San Diego County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter III At The Presidio, Under Spanish Rule 1922 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 19, 2007, 7:24 pm Book Title: City Of Sandiego And San Diego County CHAPTER III AT THE PRESIDIO, UNDER SPANISH RULE San Diego for more than half a century was just a little settlement within the walls of the presidio, established on a hill overlooking the flats and part of Mission Valley. Most of this time the garrison was pitifully small, the times were monotonously uneventful. San Diego was isolated, apart from the rest of the world, with many miles between it and the next military establishment in upper California. Even the mission was largely something outside the life of those who lived on the shores of San Diego Bay. The Mission Fathers and their Indian charges came and went, but the mission itself after the first few years was far up the valley and between it and the presidio were the Indians, never trusted very much, even when the newcomers increased in number, and even those who had little ranches nearby, within call of the presidio, took care always to provide protection for themselves in the shape of weapons. The presidio itself occupied only small space, around which at first was a rough wooden stockade, then, in later times, a high wall built of adobe-a weak structure at best, but doubtless enough to awe the ignorant savages. Inside were a few small buildings, the quarters of the commandant, a little chapel, guardhouse, quarters for the small force of officers and men, storehouses, and so on. The presidio was abandoned about 1835 or 1836, under Mexican rule. The Spanish garrison itself was never formidable, especially when compared with troops of later years. Sometimes, it seems, the officers "had trouble with their men, and it is no wonder, for a more monotonous and less interesting life for a man of action and ambition it would "be hard to imagine. Of course in later years these conditions changed to some extent. But as a military establishment it was insignificant; it was so far from the entrance to the harbor that a hostile vessel could have come in and landed soldiers without the slightest interference. If any other power had wished to take the port from Spain the seizure could have been accomplished with a small force and with almost no difficulty of a military nature. George Vancouver, the English navigator, saw this at a glance when he sailed into San Diego harbor on his discovery in 1793, and he wrote his impressions «down very frankly, directing attention to the fact that Spain's hold on this part of the new world was so weak as to excite wonder. The presido at San Diego, he continued, seemed to be the least important of all the Spanish establishments and with its small garrison, far from the entrance to the harbor and with its puny battery of three small guns, was of ridiculously small importance. The Spanish a few months later went leisurely to work on a fort at Ballast Point, then called Point Guijarros, but the easy life of garrison duty seems to have become such a habit that the fort was not completed for several years; and when it was finished it amounted to little under Spanish rule. Anyway, there was never any serious occasion for its use, and on the first occasion when the Spanish soldiers did use the guns, except possibly for a salute, they staged a nice little comic-opera affair-serious enough at the time, no doubt, but laughable in view of the little damage done. This affair was that of the Lelia Byrd, among the first of the Yankee trading ships, captained by shrewd, two-fisted rovers of the sea who brought out cargoes of various kinds to exchange for what could be found in the market. In this section barter was made principally in those days for fur of the sea otter, which then ran thick on the coast. Their furs the Spanish commanders did not want sold to any Yankees; they were for Spanish trade; yet the ingenious Yankee traders soon found it was easy to slip by and bargain quietly with fur-owners. This practice had aroused the suspicions of the San Diego commandant, and when the Lelia Byrd shoved her nose past the point in March, 1803, the Spanish officer wasted little time in paying a visit to her commander, Capt. William Shaler. Did the captain need supplies? Yes; well, then he should have them on proper terms, but there was to be no trading for otter skins or anything else, and he, the commandant, would leave a guard of five men to see that his instructions were carried out. There would be no fooling with him. What is more, he left the guard to see that the Lelia Byrd obeyed orders. And with that he pompously departed for his headquarters, doubtless with all the dignity of a commander-in-chief of a great army. That, however, is only the beginning of the story. For Captain Shaler and his mate, Richard J. Cleveland, who, by the way. was a relative of Daniel Cleveland, well known San Diego pioneer, had not come to the Pacific to take a course of lectures from Spanish commandants. They had come to trade-by open means if possible, but, anyway, to trade. And the crew was of the same kind of American traders. Numbers of the crew had got a hint indeed that if a boat was sent discreetly to shore the Yankees would be able to get some of those highly prized otter skins. So when night fell and the time for discreet deeds was at hand, a boat put off for skins. It got them. A second boat did not return, the Spanish commandant and some of his trusty soldiers having captured the crew and left them, tied hand and foot on the beach, under guard. The next day Captain Shaler sent a party ashore and his men soon persuaded the Spanish guard standing on the beach that it was not healthful thus to hold free-born Americans who believed in their flag and own ability. The Spanish soldiers gave up their guns, the American prisoners were unbound, and all hands sped for the good ship, Lelia Byrd. Then it was up with the sails and off from San Diego. The dignity of the Spanish commandant, however, had received a fearful blow, and he and his soldiers sped for Fort Guijarros on the point to see that the Lelia Byrd was punished with such severity as befitted the case. Should any captain of the Americans get away with such an insult unavenged? No, never! Not by a jug of the finest wine from old Spain! By horse and foot the commandant, soldiers and villagers raced to the point while the Americans wore blisters on their rough hands trying to make a record departure with the Lelia Byrd. Finally anchor and sails were up and the ship had started. Bang! went one of the little nine-pounders from the fort. It was a blank for warning. Then came a solid shot, the real article of warfare. On raced the Lelia Byrd in the light breeze, and as she neared the fort at the narrows the Americans, who long ago had disarmed the Spanish guard which had been put aboard, stationed the unfortunate and badly scared Spaniards in a very exposed position. As the Lelia Byrd sped down the narrow channel the Spaniards aboard lustily pleaded by sign and voice to their compatriots ashore to desist from further bombardment. Yet the Spanish guns kept it up and did some damage to sail and hull of the American vessel. On the other hand, as soon as Captain Shaler's good ship was near enough for his six small guns to do some execution, he let go with a broadside. As the echoes rattled off Point Loma and racketed across the waters of the otherwise placid bay, the Spanish garrison began a hasty retreat from the fort. A second broadside from the Lelia Byrd sent them all out except one daring individual who stood and waved his hat. Perhaps he was the proud commandant. At any rate, the Lelia Byrd got away without blood staining her deck, and as soon as she was outside her officers put the Spanish guard ashore. And the Spaniards were so glad to escape that they gave a little cheer, wishing long life to the bold Americanos. Ah, that was a day to talk about! Indeed, there was little else to talk about for a long time, as other arrivals were few at San Diego in the next few years. One a year was a great event. Capt. Joseph O'Cain came here on his trading vessel, the O'Cain, in 1804, but the visit was without any special incident. No vessel seems to have put into the harbor in 1805. In 1806, as a result of the strict regulations governing trade with foreign ships, four American sailors who had put ashore from Captain Kimball's Peacock at San Juan Capistrano, were arrested by the Spaniards and were imprisoned for a time in San Diego. Captain O'Cain appears to have come here in another ship, threatening to destroy the fort and presidio. He did not do it, however, and sailed away. Thereafter for several years affairs at San Diego were very, very quiet. Mexico began to slip from Spain's grasp. The presidio began to fall into a state of decay. Only about fifty soldiers were kept there most of the time. From 1809 to 1827, except for a few short periods, Francisco Maria Ruiz was actually commandant of the port, part of the time as acting commandant. In much of that period the struggle for Mexican independence from Spain was going on, but little news of this came to San Diego. The establishment apparently was loyal to Spain. The soldiers, however, were a sorry outfit. They were paid at rare intervals, their clothing often was ragged and they had to scheme carefully to get food enough. The mission gave what it could, accepting Spanish treasury orders which could not have been very highly regarded, as promises of pay. There were few occurrences of any importance for many a long year. One which caused much anxiety was the visit of Capt. Hippolyte Bouchard to the California coast in 1818 with two vessels which he had fitted out as Buenos Ayres privateers in an effort to harrass Spain. Bouchard actually did appear at San Juan Capistrano and much of the church property was removed from the mission to prevent its loss to him. Also troops were sent up to meet him, but Bouchard withdrew. From San Diego women and children were removed for safety, and preparations were made to give battle, but Bouchard's privateers stayed away from the port. With the decay of the presidio the settlement spread down below its walls on the more level ground of what is now Old Town. Smythe says it seems likely that the first of these little structures was the home of Captain Ruiz, who has been mentioned already, ft was in the section known as "Rose's Garden," so-called because Ruiz planted a number of pears, olives and pomegranates, the trees bearing fruit for many years. Other soldiers seem to have had little "farms" or "rancherias," but in an agricultural way the settlement at the old town at San Diego never amounted to much. Its commercial importance was based not on sales of fruits or grains, but of cattle hides, trade in which reached amazingly large proportions as the years went on. The Mission Fathers had realized the importance of cattle-raising and made much of it, using the vast expanses of grazing land under their control to fine advantage. The pasturage all about San Diego was excellent, the cattle were easy to breed and raise in the mild climate, and herds grew with astonishing rapidity. The military went into the business, and so did private individuals, and the industry developed with a rush. Then ships began to come for the hides. One, the Sachem, came from Boston to the coast in 1822 and although she did not stop at San Diego, the word went out that at San Diego there could be had many hides, and trade in them was soon brisk. It continued for many years. Several warehouses were built by the hide traders at La Playa. There were four standing there in 1836, when Richard Henry Dana, famous writer of "Two Years Before the Mast," visited San Diego. Among the American vessels which came here in the hide trade in the early days were such famous old craft as the Arab, Mentor, Sachem, Rover, Andes, Courier, Franklin, Brookline, Louisa, Alert, which made yearly trips from 1831 to 1844: Tasse, Barnstable and more than a dozen others. Several San Francisco firms were engaged in this trade, and Henry D. Fitch, who became a merchant at San Diego, was a member of one of those firms. Alfred Robinson who later wrote "Life in California," came here in 1829 on the Brookline and got impressions of the place which were very interesting. Naturally enough as the cattle and hide industry grew in importance, those at and near San Diego began to look for more land on which cattle could be raised and fed. By 1820 valuable grants were made to private individuals, beginning with veteran and invalid soldiers, and by 1834 the practice of granting lands included in the mission holdings had started. This continued with great liberality up to the time California was taken by the United States in 1846. The whaling trade in the Pacific also left its mark at San Diego, but its rise started much later. Spain's power in Mexico had gone by 1822 and on April 20 of the year the Spanish flag was hauled down. It appears that the ceremony in which it was supplanted by the Mexican colors in San Diego was a simple one. The little establishment was far away from the scene of turbulence. The people here were not greatly concerned over the change and they accepted the beginning of Mexican rule without any signs of great excitement. Additional Comments: CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY THE BIRTHPLACE OF CALIFORNIA BY CLARENCE ALAN McGREW SAN DIEGO Assisted by a Board of Advisory and Contributing Editors WITH SELECTED BIOGRAPHY OF ACTORS AND WITNESSES IN THE PERIOD OF THE CITY AND COUNTY'S GREATEST GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT VOLUME I ILLUSTRATED THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1922 Copyright 1922 The American Historical Society File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/sandiego/history/1922/cityofsa/chapteri262gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 14.2 Kb