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 4
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The personal letter which Father Serra sent to Father Palou, his intimate friend and biographer, supplies an account of the expedition which will always be regarded as one of the most precious memorials of San Diego history. The letter in full is as follows :
My Dear Friend and Sir:
Thank God I arrived the day before yesterday, at this port of San Diego, truly a fine one, and with reason famous. Here I found those who had set out before me, by sea as well as by land, excepting such as died on the way. The brethren, Fathers Crespi, Viscaino, Parro, and Gomez are here and, with myself, all well, thanks be to God. Here also are two ves- sels; but the San Carlos is without seamen, all having died ex- cept one and the cook. The San Antonio, although she sailed a month and a half later. arrived twenty days before the San Carlos, losing on the voyage eight seamen. In consequence of this loss, the San Antonio will return to San Blas, to procure
44
HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
seamen for herself and the San Carlos. The causes of the delay of the San Carlos were, first, the want of water, and, second, the error which all were in respecting the situation of this port. They supposed it to be in thirty-three or thirty-four degrees north latitude; and strict orders were given to Captain Vila and the rest to keep out in the open sea till they should arrive in thirty-four degrees, and then make the shore in search of the port. As, however, the port in reality lies in 32 deg. 43 min. according to observations which have now been made they went far beyond the port, thus making the voyage much longer than was necessary. The people got daily worse from the cold
FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA
The immortal missionary who founded the settlement of San Diego, in co-operation with Spanish governor and soldier, Portola
and the bad water; and they must all have perished, if they had not discovered the port abont the time they did; for they were quite unable to launch the boat to procure more water, or to do anything whatever for their preservation. The Father Fernando did everything in his power to relieve the sick; and although he arrived much reduced in thesh, he had not the dis- order, and is now well. We have not suffered hunger or priva- tions, nor have the Indians who came with us; all have arrived fat and healthy.
The tract through which we have passed is generally very good land, with plenty of water; and there, as well as here, the
45
THE PIONEER SETTLEMENT
country is neither rocky nor overcome with brushwood. There are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The road has been in many places good, but the greater part bad. About half way, the valleys and banks of rivulets began to be delightful. We found vines of a large size and in some cases quite loaded with grapes; we also found abundance of roses, which appeared to be the same as those of Castile. In fine, it is a good country and very different from that of Old Califor- nia [meaning the Peninsula].
We have seen Indians in immense numbers; and all those on this coast of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsis- tence on various seeds and by fishing; this they carry on by means of rafts or canoes made of tule [bulrush], with which they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, old and young, go naked; the women, however, and even the female children, were decently covered from their breasts downwards. We found in our journey, as well as in the places where we stopped, that they treated us with as much confidence and good will as if they had known us all their lives; but when we offered them any of our victuals, they al- ways refused them. All they cared for was cloth; and only for something of this sort would they exchange their fish or whatever else they had.
From this port and intended mission of San Diego, in North- ern California, 3rd July, 1769. I kiss the hands of your Rever- ence, and am your affectionate brother and servant.
FR. JUNIPERO SERRA.
Between the lines of this remarkable letter glows the optimism of the great missionary, and something of that enthusiasm for the region and its possibilities which is felt by all who come within its influence. If nothing save this letter had come down to us from the memorable summer of 1769, we should not have been left in ignorance of the fate of the expedition, nor of the aspect of the country and its inhabitants.
With the arrival of Father Serra, the great project of Galvez scored its historic success, a fact which reflected the highest credit upon the man who had planned it to the last detail. He never saw the country himself, but he set the forces in motion which saved it for his king and his flag, at least for a time, and thus he deserves lasting remembrance among the fathers of California. The success of his plans in uniting the four branches of the expedition at San Diego furnished a base from which the larger scheme of settlement could be carried along the coast.
The work of establishing a real settlement began with the least possible delay. The place selected was "a point of middling height," as Costanso called it, a hill overlooking Old Town now known as Presidio Hill, on the site of an Indian village called "Cosoy." Standing there today upon the ruins, one can well understand why this spot was chosen and cannot fail to admire the judgment which dictated the choice. It is conve- niently located both as to the harbor and as to the indispensable
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maba una Besion reservando à Pascual d'elvis del Limini- mo. Pero isso vé me ogno viaja! tpo devolu del avevano requle dio una de las niños y el extendersanta cro, mécia- po irviendo passé? reso, como un periodo, vollassinale de giò velenvia dado, volo conci minore, usarela complazarazie. rido Valemos que se Mission seraiteis donde stanley que la serai. De cinco horas de en esospolicías tada por rerias alter subidas youdes laves, pressemelding."To hemos sido
horas .5.
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ru Ciano el espaciais Finir visite altinda ise-
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nas bí allAna pelo menos, quería retención, vila " the à " diesua por aquel quando, causa De plus viens.il
FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM THE DIARY OF FATHER SERRA, 1769
47
FIRST MISSION DEDICATED
water in the river, and it commands the valley on one hand, and the shore of the bay, on the other, so as to be reasonably safe from attack from either of those directions. It was easy to for- tify, and it has a sightly outlook upon land and sea. The soil is deep and rich, and therefore well adapted to support the gardens and orchards which are always a part of mission establishments.
Here, in the space of little more than two weeks, rude earth- works were thrown up as the uneleus of a presidio or fort. houses that were little more than huts were hastily constructed, and the largest one set apart as the mission building. Every- thing was ready on the 16th of July for the dedication of the first mission on the soil of California. It was named the Mis- sion of San Diego and the old record declares that it was built at the expense "of the Catholic monarch, Don Carlos III., King of Spain, whom God prosper, defrayed under most ample authority from his Excellency, Don Carlos Francisco de Croix, Marqués de Croix, present Viceroy, Governor, and Captain- General of this New Spain, by the most Illustrious Don Joseph de Galvez, of the Conneil and Chamber of his Majesty in the royal and supreme of the Indies, Intendent of the Army. and Visitador General of this New Spain, by the religious of said Apostolie College, San Fernando of Mexico."
The ceremonies attending the dedication were as elaborate and pompous as circumstances permitted. The military and naval officers were on hand with their troops, who strove to make up in dignity what they lacked in numbers. Father Serra and his priests performed their part with the utmost reverence and solemnity, praying that they might "put to flight all the hosts of hell and subject to the mild yoke of our holy faith the bar- barity of the gentile Dieguinos." The Cross was raised, the royal standard thrown to the breeze, incense sent up from a tem- porary altar, and, from the branches of a convenient tree, the mission bell rang out upon the stillness of the valley.
This was the true natal day of San Diego-July 16, 1769. The life of the settlement dates from that moment. Presidio ITill. with its mouldering, tile-strewn ruins, is historie ground and should be preserved as such, forever. It is the birthplace of civilization on the Pacific Coast of the United States
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CHAPTER III
THE TAMING OF THE INDIAN
ATHER SERRA and his associates now stood at the threshold of their real work-the tam- F ing of the Indian-and a stupendous task it must have seemed, even to the optimistic minds of the missionaries. They were a long distance from any reliable base of supplies. and the means of communication were most uncertain. The country itself produced prac- tically nothing, as yet, for their subsistence. The climate, of course, was glorions, but it has been proved again and again that men cannot live on climate, even in San Diego. Water and fuel they had in abundance, and supplies to last them a few months: but beyond this they must create the situation which should make permanent settlement possible. In order to do so successfully, they must convert the Indian in a double sense, for it was not enough to bring him to the foot of the Cross ; he mmist also be converted to habits of industry and made a useful member of civilized society. No one but an enthusiast like Junípero Serra, equipped with a fund of experience in sim- ilar work, could possibly have contemplated the undertaking with anything like confidence in the result, and even the stout heart of that great teacher and lover was sorely tried before the seed took root and began to flourish.
The Indians who swarmed about the bay of San Diego were. apparently, as poor material as ever came to the social mill. All the carly observers, except the missionaries, spoke of them with contempt. Humboldt classed them with the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land, who, of all human beings, seemed nearest to the brute. Neither physically nor intellectually did they com- pare with the Indians of Eastern America nor with those whom the settlers encountered in the region of the Mississippi and its tributaries. No one ever called the San Diego Indian "the noble red man," for he was neither noble nor red, but a covetous, thievish, and sneaking creature, of a brownish complexion, some- thing like the soil. There were no orators among them and, it is to be feared, very few brave men. for when they fought they acted like a pack of cowards. They never attacked an enemy except in overwhelming numbers, and they ran like so many
49
HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
eurs before the snap of a whip the moment their enemy obtained a momentary advantage.
It is unpleasant to speak harshly of the poor creatures, but no just appreciation of what the missionaries accomplished in later years can be had unless we begin with a true estimate of the human material they had to deal with in building their institutions. It was very poor material, and the Mission Fathers did exceedingly well in moulding it into some semblance of civilization.
The Indians had their homes in rude huts, made of sticks and mud, and generally grouped in villages. Some of these villages were large, containing hundreds of huts, with a population which often reached a thousand or more. They were governed by hereditary chiefs, with a captain in each village. They had some simple laws, which were made from time to time to meet conditions as they arose, and the death penalty was inflicted for
certain crimes. The method of execution was shooting with arrows. Prisoners of war were cruelly tormented in the pres- ence of the assembled chiefs. Marriage customs were quite sim- ilar to those now common among Southwestern Indians, and pun- ishment for infidelity fell exclusively upon the wife. They had a vague, instinctive belief in a supreme being, and they showed much reverence for certain animals. The owl. for example, was held in esteem, and the porpoise was regarded as an intelligent being, intrusted with the duty of guarding the world.
The men went naked, but the women wore some clothing, for sake of deceney, yet furnished scant patronage for the dress- maker. They wore a single garment of deer skin, or were elad in braided strands of rabbit skins, which hung to the knees. Frequently the garment was adorned with bright beads or grasses, for even Indian women had some concern for their appearance and desired to make themselves attractive. They painted, of course, after their own fashion, smearing their faces with colored mud.
The Indian diet cannot be recommended, for they were fond of rats, ground-owls and snakes. and regarded a large, fat lo- eust, roasted on a stick, as a particular delicacy. They caught plenty of fish, and knew how to cook them: and they had all sorts of game, together with many things which grew wild in the vegetable kingdom. On the whole, they lived pretty well, and it was the life of one large family, generally quite peace- ful. but sometimes marred by fierce tribal wars.
The San Antonio had sailed for San Blas on July 9th. leav- ing the San Carlos in the harbor to await its return with sea- men to take the places of those who had fallen by scurvy and now slept in the sands along the shore. Portola had marched northward to Monterey on the 14th. The little settlement was
E
FAMOUS PALMS OF OLD TOWN
Planted at the foot of Presidio Hill (which appears in background) in 1769, and unquestionably the first palms ever planted in California
51
GLOOMY DAYS ON THE HILL
alone in the wilderness. There were forty persons, all told, in- cluding priests, soldiers, sick sailors, and Indians from Lower California.
With the dedication of the Presidio and the Mission, the first institutions had been established in what is now the State of California. These institutions were typical of Spanish civiliza- tion - the soldier and the priest working side by side, but al- ways with the sword above the Cross in point of authority. It was essentially a military government, and the commandant was empowered to deal out justice, civil and criminal. The San Diego garrison was always pitiably weak and could never have protected the Spanish title to the country against any serious attack. In fact, the whole military establishment along the coast, after the four districts of San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco had been organized, was a mere shell, with less than two hundred soldiers. There were, in ad- dition, a few mechanics and numerous native laborers. Each soldier had a broadsword, lance, shield, musket, and pistols, to- gether with six horses, a colt, and a mule. As settlement in- creased. the carrying of the mails between the missions was the most arduous and useful service the soldiers performed.
Father Serra and his associate minister. Father Parron, found it very difficult to make Indian converts. It was no task to assemble the natives, for they swarmed to Presidio Hill in such large numbers as to become a nuisance. They had well-de- veloped bumps of curiosity and were persistent beggars, but, fortunately, they were afraid of the strangers' food. They would have none of it, for they imagined it was the food the Spaniards ate which made so many of them sick. It is dread- ful to think what would have happened to the white men if the Indians had liked their food as much as their cloth and trinkets - they would have been eaten out of honse and home! As it was, the Indians became so obnoxious that trouble could not be avoided. They tried to plunder the San Carlos, and it was necessary to keep a guard constantly on board to protect the ship.
The trouble reached its acute stage on August 15th, when the new settlement was a month old. It was a feast-day and Father Parron was saying mass on the ship, with a guard of two sol- diers. During his absence. the Indians burst into the Mission and proceeded to strip the clothing from the beds of the sick. Four soldiers rushed to repel them, but they were greeted with a volley of arrows. A boy was killed - he was José María Vegerano, the first person of white blood to die a violent death in San Diego - and the blacksmith was wounded. Serra and his fellow-priest, Viscaino, had just finished mass and were sitting together in the hut. Viscaino rose to shut the door
52
HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
and received an arrow in the hand at the moment when the boy staggered in and fell dead at Serra's feet. The four sol- diers gave the Indians a volley of musket-balls and the black- smith fought like a demon. The Indians ran away. notwith- standing their superior numbers. but they had the assurance to return soon and request medical aid for their wounded.
The Indians had made the acquaintance of gunpowder and it did them good, for they behaved much better after that ad- venture. Nevertheless, the good Fathers had the wisdom to preet a stockade around the Mission and to make a rule for- bidding the savages to come inside without first depositing their weapons. The Indians continued very neighborly, vet none embraced the faith. This does not seem remarkable in view of the fact that the missionaries could not converse with them in- telligibly. having to rely wholly upon sign language at first. Even when one of their men had mastered the savage tongue sufficiently to act as interpreter, they were still unable to en- roll a single neophyte. So far as known, this was absolutely the most discouraging experience the missionaries had ever had, for nearly a year had passed without one conversion. But that was not the worst of it. Converts could wait but mouths must he fed. The supplies were dwindling while sickness increased.
Those were gloomy days on Presidio Hill - the Summer and Fall of 1769- in spite of the smiling sky and genial atmos- phere. No converts, no progress toward cultivating the soil. no white sails on the horizon to tell of returning ships from Mex- ico - nothing but sickness and death and the chill portent of coming disaster. Of the forty whom Portola had left when he marched away, nineteen died before he returned, and the sur- vivors were heartsick with the sad work of laying them in their graves. Of those who died, eight were soldiers, four sailors, six Indians, and one a servant. No wonder the savages wanted none of their food !
On January 24, 1770, the disheartened party of twenty souls living within the stockade on Presidio Hill was startled by a discharge of musketry. It was Portola and his men, re- turning from their futile search for Monterey. But they brought small comfort for Father Serra. Portola had accomplished nothing in the North; he could not see that Serra had accom- plished anything in the South, and he declared that San Diego ought to be abandoned while there were yet supplies enough to enable the party to get back to civilization. Poor Junípero Sorra was heart-broken at the decision. He was not a soldier of the flag, seeking to win territory for his King, but a soldier of the Cross, seeking to win souls for his God. He could not abandon the gentiles of California to the fate of the heathen,
53
THE COLONY SAVED
and while he acknowledged the worldly wisdom of Portola's advice, there is every reason to believe that his own private decision was to stay at every cost and, if need be, to offer his life as a sacrifice on the altar of the Mission of San Diego. For Portola spoke from without, and Junipero Serra only obeyed the Voice Within.
Nevertheless, preparations were made for the abandonment, and March 19th was fixed as the day for the formal ending of the work which had been so auspiciously begun in the pre- vions July. But one thing could save San Diego now - not only San Diego, but California as well, for Galvez had planned the conquest of the whole coast. This one thing was the timely return of the San Antonio which had been so long awaited in vain that no one now expected it-no one, save the immortal priest. He went up to the hilltop on that fateful morning and turned his eyes to the sea as the sun rose. All day long he watched the waste of waters as they lay there in the changing light. It was a seene of marvelous beauty, and, as he watched and praved, Junipero Serra doubtless felt that he drew very close to the Infinite. So devout a soul, in such desperate need, facing a scene of such nameless sublimity, could not have doubted that somewhere just below the curve of the sea lay a ship, with God's hand pushing it on to starving San Diego. And as the sun went down he caught sight of a sail - a ghostly sail. it seemed, in the far distance. Who ean ever look upon the height above the old Presidio, when the western sky is glowing and twilight stealing over the hills, without seeing Father Serra on his knees, pouring out his prayer of thanksgiving!
Captain Perez had made a quick trip to San Blas, but had been long delayed in his preparations for returning. His orders were to proceed to Monterey. where it was supposed Portola's men would be found in need of help, and it was the merest ac- cident which sent him to San Diego at the last moment when his arrival could save the colony. This accident was the loss of an anchor in Santa Barbara Channel and the consequent need of seeking a safe harbor. He had been told by the natives at Santa Barbara that the land party had passed south, but he would have gone to Monterey, nevertheless, in accordance with his strict orders, except for the loss of the anchor. Thus it happened that he reached the Bay of San Diego, four days after the missionary had caught the first glimpse of his blessed sail.
The arrival of supplies and recruits changed the whole face of the situation. Portolá thought no more of abandoning the settlement, and decided to renew the northern exploration and the quest for Monterey. Father Viscaino went to Lower Cali- fornia to obtain live-stock and other necessaries. Father Serra
54
HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
proceeded with his work of mission-building with a glad heart and renewed vigor.
Presidio Hill was not destined to be the permanent seat of the mission establishment. The story of the two or three years immediately succeeding the return of Captain Perez cannot be told with any fullness, since all sources of information are bar- ren on this period, and since the early mission records were destroyed by fire, but the fact that the mission was removed supplies convincing evidence that it was not prosperous. How- over, some progress was made and there is good authority for the statement that in 1773 seventy-six converts had been enrolled and some material progress made. The live-stock at that time consisted of the following: forty eattle, sixty-four sheep, fifty- five goats, nineteen hogs, two jacks, two burros, seventeen mares. three foals, nine horses, four riding and eighteen paek mules- a total of 233 animals.
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