 Chapter 28, A History of California, the Spanish Period. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 28, Junipero Cera. Best known of the names in Alta California history, even at the present time, is that of Junipero Cera, first father-president of the Franciscan missions. Only a few years ago, scarcely one in a hundred had heard of Bucorelli and not many more could have identified Galvez. Portola had some slight vogue, but the much more important Anza, Garces, and Neve were obscurely recalled or completely forgotten. Though Cera was but one among a number who deserved well a posterity, it was largely due to his fame that not only his own achievements, but those of his companions as well, have at length been made known to the Californians of today. Junipero Cera stands out as one of the greatest figures of his time in Alta California. He came to the province with the first expedition of occupation, and shared, therefore, with Portola in the glamour of a conquest. He devoted himself unselfishly to the regeneration of a savage people, a task which makes a human appeal, and, as a result, men of all faiths have been able to unite in glorifying him as a successful missionary. But these facts would not have distinguished him from Portola on the one hand, or father Lasuean on the other. Much more important, as affecting his fame, was the publication of a biography prepared by his lifelong friend, ardent admirer, and co-worker Francisco Palou. Palou's volume was written to prove the great work of Father Cera. It seems probable, as has been asserted, that the author hoped it might help to procure the beatification of his revered brother Franciscan. In accord with the extravagant style of the period, the book displayed a tendency to colorful writing and was replete with miraculous happenings. Yet it was also a history of Alta California, grouped around the life of Cera. Published shortly after Cera's death, it remained for nearly a century almost the only history of the early days that had ever appeared. Naturally, therefore, Father Cera has walked through many thousands of pages of print, and the advantage, too, of having his tale presented under the most favorable circumstances. Is it any wonder, then, that there sprang up a veritable Cera legend? There was the Cera of Miracles recited by Palou, the reputed saving of the colony in 1770, and even a hazy notion that he had planned and led the expeditions that time, after which, as many believed, he became ruler of the province. He was clothed with all the blandly benign attributes which people believe ordinarily that a saint should have, a garment which ill-fitted the strenuous and hard-fighting friar. When all is said and done, however, the venerable Huniparo comes out far better in the light of the facts than have the heroes of other historic legends. He himself loses nothing when the test is applied. His glory is dimmed, if at all, only in that it is necessary to give a mead of praise to others. His legendary fame attracted Californians to the story of their past. Thus, there developed that remarkable interest in local history which has long been a characteristic of the citizens of the Golden State, and which led, inevitably, to an investigation of the record. Buccarelli, Galvez, Anza, Garces, Neve, Lausanne, and even Portala may well render thanks to Sarah as should he in turn to Pellue. Thus, too, it is poetically correct to say that Sarah should be the hero of fiction and of the mission play, for he stands as the symbol in the minds of Californians of the days when their state belonged to Spain. The real Sarah was indeed a remarkable man. Already at an advanced age when he came to Alta California, he nevertheless possessed the traits which were most needed in the pioneer. He was an enthusiastic, battling, almost quarrelsome, fearless, keen-witted, fervently devout, unselfish, single-minded missionary. He subordinated everything, and himself most of all, to the demands of his evangelical task as he understood it. With all, his administration, as Father President, was so sound and his grasp of the needs of the province so clear that he was able to exercise a greater authority than would ordinarily have been permitted. Though he fought with local governors, he won the confidence of Buccarelli who preferred his judgment to that of either Fagas or Rivera. Thus he was able in a measure to attain his ends in the face of gubernatorial opposition, and so, too, he must be given credit for much that was done because it was at his advice that many projects were undertaken. Father Sarah was born on November 24, 1713, of humble parents in the village of Petra on the island of Mallorca, one of the Balearic islands to the east of Spain. In footnote, 200 years later, in 1913, a monument was raised to Father Sarah in the principal square of his native town. The rider was present as a delegate of the State and University of California. In footnote. Baptized Miguel José, he took the name Huniporo on entering the Franciscan order. This he did at the early age of 16 years. In due time he became a doctor of theology and an able preacher. In 1749, now nearly 36, he turned up at Cadiz as one of a number of missionaries who were about to embark for New Spain. Just prior to his departure he wrote a letter to his brother Franciscan and relative Francisco Sarah, giving ample testimony of his love for family and even more so of his religious fervor. A portion of the letter follows, quote, Friend of my heart, I lack words to tell you how much sorrow I feel in leaving you, and please repeat the same thing to my family, who, I have no doubt, must also feel grief at seeing me leave. I would like to impress upon them the great joy I feel. I intend to pledge myself to go there and never return. The vocation of the apostolic preacher, especially under the present circumstances, is the best which one could desire to go into. His life may be long or brief, but if he knows how to compare its length with eternity he will see clearly that, in any event, it could not be more than an instant. Such is the will of God, and I shall render him the little assistance I can. If he does not wish us to be together in life, he will unite us in immortal glory. Tell them that I am very sorry not to be with them as I was before, to comfort them. But they ought to have in mind also that the principal thing must be held first, and that is the will of God. For nothing else but the love of God would I have left them, end quote. Thus did he renounce home and country to consecrate himself irrevocably to his task. The voyage to New Spain was described by Palu, who also made it, in a brief and somewhat colorless account. Sarah himself wrote about it, most vividly and at great length to Francisco Sarah. Owing to shortage of fresh water they were obliged to make port at the city of Puerto Rico, San Juan, where they remained fifteen days. Here the religious were most active in holding services for the inhabitants. With the humility, customary in the language of friars at that time, Sarah, who had just recounted the wonderful preaching of others, somewhat naively proclaimed his own failure as follows, quote. When I preached, not as I was heard, although I preached on fervent subjects and in a loud voice, end quote. But Palu insists, no doubt with correctness, that Sarah's preaching was a distinct success. After going on the rocks in a first attempt to get clear from the island port, the vessel soon afterward made the open sea, nearing Vera Cruz that ran into a violent storm which all but wrecked it. According to Sarah it was probably due to Santa Barbara, whom the religious had selected as their patron saint to save them, that the danger was averted. On December 10th, therefore, after more than three months out of Cadiz, since August 29th, he landed at Vera Cruz. Looking back over the voyage, he displayed that pride in his own sea legs that many another in all ages has shown, quote. I have had nothing at all to matter with me, indeed I am the only one of all the religious, both Franciscans and Dominicans, twenty-seven and seven respectively, and the servants of both groups as well, who was not seasick. While the rest were almost dead, I never so much as realized that I was at sea, and that is the real truth, unquote. It is reassuring to note, too, that Sarah was enough of a human being to evince an interest in matters of food and drink, as appears at several points in the letter just cited. Soon after their arrival in New Spain, Sarah and Palu were sent to the Sierra Gorda missions in modern Tomolipus in northeastern Mexico, where the former was father-president from 1750 to 1759, residing with Palu at the mission of Santiago de Jalpan. In 1758, orders came for Sarah to undertake the more dangerous mission among the Indians of northern Texas, the Spanish efforts to obtain a foothold there centered about the region of San Sabah, but the settlements had never been prosperous. Before Sarah had a chance to enter this new field, there occurred the massacre of 1758 which wiped out that post. Not knowing that this would operate to prevent his going, Sarah wrote a stirring account to the massacre to his nephew Miguel and Petra, telling especially of the miracles which had followed the martyrdom of Father José Santa Estavan. Where in the letter was there the slightest intimation of his being afraid to go there? Rather it seems probable, as Palu states, that he earnestly desired this dangerous service. All that Sarah himself said in the letter just cited was the following. Quote, In place of my happy beloved friend the holy mandate is now sending there this miserable sinner who is your uncle, together with Father Frey Francisco Palu, I recognize my uselessness and incompetence for so great an undertaking. But God is able, even through the agency of nothing itself, to achieve works which redown to His glory. In quote. Footnote The members of Sarah's branch of the Franciscan Order frequently, almost habitually, styled themselves individually as nothing itself. In footnote. The death of the viceroy in New Spain caused a postponement of the project to reestablish the mission, and shortly afterward the plan was given up. But for this change California would in all probability never have had Sarah as Father President of the missions, and Texas might today be proclaiming him as one of her early heroes. From 1759 to 1767 Sarah spent much of the time at the Franciscan College of San Fernando and Mexico City. He also traveled about as a commissioner of the Inquisition. In 1768 he became Father President of the Fernandine missions of Baja, California, once he went to Alta, California with the expeditions of 1769. From then until his death in 1784 he was Father President of the missions in the northern province. Nine missions were founded during his presidency. Not only in religious matters, but also in every other phase of Alta, California affairs, he played an important part. Possibly his greatest individual service was that which he performed in connection with his visit of 1773 to Mexico City. It was then that he gave Buccarelli the information and advice which enabled the latter for the first time to get a clear understanding of the situation in Alta, California. Just prior to his return Sarah wrote a letter to his nephew telling what he had done during the past five years. In none of the letters of his private correspondence that have thus far come to light is the missionary ardor of Father Junipero more clearly and unaffectedly set forth. Already nearly sixty years old he seemed impatient of anything that had no direct relation to a spiritual task. He had definitely left family and native land behind. He spoke of the possibility of further letters from him in such a way as to imply that he might not write again, and indeed no further Sarah letters had been found in the files at Petra. Even his remembrances to Mallorca and friends were coupled with a desire for their prayers that he might become a better missionary. Among other things he told how his journey to Mexico had broken his health, with the result that he had nearly died while at Guadalajara before reaching the capital. Quote, After a few days they ordered the last sacraments to be administered to me, and I was in great danger. When the continuous fever broke in detergent I went on my way and arrived at the city of Querétaro once again so weak that they also ordered the last sacraments to be administered. Soon, however, I got better and at last reached this holy college of San Fernando. For a long time I was very weak and without appetite, but now blessed be God I am completely restored to health. Not less interesting in this connection is a letter written in August 1773 by Father Pablo Font of the College of San Fernando to a brother friar in Catalonia. Quote, The father president, Junipero Cera, is a religious of the observant order, a man of very venerable age, formerly a professor at the University of Palma, who during twenty-four years since he has been a missionary of this college has never spared himself in toiling for the conversion of the faithful and the unfaithful. In footnote, observant is one of the names of the Minerite branch of the Franciscan friars. In footnote, Notwithstanding his many and laborious years, he has the qualities of a lion which surrenders only to fever, neither the habitual indispositions from which he suffers, especially in the chest and in difficulty of breathing, nor the wounds in his feet and legs have been able to detain him a moment from his apostolic tasks. He has astonished us during his recent sojourn, for although very sick he never failed day or night to take part in the choir, much less when he had fever. We have seen him apparently dead only to be immediately revived. If now and then he attended to the needs of bodily health at the infirmary, it was only because he was ordered to go there. Sometimes, in his journeys among the faithful and the unfaithful, he has become so ill on account of his wounds and other infirmities that it was necessary to carry him on a stretcher. But he did not wish to stop to cure his half-dead body, and soon he would be restored to health through the influence of divine providence alone. In very truth, on account of these things and because of the austerity of his life, his humility, charity, and other virtues, he is worthy to be counted among the imitators of the apostles. And now he is returning as if it were nothing to Monterey, a distance of a thousand leagues by sea and land, to visit those missions and rejoice them by his presence and by the measures which he has procured, and to preside over them and found other missions until he shall die. May God grant him many years of life. Much more could I say of this holy man. He has at various times been elected father superior, but he was never confirmed, either on account of his absence or because the prelates thought it was wiser not to withdraw such an extraordinary man from his apostolic tasks." It was in the spirit reflected in these letters that Father Sarah performed his work as father president. Very much of a human being, though he was, the man nevertheless was subordinate at all times to the religious. To tell what Sarah did in Alta California would necessitate touching on every phase of affairs in the province during his life. It is more important, perhaps, to direct attention to the nature of his authority so as to make clear what he himself could and could not do. The clue to an accurate estimate is in an understanding of the already discussed institution of the Real Patronato. Footnote C Chapter 12, in which the whole question of the mission is taken up. In footnote. From this it will appear that the father presidents in Alta California, whereas much subject to the king and viceroy, as the various procedural captain, save only in the spiritual attributes of their profession. In earlier times mission presidents were occasionally granted a much wider authority. That was true of the Jesuits in Baja California prior to their expulsion. There the Jesuit rectors were indeed responsible under the viceroy for all that was done, for they headed the military and political establishment as well as the religious. In Alta California, Father Sarah and his successors had religious authority only, while the military and political resided in the governor. The father president and the governor were to a certain extent independent of each other, but both were subject to the viceroy of New Spain or to the commandant general of the frontier provinces during part of the time after 1776. Save for the higher authority of the political rulers of New Spain and the father superior of San Fernando, who was himself a subordinate in a major of the viceroy, the father president held absolute power over the missionaries of his flock, and they in turn exercised an almost absolute control over their individual missions, as already pointed out. The semi-independence of the mission guard, almost the only authority outstanding from the friars, was a fruitful source of quarrels with the governors. The latter tended to emphasize its freedom from mission jurisdiction, while the missionaries held that it should be altogether subordinate to their wishes. The father president was not empowered to take action on his own responsibility, but was permitted to make recommendations directly to the viceroy, instead of through the office of the governor. In fine, therefore, a dual power was established in Alta California. When the two elements clashed, the governor usually had the advantage for he commanded the troops to the province and as a military man might expect to get a more sympathetic hearing from the viceroy or commandant general, who in most cases was soldier too. But the friars, as a result of their intellectual attainments and the unselfishness of their pretensions, were often able to gain their objects. Furthermore, they were the only element in the province with economic resources at their command, for the missions produced almost all it was raised in Alta California during the Spanish period. The father presidents are therefore entitled to be considered, with the governors, as one of the two ruling elements in the province. From this, it is clear that Sarah had no such opportunity as that vouchsafe Selva Tierra in Baja California. The latter must be considered as the conqueror and governor of Baja California, while Sarah was never the dominant figure in Alta California. Indeed, the absolutist kings of Spain had just previously banished the Jesuits because they were frightened by the power to which that order had attained, and any attempted restoration of the Jesuit system was distinctly frowned upon. Sarah, no doubt, would have preferred a position such as the Jesuits had enjoyed, because then he could have pursued his work of Christianization untrammeled. Both Galvez and Buccarelli had insisted too that the propagation of the faith was the primary task of the Spaniards in Alta California, and if they thought this more from the standpoint of its utility to the Empire, Sarah understood it literally as affecting the kingdom of God. It was on this account that he quarreled almost incessantly with the governors, claiming that they were not advancing the interests of the mission establishments and that they were endeavoring unduly to exercise authority over the friars. On the other hand, the governors felt that theirs would be an empty government if it did not include a perfectly definite authority over the missions for whose defense they were responsible and to which they furnished soldiers. Clashes were therefore inevitable, and it was only a question of temperaments how far they should be carried. Beyond a doubt, Sarah had far more friction with the governors than did his successor, Father Lassouine, but this was not wholly due to their differences in disposition. The problems were newer in Sarah's day, the state of the province less secure, and the men with whom he had to deal, especially Felipe de Neve, were perhaps somewhat less amenable to argument than were the governors of a later day. At any rate, Sarah was usually able to gain his point and knew how to seize on some of the petty annoyances put upon him by the governors to help his case in more important affairs. He was able to procure the dismissal of Fagas in the appointment of Rivera in his place, but the new man proved more of a thorn in his flesh than the old. Largely with the view to sustaining Sarah's position in his quarrels with Rivera, Buccarelli caused the latter to be transferred and put Felipe de Neve in command. Felipe de Neve was an able governor, but one cannot help feeling that judgment should be given in favor of Sarah in most of the disputes that they had. Indeed, the governor not infrequently displayed that vindictive spirit, which at a later time already discussed, characterized his relations with Anza. A first issue arose between them over the question whether double rations for five years should be granted to the friars at three new missions, as had been the custom formerly, in accord with provisions made in the Este Veste Reglamento. Neve held that the law applied only to the first five missions of Alta California. In this instance, the governor scored and was eventually sustained. A little while later, Neve questioned Sarah's authority to administer the right of confirmation to Christian converts. This power had been granted to Sarah, but Neve pointed out that it had never been sanctioned by the Commandant General Teodoro de Croix. It was found eventually that Sarah's right had been formally approved before the separate jurisdiction of the frontier provinces was established. Thus, Sarah won, but not until he had suffered an annoying delay of nearly two years. The most serious conflict arose over Neve's provision for the missions in the Reglamento of which he was the author. He contemplated the founding of a chain of missions, some 15 or 20 leagues inland, but these were to be a new type of establishment. A church and a residence for the friar in charge were to be built, but no animals or implements of husbandry provided. Indeed, the governmental and economic phases of mission life were to be abandoned, and the task of the friar was to be limited to the religious instruction. One friar at a mission instead of the customary two was deemed to be enough, and furthermore it was intended that the number at the older missions should eventually be reduced to one. These provisions became law when the Neve Reglamento was approved by the highest authority, but the Franciscans, both in Alta California and at the College in Mexico, unceasingly opposed putting the law into effect. Sarah refused to found new missions on that basis, and the Father Superior of the College declined to send any additional friars to Alta California. Of course, they could have been compelled to take action, but they were not. Perhaps it was fortunate for them that Neve did not long remain in Alta California after his Reglamento went into effect. At any rate, the matter never came to a head, though it remained a dread possibility, even into the presidency of Father La Suede. And so at length, after a career which had touched the affairs of the province at every point, the venerable Father Presidents was attacked by what proved to be his last illness. Already past seventy and enfeebled by hardship and the self-imposed rigors of an austere Christian life, he knew that his time to die had come. He sent for Father Palau to be present and with the utmost resignation prepared himself for the event. He insisted on going about his religious tasks as usual, and the very day before his death walked a distance of about a hundred yards in order to receive the Holy Communion in church. On the twenty-eighth of August, seventeen eighty-four, he passed away, and the next day was buried in the church at the Carmel Mission near the remains of his former companion in religion, Father Juan Crespi. The news of his death was received with great sorrow by his brethren in Mexico. Immediately thereafter, the Father Superior of San Fernando pinned the following letter to the observant order in Mallorca. Quote, The news of the death of our beloved fellow countryman, Father Juniper Ocerra, occurring at the mission of San Carlos, has just reached us from our missions of Monterey, of which he was president, footnote. This is an instance of the use of Monterey for all of Alta California in footnote. Like just and pious men before his time, he died under such circumstances that all those around him not only shed tears, but were also of the opinion that his happy soul went straight to heaven to enjoy the reward of his thirty-four years of great and ceaseless labors performed for our beloved Jesus, whom he ever kept in mind as undergoing untold suffering for our redemption. Such was the kindness which he always showed these poor Indians, that he amazed not only people in general, but also persons of high standing, all saying that he was a saint and that his ways were those of an apostle. This pious view of him was held from the time he arrived in the kingdom and has continued to be held without any interruption whatsoever. Thus died Unipero Sarah, the most famous of the missionaries of Alta California. Footnote. This chapter is based principally on documents translated and edited by Charles S. Mitrani and the writer and published under the title New Light on Father Sarah in Grizzly Bear Magazine, Los Angeles, March May 1917. End of Chapter 28 Chapter 29. A history of California, the Spanish period. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 29. Fermin Francisco de la Suez. Undying fame is not wholly the result of merit. Rarely have the strange pranks of history been better illustrated than in the extraordinary reputation enjoyed by Unipero Sarah and the almost complete oblivion into which has passed the name of Fermin Francisco de la Suez, a worthy rival of his illustrious predecessor in solid achievement. Both men were able and deserving of the recognition of posterity, but Sarah had two advantages which gained for him the lasting glory which it now seems impossible La Suez will ever have. Sarah was the first father president and shares therefore in the glamour of the conquest. Of far greater import, however, he was so fortunate as to have a biographer, Father Palou. Theodore Roosevelt once said, quote, we could better afford to lose every Greek inscription that has ever been found than the chapter in which the citities tells of the Athenian failure before Syracuse, unquote. In a similar vein, the historian Buri wrote, quote, the early portion of Greek history, which corresponds to the 7th and 6th centuries BC, is inevitably distorted and placed in a false perspective through the strange limitations of our knowledge. The wrong, unfortunately, cannot be righted by a recognition of it, the Athen ont toujours tot, unquote. So, too, Sarah will remain famous, justly so, because of Palou, while La Suez cannot hope for the renown to which he is entitled. Even though some later-day historian may yet piece together documentary evidence enough for a biography of this great Franciscan. Something should be done, however, to rescue La Suez from obscurity, and it is hoped that this chapter may serve in a major toward that end. For lack of a Palou, we know little of the early life of La Suez. He was a native of Victoria in the Basque province of Alava, a worthy representative of the race to which the up-building of the Spanish colonies was so greatly due. The year of his birth is unknown, but it was probably about 1720. Eventually, he was admitted to the Franciscan order and turned up in Mexico as a member of the famous College of San Fernando. He saw service as a missionary in the Sierra Gorda in the region between the present-day states of Tamulipas and Querétaro, but left there in 1767 to join the Fernandinos under Father Sarah, when the latter took over the missions of the Californians in succession to the Jesuits. By far, the most important of the missions in the peninsula at the time, and with the exception of the presently to be founded Velikotá, the most northerly among them was that of San Francisco de Borja. It is a tribute to Father Lasuane that he was directed to take charge of this mission. The task which confronted him was very difficult. On the departure of the Jesuits, military commissaries had been placed in charge of the missions, and they had spent more time searching for the supposed hidden wealth of the Jesuits than in promoting the welfare of the missions. As a result, the missions had fallen away. They were still further impoverished by being drawn upon for supplies for the expeditions of 1769 to Alta California. Naturally the distant post of Borja was among the last to receive aid for its rehabilitation. The condition of affairs there and the good sense of Father Lasuane are both illustrated by certain correspondence between him and Galvez. At the time the ladder was in the peninsula, the letters bearing date between September 1768 and February 1769. Galvez had published an edict against gambling, and directed Lasuane to see that it was observed at the mission. Galvez also suggested the advisability of giving tobacco to the Indians to gain their goodwill. Lasuane replied that he would comply with Galvez's directions, but as a matter of fact the vice of gambling did not exist at Borja, and the Indians used tobacco only as snuff, and for that but sparingly. The real need at Borja was not reform or tobacco, but food and clothing for my children are most numerous and hungry and naked. In five months, from May to October 1768, that he had been in charge of the mission, he had not received a grain of aid from anywhere. The letter impressed Galvez, but in the most extraordinary way. He wrote to Lasuane that he proposed to relieve his necessities by deporting many of his neophytes to the better supplied missions of the South. It is somewhat strange that the experienced Father Sarah should have endorsed this plan, which failed to take into account the extreme conservatism of the Indian in clinging to his native surroundings, however mean they might be. Galvez went on to say that two boats were to be dispatched north at once to get the Indian families designated by Lasuane for the southern missions. Lasuane was wholly opposed to this arrangement, but his answer to Galvez's letter was a model for tact. Instead of making a stormy protest, he pointed out that the plan, though very just and necessary, was at this time exposed to many difficulties and more or less impossible of execution. The Indians of his mission were still untamed and new in Christianity, wherefor it would be very difficult to make them comprehend the great utility which would come to them from the change and the favorable advantages which you offer them. When one of the boats arrived to take away some of the Indians, Lasuane informed the captain that he would wait further orders from Galvez before embarking them. The correspondence closed with a letter from Galvez, recognizing the correctness of Father Lasuane's stand and approving his suspension of the sending of the Indians from Borja. No connected account can yet be given of Lasuane's five-year term as the missionary of San Francisco de Borja, although some more or less fragmentary records are at hand. Lasuane's problem, as indeed was that of the other Baja California missionaries, was not so much to build up his mission as to keep it from going to pieces. This he did in the face of discouraging circumstances. In 1771 he was able to report that, so far as was known, there was not a single pagan left in the whole district. Notwithstanding a scarcity of water and cultivable land, Father Lasuane had planted vineyards, fig and pomegranate trees, and some cotton. The cotton was used at the mission in the manufacture of shawls for the Indians and blankets were made of wool. In May 1773, when the Dominicans succeeded to the Franciscan missions of the peninsula, statistics showed that there were at Borja 1,000 persons, 648 cattle, 387 horses and mules, 2,343 sheep, and 1,003 goats. The importance of the mission stands forth the more clearly when it appears that there were but 4,268 persons and 14,716 domestic animals in all 14 missions of Baja California. Thus San Francisco de Borja, though by no means a favored spot, had under its control nearly a fourth of the Indians in the missions and more than a fourth of the domestic animals. A still more eloquent commentary on the services of Father Lasuane at San Francisco de Borja might be made if it were possible to go into the intimate details of his private life. During five years he was the sole missionary at that mission. Commenting on Lasuane's expressed wish for a second missionary there, Bancroft says, quote, We can, in some degree, imagine the desolate loneliness of a Padre's life at a frontier mission. But the reality must have been far worse than anything our fancy can picture. These friars were mostly educated, in many cases learned men, not used to nor needing the bustle of city life, but wanting, as they did, their daily food-intelligent companionship. They were not alone in the strictest sense of the word, for there were enough people around them. But what were these people, ignorant, lazy, dirty, sulk-y, treacherous, half-tamed savages, with whom no decent man could have anything in common? Even the almost hopeless task of saving their miserable souls must have required a martyr for its performance, end quote. But there were material discomforts as well. Writing from Alta, California, in April 1774, nearly a year after his departure from the peninsula, Lasuane begged to be relieved from the great hardship he was undergoing for lack of wearing apparel, which had already reached the point of indecency. His clothes, he said, had been in continuous use for more than five years. He had mended them until they no longer admitted of it, and moreover had exhausted his materials for sewing. Referring somewhat humorously in another letter to his need for clothing, Lasuane said that it was perhaps on that account that the Indians cared for him so much on the principle that like attracts like, for he resembled them much in scantiness of wardrobe. When the Baja California missions were turned over to the Dominicans, eight of the Fernandillos, presumably the most capable among them, were directed to proceed to Alta, California. Lasuane was one of the friars ordered to the northern province. The missionaries left the peninsula in charge of Father Palu, who for several years had served as president of the Baja California missions. They were escorted by a military force under Sergeant Jose de Ortega. The party reached San Francisco de Borra on June 22, 1773, and left there the next day, thus bringing Lasuane's long ministry at that mission to an end. On route north, they made the first attempt that ever was made to run the boundary between the two California's. The line of division had been agreed upon in Mexico in May 1772. In accord with that decision, Palu and his party raised across, on August 19, 1773, to mark the boundary between the Dominicans and the Fernandillos. The line was some five leagues north of the Arroyo of San Juan Bautista and fifteen south of San Diego, a number of miles below the present boundary. Eleven days later, the party reached San Diego in Alta California. It is not surprising that Lasuane was assigned to the mission at San Gabriel. This had been founded in 1771 and gave promise of being the best site of all the missions from the standpoint of pastoral and agricultural possibilities. Hope's had not yet been realized, however, due in a major to trouble with the Indians caused by the improper conduct of Spanish soldiers. Lasuane was the right man to bring prosperity to San Gabriel. He set out for his mission at once and took up his duties there in September 1773. The time was the least propitious possible for the great eight months famine which all but caused the abandonment of Alta California was then at its height. Supplies from New Spain reached San Diego on March 13, 1774, but it was not until some time later that San Gabriel was relieved. Meanwhile the first Anza expedition reached San Gabriel on March 22. This made matters worse for a while since Anza too lacked supplies, but it meant an increased importance for San Gabriel which henceforth was the first settlement in the province reached by those taking overland route from Sonora. Father Lasuane, already past middle life, had wished to retire to the College of San Fernando instead of coming to Alta California, but on being informed that he could not be spared, resigned himself to remaining in the province. He was destined, never to leave, serving continuously in Alta California for 30 years. Little more need be said of his stay at San Gabriel. By the close of 1774 it was already the most prosperous of the missions. Furthermore, the troubles with the Indians had been overcome. A more serious task was now at hand. The march between San Diego and San Gabriel had always been difficult owing to the treacherous character of the Indians. Fathers Lasuane and Gregorio Amurrio were designated in August 1775 to found a mission between these two to be called San Juan Capistrano. Lasuane, who was in Monterey at the time, made the long journey to San Diego and then turned back with Ortega, now a lieutenant, to make explorations for a site. In October Lasuane formally inaugurated the mission. Father Amurrio soon arrived and prospect seemed excellent for the natives who were well disposed, but after only a few days there came news of the great Indian uprising of 1775 at San Diego. Ortega was therefore obliged to leave for San Diego and advised the two friars to give up the mission. This seemed the part of good sense so the mission bells were buried and the place was abandoned. Not long afterward, however, it was reoccupied. As already recounted, the San Diego revolt of 1775 was the most serious attempt the Indians of Alta California ever made to throw the Spaniards out of the province. It failed, but because of the underlying seriousness of the situation, and especially because the Indians of San Diego had always been troublesome, the presence at the mission of the most able friars in the province was imperative to supplement the work of the soldiers of the procedural establishment nearby. Father Lasuane was therefore called upon to remain at San Diego. For a year after Lasuane's arrival at San Diego there were troubles in connection with the late revolt, troubles between the friars and Governor Rivera, rather than with the Indians. The former wished to follow a policy of conciliation, as opposed to the more stringent, long-continued measures of repression undertaken by the Governor. These incidents may be passed over with a remark that the friars were eventually sustained by the viceroy of New Spain. Father Lasuane remained at San Diego during the rest of Sarah's presidency and the brief rule of Father Palau. Meanwhile, affairs at San Diego progressed smoothly. The earlier hostile attitude of the Indians did not again manifest itself. Palau's succession to the presidency of the missions was understood to be temporary, for he had already asked permission to retire to the College of San Fernando. Permission was granted, and probably in September 1785 Palau departed from Mexico, where in the following year he became Father Superior of the College. The appointment of Lasuane as President of the missions was dated February 6, 1785, but it was not received in Alta California until September, when his long period of service at San Diego came officially to an end. A detailed account of the achievements of Lasuane as Father President would involve giving a history of the province during the 18 years of his term. For the purposes of this chapter it seems better to select some phases of his work in character for treatment. One of the principal objects of the Fernandinos and of Father Sarah and Lasuane in particular was the founding of missions whereby more souls might be saved and Alta California placed on a sounder material basis. Of the 21 Fernandino missions, nine each were founded during the Presidencies of Sarah and Lasuane. Sarah had long wished to establish a number of missions in the populous region bordering the Santa Barbara Channel, and authority for doing so was early received from New Spain. It was not until 1782, however, that the first of those missions, that of San Buena Ventura, was founded, the last of Sarah's nine. One of the earliest acts of Lasuane's regime was to add two more. The Father President himself, now in his 66th year, went to the Presidio of Santa Barbara, founded in 1782, and superintended the founding of a mission nearby. On December 4th, 1786, this mission, Santa Barbara, at the present day the most famous of all the 21, was formally dedicated. A year later, on December 8th, 1787, Lasuane in person inaugurated the mission of Purísima Concepción at a point previously selected by Governor Fagas, thus completing the Channel missions, although actual work, the new establishment, did not begin until 1788. Next, steps were taken to found two missions between San Carlos de Monterey and Santa Clara, but clear authorization, therefore, was not received until July 1791. Lasuane acted with customary prominence. Both sites had already been explored, but Lasuane decided to see them himself. He found that of Santa Cruz, all that had been claimed for it, and dedicated the mission there on August 28, 1791. The sites chosen for the other mission, Soledad, were not approved by Lasuane, who himself selected the spot for the founding. On October 9th, Lasuane was on hand to raise the cross at Soledad. The governors and the friars had long wished for additional missions somewhat farther inland, though west of the coast range, with the idea of reducing all the Indians of the coast districts between San Diego and San Francisco. Besides giving more converts to the faith, this would remove the last vestige of Indian peril in the region under Spanish control. Governor Borica, 1794 to 1800, was particularly active in cooperating with Father Lasuane to achieve this end. The year 1795 was largely taken up with careful explorations for mission sites, and in the following year the viceroy authorized the founding of the five missions asked for. By May 1797 everything was ready, then followed the most remarkable era of mission founding in the history of the province. Sarah in 1771 and Lasuane in 1791 had established two missions in a single year. Now, Lasuane, from June to September, established no fewer than four, following in June 1798 by the erection of the fifth. At the inauguration of all these missions, Father Lasuane presided in person, dedicating San Jose on June 11, 1797, San Juan Bautista on June 24, San Miguel on July 25, San Fernando Rey on September 8, and San Luis Rey on June 13 of the following year. Footnote. San Jose was a number of miles north of the Pueblo, which gave the name to the present-day city of San Jose. In footnote. In so doing, Father Lasuane had to traverse the whole occupied sphere of the province. Some 500 miles or more in length, enduring hardships which can scarcely be appreciated in this day and age of luxurious travel. Verily, for a man in his 77th or 78th year, Father Lasuane might have been pardoned for feeling a high degree of self-satisfaction over his achievement, though there is no evidence to the effect that he did. Yet, Father Lasuane rendered perhaps even more distinguished service as an administrator than as a founder of missions. Not only must the new missions be placed upon a durable footing, but the old ones also had to be maintained. A right to administer the sacrament of confirmation had been granted to Cera for ten years. This ceased with his death in 1784, at which time he had confirmed 5,309 persons. Lasuane was the only other Father President to receive this right. It was granted for ten years in 1785, but was not forwarded until 1790. In the five-year period remaining to him he confirmed about 9,000 persons. He also exercised other powers which ordinarily would have been in the hands of the secular clergy. Since there were no other priests in all to California, the missionaries had administered the sacraments and performed various religious services for the Spanish population, though this was not a part of their regular duties. In 1796, the Bishop of Sonora unasked, conferred on Lasuane the titles of Vicario Foranio and Vicario Castrenza, whereby he was authorized to administer the customary sacraments other than that of confirmation to the civilian and military elements, respectively. At the same time he was made U.S. ecclesiastical or ecclesiastical judge for such cases as might ordinarily be tried in a church court. All of these powers he was allowed to delegate to his subordinates, which Lasuane accordingly proceeded to do. In 1795, too, Lasuane was appointed commissary of the Inquisition of Mexico. As such, he had occasion to publish a few edicts forwarded to him from Mexico and once confiscated and forwarded to the capital four copies of a forbidden game called El Eusebio. These new duties added considerably to Lasuane's responsibilities, for by his own account the Spanish settlers were careless about the observance of certain precepts of the church, such as those of annual confession and receiving communion at Easter. Yet the old father president was far from being overwhelmed by his labors. In 1797, after he had just completed the founding of the four missions established in that year, Governor Boracá, who regarded the achievement as extraordinary, complimented him and observed that he must have renewed his youthful vigor by bathing in the holy waters of another Jordan. There is another side to Father Lasuane's administration deserving of comment in this connection. Whenever there was anything important to be done, he went himself to attend to it. His official headquarters were at San Carlos de Monterrey, but his tours were so frequent that he was rarely there for any length of time. It was during Lasuane's rule, too, that a forward step was taken in the economic growth of the missions, in addition to the normal development in agriculture and stock raising, as well as in the number of Indians living at the missions, the neophytes received instruction in the trades of the artisan beyond anything that they had had before. The friars had already taught their wards all they knew, but desired to perfect them in their employments and to make the missions independent of the supply ships from New Spain as much as possible. Acting probably at Lasuane's suggestion, Governor Fagas wrote to the viceroy in 1787, asking that carpenters, smiths, masons, and other artisans be sent to Alta California to instruct the Indians. About 20 were sent at royal expense, mostly between 1792 and 1795 on four or five-year contracts. A few remained permanently in the province, but most returned later to New Spain. Much of the economic advance of the missions may be attributed to their coming. One wonders, too, how much of the improvement in mission architecture was due to the building or reconstruction affected by them. Certainly, the missions of the earliest days were rude edifices, while those of the period of Father Lasuane have been almost solely responsible for the mission style which is such a characteristic note in the present-day architecture of California. It is necessary to deal with one other phase of Lasuane's rule, that of his relations with the governors and procedural commanders of the province. Disputes between the religious and the military were a chronic feature of Spanish colonial administration everywhere. Neither element can justly be charged with fault for this situation. It was inherent in the dual system of government employed, where powers were either too loosely defined, or else too specifically stated in some instances which did not fit actual circumstances. Unless both elements were disposed to get along, quarrels were sure to result, and even when they wished to avoid trouble, differences very often occurred. Lasuane was fortunate in that the governors with whom he had to deal—Fagas, Romeo, Ariaga, Borica, and Alberti—were reasonable men, eager to have affairs run smoothly when possible. Fagas was hot-tempered, but warm-hearted and incapable of harboring a grievance against anybody. He had had many quarrels with Sarah, but his long experience as governor and Lasuane's tactfulness enabled the two men to get over some rough spots in their relations. Borica and Lasuane were devoted friends, but even they could not avoid disputes. One great source of trouble was the provision recommended by Governor Neve in 1779 that in the new missions about to be erected along the Santa Barbara Channel and in others projected farther inland, the friars should exercise merely spiritual jurisdiction, allowing the natives to live in their own towns and make their living in their own way, and at the same time reducing the number of missionaries at a mission from two to one. Lasuane himself wrote to the Father Superior at San Fernando protesting against the change. With reference to a plan to form the missions into Costodias under secular control, subject to the newly appointed Bishop of Sonora, Lasuane expressed himself in conformity since it had the sanction of the Church. It might also serve as a means for me to depart from this government and this work. As a man, Lasuane never desired to stay in the Californias. As a religious, he accepted with resignation the duty imposed upon him. As for the Neva Plan, wrote Lasuane, that if it was to be put into effect without recourse to the Council of the Indies, I would, without delay and with a clear conscience, do all I could to seize any opportunity which might present itself to retire to the College. This measure, in my private opinion, without setting myself up against the views of others, though they may applaud it, has little of the religious in it and is reprehensibly full of zeal to save money for the royal treasury. In fine, he said, after stating the more difficult task of the missionaries, this new system would consign a religious to a life that was more than tiresome, to sickness without assistance, to deaths without sacraments. I cannot believe that his Catholic Majesty likes it, wishes or will permit that a poor friar suffer such pitiful and grievous desolation, or that he will agree to this unbearable lack of a priest in one's greatest distress when the friars, in order to serve the king, have deprived themselves of the very delightful company of so many people. Or do I think that he will see them left without the help of anyone when they themselves are being sacrificed for the sake of all? For me, the solitude of this occupation is a cruel and terrible enemy which has struck me heavily, like a blow. I escape from it, thank God, after evident risk of dying on account of it, and now that I see it shadow again, even from afar, I am full of trembling at the mere prospect of having to return to the struggle. For it is possible that this misfortune, which I fear worse than death, may fall to my lot. Therefore, if this measure is not revoked, I again declare my positive and supreme repugnance to this religious task, and ask insistently that I be relieved, relying on the rights granted by our Franciscan law. I would beg, and I do beg, leave to go to my province in the order, or to attach myself to any other whatsoever in the world, for all the evils of any character, save that of sin seem less to me than that of being alone in this ministry." It will be noticed that Lasuane's protest was very far from being an act of rebellion. The law of his order gave him rights in the matter, and he implied that he would obey if the Council of the Indies or the King should sustain the measure. The horror with which he recalled his service as the sole missionary at Borfa, and a lurking fear of insanity if he should be required to perform a similar task again, seemed to underlie his resistance to the plan, and what wonder that he should have felt that way. As for the change itself, it was not actually put into effect, but the question was raised at the outset of Lasuane's presidency with the respect of the two missions proposed to be founded along the Santa Barbara Channel. The Neve Reglamento had never been revoked, except that the plan for but a single missionary had probably been overruled. Even this variation from the original law was not certainly known in Alta California. It was now directed that the new missions should conform to the Neve arrangement. On the other hand, Lasuane received orders from the Father Superior of San Fernando not to found them, except upon the old basis. Here, then, was a situation that had been created neither by Foggis nor by Lasuane, yet between them they handled it so that it has left but a scant trace on the local records of Alta California. Lasuane had his way without quarreling, and it was tacitly agreed that the mission should be founded in the way that he wished. Meanwhile a controversy had been started prior to Lasuane's installation in office between Foggis and Palu. This was brought to a head by charges against the Fernandinos made by Foggis in September 1785. It is not necessary here to go into the charges which were somewhat trivial, but it may be said that Lasuane upon whom it devolved to draw up an answer refuted them in a dignified and convincing manner which virtually settled the dispute. In his report, which he was directing to the Commandant General of the Frontier provinces, he reverted to the single missionary plan. Quote, I shall not hesitate to give information conducive to that end if they order me to do so or ask my advice, to the effect that I am utterly opposed, particularly on my own account, as much as it is possible to be opposed to the project of being alone in a mission. I shall offer myself for any kind of suffering, and to die in these parts as soon as God may order it, but I am certain that there will never be a man who can convince me that I must subject myself to that solitude in this ministry. It seems that this plan has either been abolished or silently passed over on which account I say no more, but I shall do so whenever the occasion demands it. Quote, The dispute between Lasuane and Fagas came for solution before the highest authorities of the Spanish government, occupying a major of their attention for a number of years. At length it was decided in 1793 to drop the matter. Through Lasuane's skillful management it had died a natural death in all of California. Thus we find Fagas in his general report of 1787 about the missions, speaking in the highest terms of the missionaries, and nowhere saying anything derogatory of them. One paragraph of this document, though it does not refer directly to Father Lasuane, is worth quoting. Quote, If we are to be just to all the Fernandinos as we ought to be, we must confess that the rapid, gratifying, and interesting progress, both spiritual and temporal, which we fortunately are able to see and enjoy in this vast new country, is the glorious effect of the apostolic zeal, activity, and indefatigable ardor of their religious. Quote. It would have been difficult for the average individual to speak in this generous matter, unless he were on good terms with those to whom he was referring. Lasuane must have persuaded Fagas to bury the hatchet. A number of differences arose, even in the time of Governor Borica. When the Spanish Pueblo, a Bronsaforte modern Santa Cruz, was founded in 1797 near the mission of Santa Cruz, Lasuane and the other Fernandinos protested. The viceroy sustained Borica, however, and Lasuane had the good sense not to insist upon his point of view. Questions arose also over the instruction of mission Indians by the artisans sent from Mexico, the use of these Indians in pursuit of others who had run away, and the election of Indian Alcaldes at the missions. These matters were arranged without undue friction, so that the letter of the law was complied with, but the missionaries were allowed to carry on their affairs much as they had before. Such points of contention as these came to the fore now and then to the end of Lasuane's rule, and indeed thereafter, for they were inseparable from the system of government employed. One of Lasuane's last acts was to assist in defeating an attempt to revive Neva's mission plan. In 1802 he prepared a report opposing the project. The viceroy accepted his conclusions and the change in the mission system did not take place. It may fairly be said, however, that Lasuane was able both to maintain harmony with the military and to have his own way in the management of the missions. All his contemporaries spoke highly, even enthusiastically of him. There could be no doubt that his lovable traits as a man contributed appreciably to his success as an administrator. The sweetness and nobility of his character are attested by foreigners and Spaniards alike, whose comments are all the more worthy of credence in that they wrote under circumstances which did not require them to set down other than what they really felt. The great French navigator Laperu visited Monterey in September 1786. In his description of the province he inclined to disapprove of the mission system, but spoke warmly of the wise and pious conduct of the missionaries. Of the father president, he says, quote, Father Fermin de Lasuane, president of the missions of New California, is one of the most worthy of esteem and respect of all the men I have ever met. His sweetness of temper, his benevolence, and his love for the Indians are beyond expression, end quote. This tribute is the more striking in that Laperu was in Alta California at the time when the quarrel between Fagas and Lasuane, which began the latter's presidency, was at its height. Laperu mentions this as follows, quote, the missionaries who are so pious, so worthy of respect, are already an open quarrel with a governor, who for his part seems to me to be a loyal soldier, unquote. Thus Laperu, who here and elsewhere evinced his liking for Fagas, was not to be blinded to the merits of the friars, and was able to give the enthusiastic praise of Lasuane, quote, it above. Perhaps even more remarkable is the tribute given by the English navigator George Vancouver, referring to his first meeting with Lasuane on the occasion of a visit to the mission of San Carlos in December 1792, Vancouver says, quote, our reception at the mission could not fail to convince us of the joy and satisfaction we communicated to the worthy and reverent fathers, who in turn made the most hospitable offers of every refreshment their homely abode afforded. On our arrival at the entrance of the mission, the bells were run, and the reverent Firmine Francisco de Lasuane, father president of the missionaries of the order of San Francisco and New Albion, together with the fathers of this mission, came out to meet us and conduct us to the principal resident of the father president. This personage was about 72 years of age, whose gentle manners, united to a most venerable and placid countenance, indicated that tranquilized state of mind that fitted him in an eminent degree for presiding over so benevolent an institution, end quote. So impressed was he by the father president that in November 1793 he gave his name, not once but twice, to the points at the extremities of the Bay of San Pedro near Los Angeles. These names, Point Firmine and Point Lasuane, are still retained on modern maps. The following month, while at San Diego, Vancouver met Lasuane who had just reached that port during one of his journeys to visit the missions in his charge. Vancouver had been prevented from sailing by unfavorable winds, but, he said, quote, I did not regret the detention as it afforded us the pleasure of a visit from our very highly esteemed and venerable friend, the father president of the missionaries, end quote. Lasuane wished to send to San Juan Capistrano for supplies to add abundantly to our stock of refreshments, and Vancouver, who expressed himself as not less thankful for these offices of kindness as convinced of the sincerity with which they were made, stated that he had great difficulty to prevail on the father president to desist from sending to St. Juan's for the supplies he had proposed. Finally, Vancouver writes, quote, the enjoyment of the society of this worthy character was of short duration. Yet, however, afforded me the satisfaction of personally acknowledging the obligations we were under for the friendly services that had been conferred upon us by the missionaries under his immediate direction in government. Being perfectly assured that, however well disposed, the several individuals might have been to have shown us the kind attention we had received, the cordial interest with which the father president had on all occasions so warmly espoused our interests must have been of no small importance to our comfort. This consideration, in addition to the esteem I had conceived for his character, induced me to solicit his acceptance of a handsome, barreled organ, which, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of climate, was still in complete order in repair. This was received with great pleasure and abundant thanks, and was to be appropriated to the use and ornament of the new church at the presidency of the missions at St. Carlos, end quote. These statements from an Englishman who was quite as British in his conservatism as the average of his race, in an age when Englishmen felt an antipathy toward Spain and Spaniards on both national and religious grounds, are the strongest possible evidence of the charm of Lasuane's manner and the beauty of his character. Alejandro Malaspina, commander of a Spanish voyage of discovery by the ships de Escubierta and Atravida, was at Monterey in September 1791. He refers to Lasuane in connection with various interpretations about the reported loss of two boats by the La Perra expedition. Quote, Among those who could, with most judgment and knowledge, make some interpretations, frame Atias de Lasuane of the Order of St. Francis, president of the missions of New California, without doubt, deserved the first place. He was a man who in Christian lore, mean, and conduct was truly apostolic, and his good manners and learning were unusual. This religious, had with good reason, merited the esteem and friendship of both French commanders and the majority of their subordinates. If further proof were needed of the zeal as missionary of this great Franciscan, it may be said that he served all the years of his presidency without pay. Salaries were granted only to the two missionaries stationed regularly at each mission. The supernumerary missionaries were without stipend, and, strange to say, the father presidents were reckoned in this category. As Lasuane put it, he lived upon the alms of his Franciscan brethren. This self-sacrifice is not so surprising in itself, for many others were equally without financial reward, but it was particularly hard for Father Lasuane, who had a poor sister named Clara, about whose welfare he was anxious, for he feared that he must die without having been able to provide for her. And so at length, this man, who had done a life work after most others would have chosen to retire, was himself ready to pass off the scene. Old man that he was, about 83, he had retained his faculties and rendered effective service to the very end. After an illness that confined him to his bed for twelve days, he died at Mission San Carlos on June 26th, 1803, and was buried there the next day. In estimating the greatness of Lasuane's work, one is naturally inclined to compare him with his renowned predecessor, Junipero Cera. Bancroft rates Lasuane ahead of Cera. It is perhaps unnecessary to choose between them, but surely Lasuane worthily filled the post of the great Junipero. As a Mission Founder, he achieved as much, indeed it might be argued that he did more, for he is credited with having inaugurated one of those established during Cera's presidency, while he personally dedicated all of the nine erected in his own term. He traveled fully as much as Father Cera from Mission to Mission, and perhaps more. He baptized a far greater number of Indians. He built up the missions economically and architecturally. He was far more successful than Cera in maintaining harmonious relations with the military. In zeal as a Christian and missionary he equaled, though he could not surpass, Father Junipero. And yet it is perhaps true that the task of Father Cera in a virgin field was the more difficult and therefore entitled to the greater praise for its successful fulfillment. One wonders, however, if Lasuane might not have done equally well if the chance had fallen to him. And furthermore, if Lasuane had had Apalu to write his biography, might he not have fared nearly as well with posterity? Be that as it may, one may well sympathize with the splendid tribute paid to him by Bancroft, omitting all in it that compares Lasuane to Cera. In him were united the qualities that make up the model or ideal Padre. In person he was small and compact, and expression vivacious in manners always agreeable, though dignified. He was a frank, kind-hearted old man who made friends of all he met. Distinguished visitors of French and English as well as of Spanish blood were impressed in like manner with his sweetness of disposition and quiet force of character. His relations with the college, with the government, and with his band of missionary workers were always harmonious, often in somewhat trying circumstances, though no one of the Franciscans had a more clearly defined opinion than he. None of them had a firmer will or were ready or on occasion to express their views. His management of the mission interests for eighteen years afforded abundant evidence of his untiring zeal and of his ability as a man of business. His writings pre-possessed the reader in favor of the author by their comparative conciseness of style. Of his fervent piety there are abundant proofs, and his piety and humility were of an agreeable kite, unobtrusive and blended with common sense. Padre for mean, as he was everywhere known, to a remarkable degree for his time and environment, based his hopes of future reward on purity of life, kindness and courtesy to all, and a zealous performance of duty as a man, a Christian, and a Franciscan. End quote. This from a writer not always in sympathy with the friars should be a measure of the regard in which posterity should hold the memory of the great and lovable California missionary for mean Francisco de la Sueine. Footnote. This chapter is based principally on contemporary evidences, both printed works and original manuscripts in the Bancroft library. In footnote. End of Chapter 28. Chapter 30. A History of California, the Spanish Period. This liverbox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 30. Spanish-Californian Institutions. By far the most numerous element in Spanish-California were the Indians. Within the settled area their numbers were never very great, though outstripping that of their Spanish masters. In 1806 there were 20,355 Indians at the missions, the highest figure ever attained in the Spanish era. Under Mexico there were 21,066 in 1824, which was the record year for the whole period of the Franciscan missions. Outside the missions there were always very many more. As already set forth there may have been about 133,000 in what is now the state as a whole and 70,000 in or near the Concord area. The missions included only the Indians have given localities, though it is true that they were situated on the best lands and in the most populous centers. Even in the vicinity of the missions there were some unconverted groups, however. Over the hills of the coast range in the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, north of San Francisco Bay, and in the Sierra Nevada's of the south, there were untold thousands whom the mission system never reached. From the runaway mission Indians who each year crossed the range, the nearer of them kept informed of the alien rule and in the last two decades of the Spanish regime they had the usually unpleasant experience of visits by military expeditions. Otherwise, except that they represented a potential danger which however was not taken very seriously, they were as if in a world apart from the narrow strip of coast which was all there was of the Spanish California. Yet, because no appalling disaster ever happened, one must not forget that the possibility was always present. Two or three thousand humas had shown in 1781 what the Indians could do if only they would make the effort, and the San Diego conspiracy of a few years before had narrowly missed success. The Indians of the mission area alone could at any time have overwhelmed the paltry two to four hundred soldiers of the Spanish garrison if they had been willing to follow the example of their brethren of the Colorado. The presence of the Indians was as necessary however as it was dangerous, for they were the chief economic sustain of the province. Not only at the missions, but also in the settlements of the Whites, the Indians performed most of the labor. The soldiers indeed were required to do some work, but the usual methods were to contract for a number of mission Indians or else pick them up from the unconverted tribes through bargaining with the chiefs. The people of reason, hinted a raison, or civilized element who for convenience may be called Whites, were in fact of varying shades of color. The officers and missionaries were for the most part of pure white blood, but the great majority of the rest were mestizos, part white and part Indian. In the Los Angeles district there were some mulattoes. The amount of what is commonly called blue blood was also distinctly limited. Not a few of the Spanish Californians were ex-convicts. Indeed some of them were at the time under sentence, being required to live in Alto California as a penalty for their crimes. Some others were foundlings from the streets of Mexico. Unpromising material as so many of them were, they yet fulfilled a great purpose in history, and the descendants from even the meanest of them have good cause to feel pride in their ancestry. The principal white element were the military, composed at first of almost the entire adult population except for the missionaries. In course of time there came to be a group of retired veterans at the prosidios and ranches, and a body of civilians in the Pueblos who were indeed subject to call for military service, but were not enrolled in the permanent garrison. A few small traders and vagabond sailors drifted in, especially in the second decade of the nineteenth century, when foreigners began to come. The following estimates have been made of the total white population in the Spanish era. In 1780, 600, in 1790, 970, 1800, 1200, 1810, 2130, and 1820, 3270. These figures, when analyzed, show an even smaller advance in human resources than at first sight they seem to represent. The numbers for 1780 were made up mainly of men. Women and children of the 1774 Rivera and 1776 Anza expeditions, and such children has since been born in the province, were the only others. The figures for 1790 include the settlers who escaped the Yuma massacre of 1781. Upon these three expeditions the human foundations of Alta California were laid. All accounts agree as to the extraordinary fecundity of the Spanish Californians, though the death rate must also have been shockingly great. At all events it would seem that the population of 1820 could hardly have represented more than 500 men, or about the same number that were there some 40 years before. There were four types of settlements in which men of Spanish blood were to be found. Missions, procedios, civilian towns, or pueblos, in ranches. Today one hears most of the missions, in part because of the writings of the friars, especially Palu, who left behind them ample records of their toil. But more particularly due to the fact that the mission ruins are the most obvious, most noteworthy, and most famous tangible remains of the Spanish era. Because the missions were also the principal constructive factor in the reduction of the Indians to Spanish rule, granted that the military were in a negative way still more essential for the retention of the province, they merit first place in any discussion of Spanish California institutions. Both in theory and in practice the missions of Alta California resembled almost exactly those established elsewhere in the Americas by the Spaniards. The general description already given in chapters 12 and 28 is therefore applicable to them. It may be noted that the Indians of Alta California were so backward that the absolute sway of the missionaries over them was, if anything, more pronounced than in many other mission fields. As elsewhere, the Indians were not compelled to accept Christianity, but once in the mission system they could not leave it. They were required to give up their savage type of life and made to work at agriculture, stock raising, and menial tasks. During Lasuane's presidency they began to be taught certain forms of rough manufacturing and carpentry. In everything their time was planned for and not by them. Acts of disobedience were punished by whippings or imprisonment. In the period of Sarah and Lasuane, when both missionaries yield and the peril of Indian uprisings were greater, the evidence would seem to indicate that the treatment was more kindly than afterward. For example, it was in later years that the practice became general for the missionaries to furnish Indian labor for work outside the missions. Even as early as 1786, La Perru, the French navigator, compared the missions to the Negro slave plantations of his own countrymen in Santo Domingo. He did indeed in all sincerity praise the missionaries, but said that they were enslaving the Indians in this life to save them in the next. He himself saw men and women in stocks or in irons and also spoke of whippings. The missions of Alta California were the richest institutions in the province. They and their vicitas possessed the best lands and were almost entirely alone in calcobating the soil. Foot known. Best known of the vicitas is Fala, often regarded mistakenly as having been one of the missions in footnote. Their flocks were easily the largest, therefore they were in the best position to carry on the hide and tallow trade, which was the principal economic support of the province after 1810. Following the impulse given during the rule of Father Lasuayan, the missions attained to considerable importance in rude manufacturers, being without other competitors in the field. The Indians worked up the blankets and coarse fabrics of which they themselves made use. They tanned hides and made shoes in certain parts of saddles. The year 1798 was marked by the first appearance of homemade soap, a mission product like the rest. Course pottery was made at the missions and flour mills were operated. When foreign traders came seeking hides and tallow or perhaps a store of grain, they got the largest quantities and best quality at the missions and paid for them with cloths of superior texture, fine wines and liquors and other civilized articles such as could not be made in Alta California. This trade was against the law of both government and church, but the statutes were almost, if not quite, a dead letter. Indeed, the trade was necessary to the existence of the province for some of the foreign goods were essential to a decent standard of living. And besides, the silks, satins and laces to say nothing of the cognac and champagne made life infinitely more delightful. In this connection it may be mentioned that the Alta California friars did not hold to the provision of the law forbidding them to prevent white men other than friars in the military guard to stop at the mission overnight. Guests were in fact received and often most lavishly entertained. It is obvious from the foregoing that the missionaries of Alta California were something more than teachers of religion. The wide powers of their administration made them virtual owners and managers of a vast economic plant. They were farmers, cattlemen, manufacturers, traders, and in a sense bankers and end capers, as well as preachers. In various of these capacities they were also great employers of labor. Footnote. The question as to what becomes of the funds which the missionaries received is too much matter of controversy to permit of a categorical statement. It can hardly be doubted, however, that they were devoted to what, in the opinion of the missionaries, was most conducive to the accomplishments of the primary objects of the mission. The friars are reputed to have lived rather well themselves and to have displayed a generous hospitality to guests, but few would object to their enjoyment of these somewhat mild compensations for an otherwise unpleasant lot. Assertions had been made that they sent their surplus funds to the general treasury of their order, thus diverting them from the Indians. These assertions have, however, been vigorously denied. In the footnote. Passing over the matter of the relations of the missionaries with other Spanish elements in the province, as already discussed in chapters 12 and 28, one may ask the question whether the missions were successful. Considered narrowly from the standpoint of their primary objects, they were not. Indeed, they were for doomed to failure. It is true that they did make Christians of many Indians, but the feeble intellects of the natives were utterly unable to penetrate the deeper meanings of the new religion. Theirs was always a rote Christianity and could not by any possibility have become more. The friars also taught the Indians a civilized mode of life, but this too, like the Catholic faith, did not and could not sink in. In later years, when the guiding hand in the missionary was withdrawn, most of the Indians either reverted to savagery or else reported to a drunken and bestial type of civilization. It is perhaps true that the mission system did prolong the life of the Indian tribes at the coast, but even so the efforts in this direction were without permanent result. It has been estimated that in all California today there are not more than some 15,000 Indians, and this includes the descendants of the far more numerous tribesmen who lived beyond the pale of the missions. The work of the Franciscans and all to California was humanitarian and laudable degree, but its ultimate effect upon the Indians was nil. And yet, if one may judge institutions by their contributions to history, quite apart from the intentions which were the basis for their direction in their own day, it is impossible to regard the missions as anything but a great success. Possibly its greatest historical service in all California was the help it rendered in holding the province for the civilized world and more particularly for Spain and, as it proved, the United States. Even the kindliness which lay at the root of the institution was not wasted. It is the foundation upon which men of the later day have reared the structure of California history. It is the cornerstone of California art, literature, and sentiment. Less romantic than the missions in contemplation, the procedos were, notwithstanding, at least negatively, the backbone of the province and the scene of happier associations than fell to the lot of the institutions over which the friars presided. If the missionaries were an important agency in the scheme of Spanish conquest, the military were a sine qua non of the system. Without them, any extension as Spanish realms was impossible. In Alta California they were few in number and inadequately equipped, but they were able to check the thousands of Indians in the province. They were also the principal element in the prevention of a foreign occupation which would have been disastrous for the aspirations of the ultimate possessors of Alta California. Some idea has already been given of the difficulties a foreign invader would have had in conquering this distant part of the world, unless they should have come in force. The mere presence of a garrison was, however, enough to prevent such an invasion, not through fear of failure in the attack, but through dislike of stirring up complications with Spain which would have been the inevitable result. Thus the Russians who might have conquered the province held back from so doing because of the friendly relations existing between their government and the court of Madrid. Even the English who were desirous of gaining a foothold in Alta California were not willing to provoke a war to secure their ends and on the several occasions when war occurred affairs in the North Pacific were of minor import since England found herself confronted at her very doors not only by Spain but also by France and other enemies. Reverting again to the services of the military within the province, they were an essential part to the missions themselves. Not a mission was founded without soldiers and none existed without them. Usually a corporal and five or six soldiers were assigned to each mission to protect the friars from their charges and to render other services. The precedios were the social and political centers of Alta California. In addition to the soldiers of the garrison, their families were also present. Later others came and veritable towns sprang up. Recognizing this, the Spanish authorities established a formal pueblo or town government for the precedial establishments by a law of the year 1791. This went into effect in 1794. Monterey as the capital and residence of the governor was the most important precedial town. It was the principal resort of provincial society, the place to which the rancher made his way and to which foreign navigators and traders paid their visits, though the latter indeed were well acquainted with the whole coast especially with San Francisco. Life at the precedios was characterized first of all by attention to military affairs, but there was a much more agreeable side. Quote, Life was one continuous round of hospitality and social amenities tempered with vigorous outdoor sport. There were no hotels in California. Every door was open and food, lodging, and a fresh horse and money even were free to the guest, whether friend or stranger. No white man had to concern himself greatly with work and even school books were a thing apart. Music, games, dancing, and sprightly conversation, these were the occupations of the time, these constituted education. Also, men and women were much in the open, all were expert horsemen, could throw a lasso and shoot unerringly, even the women. Accomplishments which fitted their type of life and made hunting a general pastime. When foreign ships came, there were balls and the gayest of festivals, nor were these visits the only occasion for that type of entertainment. This paragraph, though written with respect to the province in general, is particularly applicable to the procedural towns. There were, however, prominent vices. The Californians shared in the almost universal Hispanic American proclivity for gambling. They drank heavily of very nearly raw liquor, as well as of fine wines, when they could get them. And they did not resist the temptations afforded by the proximity of the women of a subject race. On the other hand, there was a plenitude of romantic love-making among themselves, in all earnestness, followed usually by an early marriage in the rearing of a large family. Economically, the precedeos depended for many years on the Sambla ships. The need for supplies of food through this medium grew less and less until it disappeared, but goods and effects were always required. With the outbreak of the Spanish American wars of independence in 1810, the supply ships ceased to come for a number of years and never again resumed a regular traffic. Then it was that the missions enabled the precedeos to get the things which formerly had been provided by the government. Foreign vessels supplied the goods, which were paid for with mission products. The precedeo commanders gave drafts on the Spanish treasury to the missionaries, and the drafts were never honored. Indian slavery, stock raising, agriculture, and illicit trade existed at the precedeos, but much less in proportion than in the other types of settlement, though commerce with foreign ships was, to a great extent, carried on at certain precedeo posts under the eyes of the soldery. In fine, the precedeos were the principal centers in a world apart, a happy utopia from about 1782 to 1810. Even in those years, many things were always lacking. The garrison at San Francisco once had to borrow powder from a Russian ship in order that it might fire a salute. After 1810, however, the misery of the soldiers and the families must have outweighed the advantages of their comparative freedom from care. For ten years they received no pay, and their lot was wretched indeed. Throughout the Spanish period, there was some communication with New Spain by way of the peninsula of Baja California, but this route was suitable only for carrying mail and for the infrequent comings of individual settlers. The Sambla ships and foreign vessels remained the principal connecting links with the outside world. Far less important than either mission or precedeo were the pueblos or civilian towns. There were three of them, San Jose and Los Angeles, founded by Governor Neve, respectively, in 1771 and 1781, and Ronsa Forte, founded by Governor Boraca in 1797. The last named was of such scant importance that its identity was eventually lost in that of the mission, Santa Cruz, the name of which has been taken for the city now covering the sites of the former mission in Puebla. The inhabitants were of poorer quality than those in the precedeo towns, and were of mongrel racial types. The original settlers of Los Angeles, for example, had far more Indian and Negro blood than white, though all were part Spanish. Not one of them could read or write. By all accounts, they were a dissolute, immoral, lazy gambling lot. Between 1792 and 1795, the pueblos received an increase in population through the sending of a number of artisans from Mexico. These artisans were also criminals. Present-day Californians need not feel in the least surprised or shocked by these details. No pioneer country in real life is ever very lovely, especially if the inhabitants are unwilling settlers. Nor should the modest character of certain of the Spanish Californians lessen one's pride in the greatness of their services. The case of Australia is in many respects a parallel. Some of the most capable men in Australia today are said to be descendants of criminals who were members of the penal colony at Botany Bay about a century ago. Many of the English settlers of the West Indies and what are now the southern states of this country were quite as poor timber as the Spanish Californians. In the early years, following their establishment, the pueblos were maintained at state expense, and the settlers even received the pay and rations of soldiers. Later, they were required to subsist by their own efforts through the products of their stock-raising and agriculture. In times of need they were to serve as militia. As usually happens in the helpful atmosphere of the frontier, they are gradually of all the decent element, and this was perhaps the first time that they or their families had had an opportunity. They were always looked down upon, however, by the upper-class society of Monterey and the other procedural towns. It was not until 1817 that the first beam of educational light penetrated the murky depths of Pueblo ignorance. In that year, a school was opened in Los Angeles. In the following year, San Jose's first school was established. Life in general resembled that of the procedural towns, but was on a much lower social plane. Least important of the types of settlements in Spanish days were the private ranches, but they should not be left out in any account of the pre-American beginnings of the Golden State. Of the some 600 so-called Spanish land grants, the overwhelming majority dated from the Mexican era. The Spanish government was unfavorable to the institution, preferring that the settlers should live in communities the better to ensure defense and the preservation of order. Some 20 such grants were made in the Spanish period, however, usually to retired procedural officers. The law provided that grants were to be not more than three square leagues, about 12 square miles, and they were not to infringe upon the lands of missions, Pueblos, or Indian towns. One of the most famous of these grants was that given to Luis Baralta in 1820, little did the Spanish soldier who received it realize how his estates would appear at the end of a century. Today there are hundreds of thousands of people upon them, for the thriving cities of Alameda, Oakland, and Berkeley have been carved out of the old Peralta holdings. On them too are the grounds of one of the largest educational plants in the United States, the University of California. The laws were not always carried out to the letter in awarding grants, especially those affecting boundaries. Vast as were their estates, the ranchers wanted more. In the Mexican period they were indeed given larger areas receiving as much as 11 square leagues, about 38 square miles. What they wanted most of all was a particularly good land in the control of the missionaries. Naturally the missionaries resented the ranchers encroachments and there was a never-ending quarrel between them. On his ranch the owner was like a little king with many Indian dependents. The sole economic basis of the ranch was stock. Of agriculture there was none. After 1828 when the Mexican government granted freedom of trade the ranchers became wealthy from their sales of hides and tallow to the foreign ships. On the rare occasions when the visitors or wayfarers stopped at a ranch the owner entertained bountifully. His home and everything in it were at the disposal of his guests. It was even the custom to leave money in the guest chamber which the visitor was expected to take if he needed it, thus delicately obviating the necessity of a verbal request for help. When the guest left he could count on receiving a horse to carry him along his way. Except for occasional trips to Monterey or some other town this was all that there was of social amenities in the life of the rancher. The political system of all the California was that of an absolutism. The fundamental documents were the already discussed Etcheveste Reglemento of 1773, the instructions to Rivera 1773 and Neve 1776 and especially the Neve Reglemento of 1779 which ruled in the province for more than 40 years. The governor was the military and political head uniting all the functions of government in his own person, executive, legislative and judicial. According to the changes of jurisdiction he was subject either to the viceroy or the commandant general in military and political affairs but to the audencia of Guadalajara in judicial matters. Owing to the greatness in distance and time separating him from the viceroyalty he was in fact a veritable dictator. A strong viceroy like Buccarelli could impose his will upon him but otherwise there was very slight control by the authorities in New Spain, though their right to it was absolute. Subject to the governor the captains of the procedios exercised in their own district the same type of authority that the governor did in the province with the reservation of a right of appeal to the governor in certain cases. With a like appeal to the governor the corporals at the missions had authority over their men and criminal jurisdiction over the Indians. They frequently clashed with the missionaries as to the dividing line where the power of the corporals ceased and that and the missionaries began. The pueblos in theory had a measure of independence which they did not possess in fact. Just as the medieval Spanish kings established their authority in towns throughout their agents the coregadoris so did the governor set up theirs in Alta California by placing comisionados commissioners of their own appointment in the pueblos. They were supposed to represent the governor and to administer justice. In practice their word was law save only in the case of an appeal to the governor. With the consent of the comisionado or at least in such matters as he did not oppose certain local officials might act. These were the Alcalde a kind of mayor and petty justice combined though in Spanish California the comisionado more often exercised the judicial power and the reggadoris or members of the town council. The missionaries had the power of the father of a family over the Indians at the mission amounting to economic ownership of the Indians and extensive civil authority exercised with the aid of Indian Alcalde's whom they virtually selected though in theory the Indians themselves elected them. The governor had superior rights and criminal jurisdiction military affairs and matters of general policy but otherwise was not supposed to intervene within the sphere of this powers the father president was absolute subject however to the College of San Fernando in Mexico. The individual missionaries had a similar power subject to their father president at their missions. So much has already been said of the social and economic factors in the life of Alta California that a bearish summary will suffice here. With respect to the former it should be pointed out that there was never anything approaching a democratic dead level in the society of the province such as was the case in the western territories of the United States. There were very marked social differences based on rank usually military and blood and very distinctly there was a Spanish-Californian aristocracy most or all of whose members lived in the procedural towns or on the ranches. As affecting the blood of the inhabitants it is to be noted that Alta California became a veritable haven for foreign white sailors who came for short intervals or toward the end of the Spanish period but more particularly in later years to reside permanently in the province in part due to their advent the Indian and Negro blood of the mestizos tended gradually to disappear. The economic basis of Alta California was for many years that of government aid a little help from Baja California was received at the outset afterwards there was nothing from that quarter the short period in which the anzarut was used enabled the province to procure indispensable assistance and down to 1810 the sambla ships came regularly stock raising and agriculture at the missions early began to help in the problem of subsistence later the same occupations developed at the pueblos though in less degree than at the missions and a stock raising industry came into being at the ranches the sale of hides and tallow and food supplies to foreign ships was the foundation for a beginning of commerce which made up for the eventual failure of the sambla boats through these foreign vessels Alta California first came in contact with luxuries as well as with other more essential articles of manufacture the intellectual attainments of the Spanish Californians do not call for protracted description education when it existed at all was made up of little more than instruction in the catechism and reading and writing a large proportion of the Spanish blooded population was wholly unlettered there were no regular schools by fits and starts the various settlements would hire or dispense with a teacher who assuredly could not have pretended to be a master at his trade the Californians had little idea of events or conditions in the world outside the United States was habitually referred to as Boston since the American vessels were almost invariably Boston ships in the art of conversation dancing and the playing of simple musical instruments especially the guitar they were indeed accomplished these things they drank in with their mother's milk as part of their heritage from Spain this then was that out of the world Alta California unconscious of its destiny and of the really important part it was playing these then were the principal institutions in which more Stevens has called quote that Spanish background against which is now reared one of the proudest and most self-conscious states of the United States of America end quote end of chapter 30