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They were crude economic ideas, characteristic of the times, and those imbued with them were not responsible for their existence. They were an inheritance from centuries of teachings that man's gainful instincts menaced his opportunities to enter into a future life of happiness, the result of which was to retard useful production, without, however, blunting his acquisitive desires. They were a sur- vival from the darkest days of the middle ages, and their persistence explains the failure of the Spaniard to appreciate and make proper use of the resources at his command during the three centuries in which he had practical control over a region now recognized as the most productive on the globe. And the same explanation applies to the utter disregard of the advantages possessed by them in their posi- tion on the Bay of San Francisco for seventy years without in the slightest degree improving its facilities, which were no greater when they were replaced by a more virile people than when Mission Dolores was first established in 1776.
Islands of Gold
Crude Economic Ideas
Copyrighted, 1912, by R. J. Waters & Co.
VIEW OF UNITED STATES MILITARY RESERVATION-THE PRESIDIO
CHAPTER II
SPAIN'S PURPOSE IN OCCUPYING CALIFORNIA
A HALF WAY HOUSE FOR SHIPS IN THE PHILIPPINE TRADE-THE SANDWICH ISLANDS OVERLOOKED-RUSSIA COVETED CALIFORNIA-EFFECTS OF MISSIONARY ZEAL-THE BELIEF IN THE INSULARITY OF CALIFORNIA-INVESTIGATIONS OF FATHER KINO- SPANISH PROJECTS SLUMBER-THE FRANCISCAN ORDER-EXPULSION OF JESUITS- FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA-SEARCHING FOR MONTEREY-PORTOLA'S DISAPPOINT- MENT-DISCOVERY OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY.
CI
APTAIN COOK, the discoverer of the Sandwich islands, in his narrative threw out the suggestion that if they had TY F C been discovered at an earlier period by the Spaniards they would doubtless have availed themselves of so ex- O cellent a station, and would have made use of Atooi or L SEAL OF VO EN PA OF SAN some other island of the group as a place of refreshment for the ships that sailed annually between Acapulco and Manila. He noted that "they lie almost midway between the last mentioned place and Guam, which is at present (1777) their only port in traversing this vast ocean, and it would not have been a, week's sail out of their ordinary route to have touched at them."
It is perhaps idle to speculate on what might have occurred had the Spanish hit upon the islands. The possibility, however, is suggested of a complete change of the course of history, for despite the neglect during the seventeenth century of the matter of securing a desirable station on the coast of California it was not wholly lost sight of by the authorities, and to a large extent it engrossed the minds of missionaries who were working for the salvation of the Indians of Northern Mexico, and those of the regions we now know as New Mexico and Arizona. Their zeal did not hinder them from recognizing that their cause would be advanced by linking it with commercial affairs, and they exhibited a more intelligent ap- preciation of the material advantages which would flow from the possession of a safe port than the inefficient and almost supine representatives of the crown.
It does no violence to the probability that the utilization of the Sandwich islands in the manner described by Cook would have indefinitely postponed the search for a harbor which resulted in the discovery of San Francisco. The activities of the Franciscans and Cook were nearly concurrent with those of the Russians. They were established in the regions north of California, and as early as 1788 we find a statement that they imported Chinese artisans, "because of their reputed hardiness, industry and ingenuity, simple manner of life and low wages," and they
The Sandwich Islands
Missionary Work in Arizona and New Mexico
Early Russian Establish- ments
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had well defined ideas of the desirability of developing the country to the south whose agricultural capacities appealed strongly to their enterprise.
The facility with which the Spaniard abandoned his hold on the region lying north of San Francisco under British pressure indicates what might have happened had not the land expedition of Portola pushed north and established a settlement on the Bay of San Francisco. The steady eastward encroachment of the Russians, which led them across the vast deserts and through the gloomy forests of Siberia, defying its rigorous climate, and making light of the obstacles interposed by its mighty rivers until the shores of the Pacific were reached, compels us to believe that once well established on the American continent their march southward would have been irresistible had no political obstacles interposed.
The latter must have been greatly minimized if San Francisco harbor had not been discovered. The recent researches of the delvers among the musty archives of Russia disclose that the thought of the acquisition of California was still in the mind of the czar's advisers years after the missionaries had created their establishments. That they would have pushed their opportunities at an earlier period if Spain's indifference had been accentuated by the possession of an ideal station in the Pacific is hardly debatable. What sort of a civilization would have followed as the result of their occupation can only be conjectured. That it would have been more effective materially than that of the Spanish is suggested by the fact that Russians were able to comprehend possibilities of whose existence the Spaniard did not dream.
But the Sandwich islands were not found by the Don, and, although the urgency for a station to serve the Manila trade was no longer so great a new promoter of desire had arisen. Zeal for the redemption of the Indian accomplished that which the navigator failed to achieve. This movement was by no means wholly dis- sociated from material considerations, but it was as nearly unselfish as any project devised by mortal man. On those points where the secular side was touched it is plainly apparent that nothing more than recognition of the necessity of cooperation governed.
As early as 1687 the Mission Nuestra Senora de las Dolores was founded by Father Kino about 120 miles south of the present Tucson. In 1690 Juan Maria de Salvatierra, who was sent to Sonora as visitador, called at Father Kino's mission and talked with him about "suspended California," and suggested that its fertile valleys might be made sufficiently productive to ;offset the barrenness of northern Mexico, and thus equalize conditions.
At this time Salvatierra and Kino were both under the impression that Cali- fornia was an island, but subsequently while on a visit to the Mission San Xavier del Bac Kino told the Indians how the Spaniards had come over the sea from a distant land to Vera Cruz, and perhaps received some intimation of the untrust- worthiness of the belief in the insular theory. In 1693 he pushed further into Arizona visiting the Sabos. Journeying about eight leagues from their land he saw from an eminence what he reckoned to be at least twenty-five continuous leagues of the land of California. In 1694 he again visited the shores of the sea of California, and had his doubts finally resolved.
Kino was now bent upon the project of extending the missions into California and visited the City of Mexico to secure assistance. But his requests were not favorably regarded, there being no fervor for missionary work at that moment,
Spain Relinquishes Territory
Russia Covets California
Effects of Missionary Zeal
Insular Theory Refuted
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but in the ensuing year the new viceroy, the Comde de Montezuma, was inclined to lend ear to Kino's request and on February 5, 1697, he issued a license author- izing Kino and Salvatierra to undertake the reduction of the Californias, stipu- lating, however, that the work should be at their own expense and that if the reduction be effected it be in the name of the king.
In 1700 Kino descended the Gila to its junction with the Colorado, arriving there on the 7th of October. This achievement practically settled the doubts re- specting the peninsular character of Lower California, but to silence all criticism Kino resolved to start an expedition which would leave Las Dolores and reach Loretto by land. It appears, however, that Salvatierra's faith in the insular be- lief still survived, for he wrote Kino that the rejoicings at Loretto were much greater "than he had means and desires to examine at close range what on distant view might be misleading."
To Kino the solution of the problem meant much. He, apparently, was pro- foundly convinced that California was a land of wondrous promise, and that its penetration would not merely result in the removal of pernicious errors and false- hoods concerning a crowned king, carried on a litter of gold, of a walled city with towns, and the destruction of the whole tissue of falsehoods which had been woven about the Anian idea, but that it would teach that the true way from Japan was by Cape Mendocino and whence might be brought to Sonora the goods of the very rich galleons from the Philippines. Salvatierra was less enthusiastic about the matter. The determination of peninsularity promised a safe means of moving supplies between the missions already established and he was satisfied to let it go at that.
Father Kino died among the Pimas in 1711 without having penetrated the promised land, and in 1717 Salvatierra was also laid at rest. With their deaths the project of the extension of Spanish dominion northward slumbered until 1747 when a royal cedula sanctioned the reduction of the Californias on the exact plan of Kino, the main feature of which was the entrance of the land above the head of the Gulf of California by way of the desert of Arizona. Even at that late date the idea of Anian had not wholly disappeared, for Michael Venegas in some notes on California printed in (1757 is still found asking whether there was not a chance that a strait might be discovered by some Englishman. He also ex- pressed apprehension of Russian designs and indorsed Kino's conception that the integrity of Spanish rule in America demanded that "the missions must be joined to the rest of New Mexico and extended from the latter beyond the rivers Gila and Colorado to the furtherest known coasts of California and the South Sea, to Puerto de San Diego, Puerto de Monterey, the Sierra Nevadas, Cape Mendocino, Cape Blanco or San Sebastian and to the river discovered by Aquillar in 43º north latitude."
It was reserved for the Franciscan order of missionary friars to carry out the conception of Kino. The order had been established in Mexico since 1524, when its advance guard of twelve sandal shod and wide sackcloth gowned brethren presented themselves to Cortez and were graciously received by him. In 1761 the inspector general of the order, Jose de Galvez, was sent to the province, and at the same time Charles Francisco de Croix went as viceroy. Shortly after their arrival they united in a dispatch to the king in which the desirability of having Galvez visiting the Californias for the purpose of establishing in them pueblos, and
Father Kino Reaches the Colorado
Father Kino's Aims
Spanish Projects Slumber
The Fran- elsean Order
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to regulate their government, was urged on the ground that the remoteness of the peninsula from Sonora made it necessary to have a nearer source of supplies.
Jesuits Expelled by Portola
When Galvez reached Lower California he found the religious part of the establishment in charge of Serra and his Franciscans, while the temporalties were administered by Gasper de Portola, whose duty it had become on the 17th of December, 1767, to expel the Jesuits who had formerly been established there. The condition of affairs reflected discredit on the management of the secular arm. The licentious soldiery had spread disease among the natives, and the population, which had once numbered 12,000 souls, had dwindled to a few more than 7,000. Galvez sought to apply a remedy by restoring the temporalties to the Franciscans and a return to the system of the mission. By these means he hoped to wean the Indians from their nomadic habits and induce them to live in the pueblos.
Galvez Projects Settlements
Galvez's project embraced the idea of effecting settlements, but the difficulties attending the colonization of Spaniards were numerous. He sought to overcome them by offering crown lands and military rights. Perhaps his plans of native redemption could not have made progress without a resort to such concessions, but they afterward proved a source of trouble and did much to destroy the efforts of the padres to make good Christians of the Indians. It was through the offers of this kind made in August, 1768, that he was able to gather the necessary party to form the expedition to Monterey conceived by him, which received the prompt approval of the Viceroy de Croix, and which was enthusiastically embraced by Father Junipero Serra, who was made president of the California missions.
Father Junipero Serra
Father Serra is the most notable figure in the early history of California, and his character merits attentive study. He was a man of great piety, a firm believer in miracles and a wielder of the penitential scourge. He possessed in a preeminent degree all those qualities which are attributed to those who receive the honor of canonization from the Catholic church, but he was by no means deficient in shrewd- ness or practical ability. Had he been born in another age or had he been able to shake off the trammels of the ,medieval system, he might have succeeded in the task he set for himself of lifting up the wretched natives of the soil. The union of a pure mind and ability might under other circumstances have accom- plished an aim which utterly failed because submerged by an idea which completely subordinated the only instinct which has ever contributed greatly to elevating a race in the scale of civilization.
Monterey an Objective
In 1768 Galvez de Croix and Serra met to discuss the method of attaining their object of reaching Monterey. The details of two expeditions were gone over- one by land and the other by sea. The latter, like most of the preceding maritime explorations having for their object the establishment of a station in Alta Cali- fornia, had an unfortunate experience. The vessels stored with supplies for the voyage and articles that would be needed in the new ports which were to be converted into missions sailed from La Paz on the 8th of January, 1769, Galvez accompanying the party as far as Cape San Lucas where he bade farewell. The little fleet did not reach San Diego until the following July, although the good padre had reported that its sailing qualities were admirable, one of the craft ac- tually making six knots an hour in a moderate breeze.
The Search for Monterey
The plans of the expedition were completely disarranged by the appearance of scurvy on the ships, and it was recognized that if the purpose of occupying Monterey was to be realized it must be reached by land as the crews were no
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longer in condition to manipulate their craft. A party of 67 was formed which started from San Diego on the 14th of July leaving behind at that place, Serra, Vila, Vizcaino, some artisans and a number of sailors mostly ill. The work of establishing a mission was at once inaugurated by Serra, who laid the foundations of that of San Diego, the oldest in Alta California, on the 16th of July. The records show that the activities of the good padre were called into play at once, for the natives surrounding the new port who were under the influence of the warlike Yumas soon became troublesome, and on the 15th of August made an attack on the little establishment in which three of their number and a Spaniard were killed and Father Vizcaino was disabled by an arrow which pierced his hand.
The party which started overland was provided with notes of the results of the former explorations, but depended principally upon a reprint of a manual which placed the port of Monterey in 37º north latitude, and gave suggestions for finding it which would prove more valuable to an expedition approaching from the sea than to one seeking it by a land route. But as the explorers kept the ocean in sight it was inevitable that perseverance should reveal the object of their search. The itinerary of the party shows that it made its way past San Clementa; that the Catalina Islands were kept in sight and that Los Angeles was traversed. The San Fernando valley was passed through to the headwaters of the Santa Clara. and from thence the river valley was followed to the sea. Point Conception was touched, and from that the explorers made their way to the head of the Santa Barbara channel. Leaving San Luis Obispo they kept along the coast until the Sierra barred their way. They crossed the mountain and penetrated the Salinas valley which they pursued to the sea, following the shore of which they at length attained Point Pinos which their records told them was the determining landmark of Monterey harbor.
But viewed from that side Monterey did not answer the description of those who had eulogized it as a safe port. Portola, who headed the party, received the impression, which he recorded, that it was no better than an open roadstead. The rejoicings which the sight of the Point of Pines first occasioned were soon con- verted to despondency, and after a week's rest, on October 8th the explorers held a council which reached the resolution to again press forward.
The party thus far had met with no serious adventures. They had seen numerous Indians, the males entirely naked, and they had noted with surprise and admira- tion the skill of those living along the Santa Barbara channel in handling their canoes, which were well constructed. They had killed some bears, a sort of game very abundant, and had felt some earthquake shocks which they set down in their records as "frightful," and had noted many things, the knowledge of which might prove useful to them in the future work of converting the Californias into a habitable country. ' The only evil results of their journey was the appearance of scurvy which attacked several members of the party.
This dread disease maintained its hold until the rains set in. When Portola and his party took up their toilsome march after their disappointment at Point Pinos the leader and Father Riviera were ill. The supply of food had run out, and some of the men had to be borne in litters. But they pressed on and on November 1st they reached Point San Pedro, and from an eminence saw the Farallones and the bay described by Cermeño, and recognized it as the locality in which the "St. Augustin" had been wrecked.
Ronte of the Explorers
Portola's Dis- appointment
Portola's Party Attacked by Scurvy
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SAN FRANCISCO
On the day following, some soldiers of the party, headed by Ortega, while hunting for deer climbed the headland of Point Reyes and suddenly came in sight of a large body of water which he thought was an inland sea. The hunting party encountered some Indians who informed them that a ship was lying at anchor at the head of the newly discovered sea, and Ortega carried a report to that effect to Portola. A search for the ship was made, but in vain, and on November 11th the leader, convinced that Monterey had been passed in the fog, or that it had been overwhelmed with sand started southward with his command, now seriously short of rations.
He reached Point Pinos without identifying the bay as that described by Cermeño, and on December 10th he erected two great commemoration crosses, one on the shore of Carmello bay, and the other on the shore of the bay which he had found, but failed to recognize; and on the ensuing day began retracing bis steps to San Diego which he reached on the 24th of January, 1770. In the en- suing month Portola and Crespi reported the results of their adventure to the Visitador. They were convinced that the belief in the existence of Monterey was an illusion, and felicitated themselves upon dispelling it; but Crespi put a bright side upon the fancied failure to discern the harbor of Cermeño by pointing out that they "had found an actuality" in the inland sea discovered by the hunters.
San Fran- cisco Bay Discovered
Monterey Bay Unrecog- nized
CHAPTER III
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MISSION OF ST. FRANCIS
SEARCH FOR THE BAY OF MONTEREY CONTINUED-LIEUTENANT DE AYALA ENTERS THE GOLDEN GATE-THE EXPEDITION TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY-SELECTION OF A SITE ON MISSION BAY-THE PRESIDIO ESTABLISHED-FATHER SERRA REACHES MISSION DOLORES-SPANISH DRY ROT COMMUNICATES ITSELF TO THE NEW COUNTRY-SPAIN'S TRADE WITH THE PHILIPPINES-THE MISSION INDIANS-THE LIFE AND LABORS OF PADRE SERRA.
IT
HE hunting party of 1769, and another which followed a S CO year later, getting a glimpse of the Bay of San Francisco, were under the impression that the body of water seen by Y ₩ them was that which Cermeño had described. On a map which accompanied the diary of the Portola journey it is OF SAN FRI + SEAL OF called Estero de S. Francisco, and the notes of Constanso treat it as an appurtenance of the Cermeño bay. It was not, however, deemed impracticable to found a mission on the shore of an estuary which might provide facilities for such intercourse as would arise out of the project of reduction if successfully carried out.
The idea of bringing colonists who would effect a settlement was adhered to, and the earlier suggestion of linking Monterey and Sonora was kept in mind, Portola's failure to positively locate the bay not having the effect of completely destroying faith in the existence of the "safe harbor," which had been named after the Viceroy Comde de Monterey. It was not until 1774 that all doubts respecting Monterey and the Bay of San Francisco were cleared away, and steps taken to carry out the cherished desire of Father Serra to honor the patron saint of his order by founding an establishment which was to take the name of St. Francis.
On the 9th of March, 1774, a junta called by the viceroy decided that the port of San Francisco should be occupied by Juan Bautista de Anza, and that communication should be established between Sonora and the new foundation. Captain Anza had originally purposed bringing about a connection between Mon- terey and Sonora, and had started on January 8th from Tubac with that object in view, but in accordance with the plans of the junta he prepared to march to San Francisco.
The expedition consisted of 40 soldiers and their families who were chosen from the poverty stricken districts of Northern Mexico. The appropriation made for the party was a slender one amounting to only 21,927 pesos and two reals. Only 10,000 pesos were to be called for at first, and they were to come out of the pious fund, a source of supply called into existence some time previously to provide
Mistaken for au Estuary
Doubts Cleared Away
Determina- tion to Occupy Port of San Francisco
Expedition to the Bay
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the means for carrying on the work of converting the Indians in the countries occupied by the Spanish.
Anza's journey was interrupted by a call for relief from San Diego which was menaced by an Indian uprising. Riviera, who had induced Anza to assist in quieting the unruly natives, tried to persuade him to abandon his expedition to the north. He was very insistent that the "estuary" of San Francisco was not adapted to the purpose which the junta desired to effect, and doubtless he was convinced that the southern harbor would serve it much more admirably.
But Anza adhered to his instructions tenaciously and ended all discussion of the matter by announcing that he was determined to find a suitable place; if one could not be found at the mouth of the port he would go inland to where it seemed best to him even if he had to go several leagues from the shore. Anza was very confident that his efforts would be crowned with success and promised the doubting San Diegan that he would bring back a phial of the water of the river which had been seen by Fages in 1770, but which he did not follow to its mouth.
Lieutenant de Ayala Enters the Golden Gate
Anza, after a short illness which detained him at San Carlos mission, started on March 23d for the supposed estuary. On the 5th of August, 1775, Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala of the royal navy had in the "San Carlos" passed through the Golden Gate and had cast anchor in the harbor near an island named by him Isla de Los Angeles, and in September the naval officer Bruno Heceta, who was under orders to cooperate with Anza, landed and made his way to Point Lobos, so it happened that when the captain finally arrived and on March 28, 1776, chose as a site for a fort the place where Fort Point is now situated the waters of the bay were not wholly uncharted.
Mission Dolores
On the day following he selected a place on what we know as Mission bay, for a mission. The calendar evidently suggested the name of Dolores which he gave it, and the story that it was inspired by the sight of a weeping Indian woman may be dismissed as one of the fantastic tales which the imaginative are always ready to supply as substitutes for actualities which have no color of romance or the unusual.
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