USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The beginnings of San Francisco : from the expedition of Anza, 1774, to the city charter of April 15, 1850 : with biographical and other notes, Vol. I > Part 10
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175
FIGUEROA'S POLICY WISE AND HUMANE
able protection the mission was founded."* Thus at the very foundation of these California establish- ments did Spain announce the end and complete fulfilment of all missions.
The change by which the monastic monopoly was to be broken up involved no wrong to the church, the Franciscan order, or to the Indians. Figueroa's regulations by which the policy and the law were to be carried out were wise and humane, but it cannot be denied that sixty-five years of tutelage had left the Indian no more fitted to assume the responsibili- ties of citizenship than it found him. Colonization was obliged to wait upon secularization, and there could be no political organization where there was no population. The missions occupied all Cali- fornia, and while all the land was not needed, and ought not to be distributed among the Indians, the government could not undertake to make grants of national lands until the requirements of the Indians were ascertained and provided for. Secularization would accomplish this and the property of the government and that of the Indians would be separated when the missions became pueblos.
The great wealth of the missions could not fail to excite the avarice of those whose official position gave opportunity for plunder. Already the looting had begun and in some instances a decline in the prosperity of the missions had been noticed before the process of secularization was under way. Under
* H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 17, 31st Cong., Ist Session 1850, p. 133-4.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
the influence of Echeandía, governor from 1825 to 1831, assisted by his inspector-general, José María Padrés, a spirit of revolt had been incited among the neophytes and a general feeling of unrest prevailed. In 1833 a scheme for the colonization of California was organized in the city of Mexico which received the aid and support of the Federal government. So far as the planting of a colony in California was con- cerned the scheme was apparently legitimate. But the fact that its chief promoter was José María Padrés, the person mainly responsible for the revolt of the neophytes, caused a feeling of uneasiness among the missions. Associated with Padres was José María Híjar, a man of wealth and position. Híjar was appointed governor of California and director of colonization, and Figueroa was directed to deliver to him the missions. With two hundred and fifty colonists Híjar and Padrés, who had been appointed sub-director, sailed from San Blas in August, 1834, in two ships, and after a rough voyage landed, one at San Diego and the other at Monterey. Meanwhile a change of administration in Mexico had retired the friends of the scheme from office; the appointment of Híjar was revoked and a special courier was sent express to Governor Figueroa forbidding him to deliver the missions to Híjar and his associates. These instructions reached Monterey in advance of Híjar and confronted him when he presented his orders to the governor. He tried to bribe Figueroa to deliver him the missions but in this he failed, and
177
DESTRUCTION OF MISSION PROPERTY
charges of conspiracy being preferred against him and his associates, they were returned to Mexico to answer. The unfortunate colonists, deprived of the support of their leaders, were after a period of distress merged in the settlers of the northern mis- sions. Among them all there was not one of the class California stood most in need of, agriculturists.
Some of the missionary fathers regarded seculari- zation as an outrage upon themselves and their neophytes and, when convinced that it could not be averted, ceased to care for the buildings, vineyards, and gardens, as in former times, and attempted to realize in ready money as large an amount as possible. Information concerning the Híjar-Padrés company was circulated throughout the missions and the priests resolved to defeat the scheme if possible. At many of the establishments orders were given for the immediate slaughter of their cattle, and con- tracts were made with individuals to kill them and divide the proceeds with the missions. Thousands of cattle were slain for their hides only, while their carcases remained to rot on the plains, and in this way a vast amount of tallow and beef was entirely lost. The rascally contractors who were enriching themselves so easily, were not satisfied with their legitimate profit, but secretly appropriated to them- selves two hides for one given to the missions. A wanton spirit of destruction seemed to possess them, co-equal with their desire for plunder, and they contin- ued to ravage and lay waste. In like manner other
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
interests of the establishments were neglected by the missionaries and the missions gradually fell to decay .*
The curates that were to be appointed to the newly created parishes never came, and the friars remained to serve as curates, being relieved of temporal man- agement but cooperating with the mayor-domos in supervising the labors and conduct of the Indians. Many of the friars accepted the situation and did the best they could, striving to reconcile discordant elements and retain their influence over the neo- phytes; others, soured and disappointed, retired sullenly to the habitations assigned them by law and mechanically performed the duties of parish priests when applied to; others were belligerent, quarreled with everybody, and protested against everything on every possible occasion.f
The secularization proceeded. Lands were as- signed to the neophytes who also received a portion of the mission property consisting of cattle, horses, sheep, grain, implements, etc. It was forbidden to buy from them, but this precaution amounted to nothing, and in about a year the Indians had either sold or gambled away what they had not eaten or drunk. After a while some died and the rest dis- persed, abandoning their lands which eventually fell into the hands of rancheros under grants from the government.}
* Robinson: Life in California, 168-9.
t Bancroft: Hist. Cal. iv, 42, 51.
$ Id. iv, 230.
179
DEATH OF FIGUEROA
In the midst of the work the honest and humane Figueroa died, mind and body worn out by the repeated attacks of the missionaries, the representations of the Indians, and the disordered state of the country. He was mourned by the people and proclaimed by the most excellent diputacion "Bienhechor del territorio de la Alta California" (Benefactor of the territory of Alta California). Then followed a period of revolu- tion, the reign of four governors of California, and the proclamation of the diputacion of November 7, 1836, declaring that Alta California was independent of Mexico and a free and governing state, under the governorship of Juan Bautista Alvarado, with Mar- iano Guadalupe Vallejo, raised from the rank of lieutenant to colonel of cavalry, comandante-general, and José Castro, president of the diputacion.
The evils that befell the missions in the process of secularization have been largely attributed to the administration of Alvarado, but a careful study of the evidence will not justify the censure he has received. It must be remembered that the period of his administration, 1836-1842, was one of revolu- tion, strife, and political unrest. The north was divided against the south; the province was filled with warring factions, and among them, engaged first with one party then with another, were bands of armed foreigners, chiefly Americans. In spite of the condition of the country Alvarado made earnest efforts to supervise the work of secularization and
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
check the spoliation of the missions. He appointed William E. P. Hartnell, an Englishman of high stand- ing and intelligence, fifteen years a resident of Cali- fornia, inspector and visitador of the missions. Hartnell visited each mission and made a most conscientious examination of its affairs, and on his report the governor made a number of changes in the administration looking to a betterment of the service.
If Alvarado had had an intelligent and industrious body of neophytes to organize into self-governing pueblos, the hearty cooperation of the missionaries, and a community free from sectional strife, the story might have been different. There is no evidence that he profited personally through the secularization and he passed the later years of his life in modest retirement on the rancho his wife inherited from her father.
The secularization of the missions opened up Cali- fornia to settlement. In 1830 there were in the entire province not more than fifty ranchos in private pos- session. In 1846, above seven hundred land grants had been made by the authorities. Many of these, it is true, had been distributed among the friends of the administration, and Alvarado also loaned mission stock to rancheros to be returned in kind later, though it does not appear what proportion, if any, of this property was returned to the government. The policy of the government towards foreigners was liberal and many of them obtained valuable tracts of land.
18I
BENEFITS OF SECULARIZATION
Altogether the secularization of the missions was of the greatest benefit to California, notwithstanding the evils which accompanied it. Alfred Robinson, true friend of the church as he was, says: "To secure lands for farming purposes, it was, in former years, necessary to get the written consent of the missionaries under whose control they were, ere the government could givelegitimate possession, therefore their acquisition depended entirely upon the good will of the friars. It may be justly supposed that by this restriction the advancement of California was rather retarded. So it was, for the immigrant was placed at the mercy of a prejudiced missionary who might be averse to anything like secular improve- ment; for although these religionists were generally possessed of generous feelings, still, many of them were extremely jealous of an infringement upon the interests of their institutions. * * * At first the change (secularization) was considered disastrous to the prosperity of California, and the wanton de- struction of property which followed seemed to war- rant the conclusion; but the result, however, proved quite the contrary. Individual enterprise which succeeded has placed the country in a more flourish- ing condition, and the wealth instead of being con- fined to the monastic institutions as before, has been distributed among the people."*
The era of the missions was closed, and the ranch- eros with their flocks and herds rivaled the patriarchs.
* Robinson: Life in California, 224-5.
.
CHAPTER IX. THE GOLDEN AGE
I N 1834 the California of the Spaniards had as yet undergone no great change. Figueroa, then ad- ministering the affairs of the country, found himself in the midst of an era of innovations-at the end of the spiritual dominion of the missionary fathers and the beginning of the attempt to introduce a new civilization. "From 1769," says Edmond Randolph,* "when Father Junipero Serra and the body of mission- ary priests who followed him first reached the spot where they founded San Diego, sixty-five years had elapsed of a tranquillity seldom witnessed on this earth." The cattle upon the rich pasture multiplied and the missions grew in wealth and importance. Shrewd traders too were the good padres, and the Boston ships trading on the coast soon learned to re- spect the business ability of the priests. To the In- dians they were, as a rule, kind and gentle, teaching them the Christian religion, accustoming them to a regular life, and inuring them to labor. They were well qualified for their work and many of them were highly cultivated men-soldiers, engineers, artists, lawyers, and physicians before they became Francis- cans. Up to the year 1833 they were all from the College of San Fernando in the City of Mexico, but in that year the seven missions north of San Carlos de Monterey were given in charge of the priests of the college of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas. The Zacatecans were, as a rule, inferior to the Fer- nandinos and less successful in their administration.
* Argument: Hart vs. Burnett et al. Sup. Court of California, 1859.
185
I86
THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
The Franciscan monks generally treated the neo- phyte Indians with paternal kindness and did not scorn to labor with them in the field, the brickyard, the forge, and the mill. "When we view the vast constructions of the mission buildings, including the churches, the refectories, the dormitories, and the granaries, sometimes constructed with huge timbers brought many miles on the shoulders of the Indians, it cannot be denied that the missionary fathers had the wisdom, sagacity, and patience to bring their neophyte pupils far forward on the road from bar- barism to civilization and that these Indians were not destitute of taste and capacity. "* A complete chain of missions had been established from San Diego to San Francisco, and thence across the straits to San Rafael and Sonoma; the scheme being to plant the missions throughout the whole length of the coast, says Father Palou, so that the Indians might fall within the reach, if not of one, then of another of these establishments, and thus all be drawn into the apostolic net.
The Indians received no pay but were fed and clothed: each Indian receiving one blanket a year, and if he wore it out, another; each received also a loin cloth (taparrabo) and a serge blouse. Every woman got serge for a petticoat. They were flogged for failure to do the work assigned to them, for non-attendance at mass, and for other causes, and at times the discipline was so severe that the neo-
* Dwinelle: Colonial Hist. p. 84.
187
THE GREAT RANCHOS
phytes ran away and soldiers had to be sent to cap- ture and bring them back. But on the whole, they were fairly well treated and were attached to the priests. The Spaniards, having a wholesome dread of mounted Indians born of encounters with the Apaches, permitted no Indians to ride except those employed as vaqueros.
Notwithstanding the claims of the missionaries to all the land from one mission to another, there were, in 1830, about fifty ranchos in possession of private individuals. There were a number of ranchos in the south and along the coast, while around the bay of San Francisco the Vallejos, Argüellos, Castros, Peraltas, Estudillos, and other historic families of California occupied ranchos which, according to Davis,* supported some two hundred thousand cattle, fifty thousand horses, and many thousand sheep. These lands had been granted to the soldiers of Portolá, Rivera, and Anza, and their descendants, and California was being slowly populated by the natural increase from the families of the garrisons. The families of the soldiers were so large as to excite the wonder of visitors. General Vallejo had sixteen children; Argüello had thirteen; Carrillo, twelve; José de la Guerra, ten; José Antonio Castro, twenty- two, and so on. Governor Borica, on taking com- mand in 1794, expressed to the engineer Cordero his satisfaction with the society at the capital (Mon- terey), the fine climate, the abundance of wine of
* Davis: Sixty Years in California, 29-32.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
the Rhine, of Madeira, and of Oporto, of the good bread, beef, fish, and other good eatables, and says: "But what astonishes one is the general fecundity both of rationals and irrationals" (pero lo que espanta es la fecundidad general en racionales e irra- cionales) .* Within the presidio reservation of San Francisco is a spring called El Polin to whose marvel- ous virtues were attributed the large families of the garrisons.t Its existence and peculiar qualities were known to the Indians from a remote period and its fame was spread throughout California.
Among the followers of Portolá in the first expedi- tion were Mariano de la Luz Verdugo and his brother José María and both served for many years in the companies of San Diego and Monterey. Mariano brought from Loreto in Lower California cuttings from the grape vine planted there by the Jesuit fathers. These he planted at the San Diego mission and in a few years the Franciscan fathers were able to make from the fruit of these vines the wine used in the mass. Cuttings were sent to other missions and all the mission vineyards were planted from these
* Borica á Cordero: Prov. State Papers, M. S. XXI, 208-9, Academy of Pacific Coast History.
t "It gave very good water, and experience afterwards demonstrated that it was excellent and of miraculous qualities. In proof of my assertion I appeal to the families of Miramontes, Martinez, Sanchez, Soto, Briones, and others; all of whom several times had twins; and public opinion, not without reason, attributed these salutary effects to the virtues of the water of El Polin, which still exists." Vallejo: Discurso Historico, San Francisco Centenary, Oct. 8, 1876, MS. Academy of Pacific Coast History (Bancroft Collection).
189
HUMBLE ORIGIN OF FOUNDERS
vines of San Diego. This is the origin in California of the famous Mission grape .*
Reference has been made in the previous chapter to the convicts sent to California by the home govern- ment. This was a cause of hatred towards Mexico; but neither the convicts nor the few settlers she sent appear to have made much impression on the coun- try; the descendants of the soldiers were the ruling class.
It has sometimes been held and believed that the founders of the great California families were men of rank and birth (sangre azul). This is not the case. With but few exceptions they were men of humble origin and station. The founders of the Alvarado, Argüello, Arellanes, Castro, Carrillo, Estudillo, Ortega, Pico, Peralta, Vallejo, and Yorba families, and many others hardly less known, were private soldiers, and only four of the eleven named reached the commission grade. But these families were among the most prominent in California and fur- nished six governors to the province.
The Californians were a fine handsome race. The men were tall, robust, and well made; the women were beautiful. "Particularly is the hijo del paist
* Taylor: Fragments and Scraps, MS. p. 87, Statement of Don Anastacio Carrillo (Bancroft Collection).
Hayes, in Emigrant Notes, MS. p. 150, says: "The grape cultivated at the missions of California is the same as that of the Island of Madeira-according to Maj. George H. Ringold, an accomplished officer of the U. S. Army who is stationed here" (San Diego). (Bancroft Collection.)
t Native of the country.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
well-formed, graceful in his movements, and athletic. Spending his life in manly pursuits, roaming his native hills, breathing the pure air of the Pacific, the horse his companion, the lasso his weapon, he carries about him and into all life's commonplaces the chivalrous bearing of the cavaliers of old Spain. His courage no one will question who has seen him face a herd of wild cattle, or lasso a grizzly, or mount an unbroken horse, or fix his unflinching gaze upon the muzzle of a pistol pointed at his breast. He is by nature kind and frank. The treatment he re- ceived at the hand of hard featured, ill-mannered, grasping, and unprincipled strangers taught him to be suspicious; but his confidence once gained, he is yours, wholly and forever."* Costansó, an officer of the regular army, said of the presidial soldiers of California, "It is not too much to say that they are the best horsemen in the world and among the best soldiers who eat the bread of the king."t The defeat of the veterans of the "Army of the West," under General Kearny, by the caballeros of Andrés Pico on the field of San Pascual, and that of Mervine by Carrillo, at San Pedro, proves that the descend- ants of the soldiers of Portolá and Anza were not lacking in either skill or courage. Davis says: "The Vallejos; the Bernals; the Berreyesas, of whom Don José Santos was particularly noble looking and intelligent; the Estradas, half-brothers of Alvarado,
* Bancroft: California Pastoral, p. 276.
¡ Diario Historico. MS. original in Sutro library.
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A HANDSOME RACE
were all fine looking; also the Santa Cruz Castros, three or four brothers; the De la Guerras; Don Antonio María Lugo; Don Teodoro Arrellanes; Don Tomás Yorba and his brothers; splendid looking, proud and dignified in address and manners, the cream of the country. The Sepúlvedas of Los Angeles were also fine specimens. The Argüellos, sons of the prefect (Santiago) were finely formed men; Doña Modesta Castro, wife of General Castro, was beautiful and queenly in her appearance and bearing. The wife of David Spence, sister of Prefect Estrada, was of medium size, with fine figure and beautiful, transparent complexion. The sisters of General Vallejo: Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Leese, were strikingly beautiful."*
Bartlett, writing from Monterey in 1852, says: "Many officers of the United States army have married in California and from what I have heard here and at other places, others intend to follow their example. The young señoritas certainly possess many attractions; and although shut up in this secluded part of the world, without the advantages of good education or of intercourse with refined society, they need not fear a comparison with our own ladies. In deportment they are exceedingly gentle and ladylike with all the natural grace and dignity which belong to the Castillian nation. Their complexion is generally as fair as the Anglo-Saxon,
* Davis: Sixty Years in California, 176, 201.
t Bartlett: Narrative, p. 73, 74.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
particularly along the seacoast, with large black eyes and hair, ' * * and they are as slender and delicate in form as those of our Atlantic states. I was struck, too, with the elegance and purity of their language, which presented a marked contrast with the corrupt dialect spoken in Mexico." Even Sir George Simpson, who could see little to commend either in California or in the Californians was finally overcome and surrendered a captive to grace and beauty: "Of the women, with their witchery of manner," he writes, "it is not easy, or rather it is not possible for a stranger to speak with impar- tiality of those who, in every look, tone, and gesture, have apparently no other end in view than the pleasure of pleasing us. With regard, however, to their physical charms, as distinguished from the adventitious accomplishments of education, it is difficult, even for a willing pen, to exaggerate. Independently of feeling or motion, their sparkling eyes and glossy hair are in themselves sufficient to negative the idea of tameness or insipidity; while their sylph-like forms evolve fresh graces at every step, and their eloquent features eclipse their own inherent comeliness by the higher beauty of expres- sion. Though doubtless fully conscious of their attractions, yet the women of California, to their credit be it spoken, do not 'before their mirrors count the time,' being, on the contrary by far the most industrious half of the population. In Cali- fornia, such a thing as a white servant is absolutely
193
DOÑA ANGUSTIAS DE LA GUERRA
unknown, inasmuch as neither man nor woman will barter freedom in a country where provisions are actually a drug and clothes almost a superfluity."* The men he describes as tall and handsome, most showily and elaborately dressed and mounted.
The daughters of José Bandini were famous for their beauty. Bandini was the son of a trader who came from Lima in 1819 and settled in San Diego. He had six lovely daughters, four of whom married Americans. The heroine of Bret Harte's beautiful poem, "Concepcion Argüello," was the daughter of José Darío Argüello, comandante of San Francisco. How Doña Concepcion's black eyes won the heart of the chamberlain of the tsar has often been told; it is the most famous romance of California.27
The daughters of José de la Guerra were very beautiful. Teresa married W. E. P. Hartnell, an English merchant at Monterey; Angustias married Jimeno, secretary of state, and after his death, Dr. J. L. Ord, United States army; and Ana María married Alfred Robinson. Dana, who attended Robinson's marriage in Santa Barbara in 1836, gives a most delightful picture of the handsome and sprightly Doña Angustias, and in his "Twenty-four years after" says : ""'Doña Angustias' he (Captain Wilson) said, 'I had made famous by my praises of her beauty and dancing and I should have from her a royal reception.' She had been a widow and had remarried since and had a daughter as handsome as
* Simpson: Narrative, p. 280-1.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
herself. In due time I paid my respects to Doña Angustias, and notwithstanding what Wilson had told me I could scarcely believe that after twenty- four years there would still be so much of the enchant- ing woman about her. She thanked me for the kind, and as she called them, greatly exaggerated compli- ments I have paid her; and her daughter told me that all travelers who came to Santa Barbara called to see her mother, and that she, herself, never expected to live long enough to be a belle."* Bayard Taylor, writing from Monterey in 1849, says of this same lady: "The most favorite resort of the Americans is that (house) of Doña Angustias Ximeno, the sister of Don Pablo de la Guerra. f This lady whose active charity in aiding the sick and distressed has won her the enduring gratitude of many and the esteem of all, has made her house the home of every American officer who visits Monterey. With a rare liberality she has given up a great part of it to their use, when it is impossible for them to procure quarters, and they have always been welcome guests at her table. She is a woman whose nobility of character, native vigor, and activity of intellect, and above all, whose instinc- tive refinement and winning grace of manner would have given her a complete supremacy in society, had her lot been cast in Europe, or in the United States. During the session of the convention,¿ her house was
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