USA > California > Alameda County > The centennial year book of Alameda County, California : containing a summary of the discovery and settlement of California, a description of the Contra Costa under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule, biographical sketches of prominent pioneers and public men > Part 2
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Not until 1602 did the Spaniards seriously determine to possess the country and colonize it. Early in that year the Viceroy of Mexico, acting under instructions from King Philip III., dispatched Don Sebastian Viscaiño on a voyage of discovery up the coast, with three small vessels. Various points of Lower California were visited, as also San Diego, where the explorer and his companions remained ten days, and departed well pleased with the appearance of the country and the disposition of the natives. On the 10th of Decem- ber he discovered and entered the harbor of Monterey, our ancient capital, and, for the first time, its sands received the impress of the conquering white man's foot. It he named in honor of Count de Monterey, the Mexican Viceroy, under whose orders he acted. Part of this expedition reached as high up as the Columbia River. The whole subsequently returned to Acapulco. Whether it discovered the port of San Francisco is as much a matter of conjecture and doubt as Drake's visit. At any rate, his expedition was considered satis- factory, and a glowing description was given of the country. The time of the expedition was winter, and the land was covered with verdure, clearly showing it was not a " dry year."
Although much knowledge had been gained of the country by this expedition, from one cause and another it was not taken advantage of, and 168 years were allowed to elapse before the conquest and set- tlement of Upper California was successfully undertaken. A plan, with this purpose, was formed in 1683, but, although under the united management of Church and State, it failed. Admiral Otondo represented the State, and a Jesuit Father, named Kino, the Church. La Paz was their point of operation, but they did not at all visit Upper California.
Finally, the religious society of Jesuits undertook the settlement of the peninsula, in 1697, under Father Salva Tierra, who founded sixteen missionary establishments in that barren region. The order,
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however, subsequently fell into disgrace in Europe, and was banished from the Spanish dominions and from Lower California after a ser- vice of 70 years, in 1768. They had never set foot in Upper California. They were succeeded by the Franciscans, an order of which the reigning Pope was himself a member ; and they, in turn, were relieved by the Dominicans, the former proceeding to the con- quest and conversion of this part of the province, under the guidance of Father Junipera Serra, who is recognized in the Catholic Church as the Apostle of Upper California, and in history as its founder.
In 1769 the first permanent settlement was made and the first mission established at San Diego. That place was made the base of operations for further explorations and the founding of other missions. The ruling spirit in this new movement was José de Galvez, the new Visitor-General from Spain, who was afterwards Minister-General for all the Spanish possessions in America. The governor of the Cali- fornias at this time was Gaspar de Portala. He commanded the ex- pedition by land that had halted at San Diego. On the 14th of July, 1769, he left that place for Monterey, which, it will be remembered, had been discovered by Viscaiño in 1602. He stopped at Monterey and set up a cross there, but never knew it was the place he sought.
" Pious Portala, journeying by land, Reared high a cross upon the heathen strand, Then far away, Dragged his slow caravan to Monterey."
He pushed on further north with his party, which included Father Junipera Serra, and discovered the broad and beautiful bay which washes our shores. Whether Drake or Viscaiño sought shelter with their ships here before, may remain in doubt ; but there is no uncer- tainty about Portala's discovery ; and that was just 107 years ago. Father Junipera recognized the locality as a desirable place for a mis- sion, and in honor of the founder of his order, Saint Francis of Assis, in Spain, christened it San Francisco. Seven years later, on the 27th of June, 1776, the sand hill peninsula was taken possession of, and the presidio established near the entrance to the harbor, on a low piece of ground. The mission was located on the site where the old church now stands, and the foundation of the greatest city on the western shores of America was quietly, religiously, slowly, but certainly laid, and the Sth of October of the present year was celebrated as its cen- tennial.
The establishment of missions, according to the plan adopted, rap-
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idly followed the journey of exploration. That of San Diego, the first, was erected in 1769; that of Carmello, near Monterey, was built in 1770; in 1771 were built those of San Gabriel, in Los An- geles County ; San Luis Obispo, in the town and county of that name ; and San Antonio, in Monterey County ; in 1776 followed the Mission Dolores de San Francisco, and San Juan Capistrano in Los Angeles County ; in 1777 was started the Santa Clara Mission, in what was then called the San Bernardino Valley, but now Santa Clara County ; in 1782 San Buenaventura, in Ventura County, and in 1786 Santa Barbara ; in 1787 La Purisima Conception, in Santa Barbara County ; and in 1791 La Soledad, in Monterey, and Santa Cruz, in the town and county of the same name. In 1797 three missions were established-our own, San José, San Miguel, in San Luis Obispo County, and San Fernando, in Los Angeles County ; in 1798 San Luis Rey, in San Diego County ; in 1799 San Juan Bau- tista, in San Benito County ; in 1804 Santa Inez, in Santa Barbara County ; in 1817 San Rafael, in Marin County ; and in 1823 San Francisco Solano, in Sonoma County-twenty-one in all.
CHAPTER II.
CONJECTURES CONCERNING THE FIRST VISITORS TO OUR TERRITORY- DRAKE-PORTALA-DE ALBERNI-THE CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY AND THE INDIANS.
Who the first white man was to tread our virgin soil and breathe our salubrious air, is, we fear, a vain conjecture. Was he of Drake's or Portala's parties, or some unlawful roamer of the seas, on wild ad- venture bent ? Or did the first foreigners drift over upon our shores from China or Japan, and thus give the despised Mongolian prefer- ence over the pale faces of these latter days? Whomsoever entered our glorious bay by the headlands could hardly avoid being won to the opposite side, where the mists of ocean are dissipated by the early sun, and the shores sloped gently to the dimpled and brown-faced mountains, where the eneinals stretched out their arms in welcome, and the oak groves gave shade and shelter. There, too, was the light from the wigwam to be seen glimmering in the distance, and the re- flection of the shell mounds shimmering over the waters. Of what unrecorded romance may have this been the early seene ; what un-
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written history, what lost traditions may have been attached to the ground which now we tread or turn over: the lost heritage of a savage race, and which now blooms as land never bloomed before.
Ere we proceed further with our narrative, it is necessary that we should take cognizance of the conditions discovered here on the ar- rival of the Fathers. All was a vast aboriginal wilderness, but by no means an untenanted solitude, for the native savage had increased and multiplied ; the coyote's call was heard on every hill, and the emblematic grizzly roamed at large. Father Junipera stated that, even on the arid plains of San Diego, he saw a great many naked savages, whose unwholesome habits he described. They were, how- ever, for a time hospitable and friendly, until their cupidity led them to revolt and murder.
In 1577 Sir Francis Drake, if he did not actually enter our great bay, tarried some time in its vicinity, and had friendly inter- course with the natives. The historian of that celebrated voyage to our shores, wrote as follows :
"They here discovered a bay, which, entering with a favorable gale, they found several huts by the water side, well defended from the severity of the weather. Going on shore they found a fire in the middle of each house, and the people lying round it upon rushes. The men go quite naked, but the women have a deer-skin over their shoulders, and around their waists a covering of bull-rushes, after the manner of hemp. These people bringing the Admiral a present of feathers and cauls of net-work, he entertained them so kindly and generously, that they were extremely pleased, and soon afterwards they sent him a present of feathers and bags of tobacco. A number of them coming to deliver it, gathered themselves together on the top of a small hill, from the highest point of which one of them harangued the Admiral, whose tent was placed at the bottom. When the speech was ended they laid down their arms and came down, offering their presents ; at the same time returning what the Admiral had given them. The women remaining on the hill, tearing. their hair and making dreadful howlings, the Admiral supposed them engaged in making sacrifices, and thereupon ordered divine service to be per- formed at his tent, at which these people attended with astonishment.
"The arrival of the English in California being soon known through the country, two persons, in the character of ambassadors, came to the admiral and informed him, in the best manner they were able, that the king would assist him if he might be assured of com-
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
ing in safety. Being satisfied on this point, a numerous company soon appeared, in front of which was a very comely person bearing a kind of sceptre, on which hung two crowns and three chains of great length ; the chains were of bones and the crowns of net work, curi- ously wrought with feathers of many colors.
" Next to the sceptre-bearer came the king, a handsome, majestic person, surrounded by a number of tall men, dressed in skins, who were followed by the common people ; who, to make the grander appearance, had painted their faces of various colors; and all of them, even the children, being loaded with presents. The men being drawn up in line of battle, the Admiral stood ready to receive the king within the entrance of his tent. The company having halted at a distance, the sceptre-bearer made a speech, half an hour long, at the end of which he began singing and dancing, in which he was fol- lowed by the king and all his people-who, continuing to sing and dance, came quite up to the tent ; when, sitting down, the king tak- ing off his crown of feathers, placed it on the Admiral's head, and pat upon him the other ensigns of royalty ; and it is said he made him a solemn tender of his whole kingdom. All of which the Admiral accepted, in the name of the Queen, his sovereign, in hope these proceedings might, one time or other, contribute to the advan- tage of England.
" The common people, dispersing themselves among the Admiral's tents, professed the utmost admiration and esteem for the English, whom they considered as more than mortal-and accordingly prepared to offer sacrifices to them ; but they were told, by signs, that their religious worship was alone due to the Supreme Maker and Preserver of all things. The Admiral and some of his people, traveling to a distance in the country, saw such a quantity of rabbits that it ap- peared an entire warren ; they also saw deer in such plenty as to run a thousand in a herd. The earth of the country seemed to promise rich veins of gold and silver, some of the ore being constantly found on digging. The Admiral, at his departure, set up a pillar with a large plate on it, on which was engraved her majesty's (Queen Eliza- beth's) name, picture, arms and title to the country, together with the Admiral's name, and the time of his arrival there."
One cannot help thinking that the chronicler of this remarkable visit drew largely upon his fancy, and prepared his narrative with a special view to the pleasure of royal eyes. It was exceedingly con- siderate of the savage king to proffer his crown to the bold buc-
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caneer ; and how gracious it was of the latter to accept it, in order that it might possibly contribute to the advantage of England, and become the pretext for future claims ! The judiciously-prepared chronicle had its effect, for we are told by the writer of it that Queen Elizabeth afterwards knighted Drake for his services, " telling him at the same time that his actions did him more honor than his title."
It will not be uninteresting to note here what Father Junipera had to say of the country and people generally on his arrival at San Diego. On July 3d, 1769, he wrote :
" The tract through which we passed is generally good land, with plenty of water, and there, as well as here, the country is neither rocky nor overrun with brush-wood. There are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The road has been in some places good, but the greater part bad. About half way the valleys and banks of rivulets began to be delightful. We found vines of a large size, and in some cases quite loaded with grapes ; we also found an abundance of roses, which appeared to be like those of Castile. In fine, it is a good country, and very different from old California.
" We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those on this 'coast' of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsistence on various seeds and by fishing. The latter they carry on by means of rafts or canoes made of tule (bull-rushes), with which they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, old and young, go naked ; the women, however, and the female children, are decently covered from their breasts downwards. We found, on our journey, as well as in the place where we stopped, that they treated us with . as much confidence and good-will as if they had known us all their lives. But when we offered them any of our victuals, they always refused them. All they cared for was cloth, and only for something of this sort would they exchange their fish or whatever else they had. During the whole march we found hares, rabbits, some deer, and a multitude of berendos, a kind of wild goat."
No doubt this was a pleasant change from the barren wastes of Lower California ; but had the time of year been January instead of July, the picture of the beauty of the country would be less open to the suspicion of exaggeration. It is to be supposed that the grapes and the roses of Castile were the fruit of the seed scattered by Vis- caiño, or other adventurers who had preceded the devoted father many years before.
The first mention anywhere found of this section of the country is
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in Palou, the first historian of California. Speaking of the land journey of Captain Juan Bautista's party from Monterey, in search of San Francisco, in the year 1773, that writer mentions the follow- ing interesting incident :
" In the Valley of San Jose, the party coming up by land saw some animals which they took for cattle, though they could not imagine where they came from ; and supposing they were wild, and would scatter the tame ones they were driving, the soldiers made after them and succeeded in killing three, which were so large that a mule could with difficulty carry one, being of the size of an ox, and with horns like those of deer, but so long that their tips were eight feet apart. This was their first view of the elk. The soldiers made the observa- tion that they could not run against the wind by reason of their monstrous antlers."
The San José Valley here mentioned evidently had reference to the plain in the southern part of this county, near which the Mission of that name was subsequently established. Indeed, the level por- tion of Washington Township is yet often mentioned as the San José Valley, as well as a portion of Murray, in which was some of the mission lands. It is an important matter to have it on record that here was seen, for the first time, that magnificent animal, the elk, which no doubt was in the habit of crossing over through the passes of the Mount Diablo Range, from its home in the San Joaquin Valley, to seek the waters of the Alameda. We further learn from the same source that "after the presidio and before the mission was established (in San Francisco) an exploration of the interior was or- ganized, as usual, by sea (the bay) and land. Point San Pablo was given as the rendezvous, but the captain of the presidio (Moraga), who undertook in person to lead the land party, failed to appear there, having, with a design to shorten the distance, entered a cañon some- where near the head of the bay, which took him over to the San Joa- quin River. So he discovered that stream."
Here it will be seen that after the Spaniards had effected a lodg- ment in San Francisco, this part of the country was the first to be visited. One party proceeded via San Pablo, and the other down to the head of the bay on the San Mateo side. Thence they crossed over to the Alameda Cañon, and followed its tortuous course until the Livermore Valley was reached. They continued thence through the Livermore Pass, thus reaching the San Joaquin River and Val- ley, in the same course that is now pursued by the Central Pacific
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Railroad. Moraga conferred his brother's given name on the newly- discovered river.
The first official reference to the locality of this county was made in 1796. The authorities in Mexico had at the first com- manded the establishment of two towns, or pueblos, independent of the missions, in Upper California. The first of these was San José, the second Los Angeles. It was determined by Governor Diego Bo- rica, to establish a third, to be called Branciforte. With this view he instructed Don Pedro de Alberni to examine certain localities and report to him on the most desirable place in which to establish the town referred to. Alberni accordingly proceeded on his errand, and this is his report :
" Having examined the points set forth in the foregoing Superior Official Communication, as well as those requiring me to set forth all that I might think necessary, I might reply as follows : The principal object and view of the whole matter may be reduced to the project formed by Don José Maria Beltram, and forwarded by the Royal Tri- bunal de Cuentas to the Most Excellent Viceroy, in relation to the establishment of a Villa or Poblacion ; and its being necessary to remember that in order to attain the desired end, an eye must be had to such favorable circumstances as are required to give the inhabitants of the same the necessary advantages, such as a plentiful supply of water, wood, irrigable and arable lands, forest, pastures, stone, lime, or earth for adobes ; and having been commissioned to this end for the examination, which I made with the Señor Governor, Don Diego Borica, of the country, from the Mission of Santa Cruz, Arroyo del Pajaro, and the Mission of Santa Clara, to the place of the alameda, and the country around the Presidio and Fort of San Francisco, and the mission of the same name. After a careful and scrupulous exam- ination of these places with the Engineer Extraordinary, Don Alberto de Cordoba, I found that the place of the alameda, although it con- tains a creek, still that it affords but little water, and that the chan- nel is so deep [sunken ?] that it is difficult to obtain water therefrom for irrigating the extensive plains of what appears to be good lands ; but as the place is without fuel, timber and pasturage, which cannot be obtained save at the distance of many leagues, it is clear that it is unsuitable for the project under consideration."
What follows of this document is not particularly relevant, but it will be interesting as showing what the Don thought of San Fran-
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cisco at that remote date as a location for a town. It is, therefore, quoted :
"In the district of the Presidio of San Francisco, as also that of the Fort or Battery, and in those of the Mission, at the distance of a league, there is not only wanting irrigable lands, but there is a very small extent of such as are suitable for grain. The water is so scarce that it is barely sufficient for the few families that reside at the Presidio, and from a few holes from which, at intervals, they ob- tain water with much labor, they have to supply themselves. Groves of timber are found at a distance of twelve or fourteen leagues, and pasturage for the little stock of the garrison is only found at a dis- tance of five or six leagues. The wood used in cooking is some matorales, or chiamisos, as it is there called, which grows upon the sand-hills. And, therefore, I am convinced that the worst place or situation in California is that of San Francisco, for the establishment of such a villa as is proposed by the Señor Contador, Don José Maria Beltram."
That the place of the alameda, above referred to, means the country watered by the Alameda Creek, there can be no doubt. The county receives its name from that river, which, when first discovered, as now, was lined with willow and sycamore trees, giving it the appear- ance of an alameda or road lined with trees, while the rest of the valley was bare. The first thought was it must have had reference to the alameda between Santa Clara and San José, but reflection showed that the town of San Jose was already established there, and there would be no sense in setting down another alongside of it. Besides, the celebrated alameda referred to was not planted till three years later. There is no doubt but what the gentleman was somewhat prepossessed in favor of Santa Cruz, because he lays stress upon the importance of possessing forest, lime and stone, all of which that place possessed in close proximity, together with pasturage and water. Although the vicinity of the alameda possesed no redwood forests like Santa Cruz, there certainly was plenty of wood for fuel ; and although the mouth of the Alameda possesses, close to its mouth, a deep bed, its waters are not only now used for the purposes of irrigation, but they have been secured to supply fresh water to the City of San Francisco. How he could make out that there was no pasturage in the place, is a mystery ; as, in the following year, the mission was established in its vicinity, and thousands of cattle found there abundant subsistence. Why Don Pedro de Alberni did not push his
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observations to the Oak Grove Encinal, and find there the finest site in the world for his proposed villa, can only be attributed to his woeful short-sightedness. His Branciforte was established at Santa Cruz, on the east side of the San Lorenzo, near the present town, but it never amounted to more than an adobe hamlet, and soon dropped into decay. There are now no less than four towns on the line of the rejected river-Sunol, Niles, Centerville and Alvarado (the latter having been our first county-seat), not counting the mission town, situated on one of its tributaries, three miles distant, and Washington, also close by.
CHAPTER III.
THE SYSTEMS ESTABLISHED BY THE SPANIARDS FOR THE REDUCTION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY-HOW WE CAME TO HAVE A MISSION.
The order of the establishment of missions and their various local- ities has been already stated. It will be proper to give the plan with which the Spanish government entered upon the conquest and civilization of the country. Three agencies were employed- mili- tary, civil and religious. The presidio, or garrison, represented the military ; the pueblo, the town or civic community ; and the mission, the church. The latter played the most prominent part. The Span- iards had then what we are lacking to-day-a complete municipal system. Theirs was derived from the Romans. Under the civil Roman law, and the Gothic, Spanish and Mexican laws, municipal communities were never incorporated into artificial persons, with a common seal and perpetual succession, as with us, under English and American laws ; consequently, under the former, communities in towns held their lands in common ; when thirty families had located on a spot, the pueblo, or town, was a fact. They were not incorpor- ated, because the law did not make it a necessity, a general law or custom having established the system. The right to organize a local government, by the election of an alcalde, or mayor, and a town council, which was known as an Ayuntamiento, was patent. The instant the poblacion was formed, it became thereby entitled to four
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
leagues of land, and the pobladors (citizens) held it in pro indivisa. The title was a natural right.
The missions were designed for the conversion and civilization of the Indians. The latter were instructed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could comprehend them) and the arts of peace. Instruction of the savage in agriculture and manufactures, as well as in prayers and elementary education, was the padres' business. The soldiers protected them from the hostility of the untractable natives, hunted down the latter and brought them within the confines of the mission, to labor and salvation.
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