Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820

by Sherburne Friend Cook

Consequent upon the orders which I received officially from you on April 11, ultimo, I accompanied the Reverend Father Fray Narciso Duran on the expedition which at the request of the said Reverend Father Duran you authorized, and which was carried out. His diary, although I have abstracted it in brief form so that you may take into consideration all the distance we have covered, you will nevertheless use, as appears most convenient to you for the purposes you have in mind. We explored these, and other lands which up till the present have been considered unknown, swarming with heathen who are overwhelmed with error and who are without the least knowledge of God, who has placed us under the conquering banner of the most Catholic and pious monarch of all those who rule in our universe, our dearly beloved sovereign and Lord, Ferdinand the Seventh. This is with the sole object of propagating our holy religion and for which pious purpose I am ready to sacrifice my comfort and my life and all the power of my mind.

With regard to this expedition which has just been completed, although you intended, as I understood according to the content of your eminent official letter, that outstanding results were to be expected, nevertheless in my opinion although the outcome was in no way unfavorable, neither was it of much value. Despite the fact that I had wished at least to make a careful survey and compile a detailed account I found myself completely prevented from accomplishing this. The reason was that I soon saw myself unable to direct my own going and coming. In consequence, since I was not able to operate according to my own wishes so as to give Your Excellency an exact account of all those lands and heathen tribes, I declined to formulate a document which could at any time be protested as defective for lack of exact and fully detailed examination of the country. I did nothing else but go where the Reverend Father Fray Narciso Duran wanted to go, and since my orders specified only that I should accompany him it seemed to me, in order to maintain harmonious relations, that I had to follow the desires of the Reverend Father mentioned. I felt that this was your intention and wish, for the expedition was organized upon the request of the said Reverend Father Duran. Thus, although I curbed my propensity to explore, it seemed to me proper to compose a day-by-day account, of which I make an exact copy.[35]

We started out, then, on the 13th day of the present month, between eleven and twelve o’clock in the morning and traveled to the north for twenty-one miles. We anchored for the night at Point San Pablo at eight o’clock. After an hour the launch “Josefina” of our convoy joined us, carrying the Reverend Fathers Fray Ramón Abella and Fray Narciso Duran.

The following day, the 14th, we set sail at six o’clock in the morning to the north and after going through Carquinez Strait we pointed east, one quarter northeast. The wind freshened considerably as the sun went down and the launch “Josefina” of our convoy fell behind so that it became necessary for me to shorten sail. Since even this did not permit them to catch up, we had to anchor at the strait which separates the bays of Suisun and of the Ompines and wait until the launch “Josefina” came up much later. As soon as it joined us we set out again. I ordered sail shortened as much as I could, but the wind freshened considerably so that soon the other launch fell behind again. Our launch suddenly ran aground on a shoal half a mile distant from the mainland on the side of Mission San José. However, we started again soon and by sounding we came upon the channel, which had sufficient water and which followed closely the same shore. While engaged in this operation, we were joined again by the “Josefina” which, according to the signs they made, had been heading toward the shore. We followed along the shore and by dark we saw that the launch “San José” had again fallen far behind. The night fell and the wind was quite strong, with consequently considerable swell. I held closer to the shore in order to search for some kind of shelter. This we found and anchored at half-past eight in the evening. Immediately I caused signals to be made to the other launch so that it might join us but without success. So, without much regard to comfort, I maintained my position until three o’clock in the morning of the following day. In this day we traveled sixty miles.[36]

At three o’clock in the morning of the 15th, as I have said, in spite of the strong wind I made arrangements to start out in search of the launch “San José” and, after we had traveled toward the north with a quite strong southwesterly gale and in a heavy sea, a gust of wind came so strong that it broke off the mainmast. It carried the sail and all the gear into the water. At the same time the sheets of the foremast were lost. However, by a sharp maneuver we made fast the sheets of the foremast and recovered the mainsail, which had gone into the water with a piece of the mast. We continued navigating with the foremast alone toward the north. There was no other misfortune than that just described of a broken mainmast, and [the loss of] the hat of a soldier which in the flurry fell into the water and could not be recovered on account of the high wind and waves.

At six o’clock in the morning we caught sight of the launch “San José,” which had taken shelter at a very swampy island full of water. Half an hour after we descried them we joined them and found the Reverend Fathers and the soldiers who were embarked with them. They were in a very sad and pitiful situation for all night they had been unable to find a hand’s breadth of land on which to lie down. After they had related the miseries and fatigues of the preceding night, both Fathers transferred to my boat. We then turned northeast, close to the coast of the Ompines, in search of another and better shelter where we might anchor and land in order to say Mass. The wind did not abate its fury and in this fashion we sailed eighteen miles. Having taken an entrance to the main Sacramento River, we stopped in the land of the Ompines at ten-thirty in the morning and constructed a chapel, where Mass was sung in all solemnity. Reverend Father Fray Ramón Abella celebrated Mass and Reverend Father Fray Narciso Duran officiated with appropriate music, the troops all being under arms.

At half-past five in the afternoon of this day we embarked, going toward the north, with a few turns to the northeast, according to the bends of the river. We may have traveled eleven miles when we anchored at half-past eight at the point where the land of the Ompines ends, having skirted its shore all day.[37]

At seven o’clock in the morning of the 16th we set forth up the river always in a northerly direction with a few turns east-northeast and northwest. At five miles we passed a mouth, or arm, of the river which came from the northeast and joined that along which we were traveling, which runs north and south. Three miles farther on we descried some rafts of Indians, who immediately concealed themselves in the bushes along the riverbank. Right away we attacked them and jumped ashore to see if we could catch some, but the underbrush hindered us, for everything is covered with water and we could not follow them. They threw away all their equipment and belongings, but none of it was of value. We soon reëmbarked and followed upstream. At two miles we saw another river, which united with that which we were pursuing and which came from the northwest. We wanted to enter and explore it, but the Reverend Fathers did not wish to do this, so we continued following the same stream and halted at six o’clock in the afternoon. In the entire day we navigated fifteen miles without incident.

At six-thirty in the morning of the 17th we started up the river and at three miles we found an opening which separated from the river we were following and ran to the northwest. Suddenly we came upon a village on the west bank of the river. We thought it might contain some people and with great care we went ashore. However, we found it empty of its inhabitants, for all without doubt had fled as soon as they saw us. This village consists of thirty-six houses or huts of tule matting. After making some inquiries as to whether we might be able to catch and talk to any of the heathen, and being unsuccessful, we set sail. We followed a bend of the river to the northeast, passing by the mouth of the other channel, which separates here and runs to the northwest; the latter seems to me to be the one which we left behind us yesterday and which turns so as again to unite with the main stream of the river. We stopped at seven o’clock in the evening at a ruined village, at the end of the northeasterly bend of the river which from this point trends toward the east. We will have traveled during the whole day no more than seven miles. The current flows very rapidly because of the quantity of water carried by the river, which is at a very high level.

At ten-thirty in the morning of the 18th, after having heard Mass celebrated by the Reverend Father Fray Narciso Duran, we set out, following the bend of the river to the east, and at two miles we observed that the river on which we are traveling is a branch of the main Sacramento River, which here separates and takes a northwesterly direction. It gives off the opening, or slough, which we left behind yesterday and continues northwest, as I have said. The channel which we pursued makes a turn to the south and thus goes on to unite with the other channel and flow into the Bay of the Ompines.