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 16
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María Salvatierra then operating in the peninsula of Baja California. Kino went to the Gila via San Javier del Bac, proceeded down the river some distance and then struck off to the southwest towards the gulf. From the Cerro Santa Clara (Gila range) he saw how the gulf ended at the disemboguement of the Rio Colorado. From here he returned via the Camino del Diablo, thence to Caborca. On the 7th of February 1699, Kino started from the mission of Dolores on the western fork of the Sonora river and traveled in a westerly direction to San Marcelo de Sonoita; thence by way of the Camino del Diablo to the Gila, and returned via the Gila and Santa Cruz rivers to his mission-virtually Anza's route of 1774 across the Papaguería. In 1700 he started in September for the Gila via the Santa Cruz valley, journeyed down the Gila to its confluence with the Colorado, and returned over the Camino del Diablo to Sonoita, to San Luis de Bacapa, San Eduardo, Caborca, Tabutama, and San Ignacio: Anza's route of 1775-6. Kino's map, dated 1702, has often been republished, and Anza probably had a copy of it. He refers to Kino, whom he called Quino, and also to the diary of Lieutenant Mange, corrects their latitude and says he cannot find the Sierra Azul and the Rio Amarillo mentioned by Mange. Kino made his last journey over the Camino del Diablo to Las Tinajas Altas in November 1706, and climbing to the heights of the Cerro de Santa Clara gazed for the last time upon the waters of the gulf and the continent of the Californias, and then returned to his cell in the mission of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. The work of the great missionary was done, though he continued to labor with tongue and pen until his death in 1710 or 1711, at seventy years of age, twenty-four of which were in the Pimería.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
NOTE 9 LAS TINAJAS ALTAS
The second, third, and fourth tanks may be reached by climbing the steep water-worn rocks on the left of the gorge, but the upper ones can only be reached by ascending to a height of several hundred feet the steep ravine on the right of the gorge and being lowered by ropes from above. The United States and Mexican Boundary Survey commission of 1891-96 replenished the water in the lower tank by siphoning from those above by means of a length of garden hose. Water can usually be found at all times in some of these tanks as there is no loss from seepage, and as the steep rock surrounds and overhangs the tanks and greatly retards evaporation, to what extent is shown by the fact that on reconnaissance by the commission from Yuma to Quitobaquita in the winter of 1893, these tanks were found nearly half full, although the rainfall at Yuma for the preceding twelve months had aggregated less than three-fourths of an inch, a remarkable deficiency even for that dry section.
Yet even here the Camino del Diablo claimed its victims. Captain Gaillard of the commission states that during the gold immigration of 1849 some of the pilgrims reached the tanks to find the water all gone, and too weak to go further, lay down and died; others reached the place in such a state of exhaustion that, unless water was found in the lower tank they were too feeble to climb to the next and perished miserably, their horrors aggravated by the thought that the water, for want of which they were dying, was but a few yards off had they but the strength to reach it. Fifty graves near the foot of the tanks,
LAS TINAJAS ALTAS- ONE OF THE UPPER TANKS Note the overhanging walls. Photograph by Captain D. D. GAILLARD.
LAS TINAJAS ALTAS-THE LOWER TANK Photograph by Captain D. D. GAILLARD of the Boundary Commission.
Dre BACTERINICE DE SAN FRANCISCO
NOTE 9 LAE TINAJAS ALTAS
The auund. third, and fourth tanks may be reached barolotan. the trocy water-worn rocks on the left of the gringe ! if the upper ones can only be reached by ascending to a bright of several hundred feet the steep ravine on the right of the gorge and being lowered by ropes from bova The United States and Mexican Boundary Sorve, conumission of 1891-96 replenished the water in ГЛИАТ ЯЛЯЛИ АНТО НИО ЗАТЈА ЗАЈАИІТ ГАЛ. above by means
1 t ually be found
At all times i
HAJJIAD .a . a nistasO xd dqsigotoda
s no loss from
HVAT AIWOJ JHT-ZATIA ZALAMIT 2And Overhangs visbnuod ods to aHAJJIAD .I . a nistqsO vd dqsigotoHT qt extent D .noizzimmoO by the commission 6 om jin lle winter of (8), thise tanks were found All full, although the Mimar at Yuma for the preceding twelve months had averegaved less than three fourths of an inch, a remarkable deldeney even for that dry section.
Yet even here the Camino del Diablo claimed its victims. Captain Gaillard of the commission states that ilaring the gold immigration of 1849 some of the pilgrims rodchod the tanks to find the water all gone, and too weak W go further, lay down and died; others reached the place In such a state of exhaustion that, unless water was found in the lower tank they were too feeble to climb to the next and perished miserably, their horrors aggravated by the wwuglit that the water, for want of which they were avyay, was but a few yards off had they but the strength o tetch n. Fifty graves near the foot of the tanks,
-
287
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marked by rough stones piled in the form of a cross, testify to the numbers of these victims .*
At the Tinajas Altas Anza tells us a wonderful story of the mountain sheep and their horns. The Boundary commission notes the quantity of these horns near the Tinajas Altas and the Cabaza Prieta and says: "Many years ago the Papagos were accustomed to camp at these tinajas for the purpose of hunting big horns or mountain sheep which then, as now, constituted the principal inhabitants of these desolate sierras. In the vicinity of the tanks are still seen the remains of their old camps, around which are strewn the horns of the mountain sheep, as many as twenty or thirty pairs having been counted at a single camp." The horns however were there for a purpose, and Anza explains it to us, but in terms so extraordinary as to be unintelligible to me until, after much investigation, I succeeded, with the aid of Mr. F. W. Hodge of the Bureau of American Ethnology, in getting light upon the matter. It appears that there was an ancient superstition among the Pimas and Papagos that the horns of the mountain sheep exerted an influence on the air and the rains. They never brought the horns home but piled them in some place in the hills near the aguages where they held in check the evil influences of the elements, and no one was permitted to disturb or remove them.
*Gaillard: Perils and Wonders of a True Desert.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
NOTE IO CAPTAIN FEO
The principal in the move to oppose the passage of the river by the Spaniards was the chief of a tribe, kindred with the Yumas and subject to them, to whom the Spaniards gave the name of Captain Feo on account of his ugly (feo) looks. The men under Captain Feo's command were about as numerous as those under Palma. He is described as a great preacher, with a thick voice, given to long harangues, and was suspected also of being a sorcerer. He set himself to count the Spaniards and seeing there were but few of them told his people that it would not be difficult to kill them and take their horses and property. Anza sent him warning that if he began hostilities against the Spaniards they would bring suffi- cient force against him to destroy him.
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NOTE 12 THE ROYAL PASS OF SAN CARLOS
Desde esta sitio se comienza á atravesar la cordillera que forma la Peninsula de la California. "From this place one must begin to cross the cordillera that forms the peninsula of California," writes Anza December 19th, from the paraje of San Gregorio at the entrance to the Coyote cañon.
I am sorry I cannot agree with the historians who have so well told the story of this remarkable journey and take this expedition through the Coahuila valley and over the San Gorgonio pass; but to do so I would have to turn them in a different direction from that in which they said they traveled and make them march eighty odd miles through the desert sands to reach the San Gorgonio pass when they say they only traveled forty-eight miles up a mountain trail to the pass of San Carlos. No one who reads Anza's diary with a map of the country before him would say he went through the San Gorgonio pass. The Cienega de San Sebastian is on or very close to the 116th meridian and the eastern entrance to San Gorgonio is about 116° 40', and is therefore a little west of north, eighty miles away, with but scanty water supply before reaching Palm spring, sixty-five miles distant. Anza's record of direction and length of march is explicit and Font's practically agrees with it. I give the two.
ANZA
FONT
To Puenticitos
W. by W.N.W. " 4 31/21
4
5
" Vado de S. Caterina
W. N. W.
4 NW. 14 W. 4
" Fuente S. Caterina
N.W. & W.N.W. 11/2
I
Los Danzantes
N.W. by W.N.W. 3
W. N. W. 4
" San Cárlos pass
W.N.W. & N.W. 21/2
W. N. W. 3
-
211
six jornadas 18121
W. 1/4 N.W. 41
" S. Gregorio
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
I would say that Anza was more accurate in his estimate of distances traveled than Font and had, besides, been over this route twice before. He gives the distance traveled from San Sebastian to San Carlos 1812 leagues -say forty-eight miles. By turning into the mountains as he did he soon reached water and grass. I have measured him up and have measured him down on each of his journeys and have done the same with Pedro Font on his journey. Anza writes on May 7th at San Sebastian (on his return trip; present expedition), "At this place we left the cañada in which we have been traveling from San Carlos to here;" showing that between the pass of San Carlos and the Cienega de San Sebastian he traveled through a cañada (valley or cañon). Pedro Font writing from Fuente del Santa Caterina (fourth jornada from San Sebastian) December 23d, says: "This stopping place is in a cañada which continues upward and through which the road goes crossing the Sierra Madre de Califor- nia."
I make this particular explanation because the mistake made by Bancroft has been copied by other writers and the San Gorgonio pass is called the "Historic Gateway to California."
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NOTE 12 SOLDIERS OF THE EXPEDITION
As the soldiers of Anza's expedition were the founders and first settlers of the city of San Francisco, it becomes a matter of historical importance to know who and what they were. They left their imprint on the civilization of California and their names are as familiar as household words to all who know the country. The list is now given for the first time and the particulars concerning the families were taken from the Spanish archives of California, destroyed by the fire of 1906. In giving the members of the families I only enumerate the children accompanying the expedition. Many more were born in California.
I. Ensign José Joaquin Moraga was born in 1741; died in San Francisco and was buried July 15, 1785, in the mission church whose corner stone he laid in 1782. Moraga was an able assistant to Anza and received his commission as lieutenant on the arrival of the expedition at San Gabriel. He accompanied his commander on the survey of the peninsula and river of San Francisco, and on Anza's departure for Mexico, took command of the expedition. He founded the presidio and mission of San Francisco and was the first commander, retaining the position until his death nine years later. He founded the mission of Santa Clara in 1777, and in the same year the pueblo of San José Guadalupe (San José). His record as an officer is an honorable and stainless one. His wife was María del Pilar de Leon y Barcelo. She did not accompany the expedition, being sick in Terrenate at the time, but with her son Gabriel, joined her husband n San Francisco February 20, 1791, the government
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
paying the cost of transportation: three hundred and eighty dollars and twenty-five cents. The only child of Moraga I find any record of was his son Gabriel, born at the presidio of Fronteras, Sonora, in 1765; buried in Santa Barbara, California, June 15, 1823; married, first, Ana María, daughter of Juan Francisco Bernal; second, Joaquina, daughter of Francisco Javier Alvarado, and sister of Pio Pico's wife. Don Gabriel enlisted in the San Francisco company December 1, 1783, and served for twenty-two years as private, corporal, and sergeant, at the presidios of San Francisco and Monterey and in command of various mission escoltas of those dis- tricts. On March 10, 1806, he received his commission as alférez and was assigned to the San Francisco garrison. On August 16, 1811, he was made brevet lieutenant for gallantry in a battle with the Indians on the strait of Carquines, and on October 30, 1817, he was made a full lieutenant and ordered to Santa Barbara. His hoja de servicios of December 1820, shows thirty-seven years service and forty-six expeditions against the Indians. He applied for retirement on account of chronic rheu- matism and other infirmities, and Governor Sola, Captain José Darío Argüello, and other officers, as well as padres Señan and Payeras, testified in terms of highest praise regarding his character and the value of his services, but no attention was paid to his request. In 1806 Moraga explored and named the San Joaquin river and he made a number of expeditions to and beyond the Tulares. Don Gabriel is described as a tall, well built man of dark complexion, brave, gentlemanly, and the foremost soldier of his day in California. His son Joaquin, was grantee of Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados in Contra Costa county, and a portion of Moraga valley on said rancho is still in possession of his descendants. Another son, Vicente, was grantee of Pauba in Riverside county.
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NOTES
2. Sergeant Juan Pablo Grijalva was born in La Valle de San Luis, Sonora, in 1742; died in San Diego, Cali- fornia, June 21, 1806. He enlisted in the presidial company of Terrenate, Sonora, January 1, 1763, and served twenty-four years in the ranks before he received a commission-eleven of them at the presidio of San Francisco. On the 20th of July 1787, he was commis- sioned alférez and attached to the San Diego company. In 1796 he applied for retirement on account of infirmities contracted during his long services. Governor Borica endorsed his application, recommending that he be retired with the rank of lieutenant as a reward for his services to the king. He was retired as alférez with half pay-two hundred dollars a year. The following Novem- ber he was made lieutenant, his pension remaining the same. Grijalva brought with him in the expedition his wife, María Dolores Valencia, and three children: María Josefa, age nine; María del Carmen, age four; and Claudio, a baby. Josefa married Sergeant Antonio Yorba, who came with Portolá in 1769 as sergeant of Catalan vol- unteers. She became the mother of one of California's great families, grantees of Santa Ana de Santiago, Las Bolsas, and Lomas de Santiago. Carmen married Pedro Regalado Peralta, son of Gabriel. Of Claudio I know nothing. The name of Grijalva died out in California.
3. Corporal Domingo Alviso lived but a short time after reaching San Francisco. He was buried March II, 1777, and the libro de difuntos gives neither age nor place of birth. With him came his wife, María Angela Trejo, and four children: Francisco Javier, age ten; Francisco, age nine; María Loreta, age five; and Ignacio, age three. The family became a large and influential one and were grantees of Natividad, Cañada Verde y Arroyo de la
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Purisima, Milpitas, Potrero de los Cerritos, El Quito, Cañada de los Vaqueros, and Rincon de los Esteros. The town of Alviso was named for Ignacio.
4. Corporal José Valerio Mesa was born in 1734 in Opodepe, a mission on the Horcasitas river a little above San Miguel in Sonora. His wife, María Leonor Barboa, and six children, born at the presidio of Altar, accompanied him to California. They were: José Joaquin, age twelve; José Ignacio, age nine; Ignacio Dolores, age eight; María Manuela, age seven; José Antonio, and Juan, age three. Valerio's grandson, Juan Prado, son of José Antonio, became an ensign and comandante of San Francisco under Vallejo. This family received the following grants: San Antonio (Santa Clara county), Los Médanos, Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito, and Soulajule.
5. Corporal Gabriel Peralta was born at the presidio of Terrenate, in Sonora, in 1731; died in Santa Clara, California, October 22, 1807. His wife, Francisca Javier Valenzuela, and four children: Juan José, age eighteen; Luis María, age seventeen; Pedro Regalado, age eleven; and María Gertrudis, age nine, accompanied the expedi- tion. Luis María enlisted in the Monterey company December 2, 1781, and served in the ranks for forty-five years. He was eight years a private, twelve years a corporal, and twenty-five years a sergeant. He was a soldier, engaged in many expeditions against the Indians, and was several times recommended for promotion to the commission grade of alférez, but never received it. He was retired invalido in 1826, and died in San José in 1851, aged ninety-three.
On June 20, 1820, Don Pablo Vicente de Sola, governor of California, granted to Sergeant Luis Peralta the San Antonio rancho, eleven square leagues-48,825 acres,
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NOTES
perhaps the most famous as well as the most valuable of all the California grants. It includes the sites of the cities of Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley. The Rin- conada de los Gatos, the Cañada del Corte Madera, and the San Ramon ranchos were also given to the descend- ants of Corporal Peralta.
6. Juan Antonio Amézquita was born in Metape, Sonora, in 1739. He enlisted at the presidio of Tubac July 9, 1764, and was retired invalido November 1, 1788. On October 1, 1786, he was transferred to Monterey where in 1813 he was living with his third wife, María Micaela Sotelo. Juan Antonio's wife, Juana María de Guana, and five children: Manuel Domingo, age twenty- three; María Josefa, age twenty; María Dolores, age ten; María Gertrudis, age about three; and María de los Reyes, a babe, came with the expedition. With this family was Rosalia Zamora, wife of the oldest son, Manuel Domingo-who was also called Salvador Manuel and Manuel Francisco. María Josefa became the wife of Ensign Hermenegildo Sal.
7. José Ramon Bojorques, born in the city of Sinaloa in 1737, brought with him his wife, Francisca Romero, and three children: María Antonia, age fifteen, wife of José Tiburcio Vasquez; María Micaela, age thirteen; and María Gertrudis, age twelve. With the family was the husband of María Micaela, José Anastacio Higuera.
8. Justo Roberto Altamirano was born in Aguage, Sonora, in 1745. He brought with him his wife, María Loreta Delfin, and two sons: José Antonio and José Matias. Matias died in 1783, and José Antonio in 1789.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Justo Roberto had a number of children born in San Francisco and Santa Clara, but the name has died out in California.
9. Ignacio Linares was born in San Miguel de Hor- casitas in 1745; died in San José Guadalupe, California, June 5, 1805. His wife, María Gertrudis Rivas, and four children: María Gertrudis, age seven; Juan José Ramon, age five; María Juliana, age four; and Salvador, age one; came with the expedition.
IO. Carlos Gallegos brought his wife, María Josefa Espinosa, but no children. I know nothing about him except that he was sent to the mission of the Colorado and was killed by the Yumas in the rising of 1781.
The above ten constitute the veteran soldiers of the Sonora presidios who volunteered to cast their lot in California. The recruits were:
II. Juan Salvio Pacheco lived but a short time in California. I do not know the date or place of his birth. He died before July 21, 1777, but the family he founded became a large one. He brought with him to California his wife, María del Carmen del Valle, and five children: Miguel, age twenty; Ignacio, age fifteen; Ignacia Ger- trudis, age fifteen; Bartolomé Ignacio, age ten; and María Barbara, age ten. Juan Salvio's descendants were gran- tees of Potrero de los Cerritos, Arroyo de las Nueces, Santa Rita, San José Rancho, San Ramon, Monte del Diablo, and Positos ranchos. The towns of Pacheco in Contra Costa and Pacheco in Marin counties are named for this family.
12. José Antonio Garcia was born in Culiacan, Sonora, and died in Santa Clara, California, January 25, 1778, the first death recorded (gente de razon) on the books of that mission. His wife, María Josefa de Acuña, and
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NOTES
five children: María Graciana, María Josefa, José Vicente, José Francisco, and Juan Guillermo, accom- panied the expedition.
13. Pablo Pinto was born in the city of Sinaloa in 1732; buried in San Francisco December 1, 1783. He brought with him his wife, Francisca Javier Ruelas, and four children: Juan María, age seventeen; Juana Santos, Juana Francisca, and José Marcelo. The husband of Juana Santos, Casimiro Varela, accompanied the family. Another daughter of Pablo Pinto was with the expedition-Teresa, wife of the poblador, Nicolas Galindo. The marriage of Juana Francisca to Mariano Cordero, a soldier of the Monterey garrison, November 28, 1776, is the first marriage recorded in the libro de casamientos of San Francisco.
14. Antonio Quiterio Aceves was born in La Valle de San Bartolomé, Durango, in 1740. He brought with him his wife, María Feliciana Cortes, and six children: María Petra, age thirteen; José Cipriano, age eleven; María Gertrudis, age six; Juan Gregorio, age five; Pablo, age three; and José Antonio, age two. Aceves was granted the Salinas rancho, four leagues on the Salinas river, in 1795, one of the earliest grants.
15. Ignacio María Gutierrez, brought his wife, Ana María de Osuna, and three children: María Petronia, age ten; María de Los Santos, age seven; and Diego Pascual, born on the Gila, en route.
16. Ignacio de Soto, was born in the city of Sinaloa in 1749, and died in Santa Clara, California, February 23, 1807. His wife, María Barbara Espinosa de Lugo, was a sister of the soldier Francisco de Lugo, whose daughter, María Antonia, became the mother of General Vallejo. She, with two children: María Antonia, age two; and
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
José Antonio, age one, accompanied her husband. The first white child born in San Francisco was Francisco José de los Dolores Soto, son of Ignacio and Barbara, born August 10, 1776. The child was hastily baptized ab instantem mortem, but he lived to become a great Indian fighter and died in 1835, a sargento distinguido. I have a record of fourteen children born in California to Ignacio and Barbara Lugo de Soto, and their descend- ants were grantees of the following ranchos: Cañada de la Segunda, El Piojo, San Matias, San Lorenzo, Cañada de la Carpintería, Cañada del Hambre, Capay, San Vicente, Los Vallecitos, and Bolsa Nueva.
17. José Manuel Valencia was born in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico, in 1749, and died in Santa Clara, California, in 1788. His wife, María de la Luz Muños, and three children accompanied him to California. The children were: María Gertrudis, age fifteen years; Francisco María, age eight; and Ignacio María, age three. His descendants were granted Alcanes rancho and Cañada de Pinole.
18. Luis Joaquin Alvarez was born in the city of Sinaloa in 1740. He brought with him his wife, María Nicolosa Ortiz, and two children: Juan Francisco and María Francisca.
19. José Antonio Sanchez was born in the city of Sinaloa in 1751. He brought his wife, María de los Dolores Morales, and two children: María Josefa, age seven; and José Antonio, age two; also, Ignacio Cardenas, a prohijado-adopted son. Sanchez was a man of some education and wrote a beautiful hand. The family became prominent in San Francisco and José Antonio, second, became ensign and comandante of San Francisco and famous for his skill and courage as an Indian fighter.
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NOTES
In 1827 he was permitted to occupy the rancho nacional which was afterwards formally granted him. This was the great Buri Buri rancho immediately south of the city and county of San Francisco, comprising 15,793 acres, now belonging, in part, to the Spring Valley Water Company. In 1836 José Antonio 2d was retired with forty-five years' service to his credit. He passed the rest of his life on his rancho and at the mission of Dolores. He appears on a padron of San Francisco in 1842 as an hacendado (farmer). He was a brave and honest man, and somewhat given to asserting his rights. He became involved in a controversy with the priests over the question of tithes, which Sanchez, following the example of Vallejo and other prominent landowners, refused to pay. In consequence of this quarrel he was denied the comforts of religion on his death bed and for a time, Christian burial. He died June 22, 1843, and was finally given ecclesiastic interment in the cemetery of the mission on July 5th. His son, Francisco, grandson of Anza's trooper, was comandante of San Francisco at the time of the conquest and was the Captain Sanchez who cap- tured Alcalde Bartlett and commanded the Mexican forces at the battle of Santa Clara. Francisco was granted the San Pablo rancho.
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