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 6
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ROUTINE OF MISSION LIFE
tions, the Franeisean enthusiasts were at last ready to proceed triumphantly with their designs, both religious and secular.
It is pleasant to linger upon the personal character of these California Fathers. While they furnished no exception to the rule that "there is a black sheep in every flock," they were for the most part men of the rarest virtues, consecrated to the work in which they were engaged. It would be difficult to select from human annals two loftier characters than Junipero Serra and Luis Jaume, yet these men are but conspicuous examples of the spirit which moved the Franeiseans in all their labors for the upbuilding of California. The early priests came from Spain, the later ones from Mexico, and observers appear to have agreed in the opinion that the former somewhat excelled, both in attainments and zeal. It seems very remarkable that men so deeply immersed in spiritual concerns should also have been practical men of affairs and capable executives. Hlad they not been very competent in both respects they would have failed in their diffieult undertaking. This very unusual combination of qualities seems to have been common to nearly all the priests, and it is little wonder that they obtained the confidenee of the Indians to a very large degree and became their trusted advisers in all their troubles.
The ordinary dress of the Franciscan was a loose woolen garment, of brownish color, reaching nearly to the ground. It was made whole and put on over the head. The sleeves were wide, and the hood usually rested on the shoulders, though it could be drawn over the head when the weather required. A girdle was worn at the waist and was usually tied, with tassels hanging down in front. It was one of the requirements of the order that priests should have shaven crowns, the eireular spot being about three or four inches in diameter. Thus the priest was readily distinguished wherever he went, and his benevolent, picturesque figure will always stand out clearly in California history.
As soon as the mission was firmly established the number of neophytes steadily inereased, though it fluetnated a good deal with the passing years. The life of the place soon settled down into a regular routine, but it was ever marked by two predom- inant facts - worship and labor. The activities of the day began at daylight. Everybody who was able to move went to mass. Then the invariable breakfast of ground barley or atole was served and sunrise found everybody ready for the daily task. The midday meal was served between 11 and 12 o'clock. Again ground barley did duty in various forms. Sometimes mitton was supplied, and frequently the Spanish frijoles, or beans. The sick and aged were fed largely on milk, which was something of a luxury. An interesting custom was the dis-
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
tribution of a liquid made of vinegar and sweetened water, which was carried through the fields in the hot afternoon on the backs of burros and always received with enthusiasm by the workers. At six the evening meal was served. This con- sisted principally of the inevitable ground barley and of such nuts and wild berries as the Indians gathered for themselves.
The commissary department was organized on a semi-mili- tary basis with a keeper of the granary in charge. He dis- tributed rations to each individual or family. The unmarried neophytes carried their share to a common kitchen where it was prepared and then served at a common table. The married men took their rations to their homes and shared them with their families.
At sunset the angelus summoned the Indians, the workmen, and the priests to the chapel, where the litany was sung and the evening blessing pronounced. This marked the ending of the long day of devotion to religion and labor. Each night found the mission a little richer and the Indian no poorer.
The life of the Indian girls and unmarried women was some- what different and the echo of cheerful laughter comes down to us through the years. There was a low building built around an open court which served as a sort of nunnery under the supervision of a trusted old Indian woman. Here the girls and young women lived, weaving and spinning, and making all the «loth which was used at the mission. They seem to have been happy in this association and to have had many love affairs which ripened into lawful marriage with the approval of the priests.
The Fathers ruled their little kingdom with a strong hand, which was doubtless necessary. It is easy to understand that discipline was indispensable and that the failure to maintain it must have resulted in speedy demoralization. Imprisonment was a common punishment, but the priests did not hesitate to use the rod for minor offenses. The most serious eases were turned over to the military authorities at the Presidio and some- times resulted in the execution of the culprits by shooting.
Alfred Robinson visited the mission at the time of its great- est prosperity and left the following account of the hospitality he enjoyed :
Riding along, following the course of the river up the valley, passing on their way two or three small huts, without anything particular to note, they reached the Mission, where they met the two Father Missionaries at the door, they having just re- turned from a walk around the premises. The visitors were welcomed, and alighted to have half an hour's chat before dinner that is, before twelve o'clock, their usual hour for that meal; and accordingly sat down on one of the rude benches so generally found at all these establishments. The author's
OLD MISSION OF SAN DIEGO DE ALCALA-This view represents the establishment in Mission Valley much as it appeared at the height of its prosperity
668) LKONAd
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
friend, being an old acquaintance of the Fathers, had consider- able to say to them in relation to their travels, which was of great interest to them. At length the church bells announced the hour of noon, when both the holy friars turned around, and knelt upon the bench upon which they had been sitting, with faees turned to the building, while three or four young pages knelt by their side, on the pavement, when the elder of the two friars commenced the Angelus Domini, in a very devout manner, and led the prayer, which was responded to by the brother friar and the pages, the bells of the church chiming an accompaniment.
During the prayer a large fly alighted on the wall just in front of the Father, who, apparently without any attention to the prayer, was watching the course of the fly and following it with the large round head of his cane, as it moved about, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, and ready to annihilate it, when, at the closing of the prayer, and pronouncing the word Amen! Jesus! he brought his cane down on the poor fly and crushed it, and theu turned around to renew the conversation, as though nothing had trans- pired. This incident was amusing to the beholder, but serves to show the simplicity of the reverend Father, who was proba- bly not aware of having committed any impropriety.
Dinner was now annonneed, when they entered through the large reception-room into the dining-room, where the table was spread, at which they sat down, and had an entertainment of the usual guisados, their fritos and azados, frijoles, and the universal tortilla de maiz, and plenty of good native wine, with the usual dessert of fruits peculiar to the climate; after which the old friars retired to take their siesta, and the author and his friend hurried away on their return to the town, where they arrived after half an hour's ride.
The economic life of the Mission was not confined to the cultivation of the irrigated fields and gardens in the fertile valley or the simple manufacturing that went on in the quaint little shops around the patio. The Mission Fathers were the merchants, the great stockmen, and even the bankers, of their period. They were busy men, indeed, with their spiritual af- fairs, their trade, and their management of immense herds of livestock. Vessels came to the port in increasing numbers, trav- elers constantly passed along the trail from Lower California to the north, and ranches were gradually established in the mountains. Thus it happened that the mission establishment more and more fulfilled the function of an ordinary town as a trading center. There were great opportunities for making money, and the shrewd priests made the most of them. They were bent upon the enrichment of their order because this meant a constant increase of their power, including the power to do good to the gentiles.
In those days the waters along the coast swarmed with sea- otters, a valuable fur-bearing animal. The priests encouraged the hunting of these animals by Indians and others, and thus
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LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY
built up a profitable fur trade. They also bought other skins, usually paying for them with goods from their store, and were thus able to make a double profit on the transaction. They were the first and best customers of the ships when they began to come around the Ilorn with cargoes from New England, and their store became constantly more important as a distributing center for all imported goods required in the country, and as a clearing house for surplus products available for shipment. They sometimes had large amounts of coin, which they kept beneath the tile flooring in their rooms. Their reputation for integrity was so high that they were implicitly trusted with the
7
MISSION RELICS
savings and property of others, and they were thus able to per- form a useful service as bankers for their neighbors.
The largest business operation conducted by the priests was in connection with the live-stock industry. They brought only 18 head of cattle, but by the year 1800, they had six hundred cattle, six thousand sheep, and nearly nine hundred horses. In 1830, the number of cattle had risen to fifteen thousand, of sheep to twenty thousand, and they had thousands of hogs. The horses which they originally brought to this country were shipped from Spain and were of Arabian blood. The annual harvest also reached large proportions, sometimes exceeding thirty thousand bushels of grain. The cattle were wastefully slaughtered, after the manner of the time, and were considered chiefly valuable for tallow and hides, which were sold to the
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
masters of the ships coming to the port. Only the choicest portions of the beef were used for food.
From 1777 to 1833 - a period of fifty-six years - life flowed smoothly on at the Mission and the Franciscans waxed strong and prosperous. Two other missions were established within the County, at Pala and San Luis Rey, the latter being founded on June 13, 1798, by Father Antonio Peyri, and named in honor of Saint Louis, who was Louis IX. of France. These Missions also prospered and lent strength to the mother settlement in Mission Valley. The total number of baptisms from 1769 to 1846 at the Mission of San Diego, was 7126; of confirmations, 1726; of marriages, 2051. It would be inter- esting to know the total value of property accumulated, and the total amount of wealth produced, during the same period. These facts are not available, but we know that the half-century of rule by military and ecclesiastical government was a day of material greatness, as it undeniably was of marked spiritual achievement.
CHAPTER V
THE END OF FRANCISCAN RULE
HE FOOTING of the Franciscans in California rested from the beginning upon the power of T Spain. They could not have come at all with- out the financial and military support of the Spanish monarch, nor could they have re- mained save with the aid of his soldiers. When the power of the Castilian began to wane, it was inevitable that the Franciscan rule should diminish in proportion, and that even the institutions which they had founded should begin to crumble and, at last, become a mere memory with no monument except mouldering heaps of adobe.
Spain's empire in Mexico lasted for three centuries. It was in 1521 that Cortés virtually completed his conquest, and it was in 1821 that Iturbide wrested the country from the feeble grasp of Ferdinand VII. The Mission of San Diego was then almost at the zenith of its prosperity. and as the good Fathers basked in the sunshine or looked out upon their smiling fields, they fondly believed that their works would endure to bless the land and enrich their order for many generations to come. They knew that the internal fires of revolution had been blazing in Mexico for more than a decade, but had little fear that the hand which had held the region for three hundred years would lose its hold, at least in their time.
The Spanish statesmen had given the missionaries the utmost latitude because their scheme of converting and utilizing the Indian population was admirably adapted to meet the political necessities of the Empire in this far country. But Mexico had different necessities and naturally proceeded to make different plans. It had no time to lose in strengthening itself against the rising power of the United States. It could not leave so pre- cious a possession as California to the control of an element which. at best. could be but lukewarm toward the new-born power which had overthrown Spanish control, and thus done violence to the great tradition of which the missions were themselves an important part. Moreover, Mexico had friends to reward as well as enemies to punish. Some of the men who had fought its battles, and who would be needed. to fight its battles again,
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
looked with longing eyes upon the rich dominions of the mis- sions and began to dream of founding great families and great estates.
It is a very convenient thing to be able to pay your debts with other people's property. Mexico was in this fortunate position and proceeded to take advantage of it. In 1824 the Coloniza- tion Law was enacted. This authorized the government to make grants of unoccupied lands to Mexican citizens to the extent of eleven square leagues. Under this law thousands of acres were parceled out among the supporters of the government. These grants eneroached upon the mission holdings and gave the Fathers their first shock of serions apprehension for the future. In 1832 the Mexican power mustered the full courage of its con- vietions, its necessities, and its desires. It passed the Act of Sec- ularization, which was simply an act of confiscation, from the Franciscan point of view. It was the object of this legislation to take all the property of the missions, real and personal, and divide it among those who would use their wealth and influence l'or the defense and development of Mexico. The attempt of Governor Figueroa to put it into effect in 1833 was a failure, but it was gradually executed. being extended little by little until the day when Mexico lost the country to the United States.
With the adoption of the policy of secularization, the Mission Fathers knew that their long day was passing into twilight and that it could be a question of but a few years when they must relinquish their hold upon California. Some of them were utterly discouraged and unwilling to attempt the continuance of their work. Some were frankly hostile to the new rulers and went home to Spain. A few persisted to the last and died peacefully at their posts. The effect of the new order of things on the Indians was demoralizing. Their loyalty could hardly be expected to survive the shattering of priestly power. The only government they understood was the patriarchal form, and the very foundation of this government had now disappeared. Nev- ertheless, the Mission of San Diego lived on for more than a dozen years, after its ultimate downfall was clearly foreshad- owed. It was not until 1846 that the ownership of the property was legally and finally taken from the Church.
The full force of the blow could no longer be stayed. Mexico was threatened with invasion by the United States and it became imperatively necessary that the country should be put in the best possible condition of defense. Thus the governors of the varions states and departments were vested with extraordinary powers and instructed to adopt drastic measures to strengthen the government. Governor Pio Pico sold the missions as rapidly as possible in order to raise money for the war which impended. In June, 1846, he sold to Don Santiago AArgüello so much of the
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PASSING OF MISSIONS
property of the San Diego Mission as had not already been granted to Mexican citizens. The deed of sale read as follows:
Being previously authorized by the Departmental Assembly to alleviate the missions, in order to pay their debts and to avoid their total ruin; and knowing that Don Santiago Argüello has rendered the government important services at all times, and has also given aid when asked, for the preservation of the legit- imate government and the security of the Department, without having received any indemnification; and, whereas, this gentle- man has, for his own personal benefit and that of his numerous family, asked to purchase the mission of San Diego, with all its lands and property belonging to it, both in town and coun- try, he paying fully and religiously the debts of said Mission, which may be established by the reports of the Committee of Missions, binding himself besides to provide for the support of the priests located at said Mission, and of divine worship. In view of all which I have made real sale and perpetual alien- ation of it forever, to Don Santiago Argüello, according to, and in conformance with, what has been agreed upon, with all the appurtenanees found and known at the time as belonging to it, whether consisting of lands, buildings, improved real estate, or cattle.
The reader will not fail to note the pious terms in which the instrument was drawn. The object of the transfer was "to alleviate" the Mission, and to avoid its "total ruin." The pur- chaser was required to provide for the support of the priests and to maintain divine worship. These diplomatic phrases deceived no one, and least of all the priests. The idea of a proprietary mission dependent for its support upon the bounty of an individual, must have been repugnant to their souls. Certainly, such an arrangement could never have proven work- able, but it was not put to the actual test. The war came on with swift footsteps, and when it had passed, Mexico had gone the way of Spain and the Missionary Fathers had gone with them, so far as the dominion of California was concerned.
What was the net result of Spanish dominion in San Diego which nominally began with the discoveries by Cabrillo in 1542 and Viscaino in 1602, and ripened into actual occupation with the expedition planned by Galvez and executed by naval, mil- itary, civil, and missionary leaders in 1769 ?
They left, of course, a great memory which will endure to the end of time and which is likely to grow rather than di- minish in the quality of picturesque and romantic interest. They left their nomenclature, and this is somehow so pleasing to the ear and eye of the composite race which has evolved into the American population of today that it seems likely to last as the visible expression of the Spanish tradition. Not only does it remain in the name of the city and of landmarks to which it was given by the Spanish explorers and founders, but
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
it blooms perennially in many other forms, including the names of new residences and estates, for which it is frequently pre- ferred to names associated with the racial, national, and fam- ily traditions of their owners. Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the power of the memories of Spanish occupation upon the popular imagination. The same influence is apparent in architecture, and this seems to be growing and likely to grow more in the future. The Spanish speech still lingers and may do so for a long time, though it tends to disappear and will some day be no more in evidence than the speech of other European peoples who had nothing to do with the early time.
RUIN OF SAN DIEGO MISSION
Aside from this virile tradition, expressed in the nomen- elature and architecture of the city and its surrounding coun- try, the Spaniard left nothing pertaining to his national life. But the value of this contribution to civilization should not be underestimated. Happy is the land which has memories to cherish! Twice happy when the memories are associated with the pioneers of pioneers! And thrice happy if, as in this case, those memories chance to be sanctified by the struggle to light the lamp of spiritual exaltation in the darkness of ignorance and savagery! As time goes on, the earliest history of San Diego will be revived in art. More and more, it will supply a rich theme for painting, for seulpture, and for literature. But the institutions which it sought to plant deep in the soil have
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THE NET RESULT
perished almost utterly. English law and English speech have taken the place of Spanish law and speech, and even the re- ligion which the founders brought apparently owes little or nothing of its present strength to their teaching or their build- ing. The Catholic Church is powerful, of course, but by no means as powerful in San Diego, whose legitimate child it was, as in Boston, which was established by those who deliberately fled from its influence.
What shall be said of the missionary achievement? For the most part, the answer to this question depends upon the indi- vidual point of view. No mere material conquest is to be com- pared with the salvation of immortal souls. The Mission · Fathers brought thousands to the foot of the Cross and persua- ded them to live in accordance with religions ways. Those who believe that these thousands of souls would otherwise have been lost justly place the missionary achievement above the most enduring things done by the soldier, the law-giver, or the founder of institutions. Those who accept distinctly modern views of religion may hold more lightly the purely spiritual conquest accomplished by Junipero Serra and his fellow priests. yet even such must credit them with the noblest aspirations and must concede that the Indian population gained much in sim- ple morality from the missionary teachings. Nor has this gain been wholly lost, even after Father Serra has slept for more than one hundred and twenty years in his grave at Monterey. The Indian was unquestionably elevated by his spiritual ex- perience and by his manual training, and, dubious as his con- dition seems today, is still a better man because the Mission once flourished under the sunny skies of San Diego.
The literature of the missions is voluminous and constantly increasing. For reasons already stated, it is somewhat remote from the real history of San Diego. It is not the picture itself. but the shadowy background of the picture. Nothing more finely expressive of the appeal which it makes to the poetic senses has been written than the following extract from a sketch of the Mission of San Luis Rey, by Will H. Holcomb :
To behold this beautiful structure for the first time under the softening effect of moonlight requires no great stretch of the imagination, to believe one's self among the romantic surround- ings of some Alcazar in old Spain. Below, among the purple shadows of the valley, which half conceal and yet reveal, lies the river, a counterpart of the Guadalquiver; ranged about are the hills, dreamy, indistinet, under the mystic canopy of night, while nearer at hand are the delicate outlines of arches, fa- cades, and vaulted roofs, reflecting the pearly light, and appear- ing half real, half visionary, against the ambient breadths of starless sky. The land breeze wafts down the valley from the mountain heights, cool and sweet, and whispers among the col- umns and arches, and we are tempted almost to inquire of these
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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO
voices of the night something of the tales of adventure, of love, of ambitions gratified and hopes unfulfilled, which eling to this sacred spot, from the shadowy period of the past.
PRIESTS OF SAN DIEGO MISSION
1769. July 16. Mission founded by Father President Junipero Serra. Also present: Fathers Hernando Parron and Juan Viseaino.
1770. Fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez had been at San Diego but departed with the land expedition for Monterey on July 14th. They returned January 24, 1770, and all five priests were pres- ent until February 11th, when Viscaino went south by land to Velicatá with Rivera. On April 17th, Serra and Crespi sailed for Monterey with Portolá (left at San Diego, Parron and Gomez, the former in charge).
1771. April. The San Antonio came up from Mexico with ten friars and left some of them at San Diego, among them Pedro Benito Cambon, Francisco Dumetz, and Father Somera. Same ship took Gomez to Monterey. Dumetz was in charge. In July, the San .Antonio arrived with six friars from the north, and Cambon and Dumetz went overland to Mexico.
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