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 5
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35
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
In 1827 a circumstance transpired at the Mission of San José which is of much interest. Father Narcisce Duran was in charge of the Mission at the time. In May, of that year, Captain Jedediah S. Smith, the first American who is known to have crossed the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast, pitched his tent somewhere in the vicinity of the mission, and, in response to enquiries concerning him- self and his party, he sent the following letter to the missionary :
Reverend Father-I understand, through the medium of one of your Christian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the Indians have been at the mission and informed you that there were certain white people in the country. We are Amer- icans, on our journey to the river Columbia. We were in at the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and saw the General, and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made several efforts to cross the mountains, but the snows being so deep I could not succeed in getting over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat) to wait a few weeks till the snow melts, so that I can go on. The Indians here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to remain until such time as I cross the mountains with my horses, having lost a great many in attempting to cross, ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious to get there as soon as the nature of the case will admit. Our situation is quite unpleasant, being des- titute of clothing and most of the necessaries of life, wild meat being our principal subsistence. I am, Reverend Father, your strange, but real, friend and Christian brother, J. S. SMITH. May 19, 1827.
The tone of this letter should have called forth an active sympa- thy from a Christian missionary, and it is to be presumed " the real friend and Christian brother " was hospitably treated ; although then, as subsequently, there was much jealousy prevailing against for- eigners.
1591508
36
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
ELOCUTION.
WM. N. VAN DE MARK,
Teacher of Elocution,
BEGS LEAVE TO ANNOUNCE TO THE
CITIZENS OF OAKLAND AND VICINITY,
That, after a year's successful teaching in this community, he is now prepared to take a few more Classes in this most excellent method of attaining power in Conversation, upon the Platform, and on the Theat- rical Stage. It is not only an intellectual accomplishment which all should enjoy, but a health-giving and life-saving knowledge. It is one of the surest guards against CONSUMPTION-preserving the LUNGS by proper inspiration, and strengthening the vocal organs by daily practice.
MR. VAN DE MARK, in consequence of the liberal patronage he enjoys, is enabled to offer his services at very MODERATE TERMS. Young Ladies and Gentlemen with weak voices, will be astonished at the compass and volume they will attain under his method of vocal drill.
MR. V. can be consulted in regard to terms, etc., at his Institute,
CENTENNIAL HOUSE,
Near the City Hall,
FOURTEENTH STREET,
OAKLAND, CAL.
37
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
CHAPTER IX.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RANCHOS AND LIFE UPON THEM.
The missions, although ruined, " secularized " slowly. The Mission of San José was in possession of the priests at the time of the American conquest, and its lands were not sold until the year 1846.
The Spanish Government did not do much in the disposal of land to settlers, and only two Spanish grants are known to have been made in this section. Those are, first, the celebrated grant made to Don Luis Peralta, known as the San Antonio Rancho, on which the City of Oakland and neighboring towns have since been built ; and the Los Tularcitos Rancho, situated partly in Santa Clara and Alameda Counties, and granted to José Higuera. The former was made on the 20th day of June, 1820 ; and the latter on the 4th day of October, 1821, by Governor Don Pablo Vicente de Sola, the last Spanish and the first Mexican Governor of California.
In 1824 the Mexican Government adopted a law of colonization. It was four years later, however, in 1828, before the " General Rules and Regulations for the Colonization of the Territories of the Republic " were adopted, and only a single Mexican grant was made anywhere in California before 1833.
Following is the order of establishment of the different ranches in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, then known as the Ranchos of the North :
1820-San Antonio Rancho ; five leagues, by Governor Don Pablo Vincente de Sola, to Luis Peralta.
1821-Las Tularcitos ; - leagues, by Gov. de Sola, to José Higuera. 1833-Las Juntas ; - leagues, by Gov. Figueroa, to Bartolo Pacheco and Mariano Castro.
1834-Acalanes ; 1 square league, by Gov. Figueroa, to Candelario Valencia.
1834-Arroyo de las Neuces ; 2 square leagues, by Gov. Figueroa, to Juan Sanches Pacheco.
1834-San Pablo ; 4 square leagues, by Gov. Figueroa, to Francisco M. Castro.
1835-San Ramon; 4 square leagues and 1,800 varas, by Gov. Figueroa, to José Maria Amador.
38
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
1835-Los Meganos ; 4 leagues by 3, by Gov. José Castro, to José Noreiga.
1836-Agua Calienta ; 2 square leagues, by Governors Gutierrez and Alvarado, to F. Higuera.
1839-Las Positas ; 2 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to Salvio Pacheco.
1839-El Valle de San José ; - leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to An- tonio Maria Pico.
1839-Los Medanos ; 2 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to José Antonio Mesa and others.
1839-Santa Rita ; 8,885.67 acres, by Gov. Alvarado to José Dolores Pacheco.
1840-Land, to Guillermo Castro, by Gov. Alvarado.
1840-Arroyo del Alameda ; 1,000 varas square, by Gov. Vallejo to José Jesus Vallejo.
1841-San Lorenzo; 600 varas square, by Gov. Alvarado, to Guil- lermo Castro.
1841-El Sobrante ; 11 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to Juan José Castro.
1841-Laguna de los Palos ; 3 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to Joaquin Moraga.
1842-Boca de Cañada del Pinole ; 3 square leagues, by Gov. Alva- rado, to Maria Manuel Valencia.
1842-San Lorenzo; 1} square leagues, by Gov. Micheltorena, to Francisco Soto.
1842-San Leandro ; 1 square league, by Gov. Alvarado, to Joaquin Estudillo.
1842-Cañada de los Vacqueros ; - leagues, by Gov. Micheltorena, to Francisco Alviso.
1842-Cañada del Hambre ; 2 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to Teodora Sota.
1842-Arroyo del Alameda ; 4 square leagues, by Gov. Alvarado, to José Jesus Vallejo.
1843-San Lorenzo ; 6 square leagues ; by Gov. Micheltorena, to Guillermo Castro.
1844-Las Juntas ; 3 square leagues, by Gov. Micheltorena, to Wm. Welch.
1844-Monte del Diablo ; 17,921.54 acres ; by Gov. Micheltorena, to Salvio Pacheco.
·
39
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
1844-Potrero de los Cerritos ; 3 square leagues, by Gov. Michelto- rena to Tomas Pacheco.
1846-Mission San José ; 30,000 acres, by Gov. Pio Pico to Andres Pico and Juan B. Alvarado.
Nearly, if not all, the grantees of those lands had been soldiers. Peralta based his claim on over forty years' military service, and val- nable assistance rendered in establishing the missions of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San José, and the number of his family. Salvio Pacheco, who died on the 13th of August, 1876, had been a member of the Departmental Assembly. Certain formalities had, however, to be undergone, and in some instances parties had lived for years upon their lands before the date of their grants. This will be illus- trated by copying from the documents put in proof by the Estudillo family, for maintaining possession of their rancho, before the United States Commissioner in 1854. Following are the petition for the land, the grant from the Governor, and the conditions imposed : EXMO. SOR :
The citizen José Joaquin Estudillo, a Mexican by birth, be- fore your Excellency appears through these presents saying : That with the object of securing subsistence for and supporting a large family, consisting of his wife and ten children, after having been in the military service for a period of seventeen years, four months and seven days, he solicited, under date of January 8th, 1837, the land known as the Arroyo de San Leandro to that of San Lo- renzo, four square leagues of land (four sitios de gadado mayor) from west to east, and having obtained from your Excellency, who is kind to, and protects the interests of, the inhabitants of this country, that I should establish myself and continue working until the legal pro- ceedings were gone through, which I have done during the long term of five years, five months and several days, and as my expediente has been mislaid in the Government Secretary's office, I now make a new petition, duly accompanied by the annexed draught or plan of the said land, that in view thereof you may act as it may please you, re- maining perfectly satisfied with your decree ; consequently I entreat your Excellency to view my petition in a favorable light, so that I may receive the favor that I ask for and expect, paying to your Ex- cellency as homage my eternal gratitude.
JOSÉ JOAQUIN ESTUDILLO.
Monterey, June 28th, 1842.
40
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Whereupon, the then Governor of California, Juan B. Alvarado, granted said petition in the words following :
MONTEREY, October 16th, 1842.
In view of the petition that heads this expediente, the information that was considered necessary to take, and everything else that was thought of, having found that they agree with the laws and regula- tions on this subject, I declare Don Joaquin Estudillo owner in pos- session of a part of the land known under the name of San Leandro, bounded on the north by the Arroyo San Leandro, on the east by the drainings of the Springs, on the land now occupied by the In- dians now settled there ; from this point in a straight line south to the Arroyo San Lorenzo, without including the lands cultivated by the above-mentioned Indians, and on the west by the sea. Let the necessary document be issued, take note of it in the Book of Record, and send this expediente to the exmajunta departmental for its appro- bation. His Excellency the Governor has thus ordered, decreed and signed it.
J. B. ALVARADO,
Constitutional Governor of the Department of the Californias. WHEREAS, The citizen Joaquin Estudillo has petitioned for his personal benefit and that of his family for a part of the land known under the name of San Leandro, the boundary of which being on the north of the Arroyo San Leandro, on the east the drainage (derama- deros) of the Springs in the lands occupied by the Indians now settled there; from this point in a straight line south to the " Arroyo de San Lorenzo," without including the lands cultivated by the Indians already mentioned, and on the west by the sea, having previously taken all the necessary steps and regulations on this subject: In vir- tue of the powers conferred on me, in the name of the Mexican nation, I hereby decide to grant him the land mentioned, giving to him the right of possession thereof by these presents, and by the approbation which he has obtained from the Exm'a Junta Departmental, being subject to the following conditions :
1st. He has the power to fence it without interfering with the passages, roads, and other rights (scridembres). He shall enjoy it freely and exclusively, applying it to any use or culture that may be most agreeable to him, but within a year he shall build a house, and said house must be inhabited.
2d. He shall solicit to be placed in lawful possession in virtue of this document, from the competent judge by whom the boundaries
41
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
shall be marked out, and on their borders he shall, besides placing the land marks, plant some fruit trees or some forest trees of some utility.
3d. The land granted is one square league (one sitio de ganado mayor), a little more or less, as it is shown by the sketch annexed to the expediente on this matter.
The judge who shall place him in possession must have the land measured according to law, leaving the remainder for the uses the nation may decree proper.
4th. Should he contravene these conditions he shall lose his right to the land, and it shall be denounced by any other person.
In virtue whereof I order this title, being good and valid, that a copy of it be taken in the Book of Record, and that it be delivered to the party interested for his security and other ends.
Given in Monterey, 16th October, 1842.
Notwithstanding the liberal extent of those grants, there was always more or less trouble about their settlement ; boundary lines were indefinite, and conflicting claims intervened. Peralta had trouble at first with the Padres of the Mission de Lores of San Francisco, as will be more fully shown when we come to the history of Oakland ; and his son, subsequently, with his neighbor Castro, to the right of him ; Estudillo, with his neighbor, the other Castro, to the left of him ; and so on, nearly with them all.
Peralta, who had secured another grant of land for his own use in Santa Clara County, never resided on the San Antonio Rancho, but divided it up among his four sons. These at first lived together in one house near the foot-hills on the San Leandro 'side, and enjoyed the property in common ; but finally, having all got married, and each possessing stock of his own, the father determined to make a division of the rancho among them. In August, 1842, he came up one day from San José ; they all mounted their horses and rode over the land together, when he parceled it out among them, marking out the boundaries by natural objects, and putting each one in pos- session of his portion. It was divided, as nearly as possible, into four equal parts, each running from the bay to the hills, giving to José Domingo the most northerly quarter, on which Berkeley is now situated ; to Vincente, the next adjoining on the south, including the oak grove, then known as the Encinal de Temescal (now the City of Oakland) ; to Antonio Maria, the next adjoining on the south, on which are situated Brooklyn and Alameda; to Ygnacio, the most
42
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
southerly portion, being bounded by " the deep Creek of San Lean- dro."
It will be noticed that the valleys in the southern portion of the county, including Washington and Murray Townships, were given the general name of the Valley of San Jose, after the mission, for which they were grazing grounds.
One foreigner only is included among the original grantees : William Welch, a native of Ireland, to whom was given Las Juntas, which partly fronted on the Straits of Carquinez, and on which our first county town, Martinez, is built. Others, however, came in at an early date, and by purchase or by marriage secured possession of considerable tracts of land, long even before there was any serious thought of the conquest of the country by the Americans. Among these, the first was Joseph Livermore, an Englishman by birth, who came to California in a whaling vessel and deserted there- from at Santa Cruz, in 1820, in company with a man named Julian Wilson. He worked at various places, gaining the good will of the Spanish settlers, and married Josefa Higuera. He helped to build Amador's house in Amador Valley, and Amador afterwards, in return, helped him in the same manner. Finally, in connection with José Noreiga, he got possession of the Las Positas Rancho, of two square leagues, in Alameda County ; and in his own name, of the Cañada de los Vacqueros, Contra Costa County, and both now form a portion of what is generally known as the Livermore Valley.
The next was Dr. John Marsh, an American, who came to the country in 1836, and, in 1840, purchased Los Medanos, which is since celebrated as the New York Ranch, in Contra Costa County, near which are situated the Mount Diablo coal mines, and from the water-front of which, opposite the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the coal is shipped to market. We shall have more to say of this remarkable man hereafter.
Another old American settler, who was successful in securing a ranch during the days of the Mexican Republic, was Elam Brown, who settled here in 1847, and purchased the Acalanes Rancho of one league, granted, in 1834, to Candelario Valencia.
The most distinguished person who made the Northern Ranchos his home in early days, is J. B. Alvarado, Mexican Governor of Califor- nia from 1836 to 1842, and who, in his official capacity, made many of the grants of land that are here recorded. He cultivates an orchard in the vicinity of San Pablo, and after him is named the place which has
43
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
the distinction of being our first county seat. Alameda County, how- ever, has the honor of being the residence of more than one governor of California. Governor Alvarado is still among us, a hale and hearty old gentleman. It is curious to reflect upon how few, even he him- self now possesses, of those broad acres that he was wont to parcel out to others with an unsparing hand in other days. Little did he then dream of the enormous value that those then comparatively worthless leagues were soon to acquire in the hands of another race and under the vigorous operations of another system. It is no exag- geration to say that they have become mines of wealth, more endur- ing and beneficial than the mines of gold which at first brought our State into such great prominence.
From 1833 to 1850 may be set down as the Golden Age of the native Californians. Not till then did the settlement of the ranchos become general. The missions were breaking up, the presidios de- serted, the population dispersed, and land could be had almost for the asking. Never before and never since did a people settle down under the blessings of more diverse advantages. The country was lovely, the climate delightful ; the valleys were filled with horses and cattle ; wants were few, and no one dreaded dearth. There was meat for the pot and wine for the cup, and wild game in abundance. No one was in a hurry. "Bills payable" nor the state of the stocks troubled anyone, and Arcadia seems to have temporarily made this her seat. The people did not, necessarily, even have to stir the soil for a liveli- hood, because the abundance of their stock furnished them with food and enough hides and tallow to procure money for every purpose. They had also the advantage of cheap and docile labor in the Indians, already trained to work at the missions. And had they looked in the earth for gold, they could have found it in abundance.
They were exceedingly sociable and hospitable. Every guest was welcomed. The sparsity of the population made them rely on each other, and they had many occasions to bring them together. Church days, bull-fights, rodeos, were all occasions of festivity. Horseman- ship was practiced as it was never before out of Arabia ; dancing found a ball-room in every house, and music was not unknown. For a caballero to pick up a silver coin from the ground, at full gallop, was not considered a feat, and any native youth could perform the mustang riding which lately was accomplished with such credit by a young Peralta of this section, in New York. To fasten down a mad bull with the larriete, or even subdue him single-handed, in a
44
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
corral, were every-day performances. The branding and selecting of cattle in rodeos was always a gala occasion.
Gambling was a passion, and love-making was ever betokened in the tender glances of the dark-eyed señoritas. Monte was the com- mon amusement of every household. Its public practice was against the law, but in the privacy of the family it went on unhindered.
What farming they did was of a very rude description ; their plow was a primitive contrivance, their vehicles unwieldy. Such articles of husbandry as reapers, mowers and headers, had not en- tered their dreams, and they were perfectly independent of their advantages. Grain was cut with a short, stumpy, smooth-edged sickle ; it was threshed by the tramping of horses. One of their few evils was the depredations of the wild Indians, who would some- times steal their stock, and then the cattle would have to perform the work of separation. The cleaning of grain was performed by throwing it in the air with wooden shovels and allowing the wind to carry off the chaff.
While the young men found means to gratify their tastes for highly wrought saddles and elegant bridles, the women had their fill of finery, furnished by the Yankee vessels that visited them regularly for trade every year. Few schools were established, but the rudiments of education were given at home.
There was a strict code of laws in force for maintaining order, and crime seldom went unpunished. Chastity was guarded, and trouble about females was not as frequent as might be supposed. Women, unfaithful to their vows, were confined in convents or compelled to periods of servitude. Men, guilty of adultery, were sent to the presidios and compelled to serve as soldiers. The law was adminis- tered by Alcaldes, Prefects and the Governor. Murder was very rare, suicide unknown, and San Francisco was without a jail. Wine was plentiful and so was brandy. There was a native liquor in use that was very intoxicating. It was a sort of cognac, which was very agreeable and very volatile, and went like a flash to the brain. It was expensive and those selling it made a large profit. This liquor was known as aguardiente, and was the favorite tipple until sup- planted by the whiskey of the Americanos. It was mostly made in Los Angeles, where the better part of the grapes raised were used for it. When any considerable crime was ever committed, it was under its influence. Its evil effects, however, might possibly be attributed to a counterfeit which is yet in use in the southern part of
45
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
the State, and which is one of the vilest of concoctions. Those who are acquainted with its evil effects say that it is " too unutterably villain- ous for words, and the wretch who has swallowed three fingers of it may bid adieu to all hope of days passed without headaches and nights put in without unsufferable agony, for a week, at least." The beverage most in use, however, was the mission wine, and a mayor domo has informed the writer that he made fifty barrels a year of it at Mission San José. Milk and cheese, beef, mutton, vegetables, bread, tortillos, beans and fruit, constituted the daily diet. Potatoes were unknown, but pinole was plentiful. Wild strawberries were numerous about the coast, and honey was procured from wild bees.
The Californians were not without their native manufactures, and they did not, as is generally supposed, rely altogether upon the slaughter of cattle and the sale of hides and tallow. The missiona- ries had taught them the cultivation of the grape and manufacture of wine. Hemp, flax, cotton and tobacco were grown in small quanti- ties. Soap, leather, oil, brandy, wool, salt, soda, harness, saddles, wagons, blankets, etc., were manufactured. Wheat was even then an article of export and sold to Russian vessels. A church historian has said, that to such perfection had even the Indians attained in the manufacture of these articles in the missions, that "some of them were eagerly sought for and purchased in the principal capitals of Europe ;" but, if this were really the case, no doubt the circumstances of their production and the country from which they came, made them objects of very great curiosity.
Among those who carried on manufacturing in California was José Maria Amador, at his well-known rancho, in Amador Valley, and his adobe work-shops are still extant, but used for a different purpose.
There were occasional political troubles, but these did not much interfere with the profound quiet into which the people had settled. The change from a monarchy to a republic scarcely produced a ripple. The invasion of the Americans did not stir them very profoundly ; and if their domains had not been invaded, their lands seized, their cattle stolen, their wood cut and carried off, and their taxes increased, no doubt they would have continued in their once self-satisfied state to the present day. But they received such a shock in their slum- bers that they, too, like their predecessors, the Indians, are rapidly passing away.
Whether the rude and unjust treatment they have received at the hands of the new-comers, or that the band of Mexican cut-throats
46
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
imported by Micheltorena in 1842, as soldiers, have bred a race of thieves and vagabonds, will not be here determined ; but, certainly, the Mexican population of California has produced, since the Ameri- can occupation, a large number of dangerous and very troublesome criminals. Our own county has had its full share of them, but now, happily, owing to the exertions of intrepid officers, they have been extirpated. Horse and cattle-stealing was their great weakness.
47
UNDER MEXICAN RULE.
STARKWEATHER & SON,
IMPORTERS OF
Carpets and Oil Cloths
Offer to the citizens of Oakland and Alameda County the largest and most attractive stock of
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