History of California, Volume I, Part 25

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

USA > California > History of California, Volume I > Part 25
USA > California > History of California, Volume I > Part 25

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

13 Vallejo, Ilist. Cal., MS., i. 39-42; Alvarado, Hist. Cal., MS., i. 19-20; Vallejo (J. J.), Remin., MS., 66-7. All have heard from Ignacio Vallejo and others of his time that Portolá was supposed to have passed Monterey inten- tionally.

14 Ortega describes the labors and sufferings of the men more fully than others. He says 16 lost the use of their limbs. Each night they were rubbed with oil and each morning were fastened to the tijeras, a kind of wooden frame, and raised to the backs of the mules. The rain however brought some relief. Fragmento, MS.

156

EXPEDITION TO MONTEREY AND SAN FRANCISCO.

where the hills bar the passage along the shore. It is named Point Angel Custodio and Point Almejas, being that now known as San Pedro.15

It is the last day of October. After some prelimi- nary examination by an advance party, the whole com- pany climb the hill and gaze about them. On their left is the ever present sea, rolling off to the west in a dim eternity of waters. Before them is a bay, or bight, lying between the point on which they stand and one beyond extending into the sea far to the north- west. Rising abruptly full before them, high above the ocean, the bold shore presents a dismal front in its summer-soiled robes, as yet undyed by the delicious winter rains, the clouded sun meanwhile refusing its fre- quent exhibitions of exquisite colorings between the deep blue waters and the dark, purple bluff. Farther to the left, about west-north-west from their position and apparently south-west from the distant point, is seen a group of six or seven whitish farallones; and finally looking along the shore northward they discover white cliffs and what appears to be the mouth of an inlet making toward the north-east. There is no mistaking these landmarks so clearly laid down by Cabrera Bu- eno. 16 16 The travellers recognize them immediately; the distant point of land must be Point Reyes, and under it lies the port of San Francisco. The saint has indeed and unexpectedly brought the missionaries within sight of his port. Strong in this well founded conviction, the pilgrims descend the hill northward and encamp near the beach at the southern extremity

15 Mr Doyle, Address 7, makes it Corral de Tierra, or Pillar Point, at the northern extremity of Half Moon Bay. I do not know if this was a deliber- ately formed opinion; hut my reasons for identifying Mussel Point with San Pedro are: Ist, the detached rocks or farallones not found in connection with the other points, see Cal. State Geol. Surv. Map of region adjacent to S. F., 1867; 2d, the hills cutting off the shore passage as they do not at Pillar Point, see Id .; 3d, the clear view of Drake Bay and the Farallones, etc .; and 4th, the fact that in order to put iu the number of leagues they did going south along the cañada they must have crossed at San Pedro rather than at Pillar, especially, if as Doyle suggests, their last camp was no farther south than Scarsville. There are, however, some difficulties.

16 For this author's full description of this region sce chap. iii. this volume.

157

THE OLD SAN FRANCISCO.

of the sheet of water known to the Spaniards from that time as the Ensenada de los Farallones.

There has been much perplexity in the minds of modern writers respecting this port of San Francisco, resulting from want of familiarity with the original records, and from the later transfer of the name to another bay. These writers have failed to clear away the difficulties that seemed to surround the subject.17 I have no space to catalogue all the erroneous ideas that have been entertained; but most authors seem to have supposed that the matter was as dark in the minds of the Spaniards as in their own, and it has been customary to interpret the reply of Galvez to Serra already quoted somewhat like this: "If San Francisco wants a mission let him reveal the where- abouts of this port of his of which we have heard so much and which we have never been able to find," or in other instances more simply, "let him show a good port if he wants a mission."18

17 Certain exceptions should be noted. My assistant, in the Overland Monthly, made known for the first time to the English-reading public the statements of Cabrera Bueno and Crespí, and in a few brief notes put the sub- ject in its true light. Doyle in notes to his reprint of Palou subsequently gave a correct version; and several writers since have partially utilized the information thus presented.

18 The following from Dwinelle's Colon. Hist. S. F., xi. 24, is a sample of the errors current in the best class of works: 'There was a report in Mexico that such a port existed, yet navigators sent to explore it had not succeeded in finding it, and even at Monterey nobody believed in it. But in 1772 Father Junípero, taking the viceroy at his word, caused an overland expedition to set out for Monterey under the command of Juan B. Ainsa to search for the apoc- ryphal port. They were so successful as to discover the present bay of San Francisco.' Dwinelle's idea seems to be that there was a tradition of such a bay before Drake's time; that Drake and others after him missed the bay on account of fogs, etc .; and that the real bay had thus come to be regarded as apochryphal. Randolph in his famous oration, Hutchings' Mag., v. 269, regards it 'as one of the most remarkable facts in history that others had passed it, anchored near it, and actually given its name to adjacent roadsteads, and so described its position that it was immediately known; and yet that the cloud had never been lifted which concealed the entrance of the bay of San Fran- cisco, and that it was at last discovered by land.' Randolph's error was in supposing that it was the inside bay that 'was immediately known,' rather than the 'adjacent roadstead.' Tnthill, Hist. Cal., 77-9, says that Portolá went on to San Francisco and recognized it as having been before described. Possibly some Spaniards had visited the port and their oral descriptions mixed with that of Drake gave rise to the name and to glowing accounts which were accredited to Monterey ! Thus all became confusion between the two bays. Some authors, correctly stating that Portolá discovered the bay of San Fran-

158

EXPEDITION TO MONTEREY AND SAN FRANCISCO.

There was, however, nothing mysterious in the matter, save as all things in the north were at one time or another tinged with mystery. The truth is that before 1769 San Francisco Port under Point Reyes had been twice visited by Spaniards, to say nothing of a probable visit by an Englishman, while Monterey had received only one visit; both were located and described with equal clearness in Cabrera Bueno's coast-pilot; and consequently, if less talked about San Francisco was quite as well known to Gal- vez, Portolá, Crespí, and the rest, as was Monterey. The visitador's remark to Serra meant simply, "if San Francisco wants a mission let him favor our enter- prise so that our exploration and occupation may be extended northward to include his port." The ex- plorers passed up the coast, came within sight of San Francisco Port, and had no difficulty in recognizing the landmarks at first glance. The miracle in the padre's eyes was not in the showing of San Francisco, but in the concealment of Monterey. And all this, be it remembered, without the slightest suspicion or tradition of the existence of any other San Fran- cisco, or of the grand inland bay so near which has since made the name famous. St Francis had indeed brought the Spaniards within sight of his port, but his mission was not to be there; and some years later, when the Spaniards found they could not go to San Francisco, they decided that San Francisco must conie to them, and accordingly transferred the name south- ward to the peninsula and bay. Hence the confu-

eisco in 1769, also tell us that he named it. See Gleeson's Hist. Cath. Ch., ii. 38; Capron's Hist. Cal., 122; Soule's Annals of S. F., 46, etc .; but the inner bay was not named for some years, and the outer bay had been named long before. That confusion still reigns in the minds of the best writers is shown by the following from Hittell's Hist. S. Francisco, 41: 'The Spanish explorers, Portolá and Crespí, did not imagine that they had made a discovery. They saw that the harbor was different from that of Monterey, described by Viz- caino, but they imagined that it was the bay of San Francisco mentioned by their navigators as lying under shelter of Point Reyes. Friar Juan Crespi, who may be considered the head of the expedition, not knowing that he had made a discovery, did on the 7th of November 1769 discover the site and barbor of San Francisco, and he gave to them the name which they now bear.'

159

DISCOVERY OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY.

sion alluded to. It must be borne in mind that the inner bay was not named during this trip, nor for some years later; while the outer bay had been named for more than a half century.

A few of the company still venture to assert that Monterey has not been passed, and to remove all doubt it is decided to send the explorers forward to Point Reyes. Ortega sets out with a small party on the day following, taking provisions for a three days' trip. Meanwhile the rest remain in camp just north of Mussel Point. But during Ortega's absence, the 2d of November, some of the soldiers, in hunting for deer, climb the north-eastern hills, and return with tidings of a new discovery. From the summit they had beheld a great inland sea stretching northward and south-eastward as far as the eye could reach. The country is well wooded they say, and exceedingly beautiful. Thus European eyes first rest on the waters of San Francisco Bay; but the names of these deer- hunters can never be known. At camp they make one error on hearing the news, by attempting to iden- tify this new "brazo de mar ó estero" with the "es- tero" mentioned by Cabrera Bueno as entering the land from the port of San Francisco under Point Reyes;19 that is, at first thought it did not seem pos- sible for an inlet of so great extent to have escaped the notice of the early voyagers; but this erroneous idea does not last long, or lead to any results. It is at once foreseen that Ortega's party will not be able to reach Point Reyes, because he has no boats in which to cross, and no time to go round the inlet. And indeed next day Ortega returns. As had been anticipated, he had not been able to cross the inlet and reach San Francisco. To Ortega, whose descend- ants still live in California, belongs the honor of having

19 It must be remembered that, to casual observers like the hunters at least, standing on the San Bruno hills, the connection of the bay with the ocean would seem to be very much farther north than the Golden Gate, and possibly far enough north to reach the bay under Pt Reyes.

160

EXPEDITION TO MONTEREY AND SAN FRANCISCO.

first explored the peninsula on which stands the com- mercial metropolis of the west coast of North Amer- ica; probably also that of having discovered what is now known as the Golden Gate, and possibly that of being the discoverer of the bay, for he may have climbed the hills on his way north and have looked down on the 'brazo de mar,' before the deer-hunters saw it.20 Yet we have no details of Ortega's ex- ploration, because he comes back with one idea which has driven all others from his mind, and which indeed turns the thoughts of the whole company into a new channel. He has understood the natives, of whom he found some on the peninsula, to say that at the head of the 'brazo de mar' is a harbor, and in it a vessel at anchor.

Visions of the San José and of the food and other necessaries they can now obtain float before them sleeping and waking. Some think that after all they are indeed at Monterey. Obviously the next thing to be done is to seek that harbor and vessel. Henc on the 4th of November they break camp and set out, at first keeping along the shore, but soon turning inland and crossing the hills north-eastward, the whole company looking down from the summit upon the inland sea, and then descending into a cañada, down which they follow southward for a time and then encamp; the day's march being only about five or six miles in all. They have crossed the San Bruno hills from just above Point San Pedro to the head of the cañada in a course due west from Milbrae. Next day they march down the same cañada, called by them San Francisco, now San Andrés and San Raimundo, for three leagues and a half, having the main range on the right, and on the left a line of low hills which obstruct their view of the bay. They encamp on a large lagoon, now Laguna Grande, on San Mateo Creek. On the 6th they continue their march

20 It must also be noted that among Fages' volunteers there was a Sergeant Puig who may possibly be entitled to all this honor, but probably not.

161

ON THE PENINSULA.

for other three leagues and a half to the end of the cañada, pitching their camp on a stream flowing into the bay-doubtless the San Francisquito Creek in the vicinity of Searsville.

Here the main force. remain four days, suffering considerably from hunger, and many making them- selves ill by eating acorns, while the sergeant and

Estero, Amer.

Toniales Bay

Str. Carquines

8. Publ B. I. Redonda

S.Jong. R.

- Pt.Buyrs

Old S. Francisco

Nueces

Fages Ret.

Mt.Diablo

15LST JAMES

Arie Bolque

FARALLONES

SUFRANCISCO BAY

Bruto u

Pr.S.Pedre PLAIn his

vadur

Pillar Picking Hadmnom Hot

artola 1769

Ecarnacion

sville

Ortega

LLANO

DEL PUERTO

MOVEMENTS OF THE DISCOVERERS.

eight of the party are absent examining the country and searching for the port and vessel. On the 10th of November the men return and report the country sterile and the natives hostile. There is another large 'estero' communicating with the one in sight, but no sign of any port at its end, which is far away and difficult to reach. There is nothing to show how far HIST. CAL., VOL. I. 11

Fages 1772

Fran.R.

162

EXPEDITION TO MONTEREY AND SAN FRANCISCO.

this reconnoissance extended along the bay shore; but the new estero is evidently but the south-eastern- extension of the main bay; and reports of the country are doubtless colored by disappointment respecting the San José. A council of officers and friars is called on the 11th, and after the solemnities of holy mass each member gives his written opinion on what should be done. The decision is unanimous that it is useless to seek Monterey farther north, and that it is best to return to Point Pinos. Portolá makes some objection, probably as a matter of form, but yields to the views of the others.

The same afternoon they set out on their return, and in a march of twenty-six days, over the same route by which they came, and without incidents that require notice, they reach what is really Carmelo Bay. Here they remain from November 28th to December 10th, making some additional explorations, but finding no port, and in fact learning nothing new save that the mountains in the south belong to the Sierra de Santa Lucía and that no passage along the shore is practicable. Grass is now abundant for the animals, but the men can get no game, fish, or even clams. Some gulls are eaten, and a mule is killed which only the Catalan volunteers and Lower Cali- fornians will eat. Finally, after religious exercises on the preceding day a council is held on the 7th.21 Three plans are proposed. Some, and among them the gov- ernor, favor dividing the force, part remaining at Point Pinos to wait for a vessel, the rest returning to San Diego; others think it best for all to remain till pro- visions are exhausted, and then depend on mule-meat for the return; but the prevailing sentiment and the decision are in favor of immediate return, since sup- plies are reduced to fourteen small sacks of flour, while the cold is excessive and snow begins to cover the hills. Meanwhile two mulatto arrieros desert, and on

21 The record of this junta and of the former one of Nov. 11th were in- cluded in the original Portolá, Diario, MS., but are not in the copy.

163

BACK TO SAN DIEGO.

the 9th an iron band supposed to have come from the mast of some vessel is found on the beach by the natives.

Before leaving Carmelo Bay a large cross is set up on a knoll near the beach, bearing the carved inscrip- tion "Dig at the foot and thou wilt find a writing.' The buried document is a brief narrative of the expe- dition with a request that the commander of any ves- sel arriving soon will sail down the coast and try to communicate with the land party.22 Recrossing the peninsula they set up, on the shore of the very harbor they could not find, another cross with an inscription announcing their departure. Setting out on their return the 11th they ascend the Salinas and retrace,

with a few exceptions, their former route. It is an uneventful journey, but I catalogue a few details in a note.23 Below the San Luis Obispo region the natives begin to bring in an abundance of fish and other food, so that there is no further suffering, and on January 24, 1770, with many curious conjectures as to the condition in which their friends will be found, they approach the palisade enclosure at San Diego, and announce their arrival by a discharge of musketry. Warm welcome follows and then comparison of notes. Neither party can report much progress toward the conquest of California.

22 The letter is dated Dec. 9th, and is translated in Doyle's Address.

23 December 16th, a lean mule left in the Sierra de Sta Lucía was recovered fat and well cared for by the natives. 20th, to prevent theft provisions were distributed, 40 tortillas to each man and a little biscuit, ham, and chocolate for each officer and padre. 21st, a man who had deserted at Point Pinos was found among the natives and excused himself by saying that he had gone in search of Monterey in the hope of honor and reward. Another deserter returned later to San Diego. 24th and 25th, the natives began to bring in food. 2Sth, stuck fast in a mud-hole near San Luis Obispo, and unable to say mass though it was a day of fiesta. January Ist, a bear and cubs killed furnishing material for a fcast. January 3d, passed Point Con- cepcion. 4th, another fat mule restored by the natives. Food now abundant. 11th, at Asumpta, or Santa Bárbara. January 12th to 15th, instead of going up the Santa Clara River, they took a more southern route. They could not get through by the first route tried, on which they named the Triunfo ran- chería, a name that seems to have survived; but they finally crossed by the modern stage route via Simi. January 16th to 18th, their route through the Los Angeles region was also different but not very clear. On the 17th they crossed the Rio Porciuncula and went to a valley which they called San Miguel, where San Gabriel mission afterwards stood; and next day they crossed the Rio Santa Ana 6 long leagues distant.

CHAPTER VII.

OCCUPATION OF MONTEREY-FOUNDING OF SAN CARLOS, SAN ANTONIO, AND SAN GABRIEL.

· 1770-1771.

AFFAIRS AT SAN DIEGO-A DISHEARTENED GOVERNOR-CALIFORNIA TO BE ABANDONED-RIVERA'S TRIP TO THE SOUTH-PRAYER ANSWERED- ARRIVAL OF THE 'SAN ANTONIO '-DISCOVERY OF MONTEREY-IN CAMP ON CARMELO BAY-FOUNDING OF THE PRESIDIO AND MISSION OF SAN CARLOS-DESPATCHES SENT SOUTH BY LAND AND SEA-PORTOLÁ LEAVES FAGES IN COMMAND-RECEPTION OF THE NEWS IN MEXICO-TEN PADRES SENT TO CALIFORNIA-PALOU'S MEMORIAL-MISSION WORK IN THE NORTH-ARRIVAL OF THE NEW PADRES-STATIONS ASSIGNED-FOUND- ING OF SAN ANTONIO-TRANSFER OF SAN CARLOS TO CARMELO BAY- EVENTS AT SAN DIEGO-DESERTIONS-RETIREMENT OF PARRON AND GOMEZ-ESTABLISHING OF SAN GABRIEL-OUTRAGES BY SOLDIERS.

AT San Diego during Portolá's absence no progress had been made in mission work, save perhaps the ad- dition of a palisade and a few tule huts to the build- ings. The governor's return in January 1770, from his unsuccessful trip to Monterey, had no effect to brighten the aspect of affairs, since he was much dis- heartened, and not disposed to afford aid to the presi- dent in advancing the interests of a mission that would very likely have to be abandoned. So nothing was done beyond making a new corral for the horses. Serra and Parron were just recovering from the scurvy, and Vizcaino was still suffering from the arrow wound in his hand.1 Portolá's plan was to make a careful inventory of supplies, reserve enough for the march to Velicatá, and abandon San Diego when the remainder should be exhausted, which would

1 Eight of the volunteers had died. Portolá, Diario, MS., 34.

( 164 )

163

MUST CALIFORNIA BE ABANDONED ?

be a little after the middle of April, the 20th being fixed as the date of departure.

The friars, especially Serra and Crespí, were greatly disappointed at the governor's resolution. They were opposed to the idea of abandoning an enterprise so auspiciously begun, though how they expected the soldiers to live does not clearly appear. Portolá was probably somewhat too much inclined to look at the dark side; while the president perhaps allowed his missionary zeal to impair his judgment. So far as they were concerned, personally, Serra and Crespí resolved to stay in the country at all hazards; and for the result they could only trust in providence to send supplies before the day set for departure. They re- ceived some encouragement, however, from Captain Vila, who, judging from the description, agreed with Serra that the northern port where a cross had been left was really Monterey. Furthermore it is said that Vila made a secret promise to take the priests on board the San Carlos, wait at San Diego for another vessel, and renew the northern coast enterprise.2

On the 11th of February Rivera was despatched southward, with nineteen or twenty soldiers, two muleteers, two natives, eighty mules, and ten horses. He was accompanied by Padre Vizcaino whose lame hand procured him leave of absence; and his destina- tion was Velicatá, where he was to get the cattle that had been left there, and such other supplies as might be procurable. He carried full reports to secu- lar and Franciscan authorities of all that had thus far befallen the expedition, bearing also a letter from Serra to Palou, in which the writer bewailed the prospect of failure and announced his intention to remain to the last. After some skirmishes with the savages, two of whom had to be killed to frighten away the rest, Rivera reached Velicatá February 25th, at once setting about his task of gathering sup- plies, in which he was zealously seconded by Palou;

2 Palou, Vida, 95-6.

166

OCCUPATION OF MONTEREY.

but some months passed before he could be ready to march northward-indeed, before he was ready the urgent necessity had ceased.

Meanwhile at San Diego men and officers were waiting, preparations were being made for departure, friars were praying, and days were passing one by one, but yet no vessel came. The only conversation was of abandoning the northern country, and every word was an arrow to the soul of the pious Junípero; but he could only pray unceasingly, and trust to the intercession of Saint Joseph the great patron of the expedition. In his honor a novena-nine days' publie prayer-was instituted, to culminate in a grand cere- monial entreaty on the saint's own day, March the 19th, the day before the one of final abandonment.

Gently smiled the morning sun on that momentous morrow as it rose above the hills and warmed to hap- piness the myriads of creatures beneath its benignant rays. Surpassingly lovely the scene; the beautiful bay in its fresh spring border hiding behind the hills like a sportive girl from briny mother ocean. At an early hour the fathers were abroad on the heights, for they could neither eat nor rest. The fulfilment or failure of their hopes was now to be determined. The day wore slowly away; noon came, and the hours of the afternoon, and yet no sail appeared. The suspense was painful, for it was more than life to these holy men, the redemption of the bright, fresh paradise; and so all the day they watched and prayed, watched with strained eyes, and prayed, not with lips only but with all those soul-longings which omniscience alone can translate. Finally, as the sun dropped below the horizon and all hope was gone, a sail appeared in the distance like a winged messenger from heaven, and before twilight deepened into darkness the so ardently longed-for vessel was in the offing. California was saved, blessed be God! and they might yet consum- mate their dearly cherished schemes.

167

COMING OF RELIEF.

The fourth day thereafter the San Antonio anchored in the bay, whence she had sailed the previous July. She had reached San Blas in twenty days, and both Galvez and the viceroy gave immediate orders to pro- vide the needed supplies. After certain vexatious but unavoidable delays, she had again turned her prow northward in December. Perez had orders to sail for Monterey direct, where it was supposed Portolá would be found; but fortunately he was obliged to enter the Santa Bárbara channel for water, and the natives explained that the land expedition had re- turned southward. Even then Perez in his perplexity would have gone to Monterey had not the loss of an anchor forced him to turn about just in time to pre- vent the abandonment of San Diego. The San An- tonio brought abundant supplies, and she also brought instructions from Galvez and Viceroy Croix, one or both of which facts drove from Portola's mind all thought of abandoning the conquest. He made haste in his preparations for a return to Monterey with Serra and Crespí, setting out overland April 17th, after despatching the San Antonio northward the day before.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of California, Volume I, Part 25

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