History of California, Volume II, Part 15

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 826

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140

LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

finished, so that at present they live chiefly in straw huts of a conical form." 38

Meanwhile work on the mission church was pressed forward, and on April 23, 1809, President Tapis came to hold the vigil of Saint Joseph and to bless the new structure. Next day he preached and Father Arroyo de la Cuesta said mass in the presence of other friars, of several military officers, and of many people from the adjoining pueblo. On the eighth of the following July the new cemetery was blessed with the custom- ary solemnities. 39

Raimundo Carrillo remained in command of the Monterey company until 1802, though Alberni as already stated was commandant of the post until his death, in March of that year. Carrillo was then transferred to the command of Santa Bárbara, though still lieutenant of the Monterey company; and Alférez José de la Guerra became acting commandant. In 18.06 he also was transferred to Santa Bárbara, and from the middle of that year Lieutenant José María Estudillo, who had lately come up to California with Arrillaga, assumed the command. Guerra's place as alférez was taken by José Mariano Estrada, who had also come from Loreto with Arrillaga. The habilitado was Carrillo in 1801, Guerra in 1802-6, Estudillo in 1806-7, and Estrada in 1807-10. The surgeons were Juan de Dios Morelos in 1801-2, Manuel Torres in 1802-3, José María Benites in 1803-7, and Manuel Quijano from 1807 to 1824. The company sergeant, Castro, was retired as an invalid about 1801, when Gabriel Moraga took the place. Ignacio Vallejo was made a sargento distinguido of the company in 1805 and held the place throughout the decade. Moraga was succeeded by Francisco Alvarado in 1807,40 who

38 Langsdorff's Voyage and Travels, ii. 190-9, with plate.

39 S. José, Patentes, MS., 31-2. In Arch. Misiones, MS., i. 764, is the design of a mural decoration of the church.

40 Thus these three men, Alvarado, Castro, and Vallejo, whose sons, or grandson in Castro's case, born about this period, were to be the most promi-

141

ANNALS OF MONTEREY.

on his death in 1809, was replaced by Miguel Espi- nosa.41

The presidial force at Monterey was-besides the officers, a bleeder, two or three mechanics, and per- haps a few servants-57 men until 1805, when it was increased in three days by enlistment to 82 men. There was also an artillery detachment of from five to seven men. The invalids numbered from 23 to 27, and lived for the most part at San José and Branci- forte. 42 The total population of the jurisdiction reck-

nent figures in the later history of California, were now sergeants of the same company. José Francisco Alvarado was a corporal in the Loreto com- pany in Sept. 1805, when he received orders to go to Monterey with promo- tion to sergeant. He was a native of Sinaloa, his parents having been Juan Bautista Alvarado and María Dolores Castro. It is not unlikely that his father was the soldier of the same name who came to California with the first expeditions of 1769-73. Soon after his arrival at Monterey Francisco married Josefa Vallejo, daughter of Don Ignacio, who bore him a son named like his grandfather Juan Bautista, afterward governor of California, who died in ISS2. The sergeant only lived three years in his new home, as he was buried on May 29, 1809, in the cemetery of the mission of San Luis Obispo. His widow married Jose Ramon Estrada. Prov. Rec., MS., x. 4; S. Luis Obispo, Lib. Mision, MS., 54. In Shuck's Representative Men of Cal., 503, we read of 'General Francisco Alvarado, chief adviser and adjutant-general of Gov. Arrillaga,' which is rather amusing considering that Arrillaga himself was never more than colonel. Of course the book referred to is not worth this notice, but I give it as an illustration of the trash that has circulated in Cali- fornia as biography. José Macario Castro, grandfather of the famous José Castro and of the somewhat less famous Mannel Castro, does not appear in the records after he ceased to be comisionado of San José in 1807, though I am not certain that he died during this decade. He was born in 1753, entered the military service in 1778, came north from Loreto in time to have a son born at Santa Bárbara in March 1784, was made a corporal before Angust 1785, commanded the escoltas of San Juan Capistrano and Soledad, and was made a sergeant in 1794. He was comisionado of San José in 1792-4, and from 1799 to 1807, being a sargento inválido after 1801. His wife was María Potenciana Ramirez and in 1793 they had five children. St. Pap., Sac., MS., vi. S, 9; i. 55; S. Diego, Lib. Mision, MS., 23; Sta Bárbara, Lib. Mision, MS., 4; S. Juan Cap., Lib. Mision, MS., 10; Soledad, Lib. Mision, MS., 3; Prov. St. Pap., MS., viii. 98; xviii. 313; Prov. Rec., MS., v. 413; iv. 185.

41 In giving the succession of the various officials I have. generally not attempted to fix the day and month of changes, because there is often much confusion between the dates of promotion, order to depart, departure, and dropping from the rolls in the case of each individual. I add however a few notes respecting the positions of comandante and habilitado: Carrillo's ap- pointment approved by government, March 23, 1801. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 79. Orders himself recognized April 9, 1801. S. José, Arch., MS., v. 6. Guerra as habilitado from January 1, 1802, to June 30, 1806. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiii. 9, 10. Guerra left Monterey Nov. 22, 1806. Pror. St. Pap., MS., xix. 119. Estudillo succeeds Guerra as habilitado July 1, 1806. Id., Ben. Mil., xxxiii. 8. Proclaims himself commandant Dec. 3, 1806. S. José, Arch., MS., iii. 78; Prov. Rec., MS., ix. 96.

42 After the departure of the volunteers in 1803, and before the increase of 1805, the invalids were called upon to come to the presidio for service. S.

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LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

oned on the same basis as in the last decade, excluding the invalids at the pueblos and including the guards of San Carlos, San Miguel, Soledad, San Antonio, San Luis Obispo, and San Juan Bautista, amounted in 1810 to 480; or if we add Branciforte and Santa Cruz for a more convenient classification, leaving San José and Santa Clara to the northern district, we shall have a total de råzon of about 550, with a neo- phyte population of 5,130. As in the case of other districts I refer the reader to a note for various sta- tistics. 43

The bears, wolves, coyotes, and other wild beasts were responsible for what little excitement was known about Monterey in the early years of this decade. The bears became so bold as to kill and eat cattle every-day in full view of the herdsmen; the wolves attacked work-horses on their way from Carmelo Val- ley to the presidio. The Indians were often chased by the bears, and one was killed by a grizzly. More than fifty bears were killed in 1801-2, including one who had distinguished himself by eating five mules and seven cows. She-asses were so attractive to bruin

José, Arch., MS., iii. 97. The distribution of the invalids in 1806 was: 12 at San Jose; 7 at Branciforte; 4 at San Miguel; and 1 at San Carlos. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxv. 3; xxxvii. 19. Full list of the company on Aug. 1, 1806, in Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., i. 140-5. Aug. 3, 1805, the commandant says he enlisted the 19 new men in three days. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 42-3. In 1805 at the presidio 53 men and 78 women complied with their religious obligations. Id., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiii. 1.

43 The financial records are less complete and satisfactory for Monterey than for the other presidios. Annual appropriations varied from $17,000 to $23,000; invoices from Mexico and San Blas $13,000 to $48,000, those of goods from San Blas being about $2,000; totals of habilitado's accounts $38,000 to $104,000; inventories of goods in warehouse, $14,000 to $41,000; balances, from $4,000 in favor of company in 1805 to $15,000 against it in 1810; supplies from missions about $2,000 per year. Revenue from post-office, $170 per year; from sales of tobacco $1,550; tithes about $450; papal indulgences $150. Amount deducted from pay for fondos de inválidos y montepio, $200 to $600 a year; amount in fondo de retencion, $3,000 to $4,000. Net proceeds of sales of cattle from rancho del rey $500 a year, 1,521 cattle branded in 1801. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 46. Stock in the rancho in 1802; 5,200 horses, 57 mules, 25 asses, and 2,284 cattle. Id., Ben. Mil., xxx. 20. Over 400 animals killed by wild beasts in 1805. Id., xxxiii. 19. On the king's land at Salsipuedes, near Corralitos, 500 broken horses were kept for the troops. Sta Cruz, Arch., MS., 14. See company rolls and habilitado's accounts for this decade in Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxix .- xli .; St. Pap., Sac., MS., i .- ix. xvii .- viii.

143

PRESIDIO BUILDINGS.

that all had to be brought to the presidio for protec- tion. Traps and poison proving inadequate, the gov- ernor was called upon to authorize the use of 1,000 cartridges, and a regular military campaign was un- dertaken against the enemy. That the foe, if tem- porarily checked, was not entirely routed is shown by the record that in 1805 some four hundred head of live-stock were killed in and about the rancho del rey, although about thirty mares were slaughtered and their poisoned carcasses used against the beasts.44

In February 1801 the viceroy was informed that the Monterey buildings, particularly the presidio chapel, were in a ruinous condition, the hard labor of troops and Indians for twenty years being rendered useless by reason of original faulty construction. In March a storm of wind and rain demolished the prin- cipal gate of the presidio. In December the com- mandant represented the urgent necessity of new rooms in the barracks, of a better jail, and of a new warehouse to stand on the foundation of the old one at the landing-place, now in ruins. Three hundred dollars were spent in repairs this year. In June 1802 Carrillo announced his intention to rebuild the com- mandant's house, demolished several years ago at the death of Hermenegildo Sal to avoid contagion. The local authorities were evidently desirous of a chance to rebuild the presidio at the cost of the royal treas- ury, with a view among other things to revive business and circulate money in California; but the viceroy and his advisers paid but very little heed to such requests except when aroused by the fear of imminent danger, real or imaginary, of foreign invasion. 45 Shaler says

44 Monterey, Diario de Sucesos, 1800-2, MS. This valuable original manu- script is really a blotter of the communications of commandants Carrillo and Estudillo, addressed to the governor from Nov. 29, 1800, to Feb. 27, 1802, chiefly in the handwriting of the two officers mentioned. Carrillo's reports to Arri- llaga, in Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 44-7. Aug. 31, 1801, Arrillaga author- izes the use of 1,000 cartridges. Prov. Rec., MS., xi., 159. Ravages of beasts in 1805. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiii. 19.

15 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xxi. 59; xviii. 167, 169; Prov. Rec., MS., x. 12, 15; Monterey, Diario, MIS., 29, 55. Dec. 31, 1803, Guerra describes the pre-

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LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

in 1805 "there is a miserable battery on a hill that commands the anchorage, but it is altogether inade- quate to what it is intended for," a remark that was doubtless true, though there is no proof that it was founded on the writer's own observations. The guns were ten in number, of eight, six, and three pounds calibre; and there were occasional complaints that the armament was in bad condition.46

In February 1802 a mining expert came on one of the transports, and made with such poor apparatus as was available an assay of a small quantity of ore obtained from a mine near Monterey. The vein had been discovered before Borica's departure by Ignacio Ortega opposite the king's rancho north-westerly toward the Sierrita. Lead had already been obtained from the ore, a small quantity of which now yielded six ounces of fine silver as weighed by Carrillo with his own hands. 47 Also in 1802 Sergeant José Roca was accused by Carrillo of having insulted him pub- licly in the plaza, and bawled loudly for justice. 48 Brown in the Alexander, who touched at Monterey in August 1803, is the only foreigner known to have braved the terrors of the presidial battery during the decade;49 and beyond the departure of the Catalan volunteers in the same year, the increase of the cav- alry company in 1805, the arrival of Arrillaga at his capital in 1806, the occasional changes in military officials, and the regular arrivals of the supply-vessels from San Blas, all occurrences that have been noted

sidio as 110 varas square. On the north is the principal gate with barracks and 3 warehouses; on the west the governor's house with parlor, 8 small rooms and kitchen, also 2 houses for officers, and 1 for the surgeon; on the south 9 houses for families with the chapel in the centre; and on the east 9 houses for families, a blacksmith shop, and a small gate. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxi. 12.

46 Shaler's Journal, 157; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xxxiii. 2; Prov. Rec., MS., xi. 126; St. Pap., Sac., MS., v. 23. Sept. 26, 1810, the governor states that Monterey has a cemetery near the presidio walls and the shore. Prov. Rec., MS., viii. 103.

47 Monterey, Diario, MS., 58; St. Pap., Miss. and Colon., MS., i. 42-3. The mine was at Alisal. Hayes' Scraps, Mining, v. 3; Yolo Co. Hist., 22.

48 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 204-8, 216.

49 See chap. i., this volume.

145

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.

Aptos

Corralitos

Salsipuedes

B. Montarey

R. Pajuro

S.Isidro

Pájaro

Animas

Pta:Pinos

S. JUAN BAUTISTA

Pta.Cipreses B.Carmelo

MONTEREY S. CARLOS

Natividad

Rancho del Rey

Salinas

Gavilan

Carm

Chualar

Pta. Sur

IL. Monterey

SOLEDAD 0

Salinas

C.S.Martin

S Miguelito

S.Benito

S. ANTONIO

NeQ_Ojitos

R. S. Antonio

Jolon

Pleito

S.Simeon

R: Nucimien Pajaro

OS. MIGUEL

Sta.Isabel

S. Antonio

Paso Robles

suncion

Morro

Sta. Margarita

Buchon

Monterey

S. LUIS OBISPO

S.Antonio

Pta. S. Luis

MONTEREY DISTRICT.

HIST. CAL., VOL. II. 10

Alisal-

Pilarcitos

Los Tulares

Los Osos

146

LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

elsewhere, I find nothing further in Monterey annals requiring notice here.

At the mission of San Carlos there were rumors current in 1801 of a plot formed by the Indians to kill Father Viñals and burn the buildings. The ran- chería was accordingly surrounded and all the Indians were captured; but, as was usually the case in such alarms, the rumor proved to have no foundation, hav- ing been circulated by a neophyte for purposes of revenge.50 In 1802 the friars made an effort to obtain possession of the Buenavista Rancho on the ground that it was clearly in mission territory, that it was now needed for mission uses, that the occupants had only a provisional permit and not a grant, and finally that Borica had promised to restore the land when it should be required for the mission cattle. Arrillaga declined to take any definite action in the matter on the plea that he was only governor ad interim. The friars threatened to appeal to the supreme govern- ment; the governor advised them by all means to do so; and we hear no more about the matter.51 This is the only reference that I find in the archives to the private ranchos of this district between 1801 and 1810, except in the case of Castro's grant of La Brea to be mentioned in connection with San Juan. Of the mission buildings nothing is recorded, but we learn that in the church was preserved in a case of gold a fragment of the hat of San Carlos Borromeo, the patron saint, deemed a most precious relic.52

Padre Lasuen died at his post in June 1803 as elsewhere related.53 Pujol died in 1801, under cir- cumstances indicative of poisoning, while serving tem- porarily at San Antonio and San Miguel.54 Viñals

50 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 63.

51 Correspondence between Arrillaga and Viñals and Carnicer, April to June 1802. Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 9-12. Prov. Rec., MS., vi. 19.

52 Memorandum of Amorós in 1808. The authenticity of the relic was duly certified by Bishop José Landini of Porpluyrea (?). Arch. Arzob., MS., i. 1. 53 See chap. i. this volume for biographical note of Lasuen.

5+ Francisco Pujol y Pujol, written Pujol by himself but often Puyol by others, was the son of Juan Pujol y Soulie and Josefa Pujol y Durans, bap-

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MISSION SAN CARLOS.

left California in 1804.55 Pujol was succeeded by Carnicer, who came back to this mission in 1801 and served until 1808 besides being chaplain at the pre- sidio.56 Viñals was followed by Juan Amorós in 1804; Carnicer by Francisco Suñer in 1808; and the

tized March 7, 1762, at Alos, Catalonia, Spain. He took the Franciscan habit Feb. 13, 1787, and came to San Fernando college Aug. 19, 1793, after having ' suffered terrible imprisonments among the enemy " in consequence of the war with France. He came to California in 1795, and served as minister at San Carlos from 1797 to 1801. When at the end of 1800 the ministers at San Antonio and San Miguel were suddenly taken ill, Pujol voluntecred to aid them, though the danger of being himself poisoned was believed to be great. He served at San Antonio till Jan. 17, 1801, and then went to San Miguel. Here he was attacked with the same malady that had prostrated the others, and was brought back suffering terribly to San Antonio on Feb. 27, where he died Sunday morning March 15th. His death was witnessed by Ciprés, Sitjar, and Merelo, by Sergt. Roca, Cadet Fernando Toba, and Surgeon Morelos. It was intended to make a post-mortem examination, but the body was in such a condition that it was not practicable. There seems to have been been no doubt in the minds of the people that his death was the result of poisoning by the Indians. His body was buried March 16th in the church with mili- tary honors, rarely accorded in the case of a simple missionary; but it is not unlikely that he was the company chaplain at Monterey. On June 14, 1813, Pujol's body was transferred with that of Sitjar to a grave in the presbytery of the new church at San Antonio, on the gospel side. He was generally re- garded as a martyr, or a victim to his own zeal and enthusiasm for missionary duty. S. Antonio, Lib. Mision, MS., 29-42; Prov. Rec., MS., xi. 153; Monte- rey, Diario, MS., 30. According to the last authority an examination was made and the intestines found to be black and putrid.

55 José Viñals came to California in May 179S. He served at San Carlos from August 1798 till 1804, in August of which year he obtained license on the ground of threatened impairment of bodily and mental health, and soon after retired to his college where he was yet living in 1809, intending to go to Spain in 1811, as he wrote to his friend Capt. Guerra, since God would not permit him to spend the rest of his days in California. He asked Guerra for money to pay his travelling expenses and to relieve the wants of his aged parents. He soon left his college to join another, and before 1811 had brought suit against San Fernando because his certificate of dismissal did not show that he had acted loablemente. He is supposed to have ended his days in a Carthusian monastery. He was of an ardent, gay temperament while in Cali- fornia, being a fine singer aud performer on the guitar. It is necessary to add that the moral character of Viñals was not wholly above suspicion, for he was at one time accused before the alcalde of San José of having been the father of three children brought into the world by a certain señora of that locality. Prov. Rec., MS., vi. 20; Arch. Sta B., MS., vi. 218; xi. 68, 303; Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 373-6; Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 41; Ord. Occurren- cias, MS., 81-2.

56 Baltasar Carnicer came to California early in 1797. He served at Sole- dad from June of that year to 1798; at San Carlos in 1798-9; at San Miguel in 1799-1801; and then at San Carlos until 1808, in Aug. or Sept. of which year he got permission to retire. He was one of the padres supposed to have been poisoned at San Miguel, but recovered his health. He served as chap- lain from 1803 until his departure, coming to the presidio every Friday or Saturday and remaining until Monday morning. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xx. 277-8; Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 62; mission-books of San Miguel, San Antonio, Soledad, and San Carlos, as also of other northern missions where lie occa- sionally officiated.

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LOCAL EVENTS-NORTHERN DISTRICTS.

latter by Francisco Vicente de Sarria in 1809. Presi- dent Tapis also lived here much of the time after 1806.

In neophyte population San Carlos, the missionary capital of California, had reached its highest figure, 927, in 1794; and during this decade it declined from 758 to 513, the number of deaths exceeding that of baptisms by over a hundred. In other respects the mission was more uniformly prosperous than several other establishments. It was by no means the fault of the friars that there were no more Indians to con- vert.57

At San Luis Obispo, the southernmost of the mis- sions subject to the military jurisdiction of Monterey, the friars were commended in 1805 for their cool re- ception of a foreign vessel, probably the Lelia Byrd, which came in pretended need of fresh provisions, but really in quest of opportunities for illicit trade. Let us credit the missionaries with this law-abiding act, and let the credulous of my readers believe, if they can, that such was the reception always given to traders at San Luis, for there is no record of this decade to prove the contrary, save Winship's statement that he obtained supplies for the Albatross in 1810.58

In 1809 the governor approved the building of a chapel at San Miguelito, one of the rancherías of this mission.59 Luis Antonio Martinez served continuously for these ten years and twenty more. José de Miguel left the mission in 1803 and Marcelino Ciprés came the next year; but he left California in 1801,60 and

57 Population, loss 758 to 513; baptisms, 454; largest number, 71 in 1806; smallest, 17 in 1801; deaths, 586; largest number, 83 in 1806; smallest, 39 in 1807; large stock, increase 2,180 to 2,530; horses, etc., in 1810, 430; small stock, increase 4,160 to 6,045; crops in 1800, 5,940 bush .; in 1810, 3,675; largest erop, 6,580 in 1801; smallest, 2,080 in 1807; average, 4,000 bush.

58 Chap. ii. and v. this volume.

59 Prov. Rec., MS., xii. 97.

60 Marcelino Ciprés was a native of Huesca, Aragon, Spain, took the Fran- cisean habit at Saragossa, studied philosophy at Ternel and theology at Tar- ragona, and came to San Fernando college in 1793. In 1795 he was assigned to California, serving from October of that year until the end of 1804 at San Antonio, and then at San Luis Obispo until his death in 1810. He was a very zealous missionary, learned the native language at San Antonio, and devoted

149

SAN LUIS AND SAN MIGUEL.

Marcelino San José y Marquinez took his place. The number of neophytes of the San Luis community de- creased from 726 to 713 in these ten years; but the highest figure, 854, had been reached in 1803. This was the smallest of the old missions except San Carlos. In its live-stock it held a place far above the average, but its grain crops were somewhat more variable than in most other establishments,61 and gradually decreased.

At San Miguel, next northward, Juan Martin was the senior minister. Carnicer left the mission in 1801, Adriano Martinez served from 1801 to 1804,62 Pedro Muñoz in 1804-7, and Juan Cabot entered upon his long term of ministry at the beginning of 1807. It was in February 1801 that Carnicer and Martin were attacked with violent pains in the stomach, supposed to have been the result of poisoning by the neophytes. These two friars recovered their health, but Father Pujol who came down from San Carlos to relieve the

himself most assiduously to the work of caring for the sick and attending to the spiritual welfare of his neophytes. He was always ready to start when summoned, regardless of the hour, the distance, or the difficulties of the way. In 1801 he had trouble with his mission guard, and was in consequence the subject of certain charges which proved to be unfounded. He suffered with his associate in 1800 from the illness attributed to poison, but recovered. After nine years' service at San Antonio his health broke down partially, and at his own request he was transferred to San Luis Obispo, where he would have easier work and more leisure for study. It was he who is credited with the extraordinary act of having coolly received an American smuggler with goods to dispose of. At the beginning of 1800 he made a visit to Monterey, and on his return arrived on Jan. 26th at San Miguel, where he was attacked by acute inflammatory disease and died. He was buried on Feb. Ist by Paye- ras, Martin, and the Cabots, in the church of San Miguel. S. Miguel, Lib. Mision, MS., 15-17; S. Luis Obispo, Lib. Mision, MS., Arch. Obispado, MS., 85; Autograph signature in S. Antonio, Doc. Sueltos, MS., 32-3.

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History of California, Volume II, Part 15

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 826

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 826