Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 10

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

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The political government of the Indian pueblos was to be organized in accordance with existing laws of the territory governing other

towns. The neophyte could not sell, mortgage or dispose of the land granted him; nor could he sell his cattle. The regulations provided that "Religious missionaries shall be relieved from the administration of temporalities and shall only exercise the duties of their ministry so far as they relate to spiritual matters." The nun- neries or the houses where the Indian girls were kept under charge of a dueña until they were of marriageable age were to be abolished and the children restored to their parents. Rule seven provided that "What is called the 'priest- hood' shall immediately cease, female children whom they have in charge being handed over to their fathers explaining to them the care they should take of them, and pointing out their obligations as parents. The same shall be done with the male children."

Commissioners were to be appointed to take charge of the mission property and superintend its subdivision among the neophytes. The con- version of ten of the missionary establishments into pueblos was to begin in August, 1835. That of the others was to follow as soon as possible. San Gabriel, San Fernando and San Juan Capis- trano were among the ten that were to be sec- ularized first. For years secularization had threatened the missions, but hitherto something had occurred at the critical time to avert it. The missionaries had used their influence against it, had urged that the neophytes were unfitted for self-support, had argued that the emancipation of the natives from mission rule would result in disaster to them. Through all the agitation of the question in previous years the padres had labored on in the preservation and upbuilding of their establishments; but the issuing of the secularization decree by the Mexican Con- gress, August 17, 1833, the organization of the Hijar Colony in Mexico and the instructions of acting President Frarias to Hijar to occupy all the property of the missions and subdivide it among the colonists on their arrival in Cali- fornia, convinced the missionaries that the blow could no longer be averted. The revocation of Hijar's appointment as governor and the con- troversy which followed between him and Gov- ernor Figueroa and the diputacion for a time delayed the enforcement of the decree.

In the meantime, with the energy born of despair, eager at any cost to outwit those who sought to profit by their ruin, the mission fathers hastened to destroy that which through more than half a century thousands of human beings had spent their lives to accumulate.

"Hitherto, cattle had been killed only as their meat was needed for use, or, at intervals per- haps, for the hides and tallow alone, when an overplus of stock rendered such action neces-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD,

sary. Now they were slaughtered in herds by contract on equal shares, with any who would undertake the task. It is claimed by some writers that not less than 100,000 head of cattle were thus slain from the herds of San Gabriel Mission alone. The same work of destruction was in progress at every other mission through- out the territory and this vast country, from end to end, was become a mighty shambles, drenched in blood and reeking with the odor of decaying carcasses. There was no market for the meat and this was considered worthless. The creature was lassoed, thrown, its throat cut, and while yet writhing in death agony its hide was stripped and pegged upon the ground to dry. There were no vessels to contain the tallow and this was run into great pits dug for that purpose, to be spaded out anon, and shipped with the hides to market-all was haste."

"Whites and natives alike revelled in gore, and vied with each other in destruction. So many cattle were there to kill, it seemed as though this profitable and pleasant work must last forever. The white settlers were especially pleased with the turn affairs had taken, and many of them did not scruple unceremoniously to appropriate herds of young cattle wherewith to stock their ranches."* So great was the stench from the rotting carcasses of the cattle on the plains that a pestilence was threatened. The ayuntamiento of Los Angeles, November 15, 1833, passed an ordinance compelling all persons slaughtering cattle for the hides and tallow to cremate the carcasses.

Hugo Reid in the "Letters" (previously re- ferred to in this volume) says of this period at San Gabriel: "These facts (the decree of sec- ularization and the distribution of the mission property) being known to Padre Tomas (Estenaga), he, in all probability by order of his superior, commenced a work of destruction. The back buildings were unroofed and the tim- ber converted into fire wood. Cattle were killed on the halves by people who took a lion's share. Utensils were disposed of, and goods and other articles distributed in profusion among the neophytes. The vineyards were ordered to be , cut down, which, however, the Indians refused to do." After the mission was placed in charge of an administrator, Padre Tomas remained as minister of the church at a stipend of $1,500 per annum, derived from the Pious Fund.

Hugo Reid says of him, "As a wrong impres- sion of his character may be produced from the preceding remarks, in justice to his memory be it stated that he was a truly good man, a sin-

cere Christian and a despiser of hypocrisy. He had a kind, unsophisticated heart, so that he be- lived every word told him. There has never been a purer priest in California. Reduced in circumstances, annoyed on many occasions by the petulancy of administrators, he fulfilled his duties according to his conscience, with benev- olence and good humor. The nuns, who when the secular movement came into operation, had been set free, were again gathered together un- der his supervision and maintained at his ex- pense, as were also a number of old men and women."

The experiment of colonizing the Indians in pueblos was a failure and they were gathered back into the mission, or as many of them as could be got back, and placed in charge of ad- ministrators. "The Indians," says Reid, "were made happy at this time in being permitted to enjoy once more the luxury of a tule dwelling, from which the greater part had been debarred for so long; they could now breathe freely again." (The close adobe buildings in which they had been housed in mission days were no doubt one of the causes of the great mortality among them.)

"Administrator followed administrator until the mission could support no more, when the * system was broken up." *

* "The In- dians during this period were continually run- ning off. Scantily clothed and still more scantily supplied with food, it was not to be wondered at. Nearly all the Gabrielinos went north, while those of San Diego, San Luis and San Juan overrun this country, filling the Angeles and surrounding ranchos with more servants than were required. Labor, in consequence, was very cheap. The different missions, however, had alcaldes continually on the move hunting then up and carrying them back, but to no purpose ; it was labor in vain."

"Even under the dominion of the church in mission days," Reid says, "the neophytes were addicted both to drinking and gaming, with an inclination to steal;" but after their emancipa- tion they went from bad to worse. Those at- tached to the ranchos and those located in the town were virtually slaves. They had bosses or owners and when they ran away were captured and returned to their master. The sindico's ac- count book for 1840 contains this item "For delivery of two Indians to their boss, $12.00."

At Los Angeles the Indian village on the river between what is now Aliso and First streets was a sink hole of crime. It was known as the "pueb- lito" or little town. Time and again the neigh- boring citizens petitioned for its removal. In 1846 it was demolished and the Indians removed to the "Spring of the Abilas" across the river,

*History of Los Angeles County, by J. Albert Wilson.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

but their removal did not improve their morals.

In 1847, when the American soldiers were sta- tioned at Los Angeles, the new pueblito became so vile that Col. Stevenson ordered the city author- ities either to keep the dissolute characters out of it or destroy it. The authorities decided to allot land to the families on the outskirts of the city, keeping them dispersed as much as possi- ble. Those employing Indian servants were required to keep them on their premises; but even these precautions did not prevent the In- dians from drunkenness and debauchery. Vicente Guerrero, the sindico, discussing the Indian question before the ayuntamiento said : "The Indians are so utterly depraved that no matter where they may settle down their con- duct would be the same, since they look upon death even with indifference, provided they can indulge in their pleasures and vices."

After the downfall of the missions some of the more daring of the neophytes escaped to the mountains. Joining the wild tribes there, they became leaders in frequent predatory excursions on the horses and cattle of the settlers in the valleys. They were hunted and shot down like wild beasts.

After the discovery of gold and American immigration began to pour into California the neophyte sunk to lower depths. The vineyards of Los Angeles became immensely profitable, grapes retailing at twenty-five cents a pound in San Francisco. The Indians constituted the labor element of Los Angeles, and many of them were skillful vineyardists. Unprincipled employers paid them off in aguardiente, a fiery liquid distilled from grapes. Even when paid in money there were unscrupulous wretches ready to sell them strong drink; the consequences were that on Saturday night after they received their pay they assembled at their rancherias and all, young and old, men and women, spent the night in drunkenness, gambling and debauchery. On Sunday afternoon the marshal with his In- dian alcaldes, who had been kept sober by being locked up in jail, proceeded to gather the drunk- en wretches into a big corral in the rear of the Downey block. On Monday morning they were put up at auction and sold for a week to the

vineyardists at prices ranging from one to three dollars, one third of which was paid to the slave at the end of the week, usually in aguardiente. Then another Saturday night of debauchery, followed by the Monday auction and in two or three years at most the Indian was dead. In less than a quarter of a century after the Ameri- can occupation, dissipation and epidemics of smallpox had settled the Indian question in Los Angeles-settled it by the extinction of the Indian.

What became of the vast mission estates ? As the cattle were killed off the different ranchos of the mission domains, settlers petitioned the ay- untamiento for grants. If upon investigation it was found that the land asked for was vacant the petition was referred to the Governor for his ap- proval. In this way the vast mission domains passed into private hands. The country im- proved more in wealth and population between 1836 and 1846 than in the previous fifty years. Secularization was destruction to the missions and death to the Indian, but it was beneficial to the country at large. The passing of the neo- phyte had begun long before the decrees of secularization were enforced. Nearly all the missions passed their zenith in population during the second decade of the century. Even had the missionary establishments not been secular- ized they would eventually have been depopu- lated. At no time during mission rule were the number of births equal to the number of deaths. When recruits could no longer be obtained from the Gentiles or wild Indians the decline became more rapid. The mission annals show that from 1769 to 1834, when secularization was enforced-an interval of 65 years-79,000 con- verts were baptized and 62,000 deaths recorded. The death rate among the neophytes was about twice that of the negro in this country and four times that of the white race. The extinction of the neophyte or mission Indian was due to the enforcement of that inexorable law or decree of nature, the Survival of the Fittest. Where a stronger race comes in contact with a weaker there can be but one ending to the contest --- the extermination of the weaker.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XI.

A DECADE OF REVOLUTIONS.

T HE decade between 1830 and 1840 was the era of California revolutions. Los An- geles was the storm center of the political disturbances that agitated the territory. Most of them originated there, and those that had their origin in some other quarter veered to the town before their fury was spent. The town produced prolific crops of statesmen in the '30s, and it must be said that it still maintains its repu- tation in that line. The Angeleños of that day seemed to consider that the safety of the terri- tory and the liberty of its inhabitants rested on them. The patriots of the south were hostile to the office-holders of the north and yearned to tear the state in two, as they do to-day, in order that there might be more offices to fill.

From the downfall of Spanish domination in California in 1822 to the close of that decade there had been but few disturbances. The only political outbreak of any consequence had been Solis' and Herrera's attempt to revolutionize the territory in the interest of Spain. Argüello, who had succeeded Sola as governor, and Echeandia, who filled the office from 1825 to the close of the decade, were men of liberal ideas. They had to contend against the Spanish-born missionaries, who were bitterly opposed to republican ideas. Serrià, the president of the missions, and a num- ber of the priests under him, refused to swear allegiance to the Republic. Serrià was suspended from office and one or two of the friars deported from the country. Their disloyalty brought about the beginning of the movement for secu- larization of the missions, as narrated in the previous chapter. Echeandia, in 1829, had elab- orated a plan for their secularization, but was superseded by Victoria before he could put it in operation.

Manuel Victoria was appointed governor in March, 1830, but did not reach California until the last month of the year. Victoria very soon became unpopular. He undertook to overturn the civil authority and substitute military rule. He recommended the abolition of the ayunta- mientos and refused to call together the terri- torial diputacion. He exiled Don Abel Stearns and José Antonio Carrillo; and at different times, on trumped-up charges, had half a hundred of the leading citizens of Los Angeles incarcer- ated in the pueblo jail. Alcalde Vicente San-

chez was the petty despot of the pueblo who car- ried out the tyrannical decrees of his master, Victoria. Among others who were imprisoned in the cuartel was José Maria Avila. Avila was proud, haughty and overbearing. He had in- curred the hatred of both Victoria and Sanchez. Sanchez, under orders from Victoria, placed Avila in prison, and to humiliate him put him in irons. Avila brooded over the indignities in- flicted upon him and vowed to be revenged.

Victoria's persecutions became so unbearable that Pio Pico, Juan Bandini and José Antonio Carrillo raised the standard of revolt at San Diego and issued a pronunciamiento, in which they set forth the reasons why they felt them- selves obliged to rise against the tyrant, Victoria. Pablo de Portilla, comandante of the presidio of San Diego, and his officers, with a force of fifty soldiers, joined the revolutionists and marched to Los Angeles. Sanchez' prisoners were released and he was chained up in the pueblo jail. Here Portilla's force was recruited to two hundred men. Avila and a number of the other released prisoners joined the revolu- tionists, and all marched forth to meet Victoria, who was moving southward with an armed force to suppress the insurrection. The two forces met on the plains of Cahuenga, west of the pueblo, at a place known as the Lomitas de la Cañada de Breita. The sight of his persecutor so infuriated Avila that alone he rushed upon him to run him through with his lance. Captain Pacheco, of Victoria's staff, parried the lance thrust. Avila shot him dead with one of his pis- tols and again attacked the governor and suc- ceeded in wounding him, when he himself re- ceived a pistol ball that unhorsed him. After a desperate struggle (in which he seized Victoria by the foot and dragged him from his horse) he was shot by one of Victoria's soldiers. Portilla's army fell back in a panic to Los Angeles and Victoria's men carried the wounded governor to the Mission San Gabriel, where his wounds were dressed by Joseph Chapman, who to his many other accomplishments added that of ama- teur surgeon. Some citizens who had taken no part in the fight brought the bodies of Avila and Pacheco to the town. "They were taken to the same house, the same hands rendered them the last sad rites, and they were laid side by side.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Side by side knelt their widows and mingled their tears, while sympathizing countrymen chanted the solemn prayers of the church for the repose of the souls of these untimely dead. Side by side beneath the orange and the olive in the little churchyard upon the plaza sleep the slayer and the slain."*

Next day, Victoria, supposing himself mor- tally wounded, abdicated and turned over the governorship of the territory to Echeandia. He resigned the office December 9, 1831, having been governor a little over ten months. When Victoria was able to travel he was sent to San Diego, from where he was deported to Mexico, San Diego borrowing $125 from the ayunta- miento of Los Angeles to pay the expense of shipping him out of the country. Several years afterwards the money had not been repaid, and the town council began proceedings to recover it, but there is no record in the archives to show that it was ever paid. And thus it was that Cali- fornia got rid of a bad governor and Los An- geles incurred a bad debt.

January 10, 1832, the territorial legislature met at Los Angeles to choose a "gefe politico," or governor, for the territory. Echeandia was invited to preside, but replied from San Juan Capistrano that he was busy getting Victoria out of the country. The diputacion, after waiting some time and receiving no satisfaction from Echeandia whether he wanted the office or not, declared Pio Pico, by virtue of his office of senior vocal, "gefe politico."

No sooner had Pico been sworn into office than Echeandia discovered that he wanted the office and wanted it badly. He came to Los Angeles from San Diego. He protested against the action of the diputacion and intrigued against Pico. Another revolution was threatened. Los Angeles favored Echeandia, although all the other towns in the territory had accepted Pico. (Pico at that time was a resident of San Diego.) A mass-meeting was called on February 12, 1832, at Los Angeles to discuss the question whether it should be Pico or Echeandia. I give the report of the meeting in the quaint language of the pueblo archives :

"The town, acting in accord with the Most Illustrious Ayuntamiento, answered in a loud voice, saying they would not admit Citizen Pio Pico as 'gefe politico,' but desired that Lieut. Col. Citizen José Maria Echeandia be retained in office until the supreme government appoint. Then the president of the meeting, seeing the determination of the people, asked the motive or reason of refusing Citizen Pio Pico, who was of unblemished character. To this the people

responded that while it was true that Citizen Pio Pico was to some extent qualified, yet they pre- ferred Lieut .- Col. Citizen José Ma. Echeandia. The president of the meeting then asked the peo- ple whether they had been bribed, or was it merely insubordination that they opposed the resolution of- the Most Eccellent Diputacion ? Whereupon the people answered that they had not been bribed nor were they insubordinate, but that they opposed the proposed 'gefe politico' because he had not been named by the supreme government."

At a public meeting, February 19, the matter was again brought up. Again the people cried out, "they would not recognize or obey any other gefe politico than Echeandia." The Most Illustrious Ayuntamiento opposed Pio Pico for two reasons : "First, because his name appeared first on the plan to oust Gefe Politico Citizen Manuel Victoria," and "Second, because he, Pico, had not sufficient capacity to fulfil the duties of the office." Then José Perez and José Antonio Carrillo withdrew from the meeting, saying they would not recognize Echeandia as "gefe politico." Pico, after holding the office for twenty days, resigned for the sake of peace. And this was the length of Pico's first term as governor.

Echeandia, by obstinacy and intrigue, had ob- tained the coveted office of "gefe politico," but he did not long enjoy it in peace. News came from Monterey that Captain Augustin V. Za- morano had declared himself governor and was gathering a force to invade the south and en- force his authority. Echeandia began at once marshaling his forces to oppose him. Ybarra. Zamorano's military chief, with a force of one hundred men, by a forced march reached Paso de Bartolo, on the San Gabriel River, where fif- teen years later Stockton fought the Mexican troops under Flores. Here Ybarra found Cap- tain Borroso posted with a piece of artillery and fourteen men. He did not dare to attack him. Echeandia and Borroso gathered a force of a thousand neophytes at Paso de Bartolo, where they drilled them in military evolutions. Ybar- ra's troops had fallen back to Santa Barbara, where he was joined by Zamorano with rein- forcements. Ybarra's force was largely made up of ex-convicts and other undesirable characters, who took what they needed, asking no questions of the owners. The Angeleños, fearing those marauders, gave their adhesion to Zamorano's plan and recognized him as military chief of the territory. Captain Borroso, Echeandia's faithful adherent, disgusted with the fickleness of the Angeleños, at the head of a thousand mounted Indians, threatened to invade the recalcitrant pueblo, but at the intercession of the frightened

*Stephen C. Foster.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

inhabitants this modern Coriolanus turned aside and regaled his neophyte retainers on the fat bullocks of the Mission San Gabriel, much to the disgust of the mission padres. The neophyte warriors were disbanded and sent to their re- spective missions.

A peace was patched up between Zamorano and Echeandia. Alta California was divided into two territories. Echeandia was given juris- diction over all south of San Gabriel and Zamo- rano all north of San Fernando. This division apparently left a neutral district, or "no man's land," between. Whether Los Angeles was in this neutral territory the records do not show. If it was, it is probable that neither of the gov- ernors wanted the job of governing the recal- citrant pueblo.

In January, 1833, Governor Figueroa arrived in California. Echeandia and Zamorano each surrendered his half of the divided territory to the newly appointed governor, and California was united and at peace. Figueroa proved to be the right man for the times. He conciliated the factions and brought order out of chaos. The two most important events in Figueroa's term of office were the arrival of the Hijar Colony in California and the secularization of the missions. These events were most potent factors in the evolution of the territory.

In 1833, the first California colonization scheme was inaugurated in Mexico. At the head of this was José Maria Hijar, a Mexican gentleman of wealth and influence. He was as- sisted in its promulgation by José M. Padres, an adventurer, who had been banished from California by Governor Victoria. Padres, like some of our modern real estate boomers, pic- tured the country as an earthly paradise-an im- proved and enlarged Garden of Eden. Among other inducements held out to the colonists, it is said, was the promise of a division among them of the mission property and a distribution of the neophytes for servants.

Headquarters were established at the city of Mexico and two hundred and fifty colonists en- listed. Each family received a bonus of $10, and all were to receive free transportation to California and rations while on the journey. Each head of a family was promised a farm from the public domain, live stock and farming imple- ments; these advances to be paid for on the in- stallment plan. The original plan was to found a colony somewhere north of San Francisco bay, but this was not carried out. Two vessels were dispatched with the colonists-the Morelos and the Natalia. The latter was compelled to put into San Diego on account of sickness on board. She reached that port, September 1, 1834. A part of the colonists on board her were sent to

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Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 10

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366