Two days later, July 10, the Governor answered Amador's letter, from Monterey (Bancroft Trans., Prov. St. Pap., XVI: 71-72), ordering him to go with two soldiers and twenty civilians to the rancheria of the Sacalanes and capture both the chiefs and all fugitive Christians. Amador carried out the order immediately and, after his return, submitted a report to the Governor in the form of a diary, together with a letter, both dated July 19 at San José. The diary in full is to be found in the Archivo General de la Nación, Ramo Californias, Vol. 65, Doc. no. 1, MS p. 93. The essential portions are worth reproducing and are translated as follows.
Amador's Diary (1797)
[July 6 to 12 inclusive were spent making preparations.]
July 13. We set forth [from Mission San José] on the campaign in the evening. I traveled all that night till dawn and hid with the party in a brushy ravine throughout the day,
July 14. In the evening we arrived at the place where the rancheria of the Sacalanes was located.
July 15. At dawn we attacked the said rancheria. We met much resistance from the Indians in it. Although we repeatedly told them that we did not wish to fight but only to take away the Christians, they admitted to no persuasion but began to shoot so as to kill one of our horses and wound two others. Seeing this opposition, we used our weapons in order to subdue them so that they would surrender. Some were killed, for they refused for two hours to give up. Finally, it was necessary to dismount and throw them back with swords and lances, for they have some wells in the middle of the village which are like walls and which can be strongly defended. There may have been about fifty persons, men and women.
There were three rancherias close together, and with the destruction of this one, the inhabitants of the others fled. We captured only two from the second rancheria, although in the first the number captured was thirty, including both Gentiles and Christians. Having carried out an investigation and having ascertained the guilty ones and the Christians, I made it clear to the rest, through interpreters, that we did not wish to do them any harm. They said they wanted to obey and that they well understood that we had no evil intentions. I liberated the Gentiles and we set forth toward the region of the Juchillones.
We had gone but a short distance when there began to assemble a great many Indians, uttering shrieks and cries, so that we had to go into line of battle again. Falling upon them, we killed one, and with this they all retreated. We followed our course in the direction we were going and concealed ourselves in a ravine near the beach. It has much timber, water, and firewood, good for a settlement. There we spent all the day hidden until nightfall when we went on to the rancheria of the Juchillones.
At dawn [of July 16] we reached the place where were gathered all the Christians whom we wanted, together with those Gentiles who had participated in the attempt to kill Raymundo and his people. We struck the first, second, and third village in the same morning. When we reconnoitred the Indians of the last rancheria, which is very large, the inhabitants were just about to open hostilities, but being admonished by the interpreters that we had not come to harm them but to hunt for Christians, they were pacified. We pointed out to them that we had punished the others because they had fought with us. Then we returned to the first village with the Christians and Gentiles and there assembled all those who had been concealed in the three rancherias. Having separated out all those we had caught and were taking with us, we set forth on our return journey. The Gentiles had been cautioned, the same as the preceding ones, that we did not wish to injure them if they did not harm us. We followed our course of retirement along the coast. We reached an arroyo with little water and much timber, in which we passed the night with sentinels in the camp and at two advanced posts.