USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 4
USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 4
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The Sierra Madre range of mountains, whose crest line ranges from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, with peaks rising to 9,000, 10,000 and 11,000 feet, are rough, irregular and steep, and their southern crest and ravines contain much timber. The Cajon is the one complete pass through the northwestern range. The culminating peak, Mount San Bernardino, rises to a height of 10,680 feet, and between it and Greyback, of the San Jacinto range, lies the San Gorgonio Pass. Mount Greyback, or San Gorgonio, is 11,485 feet, the highest point in Southern California.
The San Bernardino Valley, the largest and best watered valley in Southern California, lies between the Sierra Madre Range on the north,
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the San Jacinto Range on the south and the Coast Range on the southwest. The San Bernardino basin, in the upper end of the valley, is open only to the west, and in that direction is still overlooked by the somewhat abrupt rising edge of the Cucamonga Plains. It is hemmed in to the north by the most precipitous portion of the very abrupt Sierra Madre, over- shadowed on the east by the towering peaks of San Bernardino and Greyback, and closed in on the south by a high range of hills, extending southwesterly from the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains to the Coast Range. The valley is filled with a great alluvial deposit of a com- paratively recent geological placing. The valley is entered at the extreme northwest end by the Cajon Pass; at the southeast corner, from San Gorgonio Pass, by the San Timoteo Canon, and at its extreme end on the east by the Santa Ana River, which crosses it and emerges at the south- west corner. About twenty square miles of its area of about 100 square miles are within the known limits of an artesian water-producing basin, which occupies its lowest lands, just above the outlet on the course of the Santa Ana River.
In San Bernardino County there are to be found geological indica- tions of numerous periods and ages, of glacial and volcanic action, with the attendant submergences and upliftings, and of various other move- ments demonstrating the working out of nature's plans. Through the county are also to be found indications that there existed a somewhat superior race of people in this section prior to the coming of the Indians, but the known history of man in this region begins with the coming of the Spanish priests and soldiers, in 1774, who found the territory occupied by Indians, who were still far below the pueblo dwellers of Arizona and New Mexico, although not so degraded physically, mentally or morally as many of their neighboring tribes. Since the coming of Anza and his expedition, in 1774, marvelous changes have occurred and much history has been written. The most material advancement has come within the past half century or three-quarters, and what the future will bring, while a matter of conjecture, will undoubtedly be a continuance of the progress that has brought San Bernardino to a position which has fully justified its appellation of the "Imperial County."
Who is to be the gifted writer that will give to the world a word picture of our beautiful valley as it now is revealed to us? Who will be the historian that will cause to be preserved the marvelous chronicles of the past? And where is the prophet who will unfold its magnificent future? Take our valley as it now is familiar to us-so like, they say, to "Palestine in general contour"-and compare it to the valley as it was fifty years, or more correctly speaking, seventy-two years ago, when civil- ization, on the wings of faith came bounding over those northern slopes with hope in its arms, and note what capital and labor-a combination of forces hard to excel-have done.
To the north, to the south, to the east, to the west, the same old, majestic mountains with their everlasting pinnacles pointing heavenward -presenting a certain rugged, defiant beauty all their own, with the broad Pacific just over to the west.
The same poppy fields as of old, that make the earth smile as a mother ; the same lofty pine and hardy oak, and delicately tinted rose petals.
Above and over all, the same old, blue sky, the same sunbeams, the same old stars shining subimely as they have been doing since the Divine command set forth their purpose,-"Let there be light."
Yet, at every bend in the road, we read a new story : every touch of the hand a new revelation -- new wealth, new glories ; every sweep of the vision a new inspiration.
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The possibilities of our unmatched valley have given birth to a new picture-a picture from the brush in the hand of the intelligent toiler. In this new picture we see the great irrigating system, various in its devices, that has made possible broad acres of grain, orchards, groves of citrus fruit, vineyards, gardens and flowers-a new picture in an old setting-a setting the pioneers discovered.
Dotted here and there are schoolhouses-modern in appointments, churches telling the "old, old story," and industrial agencies by the hun- dreds-yea, by the thousands.
We see opportunities for the man of small means; greater ventures for those of larger fortunes ; we see sites for the little homes, and those for the palace; and we see both homes and palace.
Paved streets and highways have taken the place of ruts, shrubs and the boulders.
Paralleling the beautiful, smooth roadways, are threads of steel rails, over the same ground once travelled by the ox-team, the burro, and pioneer with his little load of earthly possessions and additional burdens of fears and hardships.
We see business opportunities asking for bids on investments ; we see labor turning capital into increased comforts and joys; we see laughing children, free to roam in healing sunshine-amid surroundings, that, but a few short years ago, sheltered the child of another race. We see remnants of a band of men, who were masters of all they surveyed,- watching the inroads of civilized ways of life-they, themselves slipping farther and farther back into the shadows.
We see over on yonder lonely hilltop a spot where in 1810 a little hand of brown robed holy men halted long enough to set up a cross, and give to the valley, at their feet, the name of "San Bernardino," and to hallow the occasion with a prayer and a baptismal.
"The prophetic soul of the wide world, dreaming on things to come."
Forty-one years later we see the first caravan of pioneers stopping by a stream in Cajon Pass, thirty miles to the north of the hallowed place of the cross and kneel on the greensward and utter words of praise and rejoicing.
We see a great, broad, productive valley, 200 miles across, where intelligence has directed the toil of man to an accomplished purpose.
We turn from valley towards the mountain chain, that lovingly hems the valley round about.
In the days when civilization was making its first advance, progressive man, bent on conquest of the wilds, to the music of the tread of the ox and the horse hewed narrow paths, that broadened into safe highways to the tune of the auto, leading on to still quicker methods-the plane and the wireless.
The mystery of the secrets of the hilltops was revealed, and their recesses have become the great playground of the southland.
The years have rolled on, bringing the fulfillment of things prayed for, hoped for and worked for.
This wonderful valley has been consecrated with prayers and lofty aspirations, there have been tears and heartbreaks-then came the glad- some things.
On history's pages we will spread the chronicles of the past, as against the time of the coming of the genius of the morrow, who will weave the tissues into a story to match those two masterpieces of his- torical fiction, "Ramona," and the "Mission Play."
JOHN BROWN, JR.
History of San Bernardino County
CHAPTER I
THE ERA OF THE SPANIARDS
EARLY EXPLORERS AND MISSIONARIES. Like numerous other regions of the United States, San Bernardino County must go directly back to the days of the Spanish explorers and missionaries for its earliest known history. The church and the state were practically indissolubly united, and the history of the missions and missionaries is the history of that period when California was occupied by the Spaniards. Many years before the vessel of the first hardy explorer touched the western coast of North America, wonderful tales had reached the ears of the Spaniards regarding an island lying afar off in unknown seas, called California. These stories, highly colored and greatly exaggerated as to facts, aroused the cupidity of the early explorers, and the colonization of Baja-California was begun as early as 1530. The bishoprics of New Spain were estab- lished and organized in Mexico as early as 1534, and from that time forward the church was ceaseless in its efforts to convert the natives. The first man to tread the deserts of Arizona and enter what is now New Mexico was Fray Marco, "the lying priest," as he is called by Coro- nado, after being induced through the priest's glowing accounts of the country to make the same expedition.
Passing over the history of the Spanish conquest and settlements in North America, that of California begins with the expedition under command of Admiral Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who,. June 27, 1542, sailed from Navidad, his object being to discover "a shorter route, in a westerly direction, from New Spain, or Mexico, between the North and the South Sea."1
The admiral's two vessels, the Victoria and the San Salvador, entered the unexplored waters of the then called Mar del Sur, and September 28 reached a harbor which the explorer named San Miguel, now San Diego Bay. About October 10, this venturesome party anchored in a small bay, now believed to be San Pedro, and November 17 discovered the Bay of Monterey. The voyage was continued until 44 degrees latitude had been reached, when the commander decided to return to the Santa Barbara Islands for the winter, because of the inclement weather and the unsafe condition of his vessels. He was not given the opportunity of continuing his voyages, as he died on the island of San Miguel, January 3, 1543, as the result of injuries and exposure.
Sixty years elapsed before Spain made any attempt to proceed with the work so ably commenced by Cabrillo, but May 1, 1603, under the command of Admiral Don Sebastien Viscaino, a fleet of three vessels, the San Diego, Santo Tomas and Los Tres Reyes, sailed from Acapulco, and November 10 anchored in the bay where Cabrillo first landed, and which Viscaino named San Diego de Alcala. "Accompanying this expedi- tion," says Father Juan Caballeria, in his "History of San Bernardino Valley," "was a party of learned scientists sent purposely from Madrid to take part in the explorations. They were the first to make maps of the coast and of the islands lying off the coast of California A knowledge
1 History of San Bernardino Valley, by Father Juan Caballeria.
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of the progress of this expedition may be gained by following the Roman Calendar of Saints. These pious fathers not only made the maps, but named each place visited by the expedition with the name of the saint whose anniversary occurred on the day of their arrival at the place. Cali- fornia owes a debt of gratitude to these devout padres for the beautiful names bestowed upon many of her now popular pleasure resorts and islands, these names having been retained to this day."
While the maps, records and descriptions of the coast, climate and general condition of California were accepted as authority, this expedi- tion, which reached 42 degrees latitude, did nothing further of value. Viscaino solicited the opportunity of returning to California, desiring to make a permanent settlement in the country, but no provision was made for that. purpose.
Father Kino, a Jesuit monk, had the distinction of being the first to decide that lower California was a peninsula and not an island as had formerly been the belief. After establishing a number of missions along the Sonora coast and making many explorations of the gulf coast, he conceived the idea of carrying a chain of missions around the gulf and along the Pacific Coast. Although he labored without cessation to carry out this project, for many years he could gain no aid either from the government or from his own brotherhood. All attempts to colonize lower California had been unsuccessful on account of the savage character of the inhabitants, and finally the government decided to turn the peninsula over to the Jesuits. So unattractive a labor did not appeal to the Superior of the order in Mexico, but Father Kino and a colleague, Father Sal- vatierra, determined that the gospel should be carried here, established, almost entirely unaided, missions among the savages.
It was in 1767 that the government of Spain finally came to the con- clusion that a determined effort must be made in the way of colonizing upper California. Alarmed by the possibility of Russia securing domina- tion, Carlos III, then king of Spain, issued a royal mandate commanding Jose de Galvez, viceroy of New Spain, to make preparation for the immediate occupation of the country. They were to establish military stations at San Diego and Monterey, and the object of the expedition was two-fold: the occupation and colonization of the country by Spain, and the conversion to Christianity of the native inhabitants. This latter undertaking was placed in the hands of the Brotherhood of the Order of Franciscans, and Fray Junipero Serra, a Franciscan monk of brilliant gifts and high rank, was made president of the missions to be established. It was largely through his zeal and energy that the task of colonizing this large territory and of civilizing, to an extent at least, a great number of savages, was accomplished.
The expedition was first planned to consist of four divisions, two to go by land and two by sea, and January 9, 1769, the San Carlos sailed from La Paz. The San Jose was subsequently fitted ont and set sail Tune 16, but was probably lost at sea, as it was never again heard from. The first land division, under command of Rivera y Moncada, captain of "soldados de cuera," was composed of soldiers, muleteers and neophytes of the Lower California Missions, who took with them cattle, horses, mules and sheep, as well as a supply of garden seeds. The second land division was commanded by Gaspar de Portala, a captain of dragoons, who had been appointed governor of Alta, California, and who, at Vellicata, was joined by Fray Junipero Serra. Many unexpected difficulties arose. In addition to the ship that was lost, many of the sailors on the other vessels died. The Indians, who were first curious, later became indifferent and finally hostile and attacked the Spanish before the completion of the
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buildings at San Diego. However, a start had been made, and July 16, 1769, the mission San Diego de Alcala was founded, a day selected as most appropriate, it being commemorative of the Triumph of the Most Holy Cross over the Crescent in 1212, and also the feast day of our Lady of Mount Carmel. This really was the beginning of the missionary work in California.
A few days later an expedition was sent to discover the harbor of Monterey, but failed to recognize the place and returned to San Diego. A second expedition was more fortunate and the desired harbor located. In a letter to his lifelong friend, Father Francis Palou, Father Junipero Serra said: "On the great feast of Pentecost, June 3, close by the same shore, and under the same oak tree where the fathers of Viscaino's expedi- tion had celebrated, we built an altar, and the bell having been rung, and the hymn Veni Creator intoned, we erected and consecrated a large cross, and unfurled the royal standard, after which I sang the first mass which is known to have been sung at this point since 1603. I preached during the mass, and at its conclusion we sang the 'Salve Regina.' Our celebra- tion terminated with the singing of the Te Deum; after which the officers took possession of the land in the name of the King of Spain. During the celebration a salute of many cannons was fired from the ship. To God alone be honor and glory."? Thus was founded, June 3, 1770, the second of the missions of California, the Mission of San Carlos Bar- romeo, and at the same time the occupation of California by Spain was considered complete.
The men who planted the cross on the western continent, who were selected to Christianize Alta-California, were heroic in their devotion to duty and sacrifice of self, and no hardship was too great and no personal discomfort ever considered or permitted to stand in the way of the work to which their lives were consecrated. They may have erred at times through a mistaken sense of duty, but their mistakes were rather those of the time in which they lived, and were brought about by conditions from which they themselves suffered. Among the religious orders of the time, the Franciscans held high place, and among their members were men of high ecclesiastical and political standing, in whom Spain reposed the fullest confidence. Among these able men none was more greatly respected and beloved than Father Junipero Serra. This first Apostle of Christianity to Alta-California, was born in the village of Petra, in the island of Mallorica, November 24, 1713, and at the age of 17 years donned the habit and took the vows of the Franciscan Brotherhood. When the call came for him to become president in charge of the mission of Alta- California, he was miles away in the country, and, owing to a badly ulcer- ated leg, was not able to start until March 28, 1769, eighteen days behind the expedition, under the command of Governor Portola. whom he over- took at the frontier. His energy, zeal and untiring devotion to the faith were evidenced on this journey, when traveling so aggravated the swelling of his leg that he could proceed only with great suffering. But although he was repeatedly urged to abandon the journey, he insisted on completing the trip, stating that he "had put his faith in God and if He willed that he should die among savages he was content." Says Inger- soll3 : "At first all supplies for the missionaries had to be brought from Mexico, and the Indians could only be induced to listen to the gospel through the gift of 'baubles' and food. But Father Serra lived to estab- lish nine missions between San Francisco and San Diego harbors; he bap-
2 History of San Bernardino Valley, by Father Juan Caballeria.
3 Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County, 1904.
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tized and confirmed with his own hands between 5,000 and 6,000 'gentiles'; he saw his missions gather great numbers of neophytes about them, erect large and substantial churches, cultivate flourishing fields and orchards, and become not only self-supporting, but wealthy. Pueblos, or towns, sprang up in the vicinity of the missions, Spanish settlers came into the country and California became an important province of New Spain. All of this was not accomplished without unwearied vigilance on the part of the president of the missions. Frail of body, worn with constant fastings, self-afflicted tortures and an incurable disease, he traveled constantly between the establishments, administering affairs, preaching, admonishing and keeping close watch upon every feature of the mission life. Again and again he made the toilsome journey to Mexico, sometimes on foot, or riding a mule, sometimes pitching for weeks in one of the dreary little ships of the day. He met and overcame opposition from the government, from his superiors, from his subordi- nates, while he constantly endured terrible spiritual conflicts of his own. Surely Junipero Serra is worthy to rank with the saints he so faithfully emulated."
Juan Bautista de Anza, captain of the Presidio of Tubac, was com- missioned in 1773 to open a road between Sonora in Mexico and Mon- terey in California, and, acting under instructions, gathered together a party of thirty-four men, 140 horses and sixty-five cattle, and two priests, Fathers Garces and Diaz, accompanied the party. At the Colorado River, which was crossed at Yuma, three of the soldiers and some of the stock were left, and the remainder, following very closely the pres- ent route of the Southern Pacific Railway, reached El Puerto de San Carlos+, March 14, 1774. On the 18th they passed through El Valle de San Jose3; on the 20th they reached Rio Sta Ana6, which they crossed on a bridge of boughs, and on the 21st encamped at Arroyo de Osos or Alisos™. They formed the first body of Europeans to look upon the beautiful valley of San Bernardino. Not long thereafter Anza returned to Sonora by the same route and in 1775, when he again came to California, he was accompanied by a large number of soldiers and colonists, who were intended to settle San Francisco, and also had 355 cattle and 695 horses and mules.
To Father Garces, who belongs the honor of first exploring a con- siderable part of San Bernardino County, as well as first entering the Tulare country ; goes the credit for blazing the historical Santa Fe trail in 1776. Father Garces, who had been left by Anza to visit among the Indians of the Colorado with a view toward establishing missions in that vicinity, went up the Colorado River to a point near Needles, in 1775. He then struck across the desert. accompanied only by two or three Indians, and camped on the site of Camp Cody, whence he explored the Mojave River, of which he was the discoverer. Bancroft states that he entered the Bernardino Valley by the way of Cajon Pass, but Elliott Coues, who went over the ground carefully and followed the daily itinerary, states that his journey was by way of Holcomb and Bear valleys, which he reached by following up the watercourse from the Mojave, and then came down into the valley through the Santa Ana Canon. He reached the valley March 21, 1776, found a rancheria of Gauchamas Indians, and was greeted "joyfully" by them.
The sea route from Mexico having proven impracticable, the over- land route from Mexico by way of the Colorado River and San Ber- nardino Valley was generally favored, but the revolt of the Colorado
+ San Gorgonio Pass. 5 San Bernardino Valley. 6 Santa Ana River. 7 Cucamonga.
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Indians and the destruction, in 1781, of the two missions that had been established on the river, with the massacre of fifty persons, including Padre Garces and his fellow priests, caused travel over this "camino real" to fall into disrepute. After a time, however, travel was resumed, and as it was increased it was decided to establish another station on the route between San Gabriel and the Colorado River. This led to the establishment of Politana. On May 20, 1810, a party of missionaries, soldiers and Indian neophytes of the San Gabriel Mission arrived into the San Bernardino Valley, which they so named in honor of San Ber- nardino of Sienna, whose feast day it was according to the Roman Calendar of Saints. The Guachama Indians had here a prosperous rancheria and others were scattered throughout the valley, each bearing a name significant of the place where it was situated. Many of these names were retained by settlers of a later day and applied to ranchos granted by the Government.8 The settlement, or rancheria of mission Indians, after being established was placed in charge of a trustworthy Indian, Hipolito, from whom it took its name of Politana. The little mission flourished exceedingly until 1812, which was known as "el ano de los temblores" (the year of earthquakes), when the Indians, forget- ting in their fear all of the teachings of the good fathers, reverted to their savage superstitions, fell upon the mission, destroyed the buildings and massacred most of the mission Indians and converts. Later the buildings were rebuilt and were occupied for many years, but nothing now remains of Politana, or "Rancheria," as it was more popularly known, nor of the old burial place of the Christian Indians of San Bernardino Valley, which was situated on what is now the left side of the electric railway as it turns north from Colton on Mount Vernon Avenue.
In 1821, or thereabouts, the padres of San Gabriel were asked by the Guachama ranchita of Indians to assist in establishing farming and stockraising in their valley, and in 1822 a priest was sent out, who erected an adobe chapel, probably on or near the site of the present ruins of the old San Bernardino Mission. Subsequently was constructed what is known as Mill Creek zanza, which, in continual use ever since, is one of the most interesting and picturesque bits of scenery in the county, being fringed by willows and alders and resembling a natural water course. In 1831 the desert Indians raided the mission, destroyed the buildings and stole and scattered most of the stock, but the church was rebuilt in 1834 in a more substantial manner, and a granary was erected, the remains of which were found on the old Curtis place for many years after the advent of the Americans, but were finally leveled. The walnut grove just opposite the Anson Van Leuven place was the site of a large burial ground. It was in the same year that there com- menced to be much dissatisfaction and uneasiness among the mission Indians all through Southern California." This finally culminated in the revolt of the Indians in the vicinity of San Bernardino, stirred up by Hijar's colonists, a party from Mexico, and a battle was fought between a party of troops from San Gabriel and a body of 200 Indians. A later party was sent to try to pacify the Indians, but Father Estanaga
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