Los Angeles County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter 2 The Coming Of The Spaniards 1927
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 7, 2009, 7:32 pm

Book Title: History Of Monrovia

CHAPTER II
THE COMING OF THE SPANIARDS

NOT the least important among the favors enjoyed by this wonderful State is its
beautiful name. The origin of the word "California" is veiled in doubt, although
a very attractive theory is generally accepted.

  About the time Columbus discovered America, a Spanish romance, entitled "Las
Sergas de Esplandian" ("The Deeds of Esplandian"), written by Garci Ordonez de
Montalvo, enjoyed a tremendous popularity. This work described a race of Amazons
living upon a small island near Africa, called "California." It was rich in
precious metals and rare gems and was governed by Calafia, a militant queen, who
possessed as a part of her military strength, a great number of griffins. She
led her warlike sisters first against Esplandian and then with him.

  Columbus and other New World navigators constantly reported hearing of islands
populated by women alone. When Cortez discovered the point of Lower California,
he reported the presence of an island abounding in gold, silver and precious
gems and peopled by beautiful women who employed griffins in their military
exploits. At first Lower California and all of the surrounding islands were
known a9 "The Californias," the name being used in the plural. This name was
applied to them a few years after their discovery, and it is presumed that those
who were responsible for the christening had in mind the island of the famous
work of fiction.

  Though the settlement of California began in 1769, the history of the State
began with the activities of Fernando Cortez, the Conqueror of Mexico, after he
had established a base at Acapulco, on the west coast of the country. His first
expedition of discovery in 1532 ended disastrously with the loss of all on
board, but the second expedition under the command of Fortun Jiminez in 1533
discovered the point of Lower California.

  At this time it was commonly believed by all Europe that there was a northwest
passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, as the width of North America
was not suspected. This mythical passage was known as the "Strait of Anian" and
was sought by the explorers of all the European nations seeking interests in the
New World, as its discovery would give a tremendous advantage to the country
making it. Most of the explorations made were inspired by the hope of finding
this route.

CABRILLO

  On June 27, 1542, Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator, flying the
flag of Spain, sailed with two ships from Navidad, Mexico (then known as New
Spain), and on September 28 of the same year discovered San Diego Bay. On
October 7, he reached Catalina Island; on October 8, San Pedro Bay; October 9,
Santa Monica; on October 10, Ventura, and on October 18, Point Conception. He
cruised along the coast to Fort Ross without seeing the Bays of Monterey, San
Francisco or Drake's.

THE FOUNDING OF THE MISSIONS

  In 1769 the great expedition which initiated a settlement in California and
the founding of the missions was organized by Jose de Galvez, visitador of
Mexico. Gasper de Portola was in command and was to remain as governor of the
new province. Father Junipero Serra accompanied him as father president of the
new missions to be founded in California. There were two expeditions by land and
two by sea, the vessels taking a cargo of church ornaments, agricultural tools,
seeds, provisions and livestock.

  In the expedition besides Governor Portola and Father Serra, were Vincenta
Villa, commander of the San Carlos, Lieutenant Pedro Fages, Miguel Costanso,
Juan Perez, commander of the San Antonio, Captain Fernando de Rivera y Moncado,
Sergeant Francisco de Ortega, a number of soldiers and Lower California Indians.

  The San Antonio was the first to reach San Diego, arriving April 11, 1769. The
others arrived between then and July 1, when Portola appeared. The first mission
in California was founded at San Diego, July 16, 1769.

  On July 14, Governor Portola with a company set out overland for Monterey, but
owing to the miscalculation of latitude by Vizcaino, they did not succeed in
finding the port; however, Sergeant Ortega and a detachment of men discovered
the Bay of San Francisco. They all returned to San Diego on January 24, 1770,
after experiencing great hardship from want of food.

  It was upon this expedition that Los Angeles received its name. Governor
Portola and his party reached the site of the City of Los Angeles, August 2,
1769. In the Catholic calendar this is the day on which is held the feast to Our
Lady, the Queen of the Angels, which is the translation from the Spanish of
Nuestra Sonora, La Reina de Los Angeles. The party camped at this point and
celebrated the feast and Governor Portola gave that long and sonorous name to
the camping ground which adhered when the pueblo was started. In common usage it
was naturally abbreviated to Los Angeles.

  On September 8, 1771, the San Gabriel Mission was founded. It was first
located about eleven miles east of the City of Los Angeles and later rebuilt in
its present place at the City of San Gabriel. This was one of the most
prosperous Missions of the entire system as it was located in a marvel-ously
rich valley with plenty of water for irrigation. Its greatest period of
prosperity was enjoyed under the severe rule of Father Jose Maria Zalvadea. He
was an efficiency expert who put all of the work under strict management and
exacted the full measure of labor of all, including himself.

  He erected the first mill to be built in the State which for many years was
the only one. It is famous in history as "The Old Mill" or better known to the
early Californians by the name of "El Molino Viejo."

  Hugo Reid, previously quoted, in describing the Indian's first introduction to
the White Man, says:

  "The Indians were sadly afraid when they saw the Spaniards coming on
horseback. Thinking them gods, the; women ran to the brush, and hid themselves,
while the men put out the fires in their huts. They remained still more
impressed with this idea, when they saw one of their guests take a flint, strike
fire and commence smoking, never having seen it produced in this simple fashion
before. An occurrence, however, soon convinced them that their strange visitors
were, like themselves, mortals, for one of the Spaniards leveled his musket at a
bird and killed it. Although greatly terrified at the report of the piece, yet
the effect produced by this taking of life led them to reason, and deduced the
impossibility of the 'Giver of Life' to murder animals as they themselves did,
with bows and arrows. They consequently put them down as human beings, 'of a
nasty white color, and having ugly blue eyes.' This party was a small one and
soon left. Having offered no violence they were in consequence not disliked. The
Indians gave them the name of Chichinabros or reasonable beings. It is a fact
worthy of notice that on becoming acquainted with the tools and instruments of
steel used by the Spaniards, they were likewise named Chichinabros, which showed
the estimation in which they held their conquerors.

  "The whites made them a number of presents prior to using any means to convert
them; the presents were never refused, but only those consisting of goods were
put to any use whatever. All kinds and classes of foods and eatables were
rejected and held in abhorrence. Instead, therefore, of partaking of them, they
were buried secretly in the woods. Two old Indians, not long since dead, related
to me the circumstance of having once assisted, when boys, in interring a
quantity of frijol and Indian corn just received from the whites. Some length of
time afterward, being out in the woods amusing themselves, they came to the
place where these articles had been deposited. Their surprise knew no bounds to
now behold an infinity of stalks and plants unknown to them, protruding through
the earth which covered the seed. They communicated the fact at home; their
story was verified by others, and the wizards duly pronounced the whites
'witchcrafts.' "

  Tradition closely associates the construction of the San Gabriel Mission with
the Monrovia Canyon, it being generally claimed that much of the timber and rock
used in construction by the Mission Fathers was taken from this canyon. Sawpit
Canyon, as it was then known, was so-called because of a large pit below Emerson
flats where one sawer would stand and assist another one standing on the surface
to operate a large saw. In this manner the big logs were sawed into lumber of
usable size and dimension.

  Parts of the district now in the city limits were probably traversed in
1774-5-6 by an expedition that might have been one of the most important in the
history of California, only fate blotted out its possible achievements.
  But even so, famous in the annals of early California are the two expeditions
made overland by Juan Bautista de Anza, from Sonora, one in 1774 and the other
with a large amount of live stock in 1775-6. These were the first overland trips
ever made by the eastern route from Mexico and might have added greatly to their
facilities for colonization had it not been for the mission massacres on July 17
and 18, 1781, at the junction of the Gila and the Colorado rivers, in which all
of the whites at the mission were killed, including General Rivera and a company
of soldiers. This catastrophe discouraged that route and it was rarely used
again until the discovery of gold in 1848.

  The importance of these expeditions arose from the fact that the voyage from
Mexico to California was a very hazardous one for the frail boats then in use,
and an easy overland route would have opened the way for a speedy colonization.

  These two expeditions traversed the San Gabriel Valley and made their first
stop at the San Gabriel Mission which gave the sick and hungry travelers a warm
and plentiful welcome. We may well imagine that the doughty Captain gazed with
admiration upon the wooded foothills, later to be the seat of our beautiful city.

  In 1826 the environs of Monrovia were the camping ground of the famous
trapper, Jedediah S. Smith, who upon leaving San Gabriel Mission where he was
entertained for some weeks by the generous padres, pitched his tent the first
night a few miles northeast of the Mission. While Smith was a militant'
Protestant of great religious learning and zeal, he spoke most highly of the
Mission Fathers who, he said, were good judges of wine and never asked
embarrassing questions.

  While the Missions and Mission history is now the delight of the eager
tourist, the period is compelled to divide its glory with the pastoral age of
California in the eyes of the poet, the artist and the novelist.

  California enjoys a distinction unique in the history of the United States,
and poets, painters and writers of fiction are fond of telling the story each in
his own way. The Golden Age of California is not the Age of Gold, but the age of
moral and spiritual contentment. The conditions during this period produced but
little else and in fact it could not be otherwise. To see the beauty of this
age, it should not be viewed with the eye of an economic analyst but with the
eye of a pastoral poet.

  This age began about 1780 when the missions began to thrive, and endured until
the American occupation, although after the Mexican revolution this happy state
was more or less marred by political ambitions and mimic warfare.

  During this period of languorous ease, the presidios were the seats of gay
life. The yearly boats from San Bias, Mexico, brought them supplies and the
missions supplied them with fresh vegetables and other necessities. The country
soon became filled with cattle which could be slaughtered by anyone in need,
even without asking permission, providing the hide was left where the owner
could get it. The Indians did all of the work and there was nothing for the
white people to do but to enjoy life and this they did with the zest of a
schoolboy starting upon his vacation. The property that was produced either by
the missions, the ranchos, or the presidios, could not be lawfully disposed of
to foreign trade under the Spanish law, and there was nothing to inspire
production beyond their immediate needs, hence there was no feverish haste in
the marts of trade, no long hours laboring over bewildering accounts and no
vaulting ambition to amass wealth. There was no wealth and no poverty, but there
was abundance on all hands.

  Both the boys and girls grew up on a horse and were expert riders. This
outdoor life reared a race of handsome men and women. The finest horses in the
world were possessed by these young caballeros, many of which were raised at the
San Antonio Mission. The daily life of these young people was filled with
romance and romantic adventure. The violin, the guitar, the fandango, the song
and the chase were the breath of life to them. They were punctual to Sunday
morning service and punctual to the dance in the afternoon and evening.

  Bancroft says of the young Californian: "He was graceful of figure when
mounted. He was gallant, chivalrously courteous, frank and good natured. He
lived for the enjoyment of the hour, in reverie or sport, rejoicing in
bull-fighting and bear-baiting, eager for the chase as for the fandango, and
sustained the flagging excitement with gambling, winning or losing with an
imperturbability little in accord with his usual nature."

  The Californians had a pretty custom at the dance. In the middle of each
number the music would stop and each gallant would express to his partner the
pleasure he experienced in dancing with her and it was usually expressed in
verse, frequently improvised. While the verse might not please a literary
critic, it probably did the senorita.

  There was no education except the education of native wit. They could not read
or write, and accomplishment consisted of vivacity in discourse, grace in
dancing and skill in music.

  A high degree of honesty prevailed; robbery and assassination were unheard of,
blasphemy was rare and the defaulter was unknown. Sea captains would sell goods
along the coast and return in a year or more to receive pay in produce and were
never disappointed.

  A great spirit of comraderie existed. It was no uncommon thing for a group
when leaving church to stop at the nearest rancho and spend the night in song
and dancing. All of the women would go into the kitchen with the same liberty
they would go about their own homes. Strangers were always welcome to the
ranchos and were entertained lavishly. There was always money left in the guest
chamber for the stranger to take if he were in need, and a fresh horse was
always ready for him if it were needed. The missions also entertained with a
free hand.  Guests were few and were appreciated.

  There were no stables for the horses, they being allowed to graze at will with
a long rope attached to them. At times the country became so filled with horses
that they threatened the supply of grass for the cattle and they were
slaughtered by the wholesale. When riding a great distance, a rider might feel
at liberty to exchange horses along the road as often as was necessary until he
reached his destination.

  While the country was filled with cattle, milk and butter were rare, as the
cows were wild. It required the services of more men to milk a cow than to
saddle an "outlaw" broncho. It was more like performing a surgical operation
than doing a household chore. As a result, there was little milk.

FROM SECULARIZATION OF MISSIONS TO 1850

  It was the original purpose of the founders of the missions to secularize them
at the expiration of ten years from the date of their founding. This would
consist of releasing all temporal power over the Indians and operating the
church as any other church was operated. The friars were supposed to go on to
other missions and priests would take charge of the secularized mission. This
policy was hypothecated upon the assumption that the Indians would be
sufficiently self-supporting after ten years' instruction and discipline, that
they could be allowed independence of action. However, the padres in charge of
the missions knew the Indians were as mere children and not at all capable of
supporting themselves in competition with the white man and the missions were
not secularized until Mexico established independence. The peremptory order of
secularization arrived from the Mexican government in 1834 and was put into
effect. This was the beginning of a rather rapid decline and the Indian either
returned to his former wild life or fell into the ways of the dissipated white
race.

  The passing of the missions saw an extension of ranch life and in 1850 when
the State was admitted into the Union there was still but a scattering of homes.
A great deal of the land had been disposed of by land grant, either from the
Spanish sovereign during his years of power, or by the Mexican government after
it had gained its independence.

  The principal industry was the raising of cattle and horses and the San
Gabriel Valley was covered with large herds, with but a scattering of fields of
grain. The shipping of hides and tallow was one of the major industries. San
Pedro was a busy point, as in 1849 it had seen its first coastwise steamer.

THE COUNTRY SURROUNDING MONROVIA

  One standing on a high elevation of what is now Monrovia would then look down
upon a number of extensive ranches which had been but little touched by
cultivation. The Santa Anita Rancho and the Azusa de Duarte Rancho met at a line
now marked by Norumbega Drive, with that line extended southwestward to a point
south of the present city limits. South of those two grants lay the Rancho San
Francisquito. Across the San Gabriel, and to the east, lay the fertile acres of
La Puente Rancho of 48,790 acres. As one goes eastward to Pomona he traverses in
order, Los Nogales Ranchito of 500 acres, San Jose de Palomares Rancho of 22,720
acres, and east of that, enclosing the beautiful Pomona, lay the great Dalton,
Palomares and Vejar Ranchos. The Azusa de Duarte was a small ranch of 4,000
acres which extended from the foothills to and including the City of Azusa on
the south and to the San Gabriel River on the east.

  The land in those grants embracing much of the San Gabriel Valley from
Monrovia to Pomona was principally a cattle range, while now it is a second
Garden of Eden with an unexcelled fertility which produces yearly in lavish
abundance, and presents a vision of most enchanting beauty to the motorist who
drives along its roads which are paved like a city street, and beholds the
golden fruit and the waxen orange blossoms gracing the same tree and scenting
the air with a delicious perfume.

  As the eye looked westward from its vantage point on a Monrovia height, the
Santa Anita Rancho fell beneath its vision, and revealed a spot of rare charm
whose name was destined to become familiar to the ears of every lover of horses
and every follower of the turf, through the activities of E. J. Baldwin, known
the world over as "Lucky Baldwin."

  This rancho reached to the foothills and upon the northern slope of it is now
the thriving little city of Sierra Madre. To the west lay the San Pasqual rancho
upon which now stands the Crown City of the Valley, Pasadena—a beautiful section
now adorned with luxurious homes, but which was then a wild and wooded country.

  At that time the horticultural charm of the valley was exemplified by the
luxuriant growth that graced the San Gabriel Mission estates. When Padre
Zalvadea took charge of the Mission nearly fifty years before Admission Day he
piped water to the grounds and developed a luxuriant profusion of trees and
vines which cast prophetic shadows of great prosperity into the future by
spreading before seeing eyes a picture of what the valley could do with
irrigation and cultivation.

  On Admission Day, the City of Los Angeles was a small village of but 2,000
people. That Fall there were but 337 votes cast in the county election.

  Many changes took place from Admission Day in 1850 until the founding of
Monrovia in 1886. Yet those changes were not startling in their extent. A few
more settlers had come, and the big ranches were being cut up into smaller
ranches. Pasadena had gotten a feeble start and was then a struggling settlement
of small tracts.

  An unprecedented drought and an unprecedented flood in the sixties, even in
their destructive forces, proved to be active agencies in settling the country.
Previous to those epochal events the San Gabriel Valley was covered with
tremendous herds and a thriving business in hides and tallow was carried on. So
easy did this prosperity come, that the large ranch owners were averse to
selling any portion of their ranches for intensive cultivation. But the drought
came and starved the great herds. So destructive was this decimating force that
the blanching bones of the herds turned the valley into a great charnal house.
Also thousands of heads of cattle lost their lives in a flood that poured from
the heavens in a continuous stream for thirty days.

  The ranchers who had been in great opulence, suddenly found themselves poor.
Their return to prosperity would call for the patient rebuilding of their herds,
or an intensive cultivation of the soil. As neither alternative appealed to
their pleasure loving dispositions, they broke up their ranches into smaller
portions and thus settlement got its opportunity.

SAN GABRIEL CANYON GOLD MINES

  It is a matter almost forgotten in local history that while the gold rush was
at its height in the northern part of the State, great quantities of the rich
metal were being taken from the river bed of the San Gabriel River canyon, and a
little later, when the mining became a little less productive in the north, this
section became a busy and thriving field where hundreds of miners returning from
the north were employed for a number of years.

  It is of record that in 1846, between two and three years before the eccentric
John W. Marshall set the world aflame with his great discovery at Coloma on the
American River, Don Abel Stearns, a Los Angeles merchant, purchased gold from
the miners in the San Gabriel valley and shipped it to the mint at Philadelphia.
There is every reason to believe that the padres at the San Gabriel Mission were
convinced that there was rich gold bearing sand in this locality, because as
early as 1852 they induced a number of those who were hastening to the rich
mines near Coloma, to try their luck in the San Gabriel River canyon. These
prospectors worked these mines successfully during the Summer and Fall until the
heavy rains rendered river-bed mining impossible by the primitive methods then
in use. They then abandoned the San Gabriel River canyon for the greater promise
of the northern fields, but returned again in 1858 and renewed operations. Other
miners drifting around the country were soon attracted to this spot, and from
that date until 1870 there were from four hundred to six hundred miners at work
on the gravel beds of the canyon. When the season made such mining practical,
they worked the river beds, and during the rainy season worked the gravel banks
that were not subject to overflow. In this manner of operation, their employment
was continuous throughout the year. This work flourished until 1870 when most of
the workers were stampeded to another rich "find" in Arizona.

  It is estimated that during these two years, three million dollars were taken
from the sands and even when abandoned, they were yielding a prosperous return,
but the great lure of sudden gains sent the doughty adventurers flying across
country with their picks, in search of richer fields.

  But little mining operations were carried on in the canyon from 1870 until
1888 when a new interest was aroused. Jacob and Henry Defty, two experienced
miners, interested English capital in these fields and organized a corporation
with one million dollars capital for the purpose of working the field in a more
systematic manner and according to more modern methods. They erected a stamp
mill about four and a half miles from Azusa, and established a camp about three
miles up the canyon where they erected a hundred horse-power water wheel and
built a dam and flume.

  In addition to gold, much silver was found in the canyon, being first
discovered by a Mexican named Fran Zapata. He discovered a number of nuggets of
pure silver weighing as much as two ounces, whereupon he prospected for the
ledge and found it. His mine was christened the Zapata mine.

  The English syndicate organized by the Defty brothers made a few shipments of
lead and silver, but the venture never proved financially successful.

  From time to time since then, more or less desultory operations have been
carried on, and in the dry seasons even yet, men are found scratching around
here and there, sometimes making a meagre living, but no quantities of the metal
have been discovered since the abandonment of the work in 1870. Now and then a
man will run a tunnel or sink a shaft and perhaps find a few nuggets, but the
work has not been systematized or made profitable. In most places there is too
much soil to be removed in reaching bedrock to make the work profitable. Many
points in the foothills around Monrovia have yielded gold in small quantities,
but the ground is very pockety and not a consistent producer.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

History of MONROVIA
By JOHN L. WILEY
ILLUSTRATED

1927
PRESS OF PASADENA STAR-NEWS PASADENA, CALIFORNIA


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/losangeles/history/1927/historyo/chapter2526nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/

File size: 26.1 Kb