Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

CHAPTER EIGHT: MEXICAN CALIFORNIA, 1821-1848

• Liberal democrats began revolution in New Spain 1810

– End of financial support for Alta California

– Destroyed trade with New Spain

– Trade with foreigners increased

• Spain accepted Mexican independence September 28, 1821

• Battle for control of new government between royalists, democrats

• First govn headed by royalist Emperor Agustín Iturbide

– Ousted 1822

– Sick of kings

• 1824 Federal Republic of Mexico established

– New democratic constitution

– elected representatives

– patterned after U.S. form of govn

– departure for majority of population: few Mexicans literate

– royalist, democratic factions vied for control of govn

• New liberal democratic constitution introduced changes

– Included rights for indigenous people

– Permitted trade with Spain's enemies

– Catholic converts could own land, serve in office

– Offered new status to settlers

• Alta California now Mexican territory governed by Mexican Congress

– Same as U.S. system

– Administration lax, underfunded

– Possibilities for advancement led to rivalries

• 1822 Itrurbide govn established local govn for Alta California– Establishment of Mexican Government in

California

– Appointed governor

– diputación (provincial assembly) advised governor

– ayuntamiento (town council) for pueblos (San José, Los Angeles)

– province given 1 representative in Mexican Congress

• Luis Antonio Argüello first Mexican governor

– hijo del país (native son)

– focused on rebuilding trade

• 1822 last Mexican governor (Solá) signed 3-year contract with British traders– William E. P. Hartnell and Hugh

McCullough, agents for John Begg & Co.

– Contracted w missions for hides and tallow

• Argüello signed with U.S. traders

– William Gale, agent for Bryant & Sturgis

– Soon cornered hide and tallow trade

– Gave large land grants 1823, 1824

• 1825 José María Echeandía appointed governor

– Replaced Argüello

– First appointed by new republic

– Echeandía refused to live in Monterey, liked San Diego better

– Intensified north-south rivalries

– Inherited series of problems

• Military chaotic

– Many sentenced to Baja for crimes in Spain, New Spain

– Govn New Spain, Mexico owed back pay

• 1829 Monterey soldier-convict Joaquín Solís led mutiny over backpay

– Marched south to overthrow governor Echeandía

– Echeandía raised own army

– Mutineers ran home

• Soldier-convicts disrupted colony

– Soldiers stole, fought with civilians

– Missionaries complained about attacks on Indians, esp. women, children

– Echeandía convinced Mexican Congress to stop convict dumping

• 1826 Jedediah Strong Smith entered province

– Leading fur trappers from Rocky Mountains across Mojave Desert to Mission San Gabriel

– first Americans to enter California overland from east

– planned to trap beaver

– Echeandía threw in jail several weeks, ordered back to U.S.

• Echeandía worried about Indians

– Arrived after 1824 Chumash uprising

– Making plans for secularization

– Agreed with Mexican republican principles re native rights

– Plans upset missionaries

• 1826 decreed provisional secularization– Applied to San Diego, Santa Barbara,

Monterey

– Replaced missionaries with secular priests

– Neophytes and families released from mission authority

– Missionaries complained, called it "spoliation"

– Few Indians left

– Delayed secularization until 1830

• Missions a thorny problem

– Missions kept natives dependent

– Mission control of best lands, labor blocked colonization

– Missions produced only revenues in Alta California

• January 1831 third Mexican revolution, Echeandía recalled

• Colonel Manuel Victoria replaced

– Anti-democratic, anti-clerical, anti-Indian, anti-Californio

– Rescinded Echeandía secularization orders

– Dissolved diputación

– Quarreled with Californio elite

– Set off series of Alta California revolutions

• Southern Californians declared pronunciamiento November 29, 1831

– Leaders Juan Bandini, Pío Pico, José Carrillo

– Demanded Victoria removed

– Confrontation at Cahuenga Pass

– Victoria wounded

– Agreed to return power to Echeandía

– Victoria left January 17, 1832

• Southern Californios argued over Echeandía's powers – Wanted division of military, civil authority– territorial diputación in Los Angeles elected

Pío Pico – Echeandía blocked

• Northern Californios, Victoria's secretary Agustín Zamorano fought Echeandía – Raised army to overthrow– Solution: Zamorano military commander

above San Fernando, Echeandía below

• January 1833 new gov General José Figueroa arrived

– comandante general of Sonora, Sinaloa

– military judge

– mestizo origins, favored secularization, Indian rights

– supposed to promote colonization

– forgave leaders of anti-Victoria revolutionaries

• Figueroa focused on blocking foreign advances

– New assignment for commander San Francisco presidio Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

– Sent to north to scout Fort Ross

– Find site for northern presidio

– Find settlers to consolidate Mexican hold on northern frontier

– Took large land grant south of Russians

• Vallejo formed civilian towns at Petaluma, Santa Rosa

– Promoted cattle ranching

– Increased Mexican presence on northern border

– Helped convince Russians to sell Fort Ross

Secularization of the Missions

• Long anti-cleric tradition in New Spain, Mexico

– 1813 Spain ordered secularization of 10-year-old missions

– Mexican revolution disrupted

• Turmoil after independence slowed implementation

– Critics demanded secularization

– Reformers push for Indian rights in Mexico

– Californios attacked mission cruelty, slavery

• Rancheros just as exploitative

– Expected secularization to release lands, native laborers

– By 1833, missions already underfunded, falling apart

The Gómez Farías Plan

• New revolution in Mexico when José Figueroa arrived

– New elections 1833

– Created coalition between military, liberal democrats

– General Antonio López de Santa Anna headed army faction

– Valentín Gómez Farías led republicans

• Santa Anna elected president

– Took vacation, left vp Farias in charge

– Farias favored secularization, native rights

• August 1833 ordered secularization Baja, Alta California missions

– Clerical authority over Indians dissolved

– Missions converted to churches

– Missionaries replaced by priests

• April 1834 introduced plan to distribute mission land, property

– Divided among neophytes, certain Californios, soldiers, naturalized foreigners

– Opponents eventually defeated Farías plan

• Farías ordered colonization expedition 250 settlers from Mexico City

– Commander friend José María Híjar, new governor of Alta California

– Supposed to replace Figueroa, take up mission lands between San Francisco Bay, Fort Ross

– Second in command friend José María Padrés

– Set off April 1834

– Carried copy of August 1833 secularization plan

Secularization Under Figueroa

• Figueroa opposed immediate secularization

– Feared effects on Natives

– Californios would steal their lands, property

– Californios pressuring for complete secularization

– Fr. Narciso Durán advised delay

– Alta California economy still dependent on missions

• August 9, 1834 Figueroa, diputación drafted own secularization plan

• Plan called for gradual secularization

– 10 of 21 missions would become secular villages

– missionaries in those villages replaced by priests

– 6 of remaining 11 secularized 1835

– Last 5 in 1836

• Figueroa plan distributed land, property

– Mission lands, goods granted to neophyte families

– Each received 33 acres of farm land, rights to common pasture

– Divided half of mission herds among neophyte families,

– Appointees would oversee remainder of lands, livestock

– Governor could order mission Indians to remain, work on undistributed mission lands

– Provision satisfied Californios while preserving hide and tallow trade

• Redistribution underway when Figueroa learned about Híjar-Padrés plan

– Hijar party in San Diego

– Padrés party en route to Monterey

• By then, Santa Anna resumed presidency

– Cancelled Híjar's appointment as governor

– Cancelled Padrés's appointment as military comandante

– Híjar and Padrés went north to Sonoma with colonizing party

– Colonists angry with Figueroa, rumors of revolution

• By May 1835 Figueroa dispersed Sonoma colony

– Vallejo arrested Hijar, Padres, shipped to Mexico City

– Figueroa sick, resigned

• Turned office over to José Castro

• Figueroa plan continued

– Appointed Californio elites to protect Indian rights, oversee distribution

– Leaders included Pío Pico in south, Mariano Vallejo in north

– Spirit of plan ignored

• Missions stripped of goods, equipment

• Allotments to neophytes too small

– Most sold out to Californios

– Local alcaldes made no efforts to protect Indian freedom, property rights

• Local rancheros took best grazing, farmlands

• Indians helped destroy missions too

– Ensured system would never return

– Some refused to stay, work mission lands

– Mission Indians hung around towns, worked for rancheros

– Others moved inland, joined interior tribes

– 1830s-1850s, led raids on Mexican ranchos, towns

• Secularization did not improve Hispanic-Indian relations

– Mexico continued Spain's Indian policies

– Raided interior tribes for mission labor, converts

– Failed to pacify interior tribes

• Continued Indian raiding held down colonization efforts

• Helped Americans take control after 1840

Political Turmoil

• José Castro tenure brief, replaced by Nicolas Gutiérrez

• Acting governors until Mexico could send replacement for Figueroa

• 1836 Colonel Mariano Chico took over

– Lasted 3 months

– Returned to Mexico after local revolution

– sent back to Mexico

• Californios upset with government in Mexico

– 1824 abandoned liberal constitution

• Nicolas Gutiérrez replaced Chico

– Quarreled with diputación and Juan Bautista Alvarado

– Alvarado, José Castro raised army of 75 Californios

– American trapper/businessman Isaac Graham raised another 50

– Marched on Monterey to overthrow Gutiérrez

– Gutiérrez surrendered

– diputación elected Alvarado governor, Mariano Vallejo as comandante general

• Alvarado quarreled with José Castro, his uncle, Carlos Carrillo

– Solution: two governors, one for north, one for south

– 1838 Mexico formally appointed Alvarado, Vallejo

– Regime lasted four years

• Secularization ended under Alvarado

– Rancho economy grew

– Economy depended on hide and tallow

The Hide-and-Tallow Trade• Rancho economy direct result of mission

system• Missions controlled 10 million acres,

thousands cattle, sheep, horses• Developed profitable trade within Spanish

empire, illegal trade with Brits, Americans– Illegal trade grew during Mexican revolution– Mexican officials encouraged for tax

revenues, support of missions

• Mexico opened Monterey, San Diego

– Ordered import duties on foreign goods

– Local officials skipped collection to encourage trade

– Granted land to foreigners, same purpose

• Governor Argüello allowed British, American companies to build warehouses

• Firms linked California with British and American companies

– Supported Boston's shoe manufacturers

– Strengthened California's ties to New England

– By 1830s, British, America ships key to California economy

• 1840 Richard Henry Dana published Two Years Before the Mast

--Crewed 16 months on Pilgrim--Ships filled with trade goods--Business stopped when ships arrived• Convinced foreign merchants Abel Stearns,

Thomas Larkin to open stores--Traded in hides, $2 or $3 each

• hide-and-tallow trade only source of revenues for Mexican govn

--smuggling drained ¼, 1/3 of import duties

--helped create ranchero society

--rancheros had ships, didn't need to diversify economy

Rancho and Pueblo Society

• Popular mythology about rancho culture downplayed negative aspects

• Great rancheros did enjoy benefits, but minority of population

--60-80% of non-Indian population mestizo pobladores

--soldiers, ex-soldiers, colonists

--most lived in pueblos, near presidios

--owned town lots, small homes

--others own small land grants, subsistence agriculture

--small land-owners might also work for wages

--frontier life: hard, few luxuries

• pobladore families small, 3-4 children

--infant mortality rates high

• Women responsible for domestic production

--Some lived, worked at missions

--E.g., Victoria Bartolomea Reid (Tongva)

--Renamed, educated by missionaries

--Went into Los Angeles for shopping, met Scottish merchant Hugo Reid

--1837 Mexico granted Victoria 128 acres for service to church

--One of few Mexican land grants to a California Indian

--Mexican law allowed her to own in her own name, despite marriage

• Elite wives oversaw extensive household staffs

--Participated in cattle drives, branding, slaughters

• Elite families large

• Women married in teens, infant mortality rates high

--William Hartnell and Maria Teresa de la Guerra had 18 children

• Secularization undermined church, assured ranchero dominance

--by 1845, six Catholic priests in Alta California

--By 1840s civilian, military at top of social order

--Included small number of foreign merchants, assimilated foreigners

• Indians at bottom of social scale

--Servants, laborers, vaqueros

• Spain had given small number of land grants

--Rancho Simi, 100,000 acres granted to an uncle of Pío Pico

--Rancho San Pedro, 75,000 acres granted to Juan José Domínguez

• Mexican officials increased ranchero holdings, ranchero class with land grants

--Secured political support

--by 1820, made 20 grants

--by 1830, total of 50

• From 1834 to 1846, Mexico made 700 private land grants of 8 + million acres of land

--Legally limited to 50,000 acres

• Many rancheros owned several grants

• Easy to obtain land grant

--petition governor

--provide diseño

--mark boundaries

--process very casual

• Women owned, operated large ranchos

--Mexico made 60 grants, 335,000 + acres to women

--María Rita Valdez de Villa joint grantee of Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas, 4,449-acres

--Juana Briones de Miranda grantee of Rancho Purísima Concepción, 4,439-acres near San José

• Several widows with large ranchos

--Doña Vicente Sepúlveda managed Rancho Los Palos Verdes 30 years, about 13,000 acres

--María Manuela Valencia de Briones managed Rancho Boca de la Cañada del Pinole in Contra Costa, about 13,000 acres

• Rancheros homes forerunners of California ranch-style house

--One-story, tile-roofed, covered porches, inner courtyard

--Built on hills, protection against Indian attack

--Don Bernardo Yorba home near Los Angeles 30 rooms, 21 for servants, workrooms

• Elite rancheros imported furniture, clothes from New England

• Some lived in town, left relatives employees in charge of ranch

• Patriarchal society

--arranged marriages

--chaperone for daughters

--wives stayed close to home

• little formal education available for elites, none for the poor

--elite sons might be sent to Europe for education

--daughters might be educated at home, usually limited to decorative arts

• boys and girls expert riders

• ranchero lifestyle depended on Indian labor

--Benicia Vallejo had 13 children, each had own Indian servant

--Employed 6-7 Indians in kitchen, 2 just to make tortillas, 5-6 to wash clothes

--Most worked for food, shelter

• Towns grew with hide and tallow trade

--Los Angeles center of southern trade

--Monterey " " north

--San José most important town in San Francisco Bay Area

• 1824 constitution established form of local governments

--ayuntamiento or council

--an alcalde, mayor and judge

--mediated disputes, no court system in place

• townsfolk lived in adobe houses with thatched roofs, dirt floors

• popular entertainments cockfighting, matches between bulls and grizzly bears

• after secularization, Indian districts appeared

--crime common

--crime so bad in LA's Indian district, townsfolk moved it across river

Mariano Guadalupe VallejoHaughty and reserved, but honest and loyal, Colonel Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (of-ten called “General,” as Castro was, for his service as coman-dante general) controlled vast landholdings and the military compound at Sonoma. In Tho-mas O. Larkin’s view he was “the most independent man in California.” While Vallejo was not politically inclined, his sup-port was critical to the am-bitions of Juan B. Alvarado and José Castro. Courtesy of the California History Room, Cali-fornia State Library, Sacra-mento,California.

Hide-and-Tallow Trade Ports of Call

Andrés PicoPío Pico’s brother, Andrés, dressed in the finery of the great ranchero. In the 1850s, Andrés Pico served in the state legis-lature and authored the reso-lution, adopted in 1859, dividing the state at the Tehachapi Mountains. The U.S. Congress, immersed in the slavery con-troversy, did not act on the pro-posal. Seaver Center for West-ern History Research, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

Spanish and Mexican Land Grants

Doña Marcelina’s GrapevineThis Edward Vischer drawing shows rancho life near Santa Barbara, with guitar players, strolling señoritas, and Indian servants—a way of life that lasted well into the 1870s. Ironically, southern California boosters chopped down this grapevine and sent the pieces east to advertise California’s fertile soil. This item is reproduced by permission of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.