Carson's previous habits and pursuits had eminently qualified him to
become an useful and even a distinguished member of Mr. Young's company
of trappers. He had lived in the midst of danger from his childhood. He
was familiar with the use of arms; and several years of travel and
adventure had already given him more knowledge of the western wilds in
the neighborhood of the region which was the scene of their present
operations, than was possessed by many who had seen more years than
himself. Added to this, he had become well acquainted with the peculiar
character and habits of the western Indians, who were now prowling
around their camp, and occasionally stealing their traps, game, and
animals.
The party pursued their business successfully for some time on the Salt
and San Francisco rivers, when a part of them returned to New Mexico,
and the remainder, eighteen in number, under the lead of Mr. Young,
started for the valley of Sacramento, California, and it was to this
latter party Carson was attached. Their route led them through one of
the dry deserts of the country, and not only did they suffer
considerably from the want of water, but their provisions giving out,
they were often happy when they could make a good dinner on horse-flesh.
Near the Cañon of the Colorado they encountered a party of Mohave
Indians, who furnished them with some provisions, which relieved them
from the apprehension of immediate want.
The Mohave Indians are thus described by a recent visitor:
"These Indians are probably in as wild a state of nature as any tribe on
American territory. They have not had sufficient intercourse with any
civilized people, to acquire a knowledge of their language, or their
vices. It was said that no white party had ever before passed through
their country without encountering hostility; nevertheless they appear
intelligent, and to have naturally amiable dispositions. The men are
tall, erect, and well-proportioned; their features inclined to European
regularity; their eyes large, shaded by long lashes, and surrounded by
circles of blue pigment, that add to their apparent size. The apron, or
breech-cloth for men, and a short petticoat, made of strips of the inner
bark of the cotton-wood, for women, are the only articles of dress
deemed indispensable; but many of the females have long robes, or
cloaks, of fur. The young girls wear beads; but when married, their
chins are tattooed with vertical blue lines, and they wear a necklace
with a single sea-shell in front, curiously wrought. These shells are
very ancient, and esteemed of great value.
"From time to time they rode into the camp, mounted on spirited horses;
their bodies and limbs painted and oiled, so as to present the
appearance of highly-polished mahogany. The dandies paint their faces
perfectly black. Warriors add a streak of red across the forehead, nose,
and chin. Their ornaments consist of leathern bracelets, adorned with
bright buttons, and worn on the left arm; a kind of tunic, made of
buckskin fringe, hanging from the shoulders; beautiful eagles' feathers,
called 'sormeh'--sometimes white, sometimes of a crimson tint--tied to a
lock of hair, and floating from the top of the head; and, finally,
strings of wampum, made of circular pieces of shell, with holes in the
centre, by which they are strung, often to the length of several yards,
and worn in coils about the neck. These shell beads, which they call
'pook,' are their substitute for money, and the wealth of an individual
is estimated by the 'pook' cash he possesses."
Soon after leaving the Mohave Indians, Mr. Young's party, proceeding
westward, arrived at the Mission of San Gabriel. This is one of these
extensive establishments formed by the Roman Catholic clergy in the
early times of California, which form so striking a feature in the
country. This Mission of San Gabriel, about the time of Carson's visit,
was in a flourishing condition. By statistical accounts, in 1829, it had
70,000 head of cattle, 1,200 horses, 3,000 mares, 400 mules, 120 yoke of
working cattle, and 254,000 sheep. From the vineyards of the mission
were made 600 barrels of wine, the sale of which produced an income of
upwards of $12,000. There were between twenty and thirty such missions
in California at that time, of which San Gabriel was by no means the
largest. They had all been founded since 1769, when the first, San
Diego, was established. The labor in these establishments was performed
by Indian converts, who received in return a bare support, and a very
small modicum of what was called religious instruction. Each mission had
its Catholic priests, a few Spanish or Mexican soldiers, and hundreds,
sometimes thousands of Indians.
The following interesting account of those of Upper California, we
transcribe from a recent work of high authority.[B]
"The missions of Upper California were indebted for their beginning and
chief success to the subscriptions which, as in the case of the
missionary settlements of the lower province, were largely bestowed by
the pious to promote so grand a work as turning a great country to the
worship of the true God. Such subscriptions continued for a long period,
both in Old and New Spain, and were regularly remitted to the City of
Mexico, where they were formed into what was called '_The Pious Fund of
California_.' This fund was managed by the convent of San Fernando and
other trustees in Mexico, and the proceeds, together with the annual
salaries allowed by the Crown to the missionaries, were transmitted to
California. Meanwhile, the Spanish court scarcely interfered with the
temporal government of the country. It was true that some of the
ordinary civil offices and establishments were kept up; but this was
only in name, and on too small a scale to be of any practical
importance. A commandante-general was appointed by the Crown to command
the garrisons of the presidios; but as these were originally established
solely to protect the missions from the dreaded violence of hostile
Indians, and to lend them, when necessary, the carnal arm of offence, he
was not allowed to interfere in the temporal rule of the Fathers. He
resided at Monterey, and his annual salary was four thousand dollars.
"In every sense of the word, then, these monks were practically the
sovereign rulers of California--passing laws affecting not only
property, but even life and death--declaring peace and war against their
Indian neighbors--regulating, receiving, and spending the finances at
discretion--and, in addition, drawing large annual subsidies not only
from the pious among the faithful over all Christendom, but even from
the Spanish monarchy itself, almost as a tribute to their being a
superior state. This surely was the golden age of the missions--a
contented, peaceful, believing people, abundant wealth for all their
wants, despotic will, and no responsibility but to their own
consciences and heaven! Their horn was filled to overflowing; but soon
an invisible and merciless hand seized it, and slowly and lingeringly,
as if in malicious sport, turned it over, and spilled the nectar of
their life upon the wastes of mankind, from whence it can never again be
collected. The golden age of another race has now dawned, and with it
the real prosperity of the country.
"The missions were originally formed on the same general plan, and they
were planted at such distances from each other as to allow abundant room
for subsequent development. They were either established on the
sea-coast, or a few miles inland. Twenty or thirty miles indeed seems
all the distance the missionaries had proceeded into the interior;
beyond which narrow belt the country was unexplored and unknown. Each
mission had a considerable piece of the best land in the neighborhood
set aside for its agricultural and pastoral purposes, which was commonly
about fifteen miles square. But besides this selected territory, there
was generally much more vacant land lying between the boundaries of the
missions, and which, as the increase of their stocks required more space
for grazing, was gradually occupied by the flocks and herds of the
Fathers, nearest to whose mission lay the previously unoccupied
district. Over these bounds the Fathers conducted all the operations of
a gigantic farm. Their cattle generally numbered from ten thousand to
twenty thousand and their sheep were nearly as numerous--though some
missions had upwards of thrice these numbers--which fed over perhaps a
hundred thousand acres of fertile land.
"Near the centre of such farms were placed the mission buildings. These
consisted of the church--which was either built of stone, if that
material could be procured in the vicinity, or of _adobes_, which are
bricks dried in the sun; and was as substantial, large, and richly
decorated an erection as the means of the mission would permit, or the
skill and strength of their servants could construct. In the interior,
pictures and hangings decorated the walls; while the altars were
ornamented with marble pillars of various colors, and upon and near them
stood various articles of massy gold and silver plate. A profusion of
gilding and tawdry sparkling objects caught and pleased the eye of the
simple congregations. Around, or beside the church, and often in the
form of a square, were grouped the habitations of the Fathers and their
household servants, and the various granaries and workshops of the
people; while, at the distance of one or two hundred yards, stood the
huts of the Indians. The former buildings were constructed of _adobes_,
and covered with brick tiles, frail and miserable materials at the best.
The huts of the Indians were occasionally made of the same materials,
but more commonly were formed only of a few rough poles, stuck in the
ground, with the points bending towards the centre like a cone, and were
covered with reeds and grass. An _adobe_ wall of considerable height
sometimes inclosed the whole village. The direction of the affairs of
the settlement was in the hands of one of the Fathers, originally called
a president, but afterwards a _prefect_; and each prefect was
independent in his own mission, and practically supreme in all its
temporal, and nearly in all its spiritual matters, to any human
authority.
"Thus the Fathers might be considered to have lived something in the
style of the patriarchs of the days of Job and Abraham. They indeed were
generally ignorant and unlettered men, knowing little more than the
mechanical rites of their church, and what else their manuals of
devotion and the treasuries of the lives of the saints taught them; but
they seem to have been personally devout, self-denying, and beneficent
in their own simple way. They thought they did God service, and perhaps
much more the Indians themselves, in catching, taming, and converting
them to Christianity. That was their vocation in the world, and they
faithfully obeyed its calls of duty. Towards the converts and actually
domesticated servants, they always showed such an affectionate kindness
as a father pays to the youngest and most helpless of his family. The
herds and flocks of the Fathers roamed undisturbed over numberless hills
and valleys. Their servants or slaves were true born children of the
house, who laboured lightly and pleasantly, and had no sense of freedom
nor desire for change. A rude but bounteous hospitality marked the
master's reception of the solitary wayfarer, as he traveled from mission
to mission, perhaps bearing some scanty news from the outer world, all
the more welcome that the Fathers knew little of the subject, and could
not be affected by the events and dangers of distant societies. All
these things have now passed away. The churches have fallen into decay,
deserted by the old worshipers, and poverty-stricken; the _adobe_
houses of the Fathers are in ruins--and there is scarcely any trace
left of the slightly erected huts of the Indians, who themselves have
deserted their old hearths and altars, and are silently, though rapidly,
disappearing from the land. But the memory of the patriarchal times, for
they were only as yesterday, still remains fresh in the minds of the
early white settlers."
Mr. Young's party did not remain long to enjoy the sumptuous fare at the
Mission of San Gabriel; but pushed on to that of San Fernando, and
thence to the river and fertile valley of Sacramento. In this
neighborhood they trapped for beaver, and Carson displayed his activity
and skill as a hunter of deer, elk, and antelope.