INTERIOR OF THE QUADRANGLE AT SAN CARLOS MISSION.“Here the daily life of the mission was carried on.”
INTERIOR OF THE QUADRANGLE AT SAN CARLOS MISSION.
“Here the daily life of the mission was carried on.”
St. Anthony of Padua, the patron of this place, was a Portuguese by birth, who entered the Franciscan Order. He went as a missionary to theMoors, but was compelled by illness to return to Europe, where he had great success in Italy and France as a preacher. Among many miracles accredited to him is the one thus related: “When preaching at the funeral of a very rich man, St. Anthony denounced his love of money, and exclaimed, ‘His heart is buried in his treasure chest; go seek it there and you will find it.’ The friends of the man broke open the chest, and to their surprise, found the heart; they then examined his body and found that his heart was indeed wanting.”—(Stories of the Saints.)
La Punta de los Cipreses(Point Cypress), is the home of those wonderful trees, twisted and gnarled into a thousand fantastic shapes by their age-long struggle against the ocean winds, which furnish yet another proof of the part played by California in the preservation of the rare and the unique, for this species of coniferous tree is said to be confined to that region, not occurring in any other part of the world.
The following interesting paragraph on these trees is quoted fromThe Trees of California, by Willis Linn Jepsen, Asst. Professor of Dendrology in the University of California: “Cupressus Macrocarpais limited to two localities on the ocean shore at the mouth of the Carmel river near Monterey. The Cypress Point grove extends along the cliffs and low bluffs from Pescadero Point to Cypress Point, a distance of two miles, reaching inland about one-eighth of a mile. The Point Lobos grove is much smaller. The trees are scattered over the summits of two headlands, and cling to the edges of the cliffs, where on account of the erosive action of the ocean, they are occasionally under-mined and fall into the sea. Monterey Cypress is most interesting for its remarkably restricted natural range and the exceedingly picturesque outlines characteristic of the trees growing on the ocean shore. As a result of their struggle with violent storms from the Pacific Ocean which break on the unprotected cliffs and headlands of Cypress Point and Point Lobos, they present a variety and singularity of form which is obviously connected with their exposed habitat, and lends a never-failing interest to thesetwo narrow localities. Of the highly picturesque trees, the most common type is that with long irregular arms. Such trees recall most strikingly the classical pictures of the Cedars of Lebanon. Monterey Cypress is of course a genuine cypress and Lebanon Cedar a genuine cedar; the two do not even belong to the same family of conifers. Yet the popular story that the two are the same makes so strong an appeal to the imagination of the tourist at Monterey that the guides and promoters in the region will doubtless never cease to disseminate it. As a consequence the error goes into the daily press and the magazines, and is evidently destined to flourish in perennial greenness under the guise of fact. The wide dissemination of this fiction is all the more remarkable in that in the case of all other unique features of the state, such as the Sequoias and the Yosemite, our Californians have evinced a remarkable pride in their possession, without thought of inventing a duplication of them elsewhere.... The matter of the age of these trees has been much exaggerated. It is a tree of rapid growth, and the older specimens are probably not more than 200 or 300 years old.”
The above paragraph, quoted from a writer acknowledged to be one of the best authorities on the trees of California, is given here in full, in the hope of correcting these two common errors concerning the Monterey Cypress,—the one that it is identical with the Cedar of Lebanon, the other, an exaggerated notion of the great age of some of the trees. As Professor Jepsen justly remarks, the truth in this case is a greater matter for pride than the fiction.
La Punta de Pinos(the point of pines), is situated a few miles from Monterey, just beyond Pacific Grove. It is one of the most picturesque points on the coast, and is the location of one of the government light-houses.
ON THE SHORE NEAR LA PUNTA DE LOS CIPRESES.“The home of those wonderful trees, twisted into a thousand fantastic shapes by their age long struggle with the ocean winds.”
ON THE SHORE NEAR LA PUNTA DE LOS CIPRESES.
“The home of those wonderful trees, twisted into a thousand fantastic shapes by their age long struggle with the ocean winds.”
When the Portolá expedition of 1769 arrived at the Salinas River, they made the first of the series of errors which caused them to pass by thebay of Monterey without recognizing it, for they mistook this stream for the Carmel. TheSalinas(salt marshes), so-called for the chain of salt-water ponds lying along its course, was known by various names before a permanent one became attached to it, appearing at different times asEl Río Elzeario,Santa Delfina, andEl Río de Monterey.
The town of Salinas is the county-seat of Monterey County and is situated about eighteen miles east of Monterey, in the heart of an important agricultural, dairying, and sugar-beet district.
Soledad(solitude), in Monterey County, 143 miles southeast of San Francisco, is described as “a very dry plain, with few trees, swept by fierce winds and dust storms in summer.” No wonder they called itSoledad,—Lonesometown!
Yet those same dry plains proved to be of sufficient fertility to warrant the establishment, in 1791, of the mission ofNuestra Señora de la Soledad, freely translated as “Our Lady of Sorrows,”which became the center of a large and prosperous Indian community. The buildings of the mission have now fallen into almost complete decay.
Pájaro(bird), a town in Monterey County, on the Pájaro River, which rises on the slope of the Coast Range, and flows westerly, falling into Monterey Bay, derives its name from a circumstance told in the diary of the faithful Father Crespi: “We saw in this place a bird, which theGentiles(unbaptized Indians), had killed and stuffed with straw, and which appeared to some [of the party] to be a royal eagle; it was measured from tip to tip of the wings, and was found to measure eleven palms (nine feet and three inches), for which reason the soldiers called the placeEl Río del Pájaro.” The scream of the eagle may still be heard in the more remote parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the great birds are occasionally seen circling far over-head, or perched in the tops of the tallest trees.
Santa Cruz(holy cross), the well-known seaside resort lying at the northern hook of the great curve that forms Monterey Bay, was named by the Portolá expedition, as thus described by Father Crespi: “We camped on the north side of the river [San Lorenzo], and we had a great deal of work to cut down trees to open a little passage for our beasts.... Not far from the river we saw a fertile spot where the grass was not burnt, and it was a pleasure to see the pasture and the variety of herbs and rose-bushes of Castile.” The next day they moved on again, and the diary continues: “After proceeding about five hundred steps, we passed a large stream of running water, which has its source among some high hills and passes through some great table-lands of good soil, that may easily be irrigated by the waters of the said creek. This creek was namedSanta Cruz.”
A mission was established at this place by Padres Salazar and López, September 25, 1791, but the buildings finally fell into a ruinous condition,and were removed to give place to the modern church which now stands upon the original site.
San Juan Bautista(St. John the Baptist), has suffered mutilation by the dropping of its last part, and usually appears asSan Juan. San Juan is a small town in San Benito County, in a fertile valley on the San Benito River, forty-four miles southeast of San José. At this place the mission of San Juan Bautista was founded, June 24, 1797. Although this mission passed through some strenuous experiences, and was twice attacked by the Indians, and somewhat damaged by repeated earthquakes in 1800, it is still moderately well preserved.
MISSION OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, FOUNDED IN 1797.“Although twice attacked by Indians and damaged by earthquakes in 1800, it is still moderately well preserved.”
MISSION OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, FOUNDED IN 1797.
“Although twice attacked by Indians and damaged by earthquakes in 1800, it is still moderately well preserved.”
Agua Amargosa(bitter water), a place in San Benito County now known by its English translation, “Bitter Water,” and so-called from mineral springs.
Año Neuvo(new year), is the name of a prominent cape running out from the shore of Santa Cruz County, where one of the coast light-houses is situated. It received its name from the day of its discovery.
Arroyo Seco(dry creek). The Arroyo Seco, rising in the Santa Lucía Range and flowing northeasterly into the Salinas River, is probably the most remarkable example of terrace formation to be found among the streams of the state.
There are other Arroyo Secos in the state, one near Los Ángeles which is very striking in its color effects.
Blanco(white), is a town in Monterey County which may have received its name from Thomas B. Blanco, a pioneer and grantee of land in that county.
Cañada Segunda(second valley).
Cerro del Venado(hill of the deer).
Chualaris a village in Monterey County, in the Salinas valley, 128 miles southeast of San Francisco. Thechualis a wild plant of California,—pig-weed or goose-foot, andchualaris a spot abounding in chual plants.
Corral(yard, enclosed place). On October 11,1769, the Portolá party stopped at a place about a league from the Pájaro River, where they constructed a fence between a lake and a low hill, in order to keep the animals secure at night without the need of many watchmen. Palou, in hisLife of Serra, says: “The first expedition called this place theCorral, on account of having built there, with some sticks nailed together, a pasture in the manner of a yard, in order to keep the animals safe at night. This was of great assistance, for there were so many sick that there were not enough [people] to guard the animals.” In different parts of the state there were manyCorralsandCorralitos(little yards). Sometimes the enclosing fence was made of stones, when more convenient, and the enclosure was then calledCorral de Piedra(stone corral); sometimes a barricade of earth was thrown up, and it was then calledCorral de Tierra(earth corral).Corral de Tierrais the name of a well-known ranch near Monterey. In the days of old, many a joyousmerienda(picnic) and barbecue was held at the Corral de Tierra Rancho.Corralitos(little corrals), is in Santa Cruz County, fourteen miles east of Santa Cruz.
Gabilán, also spelledGavilán(hawk), is the name of the long mountain ridge, a branch of the Coast Range, which extends through the counties of San Matéo and Santa Cruz.
Gonzales(a surname). This place is in Monterey County, in the Salinas valley, seventeen miles southeast of Salinas.
Gorda(fat, thick).
Las Grullas(the cranes). In the diaries of the Portolá expedition, date of October 7, 1769, we read: “We pitched our camp between some low hills near a pond, where we saw a great number of cranes, the first we had seen on this journey.” This was about four leagues from the Pájaro River.
Jolón, a word of doubtful origin, which has been variously explained. It is thought by some persons to be a corruption of Jalón, a proper name, but old Spanish residents say it is an Indian word, meaning “valley of dead oaks.”
Llanada(a plain, level ground). This place is in San Benito County.
Laureles(laurels).Los Laurelesis the name of a ranch near Monterey. The wild laurel is a shrub common to many parts of the state.
Lobos(wolves), generally used on this coast in the sense oflobo marino, (sea-wolf, or seal). There is aPunta de Lobos(seal point), near Monterey which is noted for the bold grandeur of its ocean scenery, as well as for its seals.
Loma Prieta(dark hill), is the name of a peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Moro Cojo(literally “lame Moor”), is the name of a well-known ranch in Monterey County. The Spaniards were in the habit of usingmoroto mean anything black, and in this case, according to old residents, the ranch was named for a lame black horse that ran wild there.
Natividad(nativity of Christ), is the name of a town in Monterey County, about one hundred miles southeast of San Francisco.
Paicinesis in San Benito County. This is a word of doubtful origin, and many theories have been advanced to account for it. The most probable is that given by an Indian woman, a resident of the place, who says it was the name of an Indian tribe. The word is also sometimes spelledPajines. SeeTres Pinos, page 98.
Panochais in San Benito County. This is aword applied to crude sugar, or syrup, somewhat resembling sorghum. Probably modern.
Paraíso Springs(paradise springs), is a health resort in Monterey County.
Pleito(quarrel, argument, lawsuit). This place is in Monterey County. It has not been possible to ascertain the application of its name.
Potrero(pasture). There were manypotrerosscattered about the state.
Puentes(bridges). This place, two leagues from the San Lorenzo River, was reached by the Portolá, party October 18, 1769, and the reason for its naming is explained by Miguel Costansó: “These canyons contained running water in very deep ditches, over which it was necessary to lay bridges of logs, covered with earth and bundles of sticks, so that the pack animals could cross. The place was calledLas Puentes.”
San Benito(St. Benedict), was named in honor of the founder of the great order of Benedictines. San Benito Creek was named in 1772 by Father Crespi, and the name was eventually applied to the county. The town of San Benito is on the Salinas River, sixty miles southeast of Monterey. It is said of St. Benedict that he became a hermitat the age of fifteen and fled to the wilderness, where he lived on bread and water. While there he was tempted by the remembrance of a beautiful woman he had seen in Rome, and to overcome his wish to see her again “he flung himself into a thicket of briers and thorns, and rolled himself therein until he was torn and bleeding. At the monastery of Subiaco they show roses, said to have been propagated from these briers.”
San Lucas(St. Luke), is in Monterey County, sixty miles southeast of Salinas. St. Luke was the disciple of Paul, who speaks of him as “Luke, the beloved physician,” but tradition reports him to have been an artist, and that he always carried with him two portraits, one of the Saviour and the other of Mary. Doubtless for this reason he is regarded as the patron of artists and academies of art.
Sur(south). Point Sur (south point), on the coast south of Monterey, is a bold promontory where a light-house was placed by the government, in consequence of the frequent occurrence of shipwrecks there. The Sur River runs through a region remarkable for the wild picturesqueness of its scenery, and for the strangetales told of happenings among its early inhabitants.
Toro(bull), is the name of a ranch near Monterey, said to have been so-called after a wild bull.
Tres Pinos(three pines), a place in San Benito County, one hundred miles southeast of San Francisco. Postmaster Black, of Tres Pinos, gives us the following history of the naming of this place: “The name was originally applied to what is now known asPaicines, but when the railroad came to this place they appropriated the name of Tres Pinos, hence it has no significance as applied to this town. The name was given the stopping-place now known as Paicines because of three pines alleged to have grown on the banks of the Tres Pinos creek near that place. Paicines, then Tres Pinos, was the scene of the Vásquez raid and murders in the early ’70’s.”
Uvas(grapes), the name of a town and creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, no doubt so-called from the abundance of wild grapes found in that locality.
THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY
Santa Clara.When the Spaniards passed through this valley, they were not slow to recognize in it one of those favored spots on the earth’s surface where climate and soil unite to produce the highest results. So here they founded two missions, one at Santa Clara, and one at San José.
Santa Clara(St. Clara), stands in one of the most fertile valleys in California, which is equivalent to saying in the whole world, and is about forty-six miles south-southeast of San Francisco. The mission was founded by Padres Peña and Murguia, January 12, 1777. The buildings now standing are mainly modern, but a small portion of the original structure being incorporated in them. The ceiling over the sanctuary is original, and a small part of the adobe buildings.
Clara de Asís, the sweet saint for whom this mission was named, was the daughter of a nobleman. Her beauty and wealth brought her many offers of marriage, all of which she refused,preferring to devote herself to a religious life. She became the founder of the order of Franciscan nuns, known as the “Poor Clares,” to which many noble ladies attached themselves. The rules of the order were so strict that St. Clara’s health finally became under-mined, and she died in an ecstatic trance, believing herself called to Heaven by angelic voices. Her special symbol is the lily, peculiarly appropriate for the patroness of the ever-blooming Santa Clara Valley.
San José(St. Joseph), enjoys the distinction of having been the first white colony planted in the state by the Spaniards, although when we read the complaints of the padres concerning the highly undesirable character of its first settlers, recruited mainly from the criminal classes of Sonora, the distinction would seem to be of rather a doubtful sort.
MISSION OF SANTA CLARA, FOUNDED IN 1777.“The special symbol of the sweet St. Clara is the lily, peculiarly appropriate for the ever-blooming Santa Clara Valley.”
MISSION OF SANTA CLARA, FOUNDED IN 1777.
“The special symbol of the sweet St. Clara is the lily, peculiarly appropriate for the ever-blooming Santa Clara Valley.”
Spurred on by the old bogie of their fear of foreign invasion, the Spanish government decided to establish colonies of white settlers, believingthat their hold upon the country would be rendered more secure by this means. The pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, founded November 29, 1777, by Lieutenant José Moraga, then in command at San Francisco, under orders from Governor Neve, was originally located on a site about a mile and a quarter distant from the present city, but was removed in 1797, in consequence of the discovery that the low-lying ground of its first location was often submerged during the winter rains. The people of the pueblo were compelled to travel a distance of three miles to attend mass at the Santa Clara Mission, and in order to make this journey more agreeable, Father Maguín de Catala laid out thealamedabetween the two places, planting a fine avenue of willow trees which once comforted the wayfarer with their grateful shade. The original trees have now practically all disappeared and others have taken their places in part. The old alameda has vanished.
Not until 1797 was the mission of San José founded, on a spot some fourteen miles distant from the pueblo. The padres had no keen desire to place the missions in close proximity to the pueblos, fearing the evil influence on the Indiansof a bad class of white men, besides other inevitable complications, such as the mixing up of cattle. Father Engelhardt, in hisHistory of the California Missions, tells the story of the founding of the Mission San José thus: “Here, on Trinity Sunday, June 11, 1797, Father Lasuén raised and blessed the cross. In a shelter of boughs he celebrated Holy Mass, and thus dedicated the mission in honor of the foster-father of Christ, St. Joseph.”
The old church was unfortunately so shattered by an earthquake in 1868 that it was torn down and replaced by a wooden edifice.
It should be made clear that two missions were established here, Santa Clara and San José, and that the latter was not at San José, as some maps represent it, but some fourteen miles distant from the town.
Palo Alto(high stick, or tree), in Santa Clara County, sixteen miles northwest of San José, once a stock farm where blooded horses were raised, now best known as the site of the Leland Stanford Junior University, is said to have received itsname from a tall redwood tree on theSan Francisquito(little St. Francis) creek. This tree stands just a few feet from the railroad bridge near Palo Alto station, and is said by old residents to have originally been in the form of a twin tree, one of the twins having been cut down. The trees of this species received the namePalo Colorado(red stick, or tree), from the Portolá party, whose attention was attracted by their uncommon size and the peculiar reddish color of the wood, and the honor of their discovery may justly be awarded to Gaspar de Portolá, since he seems to have been the first white man to make report of having seen them.
This place was named by the Anza expedition of 1775-1776, and it seems rather strange that no mention is made in the diaries of the fact that the tree was a twin. Father Pedro Font, who accompanied the expedition, says: “From a slight eminence I here observed the lay of the port from this point and saw that its extremity lay to the east-southeast. I also noticed that a very high spruce tree, which is to be seen at a great distance, rising up like a great tower, from theLlano de los Robles,—it stands on the banks of theArroyo de San Francisco, later on I measured its height—lay to the southeast.” Further on in the diary he says: “Beside this stream is the redwood tree I spoke of yesterday: I measured its height with the graphometer which they lent me at the mission of San Carlos, and, according to my reckoning, found it to be some fifty yards high, more or less; the trunk was five yards and a half in circumference at the base, and the soldiers said that there were still larger ones in the mountains.”—(Translation edited by Frederick J. Teggart.) This description of Father Font’s gives rise to a strong suspicion that the tree now so highly venerated is not the original Palo Alto from which the place takes its name. The name was first applied to a land grant.
THE PALO COLORADO (REDWOOD TREE).“First observed and named by Gaspar de Portolá.”
THE PALO COLORADO (REDWOOD TREE).
“First observed and named by Gaspar de Portolá.”
La Salud(health). In the name of this place, not far from the San Lorenzo River, reached by the Portolá party on October 22, there is a reference to one of the heaviest of the afflictions from which the Spaniards suffered during their journeyup the state,—serious sickness and many deaths from scurvy. To their great surprise, after a wetting received during a heavy storm at this place, all the sick began to recover. Costansó, in his diary, date of October 22, says: “The day dawned overcast and gloomy. The men were wet. What excited our wonder was that all the sick, for whom we greatly feared that the wetting might prove harmful, suddenly found their pains very much relieved. This was the reason for giving the canyon the name ofLa Salud.”—(Translation edited by Frederick J. Teggart.)
Los Gatos(the cats), is the rather unpoetic name of a very pretty town in Santa Clara County, ten miles southwest of San José. From its location at the mouth of a canyon in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the inference may be drawn that it was named in reference to the wild-cats which even at this day infest that region. John Charles Fremont, in hisMemoirs, says: “The valley is openly wooded with groves of oak, freefrom under-brush, and after the spring rains covered with grass. On the west it is protected from the chilling influence of the northwest winds by theCuesta de los Gatos(wild-cat ridge), which separates it from the coast.”
“It seems to have been known as early as 1831 asLa Cuesta de los Gatos. That there were troublous times about there in other matters besides wild-cats is evidenced by the story of a lively fight that took place in 1831 against a band of Indians under a chief named Yoscol. This chief was eventually captured by the Santa Clara authorities and beheaded, his head being exposed in front of the mission as a warning to others.”—(W. Drummond Norie, of Los Gatos.)
Almadén(mine, mineral), a word of Moorish origin. New Álmadén, in Santa Clara County, where there is a quicksilver mine, is named after the famousAlmadénquicksilver mines of Spain.
Alviso(a surname). Alviso is in Santa Clara County, eight miles northwest of San José, andreceived its name from Ignacio Alviso, a native of Sonora, born in 1772, who was a member of Anza’s party of colonists in 1775-6. He was the original Alviso of California, and was the grantee ofRincón de los Esteros Rancho.
Arroyo Hondo(deep creek).
Coyote, the native wolf of California. Coyote is an Aztec word, originallycoyotl. The town of this name is situated thirteen miles southeast of San José.
Las Llagas(the wounds or stigmata of St. Francis),—in reference to the legend that St. Francis was supposed to have received, after a fast of fifty days, the miraculous imprint of the wounds of the Savior in his hands, feet and side.Las Llagaswas the name of a place near Gilroy, and was also given by the padres to Alameda Creek.
Madroño, often misspelledmadrone, is the name given by the Spaniards to a very beautiful tree indigenous to California, which is thus described by Fremont in hisMemoirs: “Another remarkable tree of these woods is called in the language of the countryMadroña. It is a beautiful evergreen, with large, thick and glossy digitated leaves; thetrunk and branches reddish-colored, and having a smooth and singularly naked appearance, as if the bark had been stripped off. In its green state the wood is brittle, very heavy, hard and close-grained; it is said to assume a red color when dry, sometimes variegated, and susceptible of a high polish. Some measured nearly four feet in diameter, and were about sixty feet high.”
Milpitas, see page232.
San Felipe(St. Philip), is the name of a village in Santa Clara County. There were four saints of this name, perhaps the most distinguished being St. Philip Neri, a Florentine, born in 1515. He was the intimate friend of St. Charles Borroméo, patron of the mission at Monterey, and was the founder of the order of the Oratorians, “who were bound by no vows, and were not secluded from the world, but went about reading and praying with the sick and needy, founding and visiting hospitals and doing various charities.” Then there was St. Philip of Bethsaida, who, going to Hieropolis, “found the people worshipping a huge serpent, or dragon, which they thought to be a personification of Mars. Then Philip took pity on their ignorance. He held upthe cross and commanded the serpent to disappear. Immediately it glided from beneath the altar, and as it moved it sent forth so dreadful an odor that many died, and among them the son of the King; but Philip restored him to life. Then the priests of the serpent were so wroth with the apostle that they crucified him, and when he was fastened to the cross they stoned him.”—(Stories of the Saints.)
San Martín(St. Martin), is a town in Santa Clara County, six miles north of Gilroy. St. Martin has many legends connected with his history. Before he became a Christian, he was a soldier and was noted for his kindness and charity to his comrades. “The winter of 332 was so severely cold that large numbers perished in the streets of Amiens, where the regiment of St. Martin was quartered. One day he met at the gate a naked man, and taking pity on him, he divided his cloak, for it was all he had, and gave half to the beggar. That night in a dream Jesus stood before him, and on his shoulders he wore the half of the cloak that Martin had given the beggar. And he said to the angels who attended him, ‘Know ye who hath thus arrayed me? Myservant Martin, though yet unbaptized, hath done this.’ Then Martin was immediately baptized.” Again it is told of him that being invited to sup with the emperor, “the cup was passed to Martin, before his Majesty drank, with the expectation that he would touch it to his lips, as was the custom. But a poor priest stood behind Martin, and to the surprise and admiration of all, the saint presented the full goblet to him, thus signifying that a servant of God deserved more honor, however humble his station, than any merely earthly potentate; from this legend he has been chosen the patron of all innocent conviviality.”—(Stories of the Saints.)
AROUND SAN FRANCISCO BAY
San Francisco.Many persons, misled by an incorrect translation of a certain passage in Palou’sLife of Serra, have ascribed the naming of the bay of San Francisco (St. Francis), to the Portolá expedition of 1769, but, as a matter of fact, the outer bay, the great indentation in the coast outside of the Golden Gate, between Point Reyes and Mussel Point, had received this name many years before. In remonstrating with theVisitador Generalbecause no mission had been provided for St. Francis in Upper California, Serra remarked, “And is there no mission for our Father St. Francis?” Señor Galvez replied, “Si San Francisco quiere misión, que haga se halla su puerto y se le pondrá(If St. Francis wants a mission, let him cause his port to be found and one will be placed there for him).” By “his port” Galvez referred to a port already discovered and named, but which had been lost sight of during the intervening years, and which he wished tohave re-discovered. This is further carried out by the succeeding statements of Palou, in which he says that after failing to recognize the port of Monterey, “they came to the port of St. Francis, our father, and they all knew it immediately by the agreement of the descriptions which they carried,” referring to descriptions obtained from the papers of the first discoverers. Father Crespi, who accompanied the expedition, says: “All the descriptions which we found here we read in the log-book of the pilot Cabrera Bueno, in order to form a judgment that this is the port of San Francisco. To make it all clear, theSeñor Commandanteordered that during the day Sergeant Ortega should go out with a party of soldiers to explore.” Further on in the same diary we read: “From the top of a hill we made out the great estuary, or arm of the sea, which probably has a width of four or five leagues.” This is undoubtedly the first occasion when the eye of a white man rested upon “the great arm of the sea,” that is, the inner harbor of San Francisco as we now know it.
THE CITY OF YERBA BUENA (SAN FRANCISCO IN 1846-47)“ ... so-called in reference to the profuse growth of that charming little vine about the locality.”
THE CITY OF YERBA BUENA (SAN FRANCISCO IN 1846-47)
“ ... so-called in reference to the profuse growth of that charming little vine about the locality.”
It must be remembered that until the arrival of Portolá, the Spaniards only knew this part ofthe coast from the sea side, having no knowledge of that great inland sea known to us as the bay of San Francisco. When the party came up by land on their futile search for Monterey, they reached Fort Point, and there recognized the marks of the outer bay as given by early navigators and called by themSan Francisco. Then they climbed a hill, and looking to the landward saw the “great arm of the sea,” the inner harbor, to which the name of San Francisco was finally extended.
Palou ascribed the failure of the party to recognize the port of Monterey, and the consequent continuance of their journey as far as San Francisco, to a direct interposition of the divine hand, so that Galvez’s promise of a mission for St. Francis might be carried out.
The honor of the christening of our world-famous bay probably belongs to Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeñón, a Portuguese navigator, who was commissioned in the year 1595 by Philip II to search for safe harbors along the coast for vessels in the Philippine trade. These ships usually shaped their return course so as to touch first at about the latitude of Cape Mendocino, makinga knowledge of the harbors south of that point a matter of great importance, especially in stormy weather. Cermeñón had the misfortune to lose his vessel, the San Agustín, on Point Reyes, and was compelled to make his way home, with great peril and suffering, in a small boat. In hisDerrotero y Relación(Itinerary and Narrative), under date of April 24, 1596, he says: “We sighted New Spain at Cape Mendocino on November 4, 1595.... We left the bay and port of San Francisco, which is called by another name, a large bay, in 38⅔ degrees, and the islets [Farallones] in the mouth are in 38½ degrees, the distance between the two points of the bay being twenty-five leagues.” It is clear from this description that he referred to that great indentation in the coast between Point Reyes and one of the points to the south, possibly Mussel Point, and that he gave the name of San Francisco to it, displacing some other name by which it had been previously known. At any rate, if this is not the origin, it is likely to remain lost in the mists of the Pacific. Bancroft says: “There can be little doubt that Cermeñón named the port of his disasterSan Francisco.”
An absurd theory advanced by certain persons that the name was derived from that of Sir Francis Drake is wholly unworthy of consideration. The resemblance between the two names must be regarded as purely a co-incidence, and any connection between “El Pirata” (the pirate) Drake, as the Spaniards usually called him, and the name of the gentle St. Francis must be taken in the light of a jest.
Portolá, then, although he was indubitably the discoverer of the bay as we know it,—the inner harbor,—found the name already applied to the outerensenadaby his predecessor, Cermeñón.
It is held by some persons that Portolá cannot in all fairness be considered the actual discoverer of the bay, since it is most probable that Lieutenant Ortega or perhaps some member of a hunting party which was sent out actually laid physical eyes upon it first, and it is even thought possible that Portolá never saw it at all, but remained in camp all the time during their stay on its shores. Even granting these facts, the question remains whether he, as the commander of the party making the expedition which resulted in the discovery,is not still entitled to the fame which has generally been granted to him.
A parallel might be drawn between the case of Portolá and that of Columbus. When the famous expedition of 1492 drew near to the shores of the new world, it was not the great admiral, but a common sailor, Rodrigo de Triana by name, who first raised the thrilling cry of “land! land!”; yet, nevertheless, the world justly awards the honor and glory of the discovery to Christopher Columbus, the leader and the soul of the party, whose splendid imagination and unconquerable resolution made it possible.
Although the Portolá party made a partial examination at this time of the shores of what they called the “great arm of the sea,” and Captain Fages returned for further explorations in 1770, and again in 1772, when he stood on the present site of Berkeley and looked out through the Golden Gate, the mission was not established until 1776. Father Palou was its founder, and he states in hisLife of Serrathat the presidio was established with solemn religious services, September 17, 1776, on the day of the “impressions of the stigmata of St. Francis,” but on account ofa delay in receiving orders, the founding of the mission did not take place until October 9. On that day a procession was held with the image of St. Francis, and mass was celebrated by Father Palou himself.
So they prayed and sang their hymns, in the year of ’76, while their hearts beat high with the zeal of the missionary, and, happily, no echo of the roll of drums and boom of minute guns came to them across the untrodden miles of mountain and plain, of forest and prairie, that separated them from the alien race on the other rim of the continent, for whom they were all unconsciously preparing the way to the possession of a great principality.
No natives were present at this mass, for the reason that in the month of August they had been driven on their tule rafts to the islands of the bay and the opposite shores, by their enemies, the Salsonas, who lived about seven leagues to the southeast, and who had set fire to theirrancheríasand killed and wounded many of their people, the Spaniards not being able to prevent it.
The first settlement was three-fold, including the mission ofSan Francisco de Asís, on theLaguna de los Dolores(the lagoon of sorrows), the presidio, and the pueblo, separated from one another by about a league. The Pueblo was at first known asYerba Buena, in reference to the profuse growth of that vine about the locality. The change of the name is ascribed by General Sherman, in hisMemoirs, to jealousy of the town of Benicia, which was at first calledFrancisca, in honor of General Vallejo’s wife, and was thought to bear too marked a resemblance to the name of the great patron, San Francisco. General Vallejo himself states that the change was made as a matter of convenience, to bring the three points of the triangle, church, town, and presidio, all under one name. Whatever the reason for the change, it is a matter of congratulation that it occurred, for the name of the venerable saint carries a dignity more commensurate to a noble city than the poetic, but less impressiveYerba Buena.