San Diego County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter VII Picturesque Old Town 1922
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Book Title: City Of San Diego And San Diego County

CHAPTER VII
PICTURESQUE OLD TOWN

    From the present-day aspect of "Old Town," the birthplace of San Diego, it
is hard to realize that ever, in this drowsy suburb of the modern city, the
gayety and animation, the zest of living and the romance of Spanish California
days held sway. Yet the records of many travelers show that San Diego was once
among the liveliest, of the California towns, a center of amusement and
hospitality for all the territory between Los Angeles and Real del Castillo,
Baja California.

    The history of those early days shows that San Diego occupied a position of
considerable political and social importance in California life, and there is
ample evidence that Old Town had its share of all that was gay and picturesque
in the Spanish regime which forms the most colorful chapter in California's
history.
    Indeed, there are some San Diegans yet living who recall incidents and
customs as picturesque as any chronicled by the California historians of other
parts.

    It is interesting, therefore, to attempt to reconstruct the Old Town -the
San Diego-of the later days of California regime and the early period of
American colonization.

    San Diego was larger, more important and more lively after the Mexican war
than it had been under the Mexican or Californian rule which just preceded. At
that time-in the '50s and '60s-the social relations between the enterprising
Americans and the best California families were pleasant, while in the homes of
many of the Americans the customs of life were much the same as in the homes of
the better class of Californian families. The intermingling of the nationalities
apparently added much to the gayety of San Diego life-certainly it did not in
any way impair its brilliance.

    It is of this time-while the old customs of the Spanish regime still held
sway, and while the pioneer American families of San Diego were beginning to
make themselves felt in the city's life-that this chapter treats.

    The Old Town of those days, however unimpressive it may be in comparison
with the cities of our time, was a much more attractive place than a casual
visitor to the region today might believe it.

    The plaza was, of course, a center of the little city's life. In the time of
which we write, it was nearly surrounded by stores and residences, only, a few
of which remain today. It was gradually built up, until in the '60s the
mercantile houses nearly covered one block, the block east of the plaza, and
made up a good proportion of the building west of the square.

    South of the plaza, the Estudillo house stood, occupying the entire frontage
of that block, as it does today. The Bandini house stood in its present
location, just east of the Estudillo home-known today as "Ramona's Marriage
Place." In an enclosure betwen [sic] these two houses a flour mill was started
by a man named Hoffman, and there was often a line of wagons and carts from the
ranchos standing in this end of the plaza, during harvest time, with grain for
milling.

    Dona Tomasa Pico Alvarado, a sister of Pio and Andres Pico, had a large
adobe house on the corner just north of the Bandini house, and Juan Machado, an
influential citizen, lived next to the Alvarado home. There were several store
buildings on the same street, fronting on the plaza, while on the eastern half
of the block, around the store that Mannasse and Schiller owned, were several
more. South of the Estudillo establishment, two wealthy Spanish traders, Jose
Antonio Aguirre and Miguel Pedrorena, had their stores. "Ramona's Marriage
Place," in its present state, is, according to old residents of the town, no
more pretentious than were several of the other private residences in the days
of Old Town's prosperity.

    These homes have disappeared with the march of the years, or are in ruins
today. When an adobe house was abandoned, stripped of the tiles which covered
its roof and of the lumber used in its construction, its disintegration was a
rapid process, and this fact accounts for the lack of tangible evidence of Old
Town's palmy days. Some of the "big houses" of the '50s are now nothing but
irregular, grass-grown mounds of earth.

    The town itself, then, during this middle period, was by no means
insignificant. It had a goodly number of the more pretentious residences of the
Spanish type, and the Americans, often in partnership with their Californian
friends, built several frame buildings of a type which was regarded by San
Diegans of that time as more modern and elaborate. A small example of this type
of building is the old "Congress Hall," now standing near the northeast corner
of the plaza, adjoining the Murtha estate.

    The San Diego of those days was bordered on the west by the bed of the San
Diego River, which then ran directly into the harbor, and the river willows and
sycamores which grew in the "wash" formed a boundary for the little farms which
were cultivated along the outskirts of the town.

    It must be remembered, too, that the social and business life of old San
Diego was not dependent solely upon the people who lived within the settlement
itself. Tributary to it also were at least a score of great ranchos and many
small ones, scattered about within a radius of seventy or a hundred miles-from
San Juan Capistrano to Cuyamaca, Tecate and San Rosario. Most of the owners of
the great ranchos lived in San Diego, and probably all of them had relatives in
the town and transacted all their business there. Any big event in San Diego
brought these proprietors, their families and many of their employes riding into
the town, although in some cases the trip from rancho to the town required
several days of traveling.

    With this in mind, it is easy to believe the accounts of the great fiestas
in old San Diego, some of which have assumed almost the status of legends among
the old inhabitants of the present-day town.

    The architecture of the typical California "big house" has been too often
described to need detailed treatment here. The restored Estudillo house is
doubtless a good reproduction of the old mansion house, except that it is
considerably idealized. The patio or courtyard of the house in the days of its
usage was not a bower of flowers. In the court were the outdoor ovens, used by
the Indian cook some 360 days of the year. At the rear of the court were stable
buildings, perhaps, and corrals, and it is not reasonable to suppose that the
Spanish residents of those days were any more exacting, aesthetically, than are
their descendants of today. There was always, of course, a garden spot in the
residences of the higher class, where the women might sit in the sun with their
friends and enjoy the air.

    There were many homes humbler than that represented by the Estudillo place
which, nevertheless, were entirely respectable and maintained social recognition
for their residents. Several examples of these smaller houses remain today.

    A fairly complete floor plan of such a dwelling may be traced in the ruins
of the adobe house that once was the residence of Dona Juanita Machado de
Wrightington. The ruins stand just across the boulevard from the northwest
corner of the plaza, only the walls of the two front rooms remaining.

    To the left of the entrance is a small living room, where the chimney of the
crude fireplace may still be seen. The street door gives entrance directly to a
larger room, which was used as a dining room and which also had a fireplace.
Directly opposite the front door of the little house was a door into the court
at the back, which was formed by the angle of the front part of the house with a
wing which extended back from the north side of the house. In this wing were two
bedrooms and a kitchen. The kitchen opened directly into the court, where
outdoor ovens were probably used; and to pass from the kitchen to the dining
room it was necessary to cross an angle of the open court.

    This house is supposed to have been built by Domasio Alipas in about
1830-35. Dona Wrightington, who lived there during the most populous period of
the town, was the daughter of Juan Machado, arid as he seems to have been a man
of considerable prominence, the fact of her residence there shows that the house
was at least an average middle-class dwelling.

    During the '50s and '60s there were several hotel buildings situated near
the plaza. The Bandini house, in its present state, gives a general idea of the
architecture of these buildings, as it was remodeled into a hotel by A. L.
Seeley who owned the stage line from the north. The broad porch along two sides
of the building was a typical feature.

    The Gila house was one of the most famous of these hotels, and was for
several years a center of the social gayeties that marked the
American-Californian period. It was built by Juan Bandini, and, unlike the
Bandini house, was entirely a frame structure. Old-timers remember it as a large
frame building, oblong in shape, and about 200 feet long by fifty feet wide. The
verandas extended the entire length of the building on two sides, and across the
front. It was a two-story building, and each floor had a veranda entirely around
three sides of it.

    The kitchens were in an adobe house a little to the left of the main
building, and during meal hours the waiters jogged leisurely back and forth
between the two buildings. Lumber for the house was brought "round the Horn," in
about 1850. After the fire which swept the plaza buildings in 1872, the Gila
house was wrecked for the lumber in it, which is said to have been of a very
high class.

    It was in this curiously composite town-a town built up partly of adobe
residences of the old style, and partly of brick and frame buildings of the
fashion that was then new-that the scene of one of San Diego's most interesting
periods was laid.

    The town, in spite of the flag which flew above its plaza, was still
Spanish. The old Spanish families of importance-the Bandinis, Estudillos, Picos,
Arguellos and many more-still made up the most respected and influential, and
the wealthiest, portion of the population. On the other hand, mingling with them
on equal terms, intermarrying with them, and at least equally important with
them in the business life of San Diego, were the American pioneers who were
laying the foundation for the American city of today.

    The social life and customs of San Diego in this interesting period were
thoroughly Spanish. The Americans entered into this life ^and lived according to
these Spanish customs. It was in the business sphere that the Americans first
began to make Old Town American. Even politics was still dominated by the old
Spanish forms, and, it may be said, by the old Spanish spirit of "manana."

    In the homes of the Spanish inhabitants, particularly those of the better
class, the day was planned, meals served, and recreation and work carried on
just as it had been fifty years before. The elders of the family ruled-ruled
through strict laws of courtesy, it is true, but ruled the family nevertheless
strictly.

    Social intercourse began with the hour of rising, early in the morning.
Guests were as common at breakfast as at the other meals of the day, except in
those families where the business duties of the head of the house called for his
early departure. In such cases, visitors made their social calls at the family
place of business, dropping in for a cup of coffee and a chat with the
proprietor-if they so desired-in the early morning.

    The first meal of the day varied, in the different households. In some, the
first meal was in the nature of the French "petit dejeuner"- a cup of coffee and
a tortilla, or a spiced cake. In other homes, a regular meal was served, with a
dish, or several of them, of highly seasoned meat, as the principal course.

    A favorite dish was the "gisado de carne seca"-a meat gravy made by braising
dried meat into shreds and cooking it in a rich gravy with tomatoes, onions and
green chili. This gravy was known to the Americans as "chili gravy," from its
principal seasoning, and formed a staple breakfast dish and a "base," so to
speak, for many other preparations.

    Tamales were also a staple form, and for breakfast they were often made of
green corn, thoroughly macerated and cooked without meat. These were "sweet
tamales." Children usually had boiled corn meal or fresh corn, mashed and boiled
and served with sugar and milk.

    "Enchilladas" for breakfast use were made by piling up a stack of tortillas,
each covered with a layer of grated cheese and finely sliced onion tops, and
covering the entire pile with hot chili gravy. Each tortilla was served
separately, with generous "helping" of the gravy.

    Coffee was the usual beverage, but chocolate or milk was some* times used.
There was no bread used at breakfast in the Spanish families, even in the
"middle period" of which this chapter treats. The tortilla, a thin, unraised
griddle cake, cooked usually to a crisp, took the place of bread.

    Fruit and preserves were often served at breakfast, as were also still other
preparations of meat, or even fish and game.

    At noon, another heavy meal was served. Again tamales might be put upon the
table, this time made of meal with chili pepper, meat -either beef or
chicken-chopped onions, and perhaps two or three water-cured olives added. The
form of the tamale is familiar to most San Diegans and visitors in Southern
California. The filling or body of the tamale consists of the corn meal or meat,
and is wrapped about with corn husks tied at the ends, and the whole thing is
cooked together by boiling.

    Beans, fried in chili gravy with ham or pork, formed a favorite dish, and
they also figured prominently in many other meat preparations. Game was abundant
around San Diego at that time, and rabbits and quail were often served at noon
or at night. Baked or roast fish was also used. Several kinds of meat were
usually served at each meal.

    Salads were sometimes served, but were usually made with a good deal of
meat, rather than simply of vegetables. A sort of salad was made by pouring cold
chili gravy over water-cured ripe olives, and adding a sauce of which the
principal ingredients were chopped onions and vinegar.

Soups were used, and were often made of the various seafoods which the Indians
and poorer Mexicans peddled from door to door. Meat .pies were common, the
filling being always highly seasoned with pepper, chili, onions, garlic and
sometimes with chopped olives. As American cooking become known, pumpkin, apple,
and raisin pies were sometimes served in the California households. Meat balls-
"albondigas"-made of finely chopped meat with corn meal and chili, were also
popular. The albondigas were boiled in soup, the meal thickening the soup, and
the soup serving to add flavor to the meat. The evening meal did not differ
greatly from the dinner at noon. Desserts-corn meal puddings, tortillas fried
crisp and covered with syrup or a sweet sauce, and various fruits or melons-were
served at these meals. Several kinds of cakes and pastries were also used as
desserts.

    Wine was used very sparingly at meals, or, indeed, at any other time in the
best families. The usual beverages were coffee or chocolate.

    Fish sauces were sometimes made with wine, and brandy was used in making
certain sauces for puddings. Sometimes rare wines were served with seafood
dishes, particularly with roast mussels. Wine was, of course, served with the
meals at big dinners and during fiestas.

    At ceremonial dinners, the menu was varied by the introduction of delicacies
of various kinds, preserves, jellies, candies-many of them imported-and venison,
roast pig or barbecued meat was often served-always, of course, with the rather
heavy seasoning which characterized the Spanish cuisine. A favorite barbecue
consisted of the heads of young beeves, cooked over night in closed pits lined
with hot stones. When the beeves' heads were taken from the pits, they were so
well done that the meat fell from the bone, and this meat was served with chili
gravy and garnishes.

    While breakfast was being prepared in the morning, the life of the little
town began. Serving women and cooks passed from one courtyard to another. In the
courtyards of the big houses, horses were groomed for the day's journeyings.
Vendors of water-two men carrying a twenty-gallon can of water on a pole between
them- visited the homes where no private well was available, asking a price of
twenty-five cents for their load.

    Even among the wealthy families, it was not uncommon to exchange "breakfast
visits." A family setting out on a trip to one of the outlying ranchos would
sometimes drive only a short distance up the street to the home of another
family, get out, pay their respects to their friends, and incidentally accept a
wholesale invitation to partake of breakfast before leaving on their journey.

    This animation continued until after the noon meal, when the Californians,
even in the days of American ascendancy, enjoyed the "siesta" typical of Spanish
life. The hours before the evening meal were the family hours, when the women
plied their needles, gave the children the instruction which constituted an
education in those days, or otherwise occupied themselves about the house. The
dinner at night was the occasion of more social visits between neighbors. Some
families, after a luncheon in the afternoon, did not serve dinner until eight
o'clock or so, in the evening, making that meal the social event of the day.

    When a dance was planned, preparations for the feast to precede it began
early in the day-perhaps, in the case of big gatherings, several days ahead of
the date set-and the house and grounds where the event was to be held was a
gathering place for the poorer people of the town and for the children. When
such an event was to be held, according to ore old resident of the town, the
Spanish families did not feel visits from friends an intrusion, and neighbors of
the host of the evening would come in great state to inspect preparations for
the "baile."

    The ranchos about San Diego, as has already been stated, added a great deal
to the animation of the little town. Picturesque cavalcades of rancheros
enlivened the streets when the ranchmen came to the town to buy supplies or to
amuse themselves. When the owner of a rancho came to Old San Diego, attended,
perhaps, by two or three of his horsemen, he rode up to the home of one of his
friends, he and his companions dismounted and gave their horses to an attendant,
and the ranchero was formally met at the doorway by the head of the family to
which he wished to pay his respects. Perhaps the visitor would remain only for a
few words of formal greeting and the exchange of interesting news. Perhaps he
might accept the invariable invitation to remain for a meal with the family,
before passing on to visit the next family of his acquaintance.

    A visit to the rancho by the family of a ranch owner living in San Diego was
an event of considerable importance. As late as 1855, the ox-cart-"carreta"-was
the common mode of conveyance for women and children making a journey, and the
progress through the town of two or three of these carretas, lined with soft
blankets and covered with bright cloths to shield its occupants from the sun,
brought crowds of spectators, large and small, from every home.

    Angelo Smith, son of the A. B. Smith whose flag-raising exploit for
Commodore Stockton and whose services as a guide for the American troops in the
Mexican War period have already been mentioned, is one of the old residents of
Old Town at the present time whose recollections of these early times are
remarkably clear and enlightening. Mr. Smith, now seventy years old, was born in
old San Diego.

    "They would stop sometimes twenty times before they got out of the town,"
said Mr. Smith, describing the progress of one of these miniature caravans,
*'and at each place where they stopped the people would invite them in.
Sometimes the travelers did not go in, of course, and then the neighbors would
visit with them for a time, wish them all manner of good wishes, salute them
very courteously and wave farewells to them.

    "Sometimes it was several days' journey, by the carretas, to an outlying
ranch, but the travelers always went slowly and easily, stopping when they
chose. One man walked ahead of each team of oxen, and one man walked behind the
team, to prod them on with long goads. The party would often stop over night or
for meals or the siesta, with the family of some ranchero on the road. Sometimes
the travelers had an extra carreta filled with bedding, cooking materials and
other camping necessities, and then they would camp wherever they pleased, on
their way to the rancho."

    In the early days of the industry in tallow and hides, when the American
commercial firms, notably that of Mannasse & Schiller, marketed the products of
the ranchos for the less business-like Californian rancheros, the semi-annual
collection days of the store keepers added another picturesque feature to San
Diego life.

    Mannasse & Schiller practiced a liberal policy of credit toward the
rancheros, selling large bills of goods and allowing payment to be made in
cattle, twice a year.

    The collectors of those days were different in type from the tactful talkers
who collect bills today. They were vaqueros, riding about in charge of a foreman
from the San Diego store to each of the ranchos which had been charged with
bills of goods. At each rancho the foreman would present the store's bill,
bargain with the ranchero on the number of cattle to be sent in, and the
vaqueros would "cut out" the required number of cattle and drive them away. When
a large enough herd had been taken in this way, it was put in charge of two of
the riders and sent in to San Diego.

    Sometimes the semi-annual collection for Mannasse & Schiller alone would
require two or three weeks, and the droves of cattle would be herded each day
into the corrals especially built by the merchants just east of their store. The
advent of the wild cattle from the ranchos, with the horsemanship and striking
garb of the -vaqueros, made these events and other similar ones interesting to
all the people of the little town.

    Although at the time-the middle period of San Diego's history -the colorful
costume of the Spanish period was being somewhat sobered by contact with the
less picturesque American garb, the ranchmen, their vaqueros and the prominent
Spanish people of San Diego still dressed in the Spanish fashion, and this
fashion was the ceremonial dress of the Californians at any considerable social
event, and was worn, with modifications, by some of the Americans.

    William Heath Davis, in his invaluable work, "Sixty Years in California,"
describes in detail the dress of one of the Californian rancheros:

    "When the rancheros thus rode about, during the leisure season, which was
between the marking time and the matanza or killing time, and from the end of
the matanza to the spring time again, the more wealthy of them were generally
dressed in a good deal of style, with short breeches extending to the knee,
ornamented with gold or silver lace at the bottom, with botas (leggings) below,
made of fine soft deer skin, well tanned and finished, richly colored, and
stamped with "beautiful devices (these articles having been imported from
Mexico, where they were manufactured), and tied at the knee with a silk •cord,
two or three times wound around the leg, with heavy gold or silver tassels
hanging below the knee. They wore long vests, with filagree buttons of gold or
silver, while those of more ordinary means had them of brass. They wore no long
coats, but a kind of jacket of good length, most generally of dark blue cloth,
also adorned with filagree buttons. Over that was the long serape or poncho,
made in Mexico and imported from there, costing from $20 to $100, according to
the quality of the cloth and the richness of the ornamentation. The serape and
the poncho were made in the same way as to size and cut of the garments, but the
former was of coarser texture than the latter, and of a variety of colors and
patterns, while the poncho was of dark blue or black cloth, of finer quality,
generally broadcloth. The serape was always plain, while the poncho was heavily
trimmed with gold or silver fringe around the edges, and a little "below the
collars around the shoulders. They wore hats imported from Mexico and Peru,
generally stiff, the finer quality of softer material-becuna, a kind of heavy
beaver skin obtained in those countries. Their saddles were silver-mounted,
embroidered with silver or gold, the bridle heavily mounted with silver, and the
reins made of the most select hair of the horse's mane, and at a distance of
every foot or so there was a link of silver connecting the different -parts
together. The tree of the saddle was similar to that now in use by the
Spaniards, and covered with the mochila, which was of leather. It extended
beyond the saddle to the shoulders of the horse in front and back to the flank,
and downwards on either side, half way between the rider's knee and foot. This
was plainly made, sometimes stamped with ornamental figures on the side and
sometimes without stamping. Over this was the coraza, a leather covering of
finer texture, a little larger and extending beyond the mochila all around, so
as to completely cover it. It was elaborately stamped with handsome ornamental
devices. Behind the saddle, and attached thereto, was the anquera, of leather,
of half-moon shape, covering the top of the hindquarters of the horse, but not
reaching to the tail; which was also elaborately stamped with figures and lined
with sheep skin, the wool side next to the horse. This was an ornament, and also
a convenience in case the rider chose to take a person behind him on the horse.
Frequently some gallant young man would take a lady on the horse with him,
putting her in the saddle in front and himself riding on the anquera behind. The
stirrups were cut out of a solid block of wood, about two and a half inches in
thickness. They were very large and heavy. The straps were passed through two
holes near the top to attach it to the stirrup; so that when the foot was placed
in the stirrup the tapadera was in front, concealed it, and protected the foot
of the rider from the brush and brambles in going through the woods.

    "This was the saddle for everyday use of the rancheros and vaqueros, that of
the former being somewhat nicer and better finished. The reins for everyday use
were made of deer or calfskin or other soft leather, cut in thin strips and
nicely braided and twisted together, and at the end of the reins was attached an
extra piece of the same with a ring, which was used as a whip. Their spurs were
inlaid with gold or silver, and the straps of the spurs worked with silver and
gold thread.

    "When thus mounted and fully equipped, these men presented a magnificent
appearance, especially on the feast days of the saints, which were celebrated at
the Missions. Then they were arrayed in their finest and most costly habiliments
and their horses in their gayest and most expensive trappings. They were usually
large, well developed men, and presented an imposing aspect. The outfit of a
ranchero and his horse, thus equipped, I have known to cost several thousand
dollars."

    This was the costume which, although less common than formerly on the
streets of Old San Diego, added brilliance to the fiesta days and color to the
spectacles of bull fight and baile. Angelo Smith, to whom reference has already
been made, described this typical Californian costume recently in detail, adding
that it was a common type of clothing in his boyhood days.

    The dress of the women were often extremely handsome, the brilliant colors
in which they delighted being tempered by the richness of the materials
available to the wealthy families.

    In the early days of the American occupation, the houses of lose Antonio
Aguirre and Miguel Pedrorena still imported rich silks and other fabrics from
the Philippines which were very popular with women of the richer class. It is
related that the two merchants brought back their silks in camphor trunks,
selling the trunks, with contents, for $250 apiece.

    Much has been written about the beauty and attractiveness of the women of
old California-qualities which seem to have been striking to most of the pioneer
Americans who have left records of their impressions of the people of that time.
A few paragraphs of Mr. Davis' account may be of interest:

    "During my long and intimate acquaintance with Californians, I have found
the women as a class much brighter, quicker in their perception, and generally
smarter than the men. Their husbands often times looked to them for advice and
directions in their general business affairs. The people had but limited
opportunities for education. As a rule they were not much educated: but they had
abundant instinct and native talent, and the women were full of natural dignity
and self-possession; they talked well and intelligently, and appeared to much
better advantage than might have been supposed from their meagre educational
facilities. The families of the wealthier classes had more or less education;
their contact with the foreign population was an advantage to them in this respect.

    "The women were exceedingly clean and neat in their houses and persons and
in all their domestic arrangements. One of their peculiarities was the
excellence and neatness of their beds and bedding, which were often elegant in
appearance, highly and tastefully ornamented, the coverlids and pillow cases
being sometimes of satin and trimmed with beautiful and costly lace. The women
were plainly and becomingly attired, were not such devotees of fashion as at the
present day, and did not indulge in jewelry to excess.

    "The Mexican as well as the California ladies were noted for their small
feet and hands, which is a characteristic of the Spanish race. The Mexican
ladies when smoking were in the habit of holding the cigarito between the thumb
and finger: the rich using a gold or silver holder, to prevent staining the
fingers with the tobacco, and the poorer classes a holder made of gamuza, or
fine deer skin-with two little pockets, into which they slipped the thumb and
finger. Holding up the cigarito, as they placed it in the mouth or removed it,
they displayed their little hands to advantage, the fingers extended with an air
of coquetry, all very graceful and becoming, and quite captivating to the observer.

    "I was astonished at the endurance of the California women in holding out,
night after night, in dancing, of which they never seemed to weary, but kept on
with an appearance of freshness and elasticity that was as charming as
surprising. Their actions, movements and bearing were as full of life and
animation after several nights of dancing as at the beginning, while the men, on
the other hand, became wearied, showing that their powers of endurance were not
equal to those of the ladies. I have frequently heard the latter ridiculing the
gentlemen for not holding out unfatigued to the end of a festival of this kind.

    "Notions of propriety and morality were so strict among the people that
young people engaged to be married were permitted little association by
themselves. They were scarcely allowed to see each other or to converse
together, except in the presence of their parents. This was my own experience in
an engagement of over two years. The courtship was usually arranged by the
mother of the young lady, or sometimes a favorite aunt was sought and first
consulted by the young gentleman who desired the daughter or niece in marriage.
If the suitor was considered a worthy person by the father, the young lady was
communicated with, after which a request in writing came from. the young man to
the father. If the application was deemed satisfactory he sent a written reply.
Time, however, was taken for consideration, and no haste displayed. It would be
an excellent thing if, in this respect, the old Spanish custom, having so much
of simplicity and purity, prevailed today. Although the young ladies were not so
highly educated as at the present time, yet on going into a family one could see
at a glance that artlessness, affection and modesty were the characteristics of
the feminine portion thereof, and these merits in my estimation transcend all
others."

    Of amusements there were many. As a frontier post and the center of a large
area of "new" territory, old San Diego provided entertainment for hundreds who
did not live within the borders of the town. Old San Diego brought guests and
performers to it on the occasion of each of the numerous feast days or fiesta
seasons, while for the more private festivities provided by one of the prominent
families, it was not uncommon for guests to come a hundred miles to take part.

    The ordinary amusement resorts of a frontier town were, of course, not
lacking in early San Diego. Although the Californians are described by Davis,
Alfred Robinson and others of the early settlers among them as a very temperate
people, there were several saloons, in the '50s and '60s which did a good
business. Congress Hall was one of them. The building still stands, just north
of the northeast corner of the plaza, and is now used as a residence.

    The "Jolly House," which was later used as a chapel and is now used as a
kindergarten, was one of the most famous. It is still standing near the new
schoolhouse. It is an adobe building, but is somewhat changed in form from its
early plan and has been entirely enclosed in a wooden sheath. It is now pointed
out as a former church, and at its west end is the frame on which the last of
the famous mission bells once hung.

    Connected with the "Jolly House," as with several other of the early places
of amusement, was a ten-pin alley. It was housed in adobe structure which has
been totally destroyed, and provided a sport which seems to have been popular
with both Californian and American residents.

    Horse-racing was very popular, and was indulged in during all holiday
seasons. There was a half mile course laid out along the road which is now a
paved highway, and some of the present citizens of Old Town recall the exciting
races which once were held there. The horses used were usually brought in from
the ranchos-sometimes ridden by the ranch owner himself-and were the cause of
warm rivalry between relatives of the rancheros represented and the employes of
the rival establishments.

    A good deal of money was wagered on these contests. An acquaintance of Pio
Pico, at one time governor of the state and finally a political exile in Mexico,
described in later years how she once saw him riding a horse to the races,
carrying with him two panniers slung on either side of his animal. The panniers
were loaded with silver, according to the account, which is reproduced in
Smythe's history,. which Don Pico was taking to bet on his horse. The
Californians were fond of gambling in any form.

    Cockfighting was also popular, as it is with the Mexicans of today, and
provided still more opportunities for wagering. Bull-baiting with dogs was
sometimes on the fiesta program, and in the earlier days bull-and-bear fights
were staged in the plaza.

    The bull fights in the old San Diego plaza were usually, it appears,
exhibition events rather than actual battles between the bull and a staff of
toreadoros, as in Spain or Old Mexico. Often the horsemen of the ranchos would
enter the bull ring to show their skill in riding around an infuriated animal.

    Again Angelo Smith's recollections are of value, for he remembers distinctly
one event of this character at which the hero was Jose Antonio Serrano.
Serrano's son, Luis, born in 1846, is still living in Old Town. Jose Antonio was
a veteran of the battle of San Pasqual, and famous as a horseman.

    "In this fiesta," says Smith, "Jose Antonio Serrano came to the plaza with
his very best horse, a splendid animal. The horse's saddle was inlaid with
silver-it was of the very best-and there were bright colored ribbons tied to it
and to the horse's mane and tail. A bull was brought into the plaza, and other
riders tormented it with bright serapes until it was very angry, then rode away
from it. When the bull charged, they would gallop away, then wheel suddenly.
Everybody clapped and threw money into the ring. Then Don Jose Antonio rode
in-rode up close to the bull. When it shook its head and charged, Serrano would
make his horse stand up on its hind legs and turn suddenly out of the way.
Sometimes he would make his horse sidestep quickly, so as to avoid the bull.

    "Once the bull came so close that its horns ripped off a piece of ribbon.
Then the crowd cheered, and began to throw more money into the ring. Don Jose
Antonio rode around the bull for a little more, and then they drove the bull out
of the ring into a corral. Don Jose Antonio's men picked up the money from the
ground, and people threw still more. Most of the coins were silver dollars."

    On the occasion of a bullfight in the plaza, barriers were thrown up around
its borders, and special benches were built in convenient places. The verandas
of the houses about the plaza were reserved for the wealthy spectators. Old
prints of the Estudillo house- "Ramona's Marriage Place"-show a cupola just
above the main entrance. On either side of that cupola a platform was built for
spectators, on fiesta days. It was no doubt a gay and colorful sight when the
crowds gathered for an exhibition in the plaza.

    More popular, however, than bull fighting, or any other spectacle of skill
or courage, was the pastime of dancing. The Spanish people were noted, of
course, for their graceful dancing of the old folk-dances and for their love of
music, and both were made apparent on every possible occasion. A marriage, a
christening-even, in the early days, a death-was made the excuse for a "baile"
at the home of the family involved, and the American San Diegans readily fell in
with this custom.

    There is not space to describe the dances of old Spain, which were at first
the only dances of the Old Town fiestas. There were many quaint customs of the
baile, too, which gradually fell into disuse except in family dances of the
Spanish residents, but for many years after the American conquest the dance
continued to be the feature of each holiday or occasion of rejoicing. To these
dances came not only the invited guests. American and Californian-to the big
events came guests from ranchos scores of miles away-but each ball was the
occasion of a general assemblage of the population of the village, old and
young, rich and poor. There were amusements for all, and those who could not
dance in the ballroom or the pavilion erected for the occasion, danced on the
hard earth of the courtyard, or in the street.

    Sometimes a great ball would last for several days. This was the case in the
celebrations of the numerous religious holidays observed by the Californians,
and the evidence shows that the Americans entered into the spirit of these
occasions. Smythe reproduces two articles in the old Herald, each reporting that
the town of San Diego was deserted for a week, the citizens being absent at a
fiesta in San Luis Rev. On the second occasion mentioned August 28, 1858, the
Herald reports that 3,000 persons attended the fiesta.

    A solid week of dancing at the old Gila house featured a fiesta held there
to celebrate the marriage of Capt. George Johnson and Estefena Alvarado there,
in 1868. Angelo Smith, then a lad of eighteen years, was a witness of the week's
festivities. Guests, according to Mr. Smith, came and went with absolute
freedom. Each guest had carte blanche at the Gila house during the week of
celebration, took meals there, slept there-in the case of those who had come
from a distance-and took part in the dances every evening.

    It is related that Captain Johnson, who was a wealthy shipping man of the
early days, brought a ship loaded with eatables and decorations to San Diego, in
order to provide abundant supplies for the week of celebration. On the ship,
also, according to Angelo Smith, was a staff of colored servants who waited on
table at the Gila house during the affair. Smith recalls watching the
"dark-colored men" hurrying back and forth between the dining rooms and the
kitchens, which, as has been stated, were a little to the west of the main
structure.

    Guests at a baile in one of the "big houses" would often assemble at their
host's home for dinner at noon, dance a little and visit for an hour or so after
the meal, adjourn to their own homes for a siesta, and then return in the
evening for another meal and a dance lasting well into the morning hours.

    The "all-night dance" was a social institution at Old Town long after the
American occupation had become history, and was the finale of every occasion of
rejoicing. Smythe thus describes the picnics of the early days:

    "The married ladies rode on their own saddles, while the young women were
carried on horseback by the young men. This service was considered a post of
honor, and discharged in the most polite and gallant manner possible. A bride
was often carried to church in this manner. Sometimes the picnickers would ride
in wagons drawn by oxen, and, if one of their number could play, there would be
both instrumental and vocal music, going and coming. At the picnic grounds, mats
were spread and a feast held, after which games were played. In the evening,
after the return, the day would be finished with the inevitable dancing."

    Music was an accomplishment for which the Californians seemed to have a
natural bent. The instruments used were principally the guitar, the flute and
the French accordeon. The first piano in San Diego is said to have been that
brought by Cave J. Couts to the old Guajome ranch in 1851, as a present to his
bride.

    There is no record of any music teacher, in the modern sense, in old San
Diego. Music was learned entirely by ear, and the old Spanish serenades were the
popular songs of the early time. An interesting work in the preservation of
these plaintive songs has been done by Charles F. Lummis, and as a result of his
efforts several hundred phonograph records are now preserved in museums-each
record having been made by a Spanish or Mexican singer to whom the old songs had
been handed down by the generations that are now gone.

    Two of the sons of Sgt. Richard Kerren, a member of the first American
garrison quartered at the Mission San Diego de Alcala, were famous musicians of
San Diego in the '60s, and they were widely sought after. With a harpist from
Los Angeles, the Kerren boys ""played the dances" through a territory including
Los Angeles, Yuma and ranchos south of Ensenada in Lower California.

    Occasionally there were amusements of various kinds from the outside world.
Thus, the late Mrs. E. W. Morse recorded the visit of a Spanish circus in San
Diego in 1865. Her description, reproduced by Smythe, follows:

    "A Spanish circus visited San Diego soon after my arrival. It exhibited in
the evening in a corral with high adobe walls, the company having no tents. The
place was lighted by strips of cloth laid in cans of lard and then set on fire.
The primitive lanterns were set on high posts, and at best furnished a poor
light. The spectators included nearly all of the population of the town who
could pay the admittance fee of fifty cents. I think the Indians were admitted
at half price. The Americans and Spanish occupied one side of the corral, and
the Indians squatted on the ground on the other. The performances on the trapeze
and tight rope looked especially wierd and fantastic in the smoky light of those
primitive lanterns."

    Other amusements of course there were, and as the town lost its Spanish
character these amusements became more and more those of an ordinary American
frontier town. But by the time San Diego was distinctly American in character,
Old Town was no longer San Diego, but lay drowsing in the silence which is
broken today only by the passing of trains along the Santa Fe tracks and the
constant stream of traffic on the boulevard which passes through the suburb.

    Many of the buildings of old San Diego still remain-the Estudillo house, the
Bandini house, with the additions which Seeley made when he used it as the hotel
terminal of his stage line, the old Congress Hall, the converted "Jolly House,"
and many others. The remains of pretentious adobe residences can be traced on
many blocks which are now vacant and grass-grown.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

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


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