Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition CHAPTER EIGHT: MEXICAN CALIFORNIA, 1821-1848

1
Elusive Eden A New History of California, fourth
edition CHAPTER EIGHT MEXICAN CALIFORNIA,
1821-1848
2

• 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

3

• Battle for control of new government between
  royalists, democrats
• First govn headed by royalist Emperor Agustín
  Iturbide
• Ousted 1822
• Sick of kings

4

• 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

5

• 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

6

• Alta California now Mexican territory governed by
  Mexican Congress
• Same as U.S. system
• Administration lax, underfunded
• Possibilities for advancement led to rivalries

7

• 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

8

• 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

9

• 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

10

• 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

11

• 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

12

• 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

13

• 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

14

• 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

15

• 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

16

• 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

17

• 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

18

• 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

19

• 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

20

• 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

21

• Vallejo formed civilian towns at Petaluma, Santa
  Rosa
• Promoted cattle ranching
• Increased Mexican presence on northern border
• Helped convince Russians to sell Fort Ross

22

• Secularization of the Missions
• Long anti-cleric tradition in New Spain, Mexico
• 1813 Spain ordered secularization of 10-year-old
  missions
• Mexican revolution disrupted

23

• Turmoil after independence slowed implementation
• Critics demanded secularization
• Reformers push for Indian rights in Mexico
• Californios attacked mission cruelty, slavery

24

• Rancheros just as exploitative
• Expected secularization to release lands, native
  laborers
• By 1833, missions already underfunded, falling
  apart

25

• 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

26

• 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

27

• April 1834 introduced plan to distribute mission
  land, property
• Divided among neophytes, certain Californios,
  soldiers, naturalized foreigners
• Opponents eventually defeated Farías plan

28

• 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

29

• Second in command friend José María Padrés
• Set off April 1834
• Carried copy of August 1833 secularization plan

30

• Secularization Under Figueroa
• Figueroa opposed immediate secularization
• Feared effects on Natives
• Californios would steal their lands, property
• Californios pressuring for complete secularization

31

• 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

32

• 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

33

• 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

34

• 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

35

• 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

36

• 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

37

• 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

38

• 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

39

• 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

40

• 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

41

• 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

42

• 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

43

• 1838 Mexico formally appointed Alvarado, Vallejo
• Regime lasted four years
• Secularization ended under Alvarado
• Rancho economy grew
• Economy depended on hide and tallow

44

• 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

45

• 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

46

• 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

47

• 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

48

• 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

49

• 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

50

• --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

51

• 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

52

• --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

53

• 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

54

• --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

55

• 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

56

• Many rancheros owned several grants
• Easy to obtain land grant
• --petition governor
• --provide diseño
• --mark boundaries
• --process very casual

57

• 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

58

• 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

59

• 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

60

• 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

61

• 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

62

• 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

63

• 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

64

• --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

65

• after secularization, Indian districts appeared
• --crime common
• --crime so bad in LA's Indian district, townsfolk
  moved it across river

66
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Haughty 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. Larkins 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.
67
Hide-and-Tallow Trade Ports of Call
68
Andrés Pico Pío Picos 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.
69
Spanish and Mexican Land Grants
70
Doña Marcelinas Grapevine This Edward Vischer
drawing shows rancho life near Santa Barbara,
with guitar players, strolling señoritas, and
Indian servantsa way of life that lasted well
into the 1870s. Ironically, southern California
boosters chopped down this grapevine and sent the
pieces east to advertise Californias fertile
soil. This item is reproduced by permission of
The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.