On July 8, Sergeant Pedro Amador reported from San Jose to the Governor
(Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XV: 371-373) that two heathen, or
wild, Indians were trying to stir up a revolt among the Christians of
San Jose. "These two Gentiles are from the rancherias of the Sacalanes,
from those which committed the offenses against the Christians of San
Francisco. All of them are neighbors of those of the valley of San Jose
in that part of the shore opposite San Francisco." Since the Valley of
San Jose was the valley of upper Alameda Creek, extending from Sunol to
above Pleasanton, this statement tends to place the Sacalanes in the
general area west of Livermore and in the hills to the northward.
Two days later, July 10, the Governor answered Amador's letter, from
Monterey (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XVI: 71-72), ordering him to
go with two soldiers and twenty civilians to the rancheria of the
Sacalanes and capture both the chiefs and all fugitive Christians.
Amador carried out the order immediately and, after his return,
submitted a report to the Governor in the form of a diary, together with
a letter, both dated July 19 at San Jose. The diary in full is to be
found in the Archivo General de la Nacion, Ramo Californias, Vol. 65,
Doc. no. 1, MS p. 93. The essential portions are worth reproducing and
are translated as follows.
_Amador's Diary (1797)_
[July 6 to 12 inclusive were spent making preparations.]
July 13. We set forth [from Mission San Jose] on the campaign in
the evening. I traveled all that night till dawn and hid with
the party in a brushy ravine throughout the day,
July 14. In the evening we arrived at the place where the
rancheria of the Sacalanes was located.
July 15. At dawn we attacked the said rancheria. We met much
resistance from the Indians in it. Although we repeatedly told
them that we did not wish to fight but only to take away the
Christians, they admitted to no persuasion but began to shoot so
as to kill one of our horses and wound two others. Seeing this
opposition, we used our weapons in order to subdue them so that
they would surrender. Some were killed, for they refused for two
hours to give up. Finally, it was necessary to dismount and
throw them back with swords and lances, for they have some wells
in the middle of the village which are like walls and which can
be strongly defended. There may have been about fifty persons,
men and women.
There were three rancherias close together, and with the
destruction of this one, the inhabitants of the others fled. We
captured only two from the second rancheria, although in the
first the number captured was thirty, including both Gentiles
and Christians. Having carried out an investigation and having
ascertained the guilty ones and the Christians, I made it clear
to the rest, through interpreters, that we did not wish to do
them any harm. They said they wanted to obey and that they well
understood that we had no evil intentions. I liberated the
Gentiles and we set forth toward the region of the Juchillones.
We had gone but a short distance when there began to assemble a
great many Indians, uttering shrieks and cries, so that we had
to go into line of battle again. Falling upon them, we killed
one, and with this they all retreated. We followed our course in
the direction we were going and concealed ourselves in a ravine
near the beach. It has much timber, water, and firewood, good
for a settlement. There we spent all the day hidden until
nightfall when we went on to the rancheria of the Juchillones.
At dawn [of July 16] we reached the place where were gathered
all the Christians whom we wanted, together with those Gentiles
who had participated in the attempt to kill Raymundo and his
people. We struck the first, second, and third village in the
same morning. When we reconnoitred the Indians of the last
rancheria, which is very large, the inhabitants were just about
to open hostilities, but being admonished by the interpreters
that we had not come to harm them but to hunt for Christians,
they were pacified. We pointed out to them that we had punished
the others because they had fought with us. Then we returned to
the first village with the Christians and Gentiles and there
assembled all those who had been concealed in the three
rancherias. Having separated out all those we had caught and
were taking with us, we set forth on our return journey. The
Gentiles had been cautioned, the same as the preceding ones,
that we did not wish to injure them if they did not harm us. We
followed our course of retirement along the coast. We reached an
arroyo with little water and much timber, in which we passed the
night with sentinels in the camp and at two advanced posts.
July 17. At night we reached an arroyo which has much water,
much timber and firewood, and also has nearby redwood, and very
much good sand and some very long valleys.
July 18. We reached Mission San Jose at a distance of six
leagues.
Amador's diary helps us to estimate the location and numbers of the
tribal groups in question. After leaving Mission San Jose in the
evening, his party traveled till dawn. Since all the men were mounted,
this means a probable rate of 4 miles an hour for at least six hours, or
24 miles. The following day, "in the evening," they reached the first
rancheria of the Sacalanes. Allowing a ride of three hours, the total
distance would be 36 miles. Since there is no mention of the coast, the
route must have been the well-known inland trail through Pleasanton and
Dublin. Hence the destination was in the Walnut Creek-Lafayette area.
This effectually disposes, I think, of any possibility that the
Sacalanes could have inhabited the Livermore Valley.
Further evidence is provided by subsequent events. After spending
presumably several hours subduing the Sacalanes, Amador went over near
the beach where he spent "all day," obviously meaning the rest of the
day. Probably no more than three or four hours were consumed in the
actual ride, or a distance of 9 to 12 miles. It must be remembered that
now Amador was burdened with captives, who traveled on foot at a likely
rate of no more than 3 miles per hour. Hence he must have reached the
bay shore in the vicinity of Richmond.
At nightfall, the party went on to the rancheria of the Juchillones,
which may have been a few miles up the coast. No indication is given of
distance, except that at dawn they reached their destination. The most
probable guess is that the rancheria was somewhere on the southeast
shore of San Pablo Bay between Pinole and Rodeo. This view is supported
by the account of the return trip.
After having attacked three rancherias, conducted negotiations,
identified and secured several dozen captives, Amador began his retreat
"along the coast." At night they reached a well watered arroyo, which
could have been San Pablo Creek or Wildcat Creek. On the 17th the party
spent the whole day moving down the shore to an arroyo, near some
redwoods, which, according to the notation of the following day, was 6
leagues from Mission San Jose. The arroyo which best fits the
description and the distance (about 15 mi.) is San Leandro Creek. This,
in turn, is just about a day's journey from San Pablo Creek for a
military party encumbered with numerous prisoners. There are therefore
reasonable grounds contained in Amador's diary for placing the
Juchillones on the shore of San Pablo Bay from Point San Pablo northeast
to Rodeo or beyond.
With respect to numbers, it may first be noted that Amador found three
rancherias fairly close together for each tribal group: Sacalanes and
Juchillones. The only indication of size for the Sacalanes is the
mention of 50 men and women who participated in the defense of the first
rancheria; The other two rancherias had been deserted. Perhaps a maximum
of 300 and a minimum of 100 inhabitants for all three villages is
indicated. For the Juchillones, Amador states only that the third
rancheria was "very large." This may be taken to mean a population of
over 100, and on this assumption the total might be set within the range
suggested for the Sacalanes, i.e., 100-300.
In the letter to the Governor covering his report, dated July 19 at
Mission San Jose (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XV: 319-320) Amador
says, regarding the Cuchillones [Juchillones] "... it is certain that
there are many rancherias and very big ones; and this is the reason why
they assemble to hold their councils and eat many seeds." This
statement would favor a fairly large population. Furthermore, in
replying to Amador on July 21, Governor Borica (Bancroft Trans., Prov.
Rec., V: 118) notes that the expedition brought back 83 Christians and 9
Gentiles. This fact shows that the two tribal groups, Sacalanes and
Juchillones, had already been able to absorb the losses occasioned by
the missionization of 40 persons per tribe--plus the conversion of
probably many others who were not fugitives or at least were not
captured by Amador, plus the attrition due to disease and disruption of
food supplies--and yet were in a position to maintain a total of 6
rancherias, each of moderate to large size. The preconquest population
per group must have reached at least 300 and very likely was much
greater.
After Amador's return in late July a full-scale investigation was
ordered. A great many Indians were interrogated in an effort to discover
the cause, not only of the bitter hostility of the East Bay villages,
but also of the incorrigible fugitivism which plagued the local
missions. Two sets of testimony are on record (Archivo General de la
Nacion, Ramo Californias, Vol. 65, no. 3, MS p. 101, and no. 5, MS p.
109, dated respectively August 9 and September 16, 1797) which are of
interest to the student of Indian psychology but of no particular
ethnographic significance.
Meanwhile, more small expeditions were sent out. The records of the
pueblo of San Jose (Bancroft Trans., Dep. St. Pap., San Jose, I: 81-82)
show that on July 2 an expedition was ordered to capture and punish
Gentiles who had killed two mares. Later reports indicated that this
objective had been accomplished. Subsequently, in a letter to Governor
Borica dated at San Jose on September 3, Sergeant Amador described
another expedition (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XV: 317-318). He
says that "he set out at 8:00 p.m. on August 26 in search of the
rancheria Pijugma. First they went to that of Juquili and at dawn fell
upon the first rancheria [presumably Pijugma] where they did not find
the chieftain they sought." However, they afterwards caught this chief,
with three others, all of whom they took to the mission. Amador says the
rancherias "will be about 10 leagues from the mission and are opposite
the beach." The latter statement, together with the fact that the
distance was covered in one night's travel on horseback, suggests the
area of the Livermore Valley.
The Sacalanes and Cuchillones appear again in a letter from Governor
Borica to the Viceroy, dated at Monterey, March 14, 1799 (Bancroft
Trans., Prov. Rec., VI: 443-444). The transcript reads:
Says that only in serious cases should vigorous measures be
taken against them [Indians]. The Indians fugitive from the
Mission of San Francisco, Sacalanes and Cuchillones, are being
recovered by means of emissaries and parties of soldiers who are
treating them with the greatest gentleness and humanity. In the
month of June, last, 18 of all ages and sexes came back to their
ministers. In the following December the corporal of the guard
of San Jose brought in 33 who wished to remain there [Mission
San Jose], as they had agreed with the Father President, because
of the horror with which they regard the Mission of San
Francisco.
A year later there was another attack on these unfortunate people. In a
letter dated at San Francisco, May 20, 1800, the commander, Arguello,
wrote to Governor Arrillaga (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XVIII:
32-33) that, in conformity with orders to investigate the murder of two
Christian Indians at Mission San Jose, Sergeant Amador went out with a
large party to the "sierra." In another letter of Alberni to Governor
Arrillaga, Monterey, July 2, 1800 (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap.,
XVIII: 33-34), the people concerned are described as "the Gentiles of
San Jose called Sacalanes, who were committing depredations." Amador's
own account, dated May 14, 1800, at San Francisco, is contained in
another transcript (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., XXVIII:
130-132). It reads thus:
Left Santa Clara on the 7th--arrived at the location of the
rancheria he sought. It was not there--it had been moved. On the
9th they found it. The Indians fled to the sierra from which
they threatened, but did not attack. With the best horses a few
of the warriors were caught. To hold on to them sword and lance
had to be employed and a captain was killed. Then the expedition
retired from the rancheria, and waited about three hours to be
sure that the Indians were not going to attack, for it was not
easy to reach the spot where they were.
The expedition descended to the plains of San Jose [probably the
western end of the Livermore Valley], where it awaited the
corporal and four soldiers sent to take the 10 captive Indians
to the garrison at San Jose.
At 3:00 p.m. on the 10th the corporal and four men returned.
They traveled all night to reach the rancherias.
The 11th he fell upon the seven rancherias to gather up the 21
Christians who were delivered by the chiefs. None of the
Gentiles wanted to be made a Christian. In two of the rancherias
the Gentiles almost took up arms.... The 12th the expedition
arrived at Mission San Jose....
Since no specific information is given, it may be assumed that this
expedition penetrated the area lying between Mt. Diablo and the
Livermore Valley, perhaps getting as far north as Walnut Creek. It is
stated and implied that the Sacalanes were in a condition of great
disorganization. They had been driven into the hills, apparently widely
scattered and probably seriously depleted in numbers.