USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > History of San Diego, 1542-1908 : an account of the rise and progress of the pioneer settlement on the Pacific coast of the United States, Volume I > Part 11
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CAPT. HENRY D. FITCH
San Diego's first merchant, who was also very prominent in the politi- cal life of the town.
a first regidor, or alderman. Juan Bautista Alvarado; a second regidor. Juan María Marron ; and a syndico procurador. or town attorney. Henry D. Fitch. Thirteen votes in all were cast, and the officers entered upon the discharge of their duties on the first day of JJannary, 1835, which marks the beginning of
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UNSETTLED GOVERNMENT
civil rule. They constituted the first ayuntamiento, or town comeil.
The new town was governed by its own council for only three years. The country was not prosperous and population decreased until, in 1838, there were not enough people to entitle it to a council, the number required being five hundred. Accordingly, from the 1st of January, 1838, until the Mexican War, San Diego was part of the sub-prefecture of Los Angeles and gov- erned by judges appointed annually by the governor. José Antonio Estudillo was the first judge, or juez de paz.
In 1836 a tax was imposed on the hide-salting establishments of foreigners, as had been done before in 1834.
In this year, soon after a revolution at Monterey, as a result of which Governor Guiterrez had been banished and Juan B. Alvarado selected as governor in his place, San Diego was again drawn actively into the political affairs of the time. There was considerable local dissatisfaction with the course of events, and Juan Bandini and Santiago E. Argiiello were sent to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara as commissioners to consult with the coun- eils of those towns upon the situation. It was decided to insist upon the carrying out of a law already upon the books mak- ing Los Angeles the capital, to invite the co-operation of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and a provisional political chief was to be selected to act until the national laws should be again in force. Provision for the military support of the movement was also anticipated. The report of the commissioners was ap- proved upon their return, but obstacles to the program soon began to appear. The soldiers showed a disposition to make the occasion a pretext for demanding their arrears of pay. The Santa Barbara council, too, failed to endorse the plan in its entirety, and proposed one of its own. It therefore appeared that nothing could be done, and at the end of the year as the net result, the Los Angeles council awarded the San Diegans a vote of thanks. Early in 1837, new town councils were elected. and that of Los Angeles evolved a new plan which was indorsed by the restless San Diego politicians.
Governor Alvarado left Monterey with an army of eighty-five Californians and foreigners, about Christmas. At Santa Bar- bara he was kindly received, and entered Los Angeles without opposition about the 22nd of January. Andrés Pico was pres- ent with a body of twenty soldiers, and Pio Pico and Franeisco M. Alvarado, also of San Diego, were said to be on the way, but did not arrive until all was over. Alvarado succeeded in tem- porarily pacifying the Los Angeles town council, and everything was quiet in the southern distriet during February and March. On account of disquieting rumors. however. Alvarado thought it necessary to send General José Castro southward, with orders,
JUAN BANDINI
Politician and Revolutionist, forever memorable in local annals as a Spanish leader who stood with the United States in the struggle with Mexico.
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ATTEMPTS AT REVOLUTION
in case these rumors should prove well founded, to remove or spike all the guns, carry off the horses, and distribute the sup- plies in such a manner as to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. A new assembly was gotten together at Santa Barbara on April 10, 1837, and submitted a new series of propositions for the pacification of the country. Los Angeles promptly rejected these proposals, and San Diego, while more politie, pleaded for delay.
During all this time Juan Bandini was acting upon the advice of a friend who, on a former occasion, had suggested that he should "go home and keep quiet," and appears to have taken little part in the turmoils of the time, although the Picos and other San Diegans were deeply implicated. The matters about which the different factions were quarreling were such as would form proper subjects of discussion in political campaigns- mainly about the form of the civil and political code after which the government of the country should be patterned. The south- erners were restless and irreconcilable, and Alvarado seems to have had cause for his suspicions.
On May 21, 1837, Bandini, who had been for some time liv- ing quietly upon his ranch, came into San Diego with an armed force, proclaiming their purpose to engage in hostilities. Again he and Argüello were sent as commissioners to Los Angeles, with a ready-made plan for the cure of all the country's woes. The Los Angeles town council approved, but feared to act, and Ban- dini therefore proceeded to inaugurate the revolution himself, by seizing the Los Angeles garrison and guns. There was doubt- less an understanding with the commandant of the guard, as the coup was accomplished without resistance, including the cap- ture of a gun which Pico had carried off from San Diego. Three · commissioners were appointed to treat with Alvarado, and Ban- dini was then obliged to hurry home to San Diego, whence alarming reports of Indian hostilities had been received.
Bandini and his men carried the captured gun with them and were received with shouts of triumph by a procession of their townsmen. The Indian troubles soon came to an end. and then, the military spirit running high, the "Army of the Supreme Government." numbering over a hundred men, was recruited and left for the north on the 10th of June. Captain Portilla was in command of this expedition, which occupied Los Angeles, hastily evacuated by Castro's forces on the 16th.
In the meantime Captain Andrés Castillero, representing him- self to be a commissioner of the general government. arrived at San Diego with the new laws of December 29. 1836. which were to replace the federal constitution of 1824. The oath of allegiance was administered to the San Diego council and citi- zens on June 12th. and then Castillero joined the revolutionary
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
army at San Luis Rey. Arrived at Los Angeles he summoned the council, as well as the officials, soldiers, and citizens, and they took the oath on June 18th amidst festivities and great rejoic- ing. He then proceeded to Santa Barbara, where he met Alva- rado in July, and induced him to take the oath of allegiance to the new constitutional laws. This the southern contingent re- garded as an act of treachery, but being left without a cause to fight for, the army and the San Diego plan alike melted into thin air. Alvarado remained governor under the new laws, until in October, when Carlos Carrillo succeeded him.
In January. 1838, Governor Carrillo closed the ports of San Francisco and Monterey and established the custom house at San Diego. He was no more fortunate than his predecessors in maintaining peace, and was soon involved in a war which eul- minated in the battle of San Buenaventura, the latter part of March. Being defeated, Carrillo with a few friends and the rem- nant of his army fled to San Diego. ITere he endeavored to raise a force to renew the war, and was aided by Bandini and others. A force of about a hundred men and three eannon was collected and met the enemy at Las Flores, on April 21st. A long nego- tiation followed which ended in a compromise-the enemy ear- ried off the cannon and Alvarado again became Governor.
The result of all this political anarchy was a distressing eon- dition for the military at the Presidio. For instance, in April, 1834. Lieutenant Salazar cannot go to Monterey for want of a shirt and jacket ! He has only a poor cloak to cover "the fright- ful condition of his trousers." There is no food for prisoners and they are farmed out to any citizen who will feed them. In February. 1837, fourteen prisoners were engaged on public works-three in repairing the plaza road, and several more at work on the courthouse and jail. which were deemed more urgent than the church. The Presidio building was abandoned about 1835 and by 1840 was in ruins. A few half-starved soldiers lin- gered as a melancholy reminder of former glory.
There is a tradition that in 1839 the garrison consisted of one soldier at the Presidio and eight at San Luis Rey, and that they disbanded in September of that year, in order to escape death by starvation. Much of the building material on the hill had by this time been carried down and used in the erection of the new town at the foot of the hill. At Christmas. 1838. earth- works were thrown up on the hill above the Presidio, for protec- tion of the town at the time when an attack was expected by José Castro, and two cannon were dragged up to it from the fort, but nothing came of these labors. Fort Guijarros had no garrison after 1835. In 1839 it was reported that there were nine cannon, two of which were serviceable, and fifty canisters of grape and three hundred balls. An effort to have a guard
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LAST OF MEXICAN GLORY
provided for this property failed, and on January 17, 1840. the contents of the fort were sold to Juan Machado for $40.
The secularization of the missions and the political disturb- ances of the time had impoverished the country. The church and other remaining buildings were unroofed by the commandant and the tiles sold to satisfy demands which he had against the government. Robinson says that in April, 1840, he found every- thing prostrated, the mission depopulated, the town almost deserted, and its few remaining inhabitants miserably poor.
In June, 1842, there was a rising of the Indians and it was reported that there were only five men at San Diego, three of whom were foreigners, while all the rest were absent on ranchos. Early in the year, the French traveler, de Mofras, says he found a few soldiers and one officer at the pueblo, and that there were a few cannon and balls lying in the sand at the Presidio and castillo. In October, José A. Estudillo was directed to carry away in carts all the useful guns and ball at the fort. The Alert, Captain Phelps, was lying at La Playa at this time, however. Phelps heard of the capture of Monterey by Commodore Jones of the United States Navy, and also that Governor Micheltorena had sent a force to seize all property at San Diego and, antici- pating trouble, he decided to act promptly. He put his men at work night and day to hasten their departure, and in the mean- time sent a party to old Fort Guijarros which spiked all the guns and threw the copper shot into the sea. Estudillo was therefore saved any trouble in the matter. An investigation in the follow- ing month showed that there was one officer at San Diego, with fourteen men under him, but no arms or ammunition.
On August 25, 1842, San Diego had a last glimpse of Mexican military glory in the arrival of Governor Micheltorena in the brig Chato, who remained about a month drilling and outfitting his "battalion of cholos," as they have been justly called. This invasion was the last of the convict colonies sent from Mexico. Fortunately, they did not remain long here, but moved on to devastate the rest of the country. They showed themselves very poor soldiers, but exceedingly expert night prowlers and pilfer- ers. Alfred Robinson, who was here at the time and saw a part of them land, says :
They presented a state of wretchedness and misery un- equalled. Not one individual among them possessed a jacket or pantaloons; but naked, and like the savage Indians, they concealed their nudity with dirty, miserable blankets. The females were not much better off; for the scantiness of their mean apparel was too apparent for modest observers. They appeared like convicts; and, indeed, the greater portion of them had been charged with the crime either of murder or of theft. The remainder of the "convict army" arrived in course of time, and I had an opportunity of seeing them
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
all, afterwards. They mustered about three hundred and fifty men, and their general had given them, sinee their arrival, a neat uniform of white linen. . Day after day the place resounded with the noise of the trumpet and the drums; and a level spot, on the river's margin, was the scene of military manoeuvers. At night, the gardens and vineyards were plundered, and the neighboring farms suffered greatly, from the frequency of the soldiers' visits.
He also says there was no ammunition with which to salute the new governor, and that a salute from the Yankee ship in which Robinson had arrived, was the only welcome of the kind he received.
The new governor was received with social honors and was given a reception lasting several days. For a week there was a snecession of balls and other amusements, and Micheltorena made a speech. There were troubles, too, as well as rejoicing. Twenty-five of the men deserted and tried to escape into Mex- ico, but were overtaken and brought back. It was found that a large part of the balls did not fit the guns, and had to be remelted. There were also financial difficulties, but the battal- ion finally departed, spreading desolation and terror. There is no episode of the days of the Mexican rule which caused more heart-burnings than the coming of this band of desperados.
De Mofras estimated the population at one hundred in this year. Three years later the town had grown somewhat and was made a subdivision of the Los Angeles district and Captain Santiago E. Argüello was appointed the first sub-prefect.
The political life sketched in this chapter ended with the Mex- ican War, when an entirely different set of men and influences took the stage of local history. The soldiers and statesmen of Mexico, in their rule of a quarter of a century, had added prac- tically nothing to the accomplishment of their Spanish predeces- sors. To a very large extent, they had squandered their time and energies in petty squabbles over personal rivalries. They had virtually destroyed the economic structure evolved by the Mission Fathers and dissipated the strength of the military estab- lishment. If commeree prospered to some extent under their rule, the fact was chiefly dne to the enterprise of outsiders rather than to that of the Mexicans. Their policy of dividing the mis- sion lands into private grants undoubtedly gave some impulse to settlement, but even this development was conducted in the most extravagant and wasteful way.
Before turning to the brighter days which dawned with Amer- ican occupation, we must consider several other aspects of San Diego life in the early time.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY HOMES, VISITORS, AND FAMILIES
S THE citizens and tourists of today look upon A the crumbling adobe walls of Old Town, they naturally wonder in what order the houses were built, by whom they were inhabited in the early time, and what visitors from abroad mingled in the life of the place and went away to speak the name of San Diego in distant parts. It is these quiet annals of the old time to which this chapter is given.
There is no record of the erection of any dwelling outside the Presidio enclosure earlier than the year 1800. It seems likely that the first house at the foot of the hill was a very humble affair, and that it was built by Captain Francisco Maria Ruiz. The earliest authentie list of houses that has come down to us begins with 1821. At that time the following houses were stand- ing on the present site of Old Town:
The small house of Captain Ruiz, on the tract afterward known as "Rose's Garden," where he lived until his death in 1839. The house has now disappeared.
The "Fitch house," a row of buildings where Captain Fitch lived and had his store from the early thirties: this is now a heap of ruins.
A building on the corner of Washington and Juan Streets. belonging to the Doña María Reyes Ybañes, the maternal head of the Estudillo family. This house was afterward used by José María Estudillo as a stable. It is now in ruins.
A two-story house on Juan Street, nearly opposite the one last named, belonging to Rafaela Serrano. This is now owned by Lonis Serrano and was occupied until a recent date.
A small house on the plaza, owned by Juan Maria Marron. This house afterward became the property of Andrés Pico, and the late E. W. Morse was responsible for its final destruction. Some of the carly views of Old Town show this building stand- ing as it did out of line with the others and quite near the "Rose house," where Morse's store was located. Having tried in vain to buy it from Pico, Mr. Morse bided his time until the easy- going Californian allowed it to be sold for taxes, then bought it and immediately had it torn down and removed. He re-
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
marked, with a quiet smile, while telling this story, that he sup- posed the tax title really gave him no right to act so summarily, but he correctly reasoned that no trouble would come of it.
These were the five oldest buildings, all of which were stand- ing in 1821 and only one of which (the Serrano house) stands today. There were in this year several small gardens, or ranch- erías, at the foot of the hill and near by in the valley. Don Blas Aguilar recalled the following names of persons then culti- vating such places :
Ignacio Lopez, Villobobo, Miguel Blanco, Pedro Garcia, Teno- rio, José Manuel Silbas, and Andreas Ybarra who afterward owned the Encinitos Rancho; all of whom were soldiers and whose gardens were in the valley. Rafaela Serrano, whose place adjoined "Rose's garden"; Juan Machado, who lived a short distance up the valley; Juan Maria Ybarra, a lieutenant.
THE MACHADO HOUSE, OLD TOWN, (WEST SIDE OF PLAZA)
from Mazatlan; el Alfercz Delgado ("the thin lieutenant") ,. whose name Aguilar did not recall, but who was also from Mazat- lan; bus Ruiz, whose place was across the river, opposite the Presidio : Juan Marine, who had a garden and small vineyard on the other side of the river going toward the Tecolote; Los Arcias, who had garden and vineyard adjoining that of Marine; Santiago Argüello, whose garden was at the first eañada above. the Presidio, called by the pious Canada de la Cruz, but by the wild soldiers Canada del Diablo, just above the present waterworks. These little farms were seriously damaged in the flood of 1821, as already related.
Building in the new town began to progress as the military establishment deeaved and commercial prosperity increased. In
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HISTORIC OLD HOUSES
1824 the "Pico house" was built, on Juan street, and between that year and 1830 several large and substantial residences were constructed. Alfred Robinson, the earliest American visitor who has left a good account, says that on his first visit in 1829 the town "consisted of about thirty houses of rude appearance, mostly occupied by retired veterans." The house of Don Juan Bandini, then in an unfinished state, excited his admiration. This house is one of the utmost historical interest, having been the center of social gaiety and political affairs for nearly twenty years. It was the headquarters of Com- modore Stockton during the Mexican war. Soon after the civil war it was purchased by A. L. Seeley, who added a second story of wood and used it as a hotel (the Cosmopolitan) in connection with his stage line between San Diego and Los Angeles. It is now occupied by Ackerman & Tuffley, who use it as an olive piekling works, and it is still in a state of very good repair.
+ 4+
ESTUDILLO HOUSE, OLD TOWN Popularly called "The Ramona House"
Other houses built before the year 1830 were: the house of Juan Rodriguez, adjoining the Franklin house in later years; the house of José Antonio Estudillo, later the residence of José Guadalupe Estudillo, and long an important landmark, (this house is the picturesque ruin at the south end of the plaza popularly, but erroneously, called the "Ramona house") ; the house of Doña Tomáso Alvarado: the "French bakery": the house of Rosario Aguilar which was situated on what is now a vacant lot adjoining the house of Louis Rose; and the Carrillo house in "Rose's Garden." adjoining the Serrano house on the east. Bandini and Estudillo were granted a lot in common in 1827, which doubtless marks the time of their beginning prepara- tions to build.
Some of the accounts of foreign visitors at this time, though not always accurate, are worth quoting. Vancouver and Capt.
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
Cleveland have already been mentioned. Benjamin Morrell, junior, on the American schooner Tartar, arrived in April, 1825. He remained twelve days, and in a book which he pub- lished in 1832 told some remarkable stories. According to this veracious chronicler, the form of the Presidio was "nearly cir- cular, and it is surrounded by a wall about 20 feet in height, which forms the back sides of the houses. There are about 250 houses erected in this manner, from one to two stories high, built of freestone and neatly finished. There is also a large church, one nunnery, and a very neat little court-house. This town con- tains about 1,500 inhabitants, principally natives of the coast." Does the reader care for more? Well, it seems that while here, he and seven Spanish companions had a desperate hand-to-hand conflict with fifty mounted Indian warriors of whom they killed seventeen, while on a hunting expedition. Notwithstanding the gallant captain's evident weakness for drawing a long bow, his statement that a whale boat was built during his stay here is perhaps entitled to belief.
In December, 1826, the American explorer and trapper. Jedidiah S. Smith, and party, who had crossed the desert, follow- ing down the Colorado river and reached San Gabriel, were brought to San Diego to be dealt with by Governor Echeandía. They had a somewhat unfriendly reception, but were allowed to secure supplies and depart. The accounts of this visit do not seem to include anything of interest regarding the town or people of San Diego.
The next visitor was the French Captain Duhaut-Cilly, who came in 1827 and liked the harbor better than the town. He writes that the port is "without doubt the best in all Cal- ifornia," safer than that of San Franeiseo even, and that this is due to natural advantages rather than to artificial improve- ments. He continues : "A sad place is the Presidio of San Diego, the saddest of all that we had visited in California, ex- cept San Pedro. It is built on the slope of an arid hill and has no regular form. It is a shapeless mass of houses, all the more gloomy because of the dark color of the bricks of which they are rudely constrneted. Under the presidio on a sandy plain are seen thirty or forty seattered honses of poor appear- ance and a few gardens badly eultivated."
The American. James O. Pattie, elaimed to have spent the greater part of the year 1828 in the Presidio prison, and after- ward published a narrative in which he described only his prison, thus: "My prison was a cell eight or ten feet square, with walls and floors of stone. A door with iron bars an inch square like the bars of window sashes, and it grated on its iron hinges as it opened to receive me. Over the external front of
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THE PATTIE CASE
this prison was inscribed in capital letters Destinacion de la Cattivo."
The episode of the Pattie party in 1828 is a most interest- ing one and not as well known as it deserves to be. These eight Americans occupied a prison on Presidio hill for several months, and the leader died there. The feeling of the Californians was not particularly hostile to Americans, perhaps rather less so than to Spaniards; but all foreigners were regarded with suspicion and kept under as strict a surveillance as the inefficient administration of the time could contrive. The earlier visits of sea rovers on the coast were now being followed up by incursions of trappers and semi-military parties from the interior. Many books had appeared giving glowing accounts of the country, and the mysterious ichor in the blood of the American pioneer which still draws him ever toward the setting sun was full of potency. The Californians had just cause for alarm, as events soon proved. Some acts of violence and injustice resulted, at other places, notably the arrest and deportation to Tepic of a large number of foreigners at Monterey and other places in 1840. But on the whole, considering the volatile temperament of the ruling class and the difficult situation in which they found themselves, it must be said that they acted toward foreigners for the most part with moderation and good sense. The treat- ment of the Pattie party, if Pattie's narrative is to be believed. is the single notable exception to this rule, so far as events at San Diego are concerned.
Sylvester Pattie was a Kentuckian, an Indian fighter, humber- man, and trapper. In 1824 he and his son, James O. Pattie, a young man of about twenty, went on an expedition to New Mexico, where they remained three years. In September, 1827, a company was organized at Santa Fé for the purpose of opera- ting on the Colorado river, and the elder Pattie became its cap- tain. Eight of this company, including the two Patties, reached the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers on December 1, 1827. in desperate straits for food and supplies. After floating down the Colorado to tide water in a vain search for a mythical settlement of white men, they buried their traps and furs and started westward across the desert. They reached the Mission of Santa Catalina, in Lower California, on March 21, 1828, after suffering severely, and arrived at San Diego, under guard, by Echeandía's order, on the 27th. The names of the com- panions of the Patties appear to have been James Puter, Jesse Ferguson, Isaac Slover, William Pope, Richard Laughlin, and Nathaniel M. Pryor.
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