FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO.
The first establishment of the Spaniards in California, was made by
the Jesuits, in November, 1697. The settlement was called Loreto, and
founded on the eastern side of the peninsula, about two hundred miles
from the Pacific. On entering California, the Jesuits encountered the
same obstacles which had before prevented a settlement of the country.
The land was so sterile, that it scarcely yielded sustenance to the
most industrious tiller, and as the settlements were all located near
the sea, fishing was the resource of the settlers to make up the
deficiency of food. The natives continued hostile, and killed several
of the Jesuit fathers. By perseverance and kindness, the Jesuits
overcame all the obstacles with which they met, and within sixty years
after their entrance into California, they had established sixteen
missions, extending along the eastern side of the peninsula, from Cape
San Lucas to the head of the gulf. Each of these establishments
consisted of a church, a fort, garrisoned by a few soldiers, and some
stores and dwelling-houses, all under the control of the resident
Jesuit father. Each of the missions formed the centre of a district
containing several villages of converted Indians. None of the Jesuits
visited the western coast of the peninsula except on one occasion, in
1716.
Great exertions were made by the settlers to acquire a knowledge of
the geography, natural history and languages of the peninsula, and
they appear to have been generally successful. The result of their
researches were published in Madrid, in 1757, and the work was
entitled a "History of California." They surveyed the whole coast of
the Gulf of California, and, in 1709, Father Kuhn, one of the Jesuit
fathers, ascertained beyond doubt the connection of the peninsula with
the continent, which had been denied for a century. But all the labors
of the Jesuits were brought to an end in 1767. In that year, Charles
III. of Spain, issued a decree, banishing members of that order from
the Spanish territories; and a strong military force, under command of
Don Gasper de Portola, was despatched to California, and soon put an
end to the rule of the Jesuits by tearing them from their converts.
The Spanish government did not intend to abandon California. The
peninsula immediately became a province of Mexico, and was provided
with a civil and military government, subordinate to the viceroy of
that country. The mission fell under the rule of the Dominicans, and
from their mode of treatment, most of the converts soon returned to
their former state of barbarism. The Spaniards soon formed
establishments on the western side of the peninsula. In the spring of
1769, a number of settlers, with some soldiers and Franciscan friars,
marched through the peninsula towards San Diego. They reached the bay
of San Diego after a toilsome journey, and the settlement on the shore
of the bay was begun in the middle of May, 1769. An attempt was made,
soon after, to establish a colony at Port Monterey; but the party
under Portola that went in search of the place, passed further on to
the bay of San Francisco, and could not retrace their steps before the
cold weather set in, and they then returned to San Diego. The people
left at San Diego had been several times attacked by the natives, and
after the return of Portola's party they almost perished for want of
food. But a supply arrived on the very day upon which they had agreed
to abandon the place and return to Mexico. Portola again set out for
Monterey, and there effected a settlement. Parties of emigrants from
Mexico came to the western shore of California during the year 1770,
and establishments were made on the coast between San Diego and
Monterey. The multiplication of their cattle, independent of the
fruits of agricultural labor, before 1775, made the settlers of Upper
California able to resist the perils to which their situation exposed
them.
In order to give efficiency to the operations on the western coast of
North America, the Spanish government selected the port of San Blas,
in Mexico, at the entrance of the Gulf of California, for the
establishment of arsenals, ship-yards and warehouses, and made it the
centre of all operations undertaken in that quarter. A marine
department was created for the special purpose of advancing the
interests of the Spaniards in the settlement of the western shore of
California. By the energy displayed in managing this department the
Spaniards succeeded in making eight establishments on the Pacific
coast between the California peninsula and Cape Mendocino, before
1779. The most southern post was San Diego, and the most northern, San
Francisco, on the great bay of the same name. The establishments were
almost entirely military and missionary, the object of the Spaniards
being solely the occupation of the country. The missions were under
the control of the Franciscans, who, unlike the Jesuits, took little
care to exert themselves in procuring information concerning the
country in which they were established.
Various expeditions for exploring the coast of Upper California above
Cape Mendocino, were made by the Spaniards. One of these proceeded as
far north as the latitude of 41 degrees, and some men were landed on
the shores of a small bay, just beyond Cape Mendocino, and gave the
harbor the name of Port Trinidad. The small river which flows into the
Pacific near the place where they landed was called Pigeon River, from
the great number of those birds in the neighborhood of it. The Indians
appeared to be a peaceable and industrious race, and conducted
themselves towards the Spaniards in the most inoffensive manner. In
the same year, 1775, Bodega, a Spanish commander, returning from a
voyage extended as far north as the 58th degree of latitude,
discovered a small bay which had not previously been described, and he
accordingly gave it his own name, which it still retains. This Bay of
Bodega is situated a little north of the 38th degree of latitude.
Few events worth recording occurred in California, during the whole
period of fifty years, from the first establishment of the Spaniards
on the western coast till the termination of the Mexican war of
independence. An attempt of the Russians to form a settlement on the
shores of the Bay of Bodega, in 1815, was met with a remonstrance from
the governor of California. The remonstrance of the governor was
disregarded, and his commands to quit the place disobeyed. The Russian
agent, Kushof, denied the right of the Spaniards to the territory, and
the governor being unable to enforce his commands, the intruders kept
possession of the ground until 1840, when they left of their own
accord.