USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 4
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high. Towers, domes, castles, minarets, and all the forms of ancient and modern architecture seemed anticipated. Even sculpture was not forgotten, for in many places gigantie figures seemed to be guard- ing the great canon, and threatening to overwhelm all who should dare to invade the ancient solitude. For months the party continued their voyage. Not- withstanding their ample preparations, it was nearly a failure. They lost their boats and most of their provisions, ax well as their scientific instruments. They were uncertain whether the canon was three, four, or five hundred miles long. When nearly through it was proposed to leave the river and try to ascend its banks. It was urged that more rapids on the junction of the granite and slate would end the expedition. Part of the men determined to try to scale the walls. They were given a part of the scant provisions, and also a copy of the records of the trip. Both parties bid each other " good- bye," with the firm belief that the other was destined to certain destruction. Powell remained with the party to continue down the river, hoping that if he perished some record of their trip would be picked up on the lower river or the Gulf of Cal. ifornia. Ilis judgment proved the best. August 30th he emerged from the cañon, in somewhat better plight than the stage-driver did. having witnessed undoubtedly the greatest wonder of the world Nothing was heard of the other party for years. A prospector brought the news that they scaled the walls of the canon, but were soon afterwards killed by the Indians, being mistaken for a party of white men who had committed an outrage on an Indian woman
GEOLOGY AND CLIMATE.
The Colorado river drains a territory of three hundred thousand square miles. A portion of this eight hundred miles in extent. resting on the Rocky Mountains, is fed by snows, and has numerous rivers whieb, with all their branches, form canons-one leading into another and all finally merging into the grand gorge, six thousand feet deep and three hund red miles long. The lower part of the Colorado for one thousand miles runs through an almost rainless country. There is no wearing away of the banks into the rounded. graceful forms so usual in the vicinities of rivers. The channels of the rivers being so deep 1 the country is thoroughly drained of water, and very few springs emerge from the surface. The soil is consequently destitute of vegetation. There are . evidences, however, of an extensive alluvial deposit. of a time when the river meandered through fertile plains like the Mississippi. The elephant, the mas todon, and their contemporaries wandered in herds over suitable pastures where now desolation reigns.
It is difficult to estimate the influence which this strange system of river- has exerted over C'alifornia. Had not the early explorers when in search of gold met this obstruction, our mines would have been discovered and worked. and California would have
J. R. Crandall.
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PERMANENT OCCUPATION OF CALIFORNIA.
been cursed with the blight that has covered all the Spanish possessions. It was reserved for a more vigorous race to develop.
The climatic influence is also great. It is now be- lieved that our dry, desicating north winds find their way from the Arizona deserts, and that the particles of red dust with which our summer atmos- phere is loaded, is finely-pulverized Arizona soil.
CHAPTER III.
The Exiles of Loreto-Father Ticrra's Methods of Conversion - Death of Father Tierra-Arrest of the Jesuits-Midnight Parting-Permanent Occupation of California-Missions in Charge of Francisco Friars-Character of Father Junipero- Exploring Expeditions-Origin of the name of the Bay- Mission Dolores-Death of Father Junipero.
IT was the custom of the Spanish Government to send out a certain number of Christian missionaries with each expedition, whether for discovery or con- quest. When the conquerors took possession of a new territory, in the name of the King of Spain, the accompanying Fathers also claimed it for the spirit- ual empire of the Holy Church, and in this manner California became, at once, the possession of both Church and State, by right of discovery and con- quest.
As before stated, California was discovered in 1534. by an expedition which Cortez had caused to be fitted out in the inland seas of Tehuantepec. 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 satis- factory 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 grottoes, caves, and holes in the ground, clearly indicated that they had scarcely advanced beyond the primitive condition of man, and discouraged the adventurers, who were in search of another country like Mexico, abounding in natural wealth, and the appliances of a rude civilization. After the expenditure of immense sums of both pub- lie and private wealth, the permanent settlement of California was despaired of. The Spanish Govern- ment would advance no more money, private enter- prise was turned in another direction, and it was decided to give over the, so far, fruitless experiment to the Fathers of the church. Many attempts had been made to Christianize the natives of the Pacific coast. Cortez is said to have had several ecclesias- tics in his train, though there is no account of their having attempted to convert the natives, or even of landing among them. The first recorded attempt was made about the beginning of the year 1596 by four San Francisco friars, who came with Vis- caiño's expedition. During their stay of two months at La Paz, they visited many of the Indians, who thought them children of the sun, and treated them 3
very kindly. Three Carmelite friars also came with Viscaiño's third expedition in 1602, two Jesuit mis- sionaries in 1648, two Franciscans in 1688, and three Jesuits in 1683, the latter with the expedition of Admiral Otondo. The celebrated Father Kuhno was one who came with the latter expedition. Once, when attempting to explain the doctrine of the res- urrection to the savages, he was at loss for a word to express his meaning. He put some flies under the water until they appeared to be dead, and then exposed them to the rays of the sun, when they revived. The Indians cried out in astonish- ment, "I bimnhueite ! I bimnhueite !" which the Fathers understood as "they have come to life," the expression he wanted, and applied it to the resurrec- tion of the Redeemer.
No substantial success was, however, achieved until about 1675. Then appeared the heroic apostle of California civilization, Father John Salva Tierra, of the Society of Jesus, commonly called Jesuits.
Father Tierra, the founder, and afterwards visita- dore of the missions of California, was a native of Milan, born of noble parentage and Spanish ances- try, in 1644. Having completed his education at Parma, he joined the order of Jesuits, and went as a missionary to Mexico in 1675. He was robust in health, exceedingly handsome in person, resolute of will, highly talented, and full of religious zeal. For several years he conducted the missions of Sonora successfully, when he was recalled to Mexico in con- sequence of his great ability and singular virtues, and was employed in the chief offices of the provin- ces. After ten years of ineffectual solicitation, he obtained permission of the Viceroy to go to Cali- fornia, for the purpose of converting the inhabitants. on condition that the possession of land should be taken in the name of the King of Spain, without his being called on to contribute anything towards the expenses of the expedition. Tierra associated with himself the Jesuit Father, Juan Ugarte, a native of IIonduras. On the 10th of October, 1697, they sailed from the port of Yaqui, in Sonora, for Lower California, and, after encountering a disastrous storm, and suffering partial shipwreck on the gulf, landed, on the 19th of that month, at San Bruno, at Saint Dennis bay. Not finding that place suitable for their purpose, the Fathers removed to St. Dyon- issius, afterwards named Loreto, and there set up the sign of civilization and Christianity on its lonely shore. Thus Loreto, on the east side of the penin- sula, in latitude 23° 35' north of the equator, may be considered the Plymouth Rock of the Pacific coast. This historic and memorable expedition consisted of only two ships and nine men, being a corporal, five private soldiers, three Indians, the captain of the vessel, and the two Fathers.
On the 19th of October, 1697, the little party of adventurers went ashore at Loreto, and were kindly received by about fifty natives, who were induced to kneel down and kiss the crucifix.
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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
METHODS OF CONVERSION.
It is said of Father Ugarte that he was a man of powerful frame. When he first celebrated the cere- monials of the church before the natives they were inclined to jeer and laugh over solemnities. On one occasion a huge Indian was eausing considerable dis- turbanee, and was demoralizing the other Indians with his mimiery and childish fun. Father Ugarte caught him by his long hair, swung him around a few times, threw him in a heap on the floor, and procceded with the rites. This argument had a converting effect, as he never rebelled again. As the conversion of the natives was the main object of the settlement, and a matter of the greatest impor- tance, to the natives at least, no means were spared to effect it. When the natives around the mission had been Christianized, expeditions inland were under- taken to capture more material for converts. Some- times many lives were taken, but they generally sue- ceeded in gathering in from fifty to a hundred women and children, the men afterwards following. Two or three days' exhortation (confinement and starva- tion) was generally sufficient to effect a change of heart, after which the convert was clothed, fed, and put to work. Father Ugarte worked with them, teaching them to plant, sow, reap, and thresh, and they were soon good Christians.
The imposing ceremonies and visible symbols of the Catholic church are well calculated to strike the ignorant savage with awe. Striking results were often attained with pictures. When moving from one mission to another, and especially when meeting strange Indians, the priests exhibited a picture of the Virgin Mary on one side of a canvas. and Satan roasting in flames on the other side. They were offered a choice, to become subjects of the IIoly Mother, or roast in the flames with Satan, and gen- erally accepted the former, especially as it was accom- panied with food.
DEATH OF TIERRA.
After twenty years of earnest labor, privation, danger, and spiritual success, Father Tierra was recalled to Mexico by the new Viceroy, for consul- tation. Ile was then seventy years old; and, not- withstanding his age and infirmities, he set out on horseback from San Blas for Tepic; but, having fainted by the way, he was carried on a litter by the Indians to Guadalajara, where he died July 17, 1717, and was buried with appropriate ceremonies behind the altar in the chapel of our Lady of Loreto.
The historie village of Loreto, the ancient capital of California, is situated on the margin of the gulf, in the center of St. Dyonissius' Cove. The church, built in 1742, is still in tolerable preservation, and, among the vestiges of its former richness, has eighty- six oil paintings; some of them by Murillo, and other celebrated masters, which, though more than a hun- dred years old, are still in a good condition; also
some fine silver work, valued at six thousand dol- lars. A great storm in 1827 destroyed many of the buildings of the mission. Those remaining, are in a state of decay. It was the former custom of the pearl-divers to dedicate the products of certain days to Our Lady of Loreto; and, on one occasion, there fell to the lot of the Virgin a magnificent pearl, as large as a pigeon's egg, of wonderful purity and brilliancy. The Fathers thought proper to change its destination, and presented it to the Queen of Spain, who gratefully and piously sent Our Lady of Loreto a magnificent new gown. Some people were unkind enough to think the queen had the better of the transaction.
ARREST OF THE JESUITS.
The Jesuits continued their missionary work in Lower California for seventy years. On the second day of April, 1797, all of the Order throughout the Spanish dominions, at home and abroad, were ar- rested by order of Charles III., and thrown into prison, on the charge of conspiring against the State and the life of the king. Nearly six thousand were subjected to that decree, which also directed their expulsion from California, as well as all other colo- nial dependencies of Spain. The execution of the despotic order was intrusted to Don Gaspar Portala, the Governor of the province. Having assembled the Fathers of Loreto on the eve of the nativity, December 24th, he acquainted them with the heart- breaking news. Whatever may have been the faults of the Jesuits in Europe, they certainly had been models of devoted Christians in the new world. They braved the dangers of hostile savages, ex- posed themselves to the malarious fevers incident to new countries, and had taken up their residences far from the centers of civilization and thought, so dear to men of cultivated minds, to devote them- selves. soul and body, to the salvation of the natives, that all civilized nations seemed bent on extermin- ating. It is probable that the simple-minded son of the forest understood little of the mysteries of theology; and his change of heart was more a change of habit, than the adoption of any saving religious dogma. They abandoned many of their filthy habits, and learned to respect the family ties. They were taught to cultivate the soil, to build eom- fortable houses, and to cover their nakedness with garments. They had learned to love and revere the Fathers, who were ever kind to them.
MIDNIGHT PARTING.
After seventy years of devoted attention to the savages; after building pleasant homes in the wilder- ness, and surrounding themselves with loving and devoted friends, they received the order to depart. They took their leave on the night of February 3, 1768, amidst the outcries and lamentations of the people, who, in spite of the soldiers, who could not keep them back, rushed upon the departing Fathers,
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PERMANENT OCCUPATION OF CALIFORNIA.
kis ng their hands, and clinging convulsively to them. The leave-taking was brief, but affecting: " Adieu, my dear children! Adieu, land of our adop- tion! Adieu, California! It is the will of God!" And then, amid the sobs and lamentations, heard all along the shore, they turned away, reciting the litany of the Blessed Mother of God, and were seen no more.
For one hundred and sixty years after the dis- covery of California, it remained comparatively un- known. It is true that many expeditions were fitted out to explore it for gold and precious stones. The first was fast locked in mountains of the Sierras, which were occupied by bands of hostile and war- like Indians; and the last have not yet been found. The circumstances attending the discovery of the great bay, will always be of interest, and deserve a place in every record; for up to 1769, no navigator ever turned the prow of his vessel inte the narrow entrance of the Golden Gate.
On the expulsion of the Jesuits frem Lower Cali- fornia, the property of the missions, consisting of extensive houses, flocks, pasture lands, cultivated fields, orchards, and vineyards, was intrusted to the College of San Francisco in Mexico, for the benefit of the Order of St. Francis. The zealous schofar, Father Junipero Serra, was appointed to the charge of all the missions of Lower California.
FATHER JUNIPERO, as be was ealled, was born of humble parents in the island of Majorca, on the 24th of November, 1713. Like the prophet Samuel, he was dedicated to the priesthood from his infancy, and having completed his studies in the Convent of San Bernardino, he conceived the idea of devoting himself to the immediate service of God; and went from thence to Palma, the capital of the province, to acquire the higher learning necessary for the priesthood. At his carnest request, he was received into the Order of St. Francis, at the age of sixteen; and, at the end of one year's probation, made his religious profession, September 15, 1731. Having finished his studies in philosophy and theology, he soon acquired a high reputation 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 beathen 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 his appointment to the missions of Cali fornia, he immediately entered upon aetive duties, and proceeded to carry out his grand design of the civilization of the Pacific coast. Acting under the instructions of the Viceroy of Mexico, two expedi- tions were fitted out to explore and colonize Upper or Northern California, of which little or nothing was known, one of which was to proceed by sea, and the other by land; one to carry the heavy sup-
plies, the other to drive the flocks and herds The first ship, the San Carlos, left Cape St. Lucas, in Lower California, January 9, 1769, and was followed by the San Antonio on the 15th of the same month. A third vessel, the San Jose, was dispatched from Loreto on the 16th of June. After much suffering, these real pioneers of California civilization, reached San Diego; the Sun Carlos, on the Ist of May; the San Antonio, on the 11th of April, 1769, the crews having been well nigh exhausted by scurvy, thirst, and starvation. After leaving Loreto, the San Jose was never heard of more.
EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS.
The overland expedition was divided into two divisions; one under command of Don Gaspar de Portala, the appointed Military Governor of the New Territory; the other, under Capt. Rivera Y. Moncado. Rivera and his company, consisting of Father Crespi, twenty-five soldiers, six muleteers, and a party of Lower California Indians, started from Villaceta on the 24th of March, and reached San Diego on the 14th of May, 1769. Up to that time, no white man had ever lived in Upper California; and then began to rise the morning star of our civilization.
The second division, accompanied by Father Junipero, organized the first mission in Upper California on the 16th of July, 1769; and there the first native Californian was baptized on the 26th of December, of that year. These are memorable points in the ecclesiastical history of this coast.
On the 14th of July, 1769, Governor Portala started out in search of Monterey, as described by previous navigators. Ile was accompanied by Fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez ; the party consisting of fifty-six white persons, including a sergeant, an engineer, and thirty-three soldiers, and a company of emigrants from Sonora, together with a company of Indians from Lower California. They missed their course, and could not find the Bay of Monterey, but continued on northward, and, on the 25th day of October, 1769, came upon the great Bay of San Francisco, which they named in honor of the titular saint of the friar missionaries.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THE BAY.
It is said that, while on this expedition, a regret was expressed that no mission was as yet named after the patron of the Order. Says Portala, " Let the saint guide us to a good harbor, and we will name a mission for him." When they came in sight of the hay, Father Gomez cried, " There is the har- bor of San Francisco," and thus it received its name.
Father Junipero Serra was not of this illustrious company of explorers, and did not visit the Bay of San Francisco for nearly six years after its dis- covery. The honor belongs to Fathers Crespi and Gomez, Governor Portala, and their humbler com- panions. The party then returned to San Diego, which they reached on the 24th of January, 1770,
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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY. CALIFORNIA.
after an absence of six months and ten days. Six years thereafter, on the 9th of October, 1776. the Mission of San Francisco de los Dolores, was founded on the western shore of the great bay, the old church remaining in tolerable preservation to the present time, the most interesting landmark of our present civilization.
MISSION DOLORES.
One may retire from the noise and bustle of the city, and spend a pleasant hour among the quaint surroundings of the old church. The adobe walls, the columns of doubtful order of architecture, the bells hung with rawhide which called the dusky converts to worship, all were doubtless objects of wonder and mystery to the simple-minded natives. From 1776 to 1881, what changes on either side of the continent. A hundred years is much in the life of men, little, except in effect. in the life of a nation.
Father Junipero, who founded these missions, and under whose fostering care they reached such unex- ampled prosperity. reposes in the old church-yard at Monterey. His life reads like a romance.
CHURCH HISTORY .- It is related of him as illustrat- ing his fiery zeal. that, while on his way to found the mission of San Antonio de Padua, he caused the mules to be unpacked at a suitable place, and the bells hung on a tree. Seizing the rope he began to ring with all his might. regardless of the remonstra- tions of the other priests, shouting at the top of his voice, " Hear! hear, O ye Gentiles ! Come to the Holy Church! Come to the faith of Christ!" Such enthusiasm will win its way even among savages.
FATHER JUNIPERO'S DEATHI.
At length having founded and successfully estab. lished six missions, and gathered into his fold over seven tlou-and wild people of the mountains and plains. the heroje Junipero began to feel that his end was drawing near. lle was then seventy years old; fifty-three of these years he had spent in the active service of his master in the New World. Hlav- ing fought the good fight and finished his illustrious course. the broken old man retired to the Mission of San Carlos at Monterey. gave the few remain- ing days of his life to a closer communion with God, received the last rites of the religion which he had advocated and illustrated so well, and on the 29th of August. list gent's passed away. Tradi- tions of the " boy priest " still linger among the rom- nants of the tribes which were gathered under bis care.
CHAPTER IV. *
THE MISSIONS OF ST. FRANCIS.
Their Moral and Political Aspect-Domestic Economy-The Es- tablishments Described-Secular and Religious Occupations of the Neophytes-Wealth and Productions-Liberation and Dispersion of the Indians-Final Decay.
CERTAIN writers upon the early history of Califor- nia, have taken an unfavorable view of the system under which the missionary friars achieved their wonderful success in reducing the wild tribes to a condition of semi-civilization. The venerable Fathers are accused of selfishness, avarice and tyranny, in compelling the Indians to submission, and forcibly restraining them from their natural liberty. and keeping them in a condition of servitude. Nothing could be more unjust and absurd. It were as well to say that it is cruel, despotie, and inhuman to tame and domesticate the wild cattle that roam the great plains of the continent. The system of the Father, was only our modern reservation poliey humanized and Christianized ; inasmuch as they not only fed and clothed the bodies of the improvident natives, but likewise cared for their imperishable souls. The cure of Indian souls was the primary object of the friar enthusiasts ; the work required of the Indians was of but few hours' duration, with long intervals of rest, and was only incidental to the one great and holy purpose of spiritual conversion and salvation. Surely, " No greater love hath any man than that he lay down his life for his friend;" and it is a cruel stretch of sectarian uncharity to charge selfishness and avarice to the account of self-devoting men who voluntarily went forth from the refinements, pleas- ures, and honors of European civilization, to traverse the American wilderness in sandals, and with only one poor garment a year, in order to uplift the de- graded and savage tribes of Paganism from the regions of spiritual darkness, and lead them to the heights of salvation; nay, even to starve and die on the " coral strand" of California in helpless and deserted age. In 1838, the Rev. Father Sarria act- ually starved to death at the Mission of Soledad. after having labored there for thirty years. After the mission had been plundered through the perfidy of the Mexican Government, the old man, broken by age and faint with hunger, lingered in his little church with the few converts that remained, and one Sunday morning fell down and died of starvation before the altar of his life-long devotion. O, let not the Christian historian of California, who is yet to write for all time to come, stain and distort his pages by such cruel and unworthy charges against the barefooted paladins of the Cross. No one who has not felt the divine influence that pervaded and strengthened the devoted missionaries in their labors and privations in the wilderness ean appreciate the sincerity of their actions and the hopefulnes of their lives. To entirely comprehend the system and pro- ceedings of the friars, it will be essential to know the
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