[116] It is evident, from the context, that Pattie has transposed the names of the two missions, San Juan Bautista (see note 119) and San Antonio. It was the latter which he visited on the way to Monterey. Situated in the beautiful valley of the San Antonio River, it was the third of all the missions founded by Serra (1771). One of the most flourishing of the early missions, at the time of secularization it was valued at $90,000. The present church dates from about 1809. It is fast falling into ruin, owing to isolation and neglect.—Ed.
[117] La Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude), founded in 1791, was one of the smaller missions, thus Pattie's numbers are incorrect. Its buildings are now almost in ruins.
The mission of San Carlos was founded at the same time as the presidio of Monterey; but the following year (1771) was removed several miles into the country, upon the Carmelo River (named for the Carmelite friar who visited this place in 1602); from its location, the mission was usually spoken of as Carmel. It was the central mission, the home of the president, and was important rather from this fact and its neighborhood to Monterey than from the number of its neophytes. In 1784 Father Junipero Serra, founder of the missions, died, and was buried at this place. Nearly a hundred years later his tomb was re-opened, and found intact. The present church, easily visited from Monterey, was dedicated in 1797; restored in 1882, it is still in good condition, and service is held there monthly.—Ed.
[118] The harbor of Monterey was discovered by the Spanish expedition under Cabrillo, in 1542; but rediscovered and named by Viscaino, in 1602. The first land expedition sent out from San Diego (1770) failed to recognize the bay. The presidio was built in June of that year, and made the capital of the new province. It consisted of a stockaded enclosure, with cannon at the corners. By 1778 a stone wall had been built, and the safety of the place ensured. Thenceforward, the history of Monterey was the history of Alta California. After the American conquest, it remained for many years a Mexican town. See Stevenson, "Old Pacific Capital," in Across the Plains (New York, 1895), pp. 77-107. More recently, Monterey has become a seaside resort.—Ed.
[119] This was San Juan Bautista (see note 116), whose site, thirty miles northeast of Monterey, was chosen in 1786. A mission was not founded there until 1797, when was begun the chapel which was dedicated in 1812; it still stands, although much altered from its first appearance. Music was a feature of San Juan Bautista; there is still to be seen within the building an old barrel organ which was made in England in 1735. As this was a prosperous mission at the date of Pattie's visit, no doubt his figures are correct. He omitted from his tour the northern missions of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San José, San Rafael Archangel, and Solano de Sonoma.—Ed.
[120] It is usually conceded that none of the early explorers—Cabrillo, Sir Francis Drake, or Viscaino—sighted the present San Francisco Bay, although that name had been applied to the harborage under Point Reyes, now known as Drake's Bay. Therefore it was the land expedition under Portata (1769-70), who first saw the southern shore of the great bay, and attempted to pass around it to old Port San Francisco. Failing in this, the party turned back to Monterey and were succeeded by two more exploring parties in 1773 and 1774. The following year (1775) Ayala first entered the bay from the ocean. Serra had long wished to found a mission in honor of Saint Francis; he therefore besought a colony from Mexico, to establish a presidio which should guard such an outlying mission. This being arranged, an expedition under the lead of Moraga set forth in 1776, and in September of that year formally installed the presidio, the mission being dedicated in October. The mission lay south of the fort, and is now included in the limits of the city, where the church (dedicated in 1795) still stands. It was never a prosperous mission, owing partly to the climate, and partly to the character of the Indians. Moraga continued as commandant of the presidio until his death in 1785. Fort San Joaquin was finished in 1794, when there was a total population of about one thousand. The United States flag was raised on the plaza in 1846. Under the Spaniards, San Francisco was always an outpost maintained for defense; its importance began with the discovery of gold in 1848.—Ed.
[121] The Russian Fur Company, having under Rezanof explored the coast in 1806, desired to erect thereon a trading post, and in 1812 Baranof dispatched an expedition to Bodega Bay. A site for the settlement was selected about eighteen miles above the bay, and a fort with ten cannons was erected, named Ross. Although the Spanish officials protested against this occupation of their territory there was never an open collision, and the trade was profitable to the Californians. The Russian settlement was therefore maintained until 1841, being then voluntarily abandoned.—Ed.
[122] Joaquin Solis was a convict ranchero, living near Monterey. He had served in the war of independence from Spain, and had been sentenced to California for brutal crimes which were thus lightly punished because of his military services to the republic. For an account of this revolt, from manuscript sources, see Bancroft, California, iii, pp. 67-86. Pattie's dates are erroneous, Solis having left Monterey for San Francisco in November, 1829.—Ed.
[123] José Maria de Echeandia was the first governor of California after it passed under the Mexican government. A lieutenant-colonel in the army, he had been director of the college of engineers at the City of Mexico, and arrived at San Diego in October, 1825, to assume his new official duties. By establishing his official residence at San Diego, he gave offense to the Montereyans, and thus promoted the Solis revolt. His successor was appointed in 1830, but did not assume office until January, 1831. The same year, Echeandia himself became concerned in a revolt which placed him practically at the head of the government in California until January 14, 1833, when a new appointee arrived from Mexico, bearing orders to Echeandia to proceed thither. The latter thereupon sailed from San Diego, May 14, 1833, never again to visit California. He thereafter devoted his time to engineering duties, and is known to have been so occupied in 1856, and to have died before 1871. A somewhat indolent man, of infirm temper, he was nevertheless popular with the Mexican party in California.—Ed.
[124] Captain John Roger Cooper was an American who in 1823 arrived in California from Boston, master of the ship "Rover." Selling his vessel to the governor, he continued his trading voyages until 1826, when he settled at Monterey and turned merchant. Being naturalized in 1830, he became one of the well-known characters of the Mexican capital. In 1839, he returned to sea-faring, and continued therein for ten or eleven years more, returning to Monterey as harbor-master in 1851. He died at San Francisco in 1872.