USA > California > Nevada County > History of Nevada County, California; with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and manufactories > Part 3
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The feather-bandeans for the head are sometimos very beautiful, and the collection of the materials is a work of great paticuce and exortion. Langsdorff countod in one head-dress four hundred and fifty tail-feathers of the golden- woodpecker; aud as there are only two of these feathers in cach bird, at least half that number of birds must have been killed to make the head-dress.
Father Venegas gives a bad account of the moral qualities of these people, which have not improved much sinco his day. He says: "It is uot easy for Europeans to foria an " adequate idea of their moral conditiou. Even in the loss " freqneuted corners of the globe, there is not auother nation " so stupid, of such contracted ideas, and weak both in body " and mind, as the unhappy Californians. Their characteris- " tics are stupidity and insensibility; want of knowledge and " reflection; an excessive sloth and abhorrence of fatigue; an " incessant love of pleasure and amusement of every kind, " however brutal; in fine, a most wretched want of every- " thing which coustitutes the real man, and renders him " rational, inventive, aud useful to himself and society."
The Spaniards at the missions were in the habit of apply- ing the epithet bestias-beasts-to the wild and uncouverted natives, while they used the term gente de razon-rational beings-to designate converted Indians and civilized man-
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HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
kind. It was the policy of the Spaniards and missionarics to place a low estimate upon the intelligence and moral qualities of the natives, as a justification for their practical onslavement; nevertheless, among all the tribes bordering the Pacific shore, there is no record or tradition of any great aboriginal genins corresponding with Osccola, Red Jacket, or King Philip. The soft and voluptuous climate and the great abundance of natural food were uot favorable for the development of great native statesmen, chieftains, and orators.
Alexander Forbes, writing in 1835, says that all of the Indians thon inhabiting the vast plains of the Tulares and north-east to the Colorado, werc of the same race. They had made no advances towards civilization since the discovery of the country by tho Spaniards; and although they possessed a favored portion of the carth, they almost entirely uoglected tillage, and lived by the chance or uatural productions of the plains and forests. They were divided into small tribos, waging frequent wars with ono another, chiofly on account of disputes concerning boundaries of their respective districts, and in roprisal of plundering expe- ditions and other difficulties incident to their mode of life. Their numbor, in proportion to the extcut of country inhabited, was small; and although the missionary Fathers speak of the nativos as constituting "great multitudes," it is not probable that there was ever more than a hundred thousand in the wholo territory of California.
In 1835, whon Mr. Forbes took his uow valuable observa- tions, tho habitations of the natives were small, round huts, temporary iu design, erected where they stopped for the season, aud burut when they changed their station. These dwollings were about thirty foot in circumference, constructed with small peles fixed in the ground and drawu together at the top. They were interwoven with twigs and covered with tules, or bulrushes, having an aperture at the side to admit the inhabitants, and another at the top to let out the smoke. The exterior of these wigwams resembled au old-fashioned bee-hivo. Each dwelling contained eight or teu Indiaus, of both sexes, nearly naked, iufested with vermin, aud hud- dled round a firo in the center of the apartment. When removing, they take all their furniture ou the shoulders of the women; this consists ouly of a chest, a conical bowl, a fow baskets, apparatus for grinding seeds and acorns, uets, and touchwood for kindling a fire. The men carry only their arms and appliances for fishing aud the chase. The women transport thein young children in a sort of net or bag, fast- oned to a kind of prong across their shoulders.
Friar Palen, a companion and friend of Junipero, writing nearly a hundred years ago, says: " The natives of this part " of the country maintain themselves by the seeds and herbs " of the field, to collect which, is the duty of the womeu. " The seeds they grind in mortars, and the flour they make " into gruel, and sometimes a kind of pudding or dough, " which they form into balls of the size of an orange. This " flour has an agreeablo flavor, aud is very nutritive; that " produced from a certain black seed has the taste of toasted " almouds. To this they add fish, which they catch ou the " shores of the bay, and which are exceedingly good. They " have shell-fish in abundance, and, in addition, the produce " of the chase, such as rabbits, geese, ducks, aud quails. It " also sometimes happens that a whale is driven ou shore; an " cvent which they celebrate with great rejoicing, as they " value the whale's flesh and blubber above all things. They " roast the flesh of this animal in holes made in the ground, " and when their first voracity is appeased, they hang the " remainder on trees, and cut pieces off, as they do with the " seal, which they esteem next to the whale. In the woods " they also find acorns which they grind in like manner and " make gruel and balls of. There are likewise nuts of the " same quality as in Spain; aud on the high ground and sand- " hills strawberries of excellent flavor and much larger than " those of Europe, which ripeu in the months of May aud " June. There is likewise a blackberry in great abundance; " and in the highlauds there is an edible root, which they " call ' amole,' about the size of au onion, and which, after " beiug roasted in their ovens, has an agreeable, sweetish " taste." Another variety of the amole serves all the pur- poses of soap; but of this, the Father adds naively, "they " have no great need, as their clothing is very scanty. This, " indeed, is exclusively confined to the females, the men " going without auy except what uature gave them."
It is somewhat remarkable that in designating the sorts of wild game sought by the Indians, Father Palon, the historian of the missionary Friars, makes no mention of the grizzly bear; a probable indication that those weak and timid people did not meddle with . that monster terribilis of the savage shore.
La Pérouse says he saw an Indian with a stag's head fixed upon his own, walk on all fours, as if he was browsing on grass, and he played his part to such perfection that old hunters would have fired at him at thirty paces, had they not been prevented. In this manner they approach herds of deer within a very short distance, and kill them with flights of arrows. Captaiu Beechey says that the Indiau not
only imitates the actious, but also the voice of the deer, and seldom fails to entice several of the herd within bow-shot. To catch water-fowl, they make large nets of bulrushes, repair to the haunts of the game, where they fix a long pole on each bauk of the creek or slough, with one end of the net attached to the pole on the opposite side from them- selves; several artificial ducks are made of rushes, and set afloat between the poles as decoys; a line is fastened to the end of the net next to the fowler and passed through a hole in the upper end of the pole, and when the birds approach on the wing, the Indian lying in concealment, pulls the line, raises the net, intercepting the birds in their flight, and they fall stunned into a large bag and are captured. All this ingenuity under difficulties does not correspond very well with Friar Venegas' account of the natives' stupidity and want of reflection.
Le Pérouse says that the California Indians of his time had no knowledge of a God or future state, but later travel- ers thought them idolaters, worshipping the Sun, and believing in both good and evil spirits, which they occa- sionally sought to propitiate. Father Palon, who is probably better authority, says that "no idolatry, whatever, was ob- served in any of the missions; only a kind of negativo infi- delity; ueither have they shown the least difficulty iu believing any of our mysteries. We have observed among them some superstitious aud vain observances; and occasionally, among the old, some pretensions to supernatural power, as the power to seud rain and thunder, and dominion over the whales. But these pretenders were seldom credited, even by their own tribe, aud were believed to make such pretensions in order to obtain presents from the more credulous of their people. They firmly believed, however, that all sickness proceeded from the incantation of their enemies."
The natural affections of these poor people were very strong, as manifested in extreme tenderness of parents to- wards their children, and the general care of the sick and wounded. Long after the loss of friends they would shed tears ou their being brought to recollection, and it was a great offeuce for any oue to name dead friends in their pres- ence. Although they never ate their prisoners nor their enemies killed in battle, yet, when they had put to death great chiefs, or very courageous men, they sometimes ate pieces of the flesh, as a sign of homage to valor, aud iu the belief that this food would increase their owu courage. They scalped their slain enemies, aud plucked ont their eyes which they had the art of preserving, free from decay, and kept as precious signs of victory.
TRUCKEE
HOTEL
LAKE TAHOE STAGE
LINE
C. P. R.R. TICKET OFFICE
F
CENTRAL PACIFIC
R.R.
BAGGAGE
608
C. 608. P.
PUBLISHED BY THOMPSON & WEES.
TRUCKEE HOTEL, JOHN F. MOODY, PROPRIETOR, TRUCKEE, NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA .
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HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
In their native sta'e the Indians were remarkably healthy, notwithstanding their filthy habits; but it was far otherwise in their domesticated condition. In both conditions, they mado nse of hot-air baths as a sovereign remedy for all physical ills. These were called temeschal. The apparatus consisted of a round hovel, or oven, of mud, with a small door at the side and an opening at the top to let out the smoke. Several invalids, entirely naked, entered at the same time, kindled a fire in the center of the hut, round which they sat in a circle, adding fuel from time to time, as long as they could bear the heat. This occasioned a profuso porspiration over the whole frame. "They wring their " hair, serapo the skin with a sharp piece of wood or shell," Anys Capt. Becchey, "and when they can stand the heat no " longer, plunge into a river or poud of cold water, which " they always tako caro shall be near the temeschal, or sweat- " house."
M. Rollin describes a hot sand-bath, which was more in uso among the Northern tribes. A tranch about two feet wido, a foot doop, and of a suitable longth for the person, was made in the ground; a tiro was then made in the cavity, as well as upon the sand adjacont, and when the whole had beon thoroughly heated, tho firo was removed and the sand stirred about until the heat had been equally diffused. Tho sick person was then stripped naked, laid iu the trench and covorod up with the heated sand. In this position a profuse swoat soon broaks ont, which gradually diminishes as the sand cools, when the patient risos and bathes iu the nearest water. The process is repeated until a complete cure has been effectod, or, ns frequently happens, nutil the patient gives up the ghost.
Such were the general character, habits, and peculiarities of the California Indians, as described by the missionary fathers and occasional travelers, from the adveut of the Spaniards to tho year 1835.
CHAPTER IV.
THE EXILES OF LORETO.
Advent of the Jesnits in Lower California Father John Salva Tierra- Seventy Years in the Wilderness-Night Drama of Loreto-Expulsion of the Jesnits-Coming of the Franciscan Friars-Father Junipero-The Shrine of Monterey,
Ir was the custom of the Spanish Government to send out a certain number of Christinu missionaries with each expedi- tion, whether for discovery or couqnest. When the con- querors took possession of a new territory, in the name of the
King of Spain, the accompanying Fathers also claimed it for the spiritual empiro of the Holy Church, and iu this manner California became at once the possession of both the Church and State, by right of discovery and redaction.
As before stated, Lower California was discovered in 1534, by an expedition which Cortez had caused to be fitted out in the inland seas of Tchuanteper. From that time, during a period of one hundred and fifty years, some twenty maritime expeditions sailed successively from the shores of New Spain to the coast of California, with the object of perfecting its conquest; but none of them obtained any satisfactory result, beyond an imperfect knowledge of the geographical situation of the country. The barren aspect of the coast, and the nakedness and poverty of the savages, who lived in grottocs, caves, and holes in the ground, clearly indicated that they had scarcely advanced beyond the primitivo condition of man, and discouraged the adventurers, who were iu search of another country like Mexico, abounding in natural wealthı and the appliances of a rude civilization. After the ex- penditure of immense sums of both public and private wealth, the permanent settlement of California was despaired of; the Spanish Government would advance no more moucy, private enterprise was turned in another direction, and it was decided to give over the fruitless undertaking to the Fathers of the Church. And then appeared the heroic apostle of California civilization, Father John Salva Tierra, of the Society of Jesns, commonly called Jesnits.
Father Tierra, the founder, aud afterwards Visitadore General of the missions of California, was a native of Milau, born of noble parentage and Spanish ancestry, in 1614. Having completed his education at Parma, he joined the order of Jesuits and went to Mexico as a missionary in 1675. He was robust in health, exceedingly handsome in person, resolute of will, highly talented, aud full of religions zeal. For several years he conducted the missions of Sonora suc- cessfully; he was re-called to Mexico, because of his great abilities and singular virtues, and was employed iu the chief offices of the province. After ten years of ineffectual solici- tation, he at length obtained permission of the Viceroy to go to California for the purpose of converting the inhabit- ants, on condition that possession of the land should be taken in the name of the King of Spaiu, withont his being called upon to contribute anything towards the expenses of the expedition. Tierra associated with himself the Jesuit Father, Juan Ugarte, a native of Honduras, and on the 10th of October, 1697, they sailed from the port of Yaqwi, in Sonora, for Lower California, aud after encountering a dis-
astrous storm, and suffering partial shipwreck on the gulf, landed ou the 19th of that mouth at San Bruno, in St. Denis bay. Not finding that phee suitable for their purpose, the Fathers removed to St. Dyonissins, afterwards named Loreto, and there set up the sign of civilization and Christianity on the lonely shore. Thus, Loreto, on the east side of the peninsula, in latitude 25 35 north of the equator, may be considered the Plymouth Rock of the Far West. This historic and memorable expedition consisted of only two ships and nine men; a corporal, tive private soldiers, und three Indians, together with the captain of the vessel and the two Friars.
On the 19th of October, 1697, the little party of adventurers weut ashore nt Loreto, nud were kindly received by about fifty natives, who were all induced to kneel down and kiss the crucifix. What a glorious tablean for some historic drama of the future, when California shall have had n history grand and old!
After twenty years of caruest labor, privation, danger, and spiritual snecess, Father Tierra was re-called to Mexico by the new Viceroy, for consultation. He was then seventy years old; and notwithstanding his age and infirmities, ho set out on horseback from San Blas for Topic; but having faiuted by the way, ho was carried on a litter by ludians to Guadalajara, whore he died, July 17, 1717, and was appropri- ately buried behind the altar in the chapel of Our Lady of Loreto.
The historic village of Loreto, the ancient capital of Cali- fornin, is situated on the margin of the gulf, in tho contor of St. Dyonissius covo. Some of the buildings are now in ruins, others in a state of decay, and others were destroyed by the great storm iu 1827. The church, built in 1742, is still in tolerable preservation, and, among the vestiges of its former richness, contains eighty-six oil-paintings, some of them by Murillo and other celebrated masters, and, though more than a hundred years old, are still in good preserva- tion. The silver work in the vestry is said to bo worth six thousand dollars. It was the former enstom of the pearl- divers to dedicate the products of certain days to Our Lady of Loreto, and on one occasiou there fell to the lot of tho Virgin a magnificent pearl, as large as a pigeon's egg, and of wonderful purity aud brilliaucy. The Fathers thought pro- per to divert the beautiful pearl from its original channel, aud presented it to the Queen of Spain, who gratefully and piously sent Our Lady of Loreto a magnificent new gown; but there is some reason to think that her majesty had the better of the transaction.
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HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
But the Jesnits were not the first missionaries that ap- pearod in California, although they were the first to effect a permanent settlement. The honors of the Pioneers of the Cross belong to the Order of St. Francis, or Franciscan Friars, four of whom arrived with Viscaino's expedition about tho beginning of the year 1596. And even they may have been preceded by others; for, as early as 1535, Cortez, when preparing his expedition, is represented as having been joinod by soveral ecclesiastics, though there is no ac- count of thoir landing on these shores. The four Francis- cans landed at En Paz in 1596, and during their stay of two months, mado somo effort to instruct the Indians, who ro- ceived them kindly, regarded them as suporior beings, and asked them if they wero not "Sons of tho Sun?" Three Carmelite Friars arrived with Viscaino's third expedition, in 1602; two Jesuit missionaries in 1648; two Franciscans in 1668, and throe Josnits in 1683, with the expedition of Admiral Otondo, and among these was the celebrated Father Kühno. Theso early ccclosiastical adventurers probably came in tho charactor of chaplains, and effected little or nothing towards a permanont ostablishment and conversion of the natives. When Fathor Kiihno was attempting to translato tho croed to the savages, being at a loss for a native word to oxpress the resurrection of the dead, he took somo flies, put thom nnder water till they were supposed to bo dend; thien, oxposing them to the rays of the sun, the in- soets rovived, and the Indians cried ont in amazement, " Ibimnhucite! Ibimnhuoite!" which the Fathors understood as " thoy have como to life," and applied the word to the rosurrection of the Redeemer.
Tho Jesuits continued their missionary work in Lower California for seventy years. On the 2d of April, 1767, all of the Ordor throughout the Spanishi dominions, at home and abroad, wore arrested by order of Charles III,, and thrown into prison, on charge of conspiring against the Stato and tho life of the King. Nearly six thousand were snbjocted to that decreo, which also directed their expulsion from California, as well as all other colonial dependencies of Spain. The execution of the despotic order in California was entrusted to Don Gaspar Portala, the Governor of the province, and having assembled the Fathers at Loreto on the eve of the Blessed. Nativity, December 24, he acquainted them with the heart-breaking news, of which they had heard nothing until then, Thus, after seventy years' devotion to the civilization and salvation of the poor dwellers on the golf, the Fathers were driven forth from the pleasant homes they had created in the wilderness, with nothing but their
breviaries and crucifixes, to become strangers and pilgrims in the world. They took their leave on the night of Febrn- ary 3, 1768, amidst the outcries and lamentations of the peo- ple, who, in spite of the soldiers, who could not keep them back, rnshed upon them to kiss their hands and bid fare- well. The Fathers' Icave-taking was brief bnt exceedingly plaintive: "Adieu, dear Indians; adieu, California, adieu, " land of our adoption; fiat voluntas Dei!" And then, as the sobs and lamentations of the dusky multitude were heard along the shore, the fifteen Jesuit Fathers turned away in the darkness, and, reciting the litany of the Blessed Mother of God, were scen no more. Even now, a hundred and eleven years after that pathetic drama on the night-shore of the gulf, the sturdiest heart of Protestantism mnst warm in pitifnl contemplation of the hapless Exiles of Loreto.
By tho terms of the royal proclamation, the property of exiled Jesuits, censisting of extensive lands and herds, passed into the hands of the Spanish Government, to be used for the advantage of their successors, the Franciscan Friars. At the head of the new administration charged with tlie entire spiritual and temporal concerns of California, was Father Junipero Serra, a man of great learning, religions zeal and administrative ability.
Father Junipero, as he is commonly called, was born of humble parents in the island of Majorca, on the 24th of November, 1713. Like the prophet Samnel, he was dedicated to the priesthood from his infancy, and having completed his elementary studies in the Convent of St. Bernardino, he conceived the idea of devoting himself to the immediate service of God, and was sent thence to Palma, the capital of the province, to acquire the higher learning necessary for the priesthood. At his earnest reqnest, he was received into the Order of St. Francis, at the early age of sixteen, and at the end of his one year's probation, made his religious pro- fession, September 15, 1731. Having finished his studies in philosophy and theology, he at once acquired a high reputa- tion as a writer and orator, and his services were sought for in every direction; but, while enjoying these distinctions at home, his heart was set on his long-projected mission to the heathen of. the New World. He sailed from Cadiz for America, August 28, 1749, and landed at Vera Cruz, whence he went to the City of Mexico, joined the College of San Fernando, and was made President of the Missions of Sierra Gorda and San Saba. On the expulsion of the Jesuits from Lower California, all the missions were entrusted to the care of the College of San Fernando, in Mexico, and the zealous scholar, Junipero, was selected for the Presidency, and
left the Convent for San Blas, accompanied by sixteen Friars, on the 14th of July, 1767. The missionary party reached Loreto on the 1st of April, which happened to be Geod Friday, and took possession of all the missions on the peninsula.
In the year 1769, two expeditions were projected by Juni- pero, to visit Upper California, one by land and the other by sea. Junipero and his land party reached San Diego on the Ist of July, after a toilsome journey of forty-six days. And then began his wonderful apostolic career in Upper Califor- nia, which is in itself a very romance of Church history.
It is related, as characteristic of the venerable Father, that while on his way to fonnd the mission of San Antonio de Padua, and having alighted on a suitable place, he cansed the mnles to be unpacked, and the bells to be hung on a neighboring tree. Then, seizing the rope, he began to ring with all his might, regardless of the remonstrances of the other priests, and crying out at the top of his voice, " Hear! " hear, O, ye Gentiles! Come to the Holy Church! Come to " the faith of Christ!" What a sublime and prophetic voice was that, crying in the farthest wilderness of the New World!
At length, having founded and successfully established six mission colonies, and gathered into his folds over seven thousand of the wild people of the monntains and plains, the heroic Junipero began to feel that his end was drawing near. He was then seventy years old; fifty-three of these years he had spent in the active service of his Master, in the wilder- ness of the New World, Having fought the good fight and finished his illustrious conrse, the broken old man entered his retreat in the mission of San Carlos, at Monterey, en- tered into still closer communion with God, and on the 29th of August, 1784, received the last rites of the religion which he had honored and served so well, and gently passed away.
And ever since, all through the solemn march of almost a century, when the ocean winds came in to grieve among the bending cypresses of Monterey, there has been found some pious mourner to shed a tear of loving memory over the illustrious dust of the boy-priest of San Bernardino.
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