[98] The mission of Santo Tomás de Aquino was founded by the Dominicans in 1790. It is situated about fifty miles northwest of Santa Catalina, on a river to which it gives a name, Rio Santo Tomas.—Ed.
[99] San Miguel, established in 1782, is about thirty miles south of San Diego.—Ed.
[100] A presidio was established at San Diego in 1769, and troops stationed there. Although not the capital at the time of Pattie's imprisonment, Governor Echeandia preferred its climate to that of Monterey, and made it his permanent residence. The present city of San Diego dates only from 1867, and is five or six miles distant from the old site.—Ed.
[101] This account of Captain Bradshaw and the "Franklin" does not agree in chronology with the evidence presented by Bancroft from official sources (History of California, iii, pp. 133, 134). The "Franklin" escaped on July 16, Bradshaw having been warned by a French captain that the governor intended to place a guard on board the vessel. Pattie wrote from memory, some time after the occurrences, but except in the matter of time his evidence tallies with that of the Mexican manuscripts, wherein his name is mentioned as interpreter.—Ed.
[102] The names of Pattie's companions appear in the archives, and are given by Bancroft, California, iii, p. 163, as Nathaniel Pryor, Richard Laughlin, William Pope, Isaac Slover, Jesse Ferguson, James Puter. Of these, the first is the name of one of the sergeants in the Lewis and Clark expedition, for whose earlier career see Wheeler, On the Trail of Lewis and Clark (New York, 1904), i, pp. 92-95. See also Bancroft, iv, p. 785; and Vallejo, "Ranch and Mission Days in Alta California," in Century Magazine, xix, p. 190. Most of them became residents of California; William Pope gave his name to Pope Valley, Napa County, where he lived and died.—Ed.
[103] Pattie elsewhere gives the name of this young woman who befriended him, as Miss Peaks. Bancroft conjectures (California, ii, p. 165) that she was Señorita Pico, sister of a sergeant by that name, figuring in the records of the time.—Ed.
[104] For the career of Charles (not James) Lang, see Bancroft, op. cit., iii, pp. 139, 140.—Ed.
[105] The mission of San Diego de Alcala was the first of the Franciscan establishments begun by Father Junipero Serra in 1769. In 1774 it was removed inland three miles from the presidio of the same name; and at the time of Pattie's visit, it had attained the height of its prosperity. Six years after it was founded (1775), an Indian revolt occurred, in which there was bloodshed on both sides, and the church was burned and pillaged. It was re-established in 1777, and six years later was built the church, of which little yet remains but the façade. Remains of an aqueduct may also be traced, to whose use in irrigating Pattie refers. On the entire subject of mission history, consult in addition to Bancroft, and the standard histories, Victor, "Studies of the California Missions" in The Californian, v, vi; Helen Hunt Jackson, "Father Junipero and his Work," in Century, iv, pp. 3-18, 199-215; Doyle, "Missions of Alta California," ibid., xix, pp. 389-402; Jackson, Glimpses of California and the Missions (Boston, 1902); Carter, Missions of Nueva California (San Francisco, 1900), and Clinch, California and its Missions, (San Francisco, 1904).—Ed.
[106] The mission of San Luis Rey de Francia, situated on the coast, about eighty-five miles southeast from Los Angeles, was founded in 1798, and named in honor of Louis IX of France. The church, the largest among the missions, was completed in 1802. At the time of Pattie's visit, it was the most prosperous mission in California, possessing twenty-five thousand sheep and over two hundred thousand acres of land, on which were annually raised twelve thousand bushels of grain. The founder, Padre Antonio Peyri, was still in charge, and to his fine character and administrative ability was due the success of the enterprise. The old church, the finest among the missions, was recently repaired and occupied by the Franciscans, the dedication (1893) of the re-established mission taking place with much ceremony.—Ed.
[107] This should be San Juan Capistrano; San Juan Bautista was further north, see note 119, below. This mission was founded with much difficulty, the Indians being hostile, and upon the news of the revolt at San Diego (1775) the first attempt was abandoned. The second (1776) was more successful, but the mission made but slow progress. Its beautiful stone church was begun in 1797, and dedicated in 1806, only to be partially destroyed by the earthquake, to which Pattie refers, in 1812. The ruins of San Juan Capistrano are among the most beautiful of all the California missions; they are situated near a small town of that name, on the Southern California Railroad, fifty-eight miles southeast of Los Angeles.