An illustrated history of Los Angeles County, California. Containing a history of Los Angeles County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 9

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Los Angeles County, California. Containing a history of Los Angeles County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 9

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3. The statement that a Chinaman was one of the founders is generally made by the same writers, who claim the founders were all sol- diers! It would be interesting to know how a long-tailed, almond-eyed denizen of the Orient came to be in the military service of the house of Bourbon! It is true there was a "chino" enlisted, as has been already stated, but he never came to Los Angeles, at least so far as is known. While the Spanish word " chino " may ordinarily mean a Chinaman, some scholars claim it is also used in Spanish America for persons of different blood, as a child of mixed Spanish and negro blood, or it is applied to a person or animal having curly hair.

J. J. Warner, of Connecticut, arrived in Los Angeles in the year 1831, being then twenty - four years old. He undoubtedly conversed with some of the founders and other early settlers of the city. Forty-five years later he wrote an important chapter in " An Historical Sketch of Los Angeles County," from which is taken the following:

" For the center of the town a parallelogram, 100 varas* long and seventy-five wide, was laid out as a public square. Twelve house- lots fronting on the square occupied three sides of it, and one-half of the remaining side of seventy-five varas was destined for public build- ings, and the other half an open space. The location of the public square would nearly cor- respond to the following lines: The southeast corner of Upper Main and Marchessault streets for the southern or southeastern corner of the square; the east line of Upper Main street, from the above-named corner 100 varas in a northerly direction, for the east line of the

* A vara is 3315 inches.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

square; the eastern line of New High street for the western line of the square; and the northern - line of Marchessault street for the southern line of the square.# At a short distance from the public square, and npon the alluvial bottom land of the river, npon which the water of the river for irrigation could be easily conducted, there were laid out thirty fields for cultivation. The fields contained 40,000 square varas each, and were mostly laid out in the form of a square, and separated from each other by nar- row lanes. In accord with the paternal idea of the Spanish Government the head of each family was furnished from the royal treasury with two oxen, two mules, two mares, two sheep, two goats, two cows with one calf, one ass and one hoe, and to the settlers in common the tools for a cart-maker. These articles, as well as the live-stock, were all charged to the individuals respectively, or to the community, at a price fixed by the Government, and the amount was to be deducted insmall installments from their pay.

" As the Government of California was a combination of military and ecclesiastical powers, so the municipal government devised for the settlers of Los Angeles was a compound of political and military government, in which the latter largely predominated. All the municipal power was vested in one officer, called alcalde, who was appointed by the Governor, who was himself the military commander of the country, or by a military officer who commanded the military district in which the town was situated. The territory of Upper California was divided into military districts corresponding in number with the military posts, which were four, and the jurisdiction of the commanding officer of the post extended over the district, and civil as well as military matters came under his cog- nizance.

" The adult males and those over eighteen years were enrolled, and were subject to the performance of guard duty, both by day and night, at the guard-house, which was located on the public square. * *

" We find a military officer, one whose juris- diction was co-extensive with that of the com- manding officer of the garrison of Santa Bar- bara, granting a honse-lot in the town of Los Angeles, on the 23d of June, 1821. This lot, upon which the Pico House stands, was granted to José Antonio Carrillo by his brother Anas- tacio Carrillo, a military officer, who styled him- self commissioner. The exclusive jurisdiction of the alcalde, the chief officer of Los Angeles, was extremely limited, even if in practice it was- known to exist. Cases of all kinds, except snch as could be heard by ecclesiastical authorities, both civil and criminal, and of trivial character, went from the alcalde and beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Los Angeles, to be heard and de- termined by the military commandant of a gar- rison more than a linndred miles distant.

" The absence of municipal records for the first half century after the founding of Los Angeles of itself raises the presumption that the municipal officers exercised but little an- thority during that time. After the allotment of house lots and fields for cultivation to the original twelve [only nine received land grants -ED. | settlers, there does not appear to have been any record kept of the grants of either house-lots or farming lands until as late as . 1836.

" The system adopted by the Government for the formation of pueblos, and the granting of building lots and farming lands to settlers within the limits of a pueblo, did not require a record of the grant. In conferring upon a set- tler the right to acquire and occupy a lot upon which to build a dwelling-house and land to cultivate, the Government did not absolutely divest itself of its title to and control over the soil. The settler who erected a house upon a lot assigned to him, or fenced and cultivated a field which had been set off to him, did not be- come vested with the nnconditional title of own- ership to either. If he, without justifiable canse, suffered his house to remain unoccupied, or to fall into decay, or his field to remain un- cultivated for two consecutive years, it became

* The present plaza was first used as a cemetery.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

subject to denouncement by any other person legally competent to take by grant, and the granting anthorities could and were by law re- quired, upon a proper showing of the abandon- ment, to grant the property to the informant, who then acquired the same and no better rights than those possessed by his predecessor."

From the first directory published in Los Angeles in 1872, by Messrs. A. J. King and A. Waite, the following account is taken:

" For the town site a parallelogram 100 varas long by seventy five in width was laid out. Upon three sides of this were house-lots, each 40 x 20 varas, excepting the two corner lots, which, fronting in part on two sides of the square, were of a different figure. One-half the remaining side of the parallelogram was open, and the other half was for the gnard- house, royal officers and a granary. The loca- tion of this town site was above or northeast of the present Catholic church. The guard-house and royal building, which occupied the west half of the southwestern side of the parallelo- grain, were on the opposite of [Upper] Main street, froin Campbell's store [then at the south junction of Upper and North Main streets]. The four lines of the parallelogram, instead of run- ning toward the four cardinal points, were about equi-distant between them. An irrigating ditch, bringing the water from the river, passed along to the east, and close to those lots, on the southi- east corner of the square. Thirty fields for cultivation were also laid out. Twenty-six of these fields contained each 40,000 square varas. They were, with the exception of four, which were 300 varas hy 100, 200 varas square, and separated by lanes three varas wide. The fields were located between the irrigating ditch and the river, and mostly above a line running direct and nearly east from the town site to the river. The distance from the irrigating ditch to the river, across these fields, was upward of 1,200 varas. At that time the river ran along where now [1872] stand the houses of Julian Chavez and Elijah Moulton. It was evident that when the town was laid out the

bluff bank, which in modern times extended from Aliso street up by the Stearns [the Capitol in 1889], mill to the toma did not exist, but was made when the river ran near the town. * Subsequent to the settlement of the town the river abandoned its bed, and flowed to the west side of all the fields along where the Eagle Mill [Lankershim's mill in 1889] now stands, and where Alameda street is now located. The old fields were either washed away or covered up with sand by the change in the river's bed. In 1825 the river again left its bed and made a new one nearly intermediate between the two preceding ones. *

"The public square and the houses around it fell into decay and ruins, while the growth of the town was mostly on the southwest of the original site. This might have been, and probably was, caused by the change in the bed of the river, the destruction of the agricultural fields and the washing ont and leaving the bed of the river so innch where the water was taken ont, that the water could not be brought into the original ditch, and the inhabitants were forced to make new fields in the neighborhood of what is now San Pedro street."

José Francisco Sinova, who had lived some time in California as a laborer, was the first to apply to for admission as a settler in the pueblo in 1785.

In September of the next year, José Argüello, an ensign in the Spanish army, received a com - mission from Governor Pedro Fages, the snc- cessor of De Neve, to survey the pueblo and put the settlers in possession of their lands. He took Corporal Vicente Felix and Private Roque de Cota, of the pueblo gnard, as legal witnesses. In the performance of his duty Ar- güella summoned each of the settlers, whose numbers had by this time been reduced to nine, and in the presence of them all granted first the house-lot, then the four fields, and finally the branding iron by which the live-stock of each was to be distinguished from that of his neigh- bors. In both house-lots and fields the pretense of a measurement was made. In each case the

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

nature of the grant was fully explained, the grantee assented to the conditions involved, and for each of the twenty-seven grants a separate document was drawn up, each bearing, besides the signature of Argüello and his witnesses, a cross, for not one of the settlers could write his name. The nine settlers included eight of the founders of the pueblo: l'ablo Rodriguez, José Vanegas, José Moreno, Felix Villavicencio, Ba- silio Rosas, Antonio Navarro, Manuel Camero and Alejandro Rosas; and José Francisco Sinova, the new-comer, made the ninth.

The population of the pueblo grew quite rapidly in the next four years, being recruited chiefly from soldiers who had served ont their time, the increase being from nine to twenty- eight families, making a total population of 141 .*

The twenty new settlers were Domingo Aruz, Juan Álvarez, Joaquin Armenta, Juan Ramirez Arellano, Sebastian Alvitre, Roque Cota, Fans- tino José Cruz, Juan José Dominguez, Manuel Figueroa, Felipe Santiago García, Joaquin Iliguera, Juan José Lobo, José Ontiveros, San- tiago de la Cruz Pico, Francisco Reyes, Pedro José Romero, Efigenio Ruiz, Mariano Verdugo and José Villa, besides Vicente Felix, tbe cor- poral and commissioner of the pueblo.

In 1789 there were five new settlers: José Silvas, Rejis Soto, Francisco Lugo, Melecio Val- déz and Rafael Sepúlveda.

In 1790 the large stock numbered 2,980 head; small stock, 438; and the crop of that year amounted to 4,500 bushels.

José Vanegas was the first alcalde in 1788; José Sinova the second in 1789, with Felipe García and Mannel Camero as regidores; and Mariano Verdugo was the third alcalde in 1790. The year 1788 appears to have been the first date of any municipal government. Vicente Félix was at first corporal of the pueblo guard, which was furnished by the San Diego presidio. Ile was made a kind of director before 1784,

being responsible to the Governor through the commandant at Santa Barbara. In 1787 he received especial instructions from Governor Fages to see that the settlers performed their duties, and to co-operate generally with the alcalde in the administration of law. The set- tlers did not then have the reputation of being very orderly. There were in 1790 twenty-nine adobe residences, besides the town hall, barrack, gnard-bouse and granaries; and all were enclosed by an adobe wall. There were also a few build- ings outside the wall.

Events were common-place enough for the next ten years in the pueblo, which was for many years a genuine Mexican sleepy hollow. In 1800 the white population was 315, chiefly increased from the maturity of children and additions of retired soldiers. Horses and cattle numbered 12,500; sleep, 1,700; while the crop that year was 4,600 bushels, mostly maize. They offered that year to coi tract for 3,400 bushels of wheat annually at $1.66 per bushel for the San Blas market, but it does not appear that the offer was taken.

In 1800 Vicente Félix was still the pueblo commissioner, having been temporarily relieved in 1795-'96 by Javier Alvarado. The suc- cessive alcaldes were: Mariano Verdugo, elected in 1790; Francisco Reyes, 1793-'95; José Vane- gas, 1796; Manuel Arellano, 1797; Guillermo Soto, 1798; Francisco Serrano, 1799, and Joa- quiu Higuera in 1800.

A story illustrative of the times is told by Padre Salazar, that when he was here in 1795, a man who had 1,000 mares, and cattle in pro- portion, came to San Gabriel to beg for cloth to make him a shirt, for none could be had at Los Angeles!

The records for the beginning of the first decade in the nineteenth century are deficient, there being no mention of any town officials for the first nine years.

In 1809 Javier Alvarado, a Sergeant in the Spanish armny, was town commissioner, and the probabilities are that he had acted in that capacity for the preceding nine years. Ile was

* A ceneue taken Angust 14, 1790, is as follows: Males, 75; females, 66. Unmarried, 91; married, 14; widowed, 6. Under 7 years, 47; 7 to 16 years, 33; 16 to 29 years, 12; 29 to 40 years, 27; 40 to 90 years, 13; over 90 years, 9. Enropeans, 1; Spaniards, 72; Indians, ?; mulat- toes, 24; mestizos, 39.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

succeeded in 1810 by Guillermo Cota, who probably also served during the following year. Mariano Verdugo was again alcalde in 1802, and with him, as a member of the ayuntamiento (or town conncil), were Fructnoso Ruiz and Ramon Buelna as regidores. Also Guillermo Soto served as alcalde probably for a part of the year 1809, with Anastasio Ávila and Teodoro Silvas as regidores. Francisco Ávila also served as alcalde, probably for part of the year 1810, with Ávila and Silvas as regidores.

In 1810 the population was 365, to which should be added about fifty persons who were recruited from the town as soldiers for the pre- sidios. The number of cattle and horses had decreased nearly fifty per cent, by reason of intentional slaughter. The sheep were still less than 2,000 in number, and the crops of wheat and maize varied from 3,000 to 4,000 fanegas .* In 1805-'06 the crops of maize and beans were devonred by locusts. In 1809 drunkenness and other excesses were alarmingly on the increase, and despite the efforts of the commissioner in that year the stocks were always filled.

In 1810 a quarrel arose between the people of Los Angeles and the mission priests. The latter were accused of cutting off the supply of water from the town by damining the Los An- geles River at Cahuenga; but the priests ex- pressed themselves willing to remove the damn if the town people could prove that it was a real injury to them. Another cause of the quarrel was the refusal of the priests to attend the sick in the town. During the first decade of this century there were no additions to the popula- tion from ontside, the increase coming from births and retirement of soldiers.

Guillermo Cota was commissioner from 1810- '17; Jnan Ortega, in 1819. Antonio María Lugo was alcalde in 1816, and again in 1818. In 1819 Anastasio Ávila was alcalde, and Tomas Uribes was regidor. In 1820 Anastasio Ávila was again alcalde, and Antonio Ignacio Ávila was regidor.

During the decade closing with 1820 the

population varied as follows: 1811, 354; 1815, 478; 1818, 586; 1820, 650, including the ranches surrounding. In 1817 there were 53,186 vines planted in the city.

In August, 1814, the corner-stone of the present church on the plaza was laid by Father Gil. Nothing further was done on the church for seven years. In January, 1818, the site of the church was changed in favor of a higher point, near the commissioner's house, probably the present place. At this time the citizens subscribed 500 cattle for the building of the church, and in 1819 the priests of the different missions subscribed seven barrels of brandy to the building fund. The money realized from the sale of the cattle and brandy enabled them to build the church as far np as the window arches before 1821. It was completed and dedi- cated December 8, 1822.

The quarrel between the priests and the peo- ple in regard to the latter having the privilege of religions exercises in the city still continned, the priests at San Gabriel and San Fernando contending that the town people should come to the respective missions to have their spiritual interests cared for. There was also a quarrel between the priests and the town people in re- gard to the pueblo and mission limits, the priests contending that the town people pastured their stock on land belonging to the missions, and the town people complained that the priests wanted all the land.

On April 30, 1815, the citizens of Los An- geles ratified the federal constitution of the Mexican Republic. During this month a big flood occurred, which turned the Los Angeles River into a new course, and did much damage to gardens and live-stock.

The first school in Los Angeles was kept in 1817-'18, by Maximo Piña, a retired soldier, who received $140 a year for his services.

The year 1818 is famous in the history of California as the " Year of the Insurgents" (El Año de los Insurgentes), when Captain Hippo- lyte Bonchard, a Frenchman, appeared in No- vember at Monterey with two vessels, and, after

* A fanega is 1.599 of an English bushel.

5-4

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

a battle, eaptured that place, with a loss of two of his erew taken prisoners by the Spanish. One was an American named Joseph Chapman, afterward distinguished at Los Angeles as the builder of the mill at San Gabriel Mission, and a workman on the church at Los Angeles; the other was Thomas Fisher, an American negro. Boneliard sailed down the coast and landed at the Ortega Ranch, near Santa Barbara, which he plundered and burned the houses. At this place the Spaniards; December 2, captured three prisoners-William Taylor, a native of Boston, and a negro, and a native of South America, whose names are not given. Four days later Bouchard exchanged a prisoner, a Californian whom he had captured at Monterey, for these three men.

The appearance of Bouchard and his vessels created great alarm along the coast, and Los Angeles furnished a company of men who went to Santa Barbara and were present at the affair at Ortega Ranch. Bouchard next appeared at San Juan Capistrano, on December 14, where he plundered the mission of wines and other supplies, and disappeared. He was a privateer from the Buenos Ayres Republic, of South America, under a commission from Chili, which was then struggling for its independenee from Spain. The next day after his disappearance from San Juan, four deserters from him pre- sented themselves and asked for pardon on the ground that they had been forced against their will to enlist in the Insurgents' services. These four men were-Jolin Rose, a Scotch traveler aged twenty-seven; Mateo José Paseual, a negro; Pedro Zalvidar, of Buenos Ayres, and Nicholas Chabarria, of Bogota, South America. These men afterward settled in California.

For 1821 Anastasio Carrillo was commis- sioner, Anastasio Ávila was acalde, and Antonio Ignacio Ávila and José María Aguilar were regidores. In 1822 Carrillo was again com- missioner, Manuel Gutierrez was alcalde, and José Palomares was a member of the Legislative Assembly. In November of this year, although the ayuntamiento had been acting, it was for-

mally established by order of the provincial Legislature ; but the incumbent officers continned their plaees, and the only real change was the addition of a síndieo and a secretary, whose names, as indeed those of the regidores for this year are not given. By this act the eivil au- thority was supposed to be fully organized, and the military office of commissioner no longer needed; but at the request of the old soldiers the Governor appointed Guillermo Cota as commissioner, who was to have jurisdiction over criminal matters only. The town offieers de- clined to recognize his authority, or any military authority whatever over the citizens, and were inet with a sharp reprimand from the Governor. The question again came up in 1825, over Cota's reappointment as commissioner, and the matter was compromised by the election of Cota as alcalde.

In 1823 Manuel Gutierrez was alcalde, Juan Ballesteros was regidor, and Francisco Morales was secretary of the ayuntamiento, at a salary of $15 a month. In February of this year, Guillermo Cota was appointed commissioner, which offiee lie held for two years.

In 1824 Encarnacion Urguideo was alcalde, and Juan Ballesteros was regidor; this year is noted for the complaint that the town was filled with vagrants.

In 1825 José María Ávila was alcalde until October, when he was suspended from office by the people. The regidores were Francisco Sep- úlveda and José María Aguilar. Sepúlveda succeeded Ávila as acting alcalde for the re- mainder of the year. One soldier was sent to Santa Barbara in irons for illieit relations with a married woman. In May, 1825, the " Very Illustrious Ayuntamiento" issued a series of resolutions on police regulations for the preser- vation of morality and good order. All offenders against the Roman apostolic religion were to be punished with the utmost severity. Failing to enter church, entering disrespectfully, lounging at the church door, standing at the corners, re- maining on horseback when processions were out, were all to be punished with fines and

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

imprisonment. Gambling, prostitution and blas- phemy were among the evils which the munici- pal Legislature proposed to exterminate.

In 1826 the alealde was Claudio Lopez, and the regidores were Desiderio Ybarra and J. M. Aguilar; José Palomares was síndico and Nar- eiseo Botello was secretary of the ayuntamiento; but he was later sneceeded by F. Morales. J. A. Carrillo had been elected alcalde for this year, but nine citizens protested that his election was illegal as he voted for himself, and also because he could hold office twice within two years; and hence a new election was ordered. In November of that year a man was prosecuted for "habitual rape!"

In 1827 the alcalde was Guillermo Cota, and the regidores were Vicente Villa and Desiderio Ybarra. In the autumn of 1827, Duhaut-Cil- ley, a French traveler, visited the town, being the first foreign visitor. He found eighty-two houses, built of adobe and roofed with as- phaltum, surrounded with cultivated gardens, vineyards and orchards, on alluvial lands, and noted the inability of the authorities to keep the peace and preserve order. It was this year that Don Juan Bandini, the father of Mrs. Col- onel R. S. Baker, of Los Angeles, introduced a proposition in the provisional Legislature to change the name of the town to Villa Victoria de la Reina de los Angeles! and make it a city and the capital of Alta California. The matter was submitted to the national Government, but nothing was ever done with it.

In 1828 J. A. Carrillo was alcalde, D. Ybarra was regidor, and José Palomares was secretary.

In 1829 Guillermo Cota was alcalde, Dom- inguez regidor, and F. Morales, who was re- moved from the office of secretary in 1827 for incompeteney, for revealing confidential busi- ness, and for losing papers, appears this year as sindico, while José Palomares was secretary of the ayuntamiento. The debt of the city council this year was $49. The tax on wine and brandy was $339, and vines $158; and the ex- penditures for the year amounted to $642.

In 1830 Tiburcio Tapia was alealde, J. B.

Alvarado, regidor, and José Palomares, secretary. A complete list of town officers is not given for this decade. This year the population of Los Angeles was 1,000 white people, beside 200 or 300 Indians.

In 1830 Manuel Victoria was appointed Governor to succeed José María Echeania, and assumed his office February 21, 1831. IIe neg- lected to convene the Legislature, even when urged to do so, to the disgust of the members and their friends, the most influential part of the population; and by many other acts also lie succeeded in making himself very unpopular. He claimed that a majority of the members had been illegally elected, and announced the suspension of the Legislature, and recommended the abolishment of all elective bodies and the restoration of military rule, except that certain judges be appointed for Los Angeles and San José. The Californians sent a protest to Mex- ico against this usurpation of power by Victoria. The Governor further made himself unpopular by the infliction of severe penalties, in many instances where the vietim was merely techni- eally guilty. He still further increased his un- popularity by banishing Don Abel Stearns, an American who had been naturalized, who, how- ever, went no further than San Diego or the frontier of Lower California. This Victoria did without trial or specification of any offense He also had the alcalde of San José arrested for visiting the house of a woman who had sent him an amorous invitation, and bronght in irons to Monterey to be tried for the offense before a military court. He also aroused the people of' Los Angeles by ordering them to re- store to office Vicente Sanchez, who had been de- elared not competent to hold the office of alcalde, being already a member of the Legislature, and ordered that regidores Alvarado and Perezand six citizens should be put in prison because of their connection with the matter. The six citizens were Tomás Talamontes, Francisco Sepúlveda, José María Ávila, Máximo Alanis, and Demisio Dominguez and José Aguilar. Victoria also otherwise interfered in the local government of

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1092