December 19, 2024 • 27 mins
In the first episode of this series, we explore the memoirs of Antonio Franco Coronel, a significant figure in Southern California's Mexican past.
Coronel takes us through his reminiscences of the struggles the controversial Híjar-Padrés Colony faced in early California.
He describes the hardships encountered by the colonists, the betrayal by Don Mariano Vallejo's troops, and the political tensions between Mexican leaders over California's future.
Coronel's narrative also offers a different perspective on the controversial secularization of missions and the role of the colonists in California's development.
00:00 Introduction to Antonio Franco Coronel's Memoirs
01:38 Who Was Antonio Coronel?
02:44 Coronel's Early Life and Journey to California
05:01 The Colonization Efforts and Challenges
08:26 The Journey to Monterey and Sonoma
12:21 Struggles and Dissolution of the Colony
18:18 Reflections on the Mission Secularization
20:51 Conclusion and Next Steps
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Damian Bacich (00:00):
In Sonoma, we were sheltered in the Mission
(00:02):
Quadrangle, the rest of whichwas occupied by Don Mariano
Vallejo, military commander, andhis troops.
We got very little support fromthe government for our colony
and had to overcome manydifficulties before even a small
plot of land was undercultivation.
(00:22):
We went along in this way,hoping things would get better
and the government would makegood on its promises.
But When we least expected it,Vallejo's troops surprised us,
took our arms, and arrested thewhole colony, ordering us back
to Monterrey at once Today we'rebeginning a series based on the
(01:10):
memoirs of Antonio FrancoCoronel.
Now Coronel is somebody I quotedin the last series on Father
Jose Maria del Real, the lastFranciscan at Mission Santa
Clara.
Coronel, if you recall,mentioned running into Father
Real in the gold fields in theSan Joaquin River in 1848.
(01:32):
And he had seen Father Realwith, with a bunch of gold.
Now, who was Antonio Coronel?
Coronel was a very importantfigure in, particularly in
Southern California.
He was somebody who spent a lotof time in Los Angeles, was a
(01:53):
booster for maintaining andpreserving the memories of the
California culture.
in Southern California.
He was involved in local andstate politics after the war.
A lot of his, his recollectionswere the inspiration for the
(02:14):
famous novel Ramona by HelenHunt Jackson, which talked about
the Spanish and Mexican periodand was meant to sort of shine a
light.
on the injustices being sufferedby Native Americans in
California.
A lot of his belongings after hepassed away went to the Los
(02:34):
Angeles County Natural HistoryMuseum.
So he, he left a big legacy.
in Southern California.
Just briefly, he was born in1817 in Mexico City and actually
came to California in 1834.
He wasn't born in California.
He came to California in 1834with the Ijar Padres colony,
(02:57):
which you might recall from thememoirs of Carlos Ijar, who also
arrived in California in 1834and also left recollections for
Hubert Howe Bancroft's project.
So he came to California fromMexico in 18 He died in 1894 and
(03:21):
his his name is also on one ofthe historic buildings in the
Los Angeles area where he usedto live.
And his memoirs were translatedinto English.
by Dois Nunes whose version I'mgoing to be reading from.
Nunes was a historian of theSpanish Mexican eras in
(03:45):
California, translator and aprofessor at the University of
Southern California.
So I will be referring to theversion that was translated by
Dois Nunes, and I will probablyalso quote some of the
footnotes, places where Nuneselaborates on certain things or
(04:06):
tries to correct things thatAntonio Coronel says.
So, as always, these are,important documents, these
memoirs, for the history ofCalifornia.
While at the same time, they arenot necessarily rigorously
historical.
They're the, the memories ofsomebody recounting what he
(04:30):
recalls perhaps decades afterthey occurred.
So take that for what they'reworth.
And as always, you know, it'simportant to do your own
research, understand better thecontext and the actual details
of the things that are recorded.
So without further ado, let'sget into these recollections of
(04:53):
Antonio Coronel's tales ofMexican California.
RODECaster Duo Main Stereo (04:59):
And Tonio Franco.
Cornell resident of the propertyknown as Coda, Nils mansion.
About a mile south of the cityof Los Angeles came to
California with his parents.
Don't Ignacio COTA, Nan.
And Donya Francisco Romero.
The Coronet and several brothersand sisters.
And here begins.
(05:20):
narration.
We arrived as part of the HUDand positives colony in 1834.
On the warship Modelos.
Commanded by Don Lucas, man.
So.
Landing in Monterrey.
My worthy father held theposition of head school master
of the colony.
We stayed sometime in Montereyduring the dispute between
(05:42):
general Figueroa.
And Don Jose Medea.
He heard with regard to thecivil command of the territory.
Senior rehab.
Was both civil leader anddirector of the colony.
And senior Jose Maria Perez.
It was both military commander.
And vice director.
(06:02):
But the rest was a native ofPueblo.
And closely associated with myfamily.
Since a child.
I was intimate friends of hissisters.
Brothers and cousins.
His parents.
Who were skilled workers haddied.
And the family lived in greatpoverty.
Address dedicated himself to hiseducation.
(06:24):
First primary school.
Then mathematics.
And other branches of militaryengineering.
All this time.
My parents helped them along asmuch as they could.
As a cadet.
And then as an Ensign in theCorps of engineers, When he had
attained this rank.
(06:45):
Or possibly that of Lieutenant.
He first went to California withLieutenant Colonel.
the governor.
He was with ECI.
for his term of office.
Like his superior.
He was a man of extremeRepublican and liberal ideas.
Which he imparted to the youngmen of the principle families of
(07:07):
the territory.
This arouse the antagonism ofthe old Spanish friars.
Who were monarchists andabsolutists of the old school.
During his stay in California.
But the rest devoted himself.
To the study of the geographyand topography of the country
and its resources.
(07:29):
He was the first to publish inMexico.
The facts about the mineral andagricultural wealth of
California.
And it's climate.
He predicted a brilliant futurefor the territory.
As the most fertile, rich andhelpful.
In the whole Republic.
The arrival of Delmon Welby.
(07:49):
Victoria in 1831 to replace aChan DIA.
Change the situation.
As I said before, But the restis progressive ideas.
And his influence on the youngergeneration where anathema to the
friars.
They promptly dominatedVictoria's policies.
(08:11):
In consequence, but address.
Who had been an assistantinspector of troops?
Was unable to remain in thecountry.
Victoria shipped him back toMexico.
Damian Bacich (08:23):
From that time on, he dedicated himself
exclusively to organizing acolony to immigrate to
California, and warning thecentral government to take
action before it lost, quote,the most precious pearl in
Mexico's crown, as heprophetically feared.
Even before the colony wasorganized, under the auspices of
(08:44):
the Cosmopolitan Company, Padreswas incessantly recruiting
families for California, my ownamong them.
He also tried to get thegovernment to send political
exiles on the theory that itwould be good for the exiles and
good for the country.
In consequence, when thecolonists arrived, there were
(09:05):
several political exiles amongthem.
These were decent people of goodsocial position, who for purely
political reasons had run afoulof the government, and were
punished as severely as thoughthey were criminals.
There were also a few opponentsof the dictator Santana,
escaping political persecution.
(09:27):
Now you remember that AntonioLopez de Santana was the
president of Mexico during theThe whole war over Texas and
the, Mexican American war.
So Santana plays an importantrole in the history of
California as well.
(09:48):
Now returning to Coronel'saccount.
In 1832 or 1833, Don JuanBandini went to Mexico as
California's delegate to theNational Congress.
A progressive, like Padres, alsodetermined to develop, to
develop the territory.
(10:08):
He was a powerful ally for thecolonial dream.
And here Juan Bandini wasactually a Peruvian born
Californio and he spent a lot ofhis time in San Diego.
In fact, the Bandini name is, isis all over Southern California
(10:29):
and especially San Diego.
So back to Coronel.
Together they achieved theirgoal.
It was also helpful that thevice president and acting
executive, Gomez Farias, was astrong liberal and took a lively
interest in the project.
Approved by Congress, theconvent of San Camilo in Mexico
(10:52):
City was appointed for thecolonists to gather.
The interest and enthusiasm wasso great that if the government
had had the money, it could havesent to California more than a
thousand families of moderatesocial status who understood the
advantage of immigrants CommonMexicans in their ignorance
(11:13):
believed California wasimpossibly remote, populated for
the most part by barbarousIndians called Mecos.
Anyone fool enough to go therewas sure to suffer great trials
and fall victim to savages.
When the colonists were ready toset out in covered wagons and
the coaches of well offfamilies, some of the mob tried
(11:36):
to stop them from leaving.
But the wagons were escorted byarmed and mounted colonists, and
the government provided asquadron of cavalry.
We journeyed through therepublic without any more
obstacle than the then lack ofmoney, which delayed us in
Guadalajara and Tepic.
Señor Ijar had to mortgage hishandsome estate near Guadalajara
(11:59):
in order to cover the expensesof the expedition.
From Tepic, we went to San Blas,where we found the Corvette
Morelos, also the Bark Natalia,which belonged to a company of
the colonists.
It was said that the Natalia wasthe selfsame ship in which the
Emperor Napoleon I escaped fromElba in 1815.
(12:24):
Now there's a footnote herewhere the translator says that
the thing about Napoleon was notreally true, but that at that
time, lots of stories,apocryphal stories about things
that Napoleon were supposed tohave said or done were
circulating.
And so this is one of them.
(12:45):
Most of the single men andskilled workers boarded the
Natalia.
Also traveling on it were Ijar,Buenaventura Araujo, Horacio
Serrano, Arguello, and others.
The government employees andtheir families embarked on the
Corvette, including Padres, DonLuis del Castillo Negrete, a
(13:08):
lawyer, Don Zenon Fernandez, andDon Ignacio Coronel and their
families.
The Licenciado Romero, MarianoBonilla, and his two brothers,
Agustin Olvera, Jose Abrego, andothers whose names I don't
remember now.
At sea we endured a terriblestorm.
(13:28):
The tiller was lashed, the sailstaken in and furled, the fire
doused, everyone was kept onrations of ship's biscuit and
cheese for four days.
We almost wrecked at PointConception in the high winds and
were saved by a miracle.
Point Conception is off thecoast of Santa Barbara.
(13:49):
All the passengers were belowdecks except a boy named Vidal
and myself.
We happened to be in the bowslooking at the storm because we
had already picked up a lot ofseamanship.
The second in Lt.
Ascona.
was the watch officer.
Captain Monso, who had nevernavigated the coast before, had
(14:13):
been on deck a short while andtold Ascona to keep good watch
because we were very near land.
Soon after, Monso went to hiscabin.
Vidal pointed out to me a rockjust visible in the thick mists.
I yelled, Land ho! to Ascona,who might have seen the rock at
the same moment I yelled.
(14:34):
He immediately ordered a changeof course, and all hands on
deck.
The sailors turned out, andalmost all the passengers helped
to work the ship, finallyreaching safety after a near
escape, which frightened us allvery much.
Luckily, the ladies didn'trealize the danger at the time,
only believing we were gettingto the end of the voyage.
(14:57):
But after the storm, we werebecalmed for four or five days,
finally reaching the port ofMonterey.
The 24th of September, the Feastof Our Lady of Mercy, if I'm not
mistaken.
Monterey was too small to havelodging houses, but as soon as
news of our arrival got around,the residents decided to parcel
(15:17):
out among their houses thefamilies in the Corvette.
They went right to the beach toreceive us and take us home with
them.
There were a very few emptyrooms in the Presidio where some
families were billeted as well.
We had a friendly and hospitablereception on all sides.
The first news we had was thatGeneral Santana had sent a
(15:41):
special messenger overland withnew orders for General Figueroa,
not to transfer military orcivil powers.
This gave rise to a disputebetween Figueroa and Padres on
the one hand, and with Ijar onthe other.
The upshot of it was that Iharof office, except as directors
(16:04):
of the colony under the commandof General Figueroa.
They were assigned Sonoma as theplace to settle, and Figueroa
offered to carry out theprovisos of the law relating to
colonization.
Almost all the colonists set outfor Sonoma on horseback or in ox
carts.
They crossed San Francisco Bay,by the Strait of Carquines, in a
(16:27):
launch manned by Indians fromMission San Jose, and a small
boat.
In Sonoma, we were sheltered inthe Mission Quadrangle, the rest
of which was occupied by DonMariano Vallejo, military
commander, and his troops.
We got very little support fromthe government for our colony
(16:48):
and had to overcome manydifficulties before even a small
plot of land was undercultivation.
We went along in this way,hoping things would get better
and the government would makegood on its promises.
But When we least expected it,Vallejo's troops surprised us,
(17:08):
took our arms, and arrested thewhole colony, ordering us back
to Monterrey at once.
Later, we found out thatFigueroa had gotten the idea
from Vallejo that we wereconspiring against the
government.
I was a boy of about 16, butsince my father was one of the
(17:31):
principal and most activecolonists, I was aware of all
that went on.
And I am perfectly satisfiedthere was no such conspiracy.
And if it was, it existed onlyin Vallejo's imagination.
The colonists were all too busytrying to clear the small plots
the government had granted them.
(17:53):
In the evenings, Padres andother leaders gathered at my
house to play music, sing, andenjoy themselves.
They talked about the progressof the colony, but there was
never a word of conspiracy, noranything like it.
Or, I would have known about it.
Perhaps the events in SouthernCalifornia, and the part played
(18:16):
by some of the colonists there,caused Figueroa to treat us
badly, as a precaution.
After the order of expulsion,most of the group went to
Monterey, and some stayed at SanJose, Santa Clara, San Juan,
etc.
Everyone obliged to live as besthe could without any help from
(18:40):
the government.
The colony was dissolved, thesettlement was abandoned, and
the leaders banished asdisruptive elements in the
peaceful territory, or so it wassaid.
They were sent off in thefrigate Santa Rosa.
Dr.
Torres, Apelategui, Gonzalez,Romero the lawyer, Nicanor
(19:05):
Estrada the cavalry captain,Araujo, and others.
It has often been said that theCosmopolitan Company had a
private understanding with VicePresident Gomez that when the
colony had taken overCalifornia, the territory would
be independent of Mexico.
(19:25):
This idea, according to what Ihave been able to ascertain,
occurred to Santana because hemistrusted and feared Gómez as a
liberal.
Since the colonists were allliberals too, Santana imagined
Gómez was trying to set up abase of power for ulterior
(19:46):
motives.
The chief opposition to thecolony was Gómez.
was from the customsadministrator, Don Angel
Ramirez.
The posthumous publication ofFigueroa's version of the
dispute as the Manifesto ofGeneral Figueroa, to my
knowledge, contains severalinaccuracies that ought to be
(20:06):
corrected.
The failure of the colony wasdue firstly to the distrust
between Santana and Gomez.
Santana's orders to Figueroawere simply to refrain from
turning the civil governmentover to Ixal, with no provision
for anyone to carry out theinstructions for the
establishment of the colony asprojected.
(20:29):
This occasioned the controversybetween Ixal and Figueroa, but
all disagreements aside, thefact was that the property of
the missions was the only actualwealth in California at that
time, coveted by the greedy.
The communications cited in themanifesto were pure guesswork,
(20:52):
disproven by the end results.
The pretended philanthropytoward the Mission Indians, to
teach them morals, educate them,and assign them the worldly
goods belonging to them, wasexposed by subsequent events, as
all the world is aware.
The missions fell into the handsof administrators, most of them
(21:15):
the same men who formed theterritorial assembly and had
constituted themselves assaviors of the indigenous
peoples and defenders of theirinterests.
And here what Coronel isreferring to is the whole plan
to secularize the missions andthe main reason given by those
(21:37):
who wanted to do it.
was that this was supposed to bean issue of justice for the
native people returning lands tothem that had actually belonged
to them.
And according to Coronel, it wasall actually a ruse.
The result was completeabandonment of the poor
neophytes, encouragement ofvice, and neglect of even the
(22:01):
scraps of religious educationgiven them in the time of the
Padres.
In this way, more than 20, 000workers who would have been
useful in developing the countryand the farms, which at that
time were the only resources,all vanished.
Most of the administrators werepoor when they started, but in
(22:26):
no time they were the owners ofthe most valuable ranches
formerly belonging to themissions.
with great herds of horses andcattle, and the missions were
poor.
Thus, I hope to knock down theCastle of Cards, all unproved
(22:48):
theory erected by GeneralFigueroa and the Territorial
Assembly.
Posterity will judge betweenthem by the end results.
I don't want to justify or exaltthe views and intentions of the
directors of the colony.
But if their intentions werebad, why did they bring
(23:10):
intelligent, educated men withtheir families, when a bunch of
hooligans would have beencheaper and more suited for the
purpose?
The Mexican government, orrather, Santana, broke his
promises, abandoned thecolonists so far away they could
never get home again, where theycould subsist only with the
(23:34):
greatest difficulty.
As an indication of how usefulthe colonists were to the
country, even so, when they werescattered, they held government
jobs, started industries, andtaught at school.
Many prominent Native sons owethem what little knowledge and
(23:54):
education they have.
And here, we'll finish up thispart of Antonio Coronel's
narration.
Next time, we'll go further intohis exploits in Alta,
California.
But you can see one of thethings that he wants to do is
(24:15):
to, is to give a differentversion of some of the events
that had been narrated bypoliticians in Alta California
and in Mexico and sort of whichhad given the Ijar Padres colony
a very bad reputation.
And so he wants to show that thepeople that came in the last
(24:40):
colonizing expedition to AltaCalifornia in 1834 were not, a
group of ne'er do wells whocaused damage in the territory,
but who were actually upstandingpeople who were trying to bring
about, the betterment of theterritory.
And he also calls out what heconsiders to be the hypocrisy of
(25:06):
the people who wanted to bringabout the secularization of the
missions by saying that theywere fighting for the rights of
the native people whereby in hisview they were only fighting to
fill their own pockets.
So, Thank you for this.
(25:27):
I hope you enjoyed it.
We will continue in the new yearwith more interviews and with
more episodes from the earlyhistory of California.
As always, I I wish you the bestand hopefully you will keep also
(25:47):
your own investigations goinginto this really interesting
time period.
In Sonoma, we were sheltered in the Mission
(00:02):
Quadrangle, the rest of whichwas occupied by Don Mariano
Vallejo, military commander, andhis troops.
We got very little support fromthe government for our colony
and had to overcome manydifficulties before even a small
plot of land was undercultivation.
(00:22):
We went along in this way,hoping things would get better
and the government would makegood on its promises.
But When we least expected it,Vallejo's troops surprised us,
took our arms, and arrested thewhole colony, ordering us back
to Monterrey at once Today we'rebeginning a series based on the
(01:10):
memoirs of Antonio FrancoCoronel.
Now Coronel is somebody I quotedin the last series on Father
Jose Maria del Real, the lastFranciscan at Mission Santa
Clara.
Coronel, if you recall,mentioned running into Father
Real in the gold fields in theSan Joaquin River in 1848.
(01:32):
And he had seen Father Realwith, with a bunch of gold.
Now, who was Antonio Coronel?
Coronel was a very importantfigure in, particularly in
Southern California.
He was somebody who spent a lotof time in Los Angeles, was a
(01:53):
booster for maintaining andpreserving the memories of the
California culture.
in Southern California.
He was involved in local andstate politics after the war.
A lot of his, his recollectionswere the inspiration for the
(02:14):
famous novel Ramona by HelenHunt Jackson, which talked about
the Spanish and Mexican periodand was meant to sort of shine a
light.
on the injustices being sufferedby Native Americans in
California.
A lot of his belongings after hepassed away went to the Los
(02:34):
Angeles County Natural HistoryMuseum.
So he, he left a big legacy.
in Southern California.
Just briefly, he was born in1817 in Mexico City and actually
came to California in 1834.
He wasn't born in California.
He came to California in 1834with the Ijar Padres colony,
(02:57):
which you might recall from thememoirs of Carlos Ijar, who also
arrived in California in 1834and also left recollections for
Hubert Howe Bancroft's project.
So he came to California fromMexico in 18 He died in 1894 and
(03:21):
his his name is also on one ofthe historic buildings in the
Los Angeles area where he usedto live.
And his memoirs were translatedinto English.
by Dois Nunes whose version I'mgoing to be reading from.
Nunes was a historian of theSpanish Mexican eras in
(03:45):
California, translator and aprofessor at the University of
Southern California.
So I will be referring to theversion that was translated by
Dois Nunes, and I will probablyalso quote some of the
footnotes, places where Nuneselaborates on certain things or
(04:06):
tries to correct things thatAntonio Coronel says.
So, as always, these are,important documents, these
memoirs, for the history ofCalifornia.
While at the same time, they arenot necessarily rigorously
historical.
They're the, the memories ofsomebody recounting what he
(04:30):
recalls perhaps decades afterthey occurred.
So take that for what they'reworth.
And as always, you know, it'simportant to do your own
research, understand better thecontext and the actual details
of the things that are recorded.
So without further ado, let'sget into these recollections of
(04:53):
Antonio Coronel's tales ofMexican California.
RODECaster Duo Main Stereo (04:59):
And Tonio Franco.
Cornell resident of the propertyknown as Coda, Nils mansion.
About a mile south of the cityof Los Angeles came to
California with his parents.
Don't Ignacio COTA, Nan.
And Donya Francisco Romero.
The Coronet and several brothersand sisters.
And here begins.
(05:20):
narration.
We arrived as part of the HUDand positives colony in 1834.
On the warship Modelos.
Commanded by Don Lucas, man.
So.
Landing in Monterrey.
My worthy father held theposition of head school master
of the colony.
We stayed sometime in Montereyduring the dispute between
(05:42):
general Figueroa.
And Don Jose Medea.
He heard with regard to thecivil command of the territory.
Senior rehab.
Was both civil leader anddirector of the colony.
And senior Jose Maria Perez.
It was both military commander.
And vice director.
(06:02):
But the rest was a native ofPueblo.
And closely associated with myfamily.
Since a child.
I was intimate friends of hissisters.
Brothers and cousins.
His parents.
Who were skilled workers haddied.
And the family lived in greatpoverty.
Address dedicated himself to hiseducation.
(06:24):
First primary school.
Then mathematics.
And other branches of militaryengineering.
All this time.
My parents helped them along asmuch as they could.
As a cadet.
And then as an Ensign in theCorps of engineers, When he had
attained this rank.
(06:45):
Or possibly that of Lieutenant.
He first went to California withLieutenant Colonel.
the governor.
He was with ECI.
for his term of office.
Like his superior.
He was a man of extremeRepublican and liberal ideas.
Which he imparted to the youngmen of the principle families of
(07:07):
the territory.
This arouse the antagonism ofthe old Spanish friars.
Who were monarchists andabsolutists of the old school.
During his stay in California.
But the rest devoted himself.
To the study of the geographyand topography of the country
and its resources.
(07:29):
He was the first to publish inMexico.
The facts about the mineral andagricultural wealth of
California.
And it's climate.
He predicted a brilliant futurefor the territory.
As the most fertile, rich andhelpful.
In the whole Republic.
The arrival of Delmon Welby.
(07:49):
Victoria in 1831 to replace aChan DIA.
Change the situation.
As I said before, But the restis progressive ideas.
And his influence on the youngergeneration where anathema to the
friars.
They promptly dominatedVictoria's policies.
(08:11):
In consequence, but address.
Who had been an assistantinspector of troops?
Was unable to remain in thecountry.
Victoria shipped him back toMexico.
Damian Bacich (08:23):
From that time on, he dedicated himself
exclusively to organizing acolony to immigrate to
California, and warning thecentral government to take
action before it lost, quote,the most precious pearl in
Mexico's crown, as heprophetically feared.
Even before the colony wasorganized, under the auspices of
(08:44):
the Cosmopolitan Company, Padreswas incessantly recruiting
families for California, my ownamong them.
He also tried to get thegovernment to send political
exiles on the theory that itwould be good for the exiles and
good for the country.
In consequence, when thecolonists arrived, there were
(09:05):
several political exiles amongthem.
These were decent people of goodsocial position, who for purely
political reasons had run afoulof the government, and were
punished as severely as thoughthey were criminals.
There were also a few opponentsof the dictator Santana,
escaping political persecution.
(09:27):
Now you remember that AntonioLopez de Santana was the
president of Mexico during theThe whole war over Texas and
the, Mexican American war.
So Santana plays an importantrole in the history of
California as well.
(09:48):
Now returning to Coronel'saccount.
In 1832 or 1833, Don JuanBandini went to Mexico as
California's delegate to theNational Congress.
A progressive, like Padres, alsodetermined to develop, to
develop the territory.
(10:08):
He was a powerful ally for thecolonial dream.
And here Juan Bandini wasactually a Peruvian born
Californio and he spent a lot ofhis time in San Diego.
In fact, the Bandini name is, isis all over Southern California
(10:29):
and especially San Diego.
So back to Coronel.
Together they achieved theirgoal.
It was also helpful that thevice president and acting
executive, Gomez Farias, was astrong liberal and took a lively
interest in the project.
Approved by Congress, theconvent of San Camilo in Mexico
(10:52):
City was appointed for thecolonists to gather.
The interest and enthusiasm wasso great that if the government
had had the money, it could havesent to California more than a
thousand families of moderatesocial status who understood the
advantage of immigrants CommonMexicans in their ignorance
(11:13):
believed California wasimpossibly remote, populated for
the most part by barbarousIndians called Mecos.
Anyone fool enough to go therewas sure to suffer great trials
and fall victim to savages.
When the colonists were ready toset out in covered wagons and
the coaches of well offfamilies, some of the mob tried
(11:36):
to stop them from leaving.
But the wagons were escorted byarmed and mounted colonists, and
the government provided asquadron of cavalry.
We journeyed through therepublic without any more
obstacle than the then lack ofmoney, which delayed us in
Guadalajara and Tepic.
Señor Ijar had to mortgage hishandsome estate near Guadalajara
(11:59):
in order to cover the expensesof the expedition.
From Tepic, we went to San Blas,where we found the Corvette
Morelos, also the Bark Natalia,which belonged to a company of
the colonists.
It was said that the Natalia wasthe selfsame ship in which the
Emperor Napoleon I escaped fromElba in 1815.
(12:24):
Now there's a footnote herewhere the translator says that
the thing about Napoleon was notreally true, but that at that
time, lots of stories,apocryphal stories about things
that Napoleon were supposed tohave said or done were
circulating.
And so this is one of them.
(12:45):
Most of the single men andskilled workers boarded the
Natalia.
Also traveling on it were Ijar,Buenaventura Araujo, Horacio
Serrano, Arguello, and others.
The government employees andtheir families embarked on the
Corvette, including Padres, DonLuis del Castillo Negrete, a
(13:08):
lawyer, Don Zenon Fernandez, andDon Ignacio Coronel and their
families.
The Licenciado Romero, MarianoBonilla, and his two brothers,
Agustin Olvera, Jose Abrego, andothers whose names I don't
remember now.
At sea we endured a terriblestorm.
(13:28):
The tiller was lashed, the sailstaken in and furled, the fire
doused, everyone was kept onrations of ship's biscuit and
cheese for four days.
We almost wrecked at PointConception in the high winds and
were saved by a miracle.
Point Conception is off thecoast of Santa Barbara.
(13:49):
All the passengers were belowdecks except a boy named Vidal
and myself.
We happened to be in the bowslooking at the storm because we
had already picked up a lot ofseamanship.
The second in Lt.
Ascona.
was the watch officer.
Captain Monso, who had nevernavigated the coast before, had
(14:13):
been on deck a short while andtold Ascona to keep good watch
because we were very near land.
Soon after, Monso went to hiscabin.
Vidal pointed out to me a rockjust visible in the thick mists.
I yelled, Land ho! to Ascona,who might have seen the rock at
the same moment I yelled.
(14:34):
He immediately ordered a changeof course, and all hands on
deck.
The sailors turned out, andalmost all the passengers helped
to work the ship, finallyreaching safety after a near
escape, which frightened us allvery much.
Luckily, the ladies didn'trealize the danger at the time,
only believing we were gettingto the end of the voyage.
(14:57):
But after the storm, we werebecalmed for four or five days,
finally reaching the port ofMonterey.
The 24th of September, the Feastof Our Lady of Mercy, if I'm not
mistaken.
Monterey was too small to havelodging houses, but as soon as
news of our arrival got around,the residents decided to parcel
(15:17):
out among their houses thefamilies in the Corvette.
They went right to the beach toreceive us and take us home with
them.
There were a very few emptyrooms in the Presidio where some
families were billeted as well.
We had a friendly and hospitablereception on all sides.
The first news we had was thatGeneral Santana had sent a
(15:41):
special messenger overland withnew orders for General Figueroa,
not to transfer military orcivil powers.
This gave rise to a disputebetween Figueroa and Padres on
the one hand, and with Ijar onthe other.
The upshot of it was that Iharof office, except as directors
(16:04):
of the colony under the commandof General Figueroa.
They were assigned Sonoma as theplace to settle, and Figueroa
offered to carry out theprovisos of the law relating to
colonization.
Almost all the colonists set outfor Sonoma on horseback or in ox
carts.
They crossed San Francisco Bay,by the Strait of Carquines, in a
(16:27):
launch manned by Indians fromMission San Jose, and a small
boat.
In Sonoma, we were sheltered inthe Mission Quadrangle, the rest
of which was occupied by DonMariano Vallejo, military
commander, and his troops.
We got very little support fromthe government for our colony
(16:48):
and had to overcome manydifficulties before even a small
plot of land was undercultivation.
We went along in this way,hoping things would get better
and the government would makegood on its promises.
But When we least expected it,Vallejo's troops surprised us,
(17:08):
took our arms, and arrested thewhole colony, ordering us back
to Monterrey at once.
Later, we found out thatFigueroa had gotten the idea
from Vallejo that we wereconspiring against the
government.
I was a boy of about 16, butsince my father was one of the
(17:31):
principal and most activecolonists, I was aware of all
that went on.
And I am perfectly satisfiedthere was no such conspiracy.
And if it was, it existed onlyin Vallejo's imagination.
The colonists were all too busytrying to clear the small plots
the government had granted them.
(17:53):
In the evenings, Padres andother leaders gathered at my
house to play music, sing, andenjoy themselves.
They talked about the progressof the colony, but there was
never a word of conspiracy, noranything like it.
Or, I would have known about it.
Perhaps the events in SouthernCalifornia, and the part played
(18:16):
by some of the colonists there,caused Figueroa to treat us
badly, as a precaution.
After the order of expulsion,most of the group went to
Monterey, and some stayed at SanJose, Santa Clara, San Juan,
etc.
Everyone obliged to live as besthe could without any help from
(18:40):
the government.
The colony was dissolved, thesettlement was abandoned, and
the leaders banished asdisruptive elements in the
peaceful territory, or so it wassaid.
They were sent off in thefrigate Santa Rosa.
Dr.
Torres, Apelategui, Gonzalez,Romero the lawyer, Nicanor
(19:05):
Estrada the cavalry captain,Araujo, and others.
It has often been said that theCosmopolitan Company had a
private understanding with VicePresident Gomez that when the
colony had taken overCalifornia, the territory would
be independent of Mexico.
(19:25):
This idea, according to what Ihave been able to ascertain,
occurred to Santana because hemistrusted and feared Gómez as a
liberal.
Since the colonists were allliberals too, Santana imagined
Gómez was trying to set up abase of power for ulterior
(19:46):
motives.
The chief opposition to thecolony was Gómez.
was from the customsadministrator, Don Angel
Ramirez.
The posthumous publication ofFigueroa's version of the
dispute as the Manifesto ofGeneral Figueroa, to my
knowledge, contains severalinaccuracies that ought to be
(20:06):
corrected.
The failure of the colony wasdue firstly to the distrust
between Santana and Gomez.
Santana's orders to Figueroawere simply to refrain from
turning the civil governmentover to Ixal, with no provision
for anyone to carry out theinstructions for the
establishment of the colony asprojected.
(20:29):
This occasioned the controversybetween Ixal and Figueroa, but
all disagreements aside, thefact was that the property of
the missions was the only actualwealth in California at that
time, coveted by the greedy.
The communications cited in themanifesto were pure guesswork,
(20:52):
disproven by the end results.
The pretended philanthropytoward the Mission Indians, to
teach them morals, educate them,and assign them the worldly
goods belonging to them, wasexposed by subsequent events, as
all the world is aware.
The missions fell into the handsof administrators, most of them
(21:15):
the same men who formed theterritorial assembly and had
constituted themselves assaviors of the indigenous
peoples and defenders of theirinterests.
And here what Coronel isreferring to is the whole plan
to secularize the missions andthe main reason given by those
(21:37):
who wanted to do it.
was that this was supposed to bean issue of justice for the
native people returning lands tothem that had actually belonged
to them.
And according to Coronel, it wasall actually a ruse.
The result was completeabandonment of the poor
neophytes, encouragement ofvice, and neglect of even the
(22:01):
scraps of religious educationgiven them in the time of the
Padres.
In this way, more than 20, 000workers who would have been
useful in developing the countryand the farms, which at that
time were the only resources,all vanished.
Most of the administrators werepoor when they started, but in
(22:26):
no time they were the owners ofthe most valuable ranches
formerly belonging to themissions.
with great herds of horses andcattle, and the missions were
poor.
Thus, I hope to knock down theCastle of Cards, all unproved
(22:48):
theory erected by GeneralFigueroa and the Territorial
Assembly.
Posterity will judge betweenthem by the end results.
I don't want to justify or exaltthe views and intentions of the
directors of the colony.
But if their intentions werebad, why did they bring
(23:10):
intelligent, educated men withtheir families, when a bunch of
hooligans would have beencheaper and more suited for the
purpose?
The Mexican government, orrather, Santana, broke his
promises, abandoned thecolonists so far away they could
never get home again, where theycould subsist only with the
(23:34):
greatest difficulty.
As an indication of how usefulthe colonists were to the
country, even so, when they werescattered, they held government
jobs, started industries, andtaught at school.
Many prominent Native sons owethem what little knowledge and
(23:54):
education they have.
And here, we'll finish up thispart of Antonio Coronel's
narration.
Next time, we'll go further intohis exploits in Alta,
California.
But you can see one of thethings that he wants to do is
(24:15):
to, is to give a differentversion of some of the events
that had been narrated bypoliticians in Alta California
and in Mexico and sort of whichhad given the Ijar Padres colony
a very bad reputation.
And so he wants to show that thepeople that came in the last
(24:40):
colonizing expedition to AltaCalifornia in 1834 were not, a
group of ne'er do wells whocaused damage in the territory,
but who were actually upstandingpeople who were trying to bring
about, the betterment of theterritory.
And he also calls out what heconsiders to be the hypocrisy of
(25:06):
the people who wanted to bringabout the secularization of the
missions by saying that theywere fighting for the rights of
the native people whereby in hisview they were only fighting to
fill their own pockets.
So, Thank you for this.
(25:27):
I hope you enjoyed it.
We will continue in the new yearwith more interviews and with
more episodes from the earlyhistory of California.
As always, I I wish you the bestand hopefully you will keep also
(25:47):
your own investigations goinginto this really interesting
time period.
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