USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare County, California with biographical sketches > Part 3
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Viscaiño gave the name of Monterey to that bay. On the next day after he anchored near the site of the present town of Monterey, religious worship was held "under a large oak by the sca-side."
The description they give of the harbor says: "Near the shore is an infinite number of very large pines, straight and smooth, fit for masts, and yards, likewise oaks of a prodigious size for building ships. Here likewise are rose trees, white thorns, firs, willows and poplars; large clear lakes, and fine pas- tures and arable lands."
Viscaiño leaves on the 3d of January, 1603, and then follows a long silence of more than a hundred and sixty years, during which no record speaks of this region of country.
FOUNDING OF FIRST MISSION.
1763 .- A great zeal for missions had sprung up, and then prevailed in Mexico for Christianizing the regions at the North. The glowing descriptions of the old navigators who touched here more than a hundred and fifty years before, were revived, and now came into existence a desire, both in Spain and Mexico, to enter into and possess the land. Two divisions of the expedition reached San Diego nearly at the same time. One by sea and the other by land, up the peninsula of Lower California.
They were at San Diego together, and founded the first of the missions of Upper California on the 16th day of July, 1769. But their zeal was too great to allow them to wait at the southernmost border of the promised land. They set their faces northward.
MONTEREY SEARCHED FOR AFTER 167 YEARS.
1769 .-- They had read of Viscaiño, and his glowing descrip- tion of the country around the bay he named "Monterey." They proposed to set out at once to find it by land.
The expedition left San Diego July 16, 1769, and was com- posed of Governor Portala, Captam Revera, with twenty-seven soldiers with leathern jackets, and Lieutenant P. Fages, with seven volunteers of Catalonia, besides Engineer Constanzio, and fifteen Christian Indians, from Lower California.
1881.
PACIFIC HOTEL.
1878
HOTEL & CITY WATER WORKS OF D. W. MADDEN. TULARE CITY. TULARE CO. CAL
RESIDENCE OF A. T. COTTON. TULARE CITY. TULARE. CO. CAL.
23
EXPLORERS NAME THE RIVERS AND TREES.
Fathers Crespi and Gomez accompanied them for their spirit- ual consolation, and to keep a diary of their expedition. Owing to Father Crespi's diary, the principal incidents of this first journey by land up this coast are known to us. They kept near the sea-shore most of the way. They were constantly passing rancherias of Indians, whom they greeted as well as they knew how, and they were not molested by them. It was late in September when they came in sight of the Bay of Mon- terey, the very bay they were in search of, but they did not recognize it :
Father Crespi and the Commandant ascended a hill and looked down upon it.
MONTEREY BAY NOT RECOGNIZED.
1769 .- They recognized Point Pinos, and New Year's Point as described by Cabrera, but they did not recognize the bay as Viscaiño's Bay of " Monterey!" It is certainly very strange that they did not, but for some reason they did not seem to have thought of its being the very identical spot they were in search of.
The description of it by which they were guided, was of course one given by those coming into the bay by water. It may not have been detailed or definite, or suited to guide those seeking it by land.
At any rate, the soldiers explored Point Pinos on both sides, and yet never recognized the place. They searched from the 11th of November to the 9th of December.
They were all half of a mind to give up the search and go back.
But the resolution to proceed still further prevailed, and so they resumed their march. We trace them now step by step. They crossed the Salinas River. They passed several lagoons. They descended into the Pajaro Valley, and camped near the bank of the river.
DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES.
Moreover, in this valley they met with an encampment of Indians, numbering, as they said, five hundred.
The Indians had no notice of the arrival of strangers in their land, and were alarmed. Some took to their arms; some ran to and fro, shouting. The women fell to weeping bitterly. Sargent Ortega alighted from his horse and approached them, making signs of peace.
He picked up from the ground arrows and little flags which they had set, and they clapped their hands in signs of approba- tion.
They were asked for something to eat. The women hastened to their huts and began to ponnd seeds and make a kind of paste.
But when the fathers returned to the same spot the next day, they found only smoking remains of the Indians' camp, the Indians themselves having set fire to it and gone away.
NAMES GIVEN TO RIVERS AND TREES.
1769 .- They named the river "Pajaro," because they found here an immense bird killed, stuffed with hay, measuring nine feet and three inches from tip to tip of the wings spread out. Here, too, not far from the river, they made note of finding deer.
They described the banks of the Pajaro River as they found them in the fall of 1769, thickly covered with trees. They spoke particularly of the redwood, calling it " palo colorado," on account of its color. Father Crespi says the trees are very high, and thinks they resemble the cedar of Lebanon, save that the wood has no odor. The leaves, too, he says, are different, and the wood is very brittle.
They stopped near a lake where there was a great deal of pasture, and they saw a number of crancs. They rested there three days, on account of the sick.
On the 17th of October they moved on again, walking all the time through good land, at a distance of some three miles from the sea.
At the end of that day's journey, they came to the river known as San Lorenzo. They proposed to cross it, not far from the sea. They found the banks steep. They were thickly grown with a forest of willows, cotton-wood and sycamore, so thick that they had to cut their way through.
The river was fifty-four feet wide at the point where they forded, and the water reached the belly of their horses. " It was one of the largest rivers," Father Crespi says, " that we met with on our journey."
" We camped on the north side of the river, and we had a great deal of work to cut down trees to open a little passage for onr beasts. Not far from the river we saw a fertile spot, where the grass was not burnt, and it was pleasure to see the pasture, and the variety of herbs and rose bushes of Castile. We did not sec near the river, nor during our journey, any Indians."
The next day about eight o'clock in the morning they moved on again.
" After proceeding about five hundred steps," Father Crespi says, " we passed a large stream of running water which had its source among high hills, and passing through a table-land, furnishes ample facility for irrigation." This creek they called "Santa Cruz." And so the little stream gave its name to the city.
Perhaps Justiniano Roxas* saw this first party of white men that ever visited this region. He must have been then about sixteen or seventeen years old.
The company remained some sixteen days near the Bay of
*Justiniano Roxas died at Santa Cruz, March 10, 1875, aged 123 years. His portrait and biography were inserted in Elliott's History of Santa Cruz County. From that article we learn he was for years about as destitute of flesh as a skeleton. His skin was yellow, hard and full of creases, and looked like parchment. Age had taken all expression from his countenance. His eyes were nearly closed. He walked with a staff. His last years were spent in trying to keep warm. At night he spread his blanket by the hearth, with his head toward the fire. He would not use a bed. He was cared for by the Sisters of Charity, aided by the county. He was baptized 4th of March, 1792 by the record.
24
CONTINUED DISCOVERIES BY LAND AND SEA.
Monterey. Long enough to get a very fair idea of the climate. The sky was clear and there was no fog.
They pushed on northward until they discovered San Fran- cisco Bay and reached the Golden Gate itself.
BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO FOUND AND NAMED.
1769 .- On the 1st of November, 1769, they sent a party to Point Reyes. On the 2d of November, several hunters of the expedition ascended the high mountains more towards the east ; and, although we have no correct information as to the names of those hunters, it is certain that they were the first white in- habitants who saw the large arm of the sea known at present as the Bay of San Francisco.
The portion that was seen by them was that which lies between the San Bruno mountains and the estuary or creek of San Antonio (Oakland). They discovered the bay, unless the honor is accorded to the exploring party that returned on the 3d of November, who also had discovered the branch of the sea, by which they were prevented from reaching Point Reyes, and the primitive bay first called San Francisco.
On the 4th of November the whole of the expedition saw the newly discovered bay, and they tried to go around it by the south ; but not being able to do so, they returned to Monterey. And so, by the merest accident, they came upon the world- renowned Bay of San Francisco.
Finding it a place answering every requirement he named it after San Francisco de Asis ; and seven years later, June 27, 1776, possession was taken of the spot and a presidio estab- lished, the mission being located on the site of the present church.
MONTEREY BAY VISITED AGAIN BUT NOT RECOGNIZED.
1769 .- Towards the end of November, we find them tarrying around Monterey again, not even now knowing that they were looking on the very harbor they were in search of! They even think it possible that the harbor that Viscaino found 166 years before, and described in such glowing terms, may be filled with sand, and for that reason they cannot find it. They erect a large cross near Point Pinos and place a writing at the foot of it, describing their hardships and dis- appointments, in case the vessel called the San Jose should anchor in that vicinity, and any of those on board should dis- cover the cross and find the writing.
Finally, after many hardships, on the 24th day of January, 1770, half dead with hunger, they arrive at San Diego, after an absence of six months.
They have accomplished that long and exceedingly laborious journey; they have twice passed and looked upon the very bay they were in search of, not knowing it !
MONTEREY BAY FOUND AT LAST.
1770 .- The next time Monterey Bay was searched for it was found. It was in the same year, 1770, that two new expeditions
were fitted out. The two parties set out from San Diego to find it, one by land, the other by water. They find the bay this time, reaching it very nearly together.
On the 3d day of June, 1770, they take possession of the land in the name of the King of Spain.
On the same day Father Junipero begins his mission by erecting a cross, hanging bells from a tree, and saying inass under the same venerable rock where Viscaiño's party celebrated it in 1602, 168 years before.
OBJECT OF THE MISSIONS.
The missions were designed by the Mexican Catholics for the civilization and conversion of the Indians. The latter were in- structed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could com- prehend them) and the arts of peace. Instruction of the sav- ages in agriculture and manufactures, as well as in prayers and elementary education, was the padre's business.
At first the Indians were exceedingly cautious about ap- proaching or connecting themselves with this new style of civ- ilization, but gradually their fears and superstitions were over- come, and they began to cluster about the fathers. Their old habits and manner of living were thrown off, and they con- tented themselves with the quiet life and somewhat laborious duties of the missions.
INDIANS NOT EASILY CIVILIZED.
The California Indian was anything but an easy subject for civilization. Knowledge he had none ; his religion and morals were of the crudest form, while all in all he was the most degraded of mortals. He lived without labor, and existed for naught save his ease and pleasure. In physique he was unpre- possessing; he was possessed of great endurance and strength; his features were unattractive, his hair in texture like the mane of a horse, and his complexion as dark as the Ethiop's skin.
His chief delight was the satisfying of his appetite and lust, while he lacked courage cnough to be war-like, and was devoid of that spirit of independence usually the principal character- istic of his race. The best portion of his life was passed in sleeping and dancing, while in the temperate California cli- mate the fertile valleys and hill-sides grew an abundance of edible seeds and wild fruits, which were garnered, and by them held in great storc.
Such means of existence being so easily obtained is, perhaps, a reason for the wonderful disinclination of Indians to perform any kind of labor. Indeed, what nced was there that they should toil when naturc had placed within their reach an un- limited supply of food ?
MISSION RANCHOS SET APART.
Besides the missions, presidios, castilos, and pueblos, it may be remarked that there were certain public farms, called ranchos, set apart for the use of the soldiers. They were gen-
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25
FOUNDING OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS.
erally four or five leagues distant from the presidios, and were under the control of the different commandants. Little usc, however, seems to have been made of these farms, and they commonly were left in a state of nature, or afforded only grazing to the few cattle and horses belonging to the presidios.
In the establishment of missions the three agencies brought to bear were the military, the civil, and the religious, being each represented by the presidio, or garrison ; the pueblo, the town or civic community; and the mission, the church, which played the most prominent part.
TABLE OF THE UPPER CALIFORNIAN MISSIONS.
NO.
NAME.
DATE OF ESTAU. LISHMENT.
LOCATION.
1
San Diego de Meala.
July 16, 1769
Bay of San Diego.
2
San Carlos de Monterey
June
3,1770
J Subsequently removed from Monterey to the Carmel river.
3
San Antonio de Padua
July
14, 1771
13 leagues f'm San Miguel, Monterey co. ( Rancho La Merced, «leven nnies east- crly from Los Angeles, soon re- moved to present location, nine miles cast of the rity.
At present town of San Luis Obispo.
6
San Francisco (Dolores).
Oct'r
9,1775
.[ On San Francisco Bay.
7
San Juan Capistrano
Nov'r 1, 1776
8
Santa Clara
Jan'y 18, 1777
9
San Buenavcutura
March 31, 1782
10
Santa Barba-
Dec'r
4, 1780
on the Santa Inez river.
13
La Soledad
Oct'r 9, 1791
14
San Josc.
June 11, 1797
15
San Juan Bautista.
June 24, 1797
16
San Miguel
July 25, 1797
17
San Fernando Rey
Sept'r 8, 1797
18
San Luis Rey de Francia
June 13, 1798
Thirteen and a half leagues from San Diego.
19
Santa Inez
Sept'r 17, 1804 Dec'r 14, 1819
20
San Rafael
21
San Francisco de Solano ..
Aug't 25, 1823
Twelve leagues from Santa Barbara. North of San Francisco Bay, Marin co. Sonoma, Sonoma county.
SAN CARLOS DE MONTEREY ESTABLISHED .*
1770 .- The third attempt to establish a settlement at Mon- terey proved successful, as heretoforc noticed. The following extract from a letter of the leader of the expedition to Father Francisco Palou, gives a graphic account of the ceremonies attending the formal founding of the Mission of San Carlos de Monterey, by Padre Junipero Serra, on that memorable day, June 3, 1770.
" On the 31st of May, 1770, by favor of God. after rather a painful voyage of a month and a half, the packet San An- tonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this beautiful port of Monterey, which is unadulterated in any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian Viscaiño, in 1620. It gave me great conso- lation to find that the land expedition had arrived eight days before us, and that Father Crespi and all others were in good health. On the 3d of June, being the holy day of Pentecost, the whole of the officers of sea and land, and all the people, assembled on tlc bank at the foot of an oak, where we caused an altar to be erected, and the bells rang; we then chanted the veni Creator, blessed the water, erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal standard, and chanted the first mass that was ever performed in this place; we afterwards sung the Salve to Our Lady before an image of the illustrious Virgin, which occupied the altar; and at the same time preached a sermon, concluding the whole with a Te Deum. After this the
officers took possession of the country in the name of the King, (Charles III.) our Lord, whom God preserve. We then all dined together in a shady place on the beach; the whole cere- mony being accompanied by many volleys and salutes by the troops and vessels."
THE MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO .*
.
1771 .- This mission was founded by Padre Junipero Serra, July 14, 1771, and is situated about twelve leagues south of Soledad, in Montercy County, on the border of an inland stream upon which it has conferred its name The buildings were inclosed in a square, 1,200 feet on cach side, and walled with adobes. Its lands were forty-cight leagues in cir- cumference, including seven farms, with a convenient house and chapel attached to each. The stream was conducted in paved trenches twenty miles for purposes of irrigation; large crops rewarded the husbandry of the padres. In 1822 this mission owned 52,800 head of cattle, 1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares 500 yoke of working oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1,000 swine. "The climate here is cold in winter and intensely hot in summer. This mission on its secularization fell into the hands of an administrator who neglected its farms, drove off its cattle, and left its poor Indians to starve."-Walter Colton's Three Years in California.
The mission grapes were very sweet; wine and aguardiente were made from them in early days, and the grapes were brought to Monterey for sale. The vineyard and garden walls are now gone, and the cattle have destroyed the vincs ; many of the buildings arc down, and the tiles have been removed to roof houses on some of the adjoining ranches. The church is still in good repair. There was formerly a good grist-mill at the mission, but that also, like the mission, is a thing of the past.
THE MISSION OF SOLEDAD.
1791 .- Mission Soledad was founded October 9, 1791, and is situated fifteen leagues southwest of Monterey on the left bank of the Salinas River, in a fertile plain known by the name of the " Llano del Rey." The priest was an indefatigable agri- culturist. To obviate the summer drought, he constructed, through the labor of his Indians, an aqueduct extending fifteen miles, by which he could water 20,000 acres.
IMMENSE BANDS OF CATTLE.
In 1826 the mission owned about 36,000 head of cattle, and a greater number of horses and mares than any other mission in the country.
So great was the reproduction of these animals that they were not only given away, but also driven in bands into the Bay of Montercy, in order to preserve the pasturage for the cattle. It had about 70,000 sheep and 300 yoke of tame oxen.
*An extended history of these missions will be found in the "History of Monterey County, " by Elliott & Co.
4
San Gabriel de los Temblores
Sept'r 8, 1771
San Luis Obispo
Sep
1, 1772
| About minway between Los Angeles ? and San Diego.
Where town of Santa Clara now stands. South-cast of and near Santa Barbara. On the Santa Barbara channel.
11
La Purissima Conception Santa Cruz
Dec'r 8, 1787
12
Aug't 28, 1791
Where town of Santa Cruz now stands. On tho Salinas river, Monterey county. Where the city of San Jose now is.
On the San Juan river, San Benito co. On the Salinas river, Monterey county. Twenty miles N. W. from Los Angeles.
26
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST MISSIONS.
In 1819 the major-domo of this mission gathered 3,400 bushels of wheat from thirty-eight bushels sown. Its secularization has been followed by decay and ruin .- Walter Colton.
The mission possessed a fine orchard of 1,000 trees, but very few were left in 1849. There was also a vineyard about six miles from the mission in a gorge of the mountains.
MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA .*
1794 .- This mission looms over a rich valley ten leagues from Monterey-founded 1794. Its lands swept the broad interval and adjacent hills. In 1820 it owned 43,870 head of cattle, 1,360 tame horses, 4,870 mares, colts and fillies. It had seven sheep farms, containing 69,530 sheep; while the In- dians attached to the mission drove 321 yoke of working oxen. Its store-house contained $75,000 in goods and $20,000 in specie.
REIGN OF DESOLATION AT SAN JUAN.
This mission was secularized in 1834; its eattle slaughtered for the hides and tallow, its sheep left to the wolves, its horses taken by the dandies, its Indians left to hunt acorns, while the wind sighs over the grave of its last padre .- Walter Colton.
This melancholy picture is not too highly colored. Doubtless the secularization laws were intended to benefit the Indians of the mission, nor does it seem that they were conceived in a spirit of unfriendliness to the padres.
HOW THE BUILDING MATERIAL WAS PREPARED.
None of this building stone was found in the vicinity of San Juan Bautista, so that its church is built entirely of adobe (sun-dried brick) and ladrillo, a species of brick that was baked in a subterranean kiln. The adobe was made out of a species of soil, common to most parts of California. The ma- terial was mixed with straw, thoroughly kneaded by hand and foot, moulded into the desired dimensions, and afterwards spread upon the earth to dry in the sun, being turned twice in the process of drying, to prevent cracking. The regulation adobe was about thirty inches long by sixteen wide and four thick, and weighed fifty pounds. The bricks were made of clay, mixed and kneaded like the adobe, and baked in subter- ranean kilns, with a slow fire. These brick were twelve inches long by eight wide and two thick, and are wonderfully dura- ble, as may be seen in the mission church and corridor ; the floors of which (being laid with this brick) are hardly abraded by the wear and tear of three-quarters of a century.
DESCRIPTION OF MISSIONS.
The missions were usually quadrilateral buildings, two stories high, inclosing a court-yard ornamented with fountains and trees. The whole consisting of the church, father's apartinents, store-houses, barracks, etc. The quadrilateral sides were each about 600 feet in length, one of which was partly occupied by the church.
And so they began their work, surrounded by beautiful scenery, but in seclusion and loneliness. They lived under the shadow of the hills. The sun rose bright and the air was mild, as now, and the music of the surf, and the roar of the ocean in times of storm -- these things must have been as familiar to them as they are now to us.
But there must have been something of sublimity about them when all around was in a condition of nature, that we miss in our more artificial life.
They go about their work. They get together the Indians as soon as possible, to communicate with them. They teach them some rude approach to the arts of civilized life. They teach the men to use tools, and the women to weave.
TABLE SHOWING POPULATION OF THE MISSIONS IN YEAR 1802. MOSTLY CHRISTIANIZED INDIANS.
DATE OF FOUNDING.
NAME OF MISSION. .
MALES.
FEMALES.
TOTAL.
1769
San Diego.
737
822
1559
1798
San Luis Rey de Francia
256
276
532
1776
San Juan Capistrano
502
511
1013
1771
San Gabriel .
532
515
1047
1797
San Fernando
317
297
614
1782
San Buenaventura
436
502
938
1786
Santa Barbara
521
572
1093
1787
La Purissima Conception.
4.57
571
1028
1772
San Luis Obispo.
374
325
699
1797
San Miguel
309
305
614
1791
Soledad
296
267
563
1771
San Antonio de Padua.
568
484
1052
1770
San Carlos de Monterey.
376
312
688
1797
San Juan Bautista
530
428
958
1794
Santa Cruz.
238
· 199
437
1777
Santa Clara
736
555
1291
1797
San Jose
327
295
622
1776
San Francisco
433
381
814
1804
Santa Inez
. .
...
1817
San Rafael Archangel.
...
.. .
. . .
1823
San Francisco de Solano
..
. . .
. .
Totals
7945
7617
15562
BUILDING MISSION CHURCHES.
Time passes away and we find them with a great work on their hands. It is nothing less than the building of a church. We think that to be no small undertaking even now, with all our facilities. But it is not easy for us to imagine what it was to them, with nothing but hand labor; and that of a very rude sort.
Fifteen years seems a long time to devote to the erection of a church, even when we consider the character of the laborers and the rude tools and appliances used in its construction.
But they set about it. They make adobes. They eut down the trees. They hew ont the timber. By some means they get it up to the spot. No small undertaking that as we can see now by examining those very beans, in what remains of those old churches.
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