USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > City of San Diego and San Diego County : the birthplace of California, Volume I > Part 9
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According to records at Fort Rosecrans, sixteen non-commis- sioned officers and privates who were killed in the battle of San Pas- qual were buried in a trench at the military cemetery on Point Loma. The San Diego Union of July 18, 1906, tells of the discovery of the old records and continues :
"It appears that the bodies were temporarily buried on the battle- field and they were afterwards taken up and buried at Old Town, in a plot of ground donated for that purpose by J. A. Sutherland. From there the bodies were taken to Fort Rosecrans military cemetery to the final resting place."
General Kearny was born in Newark, N. J., August 30, 1794. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 he was in Columbia University and left to go into the service. He was promoted for bravery and re- mained in the army after the war ended. For his services in the Mexican War he received the brevet of major-general December 6, 1846, and was made Governor of California, holding that place until the next June. Then he was sent to Mexico and was made military and civil governor of Vera Cruz. He died at St. Louis, October 31, 1848, of an illness which had begun in Mexico. He published a "Manual of the Exercise and Maneuvers of the U. S. Dragoons" in 1837, and "Laws for the Government of the Territory of New Mex- ico," in 1846.
Stockton, like Kearny, was from New Jersey. Also, like Kearny, he was a student when the War of 1812 began. Stockton was at Princeton, his birthplace, and entered the service as a midshipman in 1811, while still enrolled at Princeton. The next year he went to the famous old frigate President and made several cruises in that ship. Later he commanded 300 sailors in the defense of Baltimore against the British army, was commended for his work and was promoted to lieutenant in 1814. The next year he sailed with Decatur and took
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part in the war on Algerian pirates. It is recorded that he fought several duels on the Mediterranean station with British officers and distinguished himself on one occasion by a bold escape after he had wounded his adversary. Stockton was commander of the gunboat Princeton when one of its large guns burst and killed the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Navy and several others, including President Tyler's father-in-law, in 1844, but a naval court of inquiry promptly exonerated him ; and soon after that disaster he sailed in command of the Princeton to bear annexation resolutions to the government of Texas. In October, 1846, he was sent to the Pacific to command the Pacific squadron and relieved Commander Sloat at Monterey. In July, 1846, he assumed command of all American forces on the Pacific coast and, after organizing his forces, sent Fremont in the Cyane to San Diego. Meanwhile he marched with a navy brigade upon Los Angeles, occupying that place, August 13. Trouble with the Indians in the north compelled him to leave, with the result that the Mexicans in the south took Los Angeles and San Diego back. Stockton came south, his forces took San Diego back, and later, having brought all his forces in the south together, Stockton defeated the Mexicans and took all of California. Kearny and Stockton had a dispute as to authority, but Stockton's course was upheld. In 1847 he returned home overland, receiving many honors. For him the town of Stockton in the state was named. Fort Stockton Boulevard in San Diego was also named to mark his stay here. Stockton died at Princeton, N. J., October 7, 1866.
There has been considerable argument over the respective merits of Stockton and Kearny. In this Stockton seems to have decidedly the better of it. An interesting contemporary comment on the ques- tion was made by William Heath Davis, who wrote that he regarded Stockton as "the real conqueror of California" and attached high value to Stockton's ability, foresight and judgment. He contrasted these attributes with the qualities shown by Kearny in his fight at San Pasqual and expressed with considerable force his opinion that the "striking contrast," as he put it, was all in favor of Stockton.
CHAPTER VII
PICTURESQUE OLD TOWN
From the present-day aspect of "Old Town," the birthplace of San Diego, it is hard to realize that ever, in this drowsy suburb of the modern city, the gayety and animation, the zest of living and the romance of Spanish California days held sway. Yet the records of many travelers show that San Diego was once among the liveliest of the California towns, a center of amusement and hospitality for all the territory between Los Angeles and Real del Castillo, Baja Cali- fornia.
The history of those early days shows that San Diego occupied a position of considerable political and social importance in California life, and there is ample evidence that Old Town had its share of all that was gay and picturesque in the Spanish regime which forms the most colorful chapter in California's history.
Indeed, there are some San Diegans yet living who recall inci- dents and customs as picturesque as any chronicled by the California historians of other parts.
It is interesting, therefore, to attempt to reconstruct the Old Town -the San Diego-of the later days of California regime and the early period of American colonization.
San Diego was larger, more important and more lively after the Mexican war than it had been under the Mexican or Californian rule which just preceded. At that time-in the '50s and '60s-the social relations between the enterprising Americans and the best California families were pleasant, while in the homes of many of the Americans the customs of life were much the same as in the homes of the better class of Californian families. The intermingling of the nationalities apparently added much to the gayety of San Diego life-certainly it did not in any way impair its brilliance.
It is of this time-while the old customs of the Spanish regime still held sway, and while the pioneer American families of San Diego were beginning to make themselves felt in the city's life-that this chapter treats.
The Old Town of those days, however unimpressive it may be in comparison with the cities of our time, was a much more attractive place than a casual visitor to the region today might believe it.
The plaza was, of course, a center of the little city's life. In the time of which we write, it was nearly surrounded by stores and residences, only a few of which remain today. It was gradually built up, until in the '60s the mercantile houses nearly covered one block, the block east of the plaza, and made up a good proportion of the building west of the square.
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South of the plaza, the Estudillo house stood, occupying the entire frontage of that block, as it does today. The Bandini house stood in its present location, just east of the Estudillo home-known today as "Ramona's Marriage Place." In an enclosure betwen these two houses a flour mill was started by a man named Hoffman, and there was often a line of wagons and carts from the ranchos standing in this end of the plaza, during harvest time, with grain for milling.
Dona Tomasa Pico Alvarado, a sister of Pio and Andres Pico, had a large adobe house on the corner just north of the Bandini house, and Juan Machado, an influential citizen, lived next to the Alvarado home. There were several store buildings on the same street, fronting on the plaza, while on the eastern half of the block, around the store that Mannasse and Schiller owned, were several more. South of the Estudillo establishment, two wealthy Spanish traders, Jose Antonio Aguirre and Miguel Pedrorena, had their stores. "Ramona's Mar- riage Place," in its present state, is, according to old residents of the town, no more pretentious than were several of the other private residences in the days of Old Town's prosperity.
These homes have disappeared with the march of the years, or are in ruins today. When an adobe house was abandoned, stripped of the tiles which covered its roof and of the lumber used in its con- struction, its disintegration was a rapid process, and this fact ac- counts for the lack of tangible evidence of Old Town's palmy days. Some of the "big houses" of the '50s are now nothing but irregular, grass-grown mounds of earth.
The town itself, then, during this middle period, was by no means insignificant. It had a goodly number of the more pretentious resi- dences of the Spanish type, and the Americans, often in partnership with their Californian friends, built several frame buildings of a type which was regarded by San Diegans of that time as more modern and elaborate. A small example of this type of building is the old "Congress Hall," now standing near the northeast corner of the plaza, adjoining the Murtha estate.
The San Diego of those days was bordered on the west by the bed of the San Diego River, which then ran directly into the harbor, and the river willows and sycamores which grew in the "wash" formed a boundary for the little farms which were cultivated along the out- skirts of the town.
It must be remembered, too, that the social and business life of old San Diego was not dependent solely upon the people who lived within the settlement itself. Tributary to it also were at least a score of great ranchos and many small ones, scattered about within a radius. of seventy or a hundred miles-from San Juan Capistrano to Cuya- maca. Tecate and San Rosario. Most of the owners of the great ranchos lived in San Diego, and probably all of them had relatives in the town and transacted all their business there. Any big event in San Diego brought these proprietors, their families and many of their employes riding into the town, although in some cases the trip from rancho to the town required several days of traveling.
With this in mind, it is easy to believe the accounts of the great fiestas in old San Diego, some of which have assumed almost the status of legends among the old inhabitants of the present-day town.
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The architecture of the typical California "big house" has been too often described to need detailed treatment here. The restored Estudillo house is doubtless a good reproduction of the old mansion house, except that it is considerably idealized. The patio or court- yard of the house in the days of its usage was not a bower of flowers. In the court were the outdoor ovens, used by the Indian cook some 360 days of the year. At the rear of the court were stable buildings, perhaps, and corrals, and it is not reasonable to suppose that the Span- ish residents of those days were any more exacting, aesthetically, than are their descendants of today. There was always, of course, a garden spot in the residences of the higher class, where the women might sit in the sun with their friends and enjoy the air.
There were many homes humbler than that represented by the Estudillo place which, nevertheless, were entirely respectable and main- tained social recognition for their residents. Several examples of these smaller houses remain today.
A fairly complete floor plan of such a dwelling may be traced in the ruins of the adobe house that once was the residence of Dona Juanita Machado de Wrightington. The ruins stand just across the boulevard from the northwest corner of the plaza, only the walls of the two front rooms remaining.
To the left of the entrance is a small living room, where the chimney of the crude fireplace may still be seen. The street door gives entrance directly to a larger room, which was used as a dining room and which also had a fireplace. Directly opposite the front door of the little house was a door into the court at the back, which was formed by the angle of the front part of the house with a wing which extended back from the north side of the house. In this wing were two bed- rooms and a kitchen. The kitchen opened directly into the court, where outdoor ovens were probably used; and to pass from the kitchen to the dining room it was necessary to cross an angle of the open court.
This house is supposed to have been built by Domasio Alipas in about 1830-35. Dona Wrightington, who lived there during the most populous period of the town, was the daughter of Juan Machado, and as he seems to have been a man of considerable prominence, the fact of her residence there shows that the house was at least an average mid- dle-class dwelling.
During the '50s and '60s there were several hotel buildings situ- ated near the plaza. The Bandini house, in its present state, gives a general idea of the architecture of these buildings, as it was remodeled into a hotel by A. L. Seeley who owned the stage line from the north. The broad porch along two sides of the building was a typical feature.
The Gila house was one of the most famous of these hotels, and was for several years a center of the social gayeties that marked the American-Californian period. It was built by Juan Bandini, and, un- like the Bandini house, was entirely a frame structure. Old-timers remember it as a large frame building, oblong in shape, and about 200 feet long by fifty feet wide. The verandas extended the entire length of the building on two sides, and across the front. It was a two- story building, and each floor had a veranda entirely around three sides of it.
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The kitchens were in an adobe house a little to the left of the main building, and during meal hours the waiters jogged leisurely back and forth between the two buildings. Lumber for the house was brought "'round the Horn," in about 1850. After the fire which swept the plaza buildings in 1872, the Gila house was wrecked for the lumber in it, which is said to have been of a very high class.
It was in this curiously composite town-a town built up partly of adobe residences of the old style, and partly of brick and frame buildings of the fashion that was then new-that the scene of one of San Diego's most interesting periods was laid.
The town, in spite of the flag which flew above its plaza, was still Spanish. The old Spanish families of importance-the Bandinis, Estudillos, Picos, Arguellos and many more-still made up the most respected and influential, and the wealthiest, portion of the population. On the other hand, mingling with them on equal terms, intermarrying with them, and at least equally important with them in the business life of San Diego, were the American pioneers who were laying the foundation for the American city of today.
The social life and customs of San Diego in this interesting period were thoroughly Spanish. The Americans entered into this life and lived according to these Spanish customs. It was in the business sphere that the Americans first began to make Old Town American. Even politics was still dominated by the old Spanish forms, and, it may be said, by the old Spanish spirit of "manana."
In the homes of the Spanish inhabitants, particularly those of the better class, the day was planned, meals served, and recreation and work carried on just as it had been fifty years before. The elders of the family ruled-ruled through strict laws of courtesy, it is true, but ruled the family nevertheless strictly.
Social intercourse began with the hour of rising, early in the morning. Guests were as common at breakfast as at the other meals of the day, except in those families where the business duties of the head of the house called for his early departure. In such cases, vis- itors made their social calls at the family place of business, dropping in for a cup of coffee and a chat with the proprietor-if they so de- sired-in the early morning.
The first meal of the day varied, in the different households. In some, the first meal was in the nature of the French "petit dejeuner"- a cup of coffee and a tortilla, or a spiced cake. In other homes, a regular meal was served, with a dish, or several of them, of highly seasoned meat, as the principal course.
A favorite dish was the "gisado de carne seca"-a meat gravy made by braising dried meat into shreds and cooking it in a rich gravy with tomatoes, onions and green chili. This gravy was known to the Americans as "chili gravy," from its principal seasoning, and formed a staple breakfast dish and a "base," so to speak, for many other preparations.
Tamales were also a staple form, and for breakfast they were often made of green corn, thoroughly macerated and cooked without meat. These were "sweet tamales." Children usually had boiled corn meal or fresh corn, mashed and boiled and served with sugar and milk.
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"Enchilladas" for breakfast use were made by piling up a stack of tortillas, each covered with a layer of grated cheese and finely sliced onion tops, and covering the entire pile with hot chili gravy. Each tortilla was served separately, with generous "helping" of the gravy.
Coffee was the usual beverage, but chocolate or milk was some- times used. There was no bread used at breakfast in the Spanish families, even in the "middle period" of which this chapter treats. The tortilla, a thin, unraised griddle cake, cooked usually to a crisp, took the place of bread.
Fruit and preserves were often served at breakfast, as were also still other preparations of meat, or even fish and game.
At noon, another heavy meal was served. Again tamales might . be put upon the table, this time made of meal with chili pepper, meat -either beef or chicken-chopped onions, and perhaps two or three water-cured olives added. The form of the tamale is familiar to most San Diegans and visitors in Southern California. The filling or body of the tamale consists of the corn meal or meat, and is wrapped about with corn husks tied at the ends, and the whole thing is cooked to- gether by boiling.
Beans, fried in chili gravy with ham or pork, formed a favorite dish, and they also figured prominently in many other meat prepara- tions. Game was abundant around San Diego at that time, and rab- bits and quail were often served at noon or at night. Baked or roast fish was also used. Several kinds of meat were usually served at each meal.
Salads were sometimes served, but were usually made with a good deal of meat, rather than simply of vegetables. A sort of salad was made by pouring cold chili gravy over water-cured ripe olives, and adding a sauce of which the principal ingredients were chopped onions and vinegar.
Soups were used, and were often made of the various seafoods which the Indians and poorer Mexicans peddled from door to door.
Meat pies were common, the filling being always highly seasoned with pepper, chili, onions, garlic and sometimes with chopped olives. As American cooking become known, pumpkin, apple and raisin pies were sometimes served in the California households. Meat balls- "albondigas"-made of finely chopped meat with corn meal and chili, were also popular. The albondigas were boiled in soup, the meal thickening the soup, and the soup serving to add flavor to the meat.
The evening meal did not differ greatly from the dinner at noon. Desserts-corn meal puddings, tortillas fried crisp and covered with syrup or a sweet sauce, and various fruits or melons-were served at these meals. Several kinds of cakes and pastries were also used as desserts.
Wine was used very sparingly at meals, or, indeed, at any other time in the best families. The usual beverages were coffee or choco- late.
Fish sauces were sometimes made with wine, and brandy was used in making certain sauces for puddings. Sometimes rare wines were served with seafood dishes, particularly with roast mussels.
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Wine was, of course, served with the meals at big dinners and during fiestas.
At ceremonial dinners, the menu was varied by the introduction of delicacies of various kinds, preserves, jellies, candies-many of them imported-and venison, roast pig or barbecued meat was often served-always, of course, with the rather heavy seasoning which characterized the Spanish cuisine. A favorite barbecue consisted of the heads of young beeves, cooked over night in closed pits lined with hot stones. When the beeves' heads were taken from the pits, they were so well done that the meat fell from the bone, and this meat was served with chili gravy and garnishes.
While breakfast was being prepared in the morning, the life of the little town began. Serving women and cooks passed from one courtyard to another. In the courtyards of the big houses, horses were groomed for the day's journeyings. Vendors of water-two men carrying a twenty-gallon can of water on a pole between them- visited the homes where no private well was available, asking a price of twenty-five cents for their load.
Even among the wealthy families, it was not uncommon to ex- change "breakfast visits." A family setting out on a trip to one of the outlying ranchos would sometimes drive only a short distance up the street to the home of another family, get out, pay their re- spects to their friends, and incidentally accept a wholesale invitation to partake of breakfast before leaving on their journey.
This animation continued until after the noon meal, when the Californians, even in the days of American ascendancy, enjoyed the "siesta" typical of Spanish life. The hours before the evening meal were the family hours, when the women plied their needles, gave the children the instruction which constituted an education in those days, or otherwise occupied themselves about the house. The dinner at night was the occasion of more social visits between neighbors. Some families, after a luncheon in the afternoon, did not serve dinner until eight o'clock or so, in the evening, making that meal the social event of the day.
When a dance was planned, preparations for the feast to precede it began early in the day-perhaps, in the case of big gatherings, several days ahead of the date set-and the house and grounds where the event was to be held was a gathering place for the poorer people of the town and for the children. When such an event was to be held. according to ore old resident of the town, the Spanish families did not feel visits from friends an intrusion, and neighbors of the host of the evening would come in great state to inspect preparations for the "baile."
The ranchos about San Diego, as has already been stated, added a great deal to the animation of the little town. Picturesque caval- cades of rancheros enlivened the streets when the ranchmen came to the town to buy supplies or to amuse themselves. When the owner of a rancho came to Old San Diego, attended. perhaps, by two or three of his horsemen, he rode up to the home of one of his friends. he and his companions dismounted and gave their horses to an at- tendant, and the ranchero was formally met at the doorway by the
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head of the family to which he wished to pay his respects. Perhaps the visitor would remain only for a few words of formal greeting and the exchange of interesting news. Perhaps he might accept the in- variable invitation to remain for a meal with the family, before passing on to visit the next family of his acquaintance.
A visit to the rancho by the family of a ranch owner living in San Diego was an event of considerable importance. As late as 1855, the ox-cart-"carreta"-was the common mode of conveyance for women and children making a journey, and the progress through the town of two or three of these carretas. lined with soft blankets and covered with bright cloths to shield its occupants from the sun, brought crowds of spectators, large and small, from every home.
Angelo Smith, son of the A. B. Smith whose flag-raising exploit for Commodore Stockton and whose services as a guide for the American troops in the Mexican War period have already been men- tioned, is one of the old residents of Old Town at the present time whose recollections of these early times are remarkably clear and enlightening. Mr. Smith, now seventy years old, was born in old San Diego.
"They would stop sometimes twenty times before they got out of the town," said Mr. Smith, describing the progress of one of these miniature caravans, "and at each place where they stopped the people would invite them in. Sometimes the travelers did not go in, of course, and then the neighbors would visit with them for a time, wish them all manner of good wishes, salute them very courteously and wave farewells to them.
"Sometimes it was several days' journey, by the carretas, to an outlying ranch, but the travelers always went slowly and easily, stopping when they chose. One man walked ahead of each team of oxen, and one man walked behind the team, to prod them on with long goads. The party would often stop over night or for meals or the siesta, with the family of some ranchero on the road. Some- times the travelers had an extra carreta filled with bedding, cooking materials and other camping necessities, and then they would camp wherever they pleased, on their way to the rancho."
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