Exhibit I.
CAPITAN GRANDE.
Capitan Grande is the name of the cañon through which the San Diego River comes down from the Cuyamaca Mountains, where it takes its rise. The cañon is thirty-five miles from the city of San Diego; is fifteen miles long, and has narrow bottom lands along the river, in some places widening out into good meadows. It is in parts beautifully wooded and full of luxuriant growths of shrubs and vines and flowering plants. In 1853 a band of Dieguino Indians were, by the order of Lieutenant Magruder, moved from San Diego to this cañon (see Paper No. 1, appended hereto). These Indians have continued ever since to live there, although latterly they have been so much pressed upon by white settlers that their numbers have been reduced. A large reservation, showing on the record nineteen full sections, was set off here, in 1876, for these Indians. It is nearly all on the bare sides of the mountain walls of the cañon. As usual, the village site was not taken in by the lines. Therefore white settlers have come in and the Indians been driven away. We were informed that a petition was in circulation for the restoration to the public domain of a part of this reservation. We could not succeed in finding a copy of this petition; but it goes without saying that any such petition means the taking away from the Indians the few remaining bits of good land in their possession. There are now only about sixty Indians left in this cañon. Sixteen years ago there were from one hundred and fifty to two hundred—a flourishing community with large herds of cattle and horses and good cultivated fields. It is not too late for the Government to reclaim the greater part of this cañon for its rightful owners' use. The appended affidavits, which we forwarded to Washington, will show the grounds on which we earnestly recommended such a course.
Paper No. 1.
Copy of Colonel Magruder's order locating the Indians in Capitan Grande.
Mission San Diego, February 1st, 1853.
Permission is hereby given to Patricio and Leandro, alcalde and captain, to cultivate and live at the place called Capitan Grande, about four leagues to the south and east of Santa Ysabel, as it is with extreme difficulty that these Indians can gain a subsistence on the lands near the mission in consequence of the want of sufficient water for irrigation. It is understood that this spot, called, as above, Capitan Grande, is a part of the public domain. All persons are hereby warned against disturbing or interfering with the said Indians, or their people, in the occupation or cultivation of said lands. Any complaints in reference to said cultivation or to the right of occupancy must be laid before the commanding officer of this post, in the absence of the Indian agent for this part of the country.
(Signed by Colonel Magruder.)
Copy of affidavit of the captain of Capitan Grande Indians and one of his head men.