USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > The Herald's history of Los Angeles City > Part 8
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In 1812 work was begun on a substantial and permanent church structure for the city of Los Angeles, which was located somewhere east of the Plaza. The formal laying of the corner stone took place in 1814, but when the river left its channel in 1815 the governor ad- vised that the location be changed to higher ground, and the site of the present Plaza church was chosen, it being city ground, ad- joining the original Plaza, and in close prox- imity to the other public structures. Here in 1818 the church building was begun, 500 cat- tle being subscribed by the citizens to defray the expense. At $5 apiece, this would amount
CHURCH OF OUR LADY, NEAR PLAZA
Photo by Pierce
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The Pueblo Begins to Grow.
to $2500 in cash, which, considering the low price of labor, ought to have carried the work well toward completion. We note in the rec- ords, however, that the governor took over the cattle to be used as supplies by the army, and agreed in return to include the construc- tion of the church in his next year's budget of expense. As the territorial government was entirely bankrupt, and was dependent on the missions for support that was half charity and half blackmail, this plan of Sola's presents in itself just ground for suspicion ; and the latter is increased by the fact that operations on the church came to a sudden standstill the next year, nor were they renewed until the padres, in response to an appeal from the president of the missions, subscribed seven barrels of bran- dy, worth $575, to the building fund. In 1821 the work halted again, and a second appeal was made to the padres, and more brandy was subscribed. A number of cash subscrip- tions were made by the well-to-do colonists in all parts of the state, after Governor Sola had set the example. The conversion of the brandy into cash, drink by drink, was accom- plished with the enthusiastic co-operation of the citizens of the pueblos. December 8, 1822, the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremony. The present Plaza church struc- ture was built in 1861 out of the original struc- ture.
The change from a royal province to a ter- ritory in the Mexican republic meant very lit-
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History of Los Angeles.
tle to the people of Los Angeles. There were a few slight changes in their political institu- tions-theoretical, rather than actual. Cali- fornia was now entitled to a representative in the Mexican national assemblage, to be elected by a local legislative body. Sola, who was anx- ious to be rid of the governorship, was chosen to represent the state in Mexico, and Luis Ar- guello was elected to fill the gubernatorial of- fice. Los Angeles was represented in this -- which we may call the first legislature of Cal- ifornia-by Jose Palomares. In the second ses- sion, Jose Antonio Carillo, also of Los Ange- les, was made a member. Palomares was probably elected by the people, and Carillo appointed by the body itself.
The Los Angeles ayuntamiento was en- larged by the addition of a syndico-treasurer and counselor-and a secretary. These, in ad- dition to the alcalde and the two regidores, made a deliberative-administrative body of five. It was to be known hereafter as "Muy Ilustre" (very illustrious), and was to be sur- rounded with dignity and ceremonial. A gen- tle hint was presently thrown out to the comi- sionado that under the new order of things he lagged superfluous on the municipal stage, but it seems to have failed to take with Guillermo Cota, who was in charge of the local military. A clash of authority soon took place, the ques- tion of who was who went up to the governor, and he proceeded to rap the "very illustrious" over the knuckles. Order must be maintained
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The Pueblo Begins to Grow.
in the pueblo, and the governor's representa- tive should not be interfered with. A compro- mise was at last effected, by choosing Cota as the alcalde. Thus the civil authority finally absorbed the military.
Whether it was due to the spirit of revolu- tion in the air, or to the increasing importance of local offices, about this time Los An- geles began to have trouble in municipal poli- tics, with frequent election disturbances. In 1826 the election was ruled illegal, and ordered to be held over again; and in 1830 the returns were thrown out, on the ground that all the candidates were "vagabonds, drunkards and
worse." Slow and stupid as the government of Spain had been, it was at least stable and dignified. That of Mexico, on the contrary, changed so constantly that it made itself ri- diculous. In the era of revolution and local disturbance that was now beginning, Califor- nia merely followed the example of the home government.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EPOCH OF REVOLUTIONS.
C ALIFORNIA was a Mexican territory about a quarter of a century. The new oath of allegiance was adminis- tered on the IIth of April, 1822, and on the 7th of July, 1847, the American flag went up over the old fortress at Mon-
terey. During that period, eight regu- larly appointed governors administered the affairs of the territory (not to men- tion half a dozen irregular and self- appointed ones), and their terms varied from six months to six years. If we except the first of the list, Arguello, who was really in- herited from the Spanish regime, every one of these governors had to contend with local re- bellions during his term, and three were driven out of the country by revolution. One of the eight was a usurper, who seized the government without the shadow of a claim, rebelled from Mexico, set up an independent state of Cali- fornia, and was not only pardoned by the Mex- ican authorities, but, in the end, was regularly appointed to the position and allowed to serve out a considerable term.
To understand the disturbed condition of California during this epoch, it is necessary to bear in mind the demoralization that prevailed in the governing country, through its incessant revolutions and political plotting. Although
RUINED PORTION OF SAN FERNANDO MISSION
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The Epoch of Revolutions.
California took no direct part in Mexican poli- tics, but made haste to swear allegiance to whatever power came out on top, there was a natural undermining of the respect for author- ity, and a disposition to follow the bad example set at headquarters.
Party lines were drawn to some extent in California. The party division that prevailed in Mexico was modeled after that of the United States ; which was logical enough, considering that the Mexican constitution was based on the Amer- ican. The names, however, were not exactly the same. £ The opposing parties in Mexico were the Federalists and Centralists, the former representing the liberal idea, with a considerable element of local self-government, and the latter the conservative, with a strong central government, a large army, and a lean- ing to the Roman Catholic church. In Cali-
fornia the great majority of the people were Federalists. Too far from the capital to par- ticipate in the home government, they were naturally in favor of local institutions, and of the party that would cherish them.
The pueblo of Los Angeles was the storm- center for revolutions during this period. Most of the plots for the overthrow of one governor and the setting up of another had their birthplace in Los Angeles, and the chron- ic conspirators who, at irregular intervals, would work up a new scheme for making trou- ble, were, with a few exceptions, residents of
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History of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles. There were two reasons for this-one was that Los Angeles was the largest town in the territory, with a population whose idleness prompted it to mischief ; and the other was that the southern metropolis was possessed of an idea that it ought to be made the capital of the state, and its failure to achieve the coveted honor kept it discontented and uneasy. In 1835, it succeeded in obtaining an order from the Mexican congress that the capital should be moved from Monterey to Los Angeles, and the latter place was given the formal rank of ciudad, or city, but the decree was not carried out until in 1845.
As we shall have occasion in the story of Los Angeles to refer to many of the governors of this epoch, and as the revolutions form an important part of the local narrative, this chapter will be devoted to brief enumeration of the eight Mexican governors, their terms, and the revolutions thereof.
On the Ist of February, 1825, Arguello was removed from office by the Mexican govern- ment, having administered the affairs of the territory with honesty and good judgment for nearly three years. He was followed by Jose Maria Echeandia, a man of small ability, but apparently possessed of good intentions. Echeandia undertook to move the capital to San Diego by the process of residing in that place himself. At the beginning of his term, he ordered the archives brought down from Monterey, and in spite of the opposition of
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The Epoch of Revolutions.
Arguello, the command was obeyed. He con- tended that San Diego was the central point of the territory of the two Californias; but his real object in making the change was to live in a warmer climate at the southern end of the state. This snub to Monterey was re- sented by the people of that region, and in 1829, when a rebellion was started there by an embezzling office-holder named Herrera, and an ex-convict named Solis, it received some countenance. Governor Echeandia came up from the south with 150 men and met the conspirators near Santa Barbara. The battle was bloodless, as were most of the en- gagements of this period, and the rebels fled. The leaders were captured and exiled to Mexico, and Echeandia served the rest of his term in peace.
In 1831 Echeandia was removed,much to his disgust, to make room for a political adven- turer from Mexico named Manuel Victoria, who, in his brief term of one year, succeeded in getting himself thoroughly hated for his ar- rogance and cruelty. He began by expelling Jose Antonio Carrillo and Don Abel Stearns, two respected citizens of Los Angeles, from the territory. He refused to assemble the legisla- ture, or to submit any of his acts to the leading men for their opinion and advice. In Novem- ber, 1831, a manifesto was issued, containing the names of Pio Pico, Juan Bandini and Jose Antonio Carrillo, calling upon the people to rise and dispose of Victoria. About 200 men
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History of Los Angeles.
from San Diego and Los Angeles marched northward to meet the governor, who was com- ing down from Santa Barbara with all the men he could gather at that place-only thirty. The little armies met near San Fernando. A per- sonal altercation took place between Captain Romualdo Pacheco of the Santa Barbara party and Jose Maria Avila, a prominent man of Los Angeles, and in the fight both were killed and Victoria wounded in the face. The governor was taken to San Gabriel, where he made a will, leaving the conduct of affairs to Echean- dia, who was still living at San Diego. In the meantime, the legislative body of the territory had elected Pio Pico to be temporary governor until the Mexican authorities should be heard from. To get Victoria out of the state, for he was now quite ready to go, a fund was raised, to which Los Angeles contributed $125, on the understanding that it should be repaid by San Diego. It never was repaid, however, although frequent efforts were made by the Los Angeles ayuntamiento to collect the money.
Pio Pico does not count as a regular gov- ernor at this time; it was understood that he was to hold merely during the interregnum. Nevertheless, the brief period of his adminis- tration was long enough for two other gov- ernors to claim the seat-Echeandia on the south and Zamorano on the north, at Monterey. There was no actual fighting, although the armies at one time came within sight of each other.
P
TOWER OF SANTA BARBARA MISSION
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The Epoch of Revolutions.
In the spring of 1832, Jose Figueroa was ap- pointed to succeed the luckless Victoria. He was the best of all the governors sent up from Mexico, and he managed to hold the office dur- ing three years with only one rebellion, and that a trifling affair. A few gambling vaga- bonds of the Los Angeles district assembled at the ranch house of Los Nietos, in the spring of 1835, and drew up the customary pronuncia- mento, but they failed to secure a decent fol- lowing, were seized, thrown into jail, and final- ly sent out of the country.
In the fall of that year Figueroa died, and there followed him, after a short interregnum, the worst governor that California ever had, Mariano Chico, a Mexican politician who had to be "taken care of" by the administration then in power. He was a coarse, ignorant fel- low, of violent temper, filled with hatred of foreigners, and contemptuous of local institu- tions and customs. He began his administra- tion with a row with the people of Los An- geles. A citizen by the name of Feliz had been deserted by his wife, and when he undertook to bring her back, he was set upon and killed by the woman and the man with whom she had eloped. The murderers were captured and thrown into jail in Los Angeles, but a mob broke open the place, took them out, and, after a hasty trial, shot them to death. This is the first instance in California of the lynching of white malefactors. Indians were sometimes treated after this fashion for running off stock.
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History of Los Angeles.
Now it happened that the man who had been killed was a fellow countryman of Chico, and the governor flew into a terrible rage against the people of Los Angeles. He ordered the arrest of the principal officers of the city, and threatened them with death. His courage seems to have failed him at the critical moment of the trial, however, and they were all par- doned with a reprimand.
When Chico had been in office about six months, and had succeeded in alienating all classes of society, he had an undignified alter- cation with the principal alcade of Monterey, a very popular man, whom he insulted and then degraded from office. The next day the capital began to fill up with armed and mounted men. Day by day they increased in number, coming from greater and greater distances, until the place was invested with a band that seemed ready to take control at a moment's notice. Chico understood what it meant; he came from a country of revolutions, and when the legisla- ture suggested that as more soldiers were need- ed for him to maintain order, perhaps he had better go back to Mexico and get some, he lost no time in taking the hint.
Gutierrez, being next in command, under- took to manage affairs until a new governor should be appointed ; but the taint of the policy of Chico hung over his actions, and before two months had passed a new revolution was under way. It was led by a young man named Juan Bautista Alvarado, who, at this time, was an
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The Epoch of Revolutions.
accountant in the custom house, and was the idol of the native element. Gutierrez had in- sulted and threatened the youth, using the manner of language that he had learned from Chico-and with the same result as befell the latter. Alvarado went out among the peo- ple and soon gathered a small army, with which he descended upon Monterey and drove Gutierrez into the presidio. The governor had removed all the powder from the armory, so he thought himself free from artillery attack, but Alvarado's men opened a number of musket cartridges, and, using the powder thus ob- tained, they managed to put a ball through the roof over the governor's head. He promptly capitulated, and went the way of Chico.
Alvarado was rather a unique character. He was born in Monterey, and at the time of his revolutionary experience was 27 years of age. His success in waging war against the incumbent seems to have been accepted by all the Californians as a legitimate title to the gov- ernorship, and in December, 1836, he formally entered upon the duties of the office. As he could not claim to represent Mexico, whose ap- pointee he had driven from the territory, he an- nounced himself governor of the "Free and sovereign state of California." But this effort at independence proved to be only a flash in the pan. The people looked askance at it, and there were immediate mutterings of rebellion in the direction of Los Angeles. The ayunta- miento of that city presently came out with a
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History of Los Angeles.
statement to the effect that while they were ready to accept Alvarado as governor,his term should last only until Mexico could appoint, and, moreover, that a recent declaration of the governor in favor of independence and of toler- ation for other religions than that of the Ro- man Catholic church was entirely at variance with their views.
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Alvarado hastily gathered a force of men and marched south to San Fernando. A con- ference was held with the Los Angeles forces, and Alvarado accepted the conditions laid down by the rebels. What he wanted at the time was to get himself firmly seated in the chair of the governorship, and then the future might take care of itself. In October of the same year, 1837, news came that Carlos An- tonio Carrillo had been appointed governor. Alvarado refused to turn over the capital to him, and when Carrillo raised an army at Los Angeles and San Diego, and started for the north, the governor sent his chief of staff south with a considerable force to intercept them. The battle-so-called-took place at San Buenaventura; one man was killed and the southern army was routed. The engagements of these revolutionary times consisted chiefly in the discharge of artillery at safe range. Car- rillo abandoned his claims,and the Mexican au- thorities seem to have decided that the easiest way to get rid of Alvarado was to accept him as governor. Possibly they figured that the Californians would soon tire of him, and throw
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The Epoch of Revolutions.
lıim out; but if this was their idea, they were wrong, for he served his term of five years with credit to himself and advantage to the territory.
Alvarado resigned of his own accord in Jan- uary, 1842, and was succeeded by Emanuel Micheltorena, a Mexican general, who was chiefly noted for the infamous gang of cut- throats and adventurers that he brought up with him in the guise of soldiers. They were popularly known as "Micheltorena's Lambs." These creatures became at length intolerable, and a revolution started in the north, with Al- varado at its head, to drive them out of the country. This culminated in another of the bloodless battles, the location being at Ca- huenga-for Los Angeles had taken an active part in the final uprising. Micheltorena left the country, by request, in February, 1845, having served as governor three years.
The last of the governors under Mexican rule was Pio Pico of Los Angeles, who held the office until the American occupation. He was involved in constant difficulties with Cas- tro, the commander of the military forces, but no revolution took place during his brief ad- ministration, save that of the change of control from Mexico to the United States.
CHAPTER XV.
THE RUIN OF THE MISSIONS.
HE MOST important event of the per- iod of the Mexican governors was the destruction of the mission system. This took place in the year 1834, dur- ing the administration of Figueroa. The dissipation of the mission properties fol- lowed hard upon the overthrow of the system, and by the time of the American occupation the ruin was complete.
In spite of the demands made upon the missions for supplies and money for the army, during the period of the rebellion from Spain, the establishments continued to prosper, and when the Mexican governors cast about them for means to run the territorial government, they could find no better plan than to follow the example of their Spanish predecessors. The Mexican congress was very liberal with its promises and appropriations, but the treas- ury was always empty. Government by revo- lution is an expensive luxury. At one time every cent that could be raised was required to put down a rebellion, and a little later, the other side being then in power, the money was all needed to pay off the patriots who had just saved the country. So California was left to look out for itself. There was some revenue from the customs duties, but it fell far short of
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The Ruin of the Missions.
the sum required to maintain the army and the civil list. The missions made up the defi- cit, which varied in amount from $30,000 to $50,000 a year.
One would suppose that the authorities, both in California and Mexico, would be dis- posed to look with extreme leniency upon an institution possessed of such hard-cash vir- tues ; that they would, in other words, hesitate to kill the fowl that laid the golden egg. That this view was held by the first governors un- der the Mexican rule is shown in their treat- ment of the padres who refused to take the oath of allegiance. When word was sent to Mexico that Sarria, the president of the mis- sion system, had declined the oath, orders came promptly back to send him down to be tried for treason. In one way and another this order was evaded, together with the in- structions that came later from the home gov- ernment calling for the expatriation of all priests who were not loyal to the Mexican re- public. The priests denied that they were dis- loyal, in the sense of wishing evil to the exist- ing government, but they objected to the oath, on the ground that they were made to promise to bear arms against the enemies of Mexico, which was contrary to their clerical vows. And more than one of them declared that he was tired of taking so many oaths of allegiance to the changing forms of government in Mexico, and that the whole performance seemed friv- olous and undignified. In the end several of
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History of Los Angeles.
the padres were sent out of the country, but only those whose opposition to the new order of things was open and vehement.
"We cannot send these priests away," said Echeandia, the second of the Mexican govern- ors, "because we shall then have nobody to manage the missions, which are the basis of our supplies."
But while the padres had this advantage over the local government, that they were needed as producers, the governors had on their part a most effective weapon in the threat of secularization or the seizure of the temporal possessions of the missions. In 1813, when the territory was still under Spanish control, the cortes, or national assembly of the mother country, passed an act declaring that the mis- sions of California should be converted into parish institutions: that is, mere churches for spiritual instruction, with no industrial fea- tures. This decree was never carried out, and its legality, after the transfer to Mexico, might be .questioned, but it was a suggestion to the padres of what would come to pass if they failed to support the local government.
Arguello, the first of the Mexican govern- ors, complained, in 1825, in a report to the Mexican authorities, that the Indians were practically slaves, and that no progress was being made in bringing them nearer to civili- zation. This latter statement was probably true. The Indians had been living under the mission system now for about half a century.
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MISSION OF SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO
Photo by Vroman
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The Ruin of the Missions.
While they were an improvement over the or- iginal savages from an industrial point of view, as they toiled faithfully under the guidance of the padres, and produced large crops, they were far from being civilized, and had made no progress in the last quarter of a century.
Possibly as a result of Arguello's com -. ments instructions were issued to his success- or, Echeandia, to make a careful study of the condition of the Indians, and to report to the home government on the question of seculari- zation.
Echeandia saw fit to exceed his authority, and, not content with a mere report, he drew up and made public in California a plan for the emancipation-as he regarded it-of the Indians. In 1830 he had this plan adopted by the California legislature (diputacion), but as neither that body nor the governor had any authority to carry it out, it was never put into practice. Some of its more important provis- ions were incorporated in the plan adopted in 1834 by Figueroa, under instructions from the Mexican congress.
The publication of Echeandia's scheme for taking the Indians away from the missions and establishing them in pueblos showed the padres very clearly what they were to expect. Several who were then in trouble over the question of the oath of allegiance hastily left the country, but the majority determined to stay and fight it out. It is charged that even at this early date they began to regulate the
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History of Los Angeles .!
affairs of the missions with a view to the prop- erty ultimately passing into alien hands-that they sold off stock where they had an oppor- tunity, or converted it into hides and tallow. It is certain that they followed this policy to a considerable extent in the last year or two, before the decree of secularization finally went into effect. They would scarcely have been human had they failed to do so. It is to be re- corded to their credit, however, that they made no effort to get the money thus obtained out of the country, but used it either for the purchase of supplies for the Indians, or laid it by against the time they saw was soon com- ing, when the mission properties would fail to support them and their wards.
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