USA > California > San Benito County > History of San Benito County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, and mines : with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 3
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"()n the 31st of May, 1770, by favor of God, after rather a painful voyage of a month and a half, the packet Son Antonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this beautiful port of Monterey, which is unadulterated iu any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian Viscaiño, in 1620. It gave me 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 a bank at the foot of an oak, where we causel an altar to be erected, and the bells raug; we then chanted the veni Creator, blessed the water, erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal stan lard, 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 ceremony being accompanied by many volleys and salutes by the troops and vessels."
THE 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, ou the border of an inland stream upon which it has conferred its uame. The buildings were inclosed in a square, twelve hundred feet ou each side, and walled with adobes. Its lands were forty-eight leagues in cir- cumfereuee, including seven farms, with a convenient house and chapel attached to each. The stream was conducted in paved treuehes twenty miles for purposes of irrigation; large crops rewarded the husbandry of the padres. In 1822 this mission owned fifty-two thousand eight hundred head of cattle, eighteen hundred tame horses, three thousand mares, five hundred yoke of working oxen, six hundred mules, forty-eight thousand sheep and one thousand swine. The climate here is cold in winter and intensely hot in summer. This mission on its seen- larixation fell into the hands of an administrator who negheted 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, and the grapes were brought to Monterey for sale, The vinoyard and garden walls
. In extruded history of these missions will be found in the "History of Monitores
17
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST MISSIONS.
are now gonc, and the cattle 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 .- Pioneer M. S.
THE MISSION OF SOLEDAD .*
1791 .- Mission Soledad was founded Oetober 9, 1791, and is situated fifteen leagues south-west 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,
from Monterey-founded 1794. Its lands swept the broad interval and adjacent hills. In 1820 it ownel forty-three thousand eight hundred and seventy head of cattle, one thon- sand three hundred and sixty tame horses, four thousand eight
VIEW OF MISSION BUILDINGS AT SAN JUAN.
through the labor of his Indians, an aqueduct extending fifteen | hundred and seventy mares, colts and fillies. It had seven iniles, by which he could water twenty thousand acres.
IMMENSE BANDS OF CATTLE.
In 1826 the mission owned about thirty-six thousand 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 driveu in bands into the bay of Monterey iu order to preserve the pasturage for the cattle. It had about seventy thousand sheep and three hundred yoke of tame oxen. In 1819 the major-domo of this mission gathered three thousand four hundred bushels of wheat from thirty-eight bushels sown. Its secularization has been followed by decay and ruin .- Walter Colton.
The mission possessed a fine orchard of a thousand trees, but very few were left in 1849. There was also a vineyard about six miles from the mission in a gorge of the mountains.
MISSION OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA."
1794 .- This mission looms over a rich valley ten leagues
* An extended history of Chess miastone will he found in the Hillstury of Monterey County."
1 sheep farms, containing sixty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty sheep; while the Indians attached to the mission drove three hundred and twenty-one yoke of working oxen. Its store-house contained $75,000 in goods and $20,000 in specie.
REIGN OF DESOLATION AT SAN JUAN.
This mission was secularized in 1834; its cattle slaughtered for the hides and tallow, its sheep left to the wolves, its horses taken by the dandies, its Indians left to hunt acorns, while the wind sighis over the grave of its last padre .- Walter Colton.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSIONS.
The missions were usnally quadrilateral buildings, two stories high, euclosing a court-yard ornamented with fountains and trees. The whole consisting of the church, father's apart- inents, store-houses, barracks, ete. The quadrilateral sides were each about six hundred feet in length, one of which was partly occupied by the church.
And so they begiu their work, surronded by beautiful scenery, but in seclusion and loneliness. They lived under
DESCRIPTION OF MISSION CHURCHES.
the shadow of the hills. The sun rose bright and the air was mild, as now, and the music of tbe surf, and tbe roar of the ocean in times of storm-these things must have been as familiar to them as they are now to us.
But there must have been something of sublimity about tbem wheu all around was in a condition of nature, that we miss in our more artificial life.
They go about their work. They get together the Indians as soon as possible, to communicate with them. They teach them some rude approach to the arts of civilized life. They teach the men to use tools, and the women to weave.
BUILDING MISSION CHURCHES.
Time passes away and we find them with a great work on their hands. It is nothing less than the building of a church. We think that to be no small undertaking even now, with all our facilities. But it is not easy for us to imagine what it was to them, with nothing but hand labor; and that of a very rude sort.
But they set about it. They make adobes. They cut down the trees. They bew out the timber. By some means they get it up to the spot. No small undertaking that as we can see now by examining those very beams, in what remains of those old churches.
Nor did the hewing lack in skill and accuracy, as you can also see, and the solid adobe walls, you can measure them, and you will find tbem to be five feet thick. It took often several years to build a church. And so life at the mission began in earnest. Other buildings were erected as they came to be necded.
MISSION DAILY LIFE.
The daily routine at all the missions was very much alike, and was about as follows :-
They rose at sunrise and proceeded to the church, to attend morning prayers. Breakfast followed. Then the day's work.
Towards noon they returned to the mission and passed the time till two o'clock in the afternoon, between dinner and repose.
After that hour they resumed work and continued it till about sunset. Then all betook themselves to the church for evening devotions, aud theu to supper.
After supper came amusements till the bour for retiring.
Their diet consisted of beef and mutton with vegetables in the season. Wheaten cakes and puddings or porridge, called atole and pinole, formed a portion of the repast.
The dress was for the males, linen shirt, trousers, and a blanket. The women had cach two undergarments a year, a gown and a blanket.
What a dreamy secluded life it must have been, with commu- uication with the outer world only at intervals.
BEECHEY'S DESCRIPTION OF MISSION CONVERTS.
Captain Beechey, in 1826, visited the missions and says :-
" If any of the captured Indians show a repugnance to con- version, it is the practice to imprison them for a few days, and then allow them to breathe a little fresh air in a walk around the missions, to observe the happy mode of life of their con- verted countrymen; after which they are again shut up, and thus continue incarcerated until they declare their readiness to renounce the religion of their fathers."
" In the isles and passages of the church, zealons beadles of the converted race are stationed armed with sundry weapons of potent influence in effecting silence and attention, and which arc not sparingly used on the refractory. These consist of sticks and whips, long goads, etc., and they are not idle in the hands of the officials."
"Sometimes, they break their bonds and escape into their original haunts. When brought back to the mission he is always flogged and then has an iron clog attached to one of his legs, whieb has the effect of preventing his running away and marking him out in terrorem to others." Notwithstand- ing this dark picture, it must not be imagined that life was one of much hardship, or that they even thought so.
FIRST INDIAN BAPTISM AT MONTEREY.
1770 .- Of those who came oftenest among tbem at San Diego, was an Indian about fifteen years of age, and was at last induced to eat whatever was given him without fear. Father Junipero had a desire to teach him, aud after understanding a little of the language he desired him to try and bring some little one for baptism. He was told to tell the parents that by allowing a little water to be put on the head, the child would become a son of God, be clothed and become equal to the Spaniards He returned with several Indians, one of whom brought the child for baptism. Full of joy the cbild was clothed and tbe vener- able priest ordered the soldiers to attend this first baptism. The ceremony proceeded, and as the water was about to be poured the Indians suddenly snatched away the child and made off in great haste, leaving the father in amazement, with the water in his hands unused.
It was not, however, until the 26th of December, 1770, that the first baptism of the Indians was celebrated at Monterey, which turned out better than the first attempt at. Sau Diego. But at the end of three years only one hundred and seventy- tive were baptized, showing that the Indians received civiliza- tion slowly.
MISSION OF SAN FRANCISCO.
1776,-On September 17, 1776, tho presidio and mission of San Francisco were founded, on what was then the extreme boundary of California, the former in a manner being a front-
مبـ ــ
RESIDENCE OF G.A. MOORE, 5 MILES SOUTH-WEST OF HOLLISTER, SAN BENITO CO, CAL.
19
DECLINE OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS.
ier command, having a jurisdiction which extended to the farthest limits northward of Spanishi discovery.
In its early day the whole military force in Upper California did not number more than from two to three hundred men. divided between the four presidios of San Diego, Santa Bar- bara, Monterey, and San Francisco, while there were but two towns or pueblos, Los Angeles and San Jose.
When Junipero Serra and his band of missionaries entered Upper California from the lower territory, they brought with them a number of horses, mules, and cattle, wherewith to stock the proposed missions. These were duly distributed, and in time asses, sheep, goats, and swine were added,
RICH MEN OF 1793.
1793 .- An inventory of the rich men of the presidio of San
Francisco, bearing date 1793, was discovered some years since, show- ing that the entire number of stock owned by fourteen wealthy Spaniards, was one hundred and fifteen cattle, two huudred and ninety-eight sheep and seventeen mares.
These are the men who laid the founda- tion of these immense hordes of cattle which were wont to roam about the entire State, and who were the fathers of those whom we now term native Californians.
As year succeeded year so did their stock increase.
They received tracts of land " almost for the asking."
VAST BANDS OF WILD CATTLE.
Vast bands of cattle roamed about at will over the plains and among the mountains, Once a year these had to be driven in and rodeod, i. e. branded, a work of considerable danger, and one requiring much nerve. The occasion of rodeoing, how- ever, was the signal for a'fcast; a large beeve would be slaugh- tered, and all would make merry until it was consumed. The rule or law concerning branded cattle in those early days was very strict.
If any one was known to have branded his neighbor's cattle with his own mark, common usage called upon him to return in kind fourfold,
Not only did this apply to cattle alone, but to all other kinds of live stock.
recourse to the rich California missions for plunder.
In 1813, when the contest for national independence was being waged on Mexican territory, Spain resolved upon dis- pensing with the services of the fathers, by placing the mis- sions in the hands of the secular clergy. The professed object of this secularization scheme was, indeed, the welfare of the Indians and colonists; but how little this accorded with the real intentions of the Government, is seen from the seventh section of the 'decree passed by the cortes, wherein it is stated that one-half of the land was to be hypothecated for the pay- ment of the national debt. This decree of the Goverument was not carried out at the time, yet it had its effect on the state and well-being of the missions in general.
In 1803 one of the missions had become the scene of a revolt; and earlier still, as we learn from an unpublished correspon- dence of the fathers, it was not unusual for some of the converts to abandon the missions and return to their former wandering life. It was customary on those occasions to pursue the desert- ers, and compel them to return.
Each successive rev- olution in Mexico had
MISSION CHURCH AND BUILDINGS AT SONOMA,
TABLE OF THE UPPER CALIFORNIAN MISSIONS.
Nin.
SAME
HATE OF ESTA D- LISUMEST.
Bay of San Dieun. J Subsequently removed from Monterey
1
San Diego ile Meala.
lune 3, 1770
? to the Carmel river.
18 league4 f'm San Miguel, Monterey en.
3
San Antonio de Paula
July 14, Til
( Hancho La Merred, Heven unies east- erly from Los Angeles, som re- moved to present location, ulue milen cast of the city.
4
San Gabriel ile los Trinblores
5
San Luis Obispo
On San Francisco Bay.
San Pranelsco (Dolores).
Oct'r 9, 1176
I About midway hetween Los Angeles and Son Dlego.
8
Santa Clara
March 31, 1782
g
San Buenaventum
10
Santa Barbara
11
1ª
13
La Soledad
June 13, ligi
14
San Jose. .
June 24, 1191
15
16
San Miguel
San Fernando Rey
June 13, 1798
Į Diego,
18
San Luis Rey de Francia
Sept'r 11, 1804
15] Santa lucz ..
Due'r 14, 1810
San Rafael
Ang't 25, 1823
North ut San Francisco Bay, Marin cu. . Sonoina, Sonomn comity,
San Francisco de Solano
DECLINE OF THE MIS-
SIONS.
1813,-The extinc- tion of the missions was decreed by act of the Spanish Cortez in 1813, and again in 1828; also, by the Mexican Congress in 1833. Year after year they were despoiled of their property, until their final overthrow in 1845.
On the Saliuns river, Monterey county. Twenty iniles N. W. from Los Angeles. Thirteen and a half leagues from Sut
1i
San Juan Bautista.
July 25, 3197
Sept'r 8, 1707
Where town of Santu Clora nnw stands. South- east of sinl near Santa Barbara. On the Same Barbara channel. On the Santo Inez river.
La Purissima Conception
Dee'r 8, 1187
Ang't 23, 1191
Where town of Santa Cruz now stands.
Santa Cruz
Oct'r 9, 1701
On tho Salinas river, Muntercy county. Where the elty of San Jose now is.
On the San Juan river, San Benito ro.
San Juan Capistrano
Nov'r 1, 1710
Jan'y 18, 1771
Dedr 4, 1786
At present tou'n nf San Luis Dllspu.
Sept'r 1, 1112
MICATION,
July 16, 1160
San Carlos de Monterey
Sept'r 8, 177]
Twelve Icogues from Santa Barbam.
20
SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
REIGN OF DISORDER BEGINS.
1826 .- In 1826 instructions were forwarded by the federal government to the authorities of California for the liberation of the Indians. This was followed a few years later hy another act of the Legislature, orderiug the whole of the missions to be secularized and the religious to withdraw. The ostensible object assigned hy the authors of this measure, was the execu- tion of the original plan formed by the Government. The missions, it was alleged, were never intended to be permanent establishments.
Meantime, the internal state of the missions was hecoming inore and more complex and disordered. The desertions were more frequent aud uuinerous, the hostility of the unconverted inore daring, and the general disposition of the people inclined to revolt. American traders and freehooters had entered tbe country, spread themselves all over the province, and sowed the seeds of discord and revolt among the inhabitants. Many of the more reckless and evil minded readily listened to their suggestions, adopted their counsels, and broke out into open hostilities.
TABLE SHOWING POPULATION OF THE MISSIONS IN YEAR 1802. MOSTLY CHRISTIANIZED INDIANS .*
DATE OF FOUNDING.
SAME OF MTBSION.
MALE4.
FEMALES.
TOTAL.
1769
San Diego.
737
822
1559
1798
San Luis Rey de Francia
256
276
532
1776
San Juan Capistrano.
502
511
1013
1771
San Gabriel ..
332
515
1047
1797
San Fernando .
317
297
614
1782
San Buenaventura
436
502
938
1786
Santa Barbara
521
572
1093
1787
La Purissima Conception.
457
571
1028
1772
San Luis Obispo.
374
325
699
1797
San Miguel
309
305
614
1791
Soledad
29G
267
563
1771
San Antonio de Padua.
568
+84
1052
1770
San Carlos de Monterey.
376
312
688
1797
San Juan Bautista.
530
428
958
1794
Santa Cruz.
238
199
437
1777
Santa Clara
736
553
1201
1797
San Jose
327
295
622
1776
San Francisco
433
381
814
1804
Santa Inez
...
1817
San Rafael Archangel .
...
1823
San Francisco de Solano
Totals
7945
7617
15562
ATTACK ON MONTEREY MISSION,
Their hostile attack was first directed agninst the mission of Santa Cruz, which they captured and plunderel, when they directed their course to Monterey, and, in common with their American friends, attacked and plundered that place, From
these and other like occurrences, it was clear that the condition of the missions was one of the greatest peril. The spirit of discord had spread among the people, hostility to the authority of the fathers bad become common, while desertion from the villages was of frequent and almost constant occurrence.
SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
1833 .- The Mexican Congress passed a bill to secularize the missions in Upper and Lower California, August 17, 1833. This took away from the friars the control of the mission prop- erty, placing it in charge of administrators; it gave the civil officers predominance over the priestly class. The President of the Republic issued his instructions to Governor Figueroa, of California, who in turn, August 9, 1834, issued a decree that in August, 1835, ten of the missions would be converted into pueblos or towns.
A portion of the mission property was divided among the resident Indians, and the decree for the liberation of the Indians was put in forec. The dispersion and demoralization of the people was the iminediate result. Released from all restraint, the Indians proved idle, shiftless, and dissipated, wholly incap- able of self-control, and a nuisance both to themselves and to every one with whom they came in contact. Within eight years after the execution of the decree, the number of Chris- tians diminished from thirty thousand six hundred and fifty to four thousand four hundred and fifty :
DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSIONS.
At the end of sixty-five years, Hon. John W. Dwinelle tells us, in Centennial Memoirs, page 89, that the missionaries of Upper California found themselves in possession of twenty-one prosperous missions, planted upon a line of about seven hun- dred miles, ruuniug from San Diego north to the latitude of Sonomia. More than thirty thousand Iulian converts were lodged in the mission buildings, receiving religious culture. assisting at divine worship, and cheerfully performing their easy tasks. Over seven hundred thousand cattle of various species, pastured upon the plains, as well as sixty thousand horses. One hundred and twenty thousand bushels of wheat were raised annually, which, with maize, beans, peas, and the like, made up an annual crop of one hundred and eighty thon- sand bushels ; while, according to the climate, the different missions rivaled each other in the production of wine, brandy. soap, lenther, hides, wool, vil, cotton, hemp, linen, tohaceo, salt anıl soda.
ANNUAL BEVENCE RECEIVED.
Of two hundred thousmul horned cattle animally slunghteredd. the missious furnished about one-half, whose hidles, hoofs, horus and tallow were sold at a net result of about ten dollars each. making a million dollars from that sonre alone; while the other
In 1802, when Humboldt visited Callforan, he estluiated the whole population of the
It la'nz wolmplized woro rujediferent bonesith the weber af primable belles.
REIGN OF DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION.
articles, of which no definite statistics can be obtained, doubt- less reached an equal value, making a total production by the missions themselves of two million dollars. Gardens, vineyards, and orchards surrounded all the missions, except the three northernmost-Dolores, San Rafael, and San Francisco Solano -the climate of the first being too inhospitable for that pur- pose, and the two latter, born near the advent of the Mexican revolution, being stifled in their infancy.
The other missions, according to their latitude, were orna- mented and enriched with plantations of palın trees, bananas' oranges and figs, with orchards of European fruits; and with vast and fertile vineyards, whose products were equally valu- able for sale and exchange, and for the diet and comfort of the inhabitants of the missions. Aside from these valuable proper- ties, and from the mission buildings, the live stock of the missions, valued at their current rates, amounted to three million dollars of the most active capital, bringing enormons annual returns upon its aggregate value, and, owing to the great fertility of animals in California, more than repairing its annual waste by slaughter.
TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF MISSION INDIANS BETWEEN 1802 AND 1822,
NAME OF MISSION.
TAITIZED.
MARRIED.
EXISTISG,
Sau Diego.
4,024
922
1,507
2,663
Sau Luis Rey
3,879
1,026
2,531
1,052
San Juan Capistrano.
6,906
1,638
4,635
1,593
Santa Catarina ..
2,519
709
1,505
1,001
San Fernando.
3,608
973
2,608
: 973
San Gabriel
4,917
1,288
3,224
1,010
Santa Barbara.
1,195
330
896
582
San Buenaventura. .
3,100
919
2,173
764
Purissima Conception
2,562
715
1,954
467
San Luis Obispo ..
2,205
632
1,336
926
San Miguel ..
4,119
1,037
317
834
San Antonio de Padua
1,932
584
1,333
532
Our Lady of Soledad.
3,267
912
2,432
341
San Carlos.
3,270
823
1,853
1,222
San Juan Bautista.
499
Santa Cruz.
7,324
2,056
6,565
1,394
Santa Clara
4,573
1,376
2.933
1,620
San Jose ,
6,804
2,050
5,202
958
San Francisco
829
244
183
830
San Rafael.
74,621 20,412 47,925 20,958
Totals
RAPID DECLINE OF CONVERTS.
It will thus be observed that out of the seventy-four thousand six hundred and twenty-one converts received into the mis- sions, the large number of forty-seven thousand nine hun- dlred and twenty-five had succumbed to disease. Of what nature was this plague it is hard to establish; the missionaries themselves could assign no cause, In all probability, by a sudden change in their lives from a free, wandering existence, to a state of settled quietude.
TABLE EXPLAINING THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE MISSIONS BY THE FATHERS IN 1834 AND THAT OF THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES IN 1842.
NIMBKR
NUSIIIER OF INDIANS.
CATTLE.
OF HORSES.
NIL. OF SIIRKP, LOATH AND SAISK.
HALVEST
BUSUELA
NAMES OF THE MISSIONS.
1834.
1842.
1834.
1842.
183+.
1542.
1834
15,Q1H)
200
13,000
San Diego ..
3,500
650
80,000 2,800 10,000
Sau Louis Rey ..
1,7100
100 50,000
500 1,000
150
10,01X0)
10,000
San Juan Capistrano
1:00
10,000
3,560
20,000
San Gabriel.
1,50-1
400 14,1100
1,500
5,000
40
6,000
400
3,000
Son Buenaventura
150
6,000
100
3,000
Santa Barbara .
500
4,000
1,500
Sausta Incz .. ...
2.000
800
14,0001
3,500
8,000
La Purissima Conception
1,230
80]
0,000
300
4,000
,,000
8(x)
4,000
San Luis Obispo .
1,2150
30
4,000
40
2,600
10,100
400
2.500
Sın Miguel .. .
1,400
150
12, 000
800
1.000
1,00
7,000
1,500
Mission del Carinel ..
500
40
9,000
:00
7,000
3.500
San Juan Bautista. ..
10,000'
Santa Cruz
1,800
300
13,000
1,500
9.30
15,00)
3,000
0,000
Santa Clara
2,300
400
5,000
61
1,600
50
4,000
1200
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