural)le; but when exposed unprotected to the weather, they soon decayed. There were no stairs to climb and no plumbing to get out of order; they were cool in summer and warm in winter; and the extent to which the later comers are reverting to the Mission type of architecture shows how sensibly they were built. Some of these houses — the simplest — consisted of only four walls and one room. The next Ix^tter ones had a pai'tition, mak- ing two a])artments, and a little farther uj) the scale, a very long ])uilding was erected, with numerous ro(mis and entrances. But the highest type of house was built in the Spanish fashion, in a square, with an inner court. This patio was surrounded by a corridor, oft' which doors opened into the rooms. Several of the houses in old San Diego were of this kind. The furniture was simple — in the earliest days qiute primitive. Later, the wealthier families secured furniture from Spain and bought that made at the missions. A good deal of this old Span- ish and mission-made furniture can still be found at the country seats of the })rincipal ranchos. When the Boston ships began to pursue their profitable traffic in hides, they l)rought quantities of New England-made furniture, which became the rage and J THE DIET OF THE TIME 157 was prefcnvd in San I)i(>iio to tho plainor and iiioiv substantial Spanish and mission [)roduc'ts. The Californians ate a great deal of meat — almost siil)sisted upon it. The staple food was beef broiled on an iron rod, or steak with onions, and sometimes mutton, ehieken, antl e,u o (1) c 0) a. 1> ■*-i X a; r tc fi & C) « c o ■4-> % 0; ti> c > EQ m H O > o o O a a H o Di H a H O < 3 O O be C 'i o X. OT CHAPTER VI PROMINENT SPANISH FAMILIES HE names and annals of Spanish families, con- spieuons in the social, commercial, religious, and political life of Old San Diego, will al- ways be treasured as an interesting and vital part of local history. It would he quite in- vidious to attempt to present them in the order of their importance. Hence, the alphabetical plau is adopted in this arrangement of facts obtained from a great variety of sources: AdUILAR, Bias, son of Corporal Rosario, born at San Diego, 1811. outside the Presidio walls. Was majordomo at Temecula in 1834. Settled at San Juan Capistrano and was a petitioner for land in 1841. Was alcalde there in 1848. Mari-ied Antonia Guiterrez. AGUILAR, Rosario. Corporal of the mission guai'd at San Diego soon after the year 1800. Had a house on site of the pres- ent town, in 1821. ]\Iajordomo of San Diego ^Mission, 1838. Juez de paz in 1841. Removed to San Juan Capistrano soon after and obtained land there. Died there in 1847 leaving several children, of whom Bias Aguilar, mentioned above, was one. His daughter Rafaela was married to Jose Antonio Serrano. AGUIRRE, Jose Antonio. A native of Basque. Spain, born about 1793. At the time of the ^lexican revolution he was a merchant at Guaymas. Remaining loyal to Spain, he was driven out of Mexico and settled in Upper California. Owned brigs Lcoxidas and Joven Guipuzoana, and engaged in coast. Island, and China trade. On arrival of the Hijar colony at San Diego in 1834, gave a ball in Hijar 's honor. It was at this ball that certain modern dances are said to have l)een first introduced into California. He divided his residence between San Diego and Santa Barliara, at which latter place he owned the finest residence in 1842. In 1843, he was grantee of the Tejon rancho. In 1848 and 1849, engaged in trade with Wil- liam Heath Davis, and in 1850 he and Davis, with four others, founded new San Diego. He was at San Diego April 1, 1850, and appears in a list of the voters at Old Town. In Sep- tember of the latter vear he served on the first grand jury 162 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO ill Sail Diego county under American rule. lie married Fran- cisca, daughter of Prefect Jose Antonio Estudillo, of San Diego, and after her death married her sister, Maria del Rosario Estudillo. He was a large man and on that account was some- times called "Aguirron" (big Aguirre). He was a fine type of the old Spanish merchant and left a large estate to his widow and four children. A son, Miguel Aguirre, lives in the neighlior- hood of the San Jacinto rancho. A daughter was married to Francisco Pico and lives in the same vicinity. His widow married Colonel Manuel A. Ferrer, of San Diego. ALIPAS, Damasio and Gervasio ; mentioned by Juan Bandini as members of the revolutionary junta of fourteen which began the revolt against Governor Victoria in November, 1831. A third brother, Santos Alipas, was one of the men killed in the Pauma massacre, in December, 1846. Damasio Alipas married Juana IMachado, daughter of Jose Manuel Machado, and had three daughters : Ramona, whose first husband was William Curley and her second William AA^illiams ("Cockney Bill"), and who is still living, in Los Angeles; Josefa, who married John Peters, and left San Diego in 1851 or 1855 ; and Maria Arcadia, who became the wife of Captain Robert D. Israel and lives in Coronado. Damasio Alipas Avent to Sonora before the Civil AVar. and was killed there. His widow tlien married Thomas AA^rightington. ALTAMIRANO, Jose Antonio, was the son of Tomas Altamirano and Dolores Carrillo. and was born at La Paz, Lower California, ATay 31, 1835. His mother was a sister of Joa(iuin Carrillo, the father of Airs. Henry D. Fitch ; another of her brothers was Pedro C. Carrillo, who once owned the San Diego (Coronado) peninsula and sold it for $3000. Jose Ant. Altamirano came to California in 1849 and Avas first engaged in mining. In 1859 he went into stock raising on a large scale near San Jacinto. He owned the Valle de las Palmas rancho, near Tia Juana, in Lower California, which is still in the family, and AA'as at one time the owner of the Algodones grant, on the Colorado river, near Yuma. In the Mexican AA^ar, he served on the American side. He lived at Old Town, Avhere he married Ysabel de Pedrorena, daughter of Aliguel de Pedrorena, and had a large family. Miguel is unmarried, and lives on Las Flores rancho; Antonio is married, and lives at Paris, France, was formerly a San Diego councilman ; Jose is unmarried, and lives in San Francisco ; Robert, died at the age of twenty ; Dolores, married, first Llarry Neale, of San Diego, and had three children, second, Robert Burns, of Sacramento; Ysabel, married E. AV. Ackerman and lives in Old Town ; Tula, Victoria, and Mary, unmarried ; and Maria Antoinette, Avho died. SANTIAGO ARGUELLO 163 ALVARADO, Fi-iuiciseo Maria. First regidor of San Diego, 1837. Treasurer, 1840-1. Juez dp paz, 1845. (Irantee "of Peiiasquitas raneho in 1823, 1834, and 1836, on whieli he lived: and grantee of Soledad raneho in 1838. Was an elector at San Diego, April 1, 1850. ALVARADO, Juan Bantista. Fii'st regklor of San Diego, 1835; comisario de poUcia, 1836. Daughter Maria Antouia was married to Captain Joseph F. Snook. ARGUELLO, Jose Ramon, son of Santiago Argiiello. Second aleahle (juez de paz) in 1845. Davis rehited that on a trip into Lower California, with Don Ramon as guide, he found that gen- tleman addicted to eating rattlesnakes. ARGUELLO, Santiago. Son of Jose D. Argiiello, born at Monterey 1791. Paymaster at San Diego in 1818, and in 1821 had a garden in ^Mission Valley. His part in the Bouchard invasion has been related. In 1827-31 he was lieutenant of the San Diego Company, and commandant from 1830 to 1835. From 1831-5 was captain of the company and took part in the revolt against Victoria. In 1833-4 he was revenue officer at San Diego. In 1836 he was alcalde, and held several other offices. During the Mexican war he w^as friendly to the Ameri- cans and gave them considerable aid. Soldiers were quartered at his house and he held a commission as captain in the Cal- ifornia battalion. Was a member of the Legislative council in 1847 and made collector of the port. In 1829 he was granted the Tia Juana raneho, in 1841 the Trabujo, and in 1846 the San Diego Mission lands. He married Pilar Ortega, daughter of Francisco Ortega, of Santa Barbara, by whom he had 22 children. Among the children who lived and had issue were : Francisco, Ignacio, Jose Antonio, Jose Ramon, Santiago E, Refugio who was married to Juan Bandini, Teresa who was married to Jose M. Bandini, Maria Louisa, who was married to A. V. Zamorano, and Concepcion. wife of Agustin Olvera. He died on his Tia Juana ranch in 1862. and liis widow in 1878. The ranch is still oAvned by the family. Davis takes pains to state that his sons were finely-formed, well proportioned men. He was a man of ability and left an honorable record. His disposition was somewhat reserved and he was not universally personallv popular. ARGUELLO, Santiago E. Son of Santiago, was born August 18, 1813. Collector of revenue at San Diego, 1833-4. Took part against Alvarado in 1836-7. Deputy in assembly and juez de paz in 1845-6. Aided the Americans in Mexican War and had a claim for $11,548 for damages to his property. Was in charge of the Otay and San Antonio Abad ranchos in 1836-7, and ma.iordomo and landowner at San Juan Capistrano in 1841. 164 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO He was an elector at Old San Diego, April 1, 185o, 1827. In 1828-80 was revenue collector and treasurer. Grantee of Otay rancho. in 1829. ^lember of the assembly in 1888-5. Keceived a rominent part in public affairs. He was congressn.an from California m 18^7 and the following year named by Echeandia m a list ot thos. 2o had taken the oath of allegiance. Candidate for position of political chief, in 1837. In Mexican War was . unfriendly to U. S. but remained quiet. Died m lroud disposition hd him to decline all these offers. Popu- lar with everybody in the dejiartment, the recollections of him by tliuse who knew him were exceedingly pleasant. He settled at San Diego in 1845, liaviug married Maria Anto- iiia Estudillo, danghtei- of Jose Antonio Estudillo. He strongly THE PICOS, FATHER AND SONS 173 f;i\(if('(l 1li(' .\mericaii side in the war of 184(1, and had a cav- alry command with the rank of captain. lie built one of the first frame houses in Old Town, Avhich is still standin<»' near the parsonage. In the late ()0's it was used as the office of the Uuion. He was collector of customs in 1847-8. In 1850, with Wm. Heath Davis and others he was one of the founders of new San Diego. He died March 21, 1850. His only son was Miguel de Pedro- rena. horn at Old Town in 1844, and died at his ranch in JamnI Valley, December 25, 1882. He married Nellie Burton, daugh- ter of General H. S. Burton of the U. S. Army, at the Horton House in New San Diego, Dec. 25, 1875. His sister Ysabel was married to Jose Antonio Altamirano. She was born at the very moment when the American tiag was raised at Old Town (July 29. 1846), a circumstance of which the family is very proud. Victoria was married to Henry Magee, an army officer from the state of New York, of excellent family. Elena mai-ried Jose Wolfskin and lives at Los Angeles. PICO, Andres. Son of Jose Maria, borji at San Diego, 1810. In 1836-8, was elector and receptor of customs, and in charge of Jamul rancho. Took an active part in the uprisings against the Monterey government and was several times a prisoner. In 1839-42 was lieutenant of the San Diego Company, served as elector, was in charge of San Luis Rey, and obtained lands at Santa ]\rargarita. San Juan Capistrano. and Temecula. AVas in command at the battle of San Pasqual and in subsequent oper- ations. JNIade treaty with Fremont at Cahuenga which ended the Avar. Did not return to San Diego, but engaged in mining and land litigation. Represented the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego in the State Senate, in 1860-1. Was a Democratic ])residential elector from California, 1852. He never married. He was a brave and popular man. but coarse and unscrupulous. Died in 1876. PICO, Jose Antonio Bernardo. Son of Jose JNIaria. Born at San Diego about 1794. Member of the San Diego Company, and clerk in 1817. Sergeant, 1828, lieutenant, 1834, and com- missioner to secularize San Juan Capistrano, 1834-6. Went to Monterey, 1838. Grantee of Agua Caliente Rancho in 1840 and left the military service. Grantee of San Luis Rey, 1846. Mar- ried Soledad Ybarra, 1828 ; died at San Diego, 1871. He was a lively old man. full of .jokes, and nicknamed Picito [Little Pico] by reason of his small stature. Wilkes ridicules him in his ac- eonnt, 1841. He was a soldier in the Mexican War and second in command under his brother Andres, (biring the operations around San Diego. PICO, Jose Maria. Founder of the Pico family of Southern California. Son of Santiago Pico of Sinaloa. Soldier of the San Diego Company from 1782. also at San Luis Rey. Died at 174 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO San Gabriel in 1819. llis wife was Maria Estaquia Lopez, a native of Sonora, whom he married in 1789. Their three sons were Andres. Jose Antonio Bernardo, and Pio. They had seven daughters : Concepcion. who was married to Domingo A. I. Car- rillo; Estefana and Jacinta, who were married to Jose A. E. Carrillo, the brother of Domingo ; Ysadora, who became the wife of John Forster; Tomasa, who married an Alvarado ; and Feliciana. PICO, Pio. As a resident of San Diego Avho became gov- ernor, Pio Pico is a figure of much interest. He was born at San Gabriel in 1801, and removed to San Diego after his father's death, in 1819. He kept a small shop there. Gambled with Father iMenendez with varying fortune ; lost all he had at San Vicente, Lower California, and later won twelve mules and stripped the padre, at San Diego. Built a house at old San Diego in 1824. Once on going to Los Angeles for a visit, he was ordered by Alcalde Avila, described as an ignorant fellow who ruled by the sword, to go to work on an aqueduct; but being on horseback and armed with a musket, he escaped and returned to San Diego. In 1821 he put up a hide hut at Los Angeles and opened a dram shop, the |)rice of a drink being "two-bits." Introduced the use of an ox-horn to drink from, Avith a false wooden bottom to reduce the quantity of liquor. Mrs. Carson once met him going to the races ; he had his mule panniers loaded down with silver which he was taking to bet on the horse. Was clerk in a trial at San Diego, 1826. Senior vocal of assem- bly, 1832, and chosen political chief after expulsion of Victoria same year, but only acted twenty days. 3Iajordomo San Luis Eey Mission, 1834. Candidate for alcalde, December, 1834, but defeated. Elector, 1836. 1837-9, active against Alvarado 's government and more than once a prisoner. Played an active and not always creditable part, in troubles of this time. Became governor in 1845, and was the last Mexican governor. In 1841, grantee of Santa INIargarita and Las Flores Ranchos. Conveyed the former to his brother-in-law. John Forster, and there was a noted contest for it in later years in the courts, but Forster won and retained the valuable propery. He married Maria Ignacia Alvarado in 1834. He spent his later years in Los Angeles and wrote quite a little concerning California his- torv'. His character has been variously estimated and he has been much abused for various causes. It is not possible to discuss these matters here. He seems to have been a man of little edu- cation and only moderate intelligcMice ; fairly honest but with- out any gifts of statesmanship which would have qualified him for important achievements in the difficult times in which he lived. Neai'ly all the magazines have contained, at various times, FATHER UBACH 175 "write-ups" of the Pico fninily, and attacks or defenses of his administration. ROCIIA, Juan Jose. Mexican lieutenant who came with Echeandia in 1825, under sentence of banishment from Mexico for two years. Held different commands, at Monterey and else- where. Gave a ball in honor of the Hijar colony, 1834. Mar- ried Elena Dominguez. Spent his last years in San Diego. Father of Manuel Rocha, who w'as a member of the first grand jury at San Diego, in September, 1850. RUIZ, Francisco Maria. Native of Lower California. At Santa Barbara from 1795, and from 180G commandant at San Diego. Made captain in 1820 and retired in 1827. Grantee of the Pefiasquitas Rancho, and died in 1839, at age of about 85. Never married. He was the son of Jnnn ^laria Ruiz and Isabel Carrillo, both of distinguished families. His father was killed by a lion. His brother, Jose Manuel, was governor of Lower Califoi-nia. He was a man of violent temper and quarrelsome disposition, and had serious difficulty with his relative. Captain de la Guerra >■ Noriega, whom he knocked down. He was also somewhat dis- sipated. He seems to have been well liked locally, notwithstand- ing his many faults. SERRANO, Jose Antonio, son of Leandro Serrano. ^Tarried Rafaela, daughter of Rosario Aguilar. Their children were: Jesus, who is about seventy-five years of age and lives at Ven- tura ; Luis, born March 12, 1816, married Serafina Stewart, daughter of John C. Stewart, and lives in San Diego ; Rosa, who was married to Andrew Cassidy ; and Adelaide, wlio was the first wife of Sam Ames, of Old Town. Jose Antonio Serrano was a horse and cattle man. He served under Pico in the IMexican War, and was engaged at the battle of San Pasqual. TTBACH, Father Antonio D. Native of Catalonia. Edu- cated for a missionary priest at Cape Girardeau, Missoui-i, and had traveled thousands of miles as a missionary among the Indi- ans. He came to San Diego in 1866, and had been in charge of the Catholic parish here ever since. Had a dispensation which allowed him to wear a beard. He had Moorish blood in his veins. He brought the first organ to San Diego. In early days after the morning services were over, he would bring out a football which he brought with him here, and play with tlie boys on the plaza. He had the dagger of the celebrated bandit, Joaquin ^Murietta. He had also had charge of a large number of valuable relics of early Spanish days, including vestments, books of record, etc., from the old mission. He was the "Father Gaspara" of Mrs. Jackson's T^atnona. a circumstance which gave him wide fame and made him an 176 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO object of extraordinary interest to all strangers. For many years he refused to discuss the truth of the incidents of the story, but in the Sa)i Diego Vnion of June 25, 1905, he spoke of the marriage of Eamona as follows : "Although it took place forty years ago, I remember it vei-y well — how the couple came to me and asked me to marry them and how I was impressed with them. But it was not in the long adobe building Avhich everybody points out as the place — that is the Estudillo place — but it took place in the little church which stands not far away, near the old cemetery where the old mission bells are. Why, I would not marry them out- side of the church ; Catholics know that. ]Mrs. Jackson herself says that the wedding took place in the chapel, and I can't imagine why the other building is the one that is usually pointed out. "Do I know who Alessandro and Ramona were? Yes. but those were not their real names. I know what their right names were, but I do not care to tell. ]\Irs. Jackson suppressed them because she did not care to subject the families to the notoriety that they would lie sure to get from the publication of the book. They were native families who lived in the coun- try, and I was well acquainted with them. I have never men- tioned their names to anyone and of course I don't want to do so now." In 1871 he laid out the present Catholic cemetery on the hill back of old San Diego. In 1878-80, he went home and visited his people in Catalonia. A large part of his work here has been among the Indians, with whom he has had great influ- ence. The corner stone of the unfinished church at Old Town was laid in July, 1869, but he was destined to be unable to finish it. Three years later, a movement for a new building in ncAV San Diego was commenced, and in 1875 he had the satis- faction of occupying a comf(n'table building on what was then mesa lands west of the new town. The present brick church was completed and occupied in 1891. Father Ubach died at St. Joseph's Hospital on the afternoon of Saturday, .March 27, 1907. He had been in failing health for several months, but insisted upon pursuing his accustomed tasks until he could no longer appear in public. His death, though not unexpected, impressed the community ]n'ofoundly. It was the sundering of the last link which connected the new day with the olden time, for Father Ubach was in truth "the last of the padres." His funeral, which occurred in his church on the forenoon of Wednesday, April 2d, was exceed- ingly impressive. Bishop Conaty conducted the elaborate cer- emonies and pronounced the eulogy. The church was filled to overflowing, while thousands of mourners remained outside the ZAMORANO 177 buildiii;^. Among' the mass of tioral emljlems iiothiiiy' was more toiiehiiig than the Avild flowers sent by the Indians from the mountains. The historic priest sleeps in the Catholic cemetery on the mesa, which overlooks the scene of his labors. ZAMORANO, Auynstin Vicente. Was a native of Florida, his parents being Spaniards. He received a good education and entered the army May 1, 1821. as a cadet. After service in j\Iexico he came to California in 1825 with Echeandia. and served as the governor's secretary for five years. In Fcbruai-y, 1827. he married Maria Lnisa, daughter of Santiago Argiiello. In 1831, he was made captain of the Monterey company. He left California in 1838, but returned in 1812 and died the same year in San Diego. His children were : Dolores, born 1827, married to J. M. Flores ; Luis, born in 1829 and now lives in San Diego; Gonzalo, born in 1832; Guadalupe, Ixn-n in 1833, married to Henry Dalton ; Josefa. born in 1834; Augustin, 1836; Eulalia, married to Vicente Estudillo. His political career was an active and stormy one. In 1827-8 he w'as a district elector for San Diego; candidate for congress 1830; secretary to Figueroa in 1833-5. Proclaimed commander general and governor ad interim in 1837, and divided the jui'is- diction of the territory with Echeandia for a time. He left Cali- fornia at the fall of Guiterez, but returned to tal servants was general, for they Avere very cheap. They were held under a strict dis- cipline and not infrequently thrashed, as it was claimed tliat in many cases they would not work without their regular casti- gation. While Wm. H. Davis and Captain Paty were dining with Captain Thomas W. Bobbins at Santa Barbara in 1842. he 180 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO told them about an Indian cook whom he had had in his employ for years, but who had to be soundly thrashed about twice a year to keep him in order the rest of the time. To prove this to his incredulous guests, he called the cook, a man weighing 200 pounds or more, who laughingly confessed the truth of the stateuKMit. It is related that Philip Crosthwaite had a numl)er of Indians working for him, and sometimes they grew lazy and refused to work. Then he tied them up one at a time, and gave them a good whipping, whereupon they went to work again. They did not ajjpear to resent such treatment, but acquiesced in its necessity. It seems to have been the custom to beat them for other causes, without "due process of law," in earlier days. In 1843, a San Diego man was fined fifty dollars because his wife had severely beaten an Indian servant. The missionaries did not hesitate to punish them for a variety of trivial offenses. Solitary confinement was a favorite form of discipline, but sometimes the good fathers would take them across their knees and administer the sort of castigation that is supposed to be the exclusive perquisite of small boys. In a few instances, the mission discipline was so severe as to lead to bloody rebellions, but nothing of this kind occurred at San Diego. The story of the Indian, since known to white men, is largely a story of insurrections, crimes, and executions. There were men of good character among them, but they were "as two grains of wheat hid in a bushel of chaff." The story of these early troubles can only be briefly sketched. Their first raid on the ^lission seems to have been inspired by a desire to i)luiider. coupled with profound ignorance of the Avhite man's methods of w^arfare. The destruction of the first mission, in 1775, was followed by an aftermath of troubles of various kinds. An Indian called Carlos, who had been a leader in the revolt, professed repent- ance and took refuge in the Presidio church. General Rivera ordered Father Fuster to deny the fugitive the right of asylum, and upon his refusal, forcibly entered the church and carried the Indian off'. Fuster thereupon exconnnunicated Rivera and was sustained by Serra when the matter came to his attention at ^Monterey. An excommunication was a very serious thing, in those days, even with the militai-y. and Rivera was finally obliged to submit and return the Indian to Fuster. Four Pamo chiefs concerned in this uprising, named Aaaran, Aalcuirin, Aachil, and Taguagui, were convicted but pardoned upon pi-omise of good behavior. Two years later, at the time of an Indian scare, when it was reported that the hill tribes were making arrows with the intention of again attacking the whites. Commandant Ortega sent a message of warning, and Aaaran defiantlv invited him to send his soldiers into the hills TWENTY PAIRS OF EARS 181 to be slaiiJ. Eight .sokliers went forth, sni'[)i'ised the savaj^es at Panio, killed two of them, burned a few more, and HoKuod the rest. The four chiefs were taken to San Diego foi- trial, along with 80 bows, 1500 arrows, and a large numljer of clubs. The men were condemned to death and executed by shooting on the 11th day of April, 1778 — the first pu])lic execution in California. It turned out that this first execution was illegal, Ortega having no right to infiict the death penalty without the approval of the governor. Aftcu' this, matters seem to have l)een quiet for several years. On October 30, 1824, an Indian was executed by shooting, his offense not l)eing disclosed b\- tlie records. Two years later. ^js^-,. VIEW OF OLD SAN DIEGO Panorama of Old Town from Presidio Hill, taken soon after the fire of 1872, showing the river running into San Diego Bay Lieutenant YInirra, with a small force of Mazatlan men, had a battle with the Indians and lost three men, while killing twenty-eight of the foe. After the barbarous custom of the time, he sent in twenty pairs of ears. On April 23rd of this year, an Indian who was an accomplice to the killing of thi-ee soldiers and a neo]>hyte was jmblicly executed. There was also a battle between tlie Indians of San Felipe Valley and gentih's from the surrounding rancherias, in which eighteen of tlie hill Indi- ans were killed and their ears cut off. The troul)les and petty wars with the Indians during these years were chiefly due to their raids on the missions and i-anchos for the purpose of stealing horses and cattle. Occasionally 182 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO some of their number who had been at the missions returned to their old haunts and led these raids. The rancheros got together after such a raid, and went into the hills in parties of ten or twelve, ^vell armed, to punish the thieves and recover the live stock. They were usually successful in recovering the stolen property, but often had fierce fights in which as many as eight or ten of the Indians were killed, as well as an occasional ranchero. After the secularization of the missions, the condi- tion of the Indians became very miserable, and while large numliei's of them continued to live in rancherias and to practice the rude arts which they had learned of the missionaries, others W'Cre forced by want, and doubtless also led by inclination, to get their living l)y joining in these raids. When Alfred Robin- son w^as here in January, 1832, they were in a miserable condi- tion and daily reports were received of robberies and murders. From Felu'uary to June of the following year there was nnich excitement due to rumors of a plot on the part of the Indians to unite and seize the mission property. A corporal was sent with a small force to El Cajon, Avhere he seized Chief Jajochi and other malcontents, Avho were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Between the years 1836 and 18-1:0, nearly all the ranchos in the country were i)lundered, at one time or another, and agri- culture fell to a very low ebb. In the spring of 1836, there were loud complaints and the soldiers could furnish no protec- tion, being without arms and ammunition. Juan Maria Marron Avas attacked in January, on the Cueros de Venado rancho, but the hostiles were driven off with the help of friendly Indians, and several of them killed. The savages became so bold that they even made raids into the town. An unsuccessful effort was made to have a garrison established at Santa Ysabel. In March, Don Sylvestre Portilla proj^osed to conquer the Indians at his own expense, on condition that he be allowed to keep those made prisoner, for servants. The year 1837 was one of great anxiety for the San Diego people — a year of blood and terror. One of the best accounts of some of these disturbances is that in Davis's book, his wife having resided here as a girl at the time of their occurrence. It gives us such a vivid picture of the life of the times that it is Avorfb (pioting: About the year 1837 there was an Indian outbreak in what is now San Diego county. A family by the name of Ybarra, consisting of the father, the mother, two young daughters, and a son about twelve years of age, lived at the rancho San Ysidro. They had in their employ an old Indian woman, who had been christianized at the Mission, a very faithful and good woman, a romadre to her mistress, the godmother of one of the Indian woman's children. This relation was frecjuently assumed by the r'alifdrnia ladies, it being a mandate of the Catholic church MURDER OF YBARRA 183 every wluie, lliat any child that is christened shall be attended by a godfather and a godmother, and the Californians performed this religious duty toward the children of the poorer classes, incliuliug the Indians. The serving woman got information of an attack on the raneho which had been planned by Indians in the monntaius, and a week before the occurrences here men- tioned she warned the family of their approach. She urged and begged that they at once remove to the Presidio of San Diego for protection. Her mistress was anxious to follow the advice, but Ybarra himself disregarded it. He did not believe that tiie Indians contemplated a movement. The Californians were a brave people, especially in ()[H(osition to tlie Indians, whether they went out in pursuit of them to recover stolen horses, or otherwise. They were always prepared to resist an attack by them in their own homes, and did not fear them, but considered that three or four, or eight or ten of their number were suf- ficient to vanquish ten times that many Indians. Ybarra liad with him two vaqueros on the ranch, and did not think it necessary to pay heed to the statement of the woman, who, the night before the attack, repeated, with emphasis, her advice for the family to leave, saying the next day the Indians would surely be there and carry out their plans. The next morning at nine o'clock, while Ybarra and his vaqueros were at the corral, about 150 yards from the house, engaged in lassoing horses, with the intention of starting for San Diego, the Indians stealthily approached, to the number of 7.5 or TOO. The three men in the corral, seeing them very near, immediately ran toward the house to secure arms. This design, however, was thwarted hy a little Indian boy employed in the family, who, seeing them coming as they neared the house, shut and barred the door and prevented them from entering. He must have had knowledge of the designs of the Indians, and been in complicity with them, as by this act of the little villain, the three unarmed men were left outside at the mercy of the miscreant savages, and were si)eedily killed. The Indians then broke into the house, and made a movement immediately to kill Doiia Juana, the mistress, but the old Indian woman de- fended her at the peril of her own life; interceded with the In- dians aiid supplicated them to spare her mistress. This they did. The two daughters were also captured by the Indians and made prisoners. All the houses of the raneho were also burned. The mother was ordered by the savages to leave the house, and go on foot to San Diego. She set forth entirely disrobed. On approaching San Diego Mission she was clothed bj^ a friendly woman, who came out and met her. In proceeding through a wheat field on the raneho she met her little son, who had gone out in the morning and had not encountered the savages. He now learned from his mother of the murder of his father and the two vaqueros, and the cajiture of his sisters. He v»'as sent ahead to give information of the attack to the first Califoruian he might meet. News of what had happened was immediately conununicated to the Raneho Tia Juana, owned and occupied by Don Santiago Argiiello. a beautiful piece of land having a fine stream of liv- ing water running through it. At that time several California families were encamped there, spending a portion of the sum- 184 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO mer; the Baiuliiiis. Alvarados and others. There were also sev- eral young ladies and girls, one of them Miss Estudillo. At the Kanclio Tia Juana the iutelligeuce created much cou- sternation, and the camps of the several families were im- mediately broken up. They proceeded to Sau Diego, accom- panied by the Argiiello family, who took with them as many of their horses as they conveniently could. The Indians shortly after reached the place, burned the houses, and secured the stock which the owner had left behind in the fields. The third night the Indians intended to fall upon the Eancho Jesus Maria, occupied by Don Jose Lopez with his wife and two daughters. News of the Indian outbreak reaching San Diego, it was resolved to send out a force for his protection and to rescue, if possible, the two girls captured at San Ysidro. Don .lose Lopez had a large vineyard and manufactured wine, of which he occasionally imbibed more than was consistent with a well-regulated heacl. On the evening when the Indians were to attack him he was filled with wine, which led him to some extraordinary demonstrations. He went out and built a num- ber of large bonfires in the vicinity of his house, and then com- menced shouting vociferously, making a great noise for his own entertainment only. As the Indians approached the place they sent out a spy in advance to reconnoitre and ascertain if every- thing was favorable for attack. The spy seeing the fires burn- ing, and hearing this loud and continued shouting, concluded that the C'alifornians were there in force, and so reported to the main body of Indians, who deemed it jirudent to re- tire. . . . The next day the force arrived, and Lojiez and family were escorted to San Diego, the main body of the troops going in pursuit of the Indians. Ybarra, at the time he was murdered, had in San Diego two sons, who joined the company in pursuit, as they were anxious to learn everything possible regarding the fate of their sisters. They were soon informed by a captured spy that two of the chiefs had made them their wives. The company followed into the mountains, until they reached a rugged and broken country wholly- inaccessible to horses, and were obliged to stop, the nar- row defiles affording innumerable hiding places for Indians and giving them an advantage over the approaching enemy. Had the Calif ornians attempted to advance on foot they would have met Avith certain death, for the Indians swarmed in force, knew the region intimately, and would have picked the troops off one by one. The two brothers Ybarra, however, urged on by desire to rescue their sisters, advanced further into the moun- tains than the rest of the company, actually saw the girls in the midst of the savages, and got within a short distance of them, but were so badly wounded by the arrows showered upon them that they were compelled to return. After that, up to the time Miss Estudillo left San Diego in lSi42, nothing further was heard of the two girls. Opposite the house where she was living with her aunt was the residence of Ybarra 's two sons and their families. Dona Juana, the mother, lived with them in San Diego up to the time of her death, which occurred about a year after her husband was murdered; this terrible occurrence and the loss of her daughters also, proving too great a blow for her. During this time she never ceased to lament their sad fate. It was heart- A PLOT FOILED 185 reudiug tu listen tu licr expressious of grief, weeping and wail- ing for the loss of her husband and children, like Kachel refusing to be comforted. Her distress often made the people weep who heard her lamentations. Prior to this ooellrr(MK't^ the hostih' Indians liad made several attacks upon San Diejio for plunder and the capture of women, but without success. They now began to grow still bolder, and to plan their enterprises upon a large scale, and soon after formed a plan for the I'eduetion of the settlement. Again the clearest account is containetl in Davis's book: One of the daughters of the Alvarado family married Captain Snook. After her marriage two of her younger sisters resided with her a part of the time. One of them had acquired consid- erable knowledge of the Indian language. Several of these fam- ilies had Indian men for cooks. One evening after supper, the young lady just mentioned. Dona Guadalupe Alvarado. over- heard the cooks in earnest conversation in the Indian language. As soon as the w^ords were caught by her ear she was startled and surprised, and drawing nearer heard all that was said. She discovered that the Indian cooks from the different fam- ilies had gathered in the kitchen of the house and were discuss- ing a plan of attack upon the town by members of their tribe. It appeared that arrangements had been completed for the cap- ture of the town the following night, and that the cooks in the several families were to lend their aid. In the council of the cooks, it came out that each on the fol- lowing night was to communicate with- a spy from the main body of the Indians, and take stations for this purpose on top of the hill overlooking the town, where the old Presidio and first garrison quarters of the Spaniards in California formerly stood. They were to inform the spies of the condition of each family, whether or not it was sufficiently off guard at the time to warrant an attack. There happened to be present in the house Don Pio Pico and Don Andres Pico, who were making a friendly call on the family. They were a good deal startled at the statement made by the young lady, and represented that they would give the conspiracy immediate attention. The ])eo- ple of San Diego at that period had their houses well supplied with arms and were always on the watch for Indian movements. Accordingly, during the night they organized a company of citizens and arranged that at daylight each house should be visited and the cook secured. This was successfully accom- plished. As each of the conspirators came out of the house in the early morning he was lassoed, and all were taken a little distance from town, where it was proposed to shoot them. They expressed a desire to be allowed to die as Christians, to con- fess to the priest, and receive the sacrament. This request was granted; the priest heard the confessions of each, and ad- ministered the rites of the church. A trench of suitable depth was then dug, and the Indians made to kneel close beside it. Then on being shot, each fell into the ditch, where he was buried. Eight or ten Indians were executed at this time. While these proceedings were taking ])lace a messenger was sent to one of the Boston hide-ships lying in port, requesting 186 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO that a canuou might be loaned to the towu, to assist in its de- fense. The eannon was sent over, with a suitable supply of ani- nmuition. At night a party of citizens visited the spot where the Indian spy was to appear, and succeeded in cax)turing him. He steadily refused to confess, though assured that he would soon die, as his friends had done before him. One of his ears was cut oft", and he was given to understand that tlie other one would follow, and that he would be mutilated little by little until he made the statement required of him; whereupon, his resolution gave way, and he made a confession indicating where the Indians were encamped, and telling all that he knew. . . . After the spy had divulged all he knew, he was shot with- out further ceremony, he being an unconverted Indian and not desiring the services of a priest. The next day the citizens went out in force, found and sur- prised the Indians, and engaged them in battle; numbers of them were killed, but none of the Californians. lu December, 1846, soon after the battle of San Pasqual, eleven men were killed in an Indian nprising at Pauma. Their names were : Sergeant Francisco Basualdo, Jose M. Alvarado, Manuel Serrano, Ramon Agnilar, an old man known as "Domin- gnito" bnt whose name was Domingnez, Santiago Osuna, Jose Lopez. Santos Alipas, Estaqnio Ruiz, Juan de la Cruz, and a New jNIexican whose name is not known. These men were ^Mexican rangers and they were taken pris- oners by the Pauma Indians, whose chief, at the time, was jNIan- uelito. It is not known why the Indians captured them, but it is possible they had some grievance on account of past ill treat- ment. The Indians were at first in doubt what to do with their prisoners ; then came Bill ^Marshall, a white man living with a neighboring tribe, who will be mentioned again later, and told the Indians that, since the ^Mexicans and Americans were at war, it would please the latter if they would execute these prisoners. This bad advice was taken and the men put to death. Man- uelito later became general over nearly all the Indians living in San Diego county. He was a man of fine character and had many friends, among the warmest of whom were some of the relatives of the murdered Spaniards. Antonio (larra, a San Luis Rev Indian, received a fair edu- cation at the San Luis Rey IMission. He was a man of energy, determination, and influence. He Avas chief of the tribe resid- ing in the neighborhood of AVarner's Ranch, i. e., the Cupeiios, and had large herds of cattle and horses. The first sheriff of San Diego County, Agostin Haraszthy, conceived it to be his duty to collect taxes on the live stock of the Indians, and in his effort to do so came into conflict with Garra. The Indians also claimed the whites were settling on their lands and trying to take the hot springs away from them. Livinu' with Garra 's tribe at this time was one William Mar- ATTACK ON WARNER'S 187 shall, i\ rcMieujide sailor fi'om Providence, R. I., who had deserted from a whah^ shij) at San Diego in 184-1:. taken up his habita- tion with the Indians, and married the daughter of a chief. This man took an active part in the subsequent proceedings, and was luinged for his pains, .as we shall see. It was also believed that he was in a large measure responsible foi" tilling the head of Garra with the dreams of destiny which ])roved his undoing. Within the circumference of a circle having a radius of loO miles, with Warner's Ranch as its centei-, there wtM-e snpposed to be then living about ten thousand Indians. The nnmbei-s were formidable enough, but the thing was, to unite them. Garra c{uickly grasped this point and set about making his l)reparati()ns accordingly. But the Americans were on the alert, and when he left for a tour among the neighboring tribes, his movements were watched. Besides rumors of trouble on the Colorado river, word came from Bandini's ranch (the Tecate. in Lower California), that the Indians there had been invited to join in a movement for the annihilation of thi> whites. In consequence of these rumors and of warnings from friendly Indians, Colonel Warner employed Judge Sackett. who was then stopping at his ranch, to make a tour among the tribes with two Indians, in the disguise of a trader, and to repoi-t upon conditions. This party was out ten days and on their return reported themselves unable to discover any evidences of an intended uprising. Warnings continued to come in. how- ever, and about ten days after Sackett 's return three messen- gers reached Warner's in one day, all sent by Chief Lazaro, of Santa Ysabel, by different routes, that the Indians would surely make an attack on the following morning. Warner was still incredulous, but concluded to send his fam- ily away to San Diego. They departed on November 21st, a little after midnight, together with all the Avhite servants and some visitors, leaving only Colonel Warner, an Indian boy about sixteen years old, and a mulatto ])oy who had been sent there to be treated for rheumatism — the servant of an army offi- cer of San Diego. Nothing happened the following day, but in the evening four Americans, invalids and ofhei's who were stop- ping at the hot springs on the rancho, were nuirdered. These were Levi Slack (E. W. Morse's partner), Joseph Planning, Ridgley and Fiddler. They were surprised, mutilated, and butchered in cold blood — a Avork in which Bill Marshall is said to have been a leader. That night Colonel AVarner slept, not knowing what had occurred ; but the next morning at sunrise he was awakened by the yells of an attacking part>-. which had already killed the Indian bov when he went out to milk the cows. Upon rising. 188 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO he foiiiul the lionsc sui-i-oiiiided l)y a large party of Indians^ part in the rear of the house and others at the corral. A flight of arrows was shot at him, and he narrowly escaped injurj^ He was an excellent marksman and qniekly killed three Indians with as many shots. In the panic caused by this fusillade, he got the invalid bo\- out of the house, mounted a horse, placed the boy on anothi^-, rode off unharmed and heavily armed, and COL. WARNER OF WARNER'S RANCH safely reached the rancheria of Sau Jose, where his vaqueros had taken refuge. Here he left the boy, and, after instructing his vaqueros about gathering up the cattle, rode back to his house which the Indians were busy plundering. Here he met an Indian who tried to shoot him, and only Warner's superior quickness saved him. Convinced that he could not save his property, he rode away for San Diego, and left his rancho to its fate. THE GARRA UPRISING 189 The arrival of the Warner i-efugees at San l)ieg-o, coming as the^• did about the same time as rumors from the Colorado river and Bandini's i-aneh, caused intense excitement. A let- ter from Antonio Gan'a to -Jose Antonio Estudillo, clearly show- ing that the Indian chieftain expected the help of the Califor- iiians in the uprising, was also made ])ul)lic and added to the excitement. A translation of this letter follows: Mr. Jose Antonio Estudillo — I salute you. Soinc time past, I told yon what I tliought, and now the blow has been struck. If I live I will come and help you because all the In- dians are invited in all parts. Perhajis the San Bernardinos are now rising and have a man named Juan Berus. He tells that the white people waited for me. For that reason I gave them my word, and be all ready by Tuesday to leave this for the Pueblo. You will arrange with the white people and tlie Indians, and send nie your word. Nothing more. ANTONIO GAKEA. The people of San Diego at once held a mass meeting, pro- claimed martial law. with the aid of !iMajor Samuel P. lleint- zelman. who was in command of the district, and began the organ- ization of a volunteer company to go on a punitive expedi- tion. Sentinels were posted to guard every approach to the town and a strict watch kept. Deputy Sheriff Joseph Reiner was sent out as a scout and found the hostiles in force at Agua Caliente, three miles l)eyond Warner's. In the meantime, the- town filled with refugees from the country. The Indians at Temecula, after refusing to .join Garra, came in for protection. The Avhite residents of the various ranchos did likewise, many of them abandoning their household goods. Many citizens ren- dered important services at this time. Don Joaquin Ortega, owner of the Santa Maria raiicho, ot¥ered to donate horses for the use of the volunteers, and Philip Crosthwaitt' undertook to go after tliem. With him went Albert B. Smith. Enos A. Wall, John C. Stewart, and Dr. Ogden. Tliey made the trip in safetj^ and returned with the horses, although it was considered a hazardous service. Don Jose Antonio Estudillo also furnished horses and mules from his El Cajon rancho. The volunteer company was known as the "Fitzgerald Volun- teers," in honor of Major C. B. Fitzgerald, an army officer, who was given the command. Two or three other army officei-s, who were in San Diego for their health, also volunteered and served as privates. Cave J. Couts was made captain, Agostin TTarasz- thy first lieutenant, Lewis A. Franklin second lieutenant. Rob- ert D. Israel first sergeant. Jack Hiutou second sergeant, T'hilip Crosthwaite third sergeant, Henry Clayton fourth sergeant, and George P. Tebbetts ensign. The single men court-martial took occasion to publish a signed statement that nothing whatever had been brought out at the trial reflecting upon the men. accused. Captain Israel says : I never miderstood Garra very well. ^Vitll his education, he ought to have known he would liavo no olianee in fighting the Americans. He had told the Indians he would turn the bullets into water, and it looked as though he himself believed he could do this, as he certainly was not afraid of them. While he was in jail here he told me about an Indian chief, somewhere 192 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO off ill tlic kSau Beriiai'diiio iiKnuitaiiis, who, he said, had promised to send hiiu three hundred warriors. He also aecused Argiiello and Ortega of promising to help him. If Argiiello ever made any promises of that kind, it must have been when old Antonio had him scared — Argiiello 's ex[)Ianation was that he was trying to find out what the Indians were up to and that he never prom- ised them any help. At three o'clock on .);iimary 10, 1852, it was announced to Garra that he must die. Father Juan Holbein remained with him from that hour until the end. At half jiast four, the fir- ing squad of ten men |)araded before the cell, the provost tnar- shal, Robert D. Israel, informed Garra that his hour had come, and the march to the grave was begun. Garra 's liearing was cool and he showed a determination to die like a man. The priest thought his conduct unbecoming, and tried to insist upon his praying all the way. Garra refused to do this, saying: ' ' What is the use ? That is of no account ! ' ' The priest stopped the procession and stood quai-relling with Garra al)out it, until he gave in and began to pray. "Then," says Israel, "we found that Garra knew more Latin than the priest did." This by- play continued all the way, the priest continually insisting upon Garra 's praying and Garra refusing and declaring there was no use in it, Imt nuittering a prayer now and then to rid himself of his importunities. Arriving at the open grave, Garra took his station at its head, and then a new difficulty rose. Father Juan commanded him to ask the pardon of the people assembled ; Garra at first refused, and only after repeated commands and entreaties did he lift his eyes and say, calmly and with a contemptuous smile : "Gentlemen, I ask your pardon for all my offenses, and expect yours in return." When a soldier advanced to tie a handker- chief over his eyes, he laughingly refused to permit it, but at Father Juan's request he again yielded and allowed his eyes to be bandaged. The provost quickly gave the command: "Ready! Aim! Fire!" and Antonio Garra fell into his grave. He actu- ally died laughing. His firnuiess was real, lacking all bravado, and excited the admiration of all who witnessed it. Editor Ames said: "In an instant the soul of a truly 'brave' winged its flight to the regions of eternity, accompanied by the melan- choly howling of dogs, who seemed to be aware of the solemnity of the occasion, — casting a gloom over the assembled hundreds, who while acknowledging the justness of Antonio's fate, felt the need to drop a tear o'er the grave of a brave man and once pow- erful chieftain." But notwithstanding Ames's real admiration for Garra 's courage, he could not refrain from indulging his propensity to joke, and, in the next issue of his paper, under the head of "Departures," inserted the following: "Atitotiio LANDS SET APART FOR INDIANS 193 Garra, Tierra CaUente^^ (literally, for a hot eouiitr}', i. e., hell). A larii'e numl)er of Indians witnessed the exeention and were doubtless duly inipi-essed ; at any I'ate. thei'e was never another Indian uprising, of like proportions, in the South. But although there were no more Indian "wars," occasional murders, ro])l)eries, and |)illaging still occurred. A large num- ber of Indians lived in and near San Diego all through the 50's, 60's, 7()'s, and even far into the 80's, and there was an encampment in Switzer's Canyon for many years. In 1876, an effort which had been going on for some time to have the Indi- ans settled upon reservations, took definite form in an execu- tive order by President Grant, setting apart a large area of COL. J. BANKHEAD MAGRUDER In command of the troops at the Mission at the time of the Garra uprising lands in San Diego County "for the permanent use and occu- pancy of the .Mission Indians of Lower Califoniia." A copy of this order, giving a description of the lands set apart, is given at the end of this chapter. This was the foundation of the present Intlian reservations. One of the eustoms of the Mission Indians in early days was to camp on the seashore near Ocean Beach, about the time of Lent, and remain till Easter, drying nuissels, clams, and fish. They formed the principal resource of the white population for laborers, and were tolerably satisfactoi-y so long as they did not get drunk. While Lieutenant Derby was turning the San Diego river, in 1853, he employed a large number of Indian laborers, lie found it necessary, however, to offer a reward for 194 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO the a])prelieiision of any person selling licpioj- to the Indians. During the 5U's, there was something like a reign of terror in Old San Diego, due to the lawless acts of drunken Indians. Severe measures were taken, l)ut without very much effect. There was an Indian alcalde who had a sort of authority over these Indians, and occasionally punished offenders by tying them up to the old cannon which then stood muzzle downward in the gi-ound in front of a store at Old San Diego and was used for a hitching post, and whipping them Avith a blacksnake whip. During the years from 1853 to ISGU, stablung att'rays were of nightly occurrence, and very little effort was made to appre- hend or punish the ott'enders. Editor Ames waxed by turns indignant and grimly humorous over the matter. On one occa- sion, "our able district attorney, instead of subjecting the county to about a thousand dollars expense l)y having the stab- ber sentenced to the state prison, had a ball and chain put ta him and 'farmed him out' to the highest bidder for cash." A short time afterward : Since the opening of the new meat market, the Indians about town have gone into the butchering business on quite an ex- tensive scale — killing about one a week. An Indian boy, be- longing to Mrs. Evans, walked uj) to another Indian boy on Sat- urday night last, and with a long knife ripped him open as quietly as if he were cutting a watermelon. Who conies next? Sometimes the whites suffered. In August. 1857, John Min- turn was severely cut in the arm l^y an Indian, whom, how- ever, he succeeded in "knocking out" with a stick of stove- wood. On April 10, 1858, the Herald declares : There must be something done to "clean out" the cattle thieves in this county. Whipping has got to be of small ac- count in deterring the Indians from thieving, and we have come to the conclusion that the delectable and efficacious remedy of hanging is about the best, after all. One fellow whom they whipped out at Santa Ysabel, got so mad about it that he just walked off a hundred yards and laid down and died! . . . It has been ascertained that there have been 311 head of cat- tle stolen in this vicinity, Ramon Carrillo alone, having lost 108 of that number. That the citizens endured this state of aff'airs as long and patiently as they did, may well excite wonder. Oniy one inci- dent of vigilante work in San Diego proper has come to light. There was a poor old tailor in the town who used to get drunk quite often. One day, having borrowed a dollar from a friend, on the plea that he was suffering from want of food, he was soon seen in an intoxicated condition. Th(^ next morning, his body was found lying on the side of the hill just above the town. He had been beaten to death with stones and the jawbone of WORK OF VIGILANTES 195 a bullock, sti'ii)|)ecl naked, niid left lyiii^' lliere. The laanner of his dejith and the fact that lie was known to be poor and had evidently been killed lor his clothes, gave i-ise to the l)elief that it was the work of Indians. A search of the ground near the body resulted in the linding of a knife which was known to belong to an Indian called Manteca | fat, or tallow], and with this clew the names of a luunber of liulians who had been seen with the tailor on the evening of his death, were soon discov- ered. The murderers had decamped. l)ut about six months afterward some of them ventured back to town, and with the aid of other Indians, three of them were arrested aiul hxlged in jail. The citizens now thought it time to act, and also that it was just as well to save the county the ex])ense and trouble of leizal proceedings. The vigilante party consisted of Kobeil 1). Israel, E. W. Morse, John Van Alst, and one other man whose name has not been leai-ned. These four men went to the jail and took the three Indians out wdth the intention of hanging them. Israel, who was a veteran of the Mexican war and knew some- thing of military atfairs, protested that the party was too snuill to handle the Indians all at once, and suggested that they be dealt with one at a time. lie was overruled, however, and the result was that as soon as the Indians learned the intention of the party, they began to fight hard and two of them succeeded in getting away. One of these two escaped and was never re- captured, and the other w(mld have done so had not ]\Ir. Morse shot him and l)roke his leg. They then hanged one of them in a vacant building which had lielonged to Agostin llaraszthy, and the other in an old adobe building l)uilt by Crosthwaite near the American cemetery. ]\Irs. Carson says that on look- ing out the next morning, she saw the body hanging in the Haraszthy house, mistook it for an effigy and called to her hus- band that the Spanish had been "hanging Judas" again. Mrs. Carson tells many interesting stories about the Indians of San Diego in early days. They kept an Indian servant who one day was missing, and after two days ■was found in the bot- tom of a dry well. He was taken out. Xi'vy much bruised, his wounds dressed, and an Indian employed to nurse him. lie improved and was thought to be out of danger; but one day the nurse went away and left a blind Indian in charge of the patient, who thereupon crawled out of bed and pi'oceeded to treat himself by the Indian method. Tliis consisted of taking a brand from the fireplace and scorching himself on the side with it, to set .up a counter irritation by burning. Tie burned him- self so severely that he only lived a few houi-s afterward. Thomas Whaley bought an Iiulian girl from her parents, giv- ing them something lilce .^100 wortli of u-oods from his store in 196 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO exchange for their eouseiit for the girl to live in his family. The girl stayed about a month and tlien disappeared and re- turned to her parents. When Mr. Whaley went after her they were willing to let her go, hut wanted to be paid over again, and this continued as long as the kind-hearted merchant would allow himself to be "worked," the girl running away as often as her parents felt the need of supplies from the store. ROBERT D. ISRAEL One of the oldest living pioneers and participants in Indian troubles There was an Indian rancheria near the palm trees in Old Town where they were accustomed to hold dances. "It was like an old-fashioned spelling bee," says Mrs. AVhaley; "the Indians would stand up in two long rows and dance, and the one of each opposite pair that could dance best won the other's clothes. I dressed this girl well, but she would go to those dances and EL CAPITAN OF SAN DIEGO 197 ahvays eanic home in vaus, liaviiio' lost the clothes I j^ave liei-, at the dance." On May 2(5, 1869, the U)iion eontained this item: "We noticed a half dozen or more of the Lo family parading the streets last M'eek, di-essed after the fashion of Adam an(l Eve befoi-e they left the garden of Eden. If there is an old clothes societ\' in this part of the moral vineyard, we would suggest to its members that th(>se children of the forest receive a little of their attention." This was a common occurrence for man\- \ears before and after. Mrs. Morse speaks of "wild Indians, nude, with the exception of a cloth about the loins," who, "stalked majestic- ally across the ])la/a, their long liair streann'ng in tlu^ wind, or, if in mourning, i)lastered up with i)asle made of grease and ashes. The rings in their noses were equally as useful and ornamental as the rings in the ears of white ladies." In 1873, the Indians about new San Diego made themselves so objectionable by i)etty thieving and nightly brawls, that City Marshal Gassen and Jose Guadalupe Estudillo were sent to notify them to move their camp out of town. Thcii' old chief, El Capitan, Avas found in the midst of a harangue, which he broke oft' to hear the message of the alcaldes, and ])romised obedience. In the following month he entered an indignant protest against putting out poisoned meat foi- the purpose of killing. dogs, a practice which, it appeared, liad led to tlic death of two of his warriors. This venerable chief was one of the best of liis race, and long an interesting figure about San Diego. The words El Capitan mean simply the captain, or chief, and give no clew to his name. He was once a chief of the Cahuillas. lie always wore a "plug" hat and carried a cane, and in his younger days was a manly figure. He exerted considerable influence over his lui-bulent people, and aided the authorities in ki^eping them in (u-der. He died in San Diego on December 10, 187"), at an advanced age. In ]\Iarch, 1880, there was complaint of "too nnich pistol- shooting around town after dark" by Indians. An worry most about MRS. ARCADIA DE BAKER One of the daughters of Juan Bandini, who made the flag- in Old Town in 1846. She now resides at Santa Monica and is known as "the wealthiest woman in Southern California" things that never occur, and the refugees in the whale-ship wor- ried about the fact that two of the old cannon lay at the Pre- sidio, and that the ^Mexicans might mount them on ox-carts, bring them down to the shore, and bombard the ships. To ren- der such a disaster impossible. Albert B. Smith was put ashore at La Playa. and succeeded in reaching Presidio Hill by a cii'- cuitous route. He found the guns, spiked them, and returned in safety. Relieved of anxiety on this score, and emboldened by Smith's exploit. Captain Merritt the next morning landed all his available force, together with the whalers and two can- non from the ships, and marched upon the town. The [Mexican 204 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO troupLU-s WW.' i'oi'iiK'il in battle array but sodii i^ave way and ran otf over the hills. The ^Mexican flag was hauled down by Maria Antonia Machado, who carried it off to save it from the Americans. Albert B. Smith then climlied the tiagpole. attached the new halyards and hauled up the American tiag-. Since that day, it has never been hauled down. The Mexicans shot at Smith durinu' liis daring feat, and he replied hy waving his hat at them in defiance. He was not hit and none of the Americans were wounded. Though driven out of town, the Mexican rangers retired but a short distance and continued the siege. They were reinforced late in October by 100 men from Los Angeles under command of Captains Cota and Carrillo. Their tactics were to avoid engagements and cut oft' supplies. Every day they appeared on the hills and shot at anyone in sight, and on one occasion drove some cattle away from the flat in town. As a conse- quence, provisions grew short and suft'ering increased. Commodore Stockton, awakened to the fact that California had not yet been conciuered, came to San Diego early in Novem- ber in the 60-gun ship Congress. The situation of the place was found to be miserable and de- ploral)le. Tbe male inhabitants had abandoned tlie town, leav- ing their women and children dependent upon us for food. He at once sent Captain Samuel Gibson, of the Battalion, in the Sioningion to Ensenada, and this expedition returned in a few days overland, driving about 90 horses and 200 head of cattle into the town. Stockton had in the meantime made a trip to San Pedro in the Congress, and on his return the ship grounded and was in danger of tumbling over. While the crew were en- gaged in staying the ship with spars, the enemy, irritated, I suppose, by the loss of his animals, came down in considerable force and made an attack; they were, however, soon driven back with the loss of two men and horses killed, and four wounded. The date of this report. November 23rd, marks the time when vigorous measures were liegun for clearing the country of the enemy. Up to this time the American losses were one man killed and one wounded. Varela had brought a cannon, with which he attacked the post from the hill. Earthworks had been thrown up at this place in 1838, at a time when an attack was expected from General Jose Castro, and fi-om this protection the rangers menaced the town. They were so near that Juan Eocha could be heard shouting to his aunt for ropa [clothing] and chocolate. From this coign of vantage J. M. Orozco amused himself by shooting at Miguel de Pedrorena while he was escorting a young lady. But this all came to an end in consequence of a gallant exploit, led by Captain Santiago E. Argiiello. This officer assailed the hill, his company dragging a cannon with them, drove the Californians from the trenches, captured FORT STOCKTON EQUIPPED 205 their liiiii, and tnriK^d it against them. The enemy made a new stand heliind the ohi Presidio walls, but soon retreated up the valley toward the mission. Aroiiello havino- been wounded in the le^'. Captain Pedroi'ciia led the men in |)ursuit, and about a mile up the valley exehan^ed shots with a party nndcn" Ijean- dro Osuua. A little farther on an Ameriean, ^'oing to water his horse in a cafiada, was killed. A skirmish occurred at the old mission, where a few ranuei-s were lakcn prisoner. The enemy then scattered, a paii deserted, and Ihe rest retired to the Soledad. One of Stockton's tirst cares was now to place the town in a state of defense. The captured earthwoi'lcs were speedily ira- MIGUEL DE PEDRORENA A leader of the Spanish families who supported the American cause in the war with Mexico proved by the sailors and named Fort Stockton. It consisted of a ditch or moat, behind which casks tilled with earth were placed at intervals of two feet. Twelve guns were mounted in the spaces between these casks in a manner to command the approaches from Los Angeles and JNIission Valley. One hun- dred men. under Lieut. ;\nnor, were placed in the fort as a gar- rison. The work was well done and constituted a formidable 206 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO defense for the town. The remains of the earthworks stand today, in a fair state of preservation. Stockton now be^an i)reparations for an advance npon Los Angeles. The first thing to he considered was a snpply of cat- tle and horses. The enemy had swept the country clean of live- stock and the horses brought in by Captain Gibson were in such poor condition that they required weeks of rest to become fit for service. The Stonivgton was therefore sent once more dowm the coast, about the end of November, with a force under Cap- tain Samuel J. Hensley, of the Battalion, to secure supplies. In this work, Bandini, Pedrorena, and Argliello, were active. Stockton had laiuled his force and, while awaiting the return of this expedition, he improved the time l)y organizing and drill- ing at the old Presidio. His men consisted of sailors and marines from the fleet, members of Fremont's "Battalion of California Volunteers," and volunteers who enlisted here. Fre- mont was operating elsewhere, but Major Gillespie, Captains Hensley, Gibson, and Bell, Alexis Godey, and some Delaware Indians of his command, were here. John Bidwell was quarter- master of the entire force, a man named Fisher was commissary, and Merritt and his twelve men were already here. Among the local volunteers, Santiago E. Argliello and ^Miguel de Pedrorena were made captains of cavalry. Philip Crosthwaite. who was on an otter-hunting expedition to Lower California in October, reached the Rosario Mission and was surprised there to meet the fugitives, Governor Pico and his secretary, and to learn of the breaking out of the war. He hurried home and enlisted in the volunteers, under Captain Alexander Bell. William Curley, John C. Stewart, Julian Ames, John Brown, A. B. Smith, John Post, and Thomas Wrightington were members of the same company. It is claimed that no muster rolls of these volunteer compa- nies were ever sent to Washington, and not a man who served in them was ever able to secure a discharge. This afterward w^orked considerable hardship in the case of San Diego Volun- teers, making it impossible to obtain the ])ensions to which they were entitled. It is difficult to understand how, without turn- ing in any muster rolls, the officers secured the money to pay their men. The late Dr. Winder made some investigation of the matter, as well as the present writer ; but without result. It is therefore inqiossible to give anything like a complete record of the services of San Diegans in this war, the only informa- tion available being that disclosed by the participants who were thoughtful enough to set down their recollections. Gillespie wrote that the force in Stockton's camp luimbered 450 men. Strict discipline was established, the men were thoroughly i SOCIAL GAYETY IN WAR TIME 207 drilled, ;nid even the ninriiies soon ])eu';in to present i\ soldierly appearance and to enjoy the new work. Bandini oft'ered his honse to the Commodore, and it was made headqnarters. There was soon consideral)le gaiety. Stockton had his bnnd play dnring the diinier honr, and invited the Ban- dini family and the ladies of Sail Diego to dine with him. There were also dancing parties in which the officers participated and many conrteons attentions were shown the ladies, who after- Avnrds s])oke of this ])oriod with lireat enthnsinsm. SANTIAGO E. ARGUELLO Who acquired the property of the Mis.sion of San Dieg-o from the Mexican Government and was prominent in political, military and social life Meanwhile, an Indian scont luid liecii scnl out to ascertain where the Californian forces lay. lie returned with the report that aliout fifty of them were encamped at San Bernardo, some thii-ty miles out. This force in reality numbei-ed about eighty and was under the command of Gener;il Andres Pico. Captain Gillespie was immediately ordered to take as many men as he could mount, with a piece of artillery, and endeavor to to surprise them. On December 3rd, before this expedition departed, however, two deserters from Pico's camp came in and 208 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO reported that Pico had been reinforced by 100 men. While Stockton was examining' these deserters at his headcjuarters, with his aid-de-camp, Lieut. Andrew F. V. Gray, of the Co)i- gress, Captain Edward Stokes arrived from the Santa Ysabel rancho, l^ringing the following' letter from General Stephen W. Kearny, giving the information that ho was approaching by way of Warner's: Ileadqnarters Army of tbo West, Camp at Warner's. December 2, 1846. Sir: I (this afternoon) reached here, escorted by a party of the First Eegiment Dragoons. I came by orders from the Presi- dent of the United States. We left Santa Fe on the 25th of September, having taken possession of New Mexico, annexed it to the United States, established a civil government in that ter- ritory, and secured order, peace, and quietness there. If you can send a party to open communication Avith us, on the route to this place, and to inform me of the state of affairs in California, I wish you would do so, and as quickly as possible. The fear of this letter falling into Mexican hands prevents me from writing more. Your express by Mr. Carson was met on the Del Norte, and your mail must have reached Washington at least ten days since. You might use the bearer, Mr. Stokes, to conduct your party to this place. Very respectfully your obedient servant, S. W. KEAENY, Brigadier-General, U.S.A. This letter greatly surprised Stockton, who had previously known nothing of Kearny's approach. It did not occur to him that Kearny might be in any danger, but on the contrary he seems to have thought that the junction of these new forces with the expedition he was about to send out might afford an excellent opportunity of carrying out his own plan for the sur- prise and defeat of the enemy. He therefore hurried the prep- arations for Gillespie's departure, and in the meantime sent the following reply: Headquarters, San Diego, December 3, 1846, half-past six o'clock p. m. Sir: I have this moment received your note of yesterday, by Mr. Stokes, and have ordered Captain Gillespie, with a detachment of mounted riflemen and a fiel(l-])iece, to your camp without delay. Captain Gillespie is well-informed in relation to the present state of things in California, and will give you all needful in- formation. I need not, therefore, detain him liy saying anything on the subject. T will merely state that I have this evening re- ceived information, by two deserters from the rebel camp, of the arrival of an additional force in this neighborhood of one OFF TO RESCUE KEARNY 209 liuiulred incn, which in ndclition to the force previously here, makes their imiiibcr about one luindred and fifty. I send with Captain Gillespie, as a guide, one of the deserters, that you may make inquiries of him, and. if you see fit, en- deavor to surprise them. Faithfully, ynui (ibcilifiit sfrvant, ROBT. F. STOCKTON. Commander-in-chief and Governor of the Territory of California. The expedition left the same eveniuo;, December 3rd, about 7 o'clock. It consisted of Captain Gilles])ie in conniiand; Caj)- tain Sanuiel (libson, with a company of twenty-five volunteers, among- whom were Philip Crosthwaite of 'Captain Bell 's com- pan\-. Alexis Godey. Burgess, and Henry Booker ; and ten car])ineei-s from the Congrats under Actiner Lieutenant Ed- ward F. I^eale and Midsliii)nian James M. Duncan; thirty-nine men in all. Captain Stokes also returned with the ]iarty and one of the deserters, Rafael Machado. was sent as a guide. They took all the available horses in San Diego and a brass four-pounder piece. The mountings of this gun were made by the ship's carpenter, but it proved impossible to secure harness for hitching horses to it, and the men were obliged to drag it along ])y lariats attached to the pommels of their saddles. The route taken was by way of the old mission and El Cajon to the Santa Maria Rancho. The trip was full of hardships, rations giving out and the expedition moving over rough and unbeaten trails. On the second day out. December 5th. at about one P. ]\r.. they joined General Kearny's force at Ballena, between the Santa Ysabel and Santa Maria ranehos, without having met the enemy. The junction of the forces was effected in the midst of a cold, pouring rain. A council of war was now held. It was certain that the enemy was between the Americans and San Diego, but in what force was not known ; he might have 80 men or he might have double that number. It appears that Lieutenant Bealo strongly advised avoiding an engagement, and suggested that an effort be made, instead, to capture the horses of the Mexicans. It is highly probable that in giving this advice Beale was influenced by the reports of the numbers and enui]mient of the Califor- nians, and also bv the wretched condition of Kearny's force. Both the men and their mounts were emaciated and weak, and the cold rain which had been falling all day and which contin- ued to fall all night caused them to suffer extremely and ren- dered them almost unable to walk. Kearny, however, determined to attack. Without doubt, he was influenced to this course largely by the advice of Kit Car- son, who declared that the Californians were cowards and would not fight. At first he planned to send Captain ^Nloore with sixty 210 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO men aiul ninkc a night attack, but for some reason changed his mind and sent Lieutenant Thomas C. Hammond, with ten men, inchiding Sergeant Williams and Private George Pierce, with Machado as guide, to reconnoiter. They succeeded in getting near the Indian huts at San Pasqual occupied by Pico's men, and the guide and Sergeant Williams advanced to the door and saw the ukmi asleep on the floor and a lone Indian keeping g'uard. The\' beckoned the Indian without the hut and began to converse with him, when a sentinel hailed the main party, and they all retreated precipitately. In this retreat they lost a blanket and jacket, wliich betrayed the ])i'esence of the force to Pico. Hammonil returned about 2 A. ]\1. and reported that he had found the enemy and had been seen, but not pursued, liy them. Notwithstanding the misfortune to the reconnoitering party, the General seems still to have expected, as Dr. John S. Griffin naively says in his journal, to "surprise" the enemy. Camp was broken at once, and soon all were ui)on the road, in the following order: First rode an advance guard of twelve men, on the best horses, under Captain Abraham R. Johnston. After them came General Kearny with Lieutenants Wm. H. Emory and AVm. IT. Warner, of the engineers, and four or five of their men. Then CViptain Benjamin D. ^Nloore and Lieutenant Ham- mond, with about fifty mounted dragoons. Next Captains Gil- lespie and Gibson, with twenty volunteers. Then Lieutenant John AV. Davidson, in charge of the artillery, with a few dra- goons. The balance of the force, some fifty or sixty mini "brought up the rear under Major Swords. The rain ceased with daylight, but it was very cold and the men, having had no shel- ter dui'ing the night, were stiff and jaded. And, strangest of all. ihcir arms ivere not recharged! As day dawned on the morning of December fith, the advance came out on the hillside al)ove the village of San Pasqual. and, looldng down into the valley through the fog, saw the camp- fii-es of the Californians l)urning brightly and the lancers mov- ing, about three-(|uarters of a mile away. AVithout waiting for the main force to come up, Kearny ordei'ed a trot, then a charge, and Captain Johnston and his twelve men dashed down the hill. After them rode the General and his little party. It was not, as a rule, the policy of the Californians to stand still and receive a charge. The.v were supei'b horsemen and skilled lancers, but not beef-eaters. But, seeing only twenty men coming, they stood firm, discharged what nuiskets and pistols they had, and received the Americans upon their lances. Cai>tain Johnston fell at the first fire with a ball through his forehead, and a dragoon Avas badly wounded. The men kept on, there was a confused struggle for a few moments, and then the Americans '/ COMMODORE ROBERT F. STOCKTON In command of the American forces at San Diego during the Mexican War 212 . HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO fell back. A ranger now dashed by; it was Juan (or Francisco) Lara, and Lieutenant Beale fared several shots at him and brought him down with a In'oken leg. Six months later Lara's leg was amputated by a French physician and he lived in Los Angeles many years. By this time the main l)ody of the troops came in sight and, seeing them, the Califoruians drew off and retreated rapidly down the valley. Captain Moore, seeing the Californians retreating, now ordered Lieutenant Hammond and his men to follow, which they did. in a wild charge. The statement has l)een made that a recall was sounded which the men did not hear, l)ut there is no official confirmation of this statement. Kearny ordered the troops to close up in support, and they did so to the best of their ability. But the tired and balky mules could not be hurried and only those having the best mounts, about fifty in all, came up in time to take part in the second conflict ; the balance of the men never saw the enemy until after the fight was over. The charge was made without any attempt at order; the men rushed down the road at full speed, pell-mell, hurly-burly, strung out in a line half a mile long. At a distance of about half a mile from the village the road divided, the main road leading out upon the ])lain toward the San Bernardo and Rincon ranchos and a branch leading up a ravine on the side of the valley. Upon reaching this point, part of Pico's men kept straight ahead on the main road and the remainder turned up this side road, where they were concealed by a rocky spur, and waited for the Americans to come. Those of the troops who were riding the best horses soon reached and passed this ambuscade, among them General Kearny. Captain Moore. Lieutenant Hammond. Captain Gillespie, and a num])er of the men; then Pico suddenly wheeled his lancers and charged back on their front, and the detachment in ambush rode out and attacked them on the side and rear. A lu-ief but terrible butchery ensued. The miserable condition of Kearny's men and mounts was evident enough to the Californians. who are said to have exclaimed, as they saw them coming, ''Aqni hamos liacor tnatanza!" ["Here we are going to have a slaughter!"]. The Americans found their arms useless, but def(Mided themselves as l)est they could with sabres and clubbed nniskets. A scene of the greatest confusion followed, the chief feature of which was the ruthless slaughter of the almost helpless troops by the rango's. This lasted about ten miimtes; and then, the strug- gling troops on their lagging mules lieginning to come up and the howitzers approaching, the Californians again put spurs to their horses and galloped away, part going d(^wii the valley and others over the hills. THE CRUELTY OF WAR 213 The stoi'.v of this tefril)le eoiiHict was never kiiown in detail, even by the participants, bnt a few of the incidents and a rec- ord of results have come down to us. Captain Moore was killed early in the fight, in a combat Avith Pico. Tlie Ceneral was armed with a lance and the captain with a sword, whicli broke at the hilt while ])arryin2;- the lance. Mooiv tlien i-eached for his pistol, seeing which, two rangers rushed in and killed him with their lances. One of these men was Jose Antonio Sc^-i-ano, the other Leandro Osuna, both residents of l^an Diego. Moore's body was found near a pond of water, his sword hilt still in his hand, and the blade broken in two pieces. Captain Gillespie, a skillful swordsman, was attacked by Dolores Tliguera. commonly called ''El Guero." Gillespie re- ceived first a slight wound in the chest, and was then struck full in the mouth and had two of his teeth knocked out. He was thrown from his horse where he lay still and feigned death. Higuera seized his horse with the saddle and bridle, also Gilles- pie's fine zcvapp, and made off with them. Had he not been in such haste to secuiv this loot, he would probably have discov- ered that his antagonist was shamming, and have killed him. He afterward offered to restore this property to Gillespie, who refused to receive it. since its loss had saved his life. General Kearny was singled out by a young Californiaii. wlio twice wounded him, but si)ared his life. Wliile in San Diego at a later date the General inquired for this young man, had him call, greeted him warmly, and ]n-aised his brave and soldierlv conduct. Carson was thrown from bis luu-se and his rifle was broken. Davis says that in this fight General Pico's conduct was brave and honorable; that he watched the conduct of his men. and whenever he saw a soldiei- unhorsed and wounded, called upon his men to spare his life. Kearny says in his report, how- ever, that most of the killed and wounded were lanced while unhorsed and incapable of resistance. They all had as many as three lance thrusts and some as many as ten. An instance of unsoldierly conduct is related by Fremont as having been told him in Los Angeles by an eye-witness: "One of the Cal- ifornians in the meJfc ran his sword through the body of a Christian or Mexican Indian who was fighting on the American side. AVhen he felt the sword going through him the Indian knew that he was killed and called out, 'Baafa!' [enouehl. 'Ofra i'fz.' [another time], said the soldier-murderei-. an^ ' , y 218 HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO We have about eighteen killed and fourteen or fifteen wounded, several so severely that it may be impracticable to move them for several days. I have to suggest to you the pro- priety of despatching, without delay, a considerable force to meet us on the road to San Diego, via the Soledad and San Ber- nardo, or to find us at this place; also that you will send up carts or some other means of transporting our wounded to San Diego. We are without provisions, and in our present situation find it impracticable to obtain cattle from the ranches in the vicinity. Gen. Kearny is among the wounded, but it is hoped iu)t dan- gerously; Captains Moore and Johnston, First Dragoons, killed; Lieutenant Hammond, First Dragoons, dangerously wounded. I am, sir, \'ery res])eetfully, Your obedient servant, H. S. TURNEE. Captain, U.S.A., Commanding. Of the adventures of these men on the way ^ve know little, hut they reached San Diego safely the following' day, December 7th. Another messenger had preceded them ; this was Captain Stokes who, after witnessing the beginning of the battle and without waiting to see the^ close, hurried away to San Diego and gave a highly-colored account. He saw a great many men engaged and Avas sure the Americans had sutfered defeat. Very little attention seems to have been paid to this vague report, but when Godey and his comrades arrived the next day the gravity of the situation began to be realized. This incident has been nnich discussed, and one writer goes so far as to say that Stock- ton only left a fatidango at Bandini's house long enough to hear Godey 's story, gave a contemptuous refusal to do anything, and returned to the merry-making. It may be true that the Commo- dore was found at a l)all. and also that he showed irritation and made use of hasty words, as he might be excused for doing. It appears, however, that he at once set about the sending of a relief expedition with two pieces of artillery, and at first in- tended to have it leave on the evening of the 7th and to .ioin it himself the next day, but it was found that it could not move so soon. Gillespie's party had taken all the good horses, Hens- ley had not yet returned from the south with more, there were no carriages for the guns, and su])])lies of all kinds were scarce. Godey and his men returned with letters to Kearny, but seem to have carried with them the impression that no relief would be sent. At 10 P. ]\I. on the 9th a messenger arrived who made the urgency of the situation unmistakable. This was Lieutenant Beale, bleeding, exhausted, reduced to a skeleton, and scarcely recognizable. He was so weak that the pickets had to carry him in, and soon after telling his story became delirious. Of his two fellow me.ssengers, Carson and the Indian alcalde Panto, the lat- THE FLIGHT OF KEARNY'S MEN 219 ter arrived a short time l)et'oro, and the former soon after, he came in. It was now imperative that the relief eohimn should start, at once. The ell'ort to get the artillery ready was thei-e- fore abandoned, and 215 of the sailors and marines who had been drilling- on Presidio Hill were started off, with one field- piece, under Lieutenant Andrew F. V. Gray, of the Confjr<.ss. Lieutenant -laeol) Zeilin, also of the Congress, was in charge of the marines. They marched until nearly daylight on the lOth, then camped in a secluded spot, and remained concealed during the day. They succeeded in evading Pico's men and joined Kearny's force at 2 P. M. on the 11th. After burying their dead on the night of the 6th, the Amer- icans spent a sleepless and uncomfortable night. "Day dawned," says Emory, "on the most tattered aiul ill-fed detachment of men that ever the United States mustered under ht-r colors." Kearny was able to resume command, and at an early h(»ui' gave the order to march. The wounded were placed in six litters made by "the mountain men," Peterson, Londean, and Perrot, formed of poles placed like the shafts of a wagon and eaeli dragged by a mule, one end of the poles resting on the ground and the men reclining on a bed of willow branches woven between. This was but a crude conveyaru'e aiul the roughness and stoniness of the ground caused the wouiuled great suffering, despite the utmost care. The wounded and baggage were placed in the center. The route taken was toward the San Bernardo rancho, along the hills to the right of the stream. The enemy retired as they advanced, keeping near the bed of the stream, on the opposite side. At Snook's San Bernardo rancho the horses and mules were watered and a few chickens killed for the sick. They also found a numl)er of cattle here and proceeded to drive them along, moving toward the bed of the stream in the hojie of find- ing grass. About a mile from the ranch house, near the foot of a detached hill, the Californians suddenly appeared in the rear and a body of thirty or forty of them dashed oft' to tnke posses- sion of the hill. Kearny sent Captain Gibson with six or eight volunteers, who drove these horsemen from the hill with a few volleys and without loss. The booty in this skirmish consisted of three spears, abandoned by the foe. The cattle had V)een lost in this movement, and as it appeared that any a1temj)t