USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
THE feeling of the colonists towards the missions, with their large tracts of land (144,000 acres being the usual quantity), and large herds of cattle, was much what the Americans, who had been accustomed to 160-acre ranches, felt towards the 40,000-acre owners of California some thirty years since. The big land-holder is an object of aversion, whether the party is a railway incorporation, a Spanish mission, or a Spanish ranchero; so universal is the feeling in this respect, that no people remain at rest long under such a dispensation. The Spanish grantees, though tenacious of their lands when the Americans eame, were by no means pleased with large land-holdings when the missions were the owners. This feeling was intensified by the presence of hundreds of dis-
charged soldiers who wished to have lands conven- ient to a town, as do many men of the present day. The tyranny of the priests towards the Indians was urged as one reason. The Governments of Mexico and Spain, both, had always contemplated the mis- sions as a means of making the Indian self-support- ing, and fifty years was surely enough time to make an Indian a good citizen, if it was to be done at all. Accordingly, in 1824 and 1826, the Mexican Govern- ment passed laws mannmitting the Indians, and sus- pending the pay of the priests. This action on the part of the Government proved premature. Released from restraint the Indian retrograded and took to the woods, and commeneed a series of robberies that threatened the existence of the colonies. His edu- cation had taught him the vices of civilization, which took the place of the rude virtues which character- ized him in his natural state. Idle, dissipated, and incapable of self-control, he became a nuisance to the settlers. Stock, by hundreds, was run off into the hills and canons which form the mountain ranges of the northern part of the county. A year later, the law, being disastrous in its effects, was re- pealed, and most of the Indians returned to their work, and things went on somewhat as before.
COLONISTS AGAINST THIE MISSIONS.
The breach was not healed but widened. The vicious element which had come in with the dis- charged soldiers of the war for liberty, sometimes carried things with a high hand, even ineiting the Indians to insurrection. Manuel Victoria, who was appointed to succeed José Maria de Echeandia for the express purpose of reforming these abuses and restraining the criminal element, was a man of much ability, but had a military turn of mind which could not brook insubordination, and a few cases of sum- mary punishment aronsed the people into open hos- tility. The outbreak commenced at San Diego, and was headed by José Maria Avila. Victoria's friends, however, put down the incipient insurrection, and kept Avila in irons to await the Governor's pleasure. Governor Victoria, hearing of the trouble, left Mon- terey with a small eseort, and reached San Fernando December 4, 1831. A party of the insurgents reached Los Angeles the same evening, and induced a number of citizens to espouse their side. Avila was released, and placing himself at the head of the dissatisfied, swore that he would kill Victoria, or die in the attempt. The two parties met about eight miles west of the city, on the Santa Barbara road, near the Cahuenga Pass, and both parties halted for a parley, but Avila, putting spurs to his horse, rushed upon Victoria, wounding him severely in the side. The thrust was partially parried by Romualdo Pa- checo,* who, before he could recover his guard, was run through by Avila. While the lance was still quivering in Pacheco's body, Victoria drew a pistol,
"Father of the member of Congress of that name.
34
HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
and shot Avila dead, Pacheco and Avila both falling from their horses nearly at the same moment. A sudden panic seized both parties at such a prospect of civil war. Victoria and his party, who were termed Mexicans, went to the Mission San Gabriele, carrying the wounded Governor with them, while Avila's party, who termed themselves Californians, returned to the town. Victoria resigned his position, and left for San Blas on the ship Pocahontas, Janu- ary 15, 1832. The bodies of the slain were found as they fell, and were taken to town the same evening. They were buried side by side by mutual friends.
For some time after the expulsion of Victoria, there was much confusion in regard to the matter of Governor. Avila's partisans pronounced for Echean- dia, but finally rallied around Pio Pico, who became Governor ad interim, Los Angeles being the capital de facto. Echeandia retired to the mission of San Juan Capistrano, and organizing a body of vagrant Indians, under the pretense of maintaining law and order, commenced plundering all in the surround- ing country who would not recognize him as Gov- ernor.
The northern part of the State adhered to Victoria, notwithstanding his abdication, and set up, as his representative, Captain Augustin V. Zamorano. There was little law and order until the
ARRIVAL OF GEN. JOSE FIGUEROA, IN 1833,
Who was a man of much executive ability, and who succeeded in restoring something like security to life and property.
DECIDED MEASURES REGARDING THE MISSIONS.
In August, 1834, the Governor issued the following directions for the enforcement of the law of August 17, 1833.
PROVINCIAL REGULATIONS FOR THE SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS OF UPPER CALIFORNIA.
ARTICLE 1. The political chief, according to the spirit of the law of August 17, 1833, and in compli- ance with instructions received from the Supreme Government, jointly with the religious missionaries, will convert the missions of this territory partially into villages-beginning in the approaching month of August, 1835, with ten, and the rest thereafter successively.
2. Religious missionaries shall be relieved from the administration of temporalities, and shall only exercise the duties of their ministry so far as they relate to spiritual matters, whilst the formal division of parishes is in progress, and the Supreme Diocesan Government shall provide parochial clergy.
3. The Territorial Government shall resume the administration of temporal concerns, as directed, upon the following foundations.
4. The approbation of this provisional regulation by the Supreme Government shall be requested in the most prompt manner.
DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY AND LANDS.
5. To each head of a family, and all who are more than twenty years old, although without families, will
be given from the lands of the mission, whether tem- poral (lands dependent on the season) or watered, a lot of ground not to contain more than 400 yards in length and as many in breadth, nor less than 100. Sufficient land for watering the cattle will be given in common. The outlets or roads shall be marked out by each village, and at the proper time the cor- poration lands shall be designated.
6. Among the said individuals will be distributed, ratably and justly, according to the discretion of the political chief, the half of the movable property, tak- ing as a basis the last inventory which the mission- aries have presented of all descriptions of cattle.
7. One-half or less of the implements and seeds in- dispensable for agriculture shall be allotted to them.
8. All the surplus lands, roots, movable securities, and property of all classes, shall be under the charge and responsibility of the steward or agent whom the political chief may name, subject to the disposal of the Supreme Federal Government.
9. From the common mass of this property, shall be provided the subsistence of the missionary monks, the pay of the steward and other servants, the ex- penses of religious worship, schools, and other mat- ters of cleanliness or ornament.
10. The political chief, as the person charged with the direction of temporal concerns, shall determine and order beforehand the necessary qualifications, all the charges to be distributed, as well to carry this plan into execution as for the preservation and in- crease of the property.
11. The missionary minister shall select the place which suits him best for his dwelling and that of his attendants and servants; he is also to be provided with furniture and necessary utensils.
12. The library, holy vestment, and furniture of the church, shall be in charge of the missionary min- isters, under the responsibility of the person who officiates as sexton (and whom the said father shall select), who shall be paid a reasonable salary.
13. Inventories shall be made of all the property of each mission, with a proper separation and expla- nation of each description; of the books, charges, and dates of all sorts of papers; of the credits, liquidated and unliquidated, with their respective remarks and explanations; of which a return shall be made to the Supreme Government.
POLITICAL GOVERNMENT OF THE VILLAGES.
14. The political government of the villages shall be organized in accordance with existing laws. The political chief shall take measures for the election and establishment of Boards of Magistrates.
15. The internal police of the villages shall be under the charge of the Board of Magistrates; but as to the administration of justice in matters of dis- pute, these shall be under the cognizance of inferior judges, established constitutionally in the places near- est at hand.
16. Those who have been emancipated shall be obliged to join in such labors of community as are indispensable, in the opinion of the political chief, in the cultivation of the vineyards, gardens, and fields, which for the present remain unapportioned, until the Supreme Government shall determine.
17. Emancipated persons shall render the minister such services as may be necessary for his person.
35
SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
RESTRICTIONS.
18. They shall not sell, mortgage, nor dispose of the lands granted to them. neither shall they sell their cattle. Contracte made in contravention of these prohibitions shall be of no effect, and the Gov- ernment shall seize' the property as belonging to the nation, and the purchasers shall forfeit their money.
19. Lands, the proprietors of which die without heirs, shall revert to the nation.
GENERAL REGI'LATIONS.
20. The political chief shall name the commission- ers he may deem necessary for carrying out this sys- tem and its incidents.
21. The political chief is authorized to determine any doubt or matter involved in the execution of this regulation.
22. Whilst this regulation is being carried into operation, the missionaries are forbidden to kill cattle in any large number, except so far as is usually re- quired for the subsistence of the neophytes (con- verted Indians) without waste.
23. The unliquidated debts of the mission shall be paid, in preference, from the common fund, at the places and upon the terms which the political chief may determine.
1142729
PROVISIONAL REGULATION FOR THE SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
That the fulfillment of this law may be perfect, the following rules will be observed :-
1st. The commissioners, so soon as they shall re- ceive their appointment and orders, shall present themselves at the respective missions, and com- mence the execution of the plan, being governed in all things by its tenor and these regulations. They shall present their credentials respectively to the priest under whose care the mission is, with whom they shall agree, preserving harmony and proper re- spect.
2d. The priest shall immediately hand over, and the commissioners receive the books of account and other documents relating to property claims, liqui- dated and unliquidated; afterwards, general invento- ries shall be made out, in accordance with the 13th article of this regulation, of all property-such as houses, churches, workshops, and other local things -stating what belongs to each shop, that is to say, utensils, furniture and implements; then what belongs to the homestead, after which shall follow those of the field, that is to say, property that grows, such as vines and vegetables, with an enumeration of the shrubs (if possible), mills, etc; after that the cattle and whatever appertains to them; but as it will be difficult to count them, as well on account of their numbers, as for the want of horses, they shall be es- timated by two persons of intelligence and probity, who shall calculate, as nearly as may be, the number of each species to be inserted in the inventory. Everything shall be in regular form in making the inventory, which shall be kept from the knowledge of the priests, and under the charge of the commis- sioner or steward, but there shall be no change in the order of the work and services, until experience shall show that it is necessary, except in such matters as are commonly changed whenever it suits.
3d. The commissioner, with the steward. shall dispense with all superfluous expense, establishing rigid economy in all things that require reform.
4th. Before he takes an inventory of articles be- longing to the field. the commissioner will inform the natives, explaining to them with mildness and patience, that the missions are to be changed into villages, which will only be under the government of the priests, so far as relates to spiritual matters; that the lands and property for which each one labors are to belong to himself, and to be maintained and controlled by himself, without depending on any one else; that the houses in which they live are to be their own. for which they are to submit to what is ordered in these regulations, which are to be ex- plained to them in the best possible manner. The lots will be given to them immediately, to be worked by them as the 5th article of these regulations pro- vides. The commissioner, the priests, and the steward, shall choose the location, selecting the best and most convenient to the population, and shall give to each the quantity of ground which he can eultivate, according to his fitness and the size of his family, without exceeding the maximum established. Each one shall mark his land in sneh manner as may be most agreeable to him.
5th. The claims that are liquidated shall be paid from the mass of property, but neither the commis- sioner, nor the steward, shall settle them without the express order of the Government, which will inform itself on the matter, and according to its judgment determine the number of cattle to be assigned to the neophytes, that it may be done, as heretofore, in con- formity with what is provided in the 6th article.
6th. The necessary effects and implements for labor shall be assigned in the quantities expressed by the 7th article, either individually or in common, as the commissioners and priests may agree upon. The seeds will remain undivided, and shall be given to the neophytes in the usual quantities.
7th. What is called the " priesthood " shall imme- diately cease; female children whom they have in charge being handed over to their fathers, explaining to them the care they should take of them, and point- ing out their obligations as parents. The same shall be done with the male children.
8th. The commissioner, according to the knowl- edge and information which he shall acquire, shall name to the Government, as soon as possible, one or several individuals, who may appear to him suitable and honorable, as stewards, according to the provi- sions of the 8th article, either from among those who now serve in the missions, or others. He shall also fix the pay which should be assigned to them, accord- ing to the labor of each mission.
9th. The settlements which are at a distance from the mission, and consist of more than twenty-five families, and which would desire to form a separate community, shall be gratified, and appropriation of the funds and other property shall be made to them as to the rest. The settlements which do not con- tain twenty-five families, provided they be perma- nently settled, where they now live, shall form a suburb, and shall be attached to the nearest village.
10th. The commissioner shall state the number of souls which each village contains, in order to desig- nate the number of municipal officers and cause the elections to be held, in which they will proceed con- formably, as far as possible, to the law of June 12, 1830.
11th. The commissioner shall adopt all executive measures which the condition of things demands, giv- ing an account to the Government, and shall consult the same upon all grave and doubtful matters.
P
36
HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
12th. In everything that remains, the commission- ers, the priests, stewards, and natives, will proceed according to the provisions of the regulation.
AUGUSTIN V. ZAMORANO, JOSE FIGUEROA.
Secretary.
Monterey, Aug. 9, 1834."
The missionaries had but little to comfort them. The laymen, or secular part of the community, had out-talked them, out-worked them. What was called the
PIOUS FUND
Had previously been confiscated. This fund, prodne- ing about $50,000 a year, had heen set apart as a fund for the propagation of the true faith, but the Mexican Congress had encroached on it several times, but had hardly dared to appropriate it in toto, but when Santa Ana vaulted into power, he absorbed it without a pang of remorse. Still the immense flocks and crops of grain would have served the pur- poses of the poor Franciscan friars very well, but these were now to go. It is said the padres hoped for a providential interference, for a counter resolu- tion, for anything that would stay the spoiler, but no help came. Mexico was far away, and the clamor for the spoilation of the missions was stronger there than in California.
THE HIJAR COLONY.
.
In 1834 a colony, composed of both men and women, under the leadership of Jose Maria Hijar, was dispatched for Upper California, with full an- thority to take possession of all the missions, includ- ing the stock, agricultural machinery, also direc- tions to General Figueroa to surrender the adminis- tration of the Government to him on his arrival. Of all the schemes for the spoilation of the missions, this seems to have been the most contemptible. The expenses of the expedition, which were advanced by the Mexican Government, were to have been repaid in tallow. In fact, the whole organization was for speculative puposes; a steal in which the Govern- ment was to share! Little wonder that the Califor- nians had no respect for the parental Government.
SHIPWRECK OF THE VESSEL.
The party landed at San Diego, and disembarked a part of the colony; the rest proceeded to Monterey, where a storm threw them on the coast.
When Hijar presented his water-soaked creden- tials for the surrender of the keys of power to him, he was met by a later paper.
SANTA ANA'S REVOLUTION.
President Farias, the patron of Hijar, had been dethroned, and Santa Ana had vaulted into power. General Figueroa was ordered to continue as Gov- ernor, and the disappointed Hijar and his compan- ions went to swell the ranks of the rabble hungry for the mission spoils. It is said that they were, of ail who had ever come to California, the[most nn-
fitted for usefulness. Goldsmiths, where jewelry was unknown; carpenters, where the houses were made of adobe; blacksmiths, where rawhide was used instead of iron; painters, musicians, and artists, shoemakers and tailors, but never a farmer, composed the crowd. They were loud in their complaints, and finally be- came so importunate that the most disaffected were sent back to Mexico.
LAND GRANTS.
During these years of trouble, large quantities of the land had been alienated from the church or mis- sions. The condition, in the application for a grant, was that the land was not needed for the cattle and herds of the missions. The fathers were not in a condition, with so many malcontents around them, to refuse their assent to this condition, and so the lands were allotted to the influential families in vast quantities. Having lands, it was no great affair to stock them from the herds which fed thereon, and thus a new set of proprietors came into power.
SECULARIZATION COMPLETED.
Hemmed in on all sides, abandoned by the Mexi- can Government, and plundered by the Californians, the fathers saw that ruin was inevitable, and com- menced to realize on their property. Cattle were slaughtered by the thousand, the flesh being thrown away. Hitherto cattle and sheep were only killed as the meat was wanted, but anything now to save some- thing from the wreck. One-half the hides were given for killing and skinning, and the plains were strewn with the rotting carcasses. It is charged against the padres that they even cut down the orchards and up-rooted the vineyards, that they might not fall into the hands of the spoiler. This might have been true in some instances, but the missions of San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara had extensive orchards at the time of the conquest.
In the meantime the machinery for disposing of the mission property had been set in motion by the Government. Administrators of the mission prop- erty were appointed. There was but little to ad- minister upon, and when they left, there was noth- ing! The destruction of the mission was complete. Happily, land cannot well be destroyed; cattle soon multiplied, and in a few years the ranches were as well stocked 'as ever. The Indians who had homes at the missions, who had learned to consider the property as theirs, were relegated to barbarism, and kept up a predatory warfare on the herds until the coming of the Americans. The well-stocked ranches of the coast were a prey to all. Bands from the Mohave, the San Joaquin Plains, and even from more distant quarters, would raid the cattle ranches, driv- ing off for food, by preference, the horses. Oregon Indians also joined in the plunder, and, in one in- stance at least, a band came from the Rocky Mount- ains. "Peg-leg" Smith, a noted mountaineer and scout, led a band of Indians, about 1840, from Bear
yours faithfully Ch. Funand
-
HON. CHARLES FERNALD
THE Fernald family have a long and honorable record in the annals of New England, and came of good stock in the mother country, being connected with almost every event of importance in the early settlement of the Eastern States.
The following notes are made up from Belknap's " History of New Hampshire," " Rambles about Portsmouth," and other historical works concerning the early history of New England :-
The history of the family in New England com- mences as early as 1623, when Renald Fernald was connected with Captain Mason's company in the set- tlement of New Hampshire. He is also mentioned as the first surgeon who settled in New Hampshire. (Belknap's History of New Hampshire Vol., 1, pp. 47, 275, 278.) Another of the family, Capt. John Fernald, had command of one of the vessels engaged in the attack on Louisburg and Cape Breton in 1745, under Sir William Pepperell. (Belknap, Vol. 1, p. 265.) The Fernalds early became landed proprie- tors, in those days a mark of distinction. The island now owned and held by the Government for fortifi- cation and defensive purposes, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and on which Fort Sullivan now stands, was formerly the property of the family. The northern island was known as Badger Island, the middle one as Fernald Island, and the southern one as Seaveys Island. The island was conveyed to the United States June 15, 1806, and is now used for national purposes.
HERCULES FERNALD, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the Revolution, partici- pating in many of the battles, particularly Bunker Hill and Saratoga, being in Stark's command at the former place. He was also at Valley Forge when our little army suffered so fearfully for want of food and clothing. Hercules died in 1839 at North Berwick, Maine, nearly a hundred years old. Ile retained his memory of the stirring events of the Revolution to the last, and often related to his grandson the inci- dents of the scenes in which he had participated. Among the things related was the fact that for three days previous to the battle of Stillwater, which pro- ceded the surrender of Burgoyne, he had no food but some raw cabbage, picked up on their march,
seasoned with a little salt. He had a lively recollec- tion of the appearance of Burgoyne; his fine dress and equipments as contrasted with our own poorly- clad officers. The grandfather also frequently related to his grandson, Charles, then only eight or nine years old, the story of the sufferings of our bare- footed soldiers, at Valley Forge. marching over frozen ground into winter quarters, and leaving a bloody trail to show the line of march. It was such history as this that taught the grandson the cost of our free institutions and the obligations of the present gener- ation to preserve our national integrity. Raised amid such traditions and influences as these. it is not strange that the subject of our sketch should have grown up with an intense love for the Union, and an equally intense pride in his ancestry, which had been so instrumental in building it up; and to these circum- stances may be ascribed the ever-present, constant feeling of self-respect which has characterized him throughout his long and honorable career.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.