USA > California > History of California, Volume II > Part 13
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
57 There were 1,300 head of stock in the rancho del rey in 1804, besides 240 head of diezmos. The site was bad and the missions were often applied to for cattle. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 360-1.
58 Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiv. 27.
59 Annual appropriations were from $16,000 to $20,000; invoices from Mex- ico and San Blas, from $7,000 to $20,000; supplies from missions on an aver- age $5,000; totals of habilitado's accounts $51,000 to $67,000; balance from $800 against to $7,000 in favor of the company; inventories of goods in ware- house $10,000 to $23,000. Net revenue from tobacco sales, $2,000 per year. (In 1803, 5,345 papers of cigars and 25,331 of cigarritos were consumed. Each invalid had $1.50 worth of cigarritos per month. Prov. St. Pap., Presidios, MS., i. 3; S. José, Arch., MS., iii. 75); postal revenue $85 per year; tithes $1,872 in 1804; papal indulgences about $100 per year; net proceeds of playing- cards and gunpowder in 1809, $135; amounts discounted on pay for fondos de Montepio é Inválidos about $550 per year. See company rosters and habi- litados' accounts, in Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxix .- xlviii. passim; Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., lxxx .- lxxxvii.
119
SANTA BÁRBARA.
repairs from the mission, and on May 24th a violent storm almost entirely destroyed the chapel and did further damage.60 The presidio had eight guns, all but one of brass, from one to six pounds in calibre, half of which were distributed among the missions, but none of which were used for purposes offensive or defensive, as the Indians were quiet and no hostile foreigner made his appearance within range. Not- withstanding the armament, Shaler declares that Santa Bárbara " has only the show of defence, and would fall an easy conquest to the smallest ship of war."6. 17 61 The remarkable criminal case of José Antonio Rosas and his execution by shooting and burning at Santa Bárbara on February 11, 1800, have already been narrated.62 There were three other cases tried before 1810 which caused considerable local excite- ment. In two of them men were accused of incest with daughters, and in the other of blasphemy; but in neither case is the final sentence recorded, thoughi more than one hundred and fifty pages of manuscript are filled with the testimony and pleadings. 63 Rowan in the Hazard obtained supplies at Santa Bárbara in 1803; but though the Channel islands were visited by the Lelia Byrd, O'Cain, and Albatross in 1805, 1807, and 1810, respectively, it does not appear that any of these vessels ventured within range of the pre- sidio guns.64
Progress in building at the mission is quite fully recorded. Each year from 1801 to 1805 from thirty to fifty adobe dwellings for neophytes were erected, until there were 234 of these structures, enclosed on three sides by an adobe wall built in 1802. During these years there were also erected a tannery, a major-
60 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 126; Prov. Rec., MS., xi. 109.
61 Prov. St. Pap., Presidios, MS., i. 5, 6, 19-24; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiv. 23; Shaler's Journal of a Voyage, 157.
62 See chap. xxviii. of vol. i.
63 Prov. Si. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxvii. 21-33; xxxviii. 1-3; xli. 1, 2. 6+ See chapters i., ii., and v. of this volume.
120
LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
domo's house, and three large warehouses, besides several other buildings, one of which was 18 by 60 feet, divided into many apartments, nicely plastered, and furnished with a corridor. Another was twice as long. In 1803 a church, or chapel, of adobes, 27 by 66 feet, was built at the San Miguel, or Mescaltitlan, ranchería, five or six miles from Santa Bárbara; and in 1807 eighteen adobe dwellings seem to have been erected at the same place. In 1806 a reservoir of stone and mortar, 120 feet square and seven feet high, was added; in 1807, a stone prison and four houses; in 1808, a fountain with laundry accommodations, a pottery, and an addition to the ministers' house includ- ing a stone-arched corridor.65
In 1801 an epidemic pulmonary disease carried off a large number of Indians, whereupon Chupu, the deity of the Channel coast, appeared to a neophyte in a dream or trance, and revealed that all gentiles who were baptized must become victims to the epi- demic, and so must those already baptized unless they made offerings to Chupu and washed their faces with a certain water. Within an hour the revelation was known, and nearly all the neophytes hastened to the prophet's house with beads and grain to renounce Christianity. The movement spread through all the Channel rancherías, while the missionaries remained in ignorance; for Chupu had foretold death to any who might inform them. Subsequently when the trouble was past the secret came out, and the friars realized how narrow had been their escape, for they were sure that their lives would have been lost had Chupu ordered the sacrifice. 66
We left the mission at the end of the last decade in charge of Tapis and Cortés. The former after he
65 Arch. Sta B., MS., v. 66, 76-7, S8, 129, 141, 144, 148, 151, 161, in annual and biennial reports of the mission. Prov. Rec., MS., xi. 96. The majordomos of the mission down to 1810 were, Rafael Gerardo, Nov. 1793 to Jan. 1794; Ignacio Higuera, Feb. 1799 to Nov. 1801; José de Santa Ana Avila, Dec. 1801 to Oct. 1806; Arch. Sta B., MS., ix. 48S-9. The pay was from $72 to $144 a year with certain cattle, grain, rations, and assistance.
66 March 1, 1805, Tapis to Arrillaga. Arch. Sta B., MS., vi. 33-4.
121
SAN BUENAVENTURA.
became president in 1803 made this mission his head- quarters until the beginning of 1806, and the latter retired in 1805.67 Marcos Amestoy began his min- istry in November 1804, and Luis Gil y Taboada in 1809, after Marcos Antonio Victoria had served in 1804-5, and José Antonio Urresti from 1806 to 1809. The increase of the decade in neophyte population was from 864 to 1,355; but the number had been 1,792 in 1803, the highest figure ever reached, and in this respect the period of decadence had begun for Santa Bárbara. In the total of baptisms for the dec- ade, and in the highest number for one year, this mission was in advance of all the others, and progress in other respects was satisfactory.63 That ground- squirrels had already proved a pest to the farmers at this early day, is shown by the fact that about a thousand of these animals were killed in nine days of May 1808.69
At San Buenaventura Father Señan served till 1810 and long after; but his associate, the venerable founder of this mission, Santa María, died in 1806,70
67 Juan Lope Cortés was assigned to duty in California on Feb. 24, 1796. He served at San Gabriel from August of that year until June 1798; and at Santa Bárbara till Sept. 1805, when he obtained license to retire and sailed from San Diego on Nov. 6th. From Sept. 1818 to May 1827 he seems to have been procurador of San Fernando college; and in June 1827 he was síndico of the same institution.
68 Population, gain, 864 to 1,355; highest number 1792, 1,803; baptisms, 2,073; highest number, 831 in 1803; lowest, 32 in 1809; deaths, 1,337; highest number, 215 in 1806; lowest, 89 in 1810; large stock, gain, 2,492 to 5,670; horses and mules in 1810, 1,390; small stock, gain, 5,615 to 8,190; crops in 1800, 3,075 bush .; in 1810, 3,900 bush .; largest crop, 10,150 bush. in 1804; smallest, 2,860 bush. in 1803; average 6,216 bush.
69 Arch. Sta Bárbara, MS., ix. 496.
70 Vicente de Santa María was a ' son' of the Franciscan province of Búr- gos, Spain. He left San Fernando college in Oct. 1770 and sailed from Tepic in February 1771. He was one of the company driven by the winds down to Manzanillo, returning to Sinaloa by land, and arriving at Loreto Nov. 24, 1771. He at first served at Loreto; was minister at San Javier in Dec. 1772; and sailed from Loreto for Mexico on May 27, 1773. In the summer of 1773 he came to Alta California as chaplain of the San Carlos. He lived as super- numerary at San Francisco, San Antonio, and Santa Clara until 1782, in May of which year he became one of the founders of San Buenaventura, where he served till his death July 15, 1806. His remains were interred in the mission church, and three years later, on Sept. 11, 1809, they were transferred with all possible solemnity to the newly dedicated church and deposited in a recess in the wall on the gospel side. Vancouver met him at Santa Barbara in 1793
122
LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
and was succeeded by Padre Marcos Antonio de Victo- ria. Romualdo Gutierrez came here from Santa Inés in 1806 in search of health, which he failed to find, as already narrated. The construction of the new church seems to have proceeded slowly. We have seen that it was half finished in 1794, and nearly completed in 1797; but in 1807 it is still described as about being finished, very capacious, of stone and brick, a part of the roof only being covered with tiles.71 Finally, however, it was done, and on September 9, 1809, was duly dedicated by Señan, who was assisted by five other friars and one priest. Next day, which was Sunday, the first mass was chanted by the presbyter, José Ignacio Argüello, son of Don José; and a ser- mon was preached by Urresti. On the 11th, as before mentioned, the ceremonies were completed by the transfer of Santa María's remains.72
The fact that Shaler in the Lelia Byrd, and Rowan in the Hazard, touched at San Buenaventura in 1804 is barely mentioned in the records, with no particu- lars whatever. 73 The neophytes increased during the decade from 715 to 1,297, the largest population ever reached. In its herds of cattle and horses this mis- sion was still far ahead of all the other establish- ments, and the average crops were among the best in California.74
The new foundation of Santa Inés, belonging to
and carried him down to his own mission by water, the friar's adventures on that trip having been elsewhere described. The English navigator speaks in terms of the highest commendation of the padre's character and zeal. He spoke the native language fluently. One of his diaries of an exploration for mission sites appears in my list of authorities. Santa Maria, Registro de Parages, 1795, MIS .; Vancouver's Voyage, ii. 454-61; S. Buenaventura, Lib. Mision, MS .; S. Francisco, Lib. Mision, MS., 37, 69; Prov. Rec., MS., xi. 112.
71 Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxvii. 40; sce vol. i. chap. xxx. of this work.
72 S. Buenaventura, Lib. Mision, MS., 17, 18.
73 See chap. ii. this volume.
74 Population, gain, 715 to 1,297; baptisms, 1,543; highest number, 216 in 1803; lowest, 92 in 1809; deaths, 977; highest number, 166 in 1806; lowest, 77 in 1805; large stock, increase, 10,113 to 21,221; horses and mules in 1810, 3,276; small stock, increase, 4,622 to 8,543; crops in 1800, 9,420 bushels; in 1810, 4,275 bush. ; largest, 9,450 bush. in 1806; smallest, 3,130 bush. in 1805; average, 6,400 bush.
123
PURÍSIMA MISSION.
this jurisdiction, has already been noticed in another chapter.75 Of Purísima, the only remaining mission of the district, there is little to say beyond recording the fact that the church, of adobes and roofed with tile, was completed before the end of 1802,76 present- ing the usual statistics, and naming the ministers in charge. The increase in neophytes was small for the whole period, from 959 to 1,022 only; but the number in 1804 was 1,522. Thus we see that Purísima like the other Channel missions, Santa Barbara and San Buenaventura, reached its greatest strength in con- verts in this decade. In all kinds of live-stock this mission was one of the foremost in California.77
Father Calzada served here until 1804 when he was replaced by Mariano Payeras. Gregorio Fernandez left California in 1805,78 and his place at Purísima was taken by Juan Cabot, followed in 1806 by Geró- nimo Boscana. In 1810 Payéras made a full report to the president on the condition of his mission. With the aid of interpreters he had made a complete catechism and manual of confession in the native idiom, by the aid of which the neophytes were becon- ing more or less perfect in their spiritual knowledge. He had found many errors in matters of faith, and even idolatry at first, but had made progress in uproot- ing the worship of Achup, or Chupu, in favor of the
75 Chap. ii., this volume.
76 Arch. Sta B., MS., xii. 69; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxvii. 40. 77 Population gain, 959 to 1,022; highest number, 1,522 in 1804; baptisms, 1,115; highest number, 451 in 1803; lowest, 27 in ISOS; deaths, 991; highest number, 220 in 1806; lowest, 40 in 1802; large stock, gain, 1,898 to 10,015; horses and mules in 1810, 1,215; small stock gain, 4,020 to 10,042; crops in 1800, 2,170 bush .; in 1810, the largest, 5,970 bush .; the smallest, 1,035 bush. in 1803; average, 3,300 bush.
78 Gregorio Fernandez was born at Búrgos, Spain, in 1754; became a Fran- ciscan in 1772; came to America in 1785, and to California in 1794. He served at San Luis Obispo from November 1794 until 1796, and at Purísima from May 1796 to September 1805. He solicited license to retire on the ex- piration of his term in 1804, and sailed for Mexico on Nov. 6, 1805. He came to the country with an excellent reputation; 'es un ángel,' writes Mugártegui; and there is nothing to show that his angelic qualities deterio- rated in California. Arch. Sta B., MS., xi. 247; Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., iv. 39- 40; Mission-books of San Luis and Purísima. He officiated at San Francisco in June 1794. S. Francisco, Lib. Mision, MS., 42.
124
LOCAL EVENTS-SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.
true God. Nearly all mothers gave birth to dead infants; preaching, teaching, and even chastisement had been powerless to arrest the evil, or even to make known its direct cause. There remained no more gentiles to be baptized except at a long distance of twenty-five or thirty leagues. The natives were docile, industrious, and not inclined to run away. It was a joy to see them work and sing and pray, and especially to see them bear their sufferings, beg for confession, and die like good Catholics. For five years not a kernel of grain could be raised without irrigation; but certain springs had been found which promised well for the future. The rancho of Reyes instead of being an injury to the mission as many are had been its salvation in at least one year, and recently it had been purchased by the mission for $2,000. A large amount of live-stock had also been purchased, and the prospects for meat, tallow, and wool were excellent. A $5,000 invoice of goods was expected from Mexico. Trade, especially that in skins, which took the friars' time and did harm perhaps to the Indians, had been abandoned, though in his own time, as the author seems to say, it had yielded over $10,000. The vines at Salsacupi had been transferred to a place called San Francisco, where they were cared for by the Ortegas on shares and promised to yield for the mission wine and brandy "which your reverence will yet drink some day without scum or dregs or bad taste, pure and clear as its mother gave it birth."79
19 Payeras, Comunicacion sobre el Estado de la Mision de La Purísima, 1810, MS., dated Jan. 13th. The writer also states that the old house had been newly roofed and whitewashed.
CHAPTER VII.
LOCAL EVENTS AND PROGRESS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.
1801-1810.
SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO-OFFICIALS, FORCES, AND POPULATION-FINANCES -- BUILDINGS-LANGSDORFF'S VISIT-EARTHQUAKE OF 1808-AFFAIRS AT THE MISSION-MINISTERS-STATISTICS-PUEBLO OF SAN JOSÉ-JURISDIC- TION-POPULATION-COMISIONADO AND ALCALDE-CHAPEL-BOUNDARY TROUBLES-SANTA CLARA-MISSION SAN JOSÉ-PEDRO DE LA CUEVA- NEW CHURCH-MONTEREY-STATISTICS OF POPULATION AND FINANCE- BEARS-SILVER-MINES-SAN CARLOS-BUENAVISTA-RELIC-PUJOL- SAN LUIS OBISPO-SAN MIGUEL-POISONED PADRES-FIRE-SAN AN- TONIO-SITJAR AND MERELO-SOLEDAD-SAN JUAN BAUTISTA-SANTA CRUZ-BRANCIFORTE.
BREVET CAPTAIN JOSÉ DARÍO ARGUELLO was co- mandante of San Francisco until 1806, in August of which year he turned over the command to his son Luis Antonio Argüello, and soon after went to Santa Bárbara.1 Don Luis with the rank of lieutenant commanded the company throughout the decade and much longer as we shall see. His brother Gervasio, however, was habilitado after 1808. San Francisco was entitled to a captain, and Manuel Rodriguez held that rank in the company after 1806, but he never came here in person, serving in Mexico as habilitado general. The company alférez was Luis Argüello
1 The lientenant's commission of Don Luis was dated March 10, 1806; he received the habilitacion July Sth, and the command on Aug. 5th. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxvii. 3, 15. Don José was commissioned captain of the Santa Barbara company March 22, 1807. Id., xxi. 12; St. Pap., Sac., MS., viii. 23. His instructions to his successor were dated Aug. 5th, and were confined for the most part to the minor details of routine duty, there being no attempt to explain the actual condition of affairs at the presidio, since the new commandant needed no instruction on that matter. Argüello, Instruccion que ha de observar el Teniente D. Luis Argüello durante su mando de S. Fran- cisco, 1806, MS.
( 125 )
126
LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.
until March 1806, and Gabriel Moraga, promoted from the Monterey company afterward. Amador was retired, probably in 1801, and Luis Peralta took his place, having José Sanchez as associate sergeant after November 1806.2 The company for some years con- sisted of thirty-six men; the volunteers were with- drawn in 1803; but in April 1805 an increase of thirty-four men was authorized,3 and before 1807 the ranks were full, with seventy men.
There were also five artillerymen, and from nine to eleven invalids. These men with their families, in- cluding the guards of San Francisco, San José, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz missions, but not those inva- lids of the company who lived at the pueblos, made a total population of gente de razon within the jurisdic- tion of 330, or a gain of 105 in ten years. Adding the population of the two pueblos, both of which were under the military jurisdiction of Monterey, we have a total of 500, with a neophyte population of 3,440. A more convenient division, and one which I shall hereafter follow, is to join Santa Cruz and Branciforte to Monterey, and to retain Santa Clara and San José pueblo in the San Francisco district. On this basis the population de razon in 1810 was 435 and the Christian Indians numbered 2,930. I append in a note some items of financial and other statistics.4
2 It is probable also that Gervasio Argüello held the place of company ser- geant with Peralta for a time in 1805-6, preceding Sanchez, but then chang- ing his place for that of cadet. It is somewhat difficult to follow all the moverents of all the members of this Argüello family as they were so often shifted about by the advice and influence of their father in search of the best line of promotion.
3 July 29, 1805, Argüello to governor, will proceed to recruit the new force according to viceroy's instructions of April 3d; but fears it may be difficult to get so many men. Recommends his son Gervasio for sergeant. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 30-1.
4 The San Francisco appropriation from the treasury increased from $10,000 to $19,000 in round numbers; invoices of goods from Mexico and San Blas varied from $5,000 to $13,000; supplies from the missions, from $3,000 to $6,000; inventories of goods in warehouse, from $4,000 to $17,000. Average annual revenue from sales of tobacco, $1,260; from post-office, $65 per year; tithes $100; papal indulgences, $110; playing-cards in 1808, $70; 144 packs sold. In fondo de retencion from $1,500 to 1,800. Rancho del rey, average net product of sales of cattle, $200. In 1802 there were 1,172 head of cattle in the rancho, 67 having been found dead or killed by wild beasts. March 10,
127
SAN FRANCISCO.
In the annals of this decade as of the preceding, the condition of the San Francisco buildings and defences gave rise to more correspondence than any other local topic; but the communications on the subject were always complaints, or petitions, or sug- gestions, and practically nothing was accomplished in the direction of construction or repairs. Early in February 1802 a hurricane made wild work with many of the presidio roofs;5 and two years later, after hasty repairs had given the garrison one winter of comparative protection, the heavy gales and rains of January 1804 again wrought havoc with the frail structures.6 The next storm, in November of the same year, devoted its surplus of energy to the battery of Yerba Buena, levelling the palisade which enclosed that work, and doing other damage. Commandant Argüello was now convinced that the battery was use- less in its original location, and ought to be moved to the hill nearer the anchorage proper of Yerba Buena, perhaps to the slopes of what has since been called Telegraph Hill.7 Fort San Joaquin was also reported to be in a deplorable condition, though some expense had been incurred in repairs in 1802; and accordingly in 1805 the fortification was surrounded with three sides of stone-wall and one of palisade, and a new casemate was built three hundred yards away, all by the labor of Indian captives without cost to the king.3
1803, order to send to Monterey all cows but 25 or 30 to avoid complaints from the mission. 1805, stock much mixed with that of mission. Many stray cattle. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 32. 1806, man in charge at Buriburi warned to tame the oxen needed for presidio work. Weather reports: 1803, rains slight; Jan. 1804, copious rains and strong winds; 1805, weather change- able-moderate rains in last months of previous winter-summer windy with the usual cold fogs -- present winter began with slight rains, strong winds, and frost-crops fair; 1806, good rains and crops; 1807, past winter, slight rains in later months with frosts and north winds-crops fair-summer cold with varying winds-present winter began favorably. See company rosters, habilitado's accounts, etc., in Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxix .- xliv. passim.
5 Feb. 2, 17, 1802. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 221.
6 Jan. 13 to 26, 1804. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiv. 3.
7 Nov. 29, 1804, Argüello to Arrillaga. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 362-3.
8 Sept. 28, 1805, Argüello to Arrillaga. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 31; Prov. Rec., MS., x. 26.
128
LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.
To Langsdorff in the spring of 1806 San Francisco had "the appearance of a German metairie. The low wooden houses consist of one quadrangular room. The home of the commandant is small and mean. A sort of parlour, with only white-washed walls, very scantily furnished, and about half the floor covered with straw-matting, served as the apartment for re- ceiving company." On the arrival of Arrillaga "we heard," says Langsdorff, "not only the guns of the fort with which we were already acquainted, but a discharge from behind another point of land within the harbour, which was at the entrance of a little creek to the south-east. We were not a little surprised at this, as we had never seen any fort there, nor had an idea that such a thing existed; it was in fact not visible from our anchoring-place, for it is so situated as to be quite concealed by the projecting point of land. An enemy's ship attempting to run into the harbor, deeming itself quite safe by steering out of reach of the fort at the entrance, might be very much surprised at being saluted with a discharge of artillery at the moment when such a salutation was least to be expected." 9
In July of the same year Arrillaga in a report to the viceroy represented the buildings as in a sad state. The commandant's house was covered with tiles, but not those of other officers. The barrack had only half a roof and was not secure for the convicts. At Yer- ba Buena there was not even a hut for the gunners, and the guns were useless from exposure. Fort San Joaquin was well located, but needed repairs. Only three of the ten guns were in good condition.10 For
9 Langsdorff's Voyages, ii. 152-3, 176-7, 189. The author also describes the location of the battery by saying 'when we had reached the point of land lying north-eastward of the presidency (thus Langsdorff or his translator sagely renders the word presidio), we saw the battery of five cannon which defended the south-south-eastern and south-western division of the bay.'
10 July 18, 1806, Arrillaga to viceroy. Prov. Rec., MS., ix. 90-1. State- ments of armament from 1802 to 1809, showing that there were in all at San Francisco 13 guns, 3 of which were iron 24-pounders, rusty and useless, and only 5 or 6 of the rest were in tolerable condition. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii.
120
EARTHQUAKES.
two years we find no special record respecting the presidio buildings; and then in June and July 1808 there came the most severe earthquakes that San Francisco had ever experienced. On July 17th Argü- ello wrote to the governor: "I notify you that since the twenty-first day of June there have been felt at this presidio some earthquakes, eighteen shocks to date, and among them some so violent that as a result of them the walls of my house have been cracked, being badly built, so that one of its rooms was ruined; and if the shocks have done, until now, no further clamage, it is because they found no chance for lack of dwellings. The quarters of Fort San Joaquin threaten ruin, and I fear that if the shocks continue there may happen some unfortunate accident to the troops sta- tioned there."11
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.