USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California > Part 3
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
to Your Majesty, from that port on the 28th of December, of said year, it is all that can be desired for commodiousness, and as a station for ships making the voyage to the Philippines, sailing whence they make a landfall on this coast. This port is sheltered from all winds, while on the immediate coast there are pines, from which masts of any de- sired size can be obtained, as well as live-oaks and white-oaks, rosemary, the vine, the rose of Alexandria, a great variety of game, such as rabbits, hares, partridges, and other sorts and species found in Spain, and in greater abundance than in the Sierra Morena, and flying birds of kinds differing from those to be found there. This land has a genial cli- mate, its waters are good, and it is very fer- tile-judging from the varied and luxuriant growth of trees and plants; for I saw some of the fruits, particularly chestnuts and acorns, which are larger than those of Spain. And it is thickly settled with people whom I found to be of gentle disposition, peaceable and docile, and who can be brought readily within the fold of the holy gospel, and into subjection to the crown of Your Majesty. Their food consists of seeds which they have in abundance and variety, and of the flesh of game, such as deer (ciervos), which are larger than cows and bear, and of neat cattle and bisons, and many other animals. The Indi- ans are of good stature and fair complexion, the women being somewhat less in size than the men, and of pleasing contenance. The clothing of the people of the coast lands con- sists of the skins of the sea-wolves abounding there, which they tan and dress better than
is done in Castile; they possess also, in great quantity, flax like that of Castile, hemp and cotton, from which they make fishing-lines, and nets for rabbits and hares. They have vessels of pine timber very well made, in which they go to sea, with fourteen paddle- men of a side, with great dexterity, even in very stormy weather. I was informed by them, and by many others I met with in great numbers along more than eight hundred leagues of a thickly settled coast, that inland there were great communities, which they in- vited me to visit with them. They mani- fested great friendship for us, and a desire for intercourse; were well affected toward the image of our Lady, which I showed to them, and very attentive to the sacrifice of the mass. They worship different idols, for an account of which I refer to said report of your viceroy, and they are well acquainted with silver and gold, and said that these were found in the interior.
And, as some port or place on this coast is to be occupied, none is so proper for the pur- pose as this harbor of Monterey. For the rea- sons given, this port can be made by ships on the return voyage from the Philippines ; and if, after putting to sea, a storm be encountered, they need not, as formerly, run for Japan, where so many have been cast away and so much property lost; and, had this port been known previously, Your Majesty would not have been so badly served. The time of the occurrence of the seasons being known, from this place the interior can be reached and ex- plored, such exploration promising rich re- turns; and proceeding along the coast, the
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
remainder of it can be examined, for, although I went as far as the 42° of latitude, this be- ing the limit fixed in my instructions, the coast-line trends onward to near Japan and the coast of Great China, which are but a short run away, and the same is the case with regard to Tartary and the famous city of Quinsay; and, according to the reports I re- ceived, there are to be found very numerous peoples, akin to those I have referred to: so the door will be opened for the propagation of the faith and the bringing of so many souls to a knowledge of God, in order that the seed of the holy gospel may yield a harvest among all these heathen.
" Eleven months were spent on the voyage, during which noteworthy hardships were suffered; and, notwithstanding the unhappy experience of my men, who were all sick, and of whom forty-two died before our return to the port of Acapulco, I again offer to serve Your Majesty in continuing this exploration, as I did on the voyage to California, and on many others, of which I have given account to your Royal Council, in carefully and ex- actly prepared documents, which I have pre- sented there; and I refer, furthermore, to others now forwarded, in which it is shown I have spent the greater part of my fortune and of my health. Yet the little of these remaining to me, as well as my person, is devoted to your royal service, with the con- stancy, love, and fidelity of a loyal vassal and servant of Your Majesty, who, I pray, will order the necessities of my men to be con- sidered and that they be rewarded with boons from those powerful royal hands, and that
the same be ordered to be done for the naval and military officers who accompanied me, their persons being recommended to your viceroy of this New Spain. God guard the royal and Catholic person of Your Majesty. " SEBASTIAN VIZCAINO. "Mexico, 23d of May, 1603."
Althoughi Vizcaino was anxious to return with another expedition for the occupation of Monterey, which accounts for certain ex- aggerations in this and other letters, he did not succeed in persuading the king to au- thorize the same and thus, as it turned out, very little was done for the exploration or settlement of California during the next 160 odd years. Vizcaino himself, returning from Japan some ten years later, sighted Cape Mendocino; but he never afterward re- turned to the coast of California.
However, his discovery of Monterey bay, and his explorations along the coast, had been carefully recorded, and had thus become a distinct and valuable addition to the world's knowledge of these far distant and pre- viously almost unknown and undefined shores of the boundless South Sea. At a later period, Philip III determined to dispatch Vizcaino on a second expedition; but the death of the latter prevented this plan from being carried out.
Besides Cabrillo and Vizcaino, three other navigators had sailed along the coast of Up- per California during the latter part of the sixteenth century, without adding very much to what was known by Europeans of this region, viz .: Drake in the year 1579, de Gali in 1584, and de Cermeñon in 1595-
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
the latter two sailing from the far West, on their return, respectively from Macao and the Philippine Islands.
It seems somewhat remarkable that for over 200 years, from the expedition of Ca- brillo in 1542, till the founding of the San Diego and Monterey missions in 1769- '70, no white people, so far as we know, set- tled in any portion of Alta California. Ban- croft (Vol. I, p. 107) mentions a vague report by the Indians of San Luis Obispo, made to Father Figuer, in 1776, that abont seventeen years prior to the establishment of the mission at Carmelo, "Twelve white men, dressed like Spaniards, landed from a boat and were subsequently cast away on the coast and perished."
But we have no record that the mission- aries encountered any Europeans here when they first came, in 1769, to take possession of the country which Cabrillo had discovered and claimed in the name of their sovereign, 227 years before. During all that long period, the innumerable fertile valleys of Alta California, which are now occupied by an advanced civilization, were given up to spiritless hordes of Indians and wild beasts; the useful grains and fruits and domestic animals, were unknown, for most, or all of these things were first brought here by the pioneers of 1769, and subsequent years. It requires some effort of the imagination to picture this fair land as wholly given over to hordes of wild Indians and wild animals, with no useful domestic animals, or fruits or grains, except only such as were purely in- digenons to the country. Yet such undoubt-
edly was its condition at the time of the ad- vent of the Franciscan Friars, 123 years ago, and for unnumbered ages prior to that epoch.
CHAPTER IV.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE MISSION ERA.
N the year 1767 the Jesuits were, by royal decree, expelled from all the dominions of Spain, and Baja or Lower California, where that order had built up extensive es- tablishments, was turned over to the Fran- ciscans. José de Galvez, Visitador-general, and afterward Minister-general, a man of great energy and executive ability, arrived the following year in Lower California with orders from the king, Carlos III, of Spain, to send an expedition, by sea, to re-discover and settle the ports of San Diego and Mon- terey. Father Junípero Serra, whose name became so intimately connected with the sub- sequent early history of California, and es- pecially with that of the Mission of San Car- los, where his ashes now repose, and a friar of dauntless energy and zeal, entered enthusi- astically into Galvez' plans; and an expedi- tion, both by land and by sea, was organized to go in search of San Diego, and thence to proceed on to Monterey.
The forethought and practical wisdom of these two men are evidenced by the com- prehensive provision they made, for the ma- terial as well as spiritual welfare of the missions and presidios, which they were to establish among the heathen of Alta Cali- fornia. All manner of seeds and grain and useful animals, ganado mayor y menor;
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
such farming implements as were obtainable, etc., were gathered from the various Mis- sions of the Peninsular, as well as church or- naments and vestments; and these latter were placed on board the vessels. In the archives of this State is to be found the manifest of the San Carlos, the flag-shfp of this expedi- dition, which includes a list of the persons on board, sixty-two in all, and an inventory of eight months' provisions.
The cattle, about 200 head, horses, 140 head, and forty or fifty mules and asses, were by direction of Galvez gathered from the various missions, and after many delays, were taken to San Diego with the land expedi- tions, in order that the new country, which he believed was fertile, might be stocked and cultivated, so that in future years there should be no want of something to eat. No wonder that the new missions, under such wise managers as these, afterward became prosper- ous and wealthy.
In Galvez' instructions to Captain Vicente Villa, of the San Carlos, and to Lieutenant Pedro Fages, commander of the twenty-five soldiers which sailed with Captain Villa, he declared the objects of the expedition to be, to establish " the Catholic religion among a numerous heathen people submerged in the darkness of paganism; to extend the domin- ion of the king our lord; and to protect this peninsular from the ambitious designs of foreign nations, " etc .; and that these objects had been entertained since 1606, when Philip III ordered Vizcaino to make a second voy- age to the coast of California, but which was prevented by the latter's death. Galvez
charges them to spare no labor or fatigne to accomplish such just and holy aims, and adds in his own hand-writing the following: "Note: That to thefort or presidio, which may be constructed, and to the pueblo (vil- lage) of the mission, which may be established at Monterey, there shall be given the glorious name of San Carlos de Monterey.
" José DE GALVEZ. " (Rubric.) "
The land expedition under command of Governor Gaspar de Portalá, accompanied by Father Junipero Serra, president of the Missions of Baja California, and Father Crespí, arrived in San Diego, where they found the two vessels the San Carlos and the San Antonio at anchor. They immediately set about founding a mission at that place. In the meantime, to-wit, on the 14th of July, 1769, Governor Portalá and Father Juan Crespí, with a company of sixty-five persons in all, and a pack-train of provisions, pushed on northwardly by land, to re-discover and occupy Monterey, in pursuance of Galvez' orders, and of Philip III's scheme promul- gated 163 years before. In Bancroft's History of California, Vol. I, pp. 140, et seq., a very full and interesting account of this expedition is given, including a description of the route takeu, as described in Friar Crespí's diary and Lieutenant Fages' narrative. Portalá and his party were gone more than six months; they were at Monterey, where they set up a cross without recognizing the place, which Vizcaino had described as it appeared in approaching from the sea. This caused them to keep on their journey, forty leagues
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
farther to the northward, where they dis- covered the bay of San Francisco. Return- ing, they reached San Diego January 24, 1770, where they found the small band which they had left there six months before, short of supplies and very much discouraged; and Portalá determined to abandon the mission, if relief did not soon arrive. However, the San Antonio, which had been dispatched to San Blas, returned with abundance of pro- visions on the 19th of March, and also brought fresh instructions from the viceroy and from Galvez, which entirely changed the aspect of affairs.
Portalá and Crespí at once made prepara- tions in obedience to the new orders, for another expedition overland to Monterey, which this time they found; and, together with Father Junipero, who arrived in the San Antonio a few days later, to-wit, on the 31st of May, they made ready to take formal possession, in the name of the king, Carlos III, which was done after solemn religious ceremonies, by raising and saluting the royal flag of Spain, June 3, 1770.
Father Junípero, with pious enthusiasm, wrote that he found the lovely port of Mon- tery the same, and unchanged in substance and circumstance, as the expedition of Se- bastian Vizcaino left it in 1603; and that all the officers of sea and land, and all their people assembled in the same glen and un- der the same oak where the Fathers of Viz- caino's expedition had worshiped; and there they arranged their altar, hung up and rang their bells, sang the Veni Creator, blessed the holy water, and set up and blessed the cross
and the royal standards, concluding the whole with a Te Deum.
The realization of the long-cherished plans of the crown of Spain, and of its vice-regal representatives in Mexico, of the occupation of the important port of Monterey, and thereby, by implication of the vast region, known as Alta California, was the cause of much rejoicing in the city of Mexico when the news was received there. The bells of the cathedral and of all the other churches were rung; the viceroy and Galvez received the congratulations of the populace at the palace; and the news of the auspicious event was hailed with universal satisfaction by the people of both New and Old Spain.
Father Junípero removed his mission soon after from Montery to the Carmelo valley, where there were good water and land, and where his neophytes might be away from the immediate, and not always salutary influence of the presidio soldiers. Here permanent and substantial buildings were erected; here, the venerable founder and president of the mis- sions of California made his home during the remainder of his life: from this point he made excursions to the other missions which had been established under his direction; and here, under the altar of the church, which he had built, his remains lie buried. He died August 28, 1784. One hundred years later, in 1884, his death was commemorated by the restoration of his old church to its former state, by his admirers, under the leadership of Honorable Antonio F. Coronel and of the parish priest of Monterey, Reverend Angel Casanova.
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
There were nine missions established un- der Father Serra's administration, namely: San Diego July 16, 1769
San Carlos de Monterey
Jnne 3, 1770
San Antonio de Padua. July 14, 1771 San Gabriel, Archangel, September 8, 1778 San Luis, Obispo .. . September 1, 1772 San Francisco, Dolores. . October 9, 1776
Santa Clara
July 18, 1777
San Buenaventura March 31, 1782
San Juan Capistrano November 1, 1776
In order to protect the missions, four mil- itary posts called presidios were established during this period of Father Serra's presi- dency, at the following sea-ports, namely : San Diego 1769
Monterey . 1770
San Francisco 1776
Santa Barbara. 1780
After Serra's death the missions continued to prosper, subjecting large numbers of wild Indians to their rule; other missions were founded under the presidency of Serra's suc- cessors, Palou, Lasuen, Tapis, Señan, Payeras, etc., till the number amounted in all to twenty-one. These later-founded missions were:
Santa Barbara December 4, 1786 La Purísima. December 8, 1787 Santa Cruz September 25, 1791 La Soledad October 9, 1791
San José. June 11, 1797 San Juan Bautista June 24, 1797
San Miguel
July 25, 1797
San Fernando
September 8, 1797
San Luis Rey
June 13, 1798
Santa Inés . September 17, 1804 San Rafael December 14, 1817
San Francisco Solano. .August 25, 1823
As the missions practically controled most of the land, and as domestic live-stock increased with astonishing rapidity, and moreover as the Fathers taught their neo- phytes that industry was only second to the creed itself in importance, the mission es- tablishments all prospered wonderfully in worldly possessions; so much so, in fact, that the impression gained currency in Mex- ico that the Franciscan Fathers in California lived in luxury, which was liable to slacken their zeal and lessen their usefulness and solemn monitions came back from the proper anthorities, warning the missionaries against the supposed dangers which threat- ened them in this direction.
THE NEW WORLD COLONIZED ON A POLITICO- RELIGIOUS BASIS.
The plan adopted by Spain for the occu- pation and settlement of the Californias, has often been unjustly criticised, because it was not understood. The founding of relig- ious colonies in the New World was not alone peculiar to Spain or to the Latin races, Probably the people of Europe generally were much more devout, one, two and three centuries ago, than they are to-day. At any rate, people mixed up their religion with their politics to a greater extent then than they do now, or at least in a different fashion. Most of the Anglo-Saxon colonies of North America were settled largely on a religious
2
.
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
basis. Moreover, Spain had been successful in making good citizens, by the religions colony system, of the Aztecs and other In- dians of Mexico, as well as of various tribes in South America, and in the Islands of the South Seas.
PARTIAL FAILURE OF THE MISSION SYSTEM.
That the experiment partially failed in the Californias was not so much the fault of the system as it was of the Indian himself. Even if the critics of the mission system had taken him in hand, and had eliminated all Christian or religious teaching from their methods, and had only dosed him with social maxims, or diluted political economy, it is doubtful if they would have succeeded any better with him than did the good Francis- can Friars. The "Digger Indians" of Cali- fornia did not have within them capabilities for the making of self-governing, enlight- ened citizens. The methods also of the mis- sionaries have often been commented on un- favorably. But if we compare their methods with those adopted by even religious white people, in the New England and other colo- nies, toward the Indians which formerly in- habited the territory now included in the United States, we are compelled to admit that the Franciscans lose nothing by such comparison. Though, in strict justice, it must be said, that, if the latter were not forced into bloody wars of extermination, it was perhaps mainly, but not altogether, be- cause the Diggers did not have the spirit- shall it be said, the warlike spirit ?- of the
Pequots, the Mohawks or of the Semi- noles. It would seem to be the rule with Anglo-Saxon colonists that the contact of a superior with an inferior and non-assimila- tive race, results, almost invariably, in the disappearance of the latter. With colonists of the Latin races, the rule has exceptions, notably in the case of Mexico, and in Peru and some other South American States, where the native races showed a capacity, both for assimilation and for development; and where they eventually acquired, purely through the inherent qualities of their blood, a prominent, if not a dominant, position in the State.
It was hoped by Spain that the mission- aries, who were fired with zeal for the prop- agation of their faith, would be able to gather into the missions the Indians of this new country, and gradually civilize them and mold them into citizens, so that in a few years the missions might be converted into self-governing pueblos or towns, as had been done in the central portions of New Spain. And thus the experiment went on from year to year till Mexico, having declared her in- dependence, found that the long-tried experi- ment could never result in success; and so she took up the matter with vigor, as the mission Indians had not, neither was there any likelihood that they ever would, become, citizens; and the possession or occupation of the lands for the use of the missions and of the Indians prevented her real or actual citizens, as well as foreigners who might de- sire to become citizens, from settling up the
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
country. By a decree of the Mexican Con- gress of Angust 18, 1824, very liberal pro- vision was made for the granting of lands to actnal settlers. Of course the missionary fathers were averse to what they looked upon as an encroachment of the secular power on their rights. The contest between the secular and ecclesiastical authorities in the province continued for years, having commenced under the Spanish regime; and although the Gov- ernment of Mexico was kindly disposed to- ward the mission authorities, it could not let things drift indefinitely. Finally, August 17, 1833, the Mexican Congress passed a law secularizing the missions, and depriving the Friars of all control of the mission property, thus opening the entire territory of Alta California to settlement by Spanish-Ameri- can citizens, or to foreigners who should have become such.
While the mission system failed to realize the enlightened views of either the Spanish or Mexican government in the settlement of the country, nevertheless its achievements in other directions were not inconsiderable. The French traveler and writer, De Mofras, who visited California in 1841, estimated that the twenty-one missions of Alta California had, at the time they were secularized, 30,650 In- dians under their control; that they owned 424,000 horned cattle; 62,500 horses, mules and asses, not counting the large number of these latter which had run wild; 321,500 head of sheep, goats and swine; and that the corn, wheat and other grains raised by them annually amounted to 122,500 bushels.
Thus is apparent that Galvez and Serra had provided cattle, seeds and grain, etc., for the new establishment, sixty-five years before, to soms purpose.
PUEBLOS.
During the mission era, three pueblos, or secular towns, were established. These were Los Angeles, San José and Branciforte; and it was thought that through them the bur- den of supplying the presidios with ra- tions, recruits, etc., by the Mexican Govern- ment would be greatly facilitated. The king's ranch, El Rancho del Rey, in the Salinas valley, helped also to furnish supplies for the presidios.
As Monterey was the capital of Alta Cali- fornia throughout nearly the entire period of both the Spanish and Mexican regimes, and as the governors usually resided at Mon- terey, where also the custom house was lo- cated, a list of those officials will not be with- out interest in a history of Monterey, whose port, from the settlement of the country, till 1846, was really the most important port in California.
SPANISH GOVERNORS.
Gaspar de Portolá. 1767 to 1771
Felipe de Barri. 1771 " 1774
Felipe de Neve 1774 “ 1782
Pedro Fages. 1782 “ 1790
José Antonio Romen. .1790 " 1792
José J. de Arrillaga (ad int.). 1792 " 1794
Diego de Borica. .1794 " 1800
José J. de Arrillaga. 1800 " 1814
José Arguello (ad interim) : .. 1814 “ 1815
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
Pablo Vicente de Sola. 1815 “ 1822
MEXICAN GOVERNORS.
Pablo V. de Sola. Nov. 1822 to 1823
Luis Arguello. 1823 to June 1825 José M. de Echandia June 1825 " Jan. 1831 Manuel Victoria ... Jan. 1831 " Jan. 1832
Pio Pico. Jan. 1832 " Jan. 1833
José Figueroa. .Jan. 1833 “ Aug. 1835
José Castro .. Ang. 1835 " Jan. 1836
Nicolás Gutierrez Jan. 1836 " May 1836
Mariano Chico .... May 1836 "
Nicolás Guntierrez - - 1836 «
Juan B. Alavarado - 1836 4 Dec. 1842 Manuel Micheltorena. Dec. 1842 " Feb. 1845
Pio Pico. Feb. 1845 " July 1846
CHAPTER V.
FOUNDING OF THE FIRST MISSIONS.
T will only be possible, within the limits of this work, to note in the briefest man- ner the annals of Monterey during the mission era.
Soon after the founding of the mission of San Cárlos, Governor Portolá turned over the government of the new establishments of Monterey and San Diego to Captain Pedro Fages, as military commandant, and returned to Mexico. Fathers Junípero and Crespí entered with zeal on their work. Provision had been made in Mexico, on receipt of the news of the occupation of Alta California, for the founding of six new missions; these were San Bnenaventura, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Antonio, Santa Clara and
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