History of California, Volume I, Part 50

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 50

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5 { If in the survey which he is to make of the north-west coast of America he finds at any points of that coast forts or trading-posts belonging to His Catholic Majesty he will scrupulously avoid everything which might give offence to the commandants or chiefs of those establishments; but he will use with them the ties of blood and friendship which so closely unite the two sovereigns in order to obtain by means thereof all the aid and refreshment which he may need and which the country may be able to furnish .. . So far as it is possible to judge from the relations of those countries which have reached France, the actual possession of Spain does not extend above the ports of San Diego and Monterey, where she has built small forts garrisoned by detachments from California or from New Mexico. The Sieur de La Pérouse will try to learn the condition, force, and aim of these establishments; and to inform himself if they are the only ones which Spain has founded on those coasts. He will likewise aseertain at what latitude a beginning may be made of procuring peltries; what quantity the Americans (Indians) can furnish ; what articles would be best adapted to the fur-trade;' what facilities there might be for a French establishment, all this relating of course ehiefly to the northern coast. La Pérouse, Voyage de (Jean François Galaup) de la Pérouse autour du monde, publié conformément au décret du 22 Avril 1791, et rédigé par M. L. A. Milet-Mureau ... Paris, 1798, Svo, 4 vol. with atlas in folio, tom. i. 28-9. It does not seem desirable to mention here the various translations and abridgments of this narrative and its accompanying documents.

6 Doubtless the Monterey, Estracto de Noticias, or Costanso, Diario Hist.

7 On the northern explorations see Hist. Northwest Coast, i. 174-7.

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FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COMMERCE.

volcano in active operation below 41°, until they entered Monterey Bay September 14th, anchoring next day among the whales which came boldly within pistol-shot to spout vile-smelling water round about the vessels.

The French navigators had been expected. The authorities had received orders to accord to the foreign fleet the same welcome as to vessels of their own nation, so that La Pérouse had little need to show his open letter from the minister of Spain. The transports of this year, the Princesa, Captain Estévan Martinez, and the Favorita, Captain José Tobar, were now in port, and their boats were promptly taken out by their cap- tains to pilot the visitors into the harbor, seven guns from the fort saluting them as they dropped anchor. Don Pedro Fages not only carried out the orders of his superiors, but says La Pérouse "he put into their execution a graciousness and air of interest which merit from us the liveliest acknowledgment. He did not confine himself to obliging words; cattle, vege- tables, and milk were sent on board in abundance. The desire to serve us well nigh caused a disturbance of the harmony between the commandants of fort and corvettes; for each wished the exclusive right to sup- ply our needs; and when it came to settling the score, we had to insist on their receiving our money. Vege- tables, milk, poultry, all the garrison's labor in helping us to wood and water were free; and cattle, sheep, and grain were priced at so low a figure that it was evident an account was furnished only because we had rigorously insisted on it. M. Fages joined to his gen- erosity the most gentlemanly demeanor; his house was ours, and we might dispose of all his servants."

"The padres of San Carlos mission two leagues from Monterey soon came to the presidio; as kind to us as the officers of fort and frigates they insisted on our going to dine with them, and promised to ac- quaint us in detail with the management of their mission, the Indian manner of living, their arts and

431

RECEPTION OF THE FRENCHMEN.

customs, in fact all that might interest travellers. We accepted with eagerness ... M. Fages wished to ac- company us ... After having crossed a little plain cov- ered with herds of cattle ... we ascended the hills and heard the sound of bells announcing our coming. We were received like lords of a parish visiting their es- tates for the first time. The president of the mis- sions, clad in cope, his holy-water sprinkler in hand, received us at the door of the church illuminated as on the grandest festivals; led us to the foot of the altar; and chanted a te deum of thanksgiving for the happy issue of our voyage. Before entering the church we had crossed a plaza where Indians of both sexes were ranged in line; their faces showed no sur- prise and left room to doubt if we should be the sub- ject of their conversation for the rest of the day." After leaving the church the visitors spent a short time in examining the mission and in making a careful, though necessarily brief, study of the Franciscan regime and its effects on the natives. They probably visited San Carlos more than once.

" As the soldiers had rendered us a thousand little services, I asked leave to present them a piece of blue cloth; and I sent to the mission some blankets, stuffs, beads, tools, etc. The president announced to all the village that it was a gift from their faithful and an- cient allies who professed the same faith as the Span- iards; which announcement so aroused their kind feeling toward us that each one brought us the next day a bundle of hay or straw for the cattle and sheep. Our gardener gave to the missionaries some potatoes from Chili, perfectly sound; I believe this is not one of the least of our gifts and that this root will succeed perfectly around Monterey." M. de Langle also presented San Carlos with a handmill for grind- ing grain which would enable four of the neophyte women to do the work of a hundred in the old way.9

8 La Pérouse, Voyage, ii. 291-4.

9 Id., ii. 315, 299.

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FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COMMERCE.

During the brief stay of ten days the crew were busy in obtaining wood and water; while the botanists, geologists, and other specialists pursued their studies, made drawings, and gathered specimens. Three short letters were written by La Pérouse and one by M. de Langle, to be sent to France by way of Mexico.1º On the 22d all was ready for departure, and farewell was said to governor and missionaries. Next day the winds were contrary, but early on the 24th the navi- gators parted from Martinez, who came off in his long- boat, and set sail for the far west. Then California's relations with the outside world were for a time sus- pended.11

10 Id., iv. 176-86. In a note of Sept. 14th (?) the commander says: 'Nos vaisseaux ont été reçus par les Espagnols comme ceux de leur propre nation ; tous les secours possibles nous ont été prodigués; les religieux chargés des missions nous ont envoyé une quantité tres-considérable de provisions de toute espèce, et je leur ai fait présent, pour leurs Indiens, d'une infinité de petits articles qui avaient été embarqués à Brest pour cet objet, et qui leur seront de la plus grande utilité.' Again Sept. 19th : 'Nous sommes arrivés à Mon- terey le 15 septembre; les ordres du roi d'Espagne nous y avaient précédes, et il eût été impossible, dans nos propres colonies, de recevoir un meilleur accueil.' M. de Langle says on Sept. 22d, of Capt. Martinez: 'Il a prévenu nos besoins avec un zèle infatigable, et nous a rendu tous les services qui dépendaient de lui. Il m'a chargé de vous supplier de le recommander à son ministre. . .. Je pars d'ici sans avoir un malade.' Again from Macao Jan 3d, Id., iv. 235, La Perouse writes: 'I send the chart of Monterey made by ourselves; I have met at Monterey officers of the little San Blas establishment who cer- tainly are not without ability and who seemed to me very capable of making charts with exactitude.'

11 La Pérouse's visit left but a slight record in the Californian archives, yet it is alluded to in several official communications. Sce Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., viii. 14; Prov. St. Pap., MS., vii. 6, 42, 135; letter of Governor Fages of September 28th, in Gacetade Mex., ii. 286-8. September 18th, P. Lasuen writes to La Pérouse sending him three pieces of reed and a stone worked by the Santa Barbara Indians. Will send 70 fanegas of grain. Arch. Sta. Bár- bara, MS., xii. 364. Taylor, Discov. and Found., No. 31, ii. 193, tells us that a picture of La Pérouse's vessels by one of his officers was preserved for many years at San Carlos, but disappeared after 1833, having been carried away as the old settlers say by Petit-Thouars. This writer is very likely wrong about the subject of the picture. An anonymous Spanish writer in 1845, C. S., De- scripcion Topográfica de las Misiones, Pueblos, y Presidios del Norte y de la Nueva-California, in Revista Científica y Lit., i. 327-9, says that one of La Pérouse's officers made a sketch of his reception at San Carlos by Palou (La- suen) and two padres, which was kept in the mission locutorio. Captain Beechey wished to buy it, but P. Abella refused to part with it. When Petit- Thouars came it had disappeared. The writer made every effort to find it, offering as high as $1,000, but in vain. It was thought to have been stolen. The writer found at San Carlos (no date) two Indians who remembered all about La Pérouse's visit. Finally Mrs Ord, Occurrencias en California, MS., 57-9, says that P. Moreno, soon after his arrival (1833), gave the painting to her brother, Juan de la Guerra, who on his death-bed presented it to her. In

433

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COUNTRY.

Crossing the Pacific the Frenchmen visited the Philippine Islands in February 1787; then they coasted Japan and China, and reached Kamchatka in Septem- ber; at the Navigator Islands in December, M. de Langle, with eleven of his men, was killed by the Indians; and the last that was ever known of vessels, commander, or crew, they were at Botany Bay on the coast of New Zealand, where La Pérouse's journal ends with January 24, 1788, a subsequent letter being dated February 8th, at the same place.

Though the stay of the ill-fated navigators at Monterey was brief and uneventful, I have deemed it worthy of somewhat extended notice, not only as the first visit of a foreigner to California, but on account of the remarkable accuracy, comprehensiveness, and kindly fairness of La Pérouse's observations on the province and its institutions. "His account of the natural resources of the country and its character- istics," says a modern writer of scientific attainments,13 " was never surpassed in fidelity by his successors. His observations on the administration of the missions especially arrest our attention as the testimony of a Catholic concerning people of his own faith."

The navigator's observations can be only very briefly alluded to here, since they are in part scientific and beyond the province of history, and because many of the institutions mentioned have been or will be fully treated elsewhere in this work by the aid of this and other original testimony; yet a general glance at these impressions of an enlightened traveller seems appro- priate. La Pérouse's geographical explorations on the Californian coast amount to nothing. His atlas contains the whole coast laid down from Spanish sources in his general maps, showing little detail and

1838 or 1839 it was stolen from her trunk, and in spite of all her efforts has never been recovered. She describes the painting as showing P. Noriega and two other friars at the door of the church, naked Indians ringing the bells and looking on as spectators, and La Pérouse, a tall, thin gentleman, with long gray hair in a queue, with some officers of his suite.

12 Stillman, in Overland Monthly, ii. 257-8.

HIST. CAL., VOL. I. 28

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FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COMMERCE.

not requiring notice, yet copied here because of its date, being the first to show certain parts of the sea- board. Additional charts are given of San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco, that of Monterey only partially from original surveys, the first from Spanish sources and accurate, and the last a rude sketch which is reproduced in the following chapter. The features

C.Rond

C.Perpetua

C.Blanc

Port Trinité

C.MendocinoS

Pte. Delgada

Pt. St.François

MONTEREY

Canal

Pte. Conception

I.STE.CATHERINE.0

Pt. Sn.Diego

Rio Colorado

Pte. Tepooa

GUADALUPE

T.CENROSE

CALIFORNIE

R.Hiaqui

LA PÉROUSE'S MAP.

of the country round Monterey with its plants and animals, are however fully described, and a page in the atlas is devoted to an excellent engraving of a pair of California quails.

Of the country and its resources La Pérouse speaks in the most flattering terms, as also of its ultimate prospects, though he believes that under Spanish con- trol its progress will be slow, the fur-trade being the most promising interest in the near future.13 To the

13 ' The salubrity of the air, the fertility of the soil, the abundance of all kinds of peltries give this part of America infinite advantages over the old California.' 'No country is more abundant in fish and game of all kinds.' 'This land is also of an inexpressible fertility; vegetables of every kind suc-,

435

LA PÉROUSE ON THE MISSIONS.

aboriginal inhabitants he gives much attention and finds in them physically, mentally, or morally but little to praise. The author is in error when he states that these Indians cultivated a little maize before the Spanish settlement. A vocabulary of the Monterey languages is included in the journal.14 A brief but accurate account is presented of the military and political government with some items of history and general statistics; and in fact the only element in the Californian system that this writer failed to notice was that of the pueblos. He evidently did not hear of San José and Angeles, for he states that there were absolutely no Spanish inhabitants but the sol- diers.

But what more than all else attracted the attention of the Frenchman was the mission system, respecting which he made a wonderfully exhaustive and accurate

ceed perfectly. Crops of maize, barley, wheat, and peas can be compared only to those of Chili, wheat yielding on an average 70 to 80 fold. The climate differs little from that of our southern provinces in France, but the heat of summer is much more moderate on account of the constant fogs which will give this land a moisture very favorable to vegetation.' California 'would be in no wise behind Virginia, which is opposite, if it were nearer Europe, but its proximity to Asia might indemnify it, and I believe that good laws, and cspecially free trade, would soon bring it some inhabitants; though the pos- sessions of Spain are so broad that it is impossible to think that for a long time population will increase in any of her colonies. The large number of celibates of both sexes who as a principle of perfection have devoted them- selves to this condition, with the constant policy of the government to admit but one religion and to employ the most violent means to maintain it, will cver oppose a new obstacle to increase. M. Monneron, in a note on Monterey, tom. iv. 122-3, says: 'A century will probably pass, and perhaps two, before the Spanish establishments situated to the north of the Californian peninsula can attract the attention of the great maritime powers. That which is in possession will not think perhaps for a long time of establishing colonies sus- ceptible of great progress. Yet its zeal for the spread of the faith has already founded there several missions; but it is to be believed that not even the pirates will interfere with the friars.'

14 The number of natives in both Californias is estimated at 50,000. ' These Indians are small, feeble, and do not show the love of independence which characterizes the northern nations, of which they have neither the arts nor the industry; their color is very similar to that of negroes, with straight hair.' The governor said the Indians plucked out the hair on face and body; while the president thought it was naturally lacking. They are very skilful hunters. M. de Lamanon obtained the vocabularies chiefly from two Indians who spoke Spanish. M. Rollin, surgeon-in-chief of the expedition, wrote a Mémoire physiologique et pathologique, sur les Américains, joined to La Pérouse's journal, tom. iv. 50-77, which relates largely to the natives of California and is of great importance.

436

FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COMMERCE.

study, considering the brief time at his disposal. Doubt- less the fact that he represented a Catholic nation did much to open the hearts and mouths of the friars, who seem to have held nothing back. The author not only presents a general view of the system, and of the mis- sions in their material aspects with statistics of the condition of each establishment, but he gives an excel- lent picture of the neophytes and their routine of daily life. Of the missionaries personally, of their character and their zeal and their motives, he speaks in terms of the highest praise;15 but their efforts for the civilization of the natives did not seem likely to succeed. The neophyte was too much a child, too much a slave, too little a man. The mission régime. was not fitted to dispel ignorance, missionary efforts were directed exclusively to the recompenses of another life, the present being disregarded. The community system based on the prejudices and ambition of the Jesuits was too servilely imitated. "The government is a veritable theocracy for the Indians; they believe that their superiors are in immediate and continual communication with God." "The friars, more occupied with heavenly than temporal interests, have neglected the introduction of the most common arts." La Pé- rouse saw in the tout ensemble of the Franciscan establishments an unhappy resemblance to the slave plantations of Santo Domingo. "With pain we say

15 'La piété espagnole avait entretenu jusqu'au présent, et à grands frais, ces missions et ces présidios, dans l'unique vue de convertir et de civiliser les Indiens de ces contrées; systême bien plus digne d'éloge que celui de ces hommes avides qui semblaient n'être revêtus de l'autorité nationale que pour commettre impunément les plus cruelles atrocités.' 'It is with the sweetest satisfaction that I shall make known the pious and wise conduct of these friars who fulfil so perfectly the object of their institution; I shall not conceal what has seemed to me reprehensible in their interior régime; but I shall announce that individually good and humane, they temper by their gentleness and charity the harshness of the rules that have been laid down by their superiors.' 'I have already made known freely my opinion on the monks of Chili, whose irregularity seemed to me generally scandalous. It is with the same truth that I shall paint these men, truly apostolic, who have abandoned the idle life of a cloister to give themselves up to fatigues, cares, and anxieties of every kind.' 'They are so strict toward themselves that they have not a single room with fire though the winter is sometimes rigorous; and the greatest anchorites have never led a more edifying life.'

437

THE MISSION SYSTEM CRITICISED.

it, the resemblance is so perfect that we have seen men and women in irons or in the stocks; and even the sound of the lash might have struck our ears, that punishment being also admitted, though practised with little severity." Like Governor Neve, speaking of the custom of hunting neophytes with soldiers, he "thought that the progress of the faith would be more rapid, and the prayers of the Indians more agreeable to the supreme being if they were not under constraint."

"I confess," to give a final quotation from the French navigator, "that, friend of the rights of man rather than theologian, I should have desired that to principles of Christianity there might be joined a leg- islation which little by little would have made citizens of men whose condition hardly differs now from that of the negroes of our most humanely governed colo- nies. I understand perfectly the extreme difficulty of this new plan; I know that these men have few ideas, and still less constancy, and that if they are not regarded as children they escape those who have taken the trouble to instruct them. I know also that reasonings have almost no weight with them, that it is absolutely necessary to strike their senses, and that corporal punishment with recompense of double ra- tions has been so far the only means adopted by their legislators; but to ardent zeal and extreme patience would it be impossible to make known to a few fam- ilies the advantages of a society based on mutual rights, to establish among them a right of property so attractive to all men; and by this new order of things to induce each one to cultivate his field with emulation, or to devote himself to some other class of work? I admit that the progress of this new civilization would be very slow; the pains which it would be necessary to take, very hard and tiresome; the theatres in which it would be necessary to act very distant, so that applause would never make itself heard by him who might consecrate his life to being worthy of it; and therefore I do not hesitate to de-

438

FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COMMERCE.

clare that human motives are insufficient for such a ministry, and that only the enthusiasm of religion with its promised rewards can compensate the sacri -. fices, the ennui, the risks of such a life. I have only to desire a little more philosophy on the part of the men, austere, charitable, and religious, whom I have met in these missions." M. de La Pérouse longed for the existence of qualities and views that have rarely been possessed by missionaries in California or elsewhere.

Previous to 1786 California, beyond furnishing occasional supplies to the Philippine galleon, and sending to San Blas by the returning transports now and then a cargo of salt,16 exported nothing; and little or no advantage was taken of a royal order of this year by which trade with San Blas was made free for eight years, and duties were reduced one half for five years more.17

The publication of Cook's voyage of 1778-9 on the Northwest Coast first opened the eyes of Spain to the importance of the fur-trade and led to some feeble attempts on her part to prevent so rich a treasure from passing into the hands of foreign nations and to utilize it for herself. A scheme was projected by the government in 1785 for the opening of a trade be- tween California and China, the intention being to exchange peltries for quicksilver, and to make the fur-trade a government monopoly as that in quick- silver had always been. With this view Vicente Ba-

16 The records are meagre about this salt supply. There are several orders in the archives requiring that salt be shipped from Monterey, and some indi- cations that it was so shipped. Sept. 1, 1784, Capt. Cañizares at Monterey informs Gov. Fages that he has orders to load with salt. Prov. St. Pap., MS., iv. 151. Order of the commissary at San Blas to same effect. Id., 152. July 2, Gen. Neve orders Fages to have the salt ready so that no detention may occur. Id., v. 62. Order given by Mexican government March 8, 1784, and repeated Jan. 11, 1787. Id., vii. 11, 12. Nov. 15, 1784, governor understands that salt must be collected at Monterey. Prov. Rec., MS., i. 182. Sept. 11, Fages tells Cañizares that as sailors are refused to get the salt none can be furnished. Id., ii. 112. As early as 1770 the San Antonio was ordered to load with salt in California. Prov. St. Pap., MS., i. 71.

17 Fonseca and Urrutia, Hist. Gen., ii. 84.

439

BASADRE'S PROJECT.

sadre y Vega was sent as a commissioner to California to investigate the matter and to make a beginning of collecting otter and seal skins.18

Don Vicente came up on one of the transports of 1786 which left San Blas in June, bringing with him his credentials and instructions to Fages from Viceroy Galvez, which were made public in the governor's proc- lamation of the 29th of August.19 The skins were to be collected from the natives by the missionaries, who were to deliver them to Basadre at the tariff prices ranging from $2.50 to $10, according to size and color. Neophytes must relinquish to the friars all the skins in their possession; skins obtained from neophytes by soldiers or settlers were liable to confiscation, the informer receiving one third of their value; those legitimately obtained from gentiles must be sent at once to the nearest authorities; all trade by private persons was prohibited; and any skins reaching San Blas through other than the regular channel would be confiscated. The aim was to make the government through the commissioner the sole purchaser, thoughi peltries were to be received and forwarded by com- manders of presidios after Basadre's departure. The friars favored the scheme since it put into their hands a new branch of mission temporalities.20

18 A good account of the project and its results is given in Fonseca and Urrutia, Hist. Gen. Real Hacienda, i. 372-81.

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History of California, Volume I, Part 50

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