USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The annals of San Francisco; containing a summary of the history of California, and a complete history of its great city: to which are added, biographical memoirs of some prominent citizens > Part 4
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In 1677, instructions were, after long and mature delibera- tion, sent by the Court at Madrid to Don Francis Payo Enriquez de Rivera, archbishop of Mexico, and viceroy of New Spain, to undertake afresh the survey, conquest and settlement of Califor- nia ; and that Admiral Pinadero, who had previously carried on some private expeditions for the same end, at his own cost, should be employed in the affair ;- that, if he declined, the business should be offered to, and managed by others, also at their expense, under certain specified conditions ;- but that, if no volunteer came forward, the undertaking should be conducted at
41
ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE CALIFORNIA.
the cost of the Crown. The enterprise fell to Admiral Don Isidro Otondo and Antillion, who signed an instrument for that purpose, in December, 1678, which was approved of at Madrid on 29th December, 1679. By this deed, the spiritual government was conferred on the Jesuits and Father Eusebio Francisco Kühn, -a German by birth, called by the Spaniards Kino, and who was a distinguished member of the Society of Jesus. This seems the origin of the connection of the Jesuits and priest class with Cali- fornia. Otondo and his Jesuits put to sea from Chacala, in May, 1683, and sailed up the gulf. During two years the admiral and his missionary priests, who had meanwhile learned the native languages, met with various success among the Indians of the peninsula, many of whom they succeeded in converting to Chris- tianity. However, they occasionally found rebellious tribes ; and on the whole, were unable to make any serious impression on their minds, or to establish any permanent settlement of importance. This was caused indeed more by the natural barrenness of the country, and the difficulty and expense of supporting existence there, than by the vicious habits of the natives, who are described as a simple, inoffensive and feeble race, more prone to consider their white visitors as absolute deities on earth than as invaders of their territorial rights.
The Spanish Court, which appears to have been drawn into a large expenditure by this expedition, and by another, which in- mediately followed, conducted by the same parties, soon got tired of the subject, and judged the conquest and settlement of the country to be impracticable. They declined, therefore, to prose- cute the undertaking farther ; but knowing the political impor- tance of having it somehow accomplished, they recommended the Society of Jesus to finish it, and offered that body large annual subsidies from the royal treasury in aid. The Society, after discussing the " estimates " of Admiral Otondo and Father Kino, and their own " ways and means," respectfully rejected the royal proposal ; and thus a measure which had been agitated for nearly two hundred years, and of which all admitted the political im- portance, while the personal and pecuniary reward of success was believed to be immense, was abruptly brought to a close. So doubtful, expensive and dangerous Jid the undertaking appear,
42
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
that the Crown refused the petition of Captain Francisco Lu- zenilla to attempt it at his own expense. In the year 1694, indeed, a royal license was granted to Captain Francisco Itamarra for making a descent at his own risk and charges ; but he had no better success than his predecessors.
D) CEALTER. Phil
Spanish ship of the seventeenth century, and coast of California.
The missionaries, who had accompanied the expeditions of Admiral Otondo, were now drafted to different places elsewhere, although many of them deeply regretted that the rich harvest of heathenism should be so suddenly and unexpectedly abandoned, just when the sickle was sharpened and the laborers were in the field. They had labored with great industry to accom- plish an object toward which they looked forward with anx- ions hopes, which they now saw would never be realized. They thought that their Indian conversions would, sooner or later, have extended over the whole tribes in California, had they been enabled to retain settlements there ; while it was more than probable that their new converts would relapse into their old idolatry on the departure of their spiritual teachers. Without detailing, therefore, the various steps taken by the
43
FATHER SALVA-TIERRA AND HIS COADJUTORS.
Fathers to preserve and advance their spiritual ascendency in California, it may be sufficient to say, that Father Kino, who had these conversions much at heart, met with Father Salva-Tierra, a man, like himself, of great enthusiasm for the Catholic faith, and of untiring courage, and much benevolence and sweetness of disposition. These two men,-particularly the latter, who had chosen St. Francis Xavier as his model,-were the true apostles of California. Somewhat later, Fathers Francisco Maria Piccolo and Juan Ugarte associated themselves with these pioneers of Christianity and civilization. Their biographies would make an indispensable and most interesting chapter in the early history of Lower California, but are out of place in this short summary of the progress of discovery and gradual settlement of the general country. It is sufficient to observe that their pious zeal urged them on against every obstacle-the unwillingness of their own Society of Jesus-the indifference of the Court, when it had to advance the whole funds-the delays of officials-the poverty of their own means, and the fewness of their coadjutors. At last, the eloquence and pertinacity of Father Salva-Tierra kindled some life among the superiors of their order and in a few wealthy laymen. The last assisted the Society by large donations ; and soon subscriptions began to pour in from the general public, to promote the pious work of conquering California to Christianity. A crusade-peaceful, if the devil got frightened and retired from the contest ; but warlike, if need were-was proclaimed ; and all were invited to support the scheme by pecuniary means, while the Spanish Government supplied the necessary soldiers to protect the Fathers, and execute their decrees and those of heaven. It was all, in terms of the motto and ruling spirit of the Society, ad majorem Dei gloriam ; and great indeed would be the reward in heaven of the patrons of the business. After many hardships, and a slow, painful progress, the Jesuit mission- aries succeeded in planting various missions over the whole peninsula. Aided by subscriptions from the pious, and donations from the Crown, they were enabled to give the simple Indians daily food and a scanty raiment, and soon, with unwearied pa- tience, converted them into excellent and faithful servants and devout Christians. They had no more sense than mere children,
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ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
and they were accordingly treated as such. Like children, they were always believing and obedient. Ignorant and helpless, they were slaves both in body and mind, and knew no will but that of their spiritual and temporal lords.
Father Salva-Tierra, in 1705, was chosen provincial of his Order in Mexico, and thus absolutely governed the country both in spiritual and temporal things. It was in 1700 and 1701, by some accounts, and in 1709 by others, that, in the course of sev- eral journeys undertaken for the purpose, Father Kino discovered that California was united with the main land. We have seen that this fact was known as early as 1541, where it appears a peninsula in the map of Castillo ; but somehow the circumstance had been unaccountably forgotten, and the contrary was almost universally believed.
In 1767, the Fathers lost the missions, in consequence of an ordinance issued by Charles III. for the instant and general ex- pulsion of the Jesuits from all the Spanish dominions. This stringent decree was immediately obeyed in the Mexican provinces, where the Jesuits were arrested without delay, and hundreds of them shipped off to Europe. They were succeeded in California by a body of Franciscan Friars from Mexico ; but these in turn were soon superseded by the Dominican Monks, who still retain possession of the country.
The population of Lower California was never great, and towards the end of last century was rapidly diminishing. Hum- boldt, in his " Political Essay on New Spain," estimates that the population, in 1803, did not exceed nine thousand of all races,- somewhat more than the half of which number consisting of the domesticated converts of the Fathers. The missions had then been reduced to sixteen. Mr. Alexander Forbes, in his " History' of Upper and Lower California" (London, 1839), estimates the total population, in 1835, not to exceed fourteen or fifteen thou- sand. Compared with New California, the old country of that name is a dry and barren land-with a serene and beautiful sky, indeed, but with a rocky, or sandy and arid soil, where rains sel- dom fall, and vegetation is consequently of little account. Such a country could never become very populous, either in a savage or a civilized state.
CHAPTER III.
First settlement of New or Upper California by Franciscan Monks .- Supposed earliest discovery of San Francisco Bay .- Origin of the name .- Establishment of a Mission and Presidio there, and ceremonics on the occasion .-- Gradual establishment of Missions and Presidios over the country .- List of these, and population of same at various dates .- The gente de razon and the bestias, or the rational creatures and beasts of the country .- Causes why free white settlers few in number .-- Character of the natives as given by Venegas, and other writers .- Progress and apparent destiny of the Anglo-Saxons in the Pacific.
STILL later than Old California, and upwards of two hundred years after its first discovery, New or Upper California, was first settled. The Spanish Court, afraid, as of old, lest some of the other maritime nations of Europe should settle on the north-west coasts of America, and induced by other political reasons, alluded to in the previous chapters, sent instructions to the Marquis de Croix, then viceroy of New Spain, to found missions, and presidios for their military protection, in the ports of San Diego and Monterey, and at various other parts of the country. This was accordingly done, with the aid of the church, in 1769, and following years ; and immediately, in gratitude or in terms of special agreement, both the spiritual and temporal government of the country were put under the control of certain monks of the Order of St. Francis, two being placed at the head of each mis- sion established. Presidios, in addition to those at San Diego and Monterey, were subsequently formed at Santa Barbara and San Francisco. Father Junipero Serra,-a man of the Salva- Tierra and Kino stamp,-was the first presiding missionary ; and under his immediate auspices the mission of San Diego was founded in 1769, being the earliest.
Without dwelling on the successive establishment of the other missions, let us say a few words upon that of San Francisco. The missionaries, in proceeding northwards, with the intention
46
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
of reaching Monterey, happened to take the eastern side of the range of mountains which borders the coast north of San Diego, which place they had just left, after establishing its mission. They undesignedly passed by Monterey, and journeyed on till they reached the magnificent bay and harbor which are now called San Francisco ; and which are said to be so named from the following circumstance :- Father Junipero, on leaving Lower California, had received instructions from the visitador, or inspector- general of the Spanish Government, respecting the names of the proposed missions, and the saints carefully selected from the calendar, to whose special patronage they should be entrusted ; but among them the name of St. Francis did not happen to occur. " What !" exclaimed the good missionary, surprised and shocked at such an insulting neglect, "is not our own dear Father, St. Francis, to have a mission assigned to him ?" To this remon- strance, the visitador calmly replied, "If Saint Francis wish a mission, let him show you a good port, and then it will bear his name." When accordingly the missionaries, in their progress northwards, discovered the spacious bay mentioned, they cried out, "This then is the port to which the visitador referred, and to which the saint has led us-blessed be his name !" And forthwith they named it San Francisco Bay, in compliment to their patron and guide. They next set up the usual cross, took formal possession, and returned to San Diego, where they arrived on the 24th January, 1770. From any thing that can be cer- tainly learned of the proceedings of previous travellers and voy- agers, this seems the true and first discovery of that great bay- nearly two hundred years after Sir Francis Drake was reputed to have visited it.
The mission itself of San Francisco was only founded in 1776, though it had been projected ever since the discovery of the bay, about the end of October, 1769. On the 27th June of the first mentioned year, an expedition which had started by land from Monterey, arrived on the borders of a small lake,-the same which is now called " Washerwoman's Lagoon,"-near the sea-shore, from which it is separated by a low sand-hill. This is situated towards the northern extremity of the Peninsula of San Francisco, and the surplus waters of which discharge themselves
47
MISSION AND PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO.
into the strait that connects the bay with the ocean, and which was afterwards called the "Golden Gate." The neighborhood of this lake promised to be the best spot for establishing the mission ; though it was subsequently planted about two miles to the south. A store-ship had previously left Monterey with the necessary sup- plies for the wants of the missionary band. Some soldiers, and a few families from Sonora, as intending settlers, had accompanied the expedition. They carried with them a number of black cat- tle and sheep, horses, mules, field and garden seeds, and other necessary means of stocking and making the settlements a profit- able investment. While waiting the arrival of the store-ship from Monterey, which, owing to foul winds, did not take place till the 18th August following, the expedition began to make preparations for their permanent abode by cutting down timber, and selecting what appeared to be the most eligible site for a settlement. On the 17th day of September, solenin possession was taken of the presidio-" the day," according to Father Palou, the historian of the achievements of Father Junipero, "being the festival of the impression of the sores of Saint Francis, the patron of the port. After blessing, adoring, and planting the holy cross, the first mass was chaunted, and the ceremony concluded by a Te Deum ; the act of possession in the name of our sovereign being accompanied with many discharges of artillery and musketry by sea and land."
After these ceremonies, the harbor was surveyed, both from the shore and by means of a launch, from the water ; when it was ascertained that there was only one outlet to the sea, that by which the store-ship had entered. On the 9th day of November -being the day of Saint Francis-a similar ceremony was per- formed on taking possession of the mission ; when, as Father Palou remarks of the establishment and consecration of the mis- sion and church of San Fernando, " the want of an organ and other musical instruments was supplied by the continual discharge of the fire-arms during the ceremony, and the want of incense, of which they had none, by the smoke of the muskets." No doubt the pious priests thought this was a pretty way of pleasing the Omnipotent. Certainly it was one admirably suited to en- chain the minds of the scared natives. The white "sorcerers " were clearly more clever than the brown ones. This mission sub-
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ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
sequently bore the name Dolores, in commemoration of the suf- ferings of the Virgin.
-
BAXTER
Mission of San Francisco.
The Fathers showed much good taste in selecting the site of the mission buildings, which was a small fertile plain, embosomed among gentle, green-clad hills, little more than a mile from the shore and about two miles from the centre of the present city of San Francisco. Several tiny rivulets of clear, sweet water, met about the spot, whose united streams were conducted to the bay by one larger creek, known by the name of Mission Creek. Far- ther north the land was one continued succession of bleak sand- hills, among which the present city is situated. An exception, however, must be made of the spot where the presidio was estab- lished, which indeed was very prettily and agreeably situated A small cove lay to the eastward of the presidio, within the narrow entrance to the bay, where good anchorage ground and shelter could be had. This was the original port of the mission, though latterly the cove of Yerba Buena, a few miles distant, and within the bay itself, was more frequently adopted as a harbor.
On the arrival of this expedition at the bay, many of the natives had affectionately approached the missionaries with de-
49
NAMES AND FOUNDATIONS OF THE MISSIONS.
monstrations of peace, and all the signs of extreme pleasure at their appearance ; but before the ceremonies alluded to-the im- posing chanted masses and Te Deums, and still more wonderful sal- vos of artillery and musketry-had been played, the whole of the natives who had inhabited the place, having been surprised by an unfriendly tribe, suddenly disappeared. This untoward circum- stance somewhat delayed the conversions, the first baptism hav- ing taken place only on Saint John's Day, December 27th, of the same year.
The names and foundations of the various missions, up to 1803, according to the authority of Humboldt, taking them in their order from south to north, with their respective Indian pop- ulations at the close of 1802, are as follows :-
Foundations.
Missions.
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 Concepcion,
457
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 José,
327
295
622
1776
San Francisco,.
433
381
814
Total,
7945
7617
15562
NOTE .- Forbes gives this table as taken from Humboldt ; but there is a slight discrepancy in the two sets of figures. It is possible that the English translation is incorrect. Forbes' table distinguishes the males and females which Humboldt's does not. Forbes' table is therefore adopted with some verbal corrections from Humboldt direct. This translation, or the original work itself, has various discrepancies in its figures. For instance, it talks of the population being 15,562, at one place, while in its table, for the same year. the figures summed up, make 15,630.
These populations include only the converted Indians, who were attached to the missions. There are no statistics which can
4
50
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
be relied upon as to the numbers of wild Indians,-or gentiles, as they were called by the Spaniards. Indeed as these gentiles were naturally of an emigratory habit, roaming from place to place in search of game, or in pursuit of hostile tribes, they could scarcely be classed as among the permanent inhabitants of any particular district of country. It was estimated by Humboldt that, in 1802, the number of whites, mestizoes and mulattoes, and who lived either in the presidios or in the service of the monks, was only about thirteen hundred. These were the gente de razon, or rational creatures of the country, in contradistinction to the natives, who were considered only as bestias, or beasts.
In 1802, the total Indian population connected with the missions, when they were eighteen in number, as shown by the above table, amounted to 15,562. In 1801, Humboldt says, that the Indian population was 13,668, and in 1790, when the mis- sions were eleven in number, it was 7748. La Pérouse, in 1786, when there were only ten missions, estimates the converted or domesticated Indians at 5143. These figures show a very rapid increase of population, or rather of conversions, in so few years. The real increase of population, however, would have been con- siderable among the gente de razon had not the traditionary cus- toms or laws, which regulated the Spanish presidios for ages, stood in the way of the settling of the white population. The governing priests were jealous of their white subjects (the people of reason), and wished only a tame Indian population, who were supposed unable to reason. Therefore the soldiers of the presidios were not allowed to establish themselves as colonists, nor was any building permitted to be erected in the neighborhood of these fortresses. Indeed no marriages were tolerated among the soldiers, without the consent of the Spanish Crown, and such consent the Fathers hindered as much as lay in their power. Notwithstanding these impolitic restrictions, the fertility and pleasantness of the land were so great as gradually to draw a small number of white settlers from other provinces of New Spain ; and although grants of land could only flow from the Fathers themselves, yet, either through favor or direct interest, such grants were occasionally obtained, though generally the land thus given lay at a considerable distance from the missions and presidios.
51
POPULATION OF THE MISSIONS.
The Indian population attached to the missions were mean- while becoming an industrious, contented and numerous class, though indeed, in intelligence and manly spirit, they were little better than bestias-beasts, after all. Generally speaking, the Indians along the whole north-west coast of America were a very inferior order of beings to the great tribes who inhabited the Atlantic border ; and, in particular, the different races who dwelt in California were but poor wandering clans who subsisted on what they could procure by hunting and fishing, and on the fruits and grains which grew spontaneously ; but they knew nothing of the arts of agriculture, or even of a pastoral life. They might properly enough be compared to the aborigines of Australia or to the Hottentots, or, perhaps, even the Bosjesmans of Southern Africa, who have been considered the most barbarous and brute-like people on the earth. On this subject, Humboldt remarks that " the Indians of the Bay of San Francisco were equally wretched at that time (the establishment of the missions), with the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land." Venegas has said of the aborigines of the peninsula, who closely resembled their brethren in Upper California, that " it is not easy for Europeans who were never out of their own country to conceive an adequate idea of these people. For even in the least frequented corners of the globe there is not a nation so stupid, of such contracted ideas, and weak both in body and mind, as the unhappy Califor- nians. Their characteristics are stupidity and insensibility, want of knowledge and reflection, inconstancy, impetuosity and blind- ness of appetite, an excessive sloth, and abhorrence of all fatigues of every kind, however trifling or brutal ; in fine, a most wretched want of every thing which constitutes the real man and renders him rational, inventive, tractable, and useful to himself and society."
The worthy Father Michael certainly paints, in dull enough colors, his protégés and converts. It may be farther remarked, that the Indians appear to have had little or no notion of religion, although they seem to have had a kind of sorcerers among them, who amused or terrified themselves and their patients with sundry superstitious observances. Some writers, such as La Pérouse, say, that they had no knowledge of a God or a future state ;
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ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
others simply call them idolaters. The natives around San Fran- cisco Bay appear to have burned the corpses of their people, while other tribes, more to the south, always buried theirs. Occasion- ally, they appear to have eaten pieces of the bodies of their more distinguished adversaries killed in battle, although this was pro-
1
2
3
NOWELL DEL
I. Wahla, chief of the Yuba tribe,-civilized and employed by Mr. S. Brannan. 2. A partly civilized Indian. 3. A wild Indian .- From daguerreotypes by Mr. W. Shew.
bably only to insure, as they imagined, that a portion of the brave spirit and good qualities of the slain should enter into and be incorporated with their own systems along with the literal flesh of their antagonists.
These notices and the extracts previously given from the voy- ages of Drake and Cavendish, abundantly establish the fact of the wretched state of humanity in California. And so it might have been till doomsday, had not a new people appeared on the scene. The Spanish population, and the Fathers, could not, or would not, as truly they did not, as we may afterwards see, do any thing to promote the happiness of the human race in the
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