Читать книгу History of the State of California - Frost John - Страница 4

FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO

The first establishment of the Spaniards in California, was made by the Jesuits, in November, 1697. The settlement was called Loreto, and founded on the eastern side of the peninsula, about two hundred miles from the Pacific. On entering California, the Jesuits encountered the same obstacles which had before prevented a settlement of the country. The land was so sterile, that it scarcely yielded sustenance to the most industrious tiller, and as the settlements were all located near the sea, fishing was the resource of the settlers to make up the deficiency of food. The natives continued hostile, and killed several of the Jesuit fathers. By perseverance and kindness, the Jesuits overcame all the obstacles with which they met, and within sixty years after their entrance into California, they had established sixteen missions, extending along the eastern side of the peninsula, from Cape San Lucas to the head of the gulf. Each of these establishments consisted of a church, a fort, garrisoned by a few soldiers, and some stores and dwelling-houses, all under the control of the resident Jesuit father. Each of the missions formed the centre of a district containing several villages of converted Indians. None of the Jesuits visited the western coast of the peninsula except on one occasion, in 1716.

Great exertions were made by the settlers to acquire a knowledge of the geography, natural history and languages of the peninsula, and they appear to have been generally successful. The result of their researches were published in Madrid, in 1757, and the work was entitled a "History of California." They surveyed the whole coast of the Gulf of California, and, in 1709, Father Kuhn, one of the Jesuit fathers, ascertained beyond doubt the connection of the peninsula with the continent, which had been denied for a century. But all the labors of the Jesuits were brought to an end in 1767. In that year, Charles III. of Spain, issued a decree, banishing members of that order from the Spanish territories; and a strong military force, under command of Don Gasper de Portola, was despatched to California, and soon put an end to the rule of the Jesuits by tearing them from their converts.

The Spanish government did not intend to abandon California. The peninsula immediately became a province of Mexico, and was provided with a civil and military government, subordinate to the viceroy of that country. The mission fell under the rule of the Dominicans, and from their mode of treatment, most of the converts soon returned to their former state of barbarism. The Spaniards soon formed establishments on the western side of the peninsula. In the spring of 1769, a number of settlers, with some soldiers and Franciscan friars, marched through the peninsula towards San Diego. They reached the bay of San Diego after a toilsome journey, and the settlement on the shore of the bay was begun in the middle of May, 1769. An attempt was made, soon after, to establish a colony at Port Monterey; but the party under Portola that went in search of the place, passed further on to the bay of San Francisco, and could not retrace their steps before the cold weather set in, and they then returned to San Diego. The people left at San Diego had been several times attacked by the natives, and after the return of Portola's party they almost perished for want of food. But a supply arrived on the very day upon which they had agreed to abandon the place and return to Mexico. Portola again set out for Monterey, and there effected a settlement. Parties of emigrants from Mexico came to the western shore of California during the year 1770, and establishments were made on the coast between San Diego and Monterey. The multiplication of their cattle, independent of the fruits of agricultural labor, before 1775, made the settlers of Upper California able to resist the perils to which their situation exposed them.

In order to give efficiency to the operations on the western coast of North America, the Spanish government selected the port of San Blas, in Mexico, at the entrance of the Gulf of California, for the establishment of arsenals, ship-yards and warehouses, and made it the centre of all operations undertaken in that quarter. A marine department was created for the special purpose of advancing the interests of the Spaniards in the settlement of the western shore of California. By the energy displayed in managing this department the Spaniards succeeded in making eight establishments on the Pacific coast between the California peninsula and Cape Mendocino, before 1779. The most southern post was San Diego, and the most northern, San Francisco, on the great bay of the same name. The establishments were almost entirely military and missionary, the object of the Spaniards being solely the occupation of the country. The missions were under the control of the Franciscans, who, unlike the Jesuits, took little care to exert themselves in procuring information concerning the country in which they were established.

Various expeditions for exploring the coast of Upper California above Cape Mendocino, were made by the Spaniards. One of these proceeded as far north as the latitude of 41 degrees, and some men were landed on the shores of a small bay, just beyond Cape Mendocino, and gave the harbor the name of Port Trinidad. The small river which flows into the Pacific near the place where they landed was called Pigeon River, from the great number of those birds in the neighborhood of it. The Indians appeared to be a peaceable and industrious race, and conducted themselves towards the Spaniards in the most inoffensive manner. In the same year, 1775, Bodega, a Spanish commander, returning from a voyage extended as far north as the 58th degree of latitude, discovered a small bay which had not previously been described, and he accordingly gave it his own name, which it still retains. This Bay of Bodega is situated a little north of the 38th degree of latitude.

Few events worth recording occurred in California, during the whole period of fifty years, from the first establishment of the Spaniards on the western coast till the termination of the Mexican war of independence. An attempt of the Russians to form a settlement on the shores of the Bay of Bodega, in 1815, was met with a remonstrance from the governor of California. The remonstrance of the governor was disregarded, and his commands to quit the place disobeyed. The Russian agent, Kushof, denied the right of the Spaniards to the territory, and the governor being unable to enforce his commands, the intruders kept possession of the ground until 1840, when they left of their own accord.