USA > California > History of California, Volume II > Part 11
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LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
cooled down before blood had been spilled, a severe reprimand was deemed a sufficient punishment. The cooling-down process had been hastened by the action of friends who made the hot-blooded lieutenants under- stand that they were likely to lose their commissions or be thrown out of the line of promotion.4
Carrillo arrived and took command late in 1807; but he died in November 1809.5 Ignacio Corral was
4 Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxviii. 3-6; Feb. 28, 1808. Arrillaga gives a mild version to the viceroy and suggests that Ruiz be retired with the rank of captain, Maitorena being put in his place. Prov. Rec., MS., ix. 105-6. José Antonio de Noriega wrote to his cousin José from Mexico a very earnest letter on the risks he was running by his conduct. Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., vi. 93. After Carrillo took command there seem to have been other troubles not clearly explained, in which Carrillo, Ruiz, Martinez, and Sergt. Pico were more or less involved. Arrillaga through Guerra warned Carrillo to have the quarrels settled privately and to avoid an investigation which was likely to result badly to the parties. Id., iii. 209-12.
5 José Raimundo Carrillo was the son of Hilario Carrillo and was born at Lo- reto in 1749. He probably came to California with the first expedition in 1769. According to the S. Diego, Lib. de Mision, MS., 9, he was a soldier at San Diego before the middle of 1772; but in his hoja de servicios, in Prov. St. Pap., Presidios, MS., ii. 11-14, it is stated that he enlisted on May 28, 1773. In 1776 he took part in seven campaigns against hostile chiefs in the San Diego mountains. He was made corporal March 8, 1778, serving for a time in the Monterey company. On April 23, 1781, Corporal Carrillo was married at San Carlos by Junípero Serra to Tomasa Ignacia, daughter of the soldier Fran- cisco Lugo. Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 74. He served as a sergeant at Santa Bárbara for 12 years from May 26, 1783. His first son Carlos Antonio was baptized at Santa Bárbara Feb. 17, 1784. Sta Bárbara, Lib. de Mision, MS., 3. In 1795 he was transferred to Monterey, and on April 27, 1795 was com- missioned alférez of the Monterey company, taking the place in August. St. Pap., Sac., MS., i. 55; Prov. Rec., MS., iv. 22, 191; v. 230. His appointment was approved by the king Nov. Ist. Carrillo (Dom.), Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., 1-9. On the recommendation of Arrillaga he was made a lieutenant Dec. 23, 1800, and became commandant of Monterey from Dec. Sth, to succeed Sal, the king's approval being dated Feb. 10, 1802. Id., 4; Prov. St. Pap., MS., xxi. 48, 56; Gaceta de Mex., x. 240. In August 1802 he was trans- ferred to the command of Santa Barbara, though still licutenant of the Mon- terey company. Here as elsewhere he kept the company accounts as habili- tado much of the time. He was present Sept. 17, 1804, at the founding of Santa Inés. Libro de Mision, MS., 3. On Oct. 1, 1806, still by recommendation of Arrillaga, Carrillo was promoted to be captain of the San Diego company, royal approval bearing the date of March 22, 1807. St. Pap., Sac., MS., i. 41-2; Carrillo (Dom.), Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., 4; Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 73. He was buried in the presidio chapel by Padre Iturrate on Nov. 10, 1809. Id., ii. 74; S. Diego, Lib. de Mision, MS., 92; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xl. 14. His will, given verbally to Don José de la Guerra y Noriega, was sent to the gov- ernor on Dec. 19, 1809. Prov. St. Pop., MS., xix. 261. July 13, 1816, the viccroy decides that Doña Tomasa, the widow, was entitled to the montepio militar, since her marriage had been with royal permission. Id., xx. 125. It is evident that Carrillo was an intelligent man and an efficient officer; but of his private character we have only Arrillaga's significant remark that he was at times 'masculine,' 'y prueba de ello es de que para curar a su hijo la madre necesita licencia.' His daughter, María Antonia, married José de la Guerra
101
SAN DIEGO COMPANY.
appointed commandant in his place; but for some un- explained reason he never came to California.6
Ruiz became acting commandant, though he did not obtain his captain's commission till 1821, when he nominally succeeded Corral as full commandant of the company. José Lujan continued as alférez until 1806, when he left the country," and was succeeded by Igna- cio Martinez, lately cadet at Santa Bárbara. Acebedo was succeeded by Joaquin Arce as company sergeant before 1804; and after 1805 there were two sergeants, José María Pico being advanced to that position.
The presidial company numbered usually fifty-seven men besides the officers down to 1805, after which date eighteen additional men were recruited, chiefly from the pueblo of Los Angeles and surrounding ranchos; but as the twenty-five Catalan volunteers had departed in 1803, the actual force was rather smaller than larger than in the preceding decade. The invalids of the company varied from fifteen to twenty-four, and a few of these remained on duty at the presidio. There were also four or five artillerymen at the fort; but as in 1806 the viceroy, having relieved San Diego from the care of Mission San Miguel, transferred five men to the Loreto company,8 the effective force of the pre- sidio was in 1810 about eighty men, twenty-five of whom composed the four mission escorts of San Diego, San Luis, San Juan, and San Gabriel. The
y Noriega; and his sons Carlos Antonio, José Antonio, Anastasio, and Do- mingo, were prominent men, as we shall see, in the later history of the coun- try.
6 March 10, 1810, Rodriguez to governor, speaks of the appointment of Corral, who was a lieutenant in the Corona regiment, and says the viceroy must be urged to send Corral forward to his post, else he would surely remain in Mexico. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xliv. 1.
7 Lujan was regarded by Gov. Borica as unfit for his position, being of weak mind and body, and ignorant of military duties. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xvi. 174. Idle and disposed to feign sickness. Prov. Rec., MS., v. 273. Pro- nounced by Arrillaga wholly incompetent to command a presidio. Id., x. 17. June 26, 1806, Lujan writes from San Luis Rey that he would demand a court-martial. He left San Diego for Lower California on Aug. 5th, and on Sept. 21st writes from Velicatá that Rodriguez had insulted him, retarded his promotion, and exiled him. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 121-2, 147. Noth- ing is known of his subsequent career.
8 Dec. 23, 1806, viceroy to governor. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 103.
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LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
soldiers with their families, not including the invalids who were residents of Angeles nor the guard of San Gabriel, made a total population of about 320 in the district, a gain of 70 since the year 1800. The neo- phyte Indian population of the jurisdiction had in the mean time increased from 3,000 to 4,300 in round numbers. Of live-stock and agriculture at the presi- dio no records exist for this decade; there is, however, no evidence that there were any private ranchos within the district, or that any agricultural operations were carried on round San Diego Bay.9
Of repairs executed on the presidio buildings, or of complaints respecting repairs needed, usually a most prolific topic of correspondence, we read absolutely nothing during this decade. There appear, however, a few minor items respecting the fort or battery at Point Guijarros, which, like the flatboat which plied between it and the presidio, was kept after a fashion in repair at the expense of the divers hundreds of dol- lars drawn from the king's exchequer.10 Shaler and
9 Appropriations in Mexico from the royal treasury for San Diego varied from $15,000 to $21,000; invoices of goods from $8,000 to $18,000 per year; the balance in favor of the company from $5,000 to $13,000; the totals of the habilitado's accounts from $34,000 to $56,000; and the yearly inventories of goods in the warehouse from $20,000 to $25,000. Mission supplies to the presidio were $4,000 in 1804; $5,500 in 1806; and $7,700 in 1807, but there are no records for other years. The amount in the fondo de retencion held in trust for the soldiers was from $3,000 to $4,000. The amount deducted from pay for the fondo de inválidos from 1798 to 1805 was $3,072; that for monte- pio for the same time $212. Net proceeds of sales of live-stock from the rancho del rey were from $300 to $500 per year. The rancho contained 1,185 animals in 1802. The average net revenue from postage after deducting 10 per cent commissions, was $90 per year. Tithes at the presidio, presumably on the cattle of the rancho del rey, averaged $30; but for the whole district they seem to have exceeded $400. Papal bulls for the few years recorded brought $75 per year. The tobacco revenue at San Diego was more important, yield- ing on an average $1,704 per year. Net yield of the presidial forge in 1807, $263. See company rosters and presidial accounts from 1801 to 1810 in Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxix .- xliv. passim; Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., lxxxvii. 56, 58; Prov. St. Pap., Presidios, MS., i. 39-40; Prov. St. Pup., Ben. Mil., MS., i. 14; Prov. St. Pap., Ben., MS., ii. 9; Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 249-51; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., iii. 31-2; vi. 123.
10 Repairs on the battery in 1801, $183. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 278. Jan. 10, 1804, comandante to governor, $688 has been appropriated by the viceroy to the construction of a boat 25 ft. long for the use of the garrison. Id., xviii. 366. July 3, 1805, governor orders a light on Pt Guijarros. Prov. Rec., MS., xii. 29. 1805, 6 six-pounders, 5 of which useless. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiii. 21. April 1, 1806, Corporal Mariano Fernandez to
103
CLEVELAND AT SAN DIEGO.
Cleveland in 1803 found " eight brass nine-pounders, mounted on carriages, which appeared to be in good order, and a plentiful supply of ball," and their vessel the Lelia Byrd a little later served as a target for those same balls, much to her damage, as elsewhere related.11 In fact the battery in its baptism of fire under the command of Corporal José Velazquez nearly won the honor of sinking the Yankee smug- gler; though Shaler says of it, " there is a sorry bat- tery of eight-pounders at the entrance; at present it does not merit the least consideration as a fortification, but with a little expense might be made capable of defending this fine harbor." 12
Cleveland's visit in the Lelia, and that of the Alex- ander, Captain Brown, a few days earlier in March 1803,13 were the most exciting events, and indeed almost the only events, to be noted in ten years. No foreign ship cared, after the Byrd's experience, to run the gauntlet of the guns, though onee or twice, as we have seen, a vessel anchored outside and sent in by land the oft-told tale of want and suffering. It was safer and more agreeable to anchor at San Quintin, or San Juan Capistrano, or San Pedro, where there were no guns; and thus the good people of San Diego enjoyed less opportunity for contraband trade than their neighbors north and south. And contraband trade was well nigh the only excitement of the epoch; for the Indians kept perfectly quiet, and the enlist- ment of a reënforcement to take the place of the vol- unteers hardly created in the dull sea of monotony a ripple sufficient to show itself in the official records.14
take charge of the battery. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 170. A flatboat, lancha plana, running in 1806. Id., xix. 137. 1807, goods devoted to fort and boat, that is to pay for work thereon, $416. Id., Ben. Mil., xxxvii. 43. Expenses in 1810, $498. Id., xliv. 18.
11 Cleveland's Narrative, i. 211-17; chap. i. of this volume.
12 Shaler's Journal of a Voyage, 158.
13 See chap. i. of this vol. The Enterprise had also obtained supplies in 1801.
14 From the correspondence in Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 178-9, it would seem that the recruiting of IS men, attempted by Lujan in 1805, was accom- I lished only with great difficulty; the vecinos of Angeles manifesting very little military ardor.
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LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
One by one, however, the old pioneers were dropping off, and in the list of deaths at San Diego I have to note that of the veteran Lieutenant Pablo Grijalva which occurred on June 21, 1806.15
The first year of the decade the rains were late and there was great want of grain at the mission, as also in 1803; though statistical tables show the crops of 1809 to have been much smaller than in either of
15 Juan Pablo Grijalva came to California in 1776 with Anza's colony as a sergeant. He had before served 12 years as a private and a few months as a corporal in the presidial company of Terrenate, Sonora, where he had been engaged in nine campaigns and 11 mariscadas against the Indians, being twice wounded. Grijalva was present at the founding of San Francisco, and served there for ten years. Oct. 1, 1786, the governor recommended him for promo- tion, and his commission as alférez of the San Diego company was issued on July 20, 1787, by General Ugarte. He aided in many explorations for mission sites, founded San Pedro Martyr in Lower California in 1794, and was en- gaged in ten expeditions against fugitive or aggressive Indians. Feb. 1, 1795, Borica placed him in the second place among the three names of the terna for promotion to a lieutenancy. In Dec. of the same year Grijalva asked for re- tirement on account of infirmities contracted during his long service. Borica endorsed his petition with the recommendation that he be retired as lieuten- ant with half-pay as alférez. April 17, 1796, Borica wrote that as a reward for his services to the king the viceroy would be urged to give him an honor- able position. Dec. 2, 1796, Grijalva was put on the retired list as invalid alférez of the San Diego company with $200 a year; and Nov. 7, 1797, he was notified that his retirement with rank of lieutenant had been allowed. He continued on the retired list, receiving his pension until his death in 1806. Whether he lived at the presidio, at Los Angeles, or had a temporary grant of land is not known. It has been thought that he may have been the original occupant of the Santiago de Santa Ana Rancho subsequently granted to his sons-in-law; but I deem this not likely. (See vol. i. chap. xxx.) He acted as habilitado of the San Diego company for brief periods. He brought his wife, Dolores Valencia, and two daughters to California. One of the daughters, María Josefa, was married May 17, 1782, at San Francisco to the Catalan corporal Antonio Yorba. The other, María del Cármen, was married Oct. 27, 1785, to Pedro Peralta, a soldier of San Francisco. Both have de- scendants living in California, though I believe the male line and name of Yorba is extinct. Grijalva made his will on the day of his death, June 21, 1806, at San Diego. He possessed 700 head of cattle, 25 horses, and 6 droves of mares, 54 mules, arrears of pay amounting to $140, and a few small cred- its due from private persons. After ordering the payment of certain trifling debts, $10 to the 'holy places of Jerusalem,' a liberal sum for masses for the rest of his soul, and 50 head of cattle to a grandson, he gave the remainder of his property to his wife. He was urged by Rodriguez to remember his daughters in his will, since it was feared he could not legally omit them; but he refused, saying that his daughters had been fully provided for at their marriage. He also refused to state what money and jewelry he possessed. He was about 65 years of age at the time of his death. These items on the life of Grijalva I have gathered from St. Pap., Sac., MS., i. 55, 106; v. 80-1; vii. 65; xvii. 7; Prov. St. Pap., MS., vii. 45; Id., Ben. Mil., xxiii. 4; xxv. 16; xxvi. 2; xxxiii. 7; xxxvii. 1; Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., lxxxvii. 52; Prov. Rec., MS., v. 244, 260; S. Francisco, Lib. de Mision, MS., 6, 24, 56, 58; S. Diego, Lib. Mision, MS., 25, 30; Sta Cruz, Lib. Mision, MS., 41; Arch. Arzob., MS., i. 37.
MAP OF SAN DIEGO.
Mision Vieja
0.
S.JUAN CAPISTRANO
S.Jacinto
S.Mateo
Temecula
Las Flores
Margarita
R. Sta.
Sta.Margarita
R. S.Luis
Pála
S. LUIS REY
Pauma
?
La Joya
S.Dieguito
S.Dicguito
S.Bernardo
Agua Caliente
R.
S.José del Valle
S.Pascual
Penasquitos
Soledad
Paguay
Sta.Isabel
Pto.Falso
MISION
El Cajon
L
PRESIDIO
Pta. Guijarros Pta.Loma
Rancho del Rey
35
Agua Dulce
Otay
Jamul
R. Tiu Juana
Potrero
Descanso
LA FRONTERA
SAN DIEGO DISTRICT, 1800-30.
105
S.Felipe
R. S.Diego
106
LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
those years.16 I suppose it may have been these droughts that impelled the friars to construct an ex- tensive system of irrigating works, and that the works, the remains of which are yet to be seen, were probably completed during this decade, though there are no definite records on the subject, and though I suspect the ditch was never practically a great success. Some three miles above the mission the river was dammed by a solid stone-wall, thirteen feet in thickness, and coated with a cement that became as hard as rock. In the centre was a gate-way twelve feet wide lined with brick. The dam was standing in 1874, though the water had washed out a channel at one end, and the sand left but a few feet of the height of the structure visible. From this dam an aqueduct of tiles, resting on cob- ble-stones in cement, and carrying a stream one foot deep and two feet wide at the surface, was built down the stream through a precipitous gorge, impassable on horseback, to the mission lands. The aqueduct often crossed gulehes fifteen or twenty feet wide and deep, and was so strong that in places it supported itself after the foundation was removed.17
On May 25, 1803, an earthquake slightly damaged the mission church. 18 Padre Sanchez in a letter to Arrillaga states that work was begun on a new church September 29, 1808;19 yet in the description of a ceremony that took place in 1804 the 'new church' is also mentioned. This ceremony, conducted by Father Payeras and other friars in the presence of Com- mandant Rodriguez and the troops, was the transfer of the remains of the three deceased padres of the mission, Jaume, Figuer, and Mariner. The bodies- or bones only in the case of the martyred Jaume- were taken from their old resting-places and deposited
16 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 367; xix. 140, 144; Id., Ben. Mil., xxix. 3. 17 This curious work is described from personal examination by Hayes. Emig. Notes, 153, 603.
Prov. Rec., MS., xii. 21.
19 Arch. Arzob., ii. 65. Arrillaga's reply, Oct. 27th. Prov. Rec., MS., xii. 94.
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SAN DIEGO MISSION.
in one grave, but in separate boxes between the altars of the new church. 20
Gaining in neophyte population from 1523 to 1611 a gain of only five per cent as against 75 per cent for the preceding decade, the death-rate increasing from 50 to 80 per cent as compared with baptisms- San Diego was still the largest mission at the end of 1810; though I have already explained why this was not a gauge of prosperity.21 In other respects, how- ever, except that it lost nearly one half of its cattle, the mission was tolerably prosperous.22 Barona re- mained as minister throughout the decade; but Panella left the country in 1803,23 and was replaced for about a year by Mariano Payeras, and then José Bernardo Sanchez took the place in 1804. Pedro de la Cueva from Mission San José was here for a short time in 1806, and José Pedro Panto came in September 1810.
In the general mission report of 1801-2 it is stated that the adobe church of San Luis Rey had been
20 S. Diego, Lib. Mision, MS., 89-90. Jaume was placed in the smallest box nearest to the image of the virgin; Mariner, in the largest near St James' image, and Figuer farthest south. Three stones were erected over the grave. In Arch. Obispado, MS., 68, there is an undated note to the effect that under the niche of St Francis is deposited the offering of Capt. Fons (Font) of the Catalan volunteers. Dec. 25, 1804, a neophyte caught flagrante delicto threw a stone at the padre who caught him. Arch. Sta Barbara, MS., vi. 34.
21 Rodriguez in 1807 says that it was the practice to turn the Indians into the mountains whenever there was a short crop. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxvii. 37. See chap. xxix. vol. i.
22 Gain in neophytes, 1,523 to 1,611; baptisms, 1,023; lowest year 1809 with 24, highest 1808, with 140; deaths, 829; lowest 29 in 1803, highest, 162 in 1806; large stock, decrease from 6,960 to 3,720; horses, mules, and asses in IS10, 720; small stock, gain, 6,028 to 9,740; crops in 1800, 2,600 bushels; in 1810, 1,540 bushels; smallest crop, 360 bushels in 1809; largest, 5,500 bushels in 1806; average, 2,300 bushels. It will be noticed that the gain in population is much less than the difference between baptisms and deaths. The same is true of most other missions, and the discrepancy can not be satisfactorily explained. I can find no sufficient evidence that the names of runaways were erased from the registers or omitted in the regular reports, though this may have been the case.
23 Of José Panella we know only that he came to the country in 1797, served at San Diego, was accused of undue harshness in his treatment of the Indians, and took his departure in October 1803. He seems to have served for a short time in 1798 at San Luis Rey, but his methods of management nearly caused a revolt, and he was sent back where the Indians were better accustomed to his rule with a reprimand from President Lasuen. Was at San Gabriel in July 1799. S. Gabriel, Lib. Mision, MS., 51. Allowed to depart for Mexico Oct. 4, 1803. Prov. Rec., MS., vi. 20.
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LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
completed,24 and this is all we may know of the growth during this decade of what was the most imposing pile of mission structures in California, better known to the world than any of the rest through the draw- ings of Duflot de Mofras, made in 1840.25 Padre Antonio Peyri, the founder of this establishment, pre- sided over its fortunes throughout the ten years. His associate, José García, left California in 1808 and was succeeded at San Luis by Domingo Carranza, who himself retired in 1810, when President Tapis came here to aid Peyri for a time.26 Under these shepherds the neophyte flock increased from 337 to 1,519, a larger gain than that of any other mission, with by far the lowest death-rate, 28 per cent. In population San Luis was now second only to San Diego; in cattle third on the list and a tie with San Gabriel; in agriculture its best crop was exceeded only by that of San Fernando.27
San Juan Capistrano was a favorite stopping-place for the American traders in search of provisions and opportunities for barter; but few details of their visits are known. Captain Brown in the Alexander touched here in the spring of 1803, and in the autumn Rowan in the Hazard; in July 1804 there appeared the Lelia
24 Lasuen, Informe Bienal de Misiones, 1801-2, MS., 69.
25 Mofras, Exploration Atlas. The front view and ground plan-both, and especially the latter, very inaccurate-have been several times repro- duced.
26 José García was assigned to duty in California Feb. 3, 1800, and arrived at Monterey in August of the same year. On his way south he officiated at several missions; but his only regular ministry was at San Luis Rey from 1800 to 1S08, when he was allowed to retire on account of impaired health, which had caused him to ask for license as early as 1804. His qualities have left no trace in the records. Domingo Carranza arrived at Santa Barbara May 7, 1798, on the Concepcion with seven companions. He officiated at Santa Cruz from November 1798 till August 1808, and at San Luis Rey until late in 1810, when, having served his term and more, he sailed on the San Carlos and with that vessel fell into the hands of the insurgents at San Blas. By them he is said to have been sentenced to death, though the sentence was never exe- cuted.
27 Increase in population, 337 to 1,519; baptisms, 1,451; lowest number, 42 in 1809; highest, 432 in 1810; deaths, 411; lowest, 23 in 1802; highest, 104 in 1806; large stock, gain from 619 to 10,576; horses in 1810, 776; small stock, gain from 1,600 to 9,710; harvest in 1800, 1,600 bush .; in 1810, 4,225 bush .; smallest crop, 2,890 bush. in 1809; largest in 1808, 10,875 bush .; average, 5,250 bush.
109
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO.
Byrd, Captain Shaler; in September Rowan returned; and in 1806 four men from the Peacock, Captain Kim- ball, were seized and sent to San Diego as prisoners.28 If we credit the Spanish reports of these visits we must believe that the foreigners were uniformly sent away without supplies and were given no chance to trade; but it is implied in the reports of the Ameri- cans and Russians that there was never any great difficulty in getting fresh provisions or in trading with the friars, though it was deemed wise to keep away from the forts.
In March 1801 the store-room was set on fire by a servant's carelessness, and the mission lost 2,400 bushels of grain besides more than six tons of tallow, some damage being done also to church property.23 The only other event to be noted, and a most impor- tant one in the mission annals of San Juan, was the completion of the new church which had been in process of construction since 1797. It was the finest church in California, built of stone and mortar, sur- mounted by a lofty tower, with five interior arches of cut stone; and it was regarded with equal pride by missionaries and neophytes, who had accomplished the work with the aid of a master-mason. The con-
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