USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches > Part 4
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SECOND EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
1579,-The next expedition along the coast seems to have been that of the English bnecancer, Francis Drake, afterwards knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his success in capturing and destroying the rich Spanish ships. There long existed a popu- lar belief that Drake sailed into the harbor of San Francisco. and that the bay was named for liim ; but it is now well settled that the bay he entered was that of Tomales, on the coast of Marin County. This once bore the name San Francisco.
This noted English voyager, Sir Francis Drake, sailed along the coast in 1579. It is said his Spanish pilot, Morera, left him in Oregon, and thence found his way overland to Mexico, a distance of 3,500 miles. The name of New Albion was given to the country by Drake, with the evident intention of securing it for the British crown.
On the 22d of July, after repairing his ship and doubtless taking on board a goodly supply of fresh meat and water, Drake set sail for England, going by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and arriving in Plymouth November 3, 1580, having been gone about two years and ten months. He was the first Englishman wbo circumnavigated the, globe, and was the first man who ever made the entire voyage in the same vessel. He was gra- cionsly received by Queen Elizabeth, and knighted. She also gave orders for the preservation of bis ship, the Golden Hind' that it might remain a monument to his own and his country's glory.
At the end of a century it had to be broken up, owing to decay. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was presented by Charles IT. to the Oxford University.
Sir Francis Drake died on board ship, at Nombre de Dios, in the West Indies, January 28, 1595.
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22
A REVIEW OF THE EARLY HISTORY.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
1579 .- The following is a highly colored description of the natives, as given by Drake: The natives bringing tbe Admiral (Drake) a present of feathers and eauls of net-work, he enter- tained then so kindly and generously that they were extremely pleased, and soon afterwards they sent him a present of feathers and bags of tobacco. A number of them coming to deliver it, gathered themselves together at the top of a small hill, from the highest point of which one of thein barangued the Admiral, whose tent was placed at the hottom. When the speech was ended, they laid down their arins and came down, offering their presents, at the same time returning what the Admiral had given them. The women remaining on the hill, tearing their hair and making dreadful howlings, the Admiral supposed them engaged in making sacrifices, and thereupon ordered divine service to be performed at his tent, at which these people attended with astonisliment.
The arrival of the English in California being soon known through the country, two persons in the character of ambassa- dors caine to the Admiral and informed him, in the best manner they were able, that the King would visit him, if he might be assured of coming in safety. Being satisfied on this point, a numerous company soon appeared, in front of which was a very comely person, bearing a kind of sceptre, on which hung two erowns, and three chaius of great length. The chains were of bones, and the crowns of net-work, curiously wrought with feathers of many colors.
MAJESTIC INDIAN KING.
Next to the sceptre-bearer came the King, a handsome majestic person, surrounded by a number of tall men, dressed in skins, who were followed by the common people, who, to make the grander appearance, had painted their faces of various colors, and all of them, even the children, being loaded with presents.
The men being drawn up in line of battle, the Admiral stood ready to receive the King within the fences of his tent. The company having halted at a distance, the sceptre-bearer mnade a specch, half an hour long, at the end of which he began sing- ing and dancing, in which he was followed by the King and all the people, who, continuing to sing and dance, came quite up to the tent; when sitting down, the. King took off his crown of feathers, placed it on the Admiral's head, and put on him the other ensigns of royalty; and it is said that he made him a solemn tender of his whole kingdom; all of which the Admiral accepted in the name of the Queeu, his sovereign, in hopes that these proceedings might, one time or other, contribute to the advantage of England.
ATTEMPT TO POSSESS THE COUNTRY.
1602 .- Then there is another silence conce ning this region, of twenty-four years, when Viseaino comes, exploring more carefully, and searching for harbors.
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It was not until 1602 that the Spaniards took any actual steps to possess and colonize the continent. In that year Don Sebastian Viscaiño was dispatched by the Viceroy of Mexico, acting under the instructions of his royal master, King Phillip III., on a voyage of search, in three small vessels. He visited various points on the coast, among them San Diego.
BAY OF MONTEREY FOUND AND NAMED.
1602 .- It is he who finds Monterey Bay. He gets there December 16, 1602. His ohject was to find a port where the ships coming from the Phillipine Islands to Acapulco, a trade which had then been established some thirty years, might put in, and provide themselves with wood, water, masts, and other things of absolute necessity.
Viscaiño gave the name of Monterey to that bay. On the next day after he anchored near the site of the present town of Monterey, religious worship was held "under a large oak by the sea-side."
The description they give of the harbor says: "Near the shore is an infinite number of very large pines, straight and smooth, fit for masts, and yards, likewise oaks of a prodigious size for building ships. Here likewise are rose trees, white thorns, firs, willows and poplars; large clear lakes, aud fine pas- tures and arable lands."
Viscaiño leaves on tbe 3d of January, 1603, and then follows a long silence of inore than a hundred and sixty years, during which no record speaks of this region of country.
FOUNDING OF FIRST MISSION.
1763 .- A great zeal for missions had sprung up, and then prevailed in Mexico for Christianizing the regions at the North. The glowing descriptions of the old navigators who tonched here more than a hundred and fifty years before, were revived, and now came into existence a desire, both in Spain and Mexico, to enter into and possess the land. Two divisions of the expedition reached San Diego nearly at the same time. One by sea and the other by land, up the peninsula of Lower California.
They were at San Diego together, and founded the first of the inissions of Upper California on the 16th day of July, 1769. But their zeal was too great to allow them to wait at the southernmost border of the promised land. They set their faces northward.
MONTEREY SEARCHED FOR AFTER 167 YEARS.
1769 .-- They had read of Viscaino, and his glowing deserip- tion of the country around the bay he namned " Monterey." They proposed to set out at once to find it by land.
The expedition left San Diego July 16, 1769, and was com- posed of Governor Portala, Captam Revera, with twenty-seven soldiers with leathern jackets, and Lieutenant P. Fages, with seven volunteers of Catalonia, besides Engineer Constanzio, and . fifteen Christian Indians, from Lower California.
23
EXPLORERS NAME THE RIVERS AND TREES.
Fathers Crespi and Gomez accompaniel them for their spirit- ual consolation, and to keep a diary of their expedition. Owing to Father Crespi's diary, the principal incidents of this first journey by land up this coast are known to us. They kept ucar the sca-shore most of the way. They were constantly passing raneberias of Indians, whom they greeted as well as they knew how, and they were not inolested by them. It was late in September when they came in sight of the Bay of Mon- terey, the very bay they were in search of, but they did not recognize it:
Father Crespi and the Commandant ascended a hill and looked down upon it.
MONTEREY BAY NOT RECOGNIZED.
1769 .- They recognized Point Pinos, and New Year's Point as described by Cabrera, but they did not recognize the bay as Viseniño's Bay of " Monterey!" It is certainly very strange that they did not, but for some reason they did not scem to have thought of its being the very identical spot they were in scarch of.
course oue given by those coming into the bay by water. It inay not have been detailed or definite, or suited to guide those seeking it by land.
At any rate, the soldiers explored Point Pinos on both sides, and yet never recognized the place. They searched from the 11th of November to the 9th of December.
They were all half of a mind to give up the search and go back.
But the resolution to procced still further prevailed, and so they resumed their march. We trace them now step by step. They crossed the Salinas River. They passedl several lagoons. They descended into the Pajaro Valley, and camped near the bank of the river.
DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES.
Moreover, in this valley they met with an encampment of Indians, numbering, as they said, five hundred.
The Indians had no notice of the arrival of strangers in their land, and were alarmed. Some took to their arms; some ran to and fro, shouting. The women fell to weeping bitterly. Sargent Ortega alighted from his horse and approached them, making signs of peace.
He picked up from the ground arrows and little flags which they had set, and they clapped their hands in signs of approha- tion.
They were asked for something to eat. The women hastened to their huts and began to pound seeds and make a kind of paste.
But when the fathers returned to the same spot the next day, they found only smoking remains of the Indians' camp, the Iudians themselves having set fire to it and gone away.
NAMES GIVEN TO RIVERS AND TREES.
1769 .- They named the river " Pajaro," because they found here an immense bird killed, stuffed with hay, measuring nine fect and three inches from tip to tip of the wings spread out. Here, too, not far from the river, they inade note of finding deer.
They described the banks of the Pajaro River as they found them in the fall of 1769, thickly covered with trees. They spoke particularly of the redwood, calling it " palo colorado," on account of its color. Father Crespi says the trees are very high, and thinks they resemble the cedar of Lebanon, save that the wood has no odor. The leaves, too, he says, are different, and the wood is very brittle.
They stopped near a lake where there was a great deal of pasture, and they saw a number of cranes. They rested there three days, on account of the sick.
· On the 17th of October they mnoved on again, walking all the time through good land, at a distance of some three miles from the sca.
At the end of that day's journey, they came to the river
The description of it by which they were guided, was of | known as San Lorenzo. They proposed to cross it, not far from the sca. They found the banks steep. They were thickly grown with a forest of willows, cotton-woodl and sycamore, so thick that they had to cut their way through.
The river was fifty-four feet wide at the point where they forded, and the water reached the helly of their horses. " It was one of the largest rivers," Father Crespi says, " that we met with on our journey."
" We campcd on the north side of the river, and we had a great deal of work to cut down trees to open a little passage for our beasts. Not far from the river we saw a fertile spot, where the grass was not hurnt, and it was pleasure to sce the pasture, and the variety of herbs and rose bushes of Castile. We did not see ncar the river, nor during our journey, any Indians."
The next day about eight o'clock in the morning they moved on again.
" After proceeding about five hundred steps," Father Crespi says, " we passed a large stream of running water which had its source among high bills, and passing through a tahle-land, furnishes ample facility for irrigation." This creek they called " Sauta Cruz." And so the little stream gave its name to the city.
Perhaps Justiniano Roxas* saw this first party of white men that cver visited this region. He must have been then about sixteen or seventeen years old.
The company remained somc sixteen days near the Bay of
*Justiniano Roxas died at Santa Cruz, March 10, 1875, aged 123 years. His portrait and biography were inserted in Elliott's History of Santa Cruz County. From that article we learn he was for years about as destitute of desh as a skeleton. His skin was yellow, hard and full of creases, and looked like parchment. Age had taken all expression from his countenance, His eyes were nearly closed. He walked with a staff. His last years were spent in trying to keep warm, At night he spread his blanket by the hearth, with his head toward the fire. He would not use a bed. He was cared for by the Sisters of Charity, aided hy the county. He was baptized 4th of March, 1792 by the record.
24
CONTINUED DISCOVERIES BY LAND AND SEA.
Monterey. Long enough to get a very fair idea of the climate. The sky was clear and there was no fog.
They pushed on northward uutil they discovered San Fran- cisco Bay and reached the Golden Gate itself.
BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO FOUND AND NAMED.
1769 .- On the 1st of November, 1769, they sent a party to Point Reyes. On the 2d of November, several hunters of the expedition ascended the high mountains more towards the east ; and, although we have no correct informuation as to the names of those hunters, it is certain that they were the first white in- habitants who saw the large arm of the sea known at present as the Bay of San Francisco.
The portion that was seen by them was that which lies between the San Bruno mountains and the estuary or creek of San Antonio (Oakland). They discovered the bay, unless the honor is accorded to the exploring party that returned on tbe 3d of November, who also had discovered the branch of tbe sea, by which they were prevented from reaching Point Reyes, and the primitive bay first called San Francisco.
On the 4th of November the whole of the expedition saw the newly discovered bay, and they tried to go around it by the south ; but not being able to do so, they returned to Monterey. And so, by the merest accident, they came upon the world- renowned Bay of San Francisco.
Finding it a place answering every requirement he named it after San Francisco de Asis; and seven years later, June 27, 1776, possession was taken of tbe spot and a presidio estab- lished, the mission being located on the site of the present church.
MONTEREY BAY VISITED AGAIN BUT NOT RECOGNIZED.
1769 .- Towards the end of November, we find them tarrying around Monterey again, not even now knowing that they were looking on the very harbor they were in search of! They even think it possible that the harbor that Viscaiño found 166 years before, and described in such glowing terms, may be filled with sand, and for that reason they cannot find it. They erect a large cross near Point Pinos and place a writing at the foot of it, describing their hardsbips and dis- appointments, in case the vessel called the San Jose sbould anchor in that vicinity; and any of those on board should dis- cover the cross and find the writing.
Finally, after many hardsbips, on the 24th day of January, 1770, half dead with hunger, they arrive at San Diego, after an absence of six months.
They have accomplished that long and exceedingly laborious journey ; they have twice passed and looked upon the very bay they were in search of, not knowing it !
MONTEREY BAY FOUND AT LAST.
1770 .- The next time Monterey Bay was searched for it was found. It was in the same year, 1770, that two new expeditions
were fitted out. The two parties set out from San Diego to find it, one by land, tbe other by water. They find the hay this time, reaching it very nearly together.
On the 3d day of June, 1770, they take possession of tbe land in the name of the King of Spain.
On the same day Father Junipero begins his mission by erecting a cross, banging bells from a tree, and saying mass under the same venerable rock where Viscaiño's party celebrated it in 1602, 168 years before.
OBJECT OF THE MISSIONS.
The missions were designed by the Mexican Catholics for the civilization and conversion of the Indians. The latter were in- structed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could com- prehend them) and the arts of peace. Instruction of the sav- ages in agriculture and manufactures, as well as in prayers and elementary education, was the padre's business.
At first the Indians were exceedingly cautious about ap- proaching or connecting themselves with this new style of civ- ilization, but gradually their fears and superstitions were over- come, and they began to cluster about the fathers. Their old habits and manner of living were thrown off, and they con- tented themselves with the quiet life and somewbat laborious duties of tbe missions.
INDIANS NOT EASILY CIVILIZED.
The California Indian was anything but an easy subject for civilization. Knowledge he had none; his religion and morals were of the crudest form, wbile all in all he was the most degraded of mortals. He lived without labor, and existed for naught save his ease and pleasure. In physique he was unpre- possessing; he was possessed of great endurance and strengtb; his features were unattractive, his hair in texture like the mane of a horse, and his complexion as dark as the Ethiop's skin.
His chief delight was tbe satisfying of his appetite and lust, while he lacked courage enough to be war-like, and was devoid of that spirit of independence usually the principal character- istic of his race. The best portion of his life was passed in sleeping and dancing, while in the temperate California cli- mate the fertile valleys and hill-sides grew an abundance of edible seeds and wild fruits, which were garnered, and by tbem beld in great store.
Such means of existence being so easily obtained is, perhaps, a reason for the wonderful disinclination of Indians to perform any kind of labor. Indeed. what nced was there that they should toil when nature had placed within their reach an un- limited supply of food ?
MISSION RANCHOS SET APART.
Besides tbe missions, presidios, castilos, and pueblos, it may be remarked that there were certain public farms, called ranchos, set apart for the use of the soldiers. They were gen-
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FOUNDING OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS.
erally four or five leagues distant from the presidios, and were under the control of the different commandants. Little use, however, serins to have been made of these farms, and they commonly were left in a state of nature, or affordled only grazing to the few cattle and horses belonging to the presidios.
In the establishment of missions the three agencies brought to bear were the military, the civil, and the religious, being cael represented by the presidio, or garrison ; the pueblo, the town or civic community ; and the mission, the church, which played the most prominent part.
TABLE OF THE UPPER CALIFORNIAN MISSIONS.
NAMK.
NO.
Bay of San Diego.
1
San Diego de Muala.
July 10, 1700
J Subsequently removed from Monterey
2
San Carlos de Morteroy
Juno
3.1770
to the Carmel river.
18 leagues I'm San Miguel, Montereyco.
San Antonio de Padua
July 14, 1771
( Itanelio La Merced, rleven mica cast-
erly from Los Angeles, Bron te.
4
San Gabriel do los Temblores
Wept'r 8, 1771
moved to present location, nlue rulles east of the elty.
At present town of San Luis Obispo.
6
Ban luis Obispo
Scp
1,1772
On San Francisco Bay.
Out'r
9, 115,
J Abont inlitway between Los Angeles ? anıl San Diego.
7
San Juan Capistrano
Jan's. 18, 1717
Santa Clara
March 31, 1782
4. 1180
10
Santa Barba_
Duer
8. 1781
Where town w Santa Cruz now stands.
12
Suntn Crux
Oct'r
0, 1791
13
La Solistad .
June 11, 1597
14
San Jose ..
June
24, 1707
15
San MIrol
Sept'r 8, 1707
j Thirteen and a half leagues Irom San
18
San luis Rey de Franceis
Juno 18, 1798
1 Diego.
Santa Incz
Deo'r 14, 1819
20
San Rafael. ..
Aug't 25, 1829
21
San Francisco de Solano .....
SAN CARLOS DE MONTEREY ESTABLISHED .*
1770 .- The third attempt to establish a settlement at Mon- terey proved successful, as heretofore noticed. The following extract from a letter of the leader of the expeditiou to Father Francisco Palou, gives a graphic account of the ceremonies attending the formal founding of the Mission of San Carlos de Monterey, by Padre Junipero Serra, on that memorable day, June 3, 1770.
" On the 31st of Nay, 1770, by favor of God. after rather a painful voyage of a mouth and a half, the packet San An- tonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this beautiful port of Monterey, which is unadulterated in auy degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Dou Sebastian Viscaiño, in 1620. It gave mne great conso- lation to find that the land expedition had arrived eight days before us, and that Father Crespi and all others were in good health. On the 3d of June, being the holy day of Pentecost, the whole of the officers of sea and land, and all the people, assembled on the bank at the foot of an oak, where we cansed an altar to he erected, and the hells rang; we then ehanted the veni Creator, blessed the water, erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal standard, and chanted the first mass that was ever performed in this place; we afterwards sung the Salve to Our Lady before an image of the illustrious Virgin, which occupied the altar; and at the same time preached a sermon, concluding the whole with a Te Deum. After this the
officers took possession of the country in the name of the King, (Charles III.) our Lord, whom God preserve. We then all dined together in a shady place on the beach; the whole cere- mony heiug aecompanied by many volleys and salutes by the troops and vessels."
THIE MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO .*
1771 .- This mission was founded by Padre Junipero Serra, July 14, 1771, and is situated about twelve leagues south of Soledad, in Monterey County, on the border of an inland stream upon which it has conferred its name. The buildings were inclosed in a square, 1,200 feet ou each side, and walled with adobes. Its lands were forty-eight leagues in cir- cumference, including seven farms, with a convenient house and chapel attached to each. The stream was conducted in paved trenches twenty iniles for purposes of irrigation; large crops rewarded the husbandry of the padres. In 1822 this mission owned 52,800 head of cattle, 1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares 500 yoke of working oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1,000 swine. "The climate here is cold in winter and intensely hot in summer. This mission on its secularization fell into tbe hands of an administrator who neglected its farms, drove off its cattle, and left its poor Indians to starve."-Walter Colton's Three Years in California.
The mission grapes were very sweet; wine and aguardiente were made from them in early days, aud the grapes were brought to Monterey for sale. The vineyard and garden walls are now gone, and the eattle have destroyed the vines ; many of the buildings are down, and the tiles have been removed to roof houses on some of the adjoining. ranches. The church is still in good repair. There was formerly a good grist-mill at the mission, but that also, like the mission, is a thing of the past.
THE MISSION OF SOLEDAD.
1791 .- Mission Soledad was founded October 9, 1791, and is situated fifteen leagues southwest of Monterey on the left bank of the Salinas River, in a fertile plain known by the name of the " Llano del Rey." The priest was an indefatigable agri- culturist. To obviate the summer drought, he constructed, through the labor of his Indians, an aqueduct extending fifteen miles, hy which he could water 20,000 acres.
IMMENSE BANDS OF CATTLE.
In 1826 the mission owned about 36,000 head of cattle, and a greater number of horses and mares than any other mission in the country.
So great was the reproduction of these animals that they were not only given away, but also driven in bands into the Bay of Monterey, in order to preserve the pasturage for the cattle. It had about 70,000 sheep and 300 yoke of tame oxen.
*An extended history of these missions will be found in the "History of Monterey County, " by Elliott & Co.
1
La Purimyima Corruption
Aug't 20, ti81
On tho Sallnas river, Monterey county.
Where the city of San Jose now is.
Sını Juan Bautista ...
July 25, 1307
In the Salinus river, Monterey county.
10
17
San Fernando Roy
Twenty miles N. W. from Los Angeles.
Twelve leagues from Santa Barbara,
Sept'r 17, 1804
North of San Francisco Bay, Marin co. Sonoma, Sonoma county.
San Francisco (Dolores).
Nov'r 1, 1770
Where town ol Santa Clara now slands. South-east of and near Santa Barbara. On the Santa Barbara chaimel.
San Buenaventum
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