In the late fall of the year 1795, following the reconnaissance of
Sergeant Amador, of which no written record survives, another and more
pretentious expedition covered the lower east side of San Francisco Bay.
There are two accounts available describing this trip. One was written
by Hermenegildo Sal (1795), a soldier from Monterey, and the other by
Fray Antonio Danti (1795). The two documents are very similar in form
and give indication of collaboration in the writing. Sal's "Informe" is
the longer and the more circumstantial but is so badly executed as to be
nearly incomprehensible in some of its passages. Danti's "Diario" is
very succinct but clearly written. Since both accounts cover the same
events, only one needs to be presented in full. Here follows the
"Diario" of Danti, commencing with line 5, page 196 of the Bancroft
Transcript.
_Diary of Fr. Antonio Danti (1795)_
22 October: After lunch we set out [from Santa Clara] for the
place called the Alameda. We arrived by nightfall at the first
arroyo, which is [the one mentioned by] Sergeant Amador. At
sunrise of the 23rd we went on our way upstream, as far as we
could go on horseback, which will be about one league distant
from the camping place. We wanted to examine the origin of the
stream but the soldier told us that it emerged opposite the
town. When the various sections of the arroyo had been explored,
the water was found to be of the same quantity throughout and in
my opinion can irrigate two or three ditches of corn at the same
time because of the slope of the land. The removal of the water
is not a great problem, for the heathen took it out in two
distinct places. There is much fine land and easily worked. The
timber in this place is scarce, as is also the firewood. It is
to the north of Santa Clara about 6 or 7 leagues. In this arroyo
are three empty houses.
Having examined all that has been described, we went along the
foot of the hills. We encountered [p. 197] another watercourse
which was dry, and where there is the stone called cantarra [a
type of clay]. This is not far from the camping place. A little
farther on is the lime pit, which is no more than caliche
[crude, soft limestone]. We arrived at the Alameda, but before
reaching it there are three little creeks, one of which could
irrigate a garden. The other two, if widened, could serve as
watering places for cattle. We went on to the river of the
Alameda, which is filled with many large boulders from floods
and is heavily overgrown with willow, cottonwood, and some
laurel. Where the water runs, the stream is half a vara deep and
4 varas across, and in other places it widens and contains more
water. We proceeded along it with much effort for about a league
and a half, at which point it is joined by another arroyo from
the north, the main stream continuing on to the east. We
examined the feasibility of removing water and found it to be
not impossible but very difficult. This is because of the
gravelly nature of the soil and because several ditches would
have to be constructed to regulate the floods, and in case these
occurred annually a dam would have to be built. Following the
arroyo farther down, we saw where the water disappears, perhaps
a quarter of a league from the hills. At a distance of a league
the water comes out again. In all this stretch [p. 198] the bed
of the river, or arroyo, is deep and the removal of water
impossible. In this locality the arroyo is covered with a dense
stand of woods: cottonwoods and willows. A short section through
which the river flows is reached by the tides of the bay.
24th day: We left for the north, staying close to the hills.
There are very fine plains and very good pasturage. We
encountered several water holes where cattle might drink.
From the Alameda, which is called San Clemente, to the first
arroyo northward, which is called San Juan de la Cruz, the
distance is about three leagues. The latter creek has little
water and a few cottonwoods. We followed along the hills until
the Mission of Our Father San Francisco came into view. At this
point we turned around; the plains run to the parallel of the
presidio. After eating, we surveyed the shore of the bay where,
after about a league with no water, we came upon some salt
marshes which without doubt are those which Sergeant Amador
mentions in his diary. At the present time they do not contain
salt, from which I infer that they are marshes like those of San
Mateo where in dry years the salt crystallizes out.
25th day: We returned [p. 119] to the first watering place,
called San Francisco Solano, at which it is possible to
establish the mission, although there is likely to be much
damage inflicted by the horses of the town. A cross was placed
on a small hill, for in all the region we covered there is no
place more suitable. The unconverted heathen are fairly
numerous, according to the many trails which are to be seen. In
the same plain there are three moderate-sized rancherias.
The above is what I consider adequate for the information of
your reverence. If anything be lacking you will advise me so
that your reverence may form an appropriate opinion.
The itinerary may be followed with reasonable precision. The journey of
the 22nd brought the party to a creek 6 or 7 leagues (Sal says 6) north
of Santa Clara. Taking the league as 2.7 miles, this distance puts them
on Mission Creek not far from Mission San Jose (called by Danti, San
Francisco Solano). On the morning of the 23rd they penetrated to the
headwaters of this creek, approximately 2 or 3 miles into the hills.
The idea that this creek came out opposite the town of San Jose is
manifestly an error.
Returning to the starting point and then going along the foot of the
hills for 2 leagues, as Sal says in the "Informe," they reached Alameda
Creek very close to Niles. They then went upstream to the junction of
Stonybrook Creek in the hills and then retraced their steps to Niles.
The water disappeared just southwest of the town (1/4 league from the
hills) and reappeared one league below, perhaps a mile southwest of
Decoto and 3 miles east of Alvarado and on the edge of the salt marshes.
On the 24th the party proceeded 3 leagues northward to the stream called
San Juan de la Cruz. From the distances, this can have been no other
than San Lorenzo Creek. If so, they went on out to the shore of the Bay
and saw San Francisco from a point just west of San Lorenzo. A few miles
now to the southward would have brought them to the salt marshes just
southwest of Mt. Eden. The hills they ascended were the Coyote Hills
near Newark. From this point they crossed the plain directly to Mission
San Jose and thence to Santa Clara.
Danti notes on Mission Creek the presence of three empty houses,
indicating at least transient occupation by a few natives. Toward the
end of the "Diario" he says that the unconverted heathen are "fairly
numerous" and that on the plain there are three "moderate-sized"
rancherias. Actually, therefore, he saw no indigenous heathen, and could
find traces of no more than would inhabit three rancherias of dubious
size. It will be remembered that Crespi reported in 1772 that there were
five villages between Milpitas and San Lorenzo, whereas Anza in 1776
found six. Danti, in a much more exhaustive survey, located only three.
It is evident that during the intervening twenty years the native
population in southwestern Alameda County had been seriously depleted,
reduced perhaps more than half. Accordingly it must be recognized that
the documents relating to the Danti-Sal expedition (and all later ones)
are of little value for estimating the preconquest population of the
East Bay. The reduction was due, of course, to conversion by the
missions and disturbance of the native economy, as well as to introduced
diseases.