History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 5

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758

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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.

EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS.

The overland expedition was divided into two divisions; one under command of Don Gaspar de Portala, the appointed Military Governor of the New Territory; the other, under Capt. Rivera Y. Moncado. Rivera and his company, consisting of Father Crespi, twenty-five soldiers, six muleteers, and a party of Lower California Indians, started from Villaceta on the 24th of March, and reached San Diego on the 14th of May, 1769. Up to that time, no white man had ever lived in Upper California; and then began to rise the morning star of our civilization.

The second division, accompanied by Father Junipero, organized the first mission in Upper Cali- fornia on the 16th of July, 1769; and there the first native Californian was baptized on the 26th of December, of that year. These arc memorable points in the ecclesiastical history of this coast.

On the 14th of July, 1769, Governor Portala started out in search of Monterey, as described by previous navigators. He was accompanied by Fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez; the party consisting of fifty-six white persons, including a sergeant, an engineer, and thirty-two soldiers, and a company of emigrants from Sonora, together with a company of Indians from Lower California. They missed their course, and could not find the bay of Monterey, but continued on northward, and, on the 25th day of October, 1769, came upon the great bay of San Francisco, which they named in honor of the titular saint of the friar missionaries.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THE BAY.

It is said that, while on this expedition, a regret was expressed that no mission was as yet named after the patron of the Order. Says Portala, " Let the saint guide us to a good harbor, and we will name a mission for him." When they came in sight of the bay, Father Gomez cried, " There is the harbor of San Francisco," and thus it received its name.

Father Junipero Serra was not of this illustrious company of explorers, and did not visit the bay of San Francisco for nearly six years after its discov- ery. The honor belongs to Fathers Crespi and Gomez, Governor Portala, and their humbler com- panions. The party then returned to San Diego, which they reached on the 24th of Jannary, 1770, after an absence of six months and ten days. Six years thereafter, on the 9th of October, 1776, the Mission of San Francisco de los Dolores was founded on the western shore of the great bay, the old church remaining in tolerable preservation to the present time, the most interesting landmark of our present civilization.

MISSION DOLORES.

One may retire from the noise and bustle of the city, and spend a pleasant hour among the quaint surroundings of the old church. The adobe walls,

the columns of doubtful order of architecture, the bells hung with rawhide, which called the dusky converts to worship, all were doubtless objects of wonder and mystery to the simple-minded natives. From 1776 to 1882, what changes on either side of the continent. A hundred years is much in the life of men, little, except in effect, in the life of a nation.

Father Junipero, who founded these missions, and under whose fostering care they reached such unex- ampled prosperity, reposes in the old church-yard at Monterey. His life reads like a romance.

CHURCH HISTORY .- It is related of him as illustrat- ing his fiery zeal, that, while on his way to found the mission of San Antonio de Padua, he caused the mules to be unpacked at a suitable place, and the bells hung on a tree. Seizing the rope he began to ring with all his might, regardless of the remonstra- tions of the other priests, shouting at the top of his voice, " Hear! hear, O ye Gentiles! Come to the Holy Church! Come to the faith of Christ!" Such enthusiasm will win its way even among savages.

FATHER JUNIPERO'S DEATH.

At length, having founded and successfully estab- lished six missions, and gathered into his fold over 7,000 wild people of the mountains and plains, the heroic Junipero began to feel that his end was draw- ing ncar. He was then seventy years old; fifty-three of these years he had spent in the active service of his Master in the New World. Having fought the good fight and finished his illustrious course, the broken old man retired to the Mission of San Carlos at Monterey, gave the few remaining days of his life to a closer communion with God, received the last rites of the religion which he had advocated and illustrated so well, and on the 29th of August, 1784, gently passed away. Traditions of the " boy priest" still linger among the remnants of the tribes which were gathered under his carc.

CHAPTER IV. THE MISSIONS OF ST. FRANCIS.

Their Moral and Political Aspect-Domestic Economy-The Es- tablishments Described-Secular and Religious Occupations of the Neophytes-Wealth and Productions-Liberation and Dispersion of the Indians-Final Decay.

CERTAIN writers upon the early history of Califor- nia have taken an unfavorable view of the system under which the missionary friars achieved their wonderful success in reducing the wild tribes to a condition of semi-civilization. The venerable fathers are accused of selfishness, avarice, and tyranny, in compelling the Indians to submission, and forcibly restraining them from their natural liberty, and keeping them in a condition of servitude. Nothing could be more unjust and absurd. It were as well to say that it is cruel, despotic, and inhuman to tame and domesticate the wild cattle that roam the great

THE MISSIONS OF ST. FRANCIS.

plains of the continent. The system of the fathers was only our modern reservation policy humanized and Christianized; inasmuch as they not only fed and clothed the bodies of the improvident natives, but likewise cared for their imperishable souls. The cure of Indian souls was the primary object of the friar enthusiasts; the work required of the Indians was of but few hours' duration, with long intervals of rest, and was only incidental to the one great and holy purpose of spiritual conversion and salvation. Surely. " No greater love hath any man than that he lay down his life for his friend;" and it is a cruel stretch of sectarian uncharity to charge selfishness and avarice to the account of self-devoting men who voluntarily went forth from the refinements, pleas- ures, and honors of European civilization, to traverse the American wilderness in sandals, and with only one poor garment a year, in order to uplift the de- graded and savage tribes of paganism from the regions of spiritual darkness, and lead them to the heights of salvation; nay, even to starve and die on the "coral strand" of California in helpless and deserted age. In 1838, the Rev. Father Sarria act- ually starved to death at the Mission of Soledad, after having labored there for thirty years. After the mission had been plundered through the perfidy of the Mexican Government, the old man, broken by age and faint with hunger, lingered in his little church with the few converts that remained, and one Sunday morning fell down and died of starvation before the altar of his life-long devotion. O, let not the Christian historian of California, who is yet to write for all time to come, stain and distort his pages by such cruel and unworthy charges against the barefooted paladins of the cross. No one who has not felt the divine influence that pervaded and strengthened the devoted missionaries in their labors and privations in the wilderness can appreciate the sincerity of their actions and the hopefulness of their lives. To entirely comprehend the system and pro- ceedings of the friars, it will be essential to know the meaning of certain descriptive terms of their insti- tutions of settlement. These were-

1st. Presidios.

2d. Castillos.

3d. Pueblos.

4th. Missions.

The presidios were the military garrisons, estab- lished along the coast for the defense of the country and the protection of the missionaries. Being the headquarters of the military, they became the seats of local government for the different presidencies into which the country was divided. There were four of these presidios in Upper California-at San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. They were uniform in structure, consisting of adobe walls twelve or fourteen feet high, inclosing a square of 300 feet on each side, defended at the angles by small bastions mounting eight twelve-pounder bronze cannon. Within were the barracks, store-house, a

church for the soldiers, and the commandant's resi- dence. On the outside they were defended by a trench, twelve feet wide and six feet deep, and were entered by two gates, open during the day and closed at night. The number of soldiers assigned to each presidio was limited to 250; but rarely were there so many at any one station. In addition to the duty of guarding the coast, small details of four or five men, under a sergeant, accompanied the fathers when they went abroad to establish missions, or on other busi- ness. A certain number of troops were also assigned to each mission, to keep order and defend the place against the attacks of hostile natives. They dressed in buckskin uniform, which was supposed to be im- pervious to arrows, and the horses, too, were encased in leather armor, like those of the knights of old.

The castillo was a covered battery near the p e- sidio, which it was intended to guard. It was manned and mounted with a few guns, and though but a slight defense against a powerful enemy, it served to intimidate and keep off the feeble and timorous Gentiles.

The pueblo was a town, inhabited originally by discharged soldiers who had served out their time at the presidios. It was separate from the presidio and mission, the lands having been granted by the fathers. After a while other persons settled there, and some- times the inhabitants of the pueblo, or independent town, outnumbered those of the neighboring mission. There were only four of those pueblos in Upper Cal- ifornia-Los Angeles, San Jose, Branciforte, near Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara. San Francisco was not a pueblo. There were three classes of these settlements in later times-the pueblo proper, the presidio, and the mission pueblo. The rancherias were King's lands, set apart for the use of the troops to pasture their cattle and horses.

The mission was the parent institution of the whole. There the natives resided, under religious treatment, and others were not allowed to inhabit the place except for a very brief time. This was to prevent the mingling of whites and natives, for it was thought that the former would contaminate and create discontent and disorder among the natives. The missions were all constructed on the same gen- eral plan. They were quadrangular adobe structures, two stories high, inclosing a court-yard ornamented with fountains and trees, the whole consisting of a church, father's apartments, store-houses, barracks, etc. The four sides of the building were each about 600 feet in length, one of which was partly occupied by the church. Within the quadrangle, or court, a gallery or porch ran round the second story, opening upon the workshops, store-rooms, and other apart- ments.

The entire management of each mission was under the care of the friars; the elder attended to the interior and the other the out-doors administration. One large apartment, called the monastery, was occupied exclusively by Indian girls, under the watch-

HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.

ful care of the matron, where they were instructed in such branches as was deemed necessary for their future condition in life. They were not permitted to leave the monastery till old enough to be married. In the schools, such children as manifested adequate capacity were taught vocal and instrumental music, the latter consisting of the flute, horn, and violin. In the various mechanical departments, the most ingen- ious and skillful were promoted to the foremanship.

The daily routine of the establishment was usually as follows: At sunrise they all arose and repaired to the church, where, after morning prayers, they assisted at the mass. The morning religious exer- cises occupied about an hour. Thence they went to breakfast, and afterwards to their respective employ- ments. At noon they returned to the mission, and spent two hours at dinner and in rest; thence to work again, continuing until the evening angelus, about an hour before sundown. Then all betook themselves to church for evening devotions, which consisted usually in ordinary family prayers and rosary, but on special occasions other devotional exercises were added. After supper, they amused themselves in various games, sports, and dances till bedtime, when the unmarried sexes were locked up in separate apartments till morning. Their diet con- sisted of good beef and mutton, with vegetables, wheaten cakes, puddings and porridges, which they called atole and pinole. The men dressed in linen shirts, pants, and a blanket, the last serving for an overcoat; the women had each two -undergarments, a new gown, and a blanket every year. When the missions had grown rich, and in times of plenty, the fathers distributed money and trinkets among the more exemplary, as rewards for good conduct.

The Indians lived in small huts grouped around, a couple of hundred yards away from the main building; some of these dwellings were made of adobes, and others were of rough poles, conical in shape, and thatched with grass, such as the people had been accustomed to in their wild state. Here the married Indians resided with their families. A tract of land about fifteen miles square, was appor- tioned to each mission for cultivation and pasturage. There is a wide distinction between the signification of the terms "Mission" and " Mission lands;" the former referred to the houses, vineyards, and orchards, in the immediate vicinity of the churches, and also included the cattle belonging to the establishments; while mission lands, assigned for grazing and agri- culture, were held only in fief, and were afterwards claimed by the Government-against the loud remon- strance of the fathers, however. The missions were originally intended to be only temporary in dura- tion. It was contemplated that in ten years from the time of their foundation they should cease, as it was then supposed that within that period the In- dians would be sufficiently prepared to assume the position and character of citizens, and that the mis- sion settlements would become pueblos, and the

mission churches parish institutions, as in older civil- izations; but having been neglected and undisturbed by the Spanish Government, they kept on in the old way for sixty years, the comfortable fathers being in 110 hurry to insist on a change.

From the foregoing, derived chiefly from Gleeson's valuable work, " History of the Catholic Church in California," it will be inferred that the good fathers trained up their young neophytes in the way in which they should go. Alexander Forbes and other historians say that during church-time a sort of beadle went around with a long stick, and when he perceived a native inattentive to the devotions or inclined to misbehave, gave him or her an admoni- tory prod, or a rap over the cabesa ! But all authori- ties, both Catholic and Protestant, agree concerning the gentleness and humanity of the fathers, who were absolute in authority and unlimited in the monarchy of their little kingdoms. Not that there was never any application of severe and necessary discipline; there were among the Indians, as well as in civilized society, certain vicions and turbulent ones, incapable of affection and without reverence for authority, and these were soundly whipped, as no doubt they deserved, as such crooked disciples now are at San Quentin. Occasionally some discon- tented ones ran away to the hills, and these were. pursued and brought back by the mission cavalry. They generally returned without much trouble, as they had an idea that, having been baptized, some- thing dreadful would happen to them if they stayed away.

While modern sentimentalists may lament that these poor people were thus deprived of their nat- ural liberty and kept in a condition of servitude, it must be admitted that their moral and physical situation was even better than the average poor in the European States at that time. Their yoke was easy, and their burdens were light; and if, in the Christian view of things, their spiritual welfare be taken into account, the fathers, instead of being regarded as despots and task-masters, must be viewed as the substantial benefactors of the swarthy race.

The wealth created by some of the missions was enormous. At its era of greatest prosperity, the Mission of San Gabriel, founded in 1771, numbered 3,000 Indians, 105,000 cattle, 20,000 horses, 40,000 sheep; produced, annually, 20,000 bushels of grain, and 500 barrels of wine and brandy. Attached to this mission were seventeen extensive ranches, farmed by the Indians, and possessing 200 yoke of oxen. Some of the old fig and olive trees are still bearing fruit, and one old Indian woman still sur- vives, who is said to have reached the incredible age of 140 years. In 1831, the number of Indians at the missions of Upper California was upwards of 30,000. The number of live stock was nearly a million, includ- ing 400,000 cattle, 60,000 horses, and 300,000 sheep, goats, and swine. One hundred thousand cattle were

Sufel Heath

HON. RUSSELL HEATH.

As his name frequently appears in the history of Santa Barbara, some account of his early life, as well as his later career, will be of interest to our readers. He was born in Herkimer County, New York, in 1826. If the rocks and mountains and climate have anything to do with the formation of character, as ethnologists assert, due credit for many of Mr. Heath's best traits must be given to the inhos- pitable character of the climate and soil where he first saw the light, for only a race with an abundant store of mental and physical ability could prosper amid such adverse conditions. Transplanted to such a land of plenty as Santa Barbara, such traits make success doubly sure.

Mr. Heath comes of ancient and honorable stock, General Heath, of Revolutionary fame, being one of his ancestors. His mother was a descendant of General Herkimer, of New York, in whose honor the county of Herkimer was named.

. As in nearly all the countries where industry and intelligence are reckoned among the cardinal virtues, Herkimer County was even then famous for its schools, and young Heath was soon employed in making his way up the hill of science. After a suitable attendance at the common schools he was placed in the High School at Fairfield, which then had a corps of teachers second to no school of its grade in the United States, Professor Davies, the author of the series of mathematical works bearing his name, nsed in all the institutions of learning in the United States, being one of the teachers.

After completing his academical course, he entered the law office of Capron & Lake, of Herkimer, where he spent some years in studying the general princi- ples of law as applied to the organization of national communities, acquiring in that class of law studies a knowledge of political economy as well as law prac- tice, a knowledge which subsequently gave him an opportunity of doing good service to the State of his adoption.

He came to Santa Barbara in a very early day,

when the community was in a transition state be- tween Spanish patriarchy and American law and order; when one influence had nearly ceased and the other only commenced; when to be an officer required much firmness tempered with discretion. He was rapidly promoted by the community, who soon learned to appreciate his sterling qualities. He was admitted to practice in 1852; was appointed District Attorney in 1853, which position he resigned in 1854 to take the position of Sheriff by appointment, which office he held by election until 1858, when he was elected to the Legislature.

While he was acting as Sheriff he met with many hair-breadth adventures, which, but for his constitu- tional coolness and self-reliance, would have ter- minated fatally to him. (See his encounter with Solomon Pico related in a former chapter.)

When in the Legislature, he, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, performed one of the most important services to the State by helping to annul the so-called " Estill State's Prison Contract." The matter is thus briefly related by Tuthill in his " His- tory of California:"-

" In 1851, by an unfortunate contract for a term of ten years, that institution (the State's Prison) was turned over to the control of James M. Estill. There were so many abuses, so many escapes of prisoners, sometimes encouraged if not even planned by the keepers, so much and such well-grounded complaint, that the Legislature declared the lease forfeited, and the State officers resumed its management. They erected a wall twenty feet high about the premises at San Quentin, inclosing a square of 500 feet on each side, and initiated many reforms.

"Still the concern did not prosper, and the Legis- lature of 1856, doubtless thinking it wise economy, made a new lease of the prison buildings and labor to the same Estill, he engaging to maintain and keep safely the convicts, and the State to pay him $10,000 a year for five years. Very soon he assigned the lease to one, McCauley, at half the agreed rate of compensation. The abuses now were worse than ever. Prisoners were maltreated and continually escaping.

BIOGRAPHY OF HON. RUSSELL HEATH.

" The Legislature again declared the lease forfeited, and Governor Weller in the spring of 1858 took forcible possession of the property, and gave the keys to a new warden."

There were thirteen ex-Sheriff's in the Legislature that session, and the bad, faithless management of the institution was well known to them all, the frequent escapes of the convicts being notorious. The finan- cial management was bad, and so far from being self- supporting the institution was constantly increasing a debt already large. There was little speech-mak- ing done; the work was mostly in committee, and there Mr. Heath was the peer of any of the mem- bers. The bill was perfected in committee, and though Estill had many personal friends, who fought the bill in every stage of its passage, it went through both Houses the same day, was signed by the Gov- ernor the following day, and was immediately en- orced. Thus was a nuisance and wrong abated.

After his return from the Legislature he was again elected District Attorney, which office he held until 1862. Though a lawyer by profession, he has little love for the mere technicalities, and has rather avoided the practice than otherwise, like Cincin- natus, preferring the pleasures of a rural life to the strifes incident to politics and law. In 1858 he pur- chased property in the Carpenteria, to which he has constantly added, until now he has over 200 acres of what is justly considered the most desirable agricul- tural land in the State, every acre being a fortune to its owner. One hundred acres of orchard, in wal- nuts, lemons, oranges, and other valuable fruits, are yielding him a princely revenue. He has turned his attention to the cultivation and handling of the citrus

fruits, and has demonstrated the fact that, with proper treatment, they are not inferior to those of Sicily or any of the Oriental countries.

Some years since he built an elegant villa, a view of which is given in this work, that rises above the trees and shrubbery which surround it, and permits a view from the tower of the beautiful valley of the Car- penteria, with its numbers of elegant residences, the rugged mountains towering to the skies in the rear, and the billows of the great Pacific rolling on the beach in a snowy surf in front, with the historic islands of Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz in the dis- tance, the view occasionally varied by the passing of a sailing vessel or the smoky trail of the coast steamers.

He was married in 1856 to Miss Harriet E. Sherman, the marriage being the result of a mutual attachment existing from childhood. The parties met at San Francisco, she going from New York and he from Santa Barbara. The marriage ceremony was per- formed by Bishop Kip, their former pastor in New York. They have one child, a son, born in 1857.

Few families are better prepared to enjoy the afternoon of life than Colonel Heath's, and few deserve it more, for not once in his long career as a citizen and as a public officer has he laid the hand of oppression or rapacity upon man. woman, or child, but has ever extended sympathy to the unfortunate and dealt justice to all. Still in the vigor of man- hood, notwithstanding his nearly three-score years, he bids fair to add another quarter of a century to his years of usefulness and enjoy the rewards of a life of industry and the love and respect of his fellow-men.

PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE.

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History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 5

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West Number of Pages: 758

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758