History of California, Volume I, Part 14

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 852

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USA > California > History of California, Volume I > Part 14

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8 See Burton, Clark, Dampier, Rogers, Shelvocke, and Ulloa.

9 See Ascension, Cabrillo, Cardona, Demarcacion, Evans, Niel, and Sal- meron. There are many more minor documents of this class relating vaguely to California in connection with the Northern Mystery.

10 See Chamisso, Choris, Kotzebue, Langsdorff, La Pérouse, Marchand, Manrelle, Roquefeuille, Sutil y Mexicana, and Vancouver.

11 See Fleurieu and Navarrete. .

PERIOD OF SPANISH OCCUPATION.

For the rest we have half a dozen general works on America;12 a like number of Mexican works with matter on California;13 and as many collections of voyages and travels.14

Of Mexican newspapers containing Californian news during this period, only the official journal, the Gaceta de Mexico, requires mention here. And printed docu- ments or articles are only seven in number; though there might be cited very many documents of the Spanish government relating to or naming California simply as a province of Mexico. Two essays by vis- itors are printed with the books of voyagers that have been named.15 Captain Shaler had the honor of being the first American visitor whose narrative was printed in the United States; Governor Sola sent a report which was printed in Mexico; two instructions for Californians were put in type;16 and in one of the Spanish voyage-collections appeared an account of the country's history and condition in connection with Peninsular affairs.17 Documents of this period not printed until much later are some of them important, especially those published in Palou, Noticias, and the Doc. Hist. Mex. There are nineteen titles of this class.18

The final sub-period extending from 1824 to 1848 may be divided historically into that of Mexican rule to 1846, and that of the conquest and American mili- tary rule to the gold discovery; but bibliographically no such subdivision is convenient, and I treat all as one epoch. It claims 700 titles in my list, 475 of which represent printed matter, and 180 books proper.

12 See Alcedo, Anquetil, Bonnycastle, Burney, Forster, Humboldt, and Raynal.

13 Arricivita, Clavigero, Cortés, Guia, Presidios, and Rosignon.

14 Berenger, Kerr, Laharpe, Pinkerton, Viagero Universal, and Voyages. 15 Chamisso and Rollin.

16 Galvez and Ulloa.

17 California en 1799.

18 Altamira, Armona, Crespí, Dominguez, Garcés, Hall, Heceta, Mangino, Palou, Reglamento, Revilla Gigedo, Serra, and Velarde.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIAN HISTORY.

First in importance, with Petit-Thouars at the head of the list so far as history is concerned and Coulter at the foot, are fourteen narratives of voy- agers, who visited the coast and in many instances made good use of their opportunities. The works of Mofras and Wilkes are the most pretentious of the number, but not the most valuable.19 To these should be added four scientific works resulting from some of these voyages;20 and three official accounts of explor- ing marches across the continent in book form;21 with which we may appropriately class a dozen accounts of California by foreign visitors or residents, generally in- cluding a narrative of the trip by land or sea.22 Four foreigners who had never visited the country com- piled historical accounts,23 one of which, by Forbes, has always enjoyed a merited reputation as a standard book. Then there were half a dozen or more works on Oregon with brief mention of California,4 and half a dozen speeches in congress or elsewhere printed in pamphlet form, a number that might be very greatly increased if made to include all that men- tioned California in connection with the Mexican war and the Oregon Question.25 To all of which titles from foreign sources may be added those of ten gen- eral works26 containing allusions to our province.

Chief among works in Spanish for this period should stand six which, though with one exception not very important for history, were the first books printed in California, most of them being entirely unknown until now.27 And with these may be named eight other

19 Beechey, Belcher, Cleveland, Coulter, Dana, Duhaut-Cilly, Huish (not a visitor), Kotzebue, Laplace, Mofras, Morrell, Petit-Thouars, Ruschenber- ger, Simpson, and Wilkes.

20 Hinds, Richardson, and U. S. Ex. Ex .- the later including many works by different authors.

21 Emory and Frémont.

22 Bidwell, Bilson, Boscana, Bryant, Farnham, Hastings, Kelley, Pattie, and Robinson.

23 Cutts, Forbes, Greenhow, and Hughes.

24 Fédix, Lee, Nicolay, Twiss, etc.

25 Clark, Hall, Thompson, Webster, etc.

26 Beyer, Blagdon, Barrow, Combier, D'Orbigny, Irving, Lafond, Lardner, Murray, and Tytler.

2i Botica, Figueroa, Reglamento, Ripalda, Romero, and Vallejo.

EARLY CALIFORNIA PRINTING.

pamphlets, printed in Mexico on Californian topics.23 Then there are sixteen Mexican government docu- ments containing valuable allusions to California,29 and many more if mere mentions be counted; and finally, we have thirty-five general works on Mexico, with like information often of some value, about a dozen of which are the writings of Carlos María Bus- tamante, found also more complete in my library in the original autograph manuscript.30

Passing from books to documents, the productions of the Californian press merit first mention. They are fifty-five in number, each separately printed.31 Three or four are proclamations of United States offi- cials, one is a commercial paper, one an advertisement, and one took a poetical form; but most were official documents emanating from the Hispano-Californian government. Then I note sixteen Mexican govern- ment documents in collections or newspapers; and seven others of a semi-official nature;32 while there are twenty-two topic-collections or separate reports, from United States officers, for the most part printed by the government and relating to the conquest.33 Three titles belong to matter inserted in the books of navigators already named;34 six to articles or documents in the Nouvelles Annales des Voyages; 35 and twelve are English and American articles in periodicals.36

28 Carillo, Castañares, Fondo Piadoso, García Diego, Junta de Fomento, and San Miguel.

29 Under the heading 'Mexico.'

30 Alaman, Ayala, Bermudez, Bustamante, Cancelada, Escudero, Fonseca, Guerrero, Iriarte, Muhlenpfordt, Oajaca, Rejon, Riesgo, Sales, San Miguel, Semblanzas, Thompson, Unzueta, and Willie.

31 Alvarado, California, Castro, Chico, Diputacion, Doctrina, Figueroa, ' Gutierrez, Híjar, Mason, Micheltorena, Plan, Pronunciamiento, Riley, Shu- brick, Vallejo, and Zamorano.

32 Ayuntamiento, Compañía, Decreto, Dictamen, Iniciativa, Jones, Mexico, Plan. Also Bandini, 'C.,' Castañares, Chico, Flores, Iniestra, and Sinaloa.

33 Cal. and N. Mcx .. Conquest, Cooke, Expulsion, Frémont, Johnston, Jones, Kearny, Kelley, Marcy, Mason, Monterey, Shubrick, Slacum, Sloat, Stockton, War with Mexico. Some of these are the president's messages and documents, containing a very large number of important papers.

34 Botta, Documens, and Sanchez.

35 Fages, Galitzin, Le Netrel, Morineau, Scala, and Smith.

36 Americans, Campaign, Coulter, Evans, Far West, Fourgeand, Hist. Bear Flag, Larkin, Peirce, Reynolds, Squier, and Warner.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIAN HISTORY.

There were some twenty periodicals, or publications that may conveniently be classed as such, some being collections or serial records, that contained material about this province before 1848; at least that is the. number that my list furnishes.37 Of newspapers about seventy titles-forty of them Mexican-appear in my catalogue; but as doubtless many more in different parts of the world contained at least a mention of this country at one time or another, I name only ten pub- lished in California, the Hawaiian Islands, and Ore- gon,33 all valuable sources of information. Niles' Register is the eastern journal that I have found most useful in my task.

Finally I have about 150 titles of books, documents, and articles, which, though printed later, relate to Californian history before 1848, so far as they relate to that subject at all. Seventy-five of the number are in book form, including some valuable monographs on early affairs in California; several collections of docu- ments; some reprints and translations of early works; some treatises on Mexican law as affecting California; several important briefs in land cases, the number of which might easily be multiplied; United States docu- ments relating to the conquest and military rule, but printed after 1848; Russian works containing infor- mation on the Ross colony; one or two narratives of visitors; and a number of works on the Mexican war. Those appearing under the names of Dwinelle, Ide, Lancey, McGlashan, and Palou are the most impor- tant.39 Documents and articles of this class are about

37 American Quarterly Register, American Quarterly Review, American Review, American State Papers, Annals of Congress, Arrillaga, Colonial Magazine, Congressional Debates, Congressional Globe, Edinburgh Review, Hansard's Parl. Debates, Home Missionary, Hunt's Merch. Magazine, Lon- don Mechanics' Magazine, North American Review, Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, Quarterly Review, Revista Cientifica, and Southern Quarterly Re- view.

38 In California were four, or rather combinations of two; Monterey Cal- ifornian, San Francisco Californian, San Francisco Star, and San Francisco Star and Californian. At Honolulu, five; the Friend, Hawaiian Spectator, Sandwich Island Gazette, Sandwich Island News, and Polynesian. In Ore- gon was the Spectator.

39 Abbott, Bigelow, California, California Land Titles, California and North

TUTHILL AND GLEESON.

the same in number, and very similar in their nature and variety to the books, including also some titles of pioneer reminiscences in the newspapers, titles that might be multiplied almost without limit.40

Of works printed after 1848, relating chiefly to events subsequent to the discovery of gold, and there- fore belonging to a later bibliographie period, but yet containing information on earlier annals, I have occasion to cite about three hundred titles in these volumes. Most of them are unimportant in this con- nection; but some are formal attempts at historical research embracing both chronologic periods. The works of Tuthill and Gleeson, entitled, the one a History of California, and the other a History of the Catholic Church in California, are the only ones of a general nature requiring notice here. Tuthill's his- tory merits much higher praise than has generally been accorded to it, being the work of a brilliant and conscientious writer. It is a satisfactory popular his- tory, making no claims to exhaustive research, but intelligently prepared from the best accessible author- ities. Gleeson is not so able a writer, is somewhat more of a partisan, wrote more hastily, and fell into more errors; yet as a Catholic priest he had some superior facilities. He read more of the old authori- ties, went more fully into details, and was quite as conscientious; and he has given us a pleasing and tolerably accurate picture of mission life and annals. Neither of these authors had, or pretended to have, any facilities for writing history or annals proper, and

Mexico, Calvo, Cavo, Colton, Cooke, Diccionario, Documentos, Doyle, Drake, Dunbar, Dwinelle, Figueroa, Flagg, Frémont, Furber, Gomez, Guerra, Hale, Halleck, Hartmann, Hawes, Hoffman, Homes, Ide, Jay, Jenkins, Jones, Lancey, Marcou, McGlashan, Mansfield, Mexican War, Palou, Phelps, Ram- say, Randolph, Revere, Ripley, Rivera, Stockton, Taylor, Upham, Vallejo, Velasco, Vischer, Tikhménef, Materialui, Rezánof, Markof, and Khlébnikof.

40 Archbald, Arroyo, Assembly, Biographical Sketches, Boggs, Bowers, Brooklyn, Brown, Buchanan, Clark, Dall, Daubenbiss, Degroot, Dwinelle, Dye, Elliot, Espinosa, Folsom, Foster, Frémont, Hale, Halleck, Hecox, Hit- tell, Hopkins, Jones, Kern, Kearny, King's Orphan, Kip, Leese, McDougall, McPherson, Marcou, Marsh, Mason, Mexico, Micheltorena, Peckham, Reed, Sherman, Stevenson, Stillman, Stockton, Sutter, Taylor, Toombs, Trask, Vallejo, Veritas, Victor, Warren, Wiggins, and Wolfskill.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIAN HISTORY.

to criticise their failure to accomplish such a result would be affectation.41 Historical sketches published before 1848, either separately or in connection with narratives of travel, many of them of real value, will be noticed individually in their chronological place. Similar sketches, but for the most part of much less importance, published during the 'flush times' or later, often in connection with descriptive works, such sketches as those found under the headings Capron, Cronise, Frost, and Hastings, require no special notice. They contained no original material, and made but inadequate and partial use of such as was easily accessible.

There is, however, another class of these recent publications that assumes considerable importance, that of local histories, of which my list contains over sixty titles. Each in connection with descriptive matter gives something of local annals for both early and modern times. Some of them are the Centennial Sketches prepared at the suggestion of the United States government, like that of Los Angeles by Warner and Hayes, and of San Francisco by John S. Hittell. This latter work was made also 'inci- dentally a history of California,' and, like the earlier Annals of San Francisco by Soulé and others, it is a work of much merit. The authors were able men, though they had neither time, space, nor material to make anything like a complete record of local events in the earlier times. Hall's History of San José should also be mentioned in connection with the An- nals as a work of merit. And finally there are many county histories, often in atlas form and copiously il- lustrated with portraits, maps, and views. Each con- tains a preliminary sketch of California history, with

11 The History of California, by Franklin Tuthill, San Francisco. 1866, Svo, xvi. 657 pages. About one third of the book is occupied with the period preceding the discovery of gold. Dr Tuthill was connected with the San Francisco press, and died soon after the appearance of his work.

History of the Catholic Church in California, by W. Gleeson, M. A., Pro- fessor, St Mary's College, San Francisco, Cal., in two volumes, illustrated. San Francisco. Printed for the author. 1872. Svo, 2 vols, xv. 446, 351 pages.

THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES.

more detailed reference to the county which gives title to the work. Three or four firms have in late years been engaged in producing these peculiar pub- lications, with a dozen or more different editors. The books were made of course mainly to sell; yet not- withstanding this and other unfavorable conditions, some of the editors have done valuable work. As might be expected they are uneven in quality, abound- ing in blunders, especially in those parts that depend on Spanish records; yet in the matter of local annals after 1840, and of personal details, they have afforded me in the aggregate considerable assistance. Their chief defect is-I speak only of those parts relating to early times-that in their pages valuable informa- tion and glaring inaccuracies are so intermingled that the ordinary reader cannot separate them. They are not history; but they supply some useful materials for history. In the results of their interviews with old residents the editors have furnished some matter similar and supplemental to the pioneer dictations which I shall presently mention.

I now come to the thousand and more titles of manuscript authorities in my list, far exceeding those in print for this early period, not only numerically, but in historical value; since the country's annals down to 1846, at least, could be much more completely written from the manuscripts alone than from the print alone. Naturally these authorities lose nothing of their value in my estimation from the facts that in most instances no other writer has consulted them, and that essentially all of them exist only in my col- lection.

Of the public archives of the Spanish and Mexican government in California, transferred by copyists to my library, there are thirteen collections represented in the catalogue by as many titles, the originals making about 350 bound volumes of from 300 to 1,000 docu- ments each, besides an immense mass of unbound

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIAN HISTORY.

papers.42 With a view to the convenience of the pub- lie, rather than my own, I have made the numbers of my volumes of copies and extraets correspond in most cases to the originals. For historieal purposes these copies are better than the originals on account of their legibility, and the condensation effected by the omis- sion of duplicates and suppression of verbiage in minor routine papers. The originals are the official papers turned over by the Mexican government to that of the United States in 1846-7, now preserved chiefly in the United States surveyor-general's office at San Fran- cisco, where there are nearly three hundred bulky tomes besides loose papers, but also in less extensive collections at other places, notably at Los Angeles, Salinas City, and San José. The main Archivo is divided into twenty-four sub-collections;43 but beyond a slight attempt at chronology and the segregation of papers on a few topics involving land titles, the classi- fieation is arbitrary and of no value; nor is there any real distinction between the papers preserved in the different archives. Of the nature of these documents it must suffice to say that they are the originals, blotters, or certified copies of the orders, instructions, reports, correspondence, and act-records of the authorities, po- litical, military, judicial, and ecclesiastical; national, provincial, departmental, territorial, and municipal, during the successive rule, monarchieal, imperial, and republican, of Spain, Mexico, and the United States, from 1768 to 1850. The value of archive records as a foundation for history is universally understood. Span- ish archives are not less accurate than those of other nations; and, since few happenings were so petty as not to fall under the cognizance of some official, they furnish a much more complete record of provincial

42 Archivo de California, Los Angeles, Monterey, Sacramento, San Diego, San José, San Luis Obispo, Santa Bárbara, and Santa Cruz.

43 Actas, Brands, Dept. Records, Dept. State Papers, Legislative Records, Provincial Records, Provincial State Papers, State Papers, Superior Govt St. Papers, and Unbound Documents. For further subdivisions of these titles see list.

MISSION RECORDS.

annals than would be afforded, for instance, by the public archives of an English province. Of the quarter of a million documents consulted in these col- lections I shall mention later about two hundred under distinct titles. The early archives of California, as preserved by the government, are not entirely com- plete, though more nearly so I think than those of any other state of our union; but I have taken some effective steps to supply the defects, as will presently appear.4

Also in the nature of public archives are the mis- sionary records. As the missions by the process of secularization passed into the control of the church, the old leather-bound registers of baptisms, mar- riages, burials, and confirmations at each establish- ment remained, and for the most part still remain, in the possession of the curate of the parish. Other mission papers were gradually brought together by the Franciscan authorities at Santa Bárbara, where they now constitute the largest collection extant. From such documents as were not thus preserved, remaining in the missions or scattered in private hands, Taylor subsequently made a collection of five large volumes, now in the archbishop's library in San Francisco. A third collection, chiefly of libros de patentes, is that of the bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles. These have furnished mne, under four titles, eighteen volumes of copies, or not less than 10,000 documents,45 and my own efforts have resulted in four volumes of very valuable original documents, about 2,000 in number, under three titles.46 Then the twenty-two collections of mission registers already mentioned as in custody of the curates, the libros de

" There are at least seven collections in my list, which are public archives similar to those before namncd, except that instead of being copies they are the originals obtained by me from private sources. See headings, Larkin, Monterey, San Francisco, Registro, and Sonoma.

45 Archivo del Arzobispado, Archivo del Obispado, Arch. de Sta Bárbara, and Correspondencia de Misiones.

16 Archivo de Misiones, Pico (Andrés), and San Antonio, Documentos Sueltos.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIAN HISTORY.

mision proper with such scattering papers as have remained at some establishments, have been searched for my purposes, each yielding a volume of extracts and statistics;47 while from private sources I have obtained fifteen originals of similar nature.4 I give separate titles to about 120 documents from the mis- sion archives; and it should be noted that they con- tain not a few secular records; while the public, or secular, archives contain many important mission papers.

As I have said, neither the public nor mission archives are complete. Documents were not all turned over as they should have been to the United States and to the church; nearly every Mexican of- ficial retained more or less records which remained in his family archives together with his correspond- ence and that of his ancestors and relations. I have made an earnest effort to collect these scattered papers, and with flattering success, as is shown by about fifty collections of Documentos para la Historia de California, in 110 volumes, containing not less than 40,000 documents, thousands being of the ut- most importance as containing records nowhere else extant, and 116 of them receiving special titles in my list. About half of all these documents are similar in their nature and historic value-in all save that they are originals instead of copies on my shelves- to those in the public and mission archives; and the rest are in some respects even niore valuable for my purpose, being largely composed of the private corre- spondence of prominent citizens and officials on cur- rent public affairs, of which they afford almost an unbroken record. Twenty-nine of these collections of private or family archives bear the names of the

47 Monterey Parroquia (S. Cárlos), Purísima, S. Antonio, S. Buenaven- tura, S. Diego, S. Fernando, S. Francisco, S. Gabriel, S. José, S. Juan Bau- tista, S. Juan Capistrano, S. Luis Obispo, S. Miguel, S. Rafael, Sta Bárbara, Sta Cruz, Sta Clara, Sta Inés, and Soledad. Only the mission books of S. Luis Rey have eluded my search.

48 Arroyo, Loa, Mission, Música, Oro Molido, Privilegios, Purísima, S. José, Sta Inés, S. Francisco Solano, Sarria, Sermones.

PRIVATE ARCHIVES.

Californian families by the representatives of which they were given to me.4 Of these by far the largest and most valuable collection is that which bears the name of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, in thirty-seven immense folio volumes of not less than 20,000 original papers. General Vallejo, one of the most prominent and enlightened of Californians, was always a col- lector of such documents as might aid in recording the history of his country; and when he became in- terested in my work he not only most generously and patriotically gave up all his accumulated treasures of the past, but doubled their bulk and value by using his influence with such of his countrymen as turned a deaf ear to my persuasions. As a contributor to the stock of original information respecting his country's annals, General Vallejo must ever stand without a rival. The second collection in extent, and the largest from the south, is that of the Guerra y Noriega family in Santa Bárbara. But bulk is by no means the only test of value; and many of my smaller col- lections, from men who gave all they had, contain records quite as important as the larger ones named.

Twenty other collections bear foreign names, in some cases that of the pioneer family whose archives they were, and in others that of the collector or donor.50 Except that a larger proportion of the documents are in English, they are generally of the same class as those just referred to. At the head of this class in merit stand Thomas O. Larkin's nine volumes of Documents for the History of California, presented by Mr Larkin's family through his son-in-law, Sampson Tams. This collection is beyond all comparison the best source of information on the history of 1845-6, which in fact could not be correctly written without

49 See the following headings, each followed by 'Documentos' or 'Papeles;' Alviso, Arce, Ávila, Bandini, Bonilla, Carillo, Castro, Coronel, Cota, Estu- dillo, Fernandez, Gomez, Gonzalez, Guerra y Noriega, Marron, Moreno, Ol- vera, Pico, Pinto, Requena, Soberanes, Valle, and Vallejo.

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History of California, Volume I, Part 14

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 852

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 852