History of California, Volume II, Part 36

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

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350

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE SOUTH.

Statistics of population are very incomplete; and those relating to live-stock, agriculture, and other in- dustries are altogether inadequate to the formation of general conclusions. Sola, however, states that in 1817 the settlers had excellent lands, supplied much produce to the presidio, and in fact produced all that there was a market for. They had also 53,686 vines.26 The official list is equally meagre. Guillermo Cota held the office of comisionado until the end of 1817; Juan Ortega, until August 1818; and subsequently Anastasio Carrillo. Respecting the civil government of the pueblo we only know that Antonio Maria Lugo was alcalde in 1816 and 1818, Anastasio and Antonio

Ávila, 1815; Antonio Valdés, 1815; Antonio Lopez, 1813; José María Rocha, -. Twenty worked out as laborers or at a trade, and a few had gardens: Pedro Valenzuela, 1798; Nicolás Alanis, 1807; Rafael Arriola, 1811; Cayetano Duarte, 1813; Pedro Pollorena, 1805; Antonio Romero, 1807; Ignacio Almenares, 1813; Miguel Sais, 1806; Cosme Olivas, -; José María Valenzuela, 1815; Agustin Carabantes, 1807; Gerónimo Cañedo, 1812; Francisco Olivares, 1815; Manuel Gonzalez, 1814; José García, 1808; Carlos García. 1813; Juan Ruiz, 1812; Vicente Lorenzana, 1812; Jose María Farias, 1815; José Verdugo, 1814. Of fifteen it is simply stated that they had no lands: Bruno García, 1796; Ramon Sotelo, 1805; Francisco Acebedo, 1808; Urcino Tapia, 1809; Joaquin Ruiz, 1813; Juan José Duarte, 1814; Teodoro Silvas, 1816, Gabriel Sotelo, 1815; Ignacio Lugo, 1800; Francisco Sotelo, 1803; Leandro Duarte, 1809; Francisco Ávila, --; Juan José Alvarado, 1815; Francisco Solorzano, 1816; Ramon Buelna. And finally 7 had apparently land-grants, ranchos, or sitios for cattle raising: Mariano Verdugo, 1787, at Cahuenga, which he held until 1810 only, and later a garden in the pueblo; Bartolo Tapia, 1791; a sitio, besides two suertes and two gardens; Francisco Félix, 1791, on a rancho given to his father, within the pueblo lands; Doroteo Félix, 1803, also a rancho of his father's; Antonio María Lugo, 1809; Manuel Gutierrez, 1811, on the rancho of the late Juan José Dominguez, which he now owned, three others, two Ávilas and Sepúlveda, living on the same rancho; and José María Verdugo. The last named, like Gutierrez and Tapia, had grants from the superior government.

June 12, 1819, Guerra speaks of the 50 vecinos of Los Angeles. Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., iii. 142-3; 354 inhabitants in 1811. Vallejo, Doc., MS., xxxiii. 105; 586 in 1818. Prov. Rec., MS., ix. 187; 478 in 1815. Arch. Sta B., MS., xii. 43. October 1819, project to station 20 soldiers at Los Angeles approved by Payeras. Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. ii. 128-30.

26 Sola, Observaciones, MS., 187. In 1811 there were 4,000 cattle, 1,687 horses, 458 mules, and 29 asses. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xlii. 8; in 1814, 6,295 cattle, 2,499 horses, 346 mules, 39 asses, and 770 sheep. Id., xlii. 4; in 1817, 1,388 cattle, 419 horses, 63 mules, and 561 sheep. St. Pap., Sac., MS., iv. 41-2; and in 1823, 10,623 cattle, 2,851 horses, 183 mules, 96 asses, and 468 sheep. Guerra, Doc. Ilist. Cal., MS., 122. Some of these statements include the ranchos perhaps, and others not. In 1811 the crop was 430 bushels wheat, 4,920 maize, and 230 beans. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xliii. 7; Vallejo, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., xxviii. 105. In 1814, 575 bush. maizc, and 435 beans. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xlii. 3. Tithes on grapes in 1820 amounted to 1,300 cuartillos, or quarts, of which 650 were taken by the collector. Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., lv. 7.

351

A PUEBLO CHAPEL.

Ignacio Ávila were alcalde and regidor in 1820, and the former with Tomás Uribes regidores in 1819.27

In 1811 authority was obtained for the erection of a new pueblo chapel by the citizens, and the corner- stone was placed and blessed in August 1814 by Father Gil of San Gabriel with the permission of President Señan. Beyond laying the foundation no progress was made before 1818, since in January of that year Sola ordered that the site be changed in favor of a higher one near the comisionado's house. At this time the citizens had subscribed five hundred cattle for the enterprise, but Sola feared that sufficient funds could not be realized by selling the cattle, and therefore proposed to take them and include the cost of the chapel in the next year's estimate. In 1819 Prefect Payeras by an appeal to the friars obtained seven barrels of brandy for the building-fund, worth five hundred and seventy-five dollars. This sum with earlier contributions was expended on the church, and the walls were raised to the window arches before 1821.28 Meanwhile the matter of chapel service was still an open question, though little bitterness was shown in the correspondence of 1815-18. The padres of San Gabriel announced the impossibility of attend- ing to the spiritual welfare of the pueblo and ranchos. Señan presented the matter in a strong light to the governor, who in his report of 1818 made an appeal to the viceroy in behalf of the veterans of the king's service who had gone to spend their declining years at Los Angeles, and ought not to be deprived of spiritual care. Yet the Angelinos obtained no chaplain.29 The

27 Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 327, 379; Id., Ben. Mil., xlix. 53; Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., Iv. 7; Arch. Arzob., MS., iv. pt. i. 9, 18; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., ii. 199-200; iii. 83, 92; iv. 2; vi. 154; Avila, Notas, MS., 1, 3, 9.

28 Payeras, Memorial, 1821, MS. José Antonio Ramirez was architect, and neophytes from San Gabriel and San Luis Rey did the work at one real per day. Arch. Sta B., MS., viii. 137; xii. 148-9; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cul., MS., iv. 8. It is not clear if the corner-stone was laid Aug. 15th or 19th. Sola, Observaciones, MS., 187, in his report of 1818 says that the citizens were building a new church, the old one being small and in a bad condition.

29 Señan, Informe Bienal, 1813-14, MS., 93; Sola, Observaciones, MS., 187-8; Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. i. 67, 09; Arch. Sta B., MS., x. 491; xii. 93.

352

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE SOUTH.

old controversy of pueblo and mission limits came up again in 1820 with a result that cannot be definitely stated. It was agreed mutually that the boundary should be fixed according to the decision of witnesses "de probidad, conciencia, y conocimiento;" but Padre Zalvidea complained to the governor that the pueblo

Mojave

Mojave Desert

Piru

Secpe

Camulos

Cienega

Sta. Clara

Sta. Paula,

S. FERNANDO

Simi

Conejo

Nerdugos

Triunfo-

S. GABRIEL

Cucamonga

Maliba

Felix' LOS ANGELES

La Puente

34º

Sta. Monica

Laguna

Jurupa

S, Auftonio

Nietos

Chino

Sauzal

S.Pedro

Cerritos

Ana

Temescal

Palos

Pta.Vicente Verdes

Sta. Ana

S. Pedro B.

Pta.Firmin

Trabuco

S.Jacinto

118

S.Juan Capistrano

MAP OF LOS ANGELES DISTRICT, 1800-30.

officials refused to abide by the decision, because, as he believed, Antonio María Lugo, uncle of the comi- sionado, and others had much stock on what were justly mission lands. 30

The pueblo was still within the military jurisdic- tion of Santa Barbara, the sergeant comisionado being

30 March 27th, Zalvidea to Sola. Arch. Arzob., MS., iv. pt. i. 9.

S.Bernardino

Pt.Dumet

Encino

R. S. Gabriel

co Porciuncula

Coyotes

353

SANTA BÁRBARA.

responsible to the comandante; but of correspondence between the local authorities and those of the presidio and province there is practically nothing extant. Yet as we have seen Los Angeles sent out a large force of her citizen soldiery to defend the coast from Bou- chard in 1818; and two years later Sola commended the valor of Regidor Avila and Citizen Alvarado, who marched against the hostile Dieguinos and slew their leader.31 Moreover the occasional approach of a vessel to the San Pedro anchorage, the matter of the cannon left there by Noe in 1813, and the capture of Tarakánof and his Aleuts in 1815,32 may be re- garded as Los Angeles events. There was also a village school in 1817-18, for which a school-master was awarded $140 a year.33

There is very little to record during this decade of the private ranchos in the Santa Bárbara jurisdiction, all classed as before with Los Angeles for convenience. The list of 1816 of the ranchos properly belonging to Los Angeles, mentions those of the two Verdugos, one of which is said to have been at Cahuenga, and to have been occupied only until 1810; that of Felix, within the pueblo bounds, and that of Manuel Gutierrez, for- merly owned by Dominguez. It also includes the ran- chos, not named, of Bartolo Tapia and Antonio María Lugo not mentioned in the records of the last decade, but omits those of Yorba and Nieto, thus suggesting that those ranchos were included in the San Diego jur- isdiction, and that their inhabitants may have formed a part of the 120 gente de razon credited to San Gabriel.3 Yorba's rancho is, however, mentioned in connection with the Bouchard affair of 1818.35 Simí is also re-

31 March 25, 1820, Sola to Moraga. Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xlix. 53.

32 See chap. xiii., xiv., this volume. The escape of a prisoner from the pueblo jail in Feb. 1818, and his flight with two companions toward the Colorado, together with the alcalde's pursuit of the fugitives, also caused a slight ripple of local excitement. Guerra, Doc. Ilist. Cal., MS., iii. 82-5.

33 Prov. Rec., MS., ix. 180; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., iii. 74. The invalid Máximo Piña was the school-master.

34 See p. 342, 357, this volume.

35 Sola, Instruccion Gen., 1818, MS., 24S. HIST. CAL., VOL. II. 23

354

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE SOUTH.

ferred to in the same document. In February 1816 there had been a piteous appeal from Mission San Fernando that there was no place for the mission sheep now that Patricio Pico had notified the padres to re- move them from his land; and in 1820 a portion of the Simi buildings were burned by the Indians.26 In 1817 the mission sheep were in a like manner ordered away from lands claimed as a part of Refugio, much to the padres' disgust.37 Of Las Virgenes and El Conejo nothing is in the records. In 1816 the padres of San Gabriel objected to the granting of a site some twenty leagues from the mission to Francisco Avila; and in 1817 a similar objection was made to the grant of Secpe near San Buenaventura. The friars did not approve of private land-grants, and there was no lack of plausible reasons or pretences. 33 Finally in Decem- ber 1819 the regidores and thirty citizens represented that Captain Guerra, just at his departure for Mexico, had been induced to grant to Talamantes and Ma- chado the rancho de los Quintos, which really belonged to and was needed by the pueblo. They claimed that the commandant had acted without due consideration and that the governor had in several instances refused such petitions for land. Acting Comandante Moraga seems to have left the matter in statu quo for the deci- sion of higher authorities by permitting the townsmen to form corrals on the land.30

36 Feb. 16, 1816, Muñoz to Sola. Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. i. 15-17; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xlix. 53.

37 Nov. 6, 1817, Ripoll to Sola. Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. ii. 3. The padre protests against the removal, says that Ortega has land enough besides that in question for a whole mission, and that his past attempts to have the sheep removed have been fruitless.

38 Feb. 15, 1816, Payeras to Sola. Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. i. 18. Señan and Victoria to Sola, May 31, 1817. Id., iii. i. 129-33.

39 Los Angeles, Instancia de los Regidoresy Vecinos sobre tierras, 1819, MS. The names of the petitioners are all written in one handwriting, with a '+' attached by the two regidores, who could not write, to certify the genuine- ness of all. The names were: Anastasio Avila, Tomás Uribes, Francisco Acebedo, José Palomares, José Polanco, Máximo Alanis, Vicente Sanchez, Mariano Verdugo, Juan de D. Ballesteros, José Félix, Cayetano Varelas, Ma- teo Rubio, Segundo Valenzuela, Ramon Buelna, Ignacio Rendon, Vicente Villa, Francisco Villa, José Bermudes, Antonio Ibarra, Andrés Ibarra, Pablo Franco, Juan José Higuera, José Antonio Botiller, José Antonio Remon, En-

355

SAN GABRIEL.

January 14, 1811, Father Francis Dumetz died at San Gabriel where part of the time since 1806 he had lived as supernumerary. He was the oldest mission- ary in California, where he had served for forty years; and he was the only surviving companion of Junípero Serra who still remained in the province.40 Zalvidea served as minister throughout the decade, but his asso- ciate Miguel died in 1813,41 and was succeeded by Luis Gil y Taboada, who in 1814 was followed by Joaquin Pascual Nuez. Padre Urresti also lived here in 1804-6.

San Gabriel in 1820 was excelled in neophyte pop- ulation by only San Luis Rey and San José. There had been more Indians baptized there during the dec- ade than in any other mission except San José and San Francisco; it stood at the head of the list in the number of cattle, and in agricultural products was surpassed by San Luis only. 42 Sola in 1818 reported

carnacion Urquides, Desiderio Olivera, Santiago Rubio, Ant. Reyes, Jacinto Reyes, Bernardo Higuera, Juan Pollorena.

" Francisco Dumetz was a native of Mallorca; was appointed to the Cali- fornia missions in August 1770; sailed with 10 companions from San Blas Jan. 21, 1771, and arrived at San Diego March 12th. He served at San Diego until May 1772; at San Carlos until May 1782; at San Buenaventura until August 1797; at San Fernando until 1802, and again in 1804-5; and at San Gabriel in 1803-4, and from 1806 to 1811. In 1772 and 1775 he had made trips down to Velicata to obtain supplies. He was buried by Zalvidea on Jan. 15, 1811, the day after his death. Though he appears to have been an efficient and zealous worker, he is perhaps the least prominent of all the old padres in the missionary records. Not a single document bears his name in my list of authorities. His fame must live in California chiefly as the latest survivor of the early friars and in his name applied by Vanconver to a point on the coast. Romero, however, Memorias, MS., 5, tells us that Dumetz was tall, stout, and of light complexion, addicted moreover to the use of snuff, traces of which were always unpleasantly visible. See Mission Books.

41 José de Miguel came to California in 1790; served at Sta Bárbara from June of that year until October 1798, when he was allowed to retire to Mex- ico on account of ill health; returned in 1300 and served at San Luis Obispo until September 1803, and at San Gabriel from 1803 to 1813. He died on June 2, 1814, at San Fernando, and was buried by Padre Olbes. Arch. Sta B., MS., x. 428-9; xiii. 307; Arch. Arzob., MS., i. 52; Prov. Rec., MS., v. 281; vi. 102; Arch. Obispado, MS., 86. It seems that during his absence in Mexico he left the college of S. Fernando and joined that of S. Pablo y S. Pedro de Michoacan; but repenting was taken back. Arch. Sta B., MS., xi. 281-2, 284. 42 Increase in population, 1,201 to 1,636 (but in 1813-17 if there is no error the pop. was from 1678 to 1701, the highest number ever reached); bap- tisms, 2,005; smallest number, 9S in 1816; largest, 483 in 1811; deaths, 1,323; largest number, 159 in 1818; smallest, 108 in 1819. Increase in live-stock. 10,576 to 15,981; horses, etc., 776 to 981; small stock, 9,750 to 12,448. Crop in 1810, 19,140 bushels; in 1820, 11,530; largest, 19,900 in 1817; smallest, 2,845 in 1818; average, 11,400.

356

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE SOUTH.

this mission as having the finest lands in California with abundant water; yet two years before Zalvidea had reported the land so exhausted that the neo- phytes had to go to La Puente to plant, nine or ten miles away, where six hundred were then at work, and where a chapel was much needed.43

A chapel was built in connection with the mission hospital, as at other southern establishments, before 1818. In 1819 the gentiles of the Guachama ranche- ría, called also San Bernardino, some fifteen leagues from San Gabriel, voluntarily asked for the introduc- tion of agriculture and of stock-raising in their fertile lands, and a beginning was made in a way not speci- fied. The padres regarded this as an important step toward the conversion of the tribes toward the Colo- rado; but it does not appear that any station was established at San Bernardino, nor were any buildings erected there down to 1822, in the report of which year the preceding facts are mentioned.44

There was constant alarm on account of the Ind- ians in 1811, rumors of foes approaching from the Colorado being frequent. The alarm continued to some extent through the decade and was particularly active in 1819 in connection with the affair of the Amajavas at San Buenaventura. There is no evi- dence of hostilities, or even that any of the rumors were well founded.45 The earthquake of December 8, 1812, at sunrise overthrew the main altar, breaking the St Joseph, the St Dominic, the St Francis, and the Christ, damaging the church considerably, bring- ing down the top of the steeple, and badly cracking the sacristy walls, and injured the friars' houses and other buildings.46 As before stated San Gabriel be-

43 Sola, Observaciones, MS., 185-7; May 16, 1816. Zalvidea to Sola. Arch. Arzob., MS., iii. pt. i. 40.

44 Misiones, Cuaderno de Estados, 1822, MS., 268-9. An article in the San Bernardino Times, July 8, 1876, says a branch of San Gabriel with buildings was established here about 1820, the buildings having been destroyed by the Indians about 1832.

45 See chap. xv. this volume.

46 St. Pap. Miss., MS., iv. 21-2. Eulalia Perez remembered that María

357

SAN FERNANDO.

longed to the jurisdiction of San Diego, though it is more convenient to class it with Los Angeles in the Santa Bárbara district. In 1819 the mission was credited with 175 inhabitants de razon, of which doubtless fifty-one and perhaps more were soldiers stationed there only temporarily, while the occupants of some adjoining ranchos were probably included. The guard with the soldiers' families could not have exceeded thirty or forty persons.47

Of the two ministers at San Fernando Rey, Muñoz and Urresti, the latter died in 1812, and the former left the country in 1817.48 Urresti was succeeded by Joaquin Pascual Nuez who served in 1812-14; and by Vicente Pascual Oliva in 1813-15. Marcos An- tonio de Vitoria followed Muñoz, serving from 1818 to May 1820. Roman Ullibarri came in January and Francisco Gonzalez de Ibarra in October 1820. From 1815 to 1820, therefore, there seems to have been but

Ignacia Amador de Alvarado taught a kind of school at her own house in 1818. Recuerdos de Una Vieja, MS., 7.

47 The mission statistics give San Gabriel from 1800 to 1819 a constantly increasing population de razon from 37 to 175; after which, as was customary at other missions, only the padres are given. The irregularity of course con- sisted in reckoning during these years the escolta and some of the rancheros. Its cause is impossible to state; but it introduced considerable confusion in the records, which, however, will not affect the totals for the whole province nor for the southern districts, only causing uncertainty in the division of the two districts.

48 José Antonio Urresti came to California in August 1804; served at San Gabriel till September 1806; at Santa Bárbara to August 1809; and at San Fernando to his death, Jan. 5, 1812. Arch. Sta B., MS., x. 445; Libros de Mision, MS.

Pedro Muñoz was born at Puerto de Baños, Estremadura, Spain, on July 19, 1733; took the habit June 10, 1793; became a member of the college of Bien-Parada; and after completing his studies and taking the different orders was ordered to San Fernando, sailing from Cádiz June 10, 1803, and arriving Sept. 9th. He left the college in April 1804. Arch. Sta B., MS., iii. 46-7; Arch. Misiones, MS., i. 404. He served at San Miguel from October 1804 to July 1807; and at San Fernando till November 1807, having been at San Francisco temporarily also for six months in 1SOS. He made several expedi- tions into the interior, the most important being that with Moraga in 1806 into the Tulares Valley, of which he has left a diary. Muñoz, Diario, MS., etc. By some indiscretion committed on the way to California he excited the suspicion of his superiors, and instructions came to the president that his conduct was to be watched. There was a scandal that gained some cur- rency of his relations with the wife of a certain majordomo; but we have the padre's own statement that the charge was investigated by his superiors and proven false. Arch. Azob., MS., ii. 6. Ill-health was the reason given for his retirement in 1817.

358

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE SOUTH.

one minister. The earthquake of December 21, 1812, did no further damage than to necessitate the intro- duction of thirty new beams to support the church wall. In 1813 a neophyte was killed by the Indian alcalde, who threw a club at him from a distance of twenty yards with a view to quicken his movements at work. The killing was deemed accidental and the penalty imposed was only two months in the presidio. In 1816-18 there was complaint that neophytes were running away in large numbers. Before 1818 a new chapel was completed." San Fernando gained slightly in population during the whole period; but reached its highest figure, 1,080, in 1819, and then its decline began. In agriculture and stock-raising this mission was tolerably successful, but except in the item of cattle did not rank with the largest establishments. Its lands though fertile were not broad; and when its sheep were driven off of Pico's rancho of Sim the friars complained that they must all be killed as there was no place for them. This sounds strange in view of the immense flocks of sheep pastured in this valley in later years.50

Captain José Argüello was commandant of Santa Bárbara51 until the autumn of 1815, when he went south as governor of Baja California. As he never returned, and had no further connection directly with the pro- vince of Alta California, I have here to present in accordance with my general plan his biography.52

49 St. Pap. Miss., MS., iv. 21; Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., xlviii. 2; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., vii. 26-30, 43; Payeras, Informe Bienal, 1817-18, MS., 302-3.

50 Increase in pop., 955 to 1,028. Baptisms, 619; largest no., 181, in 1811; smallest, 30 in 1815. Deaths, 536; largest no., 67 in 1815; smallest, 40 in 1817. Large stock, 8,282 to 12,509; horses, etc., 862,509; sheep, etc., 3,264 to 7,650. Crops of 1811, 8,730 bush .; 1820, 5,270; largest, 7,720 in 1812; smallest, 3,950 in 1813; average, 6,210 bush.

51 For map of Sta Bárbara district see chap. xxv.

52 José Darío Argüello was born at Querétaro about 1753, and enlisted in 1773 in the Mexico regiment of dragoons. He served as a private about 6 years, and then as sergeant of the presidial company of Altar, Sonora, for two years and a half, until in 1781 he was promoted to be alférez of the company just organized by Rivera for the proposed presidio of Santa Barbara. Ar-

339

CAPTAIN JOSÉ ARGÜELLO.

He was the oldest resident of prominence, the rank- ing officer, and certainly the best known and most influential man in the province, where he had served faithfully for thirty-four years. His record was a perfectly clear one, and in ability and faithfulness Argüello bore a marked resemblance to Arrillaga. He was a good officer, a strict disciplinarian, an ex-

güello, Hojas de Servicio, in Prov. St. Pap. Presid., MS., i. 27; St. Pap., Sac., MS., i. 55; St. Pap. Miss., MS., i. 83-4; Prov. Rec., MS., ii. 84. Accom- panying Rivera on his march overland he left that officer on the Colorado, and with Lieut. Gonzalez and the company of soldiers and families passed on to San Gabriel, where he arrived July 14, 17SI, and where he remained until the foundation of Santa Barbara in April 1782. His first public service of importance was as comisionado appointed by Gov. Fages to distribute to set- tlers the pueblo lands of Los Angeles in August 1786. Los Angeles, Reparticion de Solares, MS. In February 1877 he was promoted to be lieutenant of the San Francisco company, and started in June to assume the new position. He served as commandant of San Francisco until March 1791, and again from April 1796 until July 1806, having occupied the same post at Monterey in 1791-6. For his services as comandante and habilitado I may refer the reader to the local and provincial annals of those years, since it is useless to repeat the record of so prominent a man. Fages, on turning over his office to Romeu in 1791, spoke of Argüello in high terms of praise. Prov. St. Pap., MS., x. 148. In October of the same year Argüello was present at the ded- ication of the Soledad church. Soledad, Lib. Mision, MS., 1-2. In 1783-5 his name and that of his wife appear occasionally as god-parents at baptisms. Sta Bárbara, Lib. Mision, MS., 4, 6. In 1793, at the request of President Lasuen, the guardian of San Fernando issued a 'letter of brotherhood' for Ar- güello and his wife. Arch. Sta B., MS., xi. 234. In October 1797 he was pro- moted to be brevet captain, the commission being received in February 1798. Prov. St. Pap., MS., xv. 265; Pror. Rec., MS., v. 208; vi. 70-1; St. Pup. Sac .; MS., v. 113. On the death of Lieut. Sal in 1800 Argüello desired a transfer to Monterey, but was unable to obtain it. He was, however, recommended for promotion in 1803, and on March 22, 1807, the king made him, ' in consideration of his merits and services,' captain of the Santa Bar- bara company. His commission was received late in 1808, but he had been et Santa Barbara since the autumn of 1806. At the end of 1808 Arrillaga certified him to be a man of 'well proved courage, much application, fair ability, and good conduct.' Prov. St. Pap., MS., xviii. 79; Id., Ben. Mil., xxi. 12; Id., Presid., i. 27; St. Pap. Sac., MS., viii. 23. On the death of Gov. Arrillaga in July 1814, Argüello, being the ranking officer in California, became acting governor; but did not on that account cease to be commandant of Santa Barbara, nor did he move his residence even temporarily to the cap- ital. It was doubtless a disappointment to the old captain and his friends that he was not made governor; but he was commissioned instead on Dec. 31, 1814, to rule Baja California, and after awaiting the arrival of Sola he started for the peninsula by land in October 1815.

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History of California, Volume II, Part 36

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