 CHAPTER 11 SEBASTIAN VISCAINON Even before Rodriguez Sermeño had reached the end of his fateful voyage, there had appeared at Mexico City a rival for the glory and profit of making discoveries in the California's, a man well acquainted with the galleon route, and indeed a ship-mate of Rodriguez on the Santa Ana. This was a certain Sebastian Viscaino, who, from being a moderately successful merchant, desired to convert himself into a conqueror and a general or commander of a fleet, the same Viscaino who in later years headed the embassy to Japan which has already been discussed. By his own account he lost a great deal of treasure and commodities when Cavendish took the Santa Ana, but he made the round-trip to Manela again, reaching New Spain in 1590 with a profit of 2,500 ducats on an investment of two hundred. Footnote In a letter to his father, dated June 20, 1590, translated and published in The Principle Navigations, Voyages, Traffics, and Discoveries of the English Nation, edited by Richard Hackloot, every man edition, Volume 7, London and New York, 1907. In company with several others, Viscaino worked out a plan which he hoped might prove an even richer windfall than that of the trade on the galleon. He and his associates approached the viceroy for a license to engage in pearl fishing in the California, in return for which they agreed to furnish the government with information about that country. In 1594 the viceroy, Luis de Velasco, made a contract with him, but execution was delayed as a result of a quarrel between members of the company. The matter was brought before the courts, which ordered Viscaino and his companions to begin the voyage within three months' time. Matters were at this point when the Condé de Monterey reached Mexico. Believing that a policy of leniency would best serve the royal interests, he amended the degree of the court, and granted the company a concession to enter the California's and reduce them by peaceful means to subjection to the crown. For this the conquerors were to have the usual vast privileges and exemptions granted to the pacifiers and settlers of new provinces. Accordingly, Viscaino, who had succeeded to the headship in the enterprise, had begun to raise recruits for the expedition when it was brought to the Condé de Monterey's attention that the original contract, under which Viscaino was acting, had reference only to the pearl fishery and not at all to the entry and pacification of the land. This gave Monterey an opportunity to consider whether it was desirable to grant the concession he had promised. On this point he wrote to the king on February 29, 1596, as follows. I found that a reconsideration was necessary. For, it seemed to me, with regard to the person, Viscaino, his quality and capital are not sufficient in connection with an enterprise which may come to be of such vast importance and one requiring greater backing and a method of proceeding other than what is now thought and deemed sufficient. For, even looking at the matter from the utilitarian point of view, although he make the journey at his own cost and without any expense to your majesty, it seems to be of little moment whether he goes for gain in an order not to lose the chance of good fortune, but of great importance the hazarding of not only the repute which would be lost among these nations of Indians if the natives of that country should repel this man and his people. But this is the principal thing involved, that of the conscience and authority of the royal person of your majesty. It appeared to me to be risking much if an expedition which cannot lawfully be one of direct conquest, but one of preaching the gospel and pacification, and of bringing the people into subjection to the crown, were entrusted to a man as leader in chief whose position is obscure and who has not even in less degree the resolution and capacity necessary for so great an enterprise. Despite his somewhat unfavorable opinion of Viscaino, the viceroy decided, however, after taking counsel with the highest authorities in Mexico that it would be contrary to justice not to let the expedition take place. As he put it, in the letter above referred to, and because I have deemed it meat for the service of our lord and that of your majesty, in as much as it was necessary to go on with the affair since it had been begun, and as this man, Viscaino, does not possess notorious defects which can rightfully excuse your majesty from aiding and fomenting his undertaking, in order that the persons he has enlisted and intends to put on board ship and who in number and condition make a reasonably good showing, may esteem and respect him, I have done all that lay in my power to show him honor while here and to clothe him with authority and view with a greater danger I foresee and fear on his account, though I would not say it to him, which is some lack of respect and an overbowl bearing on the part of the soldiers whom he takes with him, so that in this way they may come to disobey his orders all this giving rise to great disorder." Viscaino at least displayed energy and in March 1596 his expedition got underway for the California's. Three ships with a large number of men made up his force. As an indication of his intention to make a settlement, it is to be noted that he carried four Franciscans to convert the natives and reduce them into missions, some of the soldiers' wives and a number of horses. In his voyage up the coast from Acapulco he lost fifty men by desertion and one of the friars, because of illness, left the expedition. Crossing to the lower end of Baja California he came at length, apparently about the middle of August, to the site which Jimenez and Cortez had visited before him and because the Indians received him so peacefully he gave it the name which ever since it has retained lapaz or peace. The winter storms of the Gulf of California, which had already begun, were such that he could proceed no farther with his flagship, so it was decided to establish a colony there while Viscaino himself should push on in the two smaller vessels to explore the northern shores of the Gulf. Accordingly Viscaino started north on October 3rd. He encountered terrific storms but weathered them and at length came to a place where the Indians invited the Spaniards to come ashore. So Viscaino landed forty-five men. All went well until a Spanish soldier, quote, inconsiderately struck one of the Indians in the breast with a butt of his arquebus, end quote. In consequence there was a fight in which some of the Indians were killed. As a boatload of Spaniards were returning to their ship, the Indians shot arrows at them from the shore. One man was hit in the nose and this resulted in a commotion which led to the upsetting of the boat. Dressed as they were in heavy leather and armor, nineteen were drowned and only five escaped by swimming. In course of time this event became magnified in the telling until it reached the proportions of a very pretty legend. The story was told that a certain Don Lope, a page of the viceroy, besought the hand of Donia Elvira. The latter at length promised to marry him, provided he could replace a certain magnificent pearl she had lost. Consequently Don Lope joined Viscaino's expedition. Going on the voyage up the Gulf, he was one of the men who landed at the place where the battle with the Indians was fought and was indeed the one who caused it. He saw the identical pearl which would suit Donia Elvira and he seized it from the very lips of a chieftain's daughter. This not only brought on the battle but also the enforced abandonment of the province. But Don Lope was well content for he had won his bride and then she confessed that she had not lost any pearl at all. Viscaino put back to La Paz where he found that the colony was not maintaining itself too successfully. According to Franciscan writings the Indians liked the friars but objected to the soldiers who paid scant attention to native customs and too much to native women. Furthermore all were discouraged by the storms which prevented their fishing for pearls, numerous indication of which had been found, and the food supply was running short. As the country was unsuited to provide for their wants, Viscaino gave orders for the return to New Spain. On October 28 the colony was abandoned after an existence of about two months and two of the ships sailed for New Spain. Viscaino, in the third ship with forty of his best men, made another effort however to explore the northern shores of the Gulf. Again he encountered heavy storms and this time they were so severe that the rudder irons broke. Therefore he and his men made the best of their way back to New Spain, God and pity conducting us, as he himself put it. Arrived in Mexico he was eager to make a fresh expedition. They had failed, he said, merely because the voyage had been made at the wrong season. At a different time of the year they might have avoided the storms, but this they could not have known before. He was full of praise for the Californias, though his own experience of them gave little warrant for his encomiums. There were innumerable Indians eager to receive the gospel. The land was twice as large as New Spain and in a better situation as concerned distance from the equator. Pearls were abundant and of excellent quality. The waters were richer in fish than any other known sea. There were great resources and salt deposits and twenty days to the northwest there were, quote, towns of people wearing clothes and who have golden ornaments in the ears and nose, and they have silver, many cloaks of cotton, maize and provisions, and fowls of the country and of castile, end quote. In case he should be allowed to make another expedition, he wished that the lands for the Indians upon them be granted to him and to his men, footnote. That is, an encomienda, as it was called, a familiar institution of Spanish colonial machinery, in footnote. And that they all be made nobles in one of the lower grades of nobility, galleros e jos d'algo, besides receiving grant of other assistance and favors. The Council of the Indies had already ordered, in May 1596, that somebody other than Vizcaíno be chosen to effect the conquest, intending this measure to apply to the expedition on which in fact he had already departed. But the Conde de Madre was now more favorably disposed toward Vizcaíno. He wrote of him that, quote, in addition to possessing a practical knowledge of the South Sea, Pacific Ocean, and being a man of even disposition, upright, and of good intentions, he is of medium yet sufficient ability, although I had feared it was otherwise, for governing his people. And this is coupled with energy enough to make himself respected by them, end quote. As for the voyage, quote, the unfortunate ending was not due to incapacity on the part of Vizcaíno, who on the contrary gave evidence of some ability and greater spirit than could have been expected from a mere trader engaged in an enterprise of this kind, end quote. The viceroy was not received by Vizcaíno's glowing descriptions, but was inclined to believe, as indeed the circumstances warranted, that the pearl fisheries might prove rich. He therefore recommended that Vizcaíno be assisted out of royal funds to make another expedition, but, quote, for the purpose merely of ascertaining definitely what there is there, in order that complete assurance be had concerning the value of the pearl fishery, and that greater light may be thrown on what relates to the defense and security of these realms and the ships, which make the China voyage, end quote. Alluding to the voyage of Rodriguez Seremeno and the wreck of the San Agustín, he said that people were now convinced that the proper way to explore the northern coasts of the Californias was not by a voyage from Manila and the heavily laden galleons, but by going direct from New Spain in boats of light drop. This exploration, he thought, should be conducted on one and the same enterprise with discoveries in the Gulf of California. The Council of the Indies, under the date of September 27, 1599, endorsed the viceroy's plan in the main, requesting that action be taken with all possible speed. They put great emphasis on the character of the men to be enlisted for the expedition, wishing to take precautions against arousing the hostility of the Indians, but ordered the explorations in the Gulf and those along Altacalifornia coast to be undertaken separately. Yet the expedition was held back until 1602. One of the prime causes for delay was a fresh entry of foreign ships into the Pacific, where it became necessary to seek them out what all forces Spain could command. This time it was the Dutch who caused the trouble. In 1598, two Dutch fleets left Europe and sailed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific, respectively in 1599 and 1600. One of these fleets, originally under Jacob Mahu and later under Simon de Cordes, did not in fact go very far north before making its way across the Pacific, but the other, under Oliver van Noort, made several captures off the west coast of South America and reached the region of the equator before turning west. Notices of these voyages early reached New Spain and rumors of foreign ships came in from all directions. Passengers on the San Jerónimo, the Manila galleon which reached Acapulco early in 1599, declared that they had seen four ships near Cerro Island off the western coast of Baja California. But the Comte de Monterey reported, no doubt with correctness, that more likely they mistook the clouds for ships. With the actual captures made by van Noort in 1600, Spanish fears were redoubled. One man, who had been a prisoner of van Noort ship, declared that the Dutch had accounts of the voyage of Cavendish in their possession and that they planned, like him, to catch the Manila galleon off Cape San Lucas. A Spanish fleet was therefore sent north from Peru under Juan de Velázca to look for van Noort, and in September 1600 it spent some days scouring the Baja California coast from La Paz to beyond Cape San Lucas. Finding no enemies, the Spaniards began to doubt their existence in those seas. As one of the captains, Hernando de Lugona said, quote, there is news of the enemy everywhere, but they are like phantoms which appear many places, whereas we find them in none, unquote. The immediate danger, having in fact disappeared, preparations for the Viscaíno expedition could now be resumed. On March 18, 1602, formal instructions for the voyage were issued. These were set forth in great detail, but amounted substantially to what had been decided upon in 1597 and 1599 by the viceroy and the Council of Indies. Viscaíno was ordered to make a thorough exploration of the coast from Cape San Lucas to Cape Mendocino, employing two ships of moderate size and the launch which could get near the coast for close-up observations. On no account was he to go inside the Gulf, unless perhaps in passing on the return journey. Indeed, in an earlier communication dated March 2, 1602, the viceroy informed him that he would incur the penalty of death if he disobeyed this particular. If weather permitted, he might continue his exploration beyond Cape Mendocino to Cape Blanco, but if the coast had a westward trend from Cape Mendocino, he was to go a hundred leagues only and not more. It is interesting to note that the Spaniards already had some idea of the coast as far north as Cape Blanco, doubtless through voyages of the Manila galleon. Emphasizing the fact that this was a voyage for exploration of the coast only, the viceroy said that this caenile was not to stop for a thorough examination of any great bay he might find, beyond observing the entrance there too and discovering shelter for shipping. In view of the interest in the Strait of Anion, this indeed manifested a desire to discover only so much as might surely be possible, rather than the pursuit of wild schemes. Furthermore, he was to make no settlements and was to take great pains to avoid conflicts with the Indians. No expanse had been spared in providing for this expedition. The crews, about two hundred men and all, were carefully selected, most of them being enlisted in Mexico City as both sailors and soldiers. There were three ships of better-than-usual quality. The San Diego, the flagship, and which the caenile sailed as general of the expedition. The Santo Tomas, under the admiral Toribío Gómez de Cordova, a sailor of long experience in European service, and the launch, or frigate, Thrace Reyes, under Sebastián Meléndez, succeeded later by Martín de Alquilar. In addition, there was a longboat, but that was left behind at the lower end of Baja California. Though picked up again on the return journey. An expert map-maker was taken along in the person of Jerónimo Martinez de Palacios, who in fact performed his tasks most meritoriously. Footnote. The name Martinez appears in some documents as Martín. A series of maps, presumably by Martinez, and beautifully done in colors, are to be found at the archivo general de Indias Legajo 6437. Exact reproductions now exist in the Bancroft Library. In footnote. Several other officers and special counselors of the general went along, besides three Carmelite friars. One of the last names was a certain Father Antonio de la Ascension, a former pilot, and also something of a cosmographer. His account of the voyage was, for many years, the best known of the original sources, though his diary is not now extant. Incidentally, the general was accompanied by his son. Provisions for eleven months were carried. On May 5, 1602, the expedition left Acapulco. Making his way up the coast, Vizcayuno crossed over to Cape San Lucas, requiring several days for the voyage on account of the winds encountered. The voyage from the Bay of San Bernabe, near the Cape, in which he had cast anchor on June 11, to San Diego, may be passed quickly in review. It proved to be one of extreme difficulty, for headwinds were met with all the way. For example, the general was three times blown back to the port of San Bernabe, before he could round the peninsula to northwestward, and one ship was obliged to return a fourth time. Some days not a league was made, and tacking back and forth was always necessary. Frequently the ships were separated, but managed to find one another again. One of the worst difficulties was in keeping up the water supply off the sterile west coast of the peninsula. It was not very fresh, and it was green, said Vizcayuno, of one standing pool of water, but the bottles we carried were filled with it. Always, however, a supply would be found, though absolute want often threatened. Nevertheless, careful explorations of the coast were made, and names were applied without much regard to those given by earlier voyagers. After a voyage of over four months from San Bernabe, from which he had succeeded in departing on July 5, Vizcayuno passed the line of what was later to become Alta California. Quote, Sunday, the tenth of the month, he said, we arrived at a port which must be the best to be found in all the South Sea, Pacific Ocean, protected on all sides and having good anchorage, end quote. Two days later, on November 12, the day of St. James, or San Diego, a mass was celebrated in the name San Diego, which it still bears was given to the port, thus doing honor not only to the saint, but also to the general's flagship. Here a stay of ten days was made to repair the ships and give crews a chance to recover from sickness. Leaving San Diego on November 20, Vizcayuno sighted Catalina Island on the 24th, the day of St. Catherine, or Santa Catalina, wherefore he gave it the name it has since retained, though he did not come to anchor there until the 27th. While there an incident occurred that is worth mentioning. After relating a visit Vizcayuno made to the interior of the island, where he saw an Indian idol, end quote, placed the name of Jesus on the head of the demon, telling the Indians that it was good and from heaven, but that the idol was the devil, end quote. The diary of the voyage goes on to say, quote, the general returned to the pueblo and an Indian woman brought him two pieces of figured china silk and fragments, telling him that they had got them from people like ourselves who had negroes, that they had come on the ship which was driven by a strong wind to the coast and wrecked, and that it was farther on. The general endeavored to take two or three Indians with him that they might tell him where the ship had been lost, promising to give them clothes. The Indians consented and went with him to the captain's ship. But as we were rowing anchor preparatory to leaving, the Indians said they wished to go ahead in their canoe and that they did not wish to go aboard the ship, fearing that we would abduct them. And the general, in order not to excite them, said, very well, end quote. Apparently, Vizcaino thought that some nearby wreck of an unknown ship was referred to. But the reader of the Rodriguez Cermanjo account, well at once recognized the reference, was to this visit there seven years before and that the sand Augustine, far to the north in Drakes Bay, was the wrecked ship indicated. Going up the Santa Barbara Channel, so named by them, Vizcaino and his men were harangued by an intelligent old chief who, quote, made himself so well understood by signs that he lacked nothing but ability to speak our language, end quote. He had come out in a boat to persuade them to stop this village and, quote, such were the efforts of this Indian to get us to go to it that as a greater inducement he said he would give to each one of us ten women, end quote. But as the wind was then behind them for the first time since leaving Acapulco, and as winter was coming on, the Spaniards decided to continue on their course. Rounding point conception, which they so named, they cited Santa Lucia Mountain, to which they also gave the name it still retains. Coming to a large bay, Vizcaino sent the Lacha head to explore it for a port. For this country was the most important of the exploration for the purposes of his majesty, because it was at this point that the Manila galleon would be most desirous of finding suitable anchorage. This was on December fifteenth. The report to the commander of the launch was favorable, and on the next day the fleet entered the bay to procure water and restore the sick, of whom there were many. They were now in Monterey Bay, which they so named and honor the viceroy. Nearby, too, they discovered the Carmelo River and named it. The so-called discovery of the Bay of Monterey, so-called because Rodriguez Cermeno had seen this bay almost seven years to the day before Vizcaino did, was the capital event of the expedition. According to Vizcaino, quote, we found ourselves to be in the best port that could be desired. For besides being sheltered from all the winds, it has many pines for masts and yards and live oaks and white oaks and water in great quantity, all near the shore. In his letters, too, he praised the port, quote, in addition to being so well situated and point of latitude for that which his majesty intends to do for the protection and security of ships coming from the Philippines, the harbor is very secure against all winds. The land is thickly peopled by Indians and is very fertile in its climate and the quality of soil resembling Castile, in, quote, footnote. Vizcaino to the king, Monterey, December 28, 1602, in footnote. And again, quote, it is all that can be desired for the commodiousness and as a station for ships making a voyage to the Philippines, sailing whence they make a landfall on this coast. The port is sheltered from all winds, and if, after putting to sea a storm be encountered, they, the Philippine ships, need not as formerly run for Japan where so many have been cast away and so much property lost, in, quote. In these statements Vizcaino was borne out by Sensión who called it a fine port and went on to say, quote, this is where the ships coming from the Philippines to New Spain come to Reconoiter. It is a good harbor well sheltered and supplied with water, wood, and good timber, in, quote. The curious feature about these reports, and much more might be added to them, including references to the vast wealth and gold and silver that the Indians said was to be found in the interior, is that nearly all they had to say was true save for the yard about the excellence of Monterey as a sheltered port, but it was precisely this departure from strict accuracy that had the most effect. The legend of the port of Monterey became one of the moving factors for a century and a half in Spanish expansion to the northwest. At Monterey the crews were landed and a council was held to determine what the expedition should do. Going to the unexpectedly long time required for the voyage thus far, more than seven months, the supplies were becoming exhausted. Some forty-five or more of the men were sick with the scurvy and several had died, sixteen according to one account. It was decided that Admiral Gómez in the Santo Tomás should return at once to New Spain, taking with him those who were sickest and also the reports of the voyage. On December 29th, therefore, Gómez started back and eventually made port with a loss of twenty-five of the thirty-four men he had on board. The other two ships left for the north on January 3rd, 1603. On the fifth they parted company in a storm and did not again see each other during the rest of the voyage. That same day, Vizcaino came to anchor outside the harbor at Drakes Bay, but was driven away the next morning by an offshore wind. Several of Vizcaino's men had been at Drakes Bay before, on the San Agustín, notably Francisco de Bolognas, the chief pilot of the San Diego, who recognized the bay as a place where Rodriguez had stopped. On the twelfth, Vizcaino at last reached Cape Mendocino. Once, in accord with his instructions, he was at liberty to turn back. But the storms drove him somewhat farther to the north until January 21st, when he was able to start the return journey. Meanwhile, the intense cold and sickness of the men, of whom at one time, there were only two sailors who could climb to the main top sail, had combined with the storms to produce great hardship. The pitching was so violent that it threw both sick and well from their beds and the general from his. He struck upon some boxes and broke his ribs with a heavy blow." The return voyage, however, was comparatively simple from the standpoint of the winds, for now they helped the ship along its course, whereas before they had been a constant hindrance. But the men were so sick with the scurvy and the provisions literally so rotten that it was a race with death. Yet some explorations at the coast were made to supplement what they had done on the northward voyage, but they did not dare to stop, lest they should be unable to get the anchor up again. Giving up the originally projected exploration of the Gulf of California, the general decided, quote, as the sick were dying of hunger because they could not eat what was on board the ship on account of their sore mouths, unquote, to run to the nearest point on the mainland. Coming to Mazatlán on February 18th, Viz Caino and the five men, who alone on the ship were able to walk, went ashore to look for help, quote. Without knowing the way, he traveled thirteen leagues inland through the mountains and rugged places for the Pueblo of Mazatlán, unquote, but lost his way. Fortunately, he chanced upon a pack train and it was thus unable to get help to his comrades. With rest and proper food, the men soon got well and took up the voyage to Acapulco, which they reached on March 21st. Meanwhile, the Tres Reyes had been driven north to Cape Blanco. By that time, Martín de Aguilar, the commander and Antonio Flores, the pilot, had died, whereupon the boatswing, Esteban López, turned the boat around and sailed for New Spain, reaching Navidad on February 26th, 1603. Two men, besides the two officers, had died. The narrative of this voyage, as told by presumably ignorant boatswing, gave rise to one of the most fruitful of the Strait of Añan stories. Six leagues above Point Reyes, he said, they came upon a very, very great river from the southeast, evidently Tomales Bay. Farther north, quote, in forty-one degrees near Cape Mendocino, they found a very great bay into which there entered a mighty river from the northern shore. It runs with such strong current that, although they were a day struggling against it with the wind behind them, they could not enter it more than two leagues. End quote. Through what seems to have been a mistake of the Franciscan historian Torcomada, this was stated as in forty-three degrees the limit of the voyage. But the boatswing said it was near Cape Mendocino and at another place in his count intimated that it was below it. This agreed with the charts of the voyage, which entered Aguilar's river in forty-one degrees and Cape Mendocino in forty-one degrees thirty minutes. In course of time, this river became an almost transcontinental stream, or at least a great western sea in the imagination of the map-makers. There seems to be nothing in the place indicated to correspond even remotely to the description. It is a temptation, however, to believe that the boatswing, relying upon memory, was confused in that humble bay, which is near Cape Mendocino, though north of it, was the famous Great Bay discovered by Aguilar. In all events, both the San Diego and the Tracereas missed the real Great Bay with a powerful river, for they did not get sight of the Bay of San Francisco, either coming or going. The voyage of this Cayeno had been a distinct success. Despite the great difficulties he had encountered, including the loss of from forty-two to forty-eight men, according to different estimates made, he had carried out to the full and thoroughly the orders of the viceroy, though it had not been possible, owing to the storms and the sickness of the men, to explore the coasts above Monterey so carefully as he had up to that point. Fortunately for his fame as a discoverer, two things occurred. The reports of his voyage became widely known and soon were embodied in printed works. And since the voyage was not followed up, the legend of Monterey, to say nothing of Aguilar's river, was allowed to stand. The Condé de Monterey now had nothing but words of praise for the erstwhile mere trader and appointed him to the lucrative post of commander of the next galleon bound for Manila. Suitable rewards were also given to others who had taken part in the expedition. It now becomes pertinent to inquire why the plan for the occupation of Monterey, or at least its utilization as a port of refuge for the galleon, was given up. In 1603, shortly after Vizcaino's return, the Condé de Monterey was succeeded as viceroy by the Marques de Montescaros, who not only threw cold water on the plans of his predecessor, but also acted in a manner displaying either spite or else a desire for graft. In a letter to the king, dated October 28, 1605, he objected to the former viceroy's having appointed Vizcaino as the commander of the galleon sailing from Acapulco in 1604, six months after Montescaros himself should be in office. He had countermanded the order and made Vizcaino all calde mayor, chief justice and mayor of Tehuantepec, which he stated was fully as much as he deserved. Later he claimed that Vizcaino had tried to bribe him to make him commander of the galleon, wherefore he dismissed him from the service. The fate of Martinez, the expert cartographer, was even worse. The Condé de Monterey had given him a rich appointment on the galleon. Not only did Montescaros deprive him of this, but also caused charges to be brought against him for forgery, and Martinez was condemned and hanged. These measures produced a distinctly unfavorable impression at court, and there were several royal decrees of 1606 whose combined purport was the following. Vizcaino was to be made general of the galleon leaving from Acapulco in 1607 and was to make a thorough survey of Monterey on the return voyage with a view to founding a settlement there. Upon his arrival in New Spain, he was to be given a number of colonists of the best type to take to Monterey. These men were to be offered such inducements as might seem to be necessary, presumably lands for the Indians in bondage, and a considerable sum of money out of the royal treasury was to be provided for the enterprise. Montescaros now found a new way to evade the issue. The galleon of 1607 had sailed before the king's orders came, he wrote in May 23rd, 1607, and Vizcaino himself had gone to Spain. It was true that there ought to be a port of refuge for the galleon, but it should be nearer Japan, for it was from the Philippines to just beyond Japan that the worst storms were encountered. When the galleon reached the California's the voyage was nearly over, for it required only 25 to 30 days to run down the coast to Acapulco, with a favoring wind too to help to ship on its way. The best thing to do would be to find the two islands called Ricca de Oro and Ricca de Plata in 34 to 35 degrees, somewhere far to the west of Monterey. This revived an old story of uncertain origin. At some time in 1584 to 1585, when Pedro de Moya was viceroy, a letter was addressed to him by a certain father Andrés de Aguerre. Aguerre said that he was with Urdeneta in 1565 when that sailor friar established the Manila Galleon service and that Urdeneta showed him a copy of a document about certain rich islands in the Pacific. Strange as was the account of Father Aguerre, it is worth inserting for it was this tale, used by Montescaros that changed the course of California history. As Aguerre remembered it, the gist of the story was as follows. A Portuguese ship sailed from Malacca for the islands of Japan and at the city of Canton took aboard Chinese goods. Arriving within sight of Japan, she encountered a storm coming from the west, so severe that it was impossible to fetch those islands and she ran before it under very little sail for eight days, the weather being very thick and having been seen. On the ninth day the storm was spent and the weather cleared and they made two large islands. They reached one of these at a good port, well people, there being a great city surrounded by a good stone wall. There were many large and medium-sized vessels in port. Immediately on their entering the harbor they're flocked to the ship a great number of persons well dressed and cared for the people of the ship. The lord of that island and city, learning that they were merchants, sent to the captain of the ship to say that he and those of his people he might select should come ashore without any fear that they would do them harm. On the contrary, he assured them, they should be received well and he requested that they should bring with them the manifest of the goods the ship brought for they would take them and trade for them to their content. The captain communicated this to his people and it was resolved that the notary of the ship should be sent ashore with the manifest in two merchants, one a Portuguese and the other an Armenian, residents of Balaca. The lord of the land received them in his house, which was large and well built, and treated them with affection, making them presents, they understanding one another by signs. The land was very rich and silver in a building. The notary and the Portuguese merchant returned to the ship in order to land merchandise and store it in a building which was assigned to them for that purpose. While the Armenian remained with the lord of the land and was treated very hospitably. The merchandise having been taken ashore and a vast number of persons coming to purchase it, bringing a great quantity of silver, and making great gains so that all became very rich and they loaded the ship with silver. During the time that they were on the island, they learned that the lord was Sousa Rain of another island also, which was within sight four leagues away and of others which were near to these all being rich and silver and very populous. The people is white and well formed, well cared for and clothed in silk and fine and affectionate and very affable people. The language differs from that of Chinese as well as that of the Japanese and is readily learned, for in less than 40 days that the Portuguese passed on the island, they were able to converse with the natives. These islands abound in the means of maintaining life well. Rice, which is the bread they use, fowls like ours in great number, tame ducks as well, boars in great abundance, various birds in game and fishes, many in good, and a great plenty of many kinds of fruit. The climate of the land is very good and healthy. These islands are in from 35 to 40 degrees. The difference in longitude between them and Japan cannot be arrived at because they had run before the gale and the weather was very thick and obscure. They ran from Japan and, having disposed of their merchandise, they returned to Malacca. They named these islands out of regard for the Armenian merchant who was greatly respected by the people of the ship, Isles of the Armenian. These were the islands which, as Rika de Oro and Rika de Plata, Montescaros now proposed to find. Shortly afterward, August 4, 1607, he brought his guns to bear on the project for a settlement at Monterey. This time he used a plea which rarely failed whatever the angle from which it was introduced, that of foreign danger. The greatest strength of the royal dominions in the Pacific, he said, was that the difficulty the king's enemies had in getting there or in remaining after they arrived. It was on that account that they had been so desirous of finding astrayed above Cape Mendocino. To settle Monterey, therefore, would endanger the Spanish Empire for it might serve as a port where enemies as well as Spaniards could refit and procure supplies. And he had already pointed out that Monterey was not necessary for the galleon. Well, in addition, it was too far away from New Spain to be armed against impending dangers. The ideas of Montescaros bore fruit. The Council of the Indies gave up the plan for a colony at Monterey and diverted the funds to a wild goose chase for the two mysterious islands. The story of Viscaino's voyage of 1611 to 1613 to Japan and of his fruitless search for the two islands has already been told. Meanwhile, Alta California was saved for over 150 years in the blissful obscurity it needed if the English colonists who were just making their first successful settlements along the Atlantic coast were ever to have their opportunity to acquire the golden area on the Pacific. Out of it all, Viscaino retained his fame as the discoverer of the wonderful port of Monterey though neither was he the discoverer nor was the port wonderful. But he lost his chance to become the California Portola as a sensión perhaps it's Sarah. Yet, despite his over-enthusiastic exaggeration, he had played the part of a thoroughgoing man. Footnote Such a vast body of materials on Viscaino has been uncovered in recent years that the career of this important figure in California history ought to be made the subject of a doctoral thesis. Several transcripts in the Bancroft Library from the documents in the Arquio General de Indias of Seville, Spain have been used in the preparation of this chapter though the following items were more particularly relied upon. One Documents from the Sutro Collection originally in Spanish and translated and edited by George Butler Griffin in Historical Society of Southern California Publications Volume 2 Part 1 Los Angeles, 1891 Fifteen of the nineteen documents range in date from 1584 to 1603. Five of them were made use of in the preceding chapter in the other ten here. Two Documentos referentes al recocimiento de las costas de las californias desde el Cabo de San Lucas All de Menesino edited by Francisco Carrasco y Guiso Sola Madrid, 1882. This contains forty-four documents ranging from 1584 to 1609. Many of the more important appear in Item 1 above. Some of the others were also used. Three Spanish Exploration in the Southwest 1542 to 1706 translated and edited by Herbert Eugene Bolton in New York, 1916 in Original Narratives of Early American History Series. This contains a translation into English of a diary attributed to Vizcaino of the 1602-1603 voyage and of the relation written in 1620 by Father Ascension, a member of the same expedition. Four Torquemada Juan de Primera Segunda Tercera Parte de los 21 Lívoros Rituales de Monarquía Indiana Volume I, Madrid, 1793 This account is the one that has, here to four, been almost the only source for material about Vizcaino. It has some facts not appearing elsewhere. End of Footnote End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of A History of California, the Spanish Period. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 12. Overland Advanced to the California Border, 1521-1687 The general factors governing early California history and so far as they bear upon European approaches by sea have now been set forth in such detail that it is possible to condense the material of this kind for the period elapsing between the end of Vizcaino's efforts and the Port de la Expedition of 1769. The difficulties of getting a foothold through expeditions by sea have been illustrated by the experiences of Cortez, Rodriguez Cabrillo, Drake, Rodriguez Seremeno, Vizcaino, and others. It is time, therefore, that more attention be paid to the problems of overland conquest toward the California's as they involve the principal element of success in the project of occupying the California's that of an advancing base of supplies. As has already been pointed out, the definitive occupation of Mexico City by Cortez in 1521 marked the establishment of a base of operations whence the Spaniards were to proceed to the effective conquest of New Spain. The region between Mexico City and Panama was soon taken over. For both points served as bases where Indians were comparatively unwarlike. Distances were not great, and the continent was narrow and therefore easily overrun, though here, as elsewhere, the infiltration of Spanish civilization as distinguished from mere dominance of the military and the religious was a long and time-requiring process. To the north the problems were infinitely greater. The land widened and geographical barriers became more serious. The area was greater than the resources of Spain could hope to reduce. The Indians were less nearly civilized and more difficult to overcome. And the competition of the English, French and Russians made itself more manifest. For a number of years after 1521, Spain showed small concern over the greatness of her task. She made conquests in the New World for the ready-made wealth she found there, and no distance was too great for her intrepid adventurers to go if only there were a prospect of riches. This was the age, therefore, of the aggressive, aggressive of conquests for the sake of what they would yield. From the time of Drake in 1579, however, Spain began to show the caution and conservatism of the property owner. The adventurers had, in the main, settled down. They now had vast estates with Indians in servitude upon them, that is, in comiendas. And they procured financial returns by the slower means of mining, stock-raising, agriculture and commerce rather than by plunder. These men wanted security and the government, which profited in the same ratio that they did, wanted it also. Off on the frontiers were men of the old stamp the conquistadores or conquerors, but they were held in leash lest they endanger the settled wealth of the already subjected territories. Now and then they were allowed to go ahead in pursuit of some definite and reasonably safe advantage or to ward off a threatened peril. The long period of the aggressive defensive had begun of occasional conquests, that is, the better to hear what Spain already possessed. Northward expansion from Mexico City may be said to have followed three principal lines, north westward to Sonora and the California's, up the central plateau through Nueva Vizcaya, about co-extensive with present-day states of Durango and Chihuahua, to New Mexico, and, similarly, but branching off to run through Chihuahua into Texas. A fourth line, basing in early days on Tampico and later on Mexico City in Querétaro, ran to Nuevo León and Nuevo Santander, or Tamulipas, and slightly into Texas. This was hardly so important as the others. It was the first of these roots that concerned itself more particularly with the history of California, but all four were closely related. So much so that the events along the eastern lines of advance had a vital connection with that which led to the California's. All went ahead at relatively the same rate of progress, except the much shorter fourth movement. Military and exploring expeditions made side trips that crossed different lines of advance. All were related by the problem of Indian warfare, especially against the Apaches who were want to appear in all sections, often going from one to another according as resistance to their raids was strong or weak. All were threatened by foreign aggressions from the northeast, for the Colorado River of the west was believed to be the root making the western provinces almost as accessible to the French or English as those in the east. Some were all of the regions on the four lines of advance were at different times under the same political rule or served as a field for the same body religious or were part of the same diocese. Finally, all of these regions had much the same internal problems, political, economic, and social, and all were under the viceroy or in the latest period under the commandant general of the frontier provinces. Before proceeding to a consideration of northwestward advance it is worthwhile to give an idea of the sweep of the other lines of conquest. Naturally, the line of advance through Nueva Vizcaya to New Mexico was most closely related, because nearest to the movement through Sonora. The same Indian wars often affected both. The Jesuits were in western Nueva Vizcaya as well as in Sinaloa and Sonora until 1767. Sinaloa and Sonora were included in the government of Nueva Vizcaya until 1734 and formed part of the same diocese under the Bishop of Durango until 1779 when a bishopric was created for Sinaloa, Sonora, and the California. The first great name in the history of Nueva Vizcaya is that of Francisco de Ibarra who set up a government there in the middle of the 16th century. By the end of that century the line of settlement had reached southern Chihuahua. Next there was a gap beyond which lay New Mexico settled by Oñate expedition of 1598. By the close of the 17th century the line of settlement had approached or reached the Rio Grande. For example, the presidios of Pasaje, Gayo, Conchos, Yanos, and Casas Grandes were already in existence. In the 18th century there were many changes in presidial sites the general movement being to suppress the more southerly presidios and establish new ones toward the Rio Grande. Similarly the missions advanced and the region behind them was gradually yielded over to the secular clergy. In 1767 according to statistics compiled by Bishop Tomaron Nueva Vizcaya had a Christian population of 120,000 divided evenly between Chihuahua and Durango its northern and southern divisions. But while Durango had 46,000 civilized people there were about 23,000 in Chihuahua. Footnote. The term civilized people is used for what Spaniards called gente de arazon including those of white or mixed blood or even negroes. In fine all but the Indians were included in footnote. Meanwhile New Mexico had enjoyed great prosperity until 1680 when all was destroyed by an Indian revolt and the land was not reconquered until over a decade later. By the end of the 18th century there may have been 20,000 civilized people in the province and 10,000 Christian Indians. Along the Coahuila line Arras and Saltillo in southern Coahuila were occupied by the end of the 16th century although these two settlements were under the government of Nueva Vizcaya until 1785. Coahuila never enjoyed striking prosperity. By the close of the 17th century Monclova was the most northerly presidio while emissions had passed on only in the 18th century the presidios reached that river. The total Christian population of Coahuila in 1780 was about 8,000 of whom 2,000 were Indians. The addition of Saltillo and Paras in 1785 doubled the population. The most interesting portion of this line was the Texas extremity. In the 16th century there were voyages along the coast with referesions from New Mexico and even from Florida but no settlements. Between 1685 and 1688 La Salle made a disastrous attempt to found a French colony on Matagora Bay. This incident joined to tales of fabulous wealth in the land of the Tejas in eastern Texas, induced the Spaniards to send an expedition in 1689 under Governor Leon which, in the next few years, led to the establishing of missions east of the Trinity. These failed, but on the renewal of French activities, this time from the Mobile District, several missions and a procedure were founded in eastern Texas in 1716. In 1718, establishments were made at San Antonio, and the Texas boundary was moved westward from the Trinity River to the San Antonio on the borders of Coahila. In 1721, a procedure was placed near the coast at Espiritu Santo, and the eastern settlements, which had been destroyed by the French, were re-established and strengthened. Between 1745 and 1763, several new posts were founded, notably in northern Texas, but the northern most of these, on the San Gabriel and Sonsaba rivers, were soon abandoned. By the session of Louisiana to Spain in 1762, the French peril, the dominating note in Texas history up to that time, was removed and the eastern settlements were given up. In a few years, however, many of the Spanish settlers returned to eastern Texas. In 1782, there were only 2,600 civilized people in Texas and 460 Christian Indians. The beginnings of Nuevo León date from its colonization by Carabajal late in the 16th century. Nothing else occurred that need be noted here until 1748, when Escondón, coming from Querétaro, achieved an almost bloodless conquest of Nuevo Santander. His work was remarkable for the number of settlements formed by him, rendering the conquest as thorough as it had been quick and peaceful. Early Indians were soon conquered or went elsewhere, and this part of the frontier enjoyed unusual prosperity. The first great conqueror, after Cortez, along the line leading northwestward to Primaria Alta, as the region beyond the Alta River was called, and the California's, was Nuno de Guzmán. In 1529 he set out from Mexico City with an army of 500 Spaniards and perhaps 10,000 native allies, and by 1531 had passed through Jalisco to Sinaloa, reducing the country along his line of march. At one stroke over half the territory between Mexico City and Alta California had been traversed and made known to the Spaniards, and much of it remained definitively conquered. In 1540 came the great expedition of Vasquez de Coronado in search of the seven cities and the Kingdom of Quivira, induced by the already mentioned wanderings of Alvar, Núñez, Cabeza de Vaca, and the journey of exploration by Marcos de Niza. Vasquez led an army through Sonora to New Mexico, and from there to Kansas, returning to New Spain in 1542. It was as a part of this expedition that Melcordia's marched through Sonora to the Colorado River. Indeed he crossed that river and thereby entered the California's, though several miles below the Alta California line it would seem. Failing to find the party of Alarcon, which had come about to the same point by sea, the Diaz expedition returned. Great overland expeditions to the Northwest, aside from the journeys of individuals, now ceased for over two centuries, though they continued periodically along the Northward lines of advance to the East. One of these expeditions, that of Oñate, who conquered New Mexico in 1598, had ramifications which took it to the Colorado River. This occurred in 1604, 1605, when Oñate marched westward along Bill Williams Fork to the Colorado, and descended the latter to its mouth, after which he returned to New Mexico. With the expedition of Oñate to the mouth of the Colorado, the age of the conquistadores along the Northwestward line of advance may be said to have closed. Cortes, Guzmán, Fascas, and Oñate had led expeditions which made a permanent conquest of large areas and developed a preliminary knowledge of nearly the whole field subsequently occupied. Though Oñate's principal achievements were more directly in line with the advance through Nueva Vizcaya to New Mexico. These men were followed, perhaps in the wake of other expeditions of lesser note, or sometimes preceding them, by soldiers, missionaries, and civilians, all of Spanish blood, in part at least. The majority of the civilians were miners, though a number were also engaged in stock-raising and other pursuits characteristic of frontier life. This was a second phase of the conquest. Eventually, in a portion of the field, there came a third phase. When settled orderly government appeared, the military and the religious moved on, the secular clergy replaced the regular, and civilians entered in greater numbers and engaged in a greater variety of occupations than before. This was the final stage, when the particular region ceased to partake of the attributes of a frontier province. In all three stages, the Spanish elements were a very small minority, but provided the ruling class. The mass of the people was, from first to last, Indian. Some of the Indians resisted the Spaniards and were driven away or killed, but usually they submitted to their conquerors and, though strictly ruled and virtually enslaved, were permitted to remain. It is pertinent, at this point, to inquire into the precise services rendered by the three great Spanish elements in the conquest, the military, the religious, and the civilians. Of the three, perhaps the most vitally essential element was the military, for without its aid neither of the other elements could proceed very far, even though the two latter contributed most to the eventual pacification and subtle development of a region. The number of soldiers was always small, but their presence in the first and second stages of conquest was a scenic one known of the Spanish occupation. Their expeditions into the unoccupied territory, whether for punitive objects or for purposes of exploration, were the most important preliminaries of the conquest. Even in the frequent journeys of missionaries into the interior, soldiers were usually taken along as a more or less indispensable escort. Once occupation of a region had taken place, a presidial force of 40 or 50 men was a sufficient garrison for a wide area, so superior were they in fighting equipment and military methods to the native, however brave the Indians might be. A mission guard of from one to five or six soldiers also served to keep hundreds of mission Indians, or even a thousand in check, while without this military support the missions could not be sustained. To a certain extent, too, the military contributed to the economic development through the great presidial stock farms, but these were in no small degree more a hindrance than a help. Indian trouble, too, often became an asset of the presidial capitalist, who might thereby rid himself of the competition of civilian rivals while utilizing the troops to protect his own stock. Second, only to the military as an agency in the subjection of the Indians, and much more prominent as a constructive social and economic factor, were the religious and the missionary orders. Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits were the orders which had a share in northwestward advance in the conversion of the Californians, but for nearly two centuries the Jesuits were by far the most important. Neither the missionary orders nor the secular arm of the Church acted on their own initiative, for the Church in the Americas was almost as completely subordinate to the King of Spain as the military were. By the institution known as the Patronato Real, or the Royal Patronage, the King had received from the papacy the entire secular administration of the Church in the American colonies. It was the King, or his subdelegates, who appointed Church dignitaries and lesser functionaries from Archbishop down to Priest or Friar, made provisions for their salaries, built their churches, approved or ordered their policies, and paid the score. The missionary was a direct royal agent. Not a mission could be founded or a missionary go to the frontier without the assent to the royal authorities, and indeed the religious were sometimes thrust into an enterprise, as for example the occupation of Elta California, of which more later, against their pronounced objections. Usually, however, missionary zeal outran the royal will for their employment, for missionaries and missions involved expenditures and the government was none too lavish with its funds, unless it could see a likelihood of advantageous returns. Naturally, the Patronato Real did not include a right to intervene in the realm of the spiritual, but there was little else which the popes reserved. The missionaries accompanied the troops in the first two stages of the conquest. They went with them on their military expeditions or even preceded them into new territory on journeys of exploration. Though, as already stated, they were usually attended by a small escort of soldiers. The principal functions of the religious, however, came in the second stage of the conquest through the institution of the mission. The mission system employed by the Spaniards was much the same in all their dominions in Elta California at a later time as elsewhere, being subject to the same laws and the same body of officials. The principal objects, as stated by the laws, were to convert the natives and lift them out of their savagery and barbarism to a state of civilization. These were indeed the primary objects of the missionaries themselves, but they were secondary to other factors in the attention of the royal government. The mission was an effective support of the troops in keeping the Indians of a particular region in subjection and in this way contributed, through the security it gave, to the protection of the royal domain from other Indians and from foreigners beyond the frontier. Thus, it assisted in actual conquests and much more cheaply than the soldiers necessary to take their place would have cost. Ultimately, too, the Indians would become a source of profit to the crowd, for those who had submitted to Spanish authority were required by law to pay an annual tribute, though this was remitted for the Indians still in missions. A mission was founded through a process of voluntary conversion by gathering the Indians of a community or limited region into a reduction, reducción, or mission village. No Spaniards other than the missionaries, the mission guard and an occasional civilian official could stop at the mission or reside there. Persuasion, usually to the accompaniment of gifts of food, clothing, and tobacco, or trinkets which appealed to the childlike fancy of the natives, was generally employed to induce acceptance by the Indians of the mission idea. Once they entered the mission, however, there was no legal escape for them until such time as the royal government should give them their release, and emancipation meant taxation in the shape of the annual tribute. The salaries of missionaries and a certain initial sum were provided at state expense besides military protection, but the mission was supposed to procure all else that it needed by means of its own industry or through the gifts of pious individuals. Usually there were two religious at a mission and a corporal at the head of four or five soldiers, but at times a single missionary and fewer troops were employed. Beyond the limits of the mission proper, but within a day or two's journey at the farthest there were Huelos de Vecita, villages of visit, or Vecitas, where the missionaries went occasionally to perform religious services. In the Vecitas there was a representative of the missionary and the person of the Indian master of doctrine, but in other respects the Vecita Indians retained their liberty. On the other hand they did not share in economic benefits such as a receipt of tobacco, food, and clothing to the same extent as the Indians of the mission. Except for a certain amount of independence on the part of the military escort, which however was in most respect under the orders of the religious, the missionaries were like absolute monarchs in their narrow realm. Subject only to their superiors in the religious and political hierarchy, they were the spiritual and political and even economic masters of the mission. In theory the mission belonged to the Indians who owned it in common, but it was administered under the direction of the missionaries whose word was law. The Indians indeed elected their own petty political officers, but the missionaries in fact decided for whom they should vote. There could be no question but that the missionaries were devoted to the welfare of the Indian, but it seemed to them necessary if his soul were to be saved and his intelligence quickened that his body should first be enslaved. The spiritual training of the Indians resolved itself into learning the catechism and the vocabulary or outward forms and ceremonies of religious services. It was hardly possible for his undeveloped mind to grasp the philosophical tenets of the Christian faith. Services were frequently held, perhaps two masses a day on weekdays and more on Sundays, at all of which attendance was compulsory. The Indian was also required to work. The men tended flocks or engaged in agricultural while the women and children were taught weaving and spinning. Indeed there was an extraordinary variety of tasks performed for the missions were intended to be economically self-sustaining. Not infrequently they produced a surplus which might be applied to assist more backward missions. Discipline was strict and severe. Native officials inflicted whippings or other penalties upon the recalcitrant by order of the missionaries, but the more serious offenses were turned over for punishment to the corporal of the guard. Unaccustomed either to working or to submission to discipline, the Indians often endeavored to run away, but they were pursued and brought back. To lessen the opportunity of escape, walls were constructed around the mission and the Indians were locked up at night. All in all, the institution of the Spanish mission was one of the most interesting examples of benevolent despotism that human history records. By law, a mission was supposed to endure for a period of not longer than ten years, but in practice the term was much longer, even a century or more. In fact, the end of mission rule depended more upon the civilian colonization of a region than upon the instruction afforded in the mission. When a region had filled up with whites sufficiently to be safe for the crown, the mission might be dispensed with. The objects of the missionaries, benevolent though they were, were foredoomed to failure, for the Indians were rarely capable of absorbing civilization in any real sense of the term. Indeed, the close of mission rule usually saw the Indian revert to his former state if he were not killed off by the white man. The missions at least prolonged the lives of many of the Indians. Its real importance, however, was as an agency of Spanish conquest. In this respect its effects were permanent. The best presentation of the mission system in brief scope ever written is that of Herbert E. Bolton, the mission as a frontier institution in the Spanish American colonies in American Historical Review 23, in footnote. The civilian whites, including as white all elements of the Hente de Razón, began to make themselves felt in the second stage of the conquest, and no conquest was complete until he had taken it over in the third stage as the controlling element. The history of their activities, while a given region was still in a frontier state, has never been adequately presented or even much studied. Most that we know of them has been derived from the works of the religious who were primarily concerned with their own achievements and not interested in the civilian element except as they found occasion to pronounce against them. Footnote. Much information should result from a perusal of official correspondence, which is available in stupendous quantity in the archives of Spain and Spanish America. The best materials, however, such as the letters and business records of private individuals have probably, nearly all of them, disappeared in footnote. Unquestionably, the most important of the civilians along the northwestward line of conquest were the miners. Indeed, the route of the conquerors followed that of the mineral wealth in precious metals. These men generally did the work by means of Indian labor in a state of virtual slavery. Traders, stockraisers, and farmers came in to some extent, but the two latter were at a disadvantage, for they had to meet the competition of procedural and mission ranches. As already stated, the civilians took entire possession when it became time for the military and the religious to move on. With a civilian element, should be included the secular church with its hierarchy of officialdom ranging from the archbishop or bishop down to the curate or priest. The secular church entered a region only in the third stage of conquest and sometimes rather late at that. When this arm of the church arrived it was time for the soldier, missionary, and civilian pioneer to depart. Indeed, the friars were often obliged to serve as curates after the mission had disappeared before the secular church came on the scene. The crucial stage, the conquest then, was the second, and this was the period when the greatest variety of widely differing elements came into play. These elements, to be sure, were controlled by the same fountainhead, the king, acting through his council of the indies and the viceroy, but they were rarely able to work together in entire harmony. In particular, the military and the civilians were constantly disputing with the religious. Questions of jurisdiction and relative authority were always to the fore as between the military and the religious. Political rule was invariably given in the charge of the former, but in some respects the missionaries were not subject to them. The civilians were opposed to the religious on economic grounds. The missionaries had been first on the scene and had therefore had the first pick of the lands. The civilians wanted the mission lands and the Indian labor upon them. Arguments frequently turned on other matters than those which were in fact uppermost in the minds of the parties to the conflict. The civilians, for example, accused the religious of ill-treating the Indians and of retaining the missions much longer than was necessary. As for the Indians, who were, after all, a person's most vitally concerned, the restraints and punishments of the mission were indeed irksome to them, wherefore many, with their minds on the objectionable thing nearest at hand, supplied evidence to the civilians. Perhaps the majority realized, however, that their lot under civilian control would be far worse, and it is no doubt true that a great many were devoted to the missionaries and content with mission life to which in the course of time they became accustomed. It is to be borne in mind that the general conditions of what has been termed here the second stage of the Spanish conquests applied in the case of Alta California under Spain and Mexico, just as it did to Nueva Galicia, the name of Guzmán's conquests, and Sinaloa and Sonora in the period under review. Coming now to the details, the age of the conquistadores along the north-westward line was quickly over, and the work of conquest in its second and third phases came steadily to the four. Guzmán founded a settlement as far north as Culeacán, Sinaloa, in 1531. By 1550, an audencia for the government of Nueva Galicia was established, but this was located for a time at Compostela, but soon afterward moved to Guadalajara. Lopez de Velázca, writing between 1571 and 1574, said there were as many as 1500 Spaniards in Nueva Galicia, which at that time included most of New Spain north of Mexico City. There were 31 or 32 settlements, of which 15 or 16 were mining camps. Guadalajara was the largest town with a Spanish population of 150. The only settlement in what later became Sinaloa was Culeacán, with about 30 Spaniards. There were no Spaniards in Sonora. An increase in the population of Sinaloa came in 1596, when the Presidio of San Felipe de Sinaloa, the first in that province, was established, with a garrison of 25 men. Meanwhile the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits had been making converts, so that the region south of Sinaloa had become Christian, nominally at least, by the end of the 16th century, and after some feudal revolts, it was definitely reduced to the Spanish crown. The erection of Obisapric in Michiocan in 1537 may be regarded as a first step in the third phase of the conquest. So, despite the scant white population of Nueva Galicia, that part of it lying south of Sinaloa was fast losing the characteristics of a frontier province. Up to 1591 not many conversions had been made in Sinaloa, but in that year the Jesuits reached there and the real work began. Father Zavatas' report of 1678 shows that by that time Sinaloa had been thoroughly reduced. The province had been Christianized and had a white population of 600. In addition, there were many more of part Spanish blood. At San Felipe de Sinaloa alone there were 1200 of Spanish or mixed blood. These missionaries and civilians were supported by two procedos, Fuerte de Montescaros having been added in 1610. The occupation of Sinaloa did not begin until early in the 17th century, with the successful military campaigns of Diego Martinez-Jordaíde paving the way. The Jesuits took charge of the mission work and made rapid progress. By 1678 there were 28 missions in Sinaloa, serving 22 villages with a combined population of about 40,000. There were perhaps 500 people of Spanish or part Spanish blood. A large proportion of them engaged in mining. Thus by the end of the 17th century Sinaloa had attained to the comparative freedom from frontier characteristics that the region to the south of it had reached 100 years before. The latter was now definitely off the frontier. Sonora, however, was in the midst of the second stage of conquest and had such problems in the shape of hostile Indians that its early emergence into a settled state could not be expected. Indeed, advance were to prove that it was much more than a century behind Sinaloa in this respect. By the close of the 17th century, the conquest had been carried almost to the limits of modern Sonora by way of the Sinaloa Valley. This route led the Spaniards somewhat inland, leaving a large stretch of coast to the south and west as yet unoccupied. In this district were the Seri Indians destined to cause trouble during the greater part of the 18th century. Northeast of the Sonora Valley was a little known region whence was to come an even more terrible enemy, the Savage Apaches. Due to the hostility of these two peoples, Sonora was fated to remain a frontier province. Until near the close of the 17th century, another district of Sonora offering less difficulties than the other two, though by no means an easy field for conquest, lay open. This was the region between the Altair and the Gila rivers, known as Primaria Alta, beyond which to the northwest was Alta, California. In 1687, Father Yusebio Quinoa, the Jesuit order, crossed the Altair River and founded the mission of Dolores. This marked the first step in the last stage of the conquest toward the Californias, but the difficulties in the way of this further advance were perhaps greater than any which had yet been faced.