Attention should be directed now to the Anza expedition, which reached
the East Bay in late March, 1776. The three accounts will be considered
collectively for present purposes and will be designated A (Anza's
Diary), F1 (Font's Short Diary), and F2 (Font's Complete Diary). Since
this expedition was--with all deference to the efforts of Fray
Crespi--much more carefully and exhaustively recorded than the Fages
trip of 1772, it merits extended citation and analysis.
If Bolton's reconstruction is correct (1930, III: 133, 263; IV: 352),
the Anza expedition, having come down the peninsula from San Francisco,
halted for the evening March 30, 1776, near Agnew, between Alviso and
Santa Clara. The following day, March 31, they crossed the Coyote River
about two miles south of Warm Springs and moved north and northwest as
far as San Lorenzo Creek.
They remained close to the hills, apparently, for Anza (A) says, "The
road runs close to a small range completely bare of trees, for none are
seen except some which grow in the canyons." After leaving Coyote Creek,
Anza (A) encountered an arroyo, "which has plenty of trees and has water
in abundance ... ," probably Mission Creek or Alameda Creek. Thereafter
they crossed four arroyos "with little water," the last one of which was
San Lorenzo Creek. Font (F2) states that after having passed a "salty
lagoon" (north of Irvington) they crossed five arroyos.
During the day the party saw six villages, says Anza (A), most of whose
habitants had fled. On the other hand, about 40 "heathen" were met along
the road. Font (F2) is much more informative than Anza. All along the
plain they saw "occasional Indians." Those whom they met before reaching
the "first arroyo" (probably Alameda Creek near Niles)
... appear to be very poor and miserable, for they have not even
firewood by which to keep warm, and they go about naked ... and
eat grass and herbs and some roots like medium-sized onions,
which they call amole, and in which those plains greatly abound.
One Indian who carried his provisions on the end of a pole
invited us to eat some of them.
On or near Alameda Creek they met "about thirty Indians" (Anza says 40),
who greeted them peaceably. Font here notes that "their language is
distinct from all those we had formerly heard and is very ugly; and with
the gobbling which they made, all speaking together, it was very
disagreeable to the ears." Font also comments in another place on the
language: "The Indians whom we saw along here are totally distinct in
language from the previous ones." Since the Spaniards had been in
Costanoan territory for many days, they must have encountered a sharp
dialectic boundary at the southeastern corner of San Francisco Bay. Both
Anza and Font (F2) describe the incidents of this encounter in graphic
terms.
Two leagues beyond the creek (somewhere near Alvarado) a village without
people was seen. Then:
We traveled a league more and crossed another arroyo, where we
saw an abandoned village, and in a hut many birds stuffed with
grass, which some Indians had to hunt with. Here the soldiers
got some wild tobacco of which there was a considerable amount.
Although Font does not mention the exact number of villages seen, his
account in other respects closely parallels that of Anza and does
nothing to refute the statement that there were six villages between
Irvington and San Lorenzo.
On the appearance of these Indians Font and Anza are very positive.
Crespi had said the natives were light-colored. Font says (F2, p. 356),
"They are somewhat bearded, gentle, and very poor, but in color they are
the same as all the rest." Elsewhere he reiterates his opinion that
Crespi was mistaken. Anza adds, regarding appearance (A, p. 136):
The Indians who have been seen from the first arroyo forward are
not short haired like those from the Mission of San Antonio to
the port of San Francisco. These of which we are now speaking
wear their hair tied upon the very top of their heads where only
a piece of thread is to be seen.
The journey on April 1 brought Anza's party to camp on Rodeo Creek
(Bolton, 1930, II: 138n). It is noteworthy that these explorers saw
much more timber than had Crespi, or perhaps they were merely more
circumstantial in their account. Font (F2) says:
The road followed the foot hills of the range which I mentioned
on the 8th of March. In all its exterior this range has very few
trees, except a grove of redwoods in front of the mouth of the
port, although in its interior it has thickly grown groves and
is quite broken ...
Anza notes also "a large grove of pines of redwoods." Alameda Island is
described as having "a very thick grove of oaks and live oaks on the
banks of the estuary." The same grove is shown on Font's sketch of the
area (Bolton, 1930, IV: 362) with the legend: "Bosque que esta al
estsudeste de la Boca del Puerto."
On some of the streams there is said to be a prolific growth of trees,
on others very little. Thus Font (F2) says that San Leandro Creek
(Bolton's identification) had "a very deep bed grown with cottonwoods,
live oaks, laurels and other trees." The creek near Mills College was
"almost without trees." Somewhere in Oakland the party crossed two
arroyos with "a heavy growth of trees." North of Oakland the vegetation
apparently varied. The general impression one gets is that the larger
streams were bordered by oak, willow, and cottonwood, whereas the
smaller ones were essentially destitute of trees.
The Spaniards had considerable contact this day with the natives. Font
in the Complete Diary makes it clear that Oakland and Berkeley were
crossed and Wildcat Creek reached before the first Indians were seen.
At that point, however, an abandoned village was found. On the banks of
the next arroyo was an inhabited village containing 23 men and 7 women,
others being away foraging. Anza says this was a village of about 100
persons. Font then says that on the next arroyo was a "fair-sized
village." Although Anza does not specifically mention this village, both
he and Font agree that at the camp (on Rodeo Creek) was another town,
which Anza says "is larger than the two mentioned." Font concurs, in
effect, with the statement that when the expedition halted, they were
greeted by 38 Indians--presumably adult males.
Both authors comment on customs. Anza emphasizes the fact that these
Indians are not white, in contradistinction to the reports brought back
by Crespi. He also says the language is different "from that on the
other side of the southern estuary." Font describes the people at the
second inhabited village, who
... were very happy to see us and very obliging. They presented
us with many cacomites, which is a little bulb or root almost
round and rather flat, and the size and shape of a somewhat
flattened ball, and likewise with a good string of roasted
amole, which is another root like a rather long onion, all well
cooked and roasted ... The amole, which is their most usual
food, tastes a little like mescal. It is the food which most
abounds, and the fields along here are full of it.
Font (F2) adds the following description of the natives seen at the
final halt on Rodeo Creek:
As soon as we halted thirty-eight Indians came to us unarmed,
peaceful, and very happy to see us. At first they stopped and
sat down on a small hill near the camp. Then one came, and
behind him another, and so they came in single file like a flock
of goats, leaping and talking, until all had arrived. They were
very obliging, bringing us firewood, and very talkative, their
language having much gobbling, nothing of which we understood.
They go naked like all the rest, and they are by no means white,
but are like all those whom we saw on the other side near the
mouth of the port. After they had been a while with us they bade
us goodby and we made signs to them that they should go and get
us some fish with two hooks which I gave them. They apparently
understood us clearly, but they brought us nothing and showed
very little appreciation for the hooks, because their method of
fishing is with nets.
On Tuesday, April 2, the Anza expedition continued along the southeast
shore of San Pablo Bay, the south bank of Carquinez Strait, and halted
on Walnut Creek, near Pacheco (the place called Santa Angela de Fulgino
by Crespi). Water was scarce; no mention is made of crossing any creeks
during the march until they arrived at Walnut Creek in the evening.
The descriptions of the vegetation along Carquinez Strait are somewhat
ambiguous. It will be remembered that the impression given by Crespi for
this stretch is one of total absence of trees. Anza says (A):
... for half a league up the river [by which he means Carquinez
Strait] we kept very close to the Sierra which we have had on
our right and which we skirted until yesterday. And we now again
came to have it on the same side, so improved in abundance of
firewood, and timber of oak and live oak that all its canyons
are well provided with one and the other, the very opposite of
what is seen on the other side of the river [i.e., the north
shore of the strait], where in four leagues we have not seen a
single tree.
In describing the strait Font (F2) says:
In some places its banks are very precipitous, and in others it
has a narrow beach on which, near its mouth [i.e. the western
end], there are great piles of fresh-water mussels. The hills
which form this channel are without trees, but those on this
side have plentiful pasturage, while those on the other side
appeared bald, with little grass, the earth being reddish in
color.
During the afternoon the party traveled from the vicinity of Crockett
"two leagues east along the top of the hills close to the water, and one
east-southeast up the canyon which had some oaks and other trees, by
which we again came out at the top of the hills near the water."
According to Bolton (1930, IV: 375n), this point was on the bluffs just
west of Martinez.
The implication of Anza's account and the rather specific statement by
Font seem to support Crespi's description. There was little oak or other
type of woody plant on the south shore west of what is now Port Costa.
From there to Martinez the canyons held a fair growth of oak. In those
areas not bearing oak, the primary plant cover was grass. Neither Crespi
nor Anza nor Font gives any hint of the heavy infiltration of shrubby
vegetation, such as _Baccharis_, poison oak, or other chapparal species,
which now extend down the entire slope of the hills from Crockett to
Martinez. The deduction is reasonable, although strict proof is lacking,
that the modern vegetation has entered the region since 1775.
On this day Anza and Font made the acquaintance of two new species of
fish, the sturgeon and the salmon, good descriptions of which are
recorded by both explorers. Furthermore, the day was notable for
encounters with the natives. Shortly after breaking camp the Spaniards
were met by ten Indians who invited them to the nearby village (which
Bolton says was at Tormey, about 2 miles west of Crockett). This village
was large; Font estimated the population as 400 persons and Anza as 500.
Font's account (F2) of his visit is long and circumstantial, but its
value for ethnographic detail is such that it merits reproduction in
full:
Their method of welcoming us was like this: at sunrise the ten
Indians came, one behind another, singing and dancing. One
carried the air, making music with a little stick, rather long
and split in the middle, which he struck against his hand and
which sounded something like a castanet. They reached the camp
and continued their singing and dancing for a little while. Then
they stopped dancing, all making a step in unison, shaking the
body and saying dryly and in one voice, "Ha, ha, ha!" Next they
sat down on the ground and signalled to us that we must sit down
also. So we sat down in front of them, the commander, I, and the
commissary. Now an Indian arose and presented the commander with
a string of cacomites, and again sat down. Shortly afterward he
rose again and made me a present of another string of cacomites,
and again sat down. In this way they went making us their little
presents, another Indian giving me a very large root of
chuchupate which he began to eat, telling me by signs that it
was good.
This compliment being over, they invited us to go to their
village, indicating that it was nearby. The commander consented
to give them this pleasure, and at once we began to travel. They
followed after us with their singing and dancing.... After going
a short distance we came to the village, which was in a little
valley on the bank of a small arroyo, the Indians welcoming us
with an indescribable hullabaloo. Three of them came to the edge
of the village with some long poles with feathers on the end,
and some long and narrow strips of skin with the hair on, which
looked to me like rabbit skin, hanging like a pennant, this
being their sign of peace. They led us to the middle of the
village where there was a level spot like a plaza, and then
began to dance with other Indians of the place with much clatter
and yelling.
A little afterward a rather old Indian woman came out, and in
front of us, for we were on horseback, nobody having dismounted.
She began to dance along, making motions very indicative of
pleasure, and at times stopping to talk to us, making signs with
her hands as if bidding us welcome. After a short while I said
to the commander that that was enough. So he gave presents of
glass beads to all the women, they regaled us with their
cacomites, and we said goodby to everybody in order to continue
on our way. They were apparently sad because we were leaving,
and I was moved to tenderness at seeing the joy with which we
were welcomed by those poor Indians. Their color and other
qualities of nakedness, slight beard, etc., are the same as
those seen hitherto, and the same as those we saw farther on.
Some wear the hair long, others short, and some have beards
rather long and heavy.
Font and Anza had an excellent opportunity to observe aboriginal methods
of navigation and fishing. At the western end of Carquinez Strait, says
Anza (A, p. 140), five tule rafts crossed the strait in less than a
quarter of an hour, the tide being slack. Font says, regarding these
craft (F2, p. 320):
We saw there some launches very well made of tule, with their
prows or points somewhat elevated. They had been anchored near
the shore with some stones for anchors, and in the middle of the
water some Indians were fishing in one.... I saw that they were
fishing with nets and that they anchored the launch with some
very long slim poles.
These poles were measured and found to be about 13 varas long (roughly
35 ft.). Font goes on to describe the actual taking of fish:
Among other fish which they caught the Indians who were fishing
pulled out two very large ones, about two varas long, and their
method of catching them was this: as soon as they felt from the
pull made by the fish that it was in the net, which was tied to
the two poles, they began gradually to raise one of the poles,
and as soon as the fish and the net came in sight, without
taking it from the water they gave the fish many blows on the
head. Once I counted fifteen blows in succession and in another
case twenty-odd. Now that it was dead and had lost its strength
they took it from the net and put it inside the launch.