USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol I > Part 5
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MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO. ESTABLISHED 1776.
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military, judicial and economic, were united in the person of the commandante of a presidio, in due subjection to his superior, and so on up to the king, an autocrat, whose person was represented and whose will was executed in every part of his dominions. In the archives is a reglamento, which is a set of regu- lations for the Californias. Its caption expresses that it is for the government of the presidios, the promotion of the erection of new missions, and of the popu- lation and extension of the establishments of Monterey. It was drafted at Monterey by the governor in 1779, sent to Madrid and approved by the king in 1781. It adopts the royal reglamento for the government of all the presidios, with such small variations as the circumstances of California required. The manner in which pueblos are to be founded is given; each settler to have his building lot and sowing field of two hundred varas square; the whole together to have commons for wood, water, and pasturage; also a certain number of horses, mules, oxen, cows, sheep, chickens, and farming utensils to be furnished to each ; and the amount of pay-for a settler had his salary for awhile as well as his outfit. For the first five years he was to be free from the payment of tithes, but was required to sell the excess of his productions at a fixed price to the presidios, and must keep a saddle horse, carbine, and lance, and hold him- self in readiness for service to the king. The only trace of a political right found in the reglamento is the allowance to the pueblos of alcaldes and other municipal officers, to be appointed by the governor for the first two years, and afterward to be elected by the inhabitants. These officers were to see to the good government and police of the pueblos and the administration of justice, to direct the public works, apportion to each man liis share of water for irriga- tion, and generally to enforce the provisions of the reglamento. As a check upon the abuse of their privileges the elections were subject to the approval of the governor, who had also the power to continue to appoint the officers for three years longer if he found it necessary.
At first California formed a part of New Spain, and was governed directly by the Viceroy of Mexico. In 1776 it was attached to the commandancia gen- eral of the internal provinces, which included also Sonora, New Mexico, Chi- huahua, Coahuila, and Texas. Afterward it was a part of the commandancia general of the internal provinces of the west, when Coahuila and Texas, New Leon and the colony of New Santander had been erected into another jurisdic- tion, under the title of the internal province of the east. This arrangement did
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not last many years, and California reverted to the Viceroy. Laws came from the king, in his council of the Indies, at Madrid, as orders are issued by the commander-in-chief of an army, to the second in command, to wit : the Viceroy of Mexico, from him to the next in rank, from him to the governor of Cali- fornia at Monterey, and from him to the captain or lieutenant in command of a presidio. They took effect only as they were published, spreading as the courier advanced. They came slowly, but in time every order of a general nature would find its way into the archives of every province, presidio, or pueblo in North and South America under the dominion of the king of Spain. When wars, or the accidents of navigation, or the urgency of the case inter- rupted or rendered impossible communication with Madrid, each viceregent of the king in his department exercised the royal authority. Therefore, in the nature of things, the powers of every governor in his province were practically despotic.
SPANISH GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA.
For purposes of reference it is well to submit a list of the Spanish gov- ernors of California, as it appears from the records at the office of the secretary of state. The very first was Gaspar de Portala, from 1767 to 1771. He was the governor of Lower California de facto but de jure his jurisdiction extended over the territory to the north. It was not, however, until 1769 that he actually visited Upper California and made his residence there.
Felipe de Barri, from 1771 to 1774. The first mention found of Barri as governor is in a letter which he addressed in that capacity from Loreto to Pedro Fajes, commander of the Presidio of Monterey, dated June 2, 1771.
Felipe de Neve, from 1774 to 1782. On December 28, 1774, Governor Barri was succeeded by Felipe de Neve, and on July 20, 1776, Governor Neve was ordered by the Viceroy to remove from Loreto to the Presidio of Monte- rey, and he arrived there February 3, 1777. Neve died at Chihuahua in No- vember, 1784.
Pedro Fajes, from 1782 to 1790. Fajes became governor September 7, 1782. He died in Mexico about 1796.
José Antonio Romeu, from 1790 to 1792. He was appointed governor by the viceroy. Conde de Riverra Gigado, on September I, 1790, was put in possession on April 17, 1791, and died April 9, 1792.
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José Joaquin de Arrillaga, from 1792 to 1794. He became governor ad interim on the 9th of April, 1792, on the death of Romeu.
Diego de Borica, from 1794 to 1800. He was appointed by the vice- roy May 14, 1794, and sailed for Mexico in January, 1800, leaving Arril- laga as his successor ad interim. Borica died in Durango, July 19, 1800.
José Joaquin de Arrillaga, from 1800 to 1814. He remained governor during that period, and died at the Mission de Soledad in Monterey County, July 25, 1814.
José Dario Arguello, from 1814 to 1815, ad interim. Died in Mexico, 1828.
Pablo Vicente de Sola, from August, 1815, to 1822.
In 1822 news of the successful revolution in Mexico, under Iturbide, reached Governor Sola, and he sent it to an assembly of ten delegates of California in session on April 9 of that year. It was then declared that from that date the province of California was dependent on the government of Mexico only, independent of Spain and all other foreign powers.
Under Mexican control-from 1822 until 1846-the province of Cali- fornia was entitled to one delegate or representative in the Mexican Con- gress. The governor of California was always appointed by the Mexican government. There was a departmental legislature, and this was possessed of limited powers to pass local laws. The judges of the various courts were appointed by the central Mexican government.
Sola continued to act as governor until November 9, 1822. He was also a representative in the Mexican Congress. He died in Mexico in 1827. The archives show the following governors during Mexican control :
Louis Antonio Arguello, from 1822 to 1825. Died at San Francisco, March 27, 1830.
José Maria de Echeandia, from 1825 to 1831. He arrived at Loreto June 25, 1825, and gave notice to Arguello that he had been appointed gov- ernor.
Manuel Victoria, from 1831 to 1832. On January 31, 1831, he took charge of the government. On December 9, 1831, Echeandia wrote to Gen- eral Vallejo that Governor Victoria was disarmed, his forces scattered, and that he was in a dying condition. On January 15, 1832, Echeandia wrote
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to the President of the Departmental Assembly that Victoria had left Cali- fornia for Mexico on the American ship Pocahontas.
Pio Pico, from 1832 to 1833. On January 11, 1832, Pico, being first
The Vocal of the Departmental Assembly, became governor ad interim. ayuntamiento of Monterey in the meantime refused to recognize him as gov- ernor, preferring that Echeandia should act until news should be received from the supreme government. It would seem that there were two Gov- ernors, Pico acting as first Vocal of the Assembly, and Echeandia appointed by the ayuntamiento of Monterey.
José Figueroa, from 1833 to 1835. He was appointed by the Presi- dent of Mexico in April, 1832; landed at Monterey January 15, 1833, and on the 25th Echeandia submitted to him. Figueroa asked to be relieved on March 25, 1833, and died at San Juan Bautista, September 29, 1835.
José Castro, from 1835 to 1836. Being first Vocal of the Depart- mental Assembly, he was appointed Governor by Figueroa on the 29th of August, 1835, and afterward became governor ad interim on the death of Figueroa.
Nicholas Gutierrez, 1836. He acted as governor ad interim from January 2, 1836, uutil May.
Mariano Chico, 1836. Took charge of the government May 3, 1836; appointed by the President July 30th. He left the government in charge of Gutierrez while on a trip to Mexico to represent the popular disturbances caused by the ayuntamiento of Monterey.
Nicolas Gutierrez, 1836. Acted again as governor ad interim from July for a few months.
Juan Bautista Alvarado, from 1836 to 1842. On November 6, 1836, the Departmental Assembly declared California a free and independent state, overthrew Gutierrez, who left the country, and Alvarado became gov- ernor. On August 20, 1837, Antonio Carrillo wrote to Governor Alvarado that his brother Carlos Antonio Carrillo had been appointed governor by the President. In 1838 Alvarado was appointed governor ad interim by the supreme government, and August 7, 1839, he was appointed perma- nent governor by the President. He died at San Pablo, July 13. 1882.
Manuel Micheltorena, from 1842 to 1845. He was appointed by the
Photo by Taber
FORT ROSS - THE NORTH BASTIAN BUILT BY THE RUSSIANS IN 1811 SONOMA COUNTY, CAL.
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President and entered on the duties of the office December 30, 1842. Died in Mexico, September 7, 1853.
Pio Pico, from 1845 to 1846. He became governor as first Vocal of the Departmental Assembly February 15, 1845. Having been recom- mended by the Assembly for the office in its session of the 27th of June, 1845, on September 3d of that year he was appointed constitutional governor by the President ad interim of Mexico, and due notice of his appointment was published April 15, 1846. Died at Los Angeles, September 11, 1894.
EARLY FOREIGN VISITORS.
Before leaving the subject of early times in California it will be well to recur to the conditions that confronted the people of the state with ref- erence to their relations to the world at large. Under the Spanish régime commerce with the great world outside was forbidden, but ambitious navi- gators began, early in the nineteenth century, to be attracted to the new world, of which they heard glowing stories. La Perouse was the first for- eign visitor. He arrived in 1786, and in 1792 Vancouver saw the coast. In 1796 the Otter, a Boston ship, appeared at Monterey. In 1806 a Rus- sian ship came from Sitka, Alaska, and anchored in the Bay of San Fran- cisco. The vessel was under command of Rezanof, an officer of high de- gree. He remained for some time and made himself popular by his cour- teous manners. He became betrothed to the daughter of Arguello, com- mandant of the presidio, and this close relation enabled him to do some trading with the people, under a suspension of the prevailing rule against such traffic, which was not permitted. Rezanof promised to return and marry his fiancee, but he died on his way across Siberia. Miss Arguello became the Dona Concepcion of a romantic tale, and Bret Harte's poem has moved many readers. The young lady's name was Dona Con- cepcion Arguella, and she waited patiently for the return of her lover through many years of anxiety. At last word came that he had died in a hut in Siberia, and Dona Concepcion, heart-broken as she had been for years, did not enter into the affairs of life with any degree of spirit, but became a nun and died at Benicia in 1857.
Rezanof's visit was followed, in. 1812, by the coming of a number of Russian pioneers whose purpose was trading rather than settling the
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country permanently. Under the initiative of a large fur company they founded a trading station about nineteen miles north of Bodega Bay, built a fort that has always been known as Fort Ross, though its Russian name is said to have been another word that sounds like the word Ross, and car- ried on a pretty thriving trade with the simple aborigines as well as with the Spaniards. The station did fairly well until 1841, when it was aban- doned. The Spaniards and Mexicans had always looked upon it with dis- favor. All produce that the Russians either raised or traded for was sent to northern Russian stations. The population, always under strict military government, amounted to about 300 in 1840. It consisted of Aleutians, Indians, and Russians.
When the Russians abandoned their fort they sold their holdings to Captain John A. Sutter, an enterprising and successful Swiss pioneer, who played an important part in the later history of the state, and on whose property the famous Marshall discovered gold in 1848, as we shall see later in this work.
But the going away of the Russians from Fort Ross did not mean that Russians and other foreigners were to be seen no more in those times. The Columbia and North American Fur companies pooled their interests, and after that it was common to see trappers and fur traders throughout the northern part of the state. The native population regarded all these foreigners as intruders and looked upon their movements with grave sus- picion. From time to time the Mexican congress passed stringent laws against all foreigners. Despite these measures, however, population from the outside gradually increased. Not many years passed before Americans, English, and French had control of the bulk of mercantile pursuits. Soule says: "Runaway seamen and stragglers from Columbia and Missouri swelled the number of white settlers. The indolent Spaniards stupidly looked 011, while the prestige of their name, their wealth, and influence were quickly passing into other and stronger hands."
In this connection it may be well to say that the only standard of judg- ment applied by many historical writers is that of "fruit," or material prog- ress, as measured by modern ideas of civilization. There are those, how- ever, who dispute the statement that the old Spaniards lived a purpose- less existence, some holding that they were greater philosophers than their
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critics, and that the so-called indolent and stupid masses compared favor- ably with the stupid and unscrupulous masses of their successors. In this connection it is not amiss to remind the student of these times of the fact that the better class of the Spaniards were cultured people, fond of liter- ature, music, the arts, and the many pleasures of life. In an essay entitled "Some Regrets," the immortal synthetic philosopher, Herbert Spencer, says: "I detest that conception of social progress which presents as its aim, increase of population, growth of wealth, spread of commerce. * * A prosperity that is exhibited in board of trade tables year by year increas- ing their totals, is to a large extent not a prosperity but an adversity. *
* But the ideal (material wealth) we cherish is a transitory one-appro- priate, perhaps, to a phase of human development during which the passing generations are sacrified in the process of making easier the lives of future generations."
It is exceedingly doubtful whether the average of the new settlers ex- ceded the average of the old residents in the higher qualities of honesty, respect for neighbors, and general intelligence, though the new population was moved far more strongly than the old one with the greed for material possessions.
To resume the story of the territory's development, it may be said that the idea of Americanization was in the air at an earlier date than is gener- ally recorded in histories. In 1829 some unpaid soldiers at Monterey un- dertook, with the aid of a handfull of native Californians, to put the coun- try into Californian hands, though still professing allegiance to the central Mexican government. One Solis by name, a convict ranchero, led the re- volt. It had no general support, and soon collapsed.
Manuel Victoria became governor in 1830, succeeding Echeandia, but he did not take charge until January, 1831. Victoria proved arbitrary and unpopular, and a successful revolt soon ended his career. Two men were killed in a conflict near Los Angeles, and the fallen governor consented to return to Mexico.
Governor José Figueroa succeeded Victoria, and he was an able and popular executive, though the Hijar and Padres party put forth a coloniza- tion scheme that resulted in a quarrel between the governor and Hijar re- garding policies and authority. In 1835 the colonization plan collapsed;
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it had, however, added about two hundred to the population of the coun- try. Governor Figueroa died in September, 1835.
José Castro's reign followed immediately after Figueroa's death, but the term was brief because the central government in Mexico soon ap- pointed Mariano Chico as Figueroa's successor, ignoring Castro's claims. Chico soon showed that he was unfit and unpopular, so the public denounced him as a tyrant. He was forced to retire in July.
By this time the foreigners and Americans were becoming bitterly opposed to Mexican rule and were beginning to feel that the country was theirs. Like all other Anglo Saxons they became aggressive, and in many cases higlily ungrateful for the treatment they had received at the hands of the better original Californians. In their opposition to Mexico they were quietly aided by the holy fathers, for these religious devotees had suffered wrongs at the hands of the Mexicans, who had stripped them of many of their possessions. The fathers longed for the old Spanish days and really welcomed a change from their oppressors' hands to the supervision of the pale strangers. The people at large were ripe for revolt, and the Alvarado revolution of November, 1836, was the result. By a display of force- though without one drop of bloodshed-the insurgents got possession of Monterey and at once banished Gutierrez, the ranking military officer of the country, to Mexico. The territory was then declared a sovereign state. A union with Mexico was really Alvarado's ambition as well as the popular idea, but the task of conciliating the people of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles required considerable diplomacy, likewise a show of real force. The con- ciliation was effected, however, at Los Angeles, in January, 1837.
After some delays and parleying with Castillero, a Mexican commis- sioner sent to pacify the country, and after successfully resisting Carlos Carrillo, who had been appointed chief executive by Mexico, Alvarado found himself in almost undisputed command of the country. He worked his plans so successfully that he was soon confirmed by Mexico as the consti- tutional governor of the country.
Alvarado ruled quite successfully and peacefully. In 1840 he quar- reled with the eminent General Vallejo, his former partisan supporter.
During this same year nearly one hundred American citizens, British subjects and others, were carried to Monterey after a forcible seizure. At
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. Monterey they were confined in prison for a brief period, though some were mysteriously released without a word of explanation. Some were sent to Santa Barbara under a close guard. Finally a few more were released with- out explanation. Others were sent to San Blas or other Mexican villages, but many died under the severe treatment. The last were released more than fifteen months after their original capture. Some historians have cited this as an extreme instance of Spanish cruelty. It is believed, however, that the Mexican course had a reasonable justification, for the character of some of the men was undoubtedly bad, and their actions were suspicious with reference to their attitude toward the government. Probably one of the purposes of Mexican harshness was to frighten foreigners away and fill the minds of those about to come from the east with disgust and fear. There is some evidence to sustain the charge that a few of the banished men had been plotting against the government. One of the expelled men was Isaac Graham, doubtless a great villain, as were a number of his com- panions.
Mexico's last serious attempt to govern the new country without much reference to the people's wishes was by the appointment of Governor Michel- torena, a general, in 1842. He was a well-meaning executive, but his Mexi- can recruits were highly unpopular. The people rebelled against his author- ity in 1844. By 1845 Micheltorena abandoned the fight and Mexico recog- nized Pio Pico as the lawful ruler of the country. There was some petty quarreling, with many intrigues, after this, but the Mexican war soon intro- duced a new factor in the controversy-and with the results of that factor we shall deal hereafter.
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CHAPTER IV.
HABITS AND AMUSEMENTS OF TIIE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS OF EARLY TIMES -AMERICANS BEFORE THE CONQUEST-CHARACTER OF THE EARLY TRAPPERS AND PATH-FINDERS-CAPTAIN JOHN A. SUTTER AND HIS ACHIEVEMENTS-THE COMING OF FREMONT-ETHICS OF THE CON- QUEST, AND OTHER THOUGHTS.
So short a time ago as the year 1846-short in the life of a state- California was a far away and neglected Mexican province, a country lit- tle known to the great world of commerce and adventure. In view of its marvelous resources and its many forms of wealth-gold mines, forests, climate-it is wonderful that it was so long regarded as worthless. At the period under consideration-1846-the formerly prosperous missions were all secularized and moribund, some of them in ruins.
The power of the church had waned and the mission Indians were scattered, except those that had married soldiers, sailors, trappers, and others of the early visitors to the country. Lucia Norman, a clear writer on this phase of life, truly says :
"Life at the missions was wearisome to those who through all their lives had been accustomed to roam untrammeled from one portion of the country to the other; to climb in quest of game the snowy peaks of moun- tains in summer, and in autumn to descend to the warm sequestered valleys to pluck the ripened fruits for their winter store; and then, again, to stand by the rapids of a mountain stream and spear the fish that came leaping down, or to sit idly by the seashore and draw in their rude nets laden with finny treasures. This excess of freedom must often have been remembered with a sigh by these apparently thoughtless creatures, as they filed into the church at dawn, and listened, without understanding a word, to the mo- notonous tone of the priest as he said mass, or catechised them like so many children, and then dismissed them to their breakfast of atole (a sort of gruel made of corn). After which they toiled in the fields until dinner, at which they were supplied with posoli. After partaking of this meal they attended
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mass, and then returned to the gardens or fields until vespers, when they were again served with alole, and dismissed early to their little adobe huts, of each one of which the fathers kept the key.
"So the missions were conducted for a long series of years-the fathers gradually becoming more and more selfish, and the Indians slowly decreas- ing in numbers under this foreign rule.
"The missions, meanwhile, were falling to decay. The priests, perceiv- ing that all of the administrations concurred in desiring their complete re- moval, grew disheartened and neglected their work, and soon left the coun- try. In 1845 their final ruin came. Part of the missions were sold at public auction, and the others were rented. The proceeds of the latter were divided into three parts. The first paid the salaries of the remaining priests; the second was given to the converted Indians; and the third was set by as a Pious Fund for charitable purposes."
Early in the year 1846 the white population of San Francisco proper was about two hundred, and these were chiefly colonists of an adventurous spirit. They were from Spain and Mexico. By 1847 there were about two thousand people in San Francisco and vicinity, including the settlements around the bay. The city proper had but seven hundred inhabitants. Many of the people were a peculiar mixture of Spanish and Indian, or Mexican and Indian. Spanish customs and Spanish words were quite common.
It will be well to understand the peculiarities of the people and the condition of the country before narrating the events that soon made Cali- fornia the most famous land of the age.
The natives were a careless and free people, fond of sports, not am- bitious for worldly goods, and given to indolence. They lived a life of idyl- lic simplicity, somewhat after the fashion of many southern and island people. They delighted in gay dress, as do negroes and many native races. Their hospitality to strangers was remarkable, and when tradesmen were afterward established among them-men from Boston and the east-it was discovered that the Californians of that early time were honest, though slow in settling their accounts. It will seem surprising to many that hides were still the currency of the country.
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