USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 45
USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 45
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With the downfall of Spanish domination in Mexico came the begin- ning of the end of missionary rule in California. The majority of mis- sion padres were Spanish born. In the war of Mexican independence their sympathies were with their mother country, Spain. After Mexico attained her independence some of them refused to acknowledge allegiance to the Republic. The Mexican authorities feared and distrusted them. In this, in part, they found a pretext for the disestablishment of the missions and the confiscation of the mission estates. There was another cause or reason for secularization more potent than the loyalty of the padres to Spain. Few forms of land monopoly have ever exceeded that in vogue under the mission system of California. From San Diego to San Francisco Bay the twenty missions established under Spanish rule monopolized the greater part of the fertile land between the coast range and the sea There was but little left for other settlers. A settler could not obtain a grant of land if the padres of the nearest mission objected.
The twenty-four ranches owned by the Mission San Gabriel contained about a million and a half acres and extended from the sea to the San Bernardino Mountains. The greatest neophyte population of San Gabriel was in 1817, when it reached 1,701. Its yearly average for the first three decades of the past century did not exceed 1,500. It took a thousand acres of fertile land, under the mission system, to support an Indian, even the smallest papoose of the mission flock. It is not strange that the people clamored for a sub-division of the mission estates; and secularization became a public necessity. The Reglamento governing the secularization of the missions approved by the Mexican Congress and finally enforced in 1834-36 was a humane measure. The regulations provided for the colonizations of the neophytes into pueblos or villages, a portion of the personal property and a part of the lands held by the missions were to be distributed as follows among the Indians :
To each head of a family and all who are more than twenty years old, although without families, was to be given from the lands of the mission, whether temperal (lands dependent on the seasons) or watered, a lot of ground not to contain more than four hundred yards in length and as many in breadth nor less than one hundred. Sufficient land for watering the cattle will be given in common. The outlets or roads were to be marked out by each village, and at the proper time the corporation lands were to be designated. The personal property was to be divided in an amicable and just manner among the Indians in a proportion of one-half of the implement and seeds indispensable for agriculture.
The political government of the Indian pueblos was to be organized in accordance with existing laws of the territory governing other towns. The neophyte could not sell, mortgage or dispose of the land granted him
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nor could he sell his cattle. The regulations provided that "religious missionaries shall be relieved from the administration of temporalities and shall only exercise the duties of their ministry so far as they relate to spiritual matters." The nunneries or the houses where the Indian girls were kept under the charge of a duena until they were of marriageable age, were to be abolished and the children restored to their parents. On turning over the female children to the parents, the parents were to be instructed as to their care and their own obligations towards them as parents. The same was to be done as regards the boys. The decree of secularization was fought in every possible way by the missionaries. With an energy born of despair, eager at any cost to outwit those who sought to profit by their ruin, the mission fathers hastened to destroy that which through more than half a century thousands of human beings had spent their lives to accumulate.
Hitherto cattle had been killed only as their meat was needed for use or at intervals perhaps for their hides and tallow alone, when an overplus of stock rendered such action necessary. Now they were slaughtered in herds by contract or equal shares with any who would undertake the task. It is claimed by some writers that not less than 100,000 head of cattle were thus slain from the herds of San Gabriel alone. The same work of destruction was in progress at every other mission throughout the territory and this vast country, from end to end, was become a mighty shambles, drenched in blood and reeking with the odor of decaying carcasses. There was no market for the meat and this was considered worthless. The white settlers were especially pleased with the turn affairs had taken and many of them did not scruple unceremoniously to appropriate herds of young cattle to stock their ranches.
The work of destruction was even begun on the missions, portions of them being unroofed and the lumber converted into firewood. Utensils were disposed of and goods and other articles distributed in profusion among the neophytes. The vineyards were ordered to be cut down, which, however, the Indians refused to do. The mission was placed in the hands of an administrator and Padre Tomas retained at a stipend of $1,500 per annum derived from the pious fund. He was said to be a good man, a sincere Christian and a despiser of hypocrisy. There has never been a purer priest in California. The nuns, who, when the secular movement came into operation, had been set free, were again gathered together under his supervision and maintained at his expense, as were also a number of old men and women.
The experiment of colonizing the Indians in the pueblos was a failure and they were gathered back into the mission, or as many of them as could be got back, and placed in the hands of administrators. "The Indians," said Reid, who was married to an Indian woman, "were made happy at this time by being permitted once more to enjoy the luxury of a tule dwelling. from which the greater part had been debarred for so long, they could now breathe freely again." The close adobe buildings in which they had been housed in mission days were no doubt one of the causes of the great mortality among them.
After this time the Indian went from bad to worse, "even under the dominion of the church," says Reid. "The neophytes were addicted both to drinking and gambling with an inclination to steal." In less than a quarter of a century after the American occupation, dissipation and epidemics of smallpox had settled the Indian question in Los Angeles- settled it by the extinction of the Indian.
What became of the vast mission estates? Grants were made of them to private parties and under this system grew up the pastoral manage-
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ment of the later years of Spanish occupation. The country improved under this system more between 1836 and 1846 in wealth and population than it had done in the previous fifty years. Under Mexican rule restric- tions against foreigners were greatly removed and Americans and others came in and settled down and generally intermarried with the Spanish settlers. And so ended the mission rule and the almost total extinction of the mission Indian who in reality perished according to an inexorable law of nature. "The Survival of the Fittest." Where a strong race comes in contact with a weaker, there can be but one ending to the contest- the disappearance of the weaker.
RUBIDOUX MOUNTAIN is one of the show places of Riverside, if only for its rugged grandeur and great boulders and masses of naked rock with its green sage brush, grass and flowers in the spring.
Towering as a solid and isolated cone 400 or more feet above the valley on which Riverside is built, where orange trees flourish, a mag- nificent view is had not only of the whole valley with its winding Santa Ana River, but of the distant mountains, Cucamonga, San Bernardino and San Jacinto, over 10,000 feet high, snow-clad while the spring flowers are in bloom at the foot of the sightseeing visitor. The hill itself is steep all round, and was impossible of access to the top by vehicle and hardly by horse until a winding road was built at considerable expense with an easy up grade with a down road slightly steeper which keeps the travel going up or down separately. Now it takes on the char- acter of a public park and picnic grounds on the top. In its original wild state it was often suggested as a splendid foundation for a grand park and was so intended by the company that took it with surrounding grounds as payment for building a pipe line bringing artesian water into the Riverside homes. There was also a tourist hotel planned and partly constructed on a projecting spur running out from one side of the moun- tain facing the city, with a commanding view of Riverside and the valley.
When there was need of a name for the little mountain that sheltered Riverside on the west, Robidoux's association with the district as its first white settler was forever commenmorated by giving his name to the little mountain. Latterly the name has undergone two changes. The first "o" became "u," and the last syllable has altered in pronunciation. It is now spoken as if spelled "deau". The mountain rises 500 feet above the town to an elevation of 1,337 feet above the sea, and is excep- tional in that it is almost of solid granite, its summit crowned with huge boulders. The people of Riverside have always venerated the little moun- tain, and have worn trails up it in using it for a viewpoint. Throughout the city's history there has been considerable agitation to make the moun- tain a public park maintained by the city, but that was never effected, and finally a small group of the citizens, of whom F. A. Miller was chief, bought it and employed Brigadier General Chittenden of the Government service, the builder of the Yellowstone Park roads, to make a driveway to the summit. This road, with easy grades of 4 per cent up and 8 per cent down, going one way and descending another, was finished in 1907. And since then the little mountain has witnessed a number of memorable events. When the road was completed Jacob Riis, who was a personal friend of Frank A. Miller, owner of the Mission Inn at Riverside and chief promoter of the Rubidoux Mountain Park, made the dedication speech at a flag raising. A little later a rough-hewn cross was erected on the highest point of the mountain to commemorate the crosses of the Mission days and Junipero Serra, founder of the Missions. At the
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ceremony of the placing of the cross the governor of the State, the Cath- olic Episcopal bishops of Southern California, the presidents of the three transcontinental railroads that enter Southern California, and a great many other notable people were present. In October, 1909, President Taft unveiled a tablet on the summit of the mountain in honor of Junipero Serra. Easter of that year saw the establishment of the unique Easter
CROSS ON RUBIDOUX MOUNTAIN, WITH RIVERSIDE VALLEY IN THE DISTANCE
Sunrise Pilgrimage and service which has attracted so much attention throughout the country. Jacob Riis was accustomed to come each year to Riverside and was here for the last visit before his death a few days before Easter of that year. He loved the little mountain and suggested that something in the way of a community religious occasion should be instituted upon it. He had in mind a pilgrimage that he remembered being connected with in his boyhood in Denmark. in which on Christmas eve each year the people of his community joined in a torchlight proces-
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sion to the summit of a venerated mountain, singing Christmas carols along their way. He suggested that a similar thing be done, but when it was pointed out to him that the weather at Christmas time was the most uncertain of the year, he conceived the plan of thepresent Easter service. In a talk with Mr. Miller he pointed out that an Easter sunrise was the greatest Christian religious movement. He drew attention to the fact that if people saw a sunrise in connection with religious thought the two things would effect a great spiritual stimulus for the community. It was agreed that such a pilgrimage would be tried. A number of Riversiders were told about it and a number of people who liked the idea were taken up from the Mission Inn. There were less than a hundred people gathered around the cross for the simple service that was held. A little hand organ was taken up the mountain from the Inn and the Inn cor- netist was there. As the sun showed up over the Box Springs Hills the cornetist played "The Holy City." The people then said the Lord's Prayer together and the service ended with the singing of the hymn, "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." All who were present thought the service a very beautiful thing. It was simple and sincere, and, as Jacob Riis had predicted, the impression or religious feeling coupled with the sunrise on Easter morning left an impression that would never fade. In 1910 the service was slightly elaborated. The service commenced with "The Holy City" as formerly. The people then sang "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." They then said the Lord's Prayer together. This was followed by a responsive reading which had been arranged by Rev. James M. Ludlow, who had had experience in arranging service forms, and who was a friend of the Mission Inn family. A hymn that Dr. Ludlow wrote was sung by the people. The verses of "The Resurrection" were read and then the people sang another hymn, "Christus Altorum," written especially for the occasion by Arthur B. Benton of Los Angeles. The service ended with the singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus" by a trained chorus of the Riverside churches. In 1911 the cornet solo, "The Holy City," opened the service. "The Lord's Prayer" followed, the people joined in the responsive reading, and then sang together "Christus Altorum." There were three choral numbers, "Unfold Ye Portals," by Gounod; "Gloria in Excelsis," by Mozart, and "The Hallelujah Chorus," by Handel. These were sung by the choral societies of San Bernardino, Riverside, Corona, and Arlington and towns of the valley. Henry Van Dyke's poem, "God of the Open Air," was read by DeWitt Hutchings of Riverside. The service closed with the singing of "In the Cross of Christ I Glory" by the people. Henry Van Dyke's poem became a per- manent feature of the service from this year on. It was very beautiful and inspiring in itself, and although it was written some time before the Rubidoux services commenced, it seemed as if made for the occasion. It is estimated that there were 1,000 people present at the 1910 service and between 1,000 and 1,500 at the service in 1911 and 1912. It was considered a remarkable thing that seventy automobiles were counted going up the mountain for the service in 1912. The 1912 service com- menced with the cornet solo "The Holy City." This was followed by the Lord's Prayer and responsive reading. The people then joined in the hymn, "Christus Altorum." . Mr. Peter P. Billhorn of Chicago, well known as the hymn writer, sang two solos: "How in the Glory of the Morning," and "Sweet Peace." Henry Van Dyke's poem was read, the cornet was again heard in "Calvary," and the service closed with the singing of "In the Cross of Christ I Glory," by the people. In 1913
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the service was notable because of the presence of Henry Van Dyke, who himself read his poem, "God of the Open Air." Dr. Van Dyke has since been made ambassador to Holland under President Wilson's admin- istration. The service opened with the cornet solo, "The Holy City." This was followed by the Lord's Prayer and responsive reading as in other years. The people sang "Christus Altorum," there was a solo from the oratorio of the Messiah, Dr. Van Dyke read his poem and uttered a benediction, Henry Van Dyke added to his poem and read on the mountain four new lines that fitted the occasion. It was estimated that there were 3.000 people present.
The 1914 service followed the order of the 1913 service with the exception that after the singing of "Christus Altorum," Mr. Meeker of Riverside sang the solo "Hosannah," and Mr. Hutchings of Riverside resumed his reading of Dr. Van Dyke's poem in the place of Dr. Van Dyke himself. The Cantadores Male Chorus of Riverside sang the "Recessional" after the reading of the poem, and the service closed with the singing of "Sweet Peace" by the people and a benediction by Dr. Goff of Claremont College. So famous had the service become that 6,000 people were present-twice the number attending the 1913 service.
In 1915 the service underwent further development. Mrs. Carrie Jacobs-Bond had been present at the services in 1913 and 1914, and had received an inspiration to contribute something to the services to come. Marcella Craft, a Riverside girl, had returned from Europe with a world-wide reputation as an .opera singer. These two things and the fact of the European war made the changes alluded to. Riverside invited Marcella Craft to be present at the service and the invitation was accepted and Miss Craft made the journey from New York for the service. The services were now on a plane to be considered a Riverside affair, and as such the bringing of a great singer was a possibility. Carrie Jacobs- Bond wrote an anthem for Miss Craft to sing and to support her the most important church choir of Los Angeles was brought to Riverside with Carl Brenson as leader. The service commenced with the sing- ing of the anthem, "To the Easter Dawn" by Miss Craft and the chorus. The Lord's Prayer, the singing of "In the Cross of Christ I Glory" by the people, and the responsive reading followed. Miss Craft sang as a solo "Hear Ye, Israel." Van Dyke's poem was read, and when it was over, representatives of fourteen nations, among them the contending nations of Europe, unfurled their countries' flags at the foot of the cross and above these a large American peace flag was flown. The service ended with the singing of "Sweet Peace" by the people. Conservative estimates place the number of people at the 1915 Rubidoux Easter service as upwards of 12,000. Eleven hundred automobiles were counted ascend- ing the mountain, a vivid contrast to the seventy automobiles of the 1912 service. Miss Craft has been a feature of every meeting since.
The services on Rubidoux Mountain have increased year by year in attendance. In 1921 it was estimated that there were from 25,000 to 30,000 in attendance, almost more than there were accommodations for. and it is in contemplation to increase the seating accommodations by another year. In all, the 1921 services were attended by 729 cars, some of which carried sixteen to thirty persons each. Boy scouts rendered efficient service by guiding parties on the various foot trails as well as in other ways.
It is interesting to know that the Easter pilgrimage to the top of Mount Rubidoux has been copied in other places and almost every place of any note in Southern California has its Easter pilgrimage.
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SUNSET SERVICE IN COMMEMORATION OF PEACE ARMISTICE DAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1918
In 1919 was instituted what has been named Armistice Day by sunset services on Mount Rubidoux. These services were largely attended and the mountain and the cross on the summit were illuminated by hundreds of electric lights which, after sunset were visible from Riverside. The proceedings were opened by a cornet solo playing the "Star Spangled Banner" by Gustav Hilverkus, leader of the Riverside Military Band. There was appropriate singing and a responsive reading participated in by the large assemblage. The 1921 meeting assumed a French cast and it is the intention to have each commemoration service conducted by some representative of one of the large nations participating in the war. Capt. Paul Perigrod made an able and pleasing address from the French stand- point, illustrating the Latin side of the Allies. The public schools were closed in memory of the occasion. In the evening a large number of men and women sat down to an excellent dinner at the Mission Inn, after which appropriate speeches closed the exercises of the day.
To make Rubidoux Mountain convenient and possible, considerable expense has been incurred and more still is necessary for the yearly increasing crowds that come from a distance especially to participate in the services, and the company that built the road and keeps it up is much to be commended. Over $150,000 has been expended in all on the under- taking and finally the city will take it in hand and make it not merely an expression of what ought to be done, but a public park in reality. To Mr. Miller of the Mission Inn the people of Riverside and of Southern California are indebted for this grand park and the Easter services which have extended from this start all over Southern California and still spreading to commemorate the greatest event in Christendom and also perpetuate a custom indulged in by all northern peoples from time immemorial. The mountain and its beauties is free to all at all times without any conditions.
CHAPTER V THE PASTORAL ERA
The California of the present day has passed through three eras in its transformation from the wilderness untrodden by the white man. As seen in former chapters the Indians of the Pacific Coast on their first discovery were a comparatively peaceable, unprogressive race, content with things as they were. So far as history or research goes there was not in California, as in places further south, such as Mexico, Peru and Central America, any trace of any civilization manifested by the native Indians on their discovery by the Spanish conquerors. It is amazing to think that what civilization existed should have disappeared so suddenly and completely as soon as it came in contact with our modern civilization. How long it and its people might have lasted but for the discovery of America might form a rich field for speculation. A prehistoric people capable of a higher degree even than that which followed it did exist as proved by the remains left behind. How far the cliff dwellers were advanced it would be difficult to tell by the remains left by them, but it does not appear that they had advanced further than to join together for mutual protection and to build their cliff dwellings and cultivate the soil, disappearing finally without leaving a trace behind to show who they were.
Such were the conditions when the Spaniards first sailed up the Cali- fornia coast to find them dreaming away their monotonous lives, and such it remained some two hundred years or more afterwards when the padre missionaries found their way among them to Christianize them and make them loyal citizens and subjects of the kings of Spain. Some of the results of the labors of the missionaries have been seen in former chapters which need not be recounted again. The Christianizing and civilizing of the Indians having resulted in more or less of a failure on account of the non-progressive features of the Indian character and inability to withstand the diseases of our modern civilization.
The disestablishment of the missions, with its disastrous results to the Indians, would at first sight seem to have put a stop to any further efforts to settle California, but such was not the case. The missions themselves, although failures so far as their original objects were con- cerned and as they were designed to be by the kings of Spain and the church, were one great step in the furtherance of the opening up and settlement of California. Something was shown of the climate and soil of California and what it was capable of producing, but production as it is today and the important place in the world's history which California now occupies could not by any possibility have been foreseen by even the most sanguine.
California as it stood then was comparatively out of the world and could only be reached by either land or water by months of travel, and it could only be thought of at best as a great pastoral country perfectly capable of raising all the food and luxuries in the shape of fruit that the country would ever require. Undoubtedly even to the missionaries it was a surprise how much wealth of cattle and minor products of the soil could be accumulated in the course of time and considering the fact that a monopoly of the land and cheap labor was going to make the church rich beyond their dreams, it is not to be wondered at that the missionaries were loth to let go. The dream of the temporal power could be here realized and an ideal community and state built up far from the outside
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world. But others had some say in affairs temporal, "man proposes and God disposes," and secularization became an accomplished fact.
Then came the opportunity of the Spanish grandee. The mission lands which almost covered, except for a few pueblo reservations, all the available lands between San Diego and San Francisco and from the ocean to the high mountains, were now about to become the heritage of the pastoral man.
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