Full text of "On the trail of a Spanish pioneer; the diary and itinerary of Francisco Garcés (missionary priest) in his travels through Sonora, Arizona, and California, 1775-1776; translated from an official contemporaneous copy of the original Spanish manuscript, and ed., with copious critical notes"

■J! T " 



III. 

AMERICAN EXPLORERS SERIES, 
©n tbe Urail of a Spanlsb pioneer. 

VOL. L 



ON THE TRAIL OF A SPANISH PIONEER 

THE 

DIARY AND ITINERARY 

OF 

FRANCISCO GARCES 

(Missionary Priest) 

IN HIS TRAVELS THROUGH SONORA, 
ARIZONA, AND CALIFORNIA 

(775-1776 

TRANSLATED FROM AN OFFICIAL CONTEMPORANEOUS COPY OF 

THE ORIGINAL SPANISH MANUSCRIPT, AND EDITED, 

WITH COPIOUS CRITICAL NOTES 

BY 

ELLIOTT COUES 

Editor of Lewis and Clark, of Pike, of Henry and Thompson, 
Fowler Journal, Larpenteur, etc., etc. 

■2-/3 &4 

EIGHTEEN MAPS, VIEWS, AND FACSIMILES 

IN TWO VOLUMES 

Vol. I 

NEW YORK 

FRANCIS P. HARPER 

1900 



Copyright, iqoc, 

by 

FRANCIS P. HARPER. 



3Eottlon XtmlteD 
to 950 Copies. 

W o.-.^.31..... 



F 
i9bo 



TO 

MAJOR JOHN WESLEY POWELL 

EX-DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, 

WHO FIRST EXPLORED THE CANON OF THE GREAT RIVER ON TI1K 

BANKS OF WHICH GARCES LAST SAW THE LIGHT, 

THESE VOLUMES ARE CORDIALLY 

DeOicateD. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE. 

It is with the deepest regret we announce that 
Dr. Elliott Coues, the author and editor of the various 
works on Western Exploration which it has been our 
privilege to publish, passed away to his final resting 
place December 25, 1899. Though suffering great 
pain, he with cheerful courage revised the last proofs 
and wrote the Introduction to this his final work. 

We have not to do here with his place as a student 
and historian of Western history and the Western 
country, nor of the value of the fifteen volumes of 
which he was the author-editor; but we deem it a duty 
and a pleasure publicly to testify our appreciation of 
him from a publisher's point of view. 

Our acquaintance with Dr. Coues commenced in 
1892, when we suggested his revising and editing a 
new edition of " Lewis and Clark Expedition." From 
that time until his death we have been almost in daily 
communication with him, and never had a single mis- 
understanding of any kind. While jealous of his 
rights as author, still we always found him willing to 
make any correction or addition that we could explain 



Vlll PUBLISHER S NOTE. 

would be for the success and best interest of the work 
in hand. He had a capacity for work that was almost 
beyond belief; and was always prompt and business- 
like in his methods. He was a firm and trustworthy 
friend and an ideal author for a publisher to have busi- 
ness relations with. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction, xiii 

BlOGRArHY of Garces, I 

The Four Entradas of Garces, 1768-74, . . . 25 

First Entrada, to the Gila, 1768 25 

Second Entrada, to the Gila, 1770, .... 26 

Third Entrada, to the Gila and Colorado, 1771, . 30 
Fourth Entrada, to the Gila, Colorado, and San Gabriel 

in California, 1774, 3$ 



CHAPTER I. 

Officialities and Other Preliminaries, to October 21, 

1775 47 

CHAPTER II. 

From Tubac to Casas Grandes on Rio Gii.a, October 

23-31, 1775, 63 

CHAPTER III. 
Down Rio Gila to Yuma, November, 1775, . . .102 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

Down Rio Colorado from Yuma to the Gulf and Re- 
turn, December, 1775, 154 

CHAPTER V. 

Up Rio Colorado from Yuma to Mojave, January and 

Febuary, 1776 200 

CHAPTER VI. 
From Mojave to San Gabriel, March-April 8, 1776, . 234 

CHAPTER VII. 

From San Gabriel through the Tulares to Mojave, 

April 9-May, 1776, 265 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

VOL. I. 



Pedro Font's Map of 1777 Frontispiece 

Facsimile ok Bucareli Autograph, . . Facing page 56 
Facsimile ok Proclamation Expelling Jesuits 

by Marques de Croix, .... "58 

Church of San Xavier del Bac, ... "78 

Ground Plan ok Casa Grande (after Minde- 

lekf), "94 

View of Casa Grande in 1890, ... " 100 

Section of Ives' Map of the Lower Colorado, " " 192 

Mission of San Diego, " 207 

Mission ok San Gabriel, .... " 249 



INTRODUCTION. 

Garces was a Spanish priest and Franciscan friar 
who traveled extensively in Sonora, Arizona, and Cali- 
fornia in the years 1768-81 as a missionary to various 
Indian tribes. In the earlier of these years he was the 
resident minister at San Xavier del Bac, then in 
Sonora. now in Arizona, on the Rio Santa Cruz. 
From this post of duty he made several expeditions, 
mainly for ecclesiastical purposes, i. e., to bring In- 
dians under the catechism of the church and the vas- 
salage of the King of Spain, but also in part to dis- 
cover a means of communication between the widely 
separated settlements of New Mexico and California, 
and thus for geographical purposes. The first two of 
these expeditions, respectively of 1768 and 1770, were 
of comparatively little consequence. The third one, 
of 1 77 1, extended along Rio Gila and down Rio Colo- 
rado nearly if not quite to the mouth of the latter, being 
thus a considerable enterprise, though not notable in 
its results. On his fourth expedition, in 1774, he ac- 
companied Captain J. B. de Anza to the California!! 
mission of San Gabriel, on the return from which he 
took a turn on his own account to one of the Yuman 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

tribes on the Colorado. These four " entradas," as 
they were called., are presented with sufficient particu- 
larity in the present volume; but this work is devoted 
mainly to the Fifth Entrada of our good missionary, 
performed in 1775-76; in the former of which years 
Garces started with Anza's celebrated expedition for 
the establishment of a mission and colony at San Fran- 
cisco in California, thus laying the foundation for that 
great city, but separated from the main party at Yuma, 
at the junctioa of the Gila and Colorado, then went to 
the mouth of the latter river, returned, went up the 
Colorado to Mojave, thence across California to San 
Gabriel, thence by way of Tulare Valley back to Mo- 
jave, thence to Moqui and back again to Mojave, 
thence down river to Yuma, and so on up the Gila to 
his post at Bac. 

The Diario y Derrotero, or Diary and Itinerary, 
which the indefatigable padre kept on his long, ardu- 
ous, and somewhat perilous journey, was fully written 
out by him at the Sonoran mission of Tubutama, in 
January, 1777. The original holograph should be 
extant; but I know nothing about that. Three differ- 
ent copies or versions of the original are in my hands, 
two in manuscript and one in print; I will call them A, 
B, C, and characterize them as follows: 

A. Diario del Padre Fray Francisco Garces. Manu- 
script, folio, size of ordinary foolscap, 11% X 8^?, 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

211 pages, including title leaf backed blank, excluding 
blank page 212 and one blank leaf. In Library of 
the Bureau of American Ethnology at Washington, 
No. 7415, received in 1897 from Dr. Nicolas Leon of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, D. F., Mexico. This copy lacks 
the map which should, or once did accompany it, or at 
any rate belonged with the original; it is otherwise 
perfect. The handwriting is not known; but it is 
beautifully firm, regular, and characteristic of some 
professional scribe or clerk who made the copy, pre- 
sumably from Garces' own writing, for archive pur- 
poses. The manuscript is therefore official and 
genuine, but not authentic. The date of the writing is 
closely ascertainable by internal evidence, as follows : 
The original having been finished, dated, and signed by 
Garces at Tubutama in January, 1777, this copy was 
made before August 4, 1785. For, all through at 
intervals, it is annotated in the margin in a different 
handwriting, and the same handwriting of the scholiast 
appears in a note at the end. on pages 210, 211, signed 
Miguel Valero Olea, and dated August 4, 1785. Olea 
was then in the viceregal secretary's office at the City 
of Mexico. Through the kind offices of Mr. F. W. 
Hodge, of the Bureau above said, this manuscript was 
placed in my hands April 30, 1898, with permission to 
make any use of it I might think proper; and I have 
translated it to form the basis of the present work. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

B. Diario del P. Garces. Manuscript, small 4to, 
8-Hj X 6y$, pp. 60 or leaves 30, preceded by a leaf bear- 
ing in Dr. Leon's hand a supplied title and some other 
data; from which it appears that this copy was made 
in or for the archives of the Convento de la Cruz de 
Queretaro by Padre Fray Pablo de la Purisima Con- 
ception Beaumont, who died in 1779. It was there- 
fore made Avithin a year or two of Garces' original and 
is authentic and genuine, if not official. The hand- 
writing is plain enough, but cramped and scratchy, and 
so small that some 55 lines go to each page. This 
manuscript belongs (1899) to Dr. Leon, being only 
temporarily in the custody of Mr. Hodge, and in my 
hands for examination. 

C. Diario y derrotero que siguio el M. R. | P. Fr. 
Francisco Garces en su viaje he- \ cho desde Octubre 
de 1775 hasta 17 de \ Setiembre de 1776, al Rio Colo- 
rado pa- I ra reconocer las naciones que habit an \ sus 
nuir genes, y d los pueblos del Mo- \ qui del Nuevo- 
Me.vico. I Being article iv., pp. 225-374, of vol. I 
of the second series of the work entitled : Documentos 
para la Historia de Mexico, i2mo, Mexico, imprenta 
dc F. Escalante y Comp., calle de Cadena N. 13, 
1854. This collection of printed documents is well 
known to scholars, extending to four series, altogether 
some 20 volumes : but none of them are common now, 
and the second series is quite rare; I was more than 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

a year in laying hands on the copy now before me, 
with exceptional facilities for procuring it. This is 
the only form in which Garces' Diario has ever ap- 
peared in print; and it has never before been translated 
into English. It has thus remained until now prac- 
tically inaccessible. This document, as printed from 
some manuscript copy of the original unknown to me, 
is genuine, but neither authentic nor official, as we do 
not know by whom the manuscript that is printed was 
made, nor for what purpose. The print on very poor 
paper is clear and open, but the composition of the 
types was careless; it bristles with typographical 
errors, and exhibits all those eccentric frailties of punc- 
tuation and accentuation, and perversions of proper 
names of persons and places, for which Mexican litera- 
ture is so justly celebrated. It is of course better 
known than either of the other two forms of the Diary 
here described, and is that form in which Garces has 
usually been quoted, as by Bandelier, Bancroft, and 
other late writers on the history of Sonora, New 
Mexico, Arizona, and California. 

Comparison of the three forms in which Garces has 
thus reached me -.shows such variants in the verbiage 
that they may almost be considered as three different 
versions of the same story. The difference is so great 
that I have no doubt Garces himself made, or caused 
to be made, more than one " original " account of his 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

journey of 1775-76. There must have been at least 
two such origines, one from which my copy A was 
made, and the other the source of the Beaumont manu- 
script B, and the printed C — for B and C are much 
closer in language to each other than either of them is 
to A. In fact, B and C may almost be said to be para- 
phrases of A. Nevertheless, all three versions are 
genuine; they all tell the identical story with substan- 
tial accuracy, and agree in all material particulars — 
barring their respective lapses in transcription of 
names, dates, etc., or in case of C, its errors of the 
types. It is the exception rather than the rule that all 
three spell Indian names alike, and indeed each of 
them has its own special variants in handling these 
troublesome terms. Each of the three, furthermore, 
has many clauses, even some sentences or paragraphs, 
not found in either of the other two. Thus they are 
mutually corroborative, amplificative, or corrective. 

Under these circumstances, in turning Garces into 
English, it was of course necessary to follow one of 
the versions to the exclusion of the others, and for this 
purpose I selected A, for various reasons: It was the 
first which came into my hands — in fact, I had trans- 
lated it before I saw either of the others. It is some- 
what fuller or more elaborate than either of the others, 
the persons who prepared each of the latter seem to 
have been more intent upon saying the same thing in 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

fewer and often in plainer words, than in " following 
copy " punctually. Copy A is thus the most perfect 
one we possess, besides being the official or archival 
one, and the one which nobody has hitherto utilized 
for any purpose. 

I note here with pleasure the very close concordance 
of all three copies in the matter of dates, and in fact 
wherever figures are concerned. Yet in one notable 
date, all three differ. This is the date of completion of 
an original manuscript. Copy A has as colophon " Tu- 
butama y Enero 3 de 1777 — Fray Francisco Garzes." 
Beaumont (B) has: "En Tubutama. I. de henero de 
1777. Fr. Franc Garces." The printed C has, p. 
394: " Tabutama y Enero 30 de 1777. — Fray Fran- 
cisco Garces." Hence we have three different dates 
and three variants of the author's name. Again, the 
initial date of Garces' Diario differs in copy A, which 
gives October 1, 1776, as the date on which the author 
went to Tubac to join the expedition; both B and C 
having October 21. I think the latter is correct, as the 
next date in all three copies is October 22. 

But to pursue the subject of these variants exhaust- 
ively would take me almost into their every paragraph, 
and it could be completely shown up only by means of 
the " deadly parallel " in triple column. Let me 
simply repeat the statement that in translating Garces 
/ have followed copy A, only bringing up in my notes 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

certain discrepancies which seemed to require atten- 
tion, and in a very few places bracketing in the text 
some insertions from B or C of certain entries which 
the scribe of copy A accidentally omitted. 

With regard to the principles upon which I have 
done the Spanish into English, a few words may be 
expected of me. Bearing acutely in mind the Italian 
saying that the translator is the traducer, I have tried 
my best to prove an exception to that rule. Where I 
have wished to abuse my gentle and most lovable 
author for his fanaticism, his bigotry, his ecclesiasti- 
cism (as they seem to me), I have done it in my notes; 
in my text always holding his words themselves in a 
sort of superstitious awe of my own, just as he did his 
holy religion. My aim has been to translate Garces 
literally, punctually, even with scrupulosity; to trans- 
late his every word by its nearest English equivalent, 
and to give this word-for-word revision as nearly in 
the order in which the Spanish words run as English 
idiom will admit. The result is, that my translation 
makes pretty rough English, of more use than beauty. 
But it is sound, grammatical English for all that; and 
to my notion more desirable in a case like this than the 
most elegant paraphrase would be. I knew that if I 
once gave myself a loose rein in this matter, I should 
never have known where to stop; and Couesian Eng- 
lish of 1899, however nice I might make it, would fit 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

Garces of 1775-6 as well as a modern swallow-tail coat 
on a seedy friar of more than a century ago. If some 
of the words I have deliberately chosen are obsolete, 
quaint, or otherwise objectionable, from a certain point 
of view — well, so is Garces obsolete, and his figure a 
quaint one, and his appearance in the ragged robe he 
wore would be objectionable on the score of anach- 
ronism. I think I have sometimes strained English 
idiom almost to the point of rupture in my strenuous 
efforts to give a word-for-word version; but tours de 
force in the way of twisting phraseology are less objec- 
tionable than negligently wrenching the sense of the 
original by too free a paraphrase. 

Some will doubtless demur to the numerous Spanish 
phrases which I have left in the text in parentheses. 
But I have some excuses to offer for that ; sometimes I 
wished to support my translation in this way; some- 
times I wished to show that I was obliged by English 
idiom to turn the phraseology slightly; in some rare 
instances I felt a little dubious of myself and wished 
to give the reader a chance to judge whether I trans- 
lated correctly or otherwise; besides, I desired to give 
him a great many examples of my author's own ver- 
biage. Some will find occasion to demur that I have 
not always translated my author — that I have left too 
many Spanish words untranslated, like rancheria, 
pueblo, laguna, pozo, arroyo, rio, caxon, canada, 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

mesa, cerro, picacho, sierra, entrada. To such a de- 
murrer I have no reply to make, for it is not worth my 
while to mind such things. There is one point about 
my work with which any critic who desires may find as 
much fault as he pleases; that is, my apparent attitude 
of indifference to niceties of Spanish punctuation; for 
he will do well if he can find at my pen's point more 
irregularity or discrepancy or indifference than I can 
show him in the manuscript upon which I worked, or 
than exists, in fact, in most Spanish documents, printed 
or handwritten, of Garces' time. To my limited vision 
the use of accents in Spanish seems a freakish thing, 
and very largely an affair of grammatical superero- 
gation; it is al'most al'ways a mat'ter of in'dicating 
enuncia'tion or stress of voice, not pronunciation, as 
in the sentences I have just penned, and ordinarily 
quite as superfluous, as few things in this changeable 
world are less variable than the actual quality of 
Spanish vowels. Most of my apparent sinning in this 
respect will be found, on sufficient examination, to be 
due to the singular fidelity with which I reproduce the 
Spanish texts which I have occasion to quote; and 
therefore, a criticaster would waste his time in abusing 
me for not being holier than the Pope. 

There is another point in which I pride myself on 
being scrupulous even to scrupulosity, and that is, the 
rendering of all proper names, whether of persons or 



INTRODUCTION. , XXlll 

places, precisely as they occur in the Spanish. I think 
that translation of such terms is bad — very bad, repre- 
hensible, and a nuisance. I should not like to figure 
at the hands of some Spaniard yet unborn as Elioto 
Vacas or Bacas, and why should I take such a liberty? 
So if Garces chooses to call a place the Laguna de 
Santa Olaya or Pueblo de la Purisima Concepcion de 
la Virgen Santisima, such is the name of such place, 
and it is none of our business to call it Saint Eulalie's 
lagoon or the Village of the Immaculate Concep- 
tion of the Most Holy Virgin. Once more: if our 
author comes to a place which he calls Oraibe, Oraibi, 
Oraybe, Oraive, Oreyve, etc., with cheerful indiffer- 
ence, why are we restricted to one of these terms? 
There was no fixed spelling in his day, all these forms 
are equally serviceable, and I follow copy in my own 
use of them. Garces' own name reaches us in five 
forms or more, if we count the accent or its absence as 
determining a form; and though I have selected the 
one of these for my own use which he seems to have 
used himself, yet in quoting his biographer, Arricivita, 
I use Garzes. 

One who should take exception to any of the points 
above mooted would betray to anyone familiar with 
the vagaries of Spanish documentary history the fact 
that he knew nothing about them. 

Of the high historical value of the Diary of Garces 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

there can be no adverse opinions among those qualified 
to judge of such matters; and this narrative of adven- 
ture will have all the charm of novelty to most per- 
sons, to whom even the Spanish print is inaccessible 
for the double reason of its foreign tongue and its 
scarceness, while the manuscripts are unknown except 
to special students. Therefore the desirability of this 
readily available English version is obvious. Yet the 
Diary without amplification, explanation, and illustra- 
tion would be a riddle solvable only by one who would 
be more able and willing than most readers to give 
heed to it. Garces requires to be interpreted to a 
generation which wots not of this martyr missionary, 
and has no adequate notion of his time, place, and cir- 
cumstance. The longest known corner of the United 
States seems to me to be the least generally known of 
all. To most persons Arizona is a vague name of a 
place in which there is a great chasm called the Grand 
Canon of the Colorado, and where some strange In- 
dians live like ants in a hill in places called pueblos. 
Again, what of California to the average person, over 
the Sierra Nevada, away from the populous parts? 
Nothing — and in fact there is little but a howling 
wilderness to-day in the parts adjoining Arizona; 
though this desert is traversed by two railroads, it has 
not otherwise changed much in the last century. As 
for Sonora, nobody seems to know much about it, 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

though a considerable slice of what was Sonora in 
Garces' time now belongs to the United States, being 
all that portion of Arizona which lies south of the Gila. 
There could hardly be a better introduction to a con- 
siderable amount of United States history than such a 
knowledge of its southwestern corner as the Diary of 
Garces affords. 

In 1775-76, when our author traveled so far in all 
the regions just said, all that part of Arizona which 
was not Sonora was New Mexico. There was not a 
white man in Arizona, excepting two or three hand- 
fuls of them in some Spanish forts or mines along 
what is now its southern border; Tubac and Tucson 
were the uttermost white settlements. Over most of 
the land roamed the Apache, the terror of all whites 
and of most Indians in all that country. In the region 
of the Gila, where slender crops could be raised, were 
the sedentary tribes of the Pimas, Papagoes and Mari- 
copas, not very different from what they are to-day. 
All along the Colorado, from the head of the Gulf of 
California to the Grand Canon, were a series of tribes 
of Yuman stock, and a little one of them lived as it 
does to-day, apart at the bottom of that hole in the 
ground now known as Cataract Canon. Nearest these 
last, eastward, were the Hopis or Moquis in their sev- 
eral pueblos on adjacent mesas, almost identical 
with their present positions. Beyond them on the east 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

and a little to the south, just over the border of Ari- 
zona in modern New Mexico, were the Zunis, in the 
very pueblo and on the identical spot they now occupy. 
All beyond these Moquis to the north was the still un- 
fathomed Northern Mystery of which only short 
glimpses had been had till Escalante in the same year 
pushed on from Santa Fe to discover Utah Lake, and 
swung around home across the Grand Canon, then first 
traversed, although not first seen, by a white man. 
And what of our California on the west of Arizona? 
There was not a white man in it, aside from the five 
missions thus far established (1769-72) on or near 
the coast, unless it were some fugitive soldier who had 
deserted his post. The purpose of Anza's expedition 
which now journeyed thither was to add one to these 
missionary settlements, and it was added, — the germ 
of the present metropolis at the Golden Gate of the 
Pacific. 

Garces had been the year before across the California 
desert as far as San Gabriel, and what he saw seemed 
to influence his zeal for the salvation of souls, as well 
as to inspire his mind with a desire to achieve the more 
practical result of opening a way between Santa Fe on 
the Rio Grande del Norte and the new establishments 
on the Pacific coast. He was not to go to San Fran- 
cisco, but to wander elsewhere, covering several hun- 
dred leagues without a white companion, relying upon 



INTRODUCTION. XXV11 

Indians to show him the way he wished or was obliged 
to go. His peregrinations extended farther than those 
of any other missionary of his day who went unat- 
tended. His loneliness reached a pathetic climax at 
Moqui, his farthermost point, where those he loved 
and had come so far to save from perdition would have 
none of him or his religion, gave him nothing to eat 
or a place to lay his head, and turned him out of town 
between two days. 

If we follow Garces in his adventures we shall 
learn much, and among other things to love the char- 
acter of the man. Garces was a true soldier of the 
cross, neither greater nor lesser than thousands of 
other children of the church, seeking the bubble of sal- 
vation at the price of the martyr's crown; his was not 
his own life, but that of God who gave it. Better than 
all that, perhaps, this humble priest, like Abou ben 
Adhem, was one who loved his fellow men. It made 
him sick at heart to see so many of them going to hell 
for lack of the three drops of water he would sprinkle 
over them if they would let him do so. I repeat it — 
Garces, like Jesus, so loved his fellow men that he was 
ready to die for them. What more could a man do — 
and what were danger, suffering, hardship, privation, 
in comparison with the glorious reward of labor in the 
vineyard of the Lord? This is true religion, of what- 
ever sect or denomination, called by whatever name. 



XXviii INTRODUCTION. 

So Garces followed the example of his master whither- 
soever it led him, in these years of 1775-76, and there- 
after till 1781, when some of those he loved and sought 
to save fell upon him with clubs and beat him to death. 
It is a sad story; all the sadder does it seem to us now, 
when we can see how utterly senseless were the 
methods employed for the most noble and holy pur- 
poses, how utterly futile the results. But it does not 
lessen our respect for the man, that he, like his Indians, 
was the victim of the most pernicious, most immoral, 
and most detestable system of iniquity the world has 
ever seen — that Spanish combination of misionero and 
conquistador which had for its avowed and vaunted 
end the reduction of Indian tribes to the catechism of 
the church and the vassalage of the throne. 

But I should not preach a sermon by way of preface 
to these new volumes of the American Explorer Series. 
Those who are interested in stories of adventure, in 
historical materials such as these, will read the book, 
and form their own opinion both of the author and 
his editor, and of the scenes of the former's life-work. 
I think such things are worth doing, therefore I do 
them, to the best of my knowledge and ability, sparing 
nothing to set them forth in their clearest light. If I 
could venture to agree even a little with some of my 
most partial friends, who think I have any genius, I 
should think that, if so, it is simply the genius of hard 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 

work — which I suppose amounts to an ability to hold 
clown the chair at my desk for long periods and 
capacity for taking great pains with every detail of the 
work I have in hand. The general character of the 
commentary or annotation I have put upon Garces is 
the same as that in my previous works, which are now 
so many that little requires to be said; but I may add 
that in this instance I have very special interest in the 
subject-matter, having resided in Arizona at three 
widely separated intervals (1864-65, 1880-81, 1892), 
traveled over most of the territory, especially off the 
present lines of rails, and trailed nearly all of Garces' 
routes, both in Arizona and California. I am there- 
fore exceptionally familiar with his lines of travel 
and the scenes he witnessed. In this matter of anno- 
tating my author I have had the valued and valuable 
assistance of Mr. F. W. Hodge of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology, who has placed his knowledge 
of Indian tribes at my service, and to whom I have 
practically turned over the ethnological as distin- 
guished from the geographical and historical aspects 
of the subject in hand. His numerous notes bear his 
initials, and I am sure add much to the interest these 
volumes may be found to possess. I am further in- 
debted to Mr. Hodge for much bibliographical infor- 
mation, and he has read the proof-sheets with me, so 
that I have had the benefit of his intelligent scrutiny 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

throughout. I have also to thank Col. F. F. Hilder of 
the same Bureau, Mr. Will. M. Tipton and Mr. H. O. 
Flipper of the United States Court of Private Land 
Claims at Santa Fe, and Mr. Jose Segura, ex-librarian 
of the Territory of New Mexico, whose familiarity 
with the Spanish language is greater or at any rate 
more workable than my own, for aid in any case in 
which I felt a doubt that I had rendered my author with 
entire fidelity. Under these circumstances, it is hoped 
that errors of fact may be few ; though no work of this 
kind can be quite free from them. 

I notice in the editorial Introduction to the Docu- 
ment os already cited a paragraph so apt to the present 
case that I will transcribe it, in conclusion : 

" La generalidad de los lectores encontrara estas 
paginas f rias y enfadosas : asi es la verdad ; pero, pre- 
ferimos al deleite pasajero, el provecho que de aqui 
podra sacar para cosas de importancia." 

Elliott Coues. 

Washington, D. C. 

November, i8gq. 



BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

The work entitled: Cronica Serafica y Apostolica 
del Colegio de Propaganda Fide de la Santa Cruz de 
Queretaro en la Nueva Espana, escrita por el P. Fr. 
Juan Domingo Arricivita, Secunda Parte, en Mexico, 
ano de 1792, Libro Quarto, Capitulo xvi, pp. 540- 
574, " Gloriosa muerte con que el P. Fr. Francisco 
Garzes corono sus apostolicas tareas, muriendo a 
manos de los barbaros que con grandes trabajos tenia 
conqvistados," furnishes the data for our biographical 
purposes, though it is rather a eulogy of the martyr 
than the life of a man, besides being too theological 
for practical consideration, and thus requiring 
abridgment in the following free translation which 
I make: 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of 
the just, for it is not the lot of all, derived from our 
first father, Adam, but a very glorious gift of divine 
love, like unto that which our Redeemer Jesus Christ 
suffered for the love of man. Wherefore whenever 



2 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

incomprehensible Providence predestines anyone to 
the exalted function of the salvation of souls, him 
doth He adorn with the qualities which from the be- 
ginning of his life carry him on to the end, that his 
death may be precious in the divine presence. Thus 
appeared to be directed the life of Padre Fray Fran- 
cisco Garzes, for from his earliest years he gave con- 
stant proofs of the ardent love he bore to God and 
of the fervid zeal with which he solicited the welfare 
of souls. 

He was born in the Villa de Morata del Conde, in 
the Reyno de Aragon, on the 12th of April, 1738, and 
baptized next day, receiving the names of Francisco 
Tomas Hermenegildo, of which he acquitted himself 
in his life and in his death, since he was a disciple of 
San Francisco professing his rule, imitated Santo 
Tomas in entering the Indias to promulgate the Holy 
Evangel, and died like San Hermenegildo in giving 
up his life for Jesucristo. His parents were Juan 
Garzes and Antonia Maestro; but seeing the inclina- 
tion of the child for sacred things, his early education 
was intrusted to an uncle, named Mosen Domingo 
Garzes, curate of the same city; profiting by whose 
example and teaching, he had hardly completed his 
fifteenth year when he sought holy orders in the 
saintly and conventual Province of Aragon, where he 
made his profession with the approbation of the Re- 



HIS EARLY LIFE. 3 

ligious. The prelates soon set him to his studies, and 
having been approved in philosophy he was sent to 
the convent of the Ciudad de Calatayud to study 
sacred theology. In this he reaped fruits not only 
to his own advantage, but also to that of those about 
him; and there began to scintillate the rays which 
divine love kindled in his heart of that zeal with which 
he was to announce in this new world and to every 
creature the Holy Evangel. 

It was customary in this convent to take the stu- 
dents walking in the fields for freedom of debate, and 
in these outings Padre Garzes would leave his con- 
disciples to seek poor laborers, and with the suavity 
natural to his genius and with smooth words would 
he propound and explain to them the divine mys- 
teries and catholic truths. Among others who had 
the benefit of this was a poor potter who made tiles, 
and was pleased to listen to the student as if he were 
an oracle. The potter fell seriously sick, and being 
told to prepare himself to receive the holy sacraments, 
said that he would confess to no one but Padre 
Garzes. . . 

Having finished his studies, and been ordained in 
the priesthood, at 25 years of age, his heart was 
moved by the desire to be of use to others; so that he 
begged with insistency to be admitted among the 
number of the missionaries who were just then being 



4 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

collected for the Colegio de la Santa Cruz de 
Queretaro and its missions to the infidels. No 
sooner had he received his commission and shown it 
to his prelates than he went on foot to Madrid, rely- 
ing on divine providence for his daily bread. There 
came with him Padre Fray Juan Crysostomo Gil, who 
was also listed for this mission, and their hearts were 
one in making their spiritual devotions, Garzes re- 
maining in all things obedient to the directions of 
Gil, under which he gave himself up with great fervor 
to prayer, mortification, and seclusion from the world, 
persevering in this holy union until his arrival at the 
college. 

Padre Garzes entered therein in 1763, at the age of 
28 [sic]. From the first he was diligent in the ser- 
vice of the choir and other offices of the community, 
and in such other tasks as he could perform in fulfill- 
ment of the apostolic ministry. As he could not con- 
fess women on account of his youth, he was inde- 
fatigable in the claustrum with continual confessions 
of men, dedicating himself with particular application 
to those of boys. . . Such notable zeal pointed the 
padre out as fit for graver things for which the Lord 
destined him in teaching rude and ignorant gentiles; 
and for this purpose was he one of the first mission- 
aries who in 1767 begged the prelate of the college 
for the missions of Sonora. He obediently went with 



HE GOES TO SAN XAVIER DEL BAC. 5 

the others to Tepique, and there applied himself to 
apostolic ministry during the three months they 
awaited transportation by boat. On Jan. 20, 1768, 
they embarked at the Puerto de San Bias, and pres- 
ently the sea gave them sensible proofs of its bitter- 
ness; the waves rose, the winds blew furiously, and the 
navigators were put in fear of immediate shipwreck. 
Three and a half stormy months passed, and though 
some ports were made, Padre Garzes never lost cour- 
age, but stayed on the ship till he reached the Puerto 
de Guaymas. 

All the missionaries together went to the Presidio 
de Horcasitas, and in the distributions of missions 
which the governor made Padre Garzes was assigned 
to San Xavier del Bac, distant 20 leagues from the 
Presidio de Tubac; 1 this was the northernmost, and 
consequently least defended against the continual 

1 Garces arrived at Bac on June 30, 1768. This date is given 
in the first one of four letters which he wrote from Bac in 1768- 
69, and which are printed in Documentos para la Historia de 
Mexico, 4th series, vol. ii, pp. 365-377 (Mexico, 1856). They 
contain nothing remarkable, but may be here noted: 1. Letter 
dated July 29, 1768, to Sr. D. Juan Bautista de Anza; in this 
Garces' arrival at Bac is given, as just said. 2. Letter to Sr. 
Gobernador Don Juan de Pineda, of same date. 3. Letter to 
the same, dated Feb. 21, 1769. 4. Letter to the same, dated 
July 23, 1769. A full descriptive and historical note on Bac, 
and one on Tubac, are given beyond. The distance between 
these two places is nothing like the 20 leagues said by Arricivita. 



6 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCfeS. 

cruel incursions of the Apaches on the frontier. Not 
less hostile to health and life are the natural condi- 
tions of climate, for the water is alkaline and the air 
is constipating, so that all who go there to live are 
subject to very severe chills and fevers, of which many 
die, and those who survive are reduced to skeletons; 
consequently the Indians flee for refuge to the mis- 
sion. Nor was the extreme poverty in which the 
padre found the mission less forbidding, for there was 
nothing in it for him to get along with even in 
penury. Yet nothing daunted the spirit of the new 
missionary; for in self-forgetfulness he sought only 
the spiritual welfare of those neophytes and gentiles, 
thinking nothing of perils, toils, and sicknesses. 

Such zeal was the admiration of the Indians. . . 
All those of Pimeria Alta venerated him as an oracle, 
and his fame reached the neighboring gentiles, called 
Papagos, . . . who extended it to the Pimas of the 
Gila, to whom he had sent many loving messages, in 
consequence of which the principal chiefs came to 
make his acquaintance. He showed them how highly 
he appreciated their visit, did all he could for them, 
and informed them of his desire to go to their lands 
and communicate with their people. Pleased with 
this, they promised to speak to their whole nation, 
and send guides to conduct him thither. In fact they 
did send four, with whom, without any escort or sup- 



HIS EARLY ENTRADAS. 7 

ply of food, he left his mission in August, 1768, and 
entering the largest rancherias announced peace with 
God, telling them of the divine mysteries and attri- 
butes, and peace with the king our lord, who wished 
to confer many benefits upon them, if they would be- 
come Christians. On this first entrada 2 he estab- 
tablished friendly relations with the innumerable In- 
dians who inhabit both banks of the Gila. 

The following year of 1769, at the time of the 
Apache campaign, he entered their country, and ob- 
served various nations, of whom there were not a few 
in his village. The visitador general reported upon 
the means of preventing the bloody irruptions of 
those barbarians. In 1770 God sent an epidemic of 
diarrhea and measles to the rancherias of the Gila, 
of which many died, especially children; and the 
padre, being advised that among the sick there was 
an Indian woman, determined to go to her assist- 
ance and to gratify the Indians who importuned him 
to baptize their little ones. This was a journey of 
90 leagues (GarceY second entrada). 

In 1771, believing that the founding of missions 
had already been decreed, he undertook to go to pre- 
pare the Indians for this, and reached the Rio Colo- 
rado, where the Yumas received him with joy. 

1 For GarceY first, second, third, and fourth entradas see in 
further detail beyond. 



8 BIOGRAPHY OF GARC^S. 

Thence he descended to the disemboguement of the 
river in the sea and to the lands of the Quiquimas, 
crossed the river on rafts, and visited many peoples, 
making peace among them, and in two months and 
20 days traveled more than 300 leagues (Garces' third 
entrada). 

On Jan. 2 [read 8], 1774, he left Tubac with the 
expedition which was to open communication be- 
tween Sonora and Monterey, and having reached the 
mission of San Gabriel returned to the Colorado river 
to search the minds of the Indians and discover a 
way to New Mexico; for which purpose he visited 
many nations, and did not return to his mission till 
toward the end of September (Garces' fourth en- 
trada). 

In September, 1775, 3 he went to join the new expe- 
dition to the Puerto de San Francisco, from which he 
separated on Dec. 5, and alone visited the nations of 
the Rio Colorado down to its disemboguement in the 
sea, until Jan. 3, 1776. On Feb. 14 he started north 
[from Yuma], and with incredible difficulty went 
through very barbarous nations until he reached the 
Noches. Thence he proceeded to Moqui, and hav- 
ing come back through the Pimas reached his mission 

' This brings us to Garces' fifth entrada, which forms the main 
body of the present work. Nevertheless, I present Arricivita's 
summary here. His " September" is one month out: see p. 63. 



HIS LATER ENTRADAS. 9 

of Bac Sept. 17, 1776, having been gone altogether 
eleven months and four days [read 10 months and 27 
days], in which he traveled upward of 900 leagues, 
and saw more than 25,000 Indians [?]. 

About the end of August, 1779, he went by order 
of the comandante general to the Colorado. Find- 
ing the Indians much changed, he counseled them in 
their inquietude, and advised them what was neces- 
sary to avert evil consequences. But his advice was 
rejected, and when he took some unusual means of 
bringing them to vassalage, they raised the war cry 
and all was lost. From the moment that the padre 
arrived he knew that the rebels had urged upon the 
others to kill the priests; and in the ten months dur- 
ing which the uprising was delayed, and whilst he 
was aware that the rebellion was daily becoming more 
serious, he might have avoided death justifiably by 
escaping from the incessant danger in which he was 
placed. But his life was Christ, and to die was to be 
his reward. Life and death he regarded as equally 
good for his soul. For, if his life should be spared in 
the revolt of the Indians, with his life would he pay 
the debt he owed to the Lord; if he should die therein, 
in this way would he go to his reward, shedding his 
sacrificial blood; so he neither feared death nor 
sought to save his life. If the Master should not per- 
mit them to kill him, his whole life was to be em- 



10 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

ployed in his apostolic ministry and in preaching the 
Gospel; if it were His holy will that he should lose his 
life, he would go straight to glory (de repcnte lograri-a 
verle en la Gloria), and be freed from all the calamities 
of this life. . . 

The remainder of Arricivita's eulogy proceeds in 
similar vein, with merely a reference to the tragedy 
of July 17-19, 1781, in which Garces and three other 
priests were slain, together with almost all the other 
white men of the two mission-colonies which had 
been established on the Colorado, one at Yuma, and 
the other a few miles lower down. For details of the 
massacre we turn to Arricivita's chap. ix. of the same 
Fourth Book, entitled: Furiosa rebelion de los Yu- 
mas : matan a los quatro Padres, Soldados y Pobla- 
dores, y cautivan a sus hijos y mugeres. This I will 
give in part, in so far as relates to the actual event. 
But first for some of the circumstances leading up to 
the catastrophe which so soon followed upon the 
founding of these two settlements, mainly derived 
from Arricivita's two preceding chapters. 

The missions of Pimeria Alta were in a sad state 
in 1776; but the viceroy, Bucareli, had made arrange- 
ments for the founding of missions on the Gila and 
Colorado, under the protection of the presidios of 
Buena Vista and Horcasitas, which were to be trans- 



PALMA APPEARS ON THE SCENE. II 

ferred to those rivers. It was to this end that during 
Anza's expedition of 1775-76 Garces and his com- 
panion Eisarc were left on the Colorado to try the 
temper of the natives for the catechism and vassalage 
of the king. When Anza was again on the Colorado, 
in May, 1776, he found Eisarc well fixed at Yuma, 
but could learn nothing of Garces — very naturally, 
as the latter was just then afar in California. Anza 
returned to Horcasitas June 1, 1776. He was ac- 
companied by Eisarc, who drops out of the story at 
this point; and also by the Yuma chief, one Captain 
Palma, together with a brother of his, one Captain 
Pablo, a son of the latter, and a Cajuenche Indian. 
These four Indians Anza took on to the City of Mex- 
ico, where they were handsomely entertained, etc., 
as elsewhere narrated. Palma in particular was so 
impressed that he sought holy baptism and received 
it under the name of San Salvador; and he also 
begged that padres might be sent to his nation to 
instruct them in Christian doctrine. Bucareli ap- 
pears to have been not less pleased with Palma's un- 
equivocal evidences of sincerity, and all things seemed 
highly promising. 

Garces was still off on his peregrinations, not re- 
turning to Bac till Sept. 17, 1776, and being unable 
to send to His Excellency the desired reports, including 
ing his diary and Font's map, till January, 1777. He 



12 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

favored the project of establishing the new missions, 
but it was brought to a standstill by some new ar- 
rangements the King of Spain had ordered for the 
government of the Provincias Internas, by the crea- 
tion of a comandante general independent of the 
viceroy. Don Teodoro de Croix received this ap- 
pointment, and affairs of the provinces passed into 
the hands of new officials who were ignorant in the 
most important particulars. 

Palma was still in Mexico when the new command- 
ing general arrived. Anza was soon appointed 
governor of New Mexico, and thus the services of 
this sagacious and experienced officer were lost to 
the particular matter with which we are here con- 
cerned. Bucareli commended Palma to Croix, and 
some understanding between the viceroy and the new 
general was reached, whereby Croix gave Palma his 
word that he would soon arrange for padres and other 
Spaniards to settle among the Yumas, and macle 
some other promises which aftenvard gave the padres 
much trouble. Whereupon Palma departed much 
pleased, as already said. 

Among the diaries and other documents, there was 
delivered, by order of His Excellency, to the com- 
manding general a letter of Garces'. 4 To this the 

4 Evidently relating to his disagreeable experiences with the 
commanding officer of Monterey, as fully set forth in his Diary 
at date of Mar. 24, 1776, which see, beyond. 



CROIX IN COMMAND. 13 

general replied from Mexico in March, 1777, saying 
that he ordered the commandant of Monterey to treat 
kindly any Indians who might come to those estab- 
lishments from the Rio Colorado. The treatment 
which had been ordered in such cases was a matter 
which had moved Garces to protest, and excited fears 
amply justified by the event; for it seems to have been 
one of the factors in the insurrection of the Yumas 
and the dreadful massacre in which it ended. The 
commanding general also said in his reply that as to 
the projected transfer of the garrisons of Buena Vista 
and Horcasitas to the Colorado and Gila he would 
see about that. By this letter Garces first learned of 
the promotion of Croix to be commanding general, 
and sent him his compliments, together with Font's 
map of the expedition of 1775-76, when Font went as 
far as San Francisco and Garces to the Moquis. To 
all of this the commanding general replied with 
thanks, manifesting a great desire to proceed to So- 
nora, to carry into effect his plan of going in person 
to the Colorado and thence to Monterey. This 
would have been of great advantage to those prov- 
inces and to all the nations who were to be subju- 
gated; but though Croix so proposed, God so dis- 
posed that he was long detained by sickness at 
Chihuahua. 

By this time, early in 1777, the King of Spain had 



14 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCfs. 

received word of Palma's visit to Mexico, and seen 
the memorial in which the latter begged to be bap- 
tized, as well as the reports of the expeditions of 
1775-76. By letter dated Feb. 14, 1777, he ordered 
Croix to concede to Palma the promised missions and 
presidios, together with other things which, had they 
been attended to, would have facilitated the reduc- 
tion of so great a gentilism, and missions could have 
been founded with that solidarity so necessary in 
those remote and risky regions. The king was also 
graciously pleased to cause to be conveyed to Garces 
the royal approbation of his peregrinations of 
1775-76, etc., as appears by a letter Garces received, 
dated Mexico, Aug. 9, 1777. 

It was in March, 1778, that Palma, seeing no sign 
of fulfillment of the promises which had been made to 
him, went to Altar to find out what was the matter. 
The officer in command there was much embarrassed 
at Palma's importunities, but put him off by saying 
that the commanding general was disposed to go to 
the Colorado with priests and other Spaniards, but 
meanwhile was visiting some of the eastern presidios, 
on his return from which he would come to found 
missions and presidios on the Colorado. This 
quieted the anxiety of Palma, who went home to 
await the fulfillment of these promises. Time passed, 
the year ended, nothing was done, and Palma's peo- 



YUMA MISSIONS TO BE FOUNDED. 1 5 

pie taunted him, saying that he had been stuffed with 
lies. Being thus put to the blush, he made another 
journey to Altar, whose captain, Don Pedro Tueros, 
was then in command at Horcasitas. Palma also 
went there, and represented to the captain the reasons 
for his repeated importunities. The captain reported 
the whole case to the commanding general, who was 
still in Chihuahua. The king's order, which Croix 
had received, the promises made to Palma, and the 
reasonableness of the latter's insistence, determined 
the general to send padres to Yuma. On Feb. 5, 
1779, he wrote to the president of missions, and also 
to Garces, informing them of Palma's representa- 
tions; in consequence of which it was resolved that 
Garces, accompanied by another religious, should 
soon go to the Colorado to console the Yumas, and 
begin the catechism and baptism of those infidels. 

At the same time the Sonoran authorities were or- 
dered to furnish the necessary outfit of men and sup- 
plies. The padre presidente explored the mind of 
Padre Fray Juan Diaz, who had already been on the 
Colorado in 1774 with Anza and Garces, and this 
priest was selected to accompany Garces on the new 
enterprise. The political governor, Don Pedro Cor- 
balan, soon issued the necessary warrant. The mili- 
tary governor, Don Pedro Tueros, could not refrain 
from showing lukewarmness in detailing an escort, as 



1 6 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

his soldiers were few for the defense of the province, 
in which the Indians were rebellious, committing rob- 
beries and bloody outrages on every hand; however, 
he answered the letter in which he was asked for an 
ample escort by saying that Garces might pick out 
the smallest number of soldiers that would answer the 
purpose, as he could get along better with a few good 
ones than with many bad ones; but he did not desig- 
nate a certain number for the journey. This reserve 
was to justify his conduct, under the circumstances 
that there had arrived at the Presidio de Altar four 
Yumas, with the complaint that four Papagos had 
killed one of the former nation; whence it was feared 
that the expedition would find it difficult to pass 
through one of these nations to the other. 

This whole enterprise was a weighty matter requir- 
ing serious consideration; and from the first confer- 
ence which the president of missions had with Padres 
Diaz and Garces concerning the order of the general 
for them to go to the Colorado, natural reason urged 
that the padres should be ready to start as soon as 
the required outfit could be secured, but not before. 
The experienced padres realized the difficulties and 
dangers of establishing so distant a mission; at 
the same time they wished no delay, and were con- 
fident that the desired presidio would soon be estab- 
lished. But the discussion of ways and means was 



PROGRESS OF THE AFFAIR. I 7 

a long, tedious one, reaching the viceroy and the col- 
lege. Arricivita devotes several columns to the sub- 
ject, going into details hardly to be followed in the 
present slight sketch. 

The intended transfer of the forces from Buena 
Vista and Horcasitas was finally vetoed, in view of 
disturbances on all hands in Sonora. Garces was 
content to ask for no more than 15 soldiers and a ser- 
geant, whom he selected from the presidios of Tucson 
and Altar; but, in fact, 12 were all he received. The 
period from February through July, 1779, was con- 
sumed in preparations for the journey, and on Aug. 1 
Garces, with Diaz and their slender retinue, started 
for their destination via Sonoita, which place they 
reached in a few days, and left on the 10th for the 
Colorado, but were obliged to return for lack of 
water. Diaz remained while Garces started again to 
travel light, with two soldiers and one other. He 
reached Yuma late in the month, and on Sept. 3 sent 
the soldiers back to Diaz with information of the 
trouble he was already having through turbulency 
and dissensions among the Yumas and Jalchedunes. 
The soldiers reached Diaz at Sonoita, and at the same 
time a Papago reported that some of his nation had 
revolted and were disposed to attack the expedition 
en route; whereupon the handful of men with Diaz 
were inclined to abscond. The case reached the 



1 8 BIOGRAPHY OF GARC&S. 

higher authorities, and the padres were advised to 
postpone further operations. But they were firm, 
and in fact under orders of the commanding general 
to persevere. 

Diaz succeeded in joining Garces at Yuma on 
Oct. 2, with perhaps a dozen men. There was trouble 
from the start, owing to the wide discrepancy be- 
tween what Palma's people had been led to expect in 
the way of lavish gifts, and the beggarly kit which 
a couple of seedy friars had to divide among so many 
— to say nothing of the indigence of the priests and 
soldiers themselves, who almost lacked means of sub- 
sistence. Early in November Garces reported their 
necessitous condition. On the 3d the commanding 
general, who had recovered his health, arrived at 
Arizpe, where he received Garces' letter, and soon 
afterward Diaz reported to him in person. At this 
juncture Padre Fray Juan Antonio Barraneche (or 
Barrenche) was sent to Garces' assistance. 

During that winter of discontent, with Palma's dis- 
affection, many Indians in revolt, and everything 
hanging by the eyelids, much red tape was wound 
about the usual circumlocution; but it was finally de- 
termined to establish two foundations on the Colo- 
rado, formal orders for which were issued Mar. 20, 
1780. The scheme was a novel one — one so novel 
that Arricivita styles its author, Croix, " an artificer 



TWO MISSIONS ESTABLISHED. IO, 

of death " (artifice de morir). The plan was for 
neither a presidio, a mission, nor a pueblo, each of 
which was intelligible to a Spaniard, but a mongrel 
affair nobody could manage, combining features of 
all three such establishments; and there were to be 
two such mongrels. For the first of these were de- 
tailed a corporal, nine soldiers, ten colonists, and six 
laborers; for the second, a corporal, eight soldiers, 
ten colonists, and six laborers. Such were the two 
presidio-pueblo-missions established on the Colo- 
rado; the one at Puerto de la Purisima Concepcion, 
identical in site with modern Fort Yuma, and the 
other perhaps eight miles lower down the river, at 
a place called San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuner, near 
the site of modern Fort Defiance (Pilot Knob). The 
logic of events showed the whole business to be crim- 
inal stupidity, ending in a bloody catastrophe. 

The victims of this nuevo modo de conquistar, de- 
vised by politicos arbitristas unversed in such affairs, 
against the protests of the priests and the warnings 
of such an experienced officer as Anza, arrived at 
their appointed posts in the autumn of 1780. Arri- 
civita's census is: 20 families of settlers or colonists; 
12 of laborers, and 21 of soldiers; " all brought their 
wives and plenty of children." One padre, Matias 
Moreno, had meanwhile been added to the three al- 
ready mentioned; the non-commissioned officers were 



20 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

Ensign Santiago de las Islas, in whose charge the 
people came; Sergeant Jose (or Juan) de la Vega; 
Corporal Juan Miguel Palomino; and Corporal Pas- 
cual Rivera. To make bad matters worse, if possi- 
ble, with the Indians, the little horde of invaders pro- 
ceeded coolly to appropriate the best lands of the 
Yumas, whose milpas their horses and cattle soon 
damaged or destroyed. No wonder the savage abo- 
riginal proprietors of this demesne were ripe for 
treason, stratagem, and spoils by the time such char- 
acteristically Spanish arrangements for the temporali- 
ties had been completed, with Padres Garces and Bar- 
raneche in charge of the spiritualities at Concepcion, 
while Padres Juan Diaz and Matias Moreno under- 
took the cure of inflamed souls at Bicuner. 

This brings us back to Arricivita's ninth chapter, 
on the " furious rebellion of the Yumas," with which 
we started roundabout the sad story. We may imag- 
ine how the winter of their discontent on both sides 
wore on, but have no consecutive record of the rest 
of 1780 and the early months of 1781. But in June 
there arrived at Yuma Captain Fernando Xavier de 
Rivera y Moncada, then lieutenant governor of 
Lower California, who had before been commandant 
of the new establishments of Monterey, having come 
into that country in 1769. At this time he was from 
Sonora, with some soldiers and about 40 recruits for 



THE STORM BURSTS. 21 

the Californian settlements. Some of his people he 
sent back to Sonora, others he sent on to California, 
whilst he remained to his death with about a dozen 
men, in camp at the mouth of the Gila, directly op- 
posite Concepcion (Yuma). Thus the outraged and 
outrageous Yumas had three separate groups of 
Spaniards to massacre. 

The storm burst on Tuesday, July 17, 1781. At 
Concepcion Garces was saying mass to some of the 
people, mostly women, the rest of the settlers being 
scattered in the fields, excepting Ensign Islas and 
Corporal Baylon, the latter being on guard. Garces 
had just passed from the missal to the gospel of the 
day when a tumult arose, and the Indians besieged the 
church and other houses. Service was instantly sus- 
pended. Islas, who was in command, had hardly 
called to arms when he was clubbed to death and his 
body thrown in the river. Both padres survived the 
first outbreak, whilst the Indians were butchering 
right and left, and looting the houses; both heard con- 
fessions and administered the sacraments to some in 
the agony of death. The day passed, and fuc 'la 
noche triste ' at Concepcion. More effectual still was 
the havoc wrought that same day at Bicuner, the at- 
tack upon which had been simultaneous. There, 
Padres Diaz and Moreno were preparing to say mass 
and administer the viaticum when they were set upon 



22 BIOGRAPHY OF GARCES. 

furiously and both killed, as were Sergeant Vega and 
most of the soldiers, in the first onslaught. Only five 
men survived this day at Bicuiier, all the women and 
children were made captives, and the settlement was 
entirely destroyed. At Concepcion, where hostilities 
seem to have been suspended on the 17th after the 
first outrages, the assault was renewed on the after- 
noon of the 1 8th, about three o'clock, when the sav- 
ages returned from their attack upon Rivera's camp 
across the river, where the massacre had been com- 
plete — not a man escaped death. Concepcion was 
sacked and burned, and most of the men killed; but 
both priests were still spared, having found refuge 
with some of the Indians who remained their friends. 
It is related that Palma himself favored them, saying 
they were good men, who had done no harm, and 
should not be put to death. But on the 19th, at the 
instigation of a certain Nifora Indian, " vile slave and 
infamous apostate," who cried out, " If these are left 
alive, all is lost — they are the worst of all!" both 
Garces and Barraneche were beaten to death. 

Thus began in blunder and ended in blood, after 
enduring a few months, the only missions there ever 
were upon the Colorado. All four of the priests re- 
ceived the crown of martyrdom. The victims of the 
massacre were nearly or about 50 in number. Among 
the names of 20 soldiers and 14 settlers which have 



AFTER THE YUMA MASSACRE. 23 

reached us, there were the following- survivors: Jose 
Reyes Pacheco, Pedro Solares, Miguel Antonio Ro- 
mero, soldiers; Matias de Castro, Juan Jose Miranda, 
Jose Ignacio Bengachea, Jose Urrea, settlers. Two 
of the most remarkable features of the catastrophe 
are, that the victims were all, or nearly all, clubbed to 
death; and that all the women and children were 
spared — captured and enslaved, but not outraged. I 
do not know where to find the exact parallel of this 
in the annals of Indian massacre. 

The fame of so atrocious an affair flew on the 
wings of the four winds and soon reached the Span- 
ish authorities. Meanwhile, Ensign Limon, Rivera 
y Moncada's officer, who had escorted some of the 
latter's people to San Gabriel, returned from his trip 
with nine men, on Aug. 21st. He was attacked and 
repulsed with some loss, and hastened back with the 
news to San Gabriel, whence Governor Neve sent him 
by a different route with a report to Croix dated 
Sept. 1 st. In the other direction word was carried 
by the Pimas to Tucson, and by one of the survivors 
to Altar, reaching Croix in August. An expedition 
was soon on foot for the scene of the disaster, for the 
special purpose, it would seem, of recovering the 
bodies of the four priests; but punishment of the rebel 
apostates, and ransom of the captives, were among 
its objects. 



24 CONCLUSION OF BIOGRAPHY. 

There is no need here to protract the dismal story, 
either of operations in the field or of the long legal 
depositions which were taken and official reports 
which were made. The remains of the four martyrs 
were recovered, and finally laid to rest forever in one 
coffin in the church at Tubutama. But a few words 
concerning GarceY fellow laborers in so sadly watered 
a vineyard of the Lord may not be out of place. Bar- 
raneche, whose first work as a missionary ended at 
his death at the early age of 32 years, was born in 
1749 in the town of Lacazor, bishopric of Pamplona, 
and Kingdom of Navarre. He was in Cuba as a 
child, joined the Franciscans in 1768, and came to the 
college of Queretaro in 1773. Moreno's life as a 
missionary also began on the scene of his death. He 
was the son of Matias Moreno and Maria Catalina 
Gil, born at Almarza, in the jurisdiction of Soria and 
bishopric of Osma, and baptized May 24, 1744; he 
took his holy orders in 1762, and came to Mexico in 
1769. Diaz was a native of Alaxar in the bishopric 
of Seville, born in May, 1736. His real name was 
not Diaz, as he was son of Juan Marcelo and Feliciana 
Basquez, named Alonzo Diaz at his confirmation, and 
Juan Marcelo Diaz on taking holy orders. He came 
to the college of Queretaro in 1763; in 1768 he was 
assigned to the mission of Caborca in Pimeria Alta, 
and in 1774 was with Garces on Anza's expedition to 
San Gabriel. 



THE FOUR ENTRADAS OF GARCES. 
(1768-74-) 

In order to inform the reader fully of the condi- 
tions under which Garces undertook the journey of 
1775-76 which forms the body of the present work, it 
will be well to glance at his previous entradas of 1768, 
1770, 1 77 1, and 1774. I derive the following- data 
mainly from Arricivita's Cronica, which will also be 
found digested in Bancroft's Ariz, and N. M. 

I. GARCES' FIRST ENTRADA, TO THE GILA, 1 768. 

Arricivita's Chronicle, Mexico, 1792, devotes capi- 
tulo xiii, pp. 394-399, to the Entrada de los Misio- 
neros en Sonora, these Franciscans having left San 
Bias Jan. 20 and reached Guaymas May 9, 1768. His 
next chapter, pp. 400-404, treats of the Nuevos Tra- 
bajos de los Misioneros, etc., and here we find the 
record of Garces' First Entrada, pp. 403. 404, of 
which I give a brief summary: 

At this time Garces was the minister of San Xavier 
del Bac, bent on reaping a crop of souls for God and 
the King of Spain. He had sent messages to ran- 
cherias of the gentiles, was determined to visit them, 



26 FIRST AND SECOND ENTRADAS. 

and four Indians came to guide him. Hearing of 
this, a military officer sought to stop him, with the 
information that the Papagos, through whose lands 
Garces was to pass, had revolted. But the padre well 
knew this was a false manifest, and so left Bac on 
Aug. 29, 1768, with only one Indian of his mission 
and the four already said. He traveled about 80 
leagues west, north, and southeast, among many 
Papago rancherias, including a very large one on the 
Gila. This is about all we know of the journey; for 
the chronicler's chapter is mostly theological. Gar- 
ces appears to have been back in his mission of Bac 
by October, and fell sick with what is called an apo- 
plexy. Nevertheless, the report of the entrada of the 
missionary soon spread through all the rancherias of 
the gentiles who lived on the Gila; and, attracted by 
the sweet savor {bien olor) of Christ, whose faith and 
gospel Garces had announced, they were all rejoiced, 
especially at the prospect that he would come again 
to visit them. 

2. GARCES' SECOND ENTRADA, TO THE GILA, 1770. 

But various things, including Apaches and Seris, 
delayed Garces' return till late in 1770. We have a 
fuller account of this entrada in Arricivita, pp. 416, 
417, in substance as follows: 

In October of this year there was an epidemic of 



SECOND ENTRADA. 27 

measles, fever, and diarrheas throughout the prov- 
ince, of which diseases many died. A married wo- 
man fled from Bac; the Pimas Gilenos sent word to 
Garces that a converted Indian was very sick; and 
so, to retake the first, help the second, and comfort 
everybody, Garces left Bac Oct. 18, equipped only 
with charity and apostolic zeal, intending to return 
in five days. Traveling northwest, across a valley 
different from those of the Papagos, he inspected the 
rancherias of Cuitoat, Oapars, and Tubasa, some of 
whose inhabitants were at his mission, though he 
could not gather them all in, through their fear of 
speedy death. On the 19th he went westward in 
search of the sick man, among various rancherias, in- 
cluding Aquitun; on one roundabout he found a gen- 
tile, very old and very sick, whom he catechised and 
baptized with great gusto, and who presently died. 
On the 20th he reached the Gila, where the natives 
of Pitac received him joyfully, and there he baptized 
the sick children who were in greatest danger. 21st, 
he reached the spot where he had been in 1768, and 
where the governor assured him that they all wanted 
a padre to teach them; here he baptized 22, and was 
almost detained by force, but managed to break away, 
and went on down river where there were good crops 
and many rancherias, among them one on the other 
side named Napeut. The padre said mass, baptized 



28 SECOND ENTRADA. 

two aggravated cases of sickness, saw many people 
and good land, and was told that he was near the 
Opas, a nation who spoke the language of the Yumas 
and Cocomaricopas. Leaving the Indians who had 
accompanied him, he set out with only one of those 
of the Gila, who had a little pinole and jerked meat, 
and passing the pueblo of Sutaquison, and another 
large one lower down, he reached a saline on the 23d ; 
w r hence traveling northwest he arrived that night at 
the Opas whom he sought. The padre, being already 
pretty well up in Pima, talked to them in that idiom; 
they received him very well, and he could preach to 
them, because there were among them some old 
individuals who understood it. These Indians 
were quite curious, especially about Garces' dress, 
asking him whether he was a man or a woman, 
whether he was married or single, and other imper- 
tinent questions. These people and others of the 
same language extend along the Gila and Colorado, 
and also along the rivers Azul, Verde, Salado, and 
others which enter the Colorado; on which latter 
there are other nations who come down to trade with 
those said. 

Thinking of his mission of Bac, left without a min- 
ister, Garces inspected no more rancherias on the 
Gila, from which he turned away southward through 
a sierra which bordered on the river. On the after- 



SECOND ENTRADA. 29 

noon of a day not said he halted in a hut (xacal) where 
there seemed to be but few people, though more ap- 
peared that night. They gave him various reports 
through a Piman, who told him that in a pueblo of 
Opas there had been seen whites who had come to 
barter through Moquis. On the 28th he passed by 
various rancherias, accompanied by many men and 
boys, and halted in the house of a Pima of Sutaquison. 
There he saw six Indians from the Rio Colorado, 
whom he treated to pinole, and determined to keep 
on eastward, sick at heart (arrancandosele el corazon) 
to leave those people, some of whom were dying of 
measles, and only baptizing one child whom he found 
almost dead. After three days [Oct. 29-31] through 
a deserted region he arrived at the already known 
Papago rancherias, where he was told that most of 
the children and the old woman he had baptized were 
dead. 

Ninety leagues was the good padre's estimate of 
this journey, and he highly praised the fidelity of the 
only Indian who accompanied him the whole way. All 
those nations wondered at his coming to visit them 
otherwise unattended, and at discovering that he 
sought only to save their souls, and to preach heaven 
and hell to them, and explain to them God, of whom 
they were totally ignorant; for though they had some 
notion of a supreme power, said to be invoked at 



30 THIRD ENTRADA. 

sowing-time, or when they fell sick, he felt sure that 
their gods were the sun and moon, even in the 
rancherias most immediate to missions. 

Of all this excursion and apostolic foray did Padre 
Garces make a report and a prolix diary for the padre 
guardian and venerable elders in council, who placed 
it in the hands of Padre Presidente Fray Mariano. 
The report went its way through official channels to 
the Senor Visitador Don Jose de Galvez, who ap- 
proved it; and the upshot of much deliberation over 
plans for the founding of missions on the Gila was 
Garces' next entrada. . 

■u) 

3. GARCES' THIRD ENTRADA, TO THE GILA AND 
COLORADO, 1771. 

" Nuevo Viage que hizo el Padre Garzes a los rios 
Colorado y Gila en el aiio siguente de setenta y uno " 
is the title of Arricivita's chap, xvii, pp. 418-426. It 
opens with reference to the difficulties and dangers 
of this entrada, including a long extract from Garces' 
own diary on the subject. 

Packing on horseback the apparatus for saying 
mass, and accompanied by a very respectable Papago, 
Garces left San Xavier del Bac Aug. 8, 1771. Hold- 
ing westward he visited various rancherias, preached 
the gospel, and baptized those who needed it in their 
extremities — as for example, on the nth, a woman 



I111RD ENTRADA. 31 

who seemed to be more than a hundred years old, 
whom he catechised to her great relief. On the 12th 
he was at the pueblo of Ati; on the 15th, at a place 
called Cubac, where he preached, but had trouble 
through the infidelity of the interpreter. On the 
1 6th he announced to the governor of Sonoi [So- 
noita] his intention of going to the Yumas, and 
begged for guides; but that night, in the council or 
junta which he convened to propound to them Cath- 
olic truth and ineffable mysteries, the old men raised 
such insuperable objections that, if the governor had 
not been so good, and the padre so inflexible, the 
scheme would have miscarried. He continued west- 
ward until he could go no further for want of water, 
and consequently turned by way of the volcano of 
Santa Clara toward the Gila, which river was reached 
on the 22d, at an uninhabited place where there were 
such fine cottonwoods that the water was hidden from 
view. At a little distance was discovered another run- 
ning river, conjectured to be the Rio Azul, a branch 
of the Gila. After traveling all day, a little before 
sundown GarceV party were discovered by some In- 
dians named Noraguas, who lived on the other side 
of the river, and the padre wished to pass the night 
with them; but the Piman guides turned back, telling 
him that those were not good people, for they would 
steal all they could if he stayed with them. On the 



32 THIRD ENTRADA. 

23d many persons came across the river to see the 
padre, and there was another discussion of his inten- 
tion to proceed to the Yumas, against which all sorts 
of objections were urged by the governor of the Pi- 
mas: it was very far; they were not friendly; the road 
was risky on account of the Quiquimas; those Yumas 
knew nobody, and would take their scalps, etc. 
Thereupon the governor called his people together, 
and that night they sang and danced till daylight. 
All this was simply to detain the padre; but for two 
days he persisted in seeking the Colorado. No such 
river was found; the governor told him that thence- 
forward there were no good people, and went back 
to his rancheria. The Indian guides, persuaded by 
the other Pimas, refused to follow the padre. He 
delayed a day in hope of guides from Sonoitac; but 
none appeared, and he went on with some nine young 
fellows, as well as he could, on the way down to the 
Yumas, till they dared to go no further. He kept on 
alone all day, thinking it could not be much further, 
met with difficulties, and retraced his steps. He was 
again dissuaded by the Pimas, but was firm in his re- 
solve, and as no Sonoitac guides appeared, he once 
more set forth alone. Traveling southwest for two 
days, on the 30th his horse mired down twice, and he 
found himself in such a fix that he was obliged to re- 
turn to the rancherias. This was on or about Sept. I. 



THIRD ENTRADA. 33 

On the 8th, having procured a guide and baptized 
an adult and a child in articulo mortis, he set forth 
with some preparation for the journey; but the In- 
dian purposely broke the calabash of water, and said 
they could not proceed without it. The padre said 
they could keep near the Gila; but at noon the guide 
.took a horse and started back, expecting that the 
padre, finding himself alone, would do the same. 
Not so, however; for Garces continued for two days, 
and finding some tracks, with great difficulty reached 
the people who live in the woods or among the 
lagunas along the river. Great was their wonder to 
see him alone, and equal were the concourse and the 
courtesy with which they supplied him with all that 
they had. He passed on among various rancherias 
and many people. On the 12th he saw other ran- 
cherias, whose inhabitants were sorry that he would 
not stay with them, and the padre was grieved to see 
their affliction, many having been wounded and hav- 
ing had their houses burned, in a cruel assault their 
opponents the Quiquimas had made upon them. 
But having no fear of the Quiquimas, feeling sure he 
could recommend himself to these Indians as well as 
to others, he proceeded, and slept that night very 
close to the river. Next day, the 13th, he followed 
a trail and saw smoke on the other bank; but being 
unable to cross he continued down river westward, 



34 THIRD ENTRADA. 

nearly to the junction of the Gila with the Colorado, 
till the lagunas and tulares prevented his reaching 
that point, and he turned southward. 

At this date Garces was in the vicinity of Yuma, for 
the first time in his life. His course down the Gila 
is easy to trail as a whole, but not in detail. Now 
that he turns south, we have more difficulty in trac- 
ing his movements from the imperfect and somewhat 
confusing record in Arricivita. 

On the 14th, having passed a handsome plain, he 
found some brackish pools, and being unable to reach 
the Colorado, on account of the lagunas, he entered 
upon an extended strand. Here, going somewhat 
eastward in search of water, he found nothing but 
some skulls and skeletons of Indians; and seeing that 
neither water, nor grass, nor seeds, nor quelites were 
to be found, he turned northward, having traveled 
most of the night, and at dawn sought to rest a while ; 
whereupon his horse ran away with the saddle on. 
Being now unable to return the way he had come, he 
thought best to go westward, and thus came upon a 
great river which seemed to him larger than the Gila, 
though he thought it smaller than the Colorado. 
Here in dismay he knew not which way to turn, for 
there was nothing to eat on that bank of the river 
except a certain herb resembling hemp; so he re- 
solved to turn to the right-about, without looking for 



THIRD ENTRADA. 35 

his horse, which lie gave up for lost. Passing by 
lagunas and tulares all day of the 15th, he found his 
horse, which had come by a different route through 
the tulares and mud puddles. 

On the 1 6th he concluded that he could reach the 
mouth of the river on a direct south course, and find 
the Quiquimas. At a matter of two leagues he found 
a melon patch, and having refreshed himself, there 
arrived fourteen armed Indians, surprised to see the 
padre. By signs they asked him whence he came and 
where he was going. Then they gave him to under- 
stand that the Quiquimas were their enemies; that if 
he would go with them they would give him some- 
thing to eat; and they presently offered him some fish. 
Having turned back with them, he found 35 Yumas 
fishing; he dined with them, and says in his diary that 
one could learn humanity, politeness, and attention 
from these Indians; they joyfully took him to their 
village, and were at the trouble to make two rafts to 
cross him over the river; they also entertained him 
with singing and dancing in such fashion that he got 
no sleep, for they kept it up till morning. 

On the 17th none of them were willing to go 
further down river with him, and he could only per- 
suade one old man to accompany him to the junction 
of the rivers. They started, but something happened 
which made the old man desert, and the padre, after 



36 THIRD ENTRADA. 

floundering about on the 18th, in the marshes and 
puddles, returned on the 19th to the rancheria he had 
left, where the Indians came in troops to see him. 

It would scarcely be profitable, even were it possi- 
ble, to trace Garces' wanderings west of the Colorado 
and below the Gila. They were very devious, through 
the fitful refusals of Indians to take him where he 
wished to go, and his own inability to travel alone. 
He seems constantly turning about, gives few dis- 
tances, and is loose in his compass points; nor do I 
find him once at an identifiable locality. He seems 
not to have continued among the Yumas only, for 
he speaks of various others nations, including two 
called Niforas and Macueques. He also speaks of 
hearing from the Yumas of the padres of San Diego 
and of New Mexico. On the 22d he was at some 
rancherias where he heard the sweet names of Jesus 
and Mary pronounced Mensus and Marria, usually 
with the word Azan added to the first of these names; 
he made the Indians the sign of the cross, and they did 
the same. This seems to be a reminiscence of Kino, 
who was among these Indians nearly three-quarters 
of a century before Garces. On the 28th Garces ap- 
pears to have been near the mouth of the river, or at 
any rate near tide-water; for at dawn next day he dis- 
covered the Sierra Madre, and saw " a very large gap 
or opening in the mountains, which he thought was 



THIRD ENTRADA. 37 

the entrance of the Rio Colorado into the sea."" 
Exactly how far down river he pushed will probably 
never be known; but in his Diary of Dec. 20, 1775 
(see the date, beyond), he speaks of a place he called 
Rancheria de las Llagas in 1771, when he was there, 
the same being, he was convinced, the last rancheria 
down river, not now identifiable with any known spot. 
When and where on his return he recrossed the Col- 
orado from west to east is not clear. On the 7th of 
October we find him bearing eastward to seek the 
Gila. He was detained until the 12th by funeral 
ceremonies among the Yumas, eleven of whom had 
been killed in a fight with the Cocomaricopas and 
Pimas Gileiios. 

Oct. 12, the Indians offered to take the padre in 
four days' journey to the Indians of Cujant or to 
Zuniga, and he chose the former direct route to> 
Sonoitac. On the 13th, the text says, he recrossed 
(repaso) the Gila on a raft — a statement not clear, as 
we do not see how he could recross a river he had 
never once crossed, nor do we know how he can be 
supposed to have been anywhere north of the Gila; 
perhaps this statement should be taken to indicate his 
otherwise unsaid crossing of the Colorado from west 
to east, at the place where he had first crossed it, not 
far below the mouth of the Gila. However this may 
be, we find him on the 15th on the usual route to 



38 FOURTH ENTRADA. 

Caborca (por las jomadas acostumbradas se dirigio el 
Padre d Caborca). His diary ends Oct. 27, in the 
following pleasant manner: 

" Poco a poco comiendo pitahallas regaladisimas, 
llegue a Caborca ceiiido con el panuelo de narizes, 
pues habiendose acabado la reata, hube de valerme 
del cordon, y este como viejo tambien se acabo: 
quando sali al viage estaba malo y se me hinchaban 
las piernas, y pensaba en salir a curarme, y ahora 
estoy hasta la presente, gracias a Dios, sin novedad 
chica ni grande, y asi aunque no hubiera otro 
motivo, basta para estos viages el ser proficuos para 
vivir en San Xavier." 

4. GARCES' FOURTH ENTRADA, TO THE GILA, COLO- 
RADO, AND MISSION OF SAN GABRIEL IN CALI- 
FORNIA, 1774. 

( With Padre Juan Diaz, under Capitan J. B. de Anza.) 

Arricivita's Libro Quarto, Capitulo Primero, pp. 
450-456, entitled Expedicion que se mando hacer 
para la comunicacion de la Sonora con los nuevos 
establecimientos de Monterey, records this notable 
entrada at some length. The best account is said to 
be Anza's own MS., entitled Descubrimiento de 
Sonora a Californias, aiio de 1774. 

Anza's expedition, consisting of himself, Garces, 



FOURTH ENTRADA. 39 

and Diaz, an Indian guide named Sebastian, 34 men 
in all, with 65 cattle and 140 horses, left the Pre- 
sidio de Tubac Jan. 8, 1774. By way of Caborca 
the journey continued to the mission de San Mar- 
celo de Sonoytac on the 28th. Arricivita is very 
curt along here, but from other sources the route can 
be traced pretty closely. From Tubac one league to 
ford of San Ignacio, Jan. 8th; valley of Arivac, 9th; 
Agua Escondida, 10th; to Saric, 13th; La Estancia, 
14th; Ati, 15th; Oquitoa, 16th; Presidio de Altar, 
17th; Pitic, 19th; and Caborca next day. Then, to a 
place named San Ildefonso at this date, 22d; Aribaipa 
or San Eduardo, 23d; San Juan de Mata, a water 
pool, 24th; Quitobac or San Luis Bacapa, a rancheria, 
26th; whence to Sonoita on the 28th. Greater than 
before was the difficulty with which the party kept on 
through grassless and waterless deserts past places 
two of which were Carrizal and Purificacion, till Feb. 
5, when they reached a scanty aguage hidden in a 
profound arroyo, and hence called Agua Escondida, 
duplicating a name. They there found a Papago who 
had come from the Yumas. From him they learned 
of natives who were wavering in their allegiance to 
the Yuman captain Palma, unfriendly toward the 
whites, and disposed to loot the whole outfit. 

This news gave them great uneasiness, and they 
determined to dispatch the Papago with a message to 



40 FOURTH ENTRADA. 

Palma, to see what could be done to pacify the mal- 
contents. He returned in a day or two, accompanied 
by some Papagos and Yumas, with demonstrations of 
joy, minimizing the former report, and saying that 
the only reason why Palma himself did not come was 
his absence from home. Anza and the padres, seeing 
that they were welcome to these Indians and others 
that continually arrived, determined to halt not till 
they reached the Gila and camped on its banks. 
Palma soon arrived, with many others of his nation, 
mostly on horseback; all were jubilant over the com- 
ing of the Spanish captain and priests. Palma con- 
tinued to give such unequivocal proofs of ability and 
loyalty that Anza confirmed his chieftainship and 
hung about his neck a silver medal with a bust of his 
Catholic majesty, advising him to be an obedient vas- 
sal of the king, and faithful to the allegiance he owed 
to the Spaniards. 

In the place where the expedition was on Feb. 7, 
the Gila joined a small arm of the Colorado given off 
a few leagues higher up, thus forming an island large 
enough for the residence of Palma and a part of his 
Yumas. (This island is the one which became 
known as Isla de la Trinidad: practically the site of 
Kino's San Dionisio of 1700, and directly across the 
Colorado from the Mision de la Concepcion of 1780- 
81.) One day, apparently Feb. 8 (or two days, Feb. 



FOURTH ENTRADA. 4 1 

8 and 9), the expedition crossed the united Gila and 
Colorado by a good though devious ford, guided and 
aided by the natives, and camped in the vicinity, 
where Anza took his geodetic observations. Here 
is the initial point of the entrada into California. — " 

It is impossible to trace the route henceforth from 
Arricivita with requisite precision; but coupling the 
old chronicler's account with data derived from An- 
za's MS. diary, as digested in Bancroft's Hist. Cal. i, 
pp. 222, 223, we can follow the expedition approxi- 
mately. 

In three or four days, Feb. 10-12 or 9-13, the ex- 
pedition went to or was at a place called Laguna de 
Santa Olaya, 9! leagues about S. W., formed by the 
Colorado in times of overflow. The name appears to 
have been bestowed on this occasion. Palma went 
part way and then turned back, amidst tears and 
other amotions, because Santa Olaya belonged to the 
Cajuenches. Feb. 13 or 14, the expedition plunged 
into the desert beyond, only to be forced back to 
Santa Olaya on the 19th, and to remain there till 
Mar. 2. The interval was employed by the priests 
in their holy functions, and Garces alone made a six 
days' tour among the rancherias, getting back to 
camp Mar. 1. ' 

On the 2d, Anza left most of his baggage, horses, 
and cattle in charge of Paima, starting for the new 



42 FOURTH ENTRADA. 

establishments of Monterey with only the most neces- 
sary supplies. That day they traveled through 
Cajuenche rancherias, which Garces had visited in 
1 771; they all cried Jesus Maria, and delivered up to 
Garces four idols, three of which he smashed with 
great gusto, while the soldiers kept the other one. 
This day's camp was at a spot called Laguna del 
Predicador (Preacher's lagoon). 

Mar. 3-5, westerly, with a sierra on the left, and 
over hills, to some waterholes called Pozos de San 
Eusebio. Mar. 6, to Santo Tomas, in the sierra. 
Mar. 7, 8, northerly, to Pozos de Santa Rosa de las 
Lajas (Wells of St. Rose of the Flat Rocks). At 
this point the expedition was supposed to have ad- 
vanced 18 leagues in air line from Santa Olaya. Mar. 
0, 10, north 11 leagues to a large cienega in the 
Cajuenche country, called San Sebastian Peregrino. 
Mar. 11, continuing along the same cienega. Mar. 
12, six leagues westnorthwest to San Gregorio. 
Mar. 14, six leagues to Santa Catarina. Next day, 
apparently, six leagues northerly to Puerto de San 
Carlos, about where ended the widespread Cajuenche 
nation, and began another which on his former jour- 
ney Garces called los Danzarines, the Dancers, on ac- 
count of the violent movements of the hands and feet 
they made when they talked. Mar. 16, 17, to La- 
guna de San Patricio, supposed to be eight leagues 



FOURTH ENTRADA. 43 

direct from Santa Catarina. Mar. 18, to Valle de 
San Jose, on a fine stream, observed as in lat. 33 46'. 
Mar. 19, to Laguna de San Antonio de Bucareli. 
Mar. 20, to Rio de Santa Ana. Mar. 21, to Arroyo 
de los Osos, or de los Alisos, Bear or Alder gulch. 
Mar. 2.2, the expedition arrived at the Mision del 
Gloriosisimo Principe San Gabriel — that is, the still 
existent and well-known San Gabriel mission, in the 
vicinity of present Los Angeles, Cal. It was then 
taken to be 40 leagues from San Diego, and 120 from 
Monterey. The whole distance actually traveled 
from Caborca was set down at 240 leagues, reducible 
to about 200 by avoiding detours. 

Having reached San Gabriel out of everything, 
Anza determined to travel light to Monterey, to re- 
plenish his outfit. At the same time the R. P. F. 
Junipero Serra, later on the most famous Californian 
missionary, arrived at San Gabriel from San Diego, 
where he left a religious with requisite instruments 
for geodesy; and Padre Diaz went there for him. 
Garces, under orders received from Anza, left with an 
outfit for the Colorado, where he was to await the re- 
turn of the expedition. He made this return trip in 
12 days and a half (at dates not said, and without in- 
cident, except the discovery of some rascality of the 
Danzarines). 

On May 1 Anza reached Monterey, which he left 



44 FOURTH ENTRADA. 

in three days with Paclre Diaz; and traveling in 
Garces' tracks for eight days, a distance supposed to 
be 80 leagues, they arrived at the junction of the Gila 
and Colorado, where they were received by Palma 
and his Yumas with grand jubilation and all possible 
obsequy. The Indians made a raft and ferried them 
over to the place where Garces had his camp. There 
he found that the soldiers and muleteers who had 
been left to guard the convoy had fled to Caborca, 
having become panic-struck at a rumor that his party 
and himself had been massacred. 

On May 15 Anza and Diaz resumed their march, 
accompanied by Garces, until the 21st; and happily 
arrived at the Presidio de Tubac on the 26th. This 
is nearly all Arricivita has to say about it; but from 
other sources we trace their route briefly, as follows : 
Started up the south bank of the Gila, May 15; passed 
San Pascual, 17th; to first Cocomaricopa rancheria, 
called San Bernardino, 18th; continuing, passed 
through Upasoitac, or San Simon y Judas, 21st; to 
Piman rancheria of Sutaquison, 22d; to Tutiritucar 
(Uturituc, or San Juan Capistrano), 23d; to near 
Casas Grandes, 24th; turning south away from river, 
to Tucson, 25th; through Bac, to Tubac, 26th. 

But Garces, who had been specially charged by 
high authority to investigate the feasibility of open- 
ing communication between Monterey and New 



FOURTH ENTRADA. 45 

Mexico, was left on the Gila without an escort — with 
nobody but one of Anza's servants. From the 
Pueblo de Oparsoitac, which had been named that 
of San Simon y Judas, he sought to reach the Yabi- 
pais or Niforas, but the Indians would not permit 
this, on account of existing hostilities. Two Jalche- 
dunes of the Rio Colorado, informed of the affair, 
said that they were friends of the Yabipais, who went 
to pueblos where there were padres. So Garces de- 
termined to go with these Jalchedunes to their lands; 
but Anza's servant took fright and Garces left him in 
charge of the Pimas. 

Confiding in divine providence and trusting to the 
good will of the Indians, Garces traveled about 30 
leagues to a large laguna inhabited by Jalchedunes. 
Further on among these Indians he saw very many of 
them, and large crops of wheat; he went to their con- 
fines, and named some Rancherias de San Antonio 
(as we are told beyond, at date of Aug. 6-8, 1776), 
but no further up the Colorado, for next came .the 
Quilmurs, their cruel enemies. He sought what in- 
formation he could regarding the Moquis, whom he 
was very anxious to visit; but finding it impossible 
to go there, he turned back with one Jalchedun 
chosen as his guide, who carried a pot of water on his 
head, in one hand a firebrand, and in the other a stick 
with which to stimulate the jaded horse; notwith- 



46 FOURTH ENTRADA. 

standing which impedimenta, whenever the padre 
needed it the Indian would make him a porridge of 
wheat flour, their only provision for the journey. In 
such plight he reached the Cocomaricopas, who 
passed him on to the Pimas Gilenos. The latter had 
returned from a campaign against the Apaches, and 
their horses were worn out; so Garces was detained 
among them for some days, for which he was con- 
soled by finding them well inclined to christianism. 

Garces did not thence regain his mission of San 
Xavier del Bac by the route the expedition had taken, 
but by way of some wells by which in the driest sea- 
son the route is practicable from the Gila. His long, 
arduous peregrination ended on July 10, 1774, when 
he entered his mission, having seen in all those terri- 
tories, according to the prudent estimate he made of 
their population, about 24,000 gentiles. 



The foregoing brings Garces up to the date of his 
Fifth Entrada, 1775-76, which forms the subject of 
the work now before us. 



DIARY OF GARC^S. 

1775-76. 



CHAPTER I. 

OFFICIALITIES AND OTHER PRELIMINARIES, TO 
OCTOBER 21, 1775.* 

Diary kept by Padre Fray Francisco Garces, son 
of the College of the Holy Cross of Queretaro, 1 on 
the journey that he made in the year 1775 [and 1776] 
by command of the Most Excellent Senor Don Fr. 
Antonio Maria Bucareli y Vrsua, 2 lieutenant-general, 
viceroy, governor, and captain-general of this New 
Spain, made known by his letter of 26 of January of 
the same year, determined in the council of war held 
at Mexico on the 28th of November of the preceding 
year, and likewise ordered by the Reverend Padre 
Fray Romualdo Cartagena, guardian of said college, 
by letter of 20th of January of '75, and by his suc- 
cessor the Reverend Padre Fray Diego Ximenez by 

* The notes to this chapter are too long to be set on the pages 
where they belong. They will be found at the end of the chapter. 



48 OFFICIALITIES. 

letter of 17th of February of the same year; in which 
I am ordered, together with another religious, to join 
Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan Bautista de Ansa 3 and 
the Reverend Padre Fray Pedro Font, 4 who go to the 
Puerto de San Francisco; and accompanying them to 
the Rio Colorado, there to wait their return with the 
companion that I may have with me; and in the 
meanwhile to examine the country, treat with the 
neighboring nations, and investigate the animus and 
adaptability (el ammo y disposition) of the natives for 
the catechism and vassalage of our sovereign. 5 

Preliminary Remarks. 

This Diary is accompanied by a map, which P. F. 
Pedro Font has made with the greatest care, I being 
present to give him at least all those notes from the 
Diary which could serve to the end that it should 
prove correct. The observations, courses, and dis- 
tances that I give, as far as Laguna de Santa Olalla, 8 
are the same as those that are given in his diary and 
map by the said Font, in whose company I went to 
the Rio Colorado, and whom I met again at said 
laguna. The rest I made with the quadrant fur- 
nished me by said padre; but through my lack of 
practice they cannot come out exact. On the map 
is found the route marked with dots, with numbers of 



PRELIMINARIES. 49 

the jornadas for greater clearness; as also are con- 
spicuous the nations, and the names thereof, with 
smaller dots, in order that may be better understood 
their location and the direction in which it extends; 
though it is true that this is to some extent based only 
on prudent estimates. Having seen such a variety 
of nations, their respective friendships, hostilities, and 
commerces, though not at one and the same time; 
and inasmuch as, through what was said to me in 
some of them and what I saw in others, I learned in 
one nation what had not been told me in another; it 
has seemed to me proper to give separate notices of 
them all at the end of the diary; and, by bringing to- 
gether all the information acquired, to show the con- 
nection of every nation with all the others — which are 
the dominant ones, which are friendly, which are hos- 
tile; their commerces, and the extent of such; and 
finally, as a consequence of all this, to set forth the 
means which experience has shown me to be the best 
to the end of entirely subduing the Apache nation 
and of facilitating the communication of Monte-Rey 
and of New Mexico with these Provinces. 7 

Agreeably to orders, Padre Fray Tomas Eisarc 9 
was designated as my companion. Foreseeing that 
I could not explain myself better to the Indians than 
with images of the kind most familiar to their sight, 
I determined to carry a linen print of Maria Santisima 



50 QUERETARO. 

with Nino Dios in her arms, having on the other side 
the picture of a lost soul. 9 In all the entradas 10 I 
have made among the gentiles I have observed that 
the divine crucifix which I wore on my breast caused 
their devotion; they adored it, and confessed to me 
that it was a good thing, as will be seen beyond. 

Notes. 

1 Queretaro is at present a flourishing place, the capital of the 
Mexican State of the same name, situated in a valley some 
1 10-120 miles N. W. of Mexico; it has a pop. approx. of 40,000. 
Among its notabilia are the numerous churches and other eccle- 
siastical edifices, manufacturing establishments, and especially 
the fine aqueduct built at the expense of the Marques de Villar 
del Aquila, whose statue stands in one of the plazas. Late his- 
torical matters are principally two: The ratification here of 
peace between the United States and Mexico by the Guadalupe- 
Hidalgo treaty of 1848; and the capture and execution in 1867 
of the estimable gentleman who would be emperor — for Maxi- 
milian took refuge here in February of that year, was captured 
on May 15 by the force under General Escobedo, and on June 19 
was shot, with his Generals Miramon and Mejia, on the Cerro 
de las Campanas, or Hill of the Bells, overlooking the town. 

But the history of Queretaro goes back to the ancient period 
when it was an Indian pueblo whose site had been captured by 
Spanish allies. It became a city in 1655, and has always been 
one of the soundest strongholds of Spanish ecclesiasticism in 
Mexico, since the foundation of the College of the Holy Cross, 
of which our author was a " son." The first official chronicle 
of this college was written by the R. P. Fr. Isidro Felis (or 
Felix) de Espinosa, and published at Mexico in the year 1746. 
It makes a folio volume, the major part of the title of which is: 



quer£taro. 51 

Chronica Apostolica, y Seraphica de Todos los Colegios de 
Propaganda Fide de esta Nueva-Espana, de Missioneros Frau- 
ciscanos Observantes: erigidos con autoridad pontifica, y regia, 
para la reformacion de los Fieles, y Conversion de los Gentile^ 
Consagrada a la Milagrosa Cruz de Piedra, que como titular se 
venera en su primer Colegio de Propaganda Fide de la muy 
Ilustre Ciudad de San-Tiago de Queretaro. The chronicler, 
Espinosa, who was ex-guardian, etc., of said college, brings 
his work down to date, in what was designed to be a Parte 
Primera of the whole history of the institution, and which 
proved in fact to be such when the story was resumed in a com- 
panion volume published in 1792, as Segunda Parte, by Arri- 
civita, whom I have already so extensively quoted regarding 
the biography and previous entradas of Garces. Espinosa's 
work is a faithful and valuable chronicle, in all material facts; 
but the author was an adept in the superstitious bigotry of his 
day and generation, and dwells with true sacerdotal unction 
upon the miraculous. 

The record ostensibly begins with the year 1445, in Espi- 
nosa's first chapter, treating of the foundation of the Pueblo 
de Queretaro in the time of Mothecusuma Ilhuicamina, " first 
of that name." Chapter ii gives the origin v.T the most holy 
cross of stone with heavenly portents and other prodigies, and 
tells how it was planted on the very spot where it continued to 
be venerated from 1531 for the 210 years thence to 1741, when 
Espinosa wrote his book. Chapter iii establishes with greater 
firmness what went before, says who were the first ministers, 
describes Queretaro, etc. Chapter iv describes the cult of the 
most holy cross, and how it grew apace. In chapter v our 
miraculous stone cross manifests its strange tremors and other 
movements; in chapter vi we have the portent of the growth 
of the cross " experimentally authenticated." Chapter vii de- 
scribes the miracles which the cross worked upon its devotees; 
and yet other miracles operated in Espinosa's own time are 
given in chapter viii. All of which ia rattier curious than edify- 



52 QUERETARO. 

ing; but after thus setting his stage with the usual theological 
properties the author proceeds to sober history, which may be 
used with confidence that it is the best chronicle we possess 
regarding the foundation and early history of the Queretaronian 
College of the Holy Cross of which Garces speaks. 

It appears from Espinosa, and from other authorities accessi- 
ble to me, or digested by Bancroft in Hist. Mex., ii, p. 539, seq., 
that the 25th of July, 1522 or 1531, was the date of a battle 
which may be considered as opening the present case. In those 
years Aztec civilization extended little beyond the valley of 
Mexico, and wild tribes of the mountain fastnesses had the col- 
lective name of Chichimecos. The first expedition against 
them seems to have been undertaken not by the Spaniards, but 
by their Mexican and Otomi allies. We hear of a certain 
christianized Otomi cacique named in Spanish Nicolas de San 
Luis de Montanez, who with the cacique called Fernando de 
Tapia raised a force to fight the Chichimecos on that July 25. 
The enemy, to the alleged number of 25,000 (!), were posted 
on a hill near Queretaro, afterward called Cerrito Colorado or 
Sangre Mai; so they had the advantage of position, while the 
allies had the offsetting advantage of Spanish weapons of war. 
The heroics of the situation, just before the fight began, have 
come down to us in this shape: " O you brave men, perched on 
a hill," cries San Luis, " come down and fight, if you are not 
afraid! " " Very fine, no doubt, you renegade dogs of the Span- 
iards," says the Chichimec chieftain called Coyote; "lay aside 
your borrowed weapons and we will come down." " Unman- 
nerly and beastly Chichimecos that you are," says San Luis, 
"we can whip you with no weapons. See! we lay them all 
aside; heap yours on them, put a guard over all, and come on! " 
So they went at it tooth and nail, like fighting cocks (d 
puneles y patadas y a mordidas camo gallos, says one chronicler). 
Well, the allies whipped the Chichimecos, some of the latter 
were baptized later by one Padre Juan Bautista, and thus the 
scene opens on Queretaro, in 1522 or 1531 — the latter date being 



QUERETARO. 53 

assigned by most chroniclers, the former by San Luis himself, 
who adds to his story the interesting statement that the sun 
stood still during the battle, and the Virgin Mary, the apostle 
St. James, and St. Francis appeared upon the scene. Espinosa 
draws it more mildly, being content with the apparition of St. 
James standing by the side of a bright red-and-white cross 
which was visible through the smoke of the arquebuses, and 
which decided the contest. The Chichimecos would seem to 
have experienced not only a reverse in war, but a speedy and 
total change of heart; nothing would satisfy them but the erec- 
tion of a real cross of stone, to commemorate the apparition of 
the heavenly one on the very spot — a cross which should be 
everlasting (para siempre jamas). So a stone-cutter who hap- 
pened to be conveniently at hand, and was appropriately named 
Juan de la Cruz, was miraculously guided to a quarry of red, 
white, and blue stone, out of which he shaped the required 
object, three varas tall, in the course of 24 hours. " Se formo 
de cinco piedras blancas y roxas milagrosamente halladas." 
Other miracles followed in due course; for example, San Luis 
says, " Parece que estabamos en la gloria, se aparecio alii una 
nube blanca, tan hermosa, sombreando a la santa cruz y tenien- 
dola cuatro angeles; luego el olor que olia tan hermoso que 
todos lo vimos que luego hizo milagro la santa cruz." While 
they were thus in glory with four angels in sight, and things 
were smelling so sweet, it would seem that some practical per- 
son had ground measured around the holy cross for a church, 
and made certain land grants; but we hear of no settlement of 
Queretaro till the time assigned for its becoming a town or 
city, about 1555, as above said. The cross not only enjoyed 
voluntary motion, but in due time grew exactly one vara bigger 
than it had been at first. " The first Franciscans in Queretaro 
lived in the small straw convent where the holy cross was sub- 
sequently kept; afterward they moved to the principal convent, 
which about 1566 was placed by the Santo Evangelio under the 
province of Michoacan," Bancroft, I. c. Espinosa's statement 



54 QUERETARO. 

to like effect is in these words, cap. iv, p. n: " Consta de testi- 
monies autenticos, que tengo a la vista, averse colocado nuestra 
Cruz, al tiempo de la Conquista de Queretaro: y que entonces 
se le formo Hermita de materiales campestres, y se hicieron 
Celdas pajizas para los Religiosos pocos que avia, y una 
vivienda contigua, que sirvio de Hospital para curacion de los 
Naturales. Este fue en aquellos principios el primer Convento, 
y la primera Iglesia que huvo en Queretaro para administrar 
los Santos Sacrametos; y podemos con razon affirmar aver sido 
la primitiva Parroquia, pues en ella se bautizaban, casaban, 
y enterraban los que se convirtieron del Gentilismo." 

The name Queretaro is given as a Tarascan word meaning 
a game of ball, or a place where the game is played, and as 
equivalent in this sense to a Mexican word Taxco or Tlacho, 
also sometimes used as the name of the same settlement. On 
desiring Mr. Hodge to look up this matter, I am favored with 
the following: Simeon, Diet, de la Langue Nahuatl, gives, under 
tlachochololtiliztli, " action de lancer, de jeter une balle." Under 
chololiztli I find: " fuite, saut, chute, courant." Antonio Pena- 
fiel, in his Nombres Geograficos de Mexico, gives Tlachco: 
" En el juego de pelota," de tlachtli y co, que designa lugar. 
Dice el P. Baltasar de Medina en la Cronica de la Provincia de 
San Diego (fol. 250, aho de 1682) : ' El nombre de Tlacho, que 
es su propia voz, quiere decir: jugadero de pelota; entretenimi- 
ento que usaron con varias ceremonias los indios llamando al 
lugar donde jugaban Tlachco, como refiere Torquemada. No ha 
faltado quien juzgue que esta voz Tazco que prevalece hoy, es 
imposcion de los Espanoles, con memoria de la que refiere 
Plinio, describiendo una tierra blanca, semejante a la arcilla, 
a proposito para formar de ella crisoles y hornazas: calidades 
de aquel suelo en algunas partes.' Simeon, above cited, gives 
under Tlachtli: " Jeu de balle, sorte de jeu de paume, dispose 
ordinairement dans une salle basse, longue et etroite. Une raie, 
que Ton nommait tlecotl, etait tracee au milieu du jeu; on y 
faisait usage de balles en ullin ou caoutchouc." Regarding the 



BUCARELI. 55 

word Queretaro Mr. Hodge notes the following in Orozco y 
Berra, Geografia de las Lenguas, 1864, p. 259: " En aquella 
sazon retorno Bocanegra con el religioso prometido: ambji 
fueron cordialmente recibidos, y otomies y chichimecas tunda- 
ron la ciudad Queretaro, nombre que vino, de que en la 
primera visita de Hernan Perez, los tarascos que le acompaha- 
ban llamaron al lugar Querenda (pefia), de donde derivo decir 
a la poblacion Querendaro (pueblo de peiia), y corrompido el 
vocablo se dijo Queretaro. Conni recibio en el bautismo el 
nombre de D. Hernando de Tapia, muriendo hacia el afio de 
1571: la relacion de prodiga muchas alabanzas, atribuyendo'.e 
grandes virtudes y los adelantos de la poblacion." 

! El Bailio Fr. D. Antonio Maria de Bucareli y Ursua, Hene- 
strosa, Laso de la Vega, Villacis y Cordova, Caballero Gran 
Cruz, y Comendador de la Bobeda de Toro (or de la Tocina) en 
el orden de San Juan, Gentil Hombre de la Camara de su Ma- 
gestad con Entrada, Teniente General de los Reales Exercitos, 
Virrey, Gobernador y Capitan General del Reyno de Nueva 
Espafia, Presidente de su Real Audiencia, Superintendente Gen- 
eral de Real Hacienda, Presidente de la Junta de Tabaco, Juez 
Conservador de este Ramo, y Subdelegado General de la Renta 
de Correos Maritimos en el mismo Reyno, etc. 

Otherwise Sir Anthony M. Bucareli, etc., Grand Cross Knight 
Commander of the Vault of the Bull (or of the Tocina— what- 
ever that may be) in the Order of St. John of Malta, Gentleman 
of His Majesty's chamber with right of entrance, Lieutenant- 
General of the Royal Armies, Viceroy, Governor and Captain- 
General of the Kingdom of New Spain, President of its Royal 
Audience, Superintendent General of the Royal Exchequer, 
President of the Tobacco Commission, Judge Advocate of that 
Branch, and Subdelegate General of Marine Mail Revenue in 
the same Kingdom, etc. — at a salary of $60,000 to $80,000 a year, 
was nevertheless a truly good as well as a very great man, and 
the forty-sixth viceroy of New Spain, now commonly and con- 
veniently called Bucareli for short. 



56 BUCARELI. 

It has been said that probably his right of way in the king's 
chamber was not granted till after 1776; but I find this title on 
a printed document bearing his autograph signature of date 
Mar. 9, 1776 (see accompanying plate). All of his many auto- 
graphs I have inspected are written " Bucarely," but the last 
letter is really a flourished i, not to be printed y. He was a 
native of Seville, related to noble families of Spain and Italy, 
and descended on the paternal side from a Florentine family 
which included popes, cardinals, and other dignitaries, while the 
Ursuas, on his mother's side, were related to dukes of Albur- 
querque, Lerma, Denia, Alba, Arcos, etc. His portrait, by Fran- 
cisco Antonio Vallejo, 1772, hangs in the Museo Nacional of 
Mexico, and a print is inserted on p. 852 of Mexico a T raves de 
los Siglos. A promenade in the City of Mexico bears some of 
his name. 

This nobleman had served with distinction in various military 
and high civil capacities and was governor of Cuba when he 
received from Carlos III. the viceroyalty of New Spain. He 
left Habana Aug. 14, 1771, reached Vera Cruz 23d, and was 
met at the Pueblo de San Cristobal Ecatepec by an official 
deputation on Sept. 2, then and there receiving the viceregal 
baton from his predecessor, Marques de Croix. His entry into 
the capital next day, the 3d, was triumphal: and he took oath 
of office as viceroy, governor, captain-general, president of the 
Real Audiencia, etc., which he held until his untimely death on 
Apr. 9, 1779. His administration was wise, strong, beneficent, 
and happy; he made an ideal ruler, beloved and honored by all. 
His eulogists were many: one of them says that his period may 
be called " an epoch of uninterrupted felicity for New Spain. 
Divine Providence would seem to have rewarded his virtues by 
visiting every sort of prosperity upon the country over which 
he ruled." The body lay in state at the palace till the 13th, was 
that day deposited in the convent of San Francisco, and the 
remains were finally interred in the colegiata of Guadalupe on 
Oct. 29, after the heart and other viscera had been divided as 



-(*)> 



" 



EL BAILIO F R .D. ANTONIO MARIA BUCARELI Y URSUA, 

Enedrofa, Lafo.de la Vega, Villacisy Cdrdova, Caballcro Gran Cruz y Comendidor 
de la B6beda dc Toro en el Orden de S. Juan, Gentil I lombre de Camara de S M, 
con entrada, Teniente General de loi Reales ExeVcitos, Virrey Gobernador y Capital! 
General del Reyno de Nueva Efpana, Prefidente de fu Real Audiencia, Superinten- 
dente General de Real I iacienda y Ramo del Tabaco, Juez Confervador de efte, Prefi* 
dente de fujunta, y Subdelegado General de la Rcnta dc Correos en el mifmo Reyno. 

lOncedo libre y feguro Pafaporte a ( t'/i&wi 



y/ejtrwuj \ ' r v '' ' 



n 

. / r t / 






Y los Jufticlas, Govcrhadores de Indios, Ducfios, 6 Adminlftradores de Hacienda, Ranchos, 6 
Cafas, le facilitaran el alojamiento correfpondicnte, y los vagages refpcclivos, pagandolcs 
anticipado medio real por la legua dc cada vagagc defde aqui a toda ticrra dentro; y 
desde efta Capital & Veracruz, Pucbla, u otros Parages de Oaxaca, pagaran a razon de un 
real por legua franqueandolc tambien los demas auxilios que pucdan convcnirlcs para fu 
viagc, y fines de fu dcfiino, y el que ah no lo cxccutarc, fera rigorofaracntc caftigado. 
pario en Mexico a" rru&re. dc ^ <fUtmu dc mil fetecicntos fetcnta y \ . 






1 (A&Cc /w. ^mt 





~~6" 



^ 



1 ICS1MI1 E OF DOC1 Ml \ I SIGNED B\ Bl I \K1I I 



ANZA. 57 

holy relics between the Capuchin nunnery, the Casa de Ejerci- 
cios of San Felipe, and perhaps another pious establish- 
ment. 

'The same accomplished officer who has been already men- 
tioned as in command of the California expedition in connection 
with which Garces made his Fourth Entrada, 1774: see back, 
pp. 38-46. Anza or Ansa comes into our records as a captain 
about the years 1765-66, in connection with various operations 
against Apaches. In 1764 and for some years afterward he was 
in command of the garrison at Tubac. He was still a captain 
in 1774, but at present we find him a lieutenant-colonel, who left 
Tubac on this his second Californian expedition Oct. 23, 1775. 
It greatly redounded to his renown, and he soon became the 
governor of New Mexico, succeeding Colonel Pedro Firmin de 
Mendinueta in that office. Mendinueta, who was the last to 
hold the title of governor and captain-general, retired in March, 
1778; and the same year, after a brief period of an acting gov- 
ernorship under Francisco Trebol Navarro, he was succeeded 
by Anza, as political and military governor. Anza's appoint- 
ment dates June, 1777; his assumption of office is somewhat 
uncertain; he seems to have been actually governor in June, 1778, 
and certainly was such by January of 1779. He governed New 
Mexico till late in 1789, when he was succeeded by Fernando 
de la Concha. Anza was " a native of Sonora, a man of excel- 
lent ability and character, and of wide experience in Indian 
warfare. He seems to have proved in every way worthy of the 
Caballero de Croix's high esteem; yet with all his energy he 
effected but slight change for the better in New Mexican affairs. 
His first recorded enterprise was a campaign against the Co- 
manches with a force of 645 men, including 85 soldiers and 259 
Indians. His course was north and northeast for some 95 miles, 
and the result was the killing of Cuerno Verde [or Green 
Horn], the famous Comanche chieftain [from whom appear 
to have been named certain mountains in Colorado], with four 
of his leading sub-chiefs, his high-priest, his eldest son and 



58 FONT — CARLOS III. — SANTA OLALLA. 

heir, and 32 of his warriors": see Bancroft, Hist. Ariz, and 
N. M., p. 264 et seq., where a further account of Anza is given, 
and original documents relating to this Comanche campaign 
are cited. The date of the campaign was Aug.-Sept., 1779. 

* Font accompanied Anza's expedition throughout, proved a 
troublesome fellow and a model journalist, whose narrative of 
the affair is extant, and has been repeatedly drawn upon by 
historians of California and others, often incorrectly or per- 
versely. His original MS., in his own handwriting, is now in 
my hands, making a small quarto of pp. 336, finished at Tubu- 
tama, May 11, 1777, with Font's signature. The precious vol- 
ume belongs to the John Carter Brown Library of Providence, 
R. I. By generous permission of Mr. John Nicholas Brown 
and Mr. George Parker Winship I am authorized to use it at my 
discretion. It serves to check, corroborate, and amplify some 
portions of Garces' own narrative; and I hope to publish it in 
full as the next one of the American Explorer Series. 

s Carlos III. — Charles the Third, b. Jan. 20, 1716, second son 
of Philip V., King of the Two Sicilies 1735-59, King of Spain 
Dec. 9, 1759, to his death Dec. 14, 1788. His most notable act, 
so far as we are at present concerned, was the expulsion of the 
Jesuits from all Spanish dominions in 1767, thus bringing the 
Franciscans into power in New Spain. This extremely impor- 
tant consummation was effected by order of Viceroy Marques 
de Croix, dated June 25, 1767. The document may be read, 
e. £., in Mexico a Traves de los Siglos, pp. 841, 842, preceded 
on pp. 840, 841 by the Real pragmatica ending " Rubricado de 
la Real mano en el Pardo, a 27 de Marzo de 1767. — Al Conde 
de Aranda, Presidente del Consejo." The King has deigned 
" mandar a Consulta de su Real Consejo, y por Decreto expe- 
dido el viente y siete de Febrero ultimo (1767), se extranen," 
etc. I present the proclamation in facsimile (see plate). 

" Or Santa Olaya, otherwise Santa Eulalia de Merida, virgin 
and martyr under Diocletian; her day Dec. 10. On the locality, 
see a note beyond, at date of Dec. 6. 



1) 




ON CARLOS FRANCISCO 

D£ CROIX, Marques de Croix, Cavnllero del Orden deCala- 
trava, Comcndador de Molinos, y Laguna Rota en la mifma Or- 
den, Theniente General delosRealesExercitos de S.M. Vir- 
rey, Governador, y Capitan General del Reyno de Nueva-Efc 
pafia, PreGdente de fu Real Audiencia, Superintendente gene- 
ral de Real Hazienda, y Ramodel Tabacodeel, Prefidente de 
h Junta, y JuezConlervadordeefte Ramo, Subdelegado ge- 
neral del Eftablecimiento de Correos Maritimos en el miimo 
Reyno. 



Ago faber a todos los habitantes decile Imperio, que el Rcy nutf- 
tro Senor por refultas de las ocurrencias pafladas, y para cumplir la 
piimiriva obligacion con que Dios le concedio la Corona de confer* 
var ilefos los So vcranos refpetos de ella, y de mantener fus leales, y 
amados Pueblos en fubordi nation, tranquilidad, y Jufticia, a demas 
de otras gravifGmas caufas que referva en fu Real animo; fe ha digna- 
do mandar a Confulta de iu Real Confejo, y por Decreto expedido el veinre y 6ete 
de Febrero ultimo, fe extraHen de todos fus Dominies de Efpana, e Indias, Islas Phtlipt- 
nas, y demas adyacentes a los Religiofos de la Companies, affi Sacerdotes, como Coad/iitcres, 
o Legos, que ha) an hecho la primer a Profejjion-, y a los Novicios que quiperen Jeguirlesi 
j que fe ocupen todas las tetnporabdades de la Cotnpaffia en fus Dominios. Y haviendo 
S. M. para la execucion uniforme en todos ellos, autorizado privativamence alExir.d. 
Senor Conde de Aranda, Prefidente de Camilla, y comctidome fu cumplimiento en 
efte Reyno con la mifma plenicud de facultades, afigmf el dia de hoy para la inti- 
fnacion de la Suprcma Sentencia a los Expulfos en fus Colegios, y Galas de Refi- 
dencia de efta Nueva-Efpaua, y rambien para anunciarla i los Pueblos de ella, con 
la prevencion de que, eftando eftrechamente obligados todos los Vaflallos de qual- 
quiera dignidad, clafe, y condicion que lean, a rclpetar, y obedecer las fiempre juf- 
xas refoluciones de fu Soverano, deben venerar, auxiliar, y cumplir efta con la ma- 
yor exaclitud, y fidclidad; porque S. M. declara incurfos en fu Real indignacion a 
los inubedientes, 6 remiflbs en coadyuvar a fu cumplimiento, y me verc precifTado 
a ular del ultimo rigor, y de execucion Militar contra los que en publico, 6 fecreto 
Trrzieren, coo efte motivo, convcrfaciones. junta*, afambleas, corrillos, 6 difcurfos 
de palabra, 6 por eicrito; pues de una vez para lo" venidero deben faber los Subdi- 
tos de el gran Monarca que ocupa el Trono de Efparia, que nacieron para callar, y 
obedecer, y no para difcurrir, ni opinar en los altos aflumptos dclGovicrno. Mexico 
veiote y cinco de Junio de mil fetecientos fefeota y fietc. 



El Marquis de Croix* 
Por maodado de fu Exiu 

FACSIMILE OF PROCLAMATION EXPELLING JESUITS BY THE ICAXQJtjftfl M CROIX, 
JUNE 25, 1767. (FROM AN ORIGINAL IN POSSESSION OF MR. F. W. HODGB) 



PROVINCIAS INTERNAS. 59 

7 The Apache nation and Monterey are each fully noted else- 
where. Here it will be convenient to explain what Garces 
means by " these provinces " — the Provincias Internas de la 
Reyno de Nueba Espana, a political partition of Spanish Amer- 
ica dating from Aug. 22, 1776, when a real cedula de nuebo 
reglamento made an official colonial division of what had been 
vaguely recognized under the same name since the 17th century 
as the northern parts of Mexico. Agreeably with this order, 
a new government was formed for the Provincias Internas in 
1777> apart from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and including 
Nueba Viscaya (practically equivalent to modern Chihuahua 
and Durango), Coahuila, Texas, Nuebo Mexico, Sinaloa, So- 
nora, and Las Californias; capital Arizpe in Sonora; Real 
Audiencia, that of Guadalaxara; civil and military government 
vested in one person. Independence of the viceroy was discon- 
tinued in 1786, and 1787-93; at the latter date of final separation, 
California was attached to Mexico. Of " these provinces." the 
one with which we have here to do mainly was Sonora. The 
Sonora of Garces' time was not very different in extent and 
position from the present Mexican State of the same name; but 
it reached further north, overlapping our Territory of Arizona 
to the Gila river and thus including most of our Gadsden Pur- 
chase of 1853, and did not extend quite so far south as present 
Sonora does, being limited by writers of the period to the 
Yaqui river or valley in that direction. Thus the author of the 
Rudo Ensayo, 1763, describes his Sonora as the northernmost 
one of six provinces (Chametla, Copala, Culiacan, Zinaloa, 
Ostimuri, Sonora), politically under the government of Zinaloa, 
in the diocese of Durango, in the kingdom of New Galicia, in 
the viceroyalty of New Spain; bounded on the west by the Gulf 
of California from the mouth of the Yaqui to that of the Tomo- 
satzi (our Colorado river), and by the latter up to the Gila; on 
the south by the Yaqui river and its brAich, Rio Chico; on the 
east by the Sierra Madre, separating Sonora from Taraumara 
(New Biscay, including Chihuahua); on the north by the Gila 



60 SONORA. 

river up to the San Pedro and thence obliquely along the latter 
to the Sierra Madre — this northeastern boundary not well de- 
fined, any more than the southeastern, but taking in the Base- . 
raca mission, the presidios of Terrenate, Fronteras, etc., as the 
southeastern did certain missions beyond the Yaqui. In fewest • 
words, we may say that Sonora was bounded on the north by 
the Gila, on the south by the Yaqui, on the east by the Con- 
tinental Divide, on the west by the Gulf of California and Col- 
orado river. This was the fullest comprehension of the name. 
— " Sonora " being sometimes restricted to the valley of Rio de 
Sonora, and to the river itself. The Province of Sonora was- 
also divided — not politically or definitely, but descriptively — 
into Pimeria Baxa or Baja, in the region of Rios Yaqui and- 
Sonora, home of the Southern or Low Pima Indians; and 
Pimeria Alta, where lived the Northern or High Pimas, in the 
region of Rio Altar and northward; this portion of Pimeria 
shading off on the north and northwest into Papagueria, home- 
of the Papagos, and on the north and northeast into Apacheria, 
where roamed the outlawed Apaches. On the east, the country 
is mostly mountainous, on the west mostly a flat desert, except- 
ing in both cases the watercourses. These, besides the Colo- 
rado and Gila, are mainly: Rio Papago, insignificant, north- 
westernmost; Rio Altar and Rio Magdalena or San Ignacio, 
small; Rio Sonora or Ures, with Rio Horcasitas or San Miguel,' 
large; Rio Matape or San Jose, rather small; and Rio Yaqui or 
Hiaqui, etc., sometimes called Rio Grande, largest, whose prin- 
cipal branches are Rios Moctezuma and Bavispe: all flowing on 
west, southwest, or south courses to or toward the Gulf. To 
these add Rios Santa Cruz and San Pedro, flowing northerly; 
toward or into the Gila. By far the greater number of settle- 
ments, native or Spanish, that Sonora has, or ever had, are or 
were on the rivers named and their lesser affluents; all of them 
were and most of them still are, very small places — rancherias,- 
haciendas, minas, misiones, pueblos, presidios; but such have 
been extremely numerous — there had been hundreds of them by 



RUDO ENSAYO. 6l 

Garces' time. The Rudo Ensayo records 29 missions for 1763; 
73 Indian villages and several rancherias; 22 inhabited Spanish 
towns or mines, including the 5 presidios of Tubac, Terrenate, 
Fronteras, Altar, and San Miguel de Horcasitas; 48 uninhab- 
ited Spanish settlements, mostly abandoned mines; 2 inhabited 
Spanish ranches, and 126 uninhabited ditto — figures whim show 
how nearly the Apache came to being monarch of everything 
in sight. In a note in the Appendix to this work I will give 
a complete list of the 29 missions with their respective visitas, 
existent in 1763. 

The tract above cited, entitled Rudo Ensayo, etc., was written 
by a Jesuit priest, name unknown: perhaps John Mentuig. 
vig, or Nentoig, missionary to the Opatas of Sonora, and 
ministro cura at Guasavas for eleven years, 1751-62. The 
ostensible date of this "Rough Essay" is 1763; from internal 
evidence it appears that it was penned in 1761 and to Nov. 27, 
1762. Of the original MS. we only know from a note in the 
Historia de la Compania de Jesus en Nueva-Espaha, pub. Mex- 
ico, 1842, in which the editor, Carlos M. Bustamente, says that 
it was to be found among the unpublished papers of Padre Vega 
in the library of the Convent of San Francisco. The author of 
the Historia cited, Padre Francisco Javier Alegre, uses the 
Rudo Ensayo extensively, as for example, regarding the Casas 
Grandes of the Gila. It is among the Documentos collected in 
Nueva Espana by royal order of 1779, during the viceroyalty 
of Revilla Gigedo; the collection being in the Department of 
State of Mexico, and a duplicate in the Royal Academy of His- 
tory at Madrid. It was first printed, in Spanish, in an edition 
of 150 or 160 copies, from an authentic MS., by Buckingham 
Smith, in 1863. It was first translated into English by Eusebio 
Guiteras, and in this form was published by the Amer. Cath. 
Hist. Soc, vol. v, No. 2, June, 1894. PP- 109-264, preceded, 
pp. 99-108, by a biographical sketch and portrait of the trans- 
lator, b. Matanzas, Cuba. Mar. 5, 1823. d. Philada., Pa.. Dec. 24, 
1893. I shall have frequent occasion to cite the Rudo Ensayo. 



62 " A BANNER WITH THE STRANGE DEVICE."" 

which is the best natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history and 
description of Sonora we possess for the years immediately pre- 
ceding the expulsion of the Jesuits and the appearance of the 
Franciscans upon the scene — Fathers Garces and Font among 
them. I use the convenient though not wholly unexceptionable 
English translation just cited, no copy of Buckingham Smith's 
Spanish edition being conveniently accessible to me. 

* So here: elsewhere variously Eixarc, Eixarch, Eirarch, 
Eyzarch, Eichasch, etc. Font has Eixarch. In Hinton's Hand- 
book, p. 393, the three priests of this expedition figure as 
" Fathers Pedro, Garcia, and Elrach " — a fine example of the 
way in which names are sometimes treated in the course of 
alleged history. 

* Un lienzo de Maria SSma con el Nino Dios en los brazos 
y en su respaldo la figura de un Condenado. This object was 
a large piece of cloth with the Virgin and Child printed in 
colors on one side, and on the other a person burning in hell, 
used by the priests to impress the Indians, on the principle of 
the St. Veronica handkerchiefs. Garces would hold it up, and 
when thej T had sufficiently admired the mother and infant, he 
would turn it around to let them see what they might expect 
if they did not mind what he said, as he tells us beyond. 

10 Entrada — entrance, entry, act of entering, but in a formal 
or official manner: a term almost technically used of the descent 
of conquistadores, temporal or spiritual, upon their intended 
native subjects or converts. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM TUBAC TO CASAS GRANDES ON RIO GILA, 
OCTOBER 21-31, 1775.* 

Oct. 2 1. 1 Went to the Presidio de Tubac 2 with my 
companion Eisarc and Padre Font, in order to join 
the comandante of the expedition, Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Don Juan Bautista de Ansa. 

Oct. 22. z Mass was said to Maria de Guadalupe as 
patroness of the expedition, and I celebrated it in 
honor of Senor San Pedro Apostol, my special advo- 
cate on this and antecedent entradas to the gentiles. 
Padre Font observed the latitude of this presidio in 

3i° 43'- 

Oct. 2 j.* We left the Presidio de Tubac and halted 
in the place called Canoa, 5 whither we went five 
leagues northnortheast. 

Oct. 24. Left Canoa and halted at the Point of 
the Plains, 8 having traveled 3 leagues northnorth- 
east. 

Oct. 25? We arrived at my mission 8 of San 

* The notes to this chapter are too long to be set where they be 
long. They will be found at the end of the chapter. 

63 



64 APPROACHING RIO GILA. 

Xavier del Bac, 9 having traveled 6 leagues north £ 
east. 

Oct. 26 . 10 We arrived at a laguna near {fuera de) 
the pueblo de Tucson, 11 a visita of my administra- 
tion, 12 and the last christianized pueblo in this direc- 
tion, having traveled 4 leagues about north (rumbo 
quasi al norte). 

Oct. 27. Padre Font observed this place in 32 22'. 
We departed from it in the afternoon, and halted in 
a plain within sight of the sierra called Frente 
Negra, 13 having traveled 5 leagues — 2 northnorth- 
west and 3 northwest. 

Oct. 28.™ We halted at some rain-pools (lagunas 
llovedizas) which the Indians call Oytapars, 15 whose 
situation was a pueblo of Papagos, 16 depopulated a 
few years ago by the hostilities of the Apaches; hav- 
ing traveled fully 6 leagues westnorthwest with some 
deviations westward. 17 

Oct. 29. We approached Rancheria 18 Quitoac, 19 
inhabited at times by the Papagos, and halted near 
a picacho 20 which the Indians call the Cerro de 
Tacca; 21 having traveled 2 leagues northwest and 3 
northnorthwest. This very day a runner was dis- 
patched to the Pimas Gilenos 22 informing them of 
our arrival; and the senor comandante resolved op- 
portunely to publish a proclamation (vando) com- 
manding that all persons should behave in such 



RIO GILA AT CAMANI. 65 

manner that the gentiles should be set no bad exam- 
ple by the Espaholes, nor that these should offend 
them by deed or word in the very least (en lo mas 
minimo), under pain of rigorous punishment for dis- 
obedience. 

Oct. 50. We approached the Rio Gila and halted 
at a laguna [Camani], having traveled 12 leagues — 
6 northwest, 3 northnorthwest, and 3 north. 23 

Although on this road we saw no grass (zacatc) 24 
yet is it certain that at a little distance on one and 
the other side it is found abundantly and in years of 
much rain still more so. As a result of the message 
sent yesterday to the Pimas Gilenos, there came out 
to receive us at this place the governor of the ran- 
cherias called Equituni 25 and Quitoa, 26 the governor 
of Vturituc, 27 a pueblo of the Rio Gila, its alcalde, the 
governor of Sutaquison, 28 with many other Indians, 
all on horseback; who dismounted to salute us, and 
gave to the soldiers two scalps (cabclleras) of Apaches 
killed a few days before in the wars which they wage 
with them. 29 They remounted and accompanied us 
to their place of residence, asking repeatedly if we 
were going to baptize them and live with them; an 
evident sign of the great disposition that there is in 
these peoples to be catechised. All showed great joy 
upon our arrival. 

Oct. 31. The senor comandante determined to 



66 CASA GRANDE. 

our party; and in consequence of this I had an 
opportunity of going to see the Casa Grande that 
they call de Moctezuma. 30 We [Garces and Font] 
traveled about 3 leagues southeast, and arrived at the 
whose position is found in latitude 33 03' 30". 
For the present condition of this casa I refer to the 
description thereof that Padre Font has given; and in 
the end will speak of that which I have been enabled 
to conjecture from what I saw and learned at 
Moqui. 

Notes. 

1 The MS. we follow gives this date as " dia 1 de Octubre," 
evidently by error of the scribe. The Beaumont MS. and the 
pub. Doc. both have "dia 21," and so I make the required cor- 
rection. 

In order to bring the whole case up to this date of Oct. 21, I 
will cite Font's Diary of the expedition for antecedent events. 

This expedition of 1775-76 was determined upon in conse- 
quence of the journey of 1774, which Anza had made by way 
of the Colorado to Monterey, accompanied by Garces and Diaz. 
On the present occasion he was to conduct 30 families of settlers 
to the bay of San Francisco and there found a colony. The 
heads of the families were all to be married soldiers, of whom 
the lieutenant, sergeant, and eight privates were to be veterans 
from various Sonoran presidios, and the other 20 recruits from 
Culiacan and Sinaloa. This party was made up in the Presidio 
de San Miguel de Orcasitas, having passed through the Mision 
de San Joseph de Pimas, where Font was the minister, May 26, 
1775- Anza arrived there May 23; on June 1 Font turned over 
his mission to Padre Fray Joachin Belarde, and went by way 



PREVIOUS ROUTE. 



67 



of San Marcial to Orcasitas, where he arrived Aug 2. As there 
was still time to spare, Font went to Ures, 6th; on Sept. 16 he 
was sent for by Anza, and he came to Orcasitas that day. He 
was not in good health, and enjoyed few well days on the whole 
trip. The outfit made up at Orcasitas was as follows: 
Lieutenant-colonel Juan Bautista Anza, command- 
ing officer, 1 

Father Pedro Font, chaplain, 1 

Don Mariano Vidal, purveyor, 1 

Lieutenant Joseph Joachin Moraga, 1 

Veteran soldiers, as escort, 10 

Recruits, 20 

Women, children, and other persons, . . . 106 
Muleteers of the three pack-trains, .... 20 

Families of settlers, etc., 17 

Total personnel 177 

To which add three children born en route, subtract one 
woman who died, and make other changes at Tubac, as given 
beyond. The material of the outfit was: 

Pack-mules of baggage, provisions, munitions of 
war, and articles for presents to Indians, divided 

into 3 pack-trains, 120 

Pack-mules of Anza's baggage and mess, . . 20 
Public and private horses, some saddle-mules, etc., 450 

Total materiel 590 

This outfit being mustered and inspected at Orcasitas, the 
expedition was ready to move on San Miguel's day. The route 
to Tubac was: 

Sept. 29. From Orcasitas one league to a place on the Rio 
San Miguel. (Font's leagues were Mexican, of 5000 varas.) 

Sept. 30. Four leagues to a place called Chupisonora, the 
ranch of a militia captain named Mesa. Remained Oct. 1. 
Oct. 2. Five leagues to camp at a place called Palma. 
Oct. 3. Six leagues to Charco del Canelo. 



TO TUBAC. 

Oct. -/. Six full leagues to Puerto de los Conejos, passing 
(Juerobabi halfway. 

Oct. 5. Seven full leagues to Charco de Guana, a place be- 
two others called Piriguita and Baxajita. 

Oct. 6. Six leagues to Pueblo de Santa Ana. (Thus the 
;tion has come up river along the line of the present 
ad which runs down to Guaymas.) Remained 7th. Took 
observation of lat. 30 38' 30". 

Oct. S. Six leagues to Santa Maria Magdalena. (Now Mag- 
dalena. and the principal place in that region.) 

Oct. 0. Two leagues to the mission of San Ignacio, where 
Padre Fray Francisco Zufiiga was in charge. Lat. 30 47' 30". 
Remained 10th. 

Oct. 11. Four leagues to a place on Rio Magdalena near the 
Pueblo de Imuris. 

Oct. 12. Four leagues to Guambiit (a place on the railroad, 
before entering the canon; vicinity of modern Casita). 

Oct. 13. Four leagues north to Sibuta (apparently modern 
Cibita, on the railroad). 

Oct. 14. Eight full leagues to Las Lagunas. (Bringing the 
expedition just over the boundary between Sonora and Arizona, 
at or near the well-known modern Los Nogales.) 

Oct. 13. Eight leagues to Presidio de Tubac (passing site of 
modern old Fort Mason). Font himself went with four soldiers 
to say mass to the Pueblo de Calabazas, two leagues from last 
camp, and a little off the road. In this pueblo, which was a 
visita of the Tumacacori mission, and had been a visita of 
Huevavi (or Guevavi), Font found Padre Fray Pedro Arre- 
quivar. After mass he joined the expedition en route, and went 
as far as Tumacacori, one league short of Tubac. At Tumaca- 
cori he found both Garces and Eixarch, who were to be his 
companion? on the expedition; and he put up at this mission 
with them and Arrequivar and Fray Felix Gamarra, till the 
expedition was ready to start from Tubac, the priests making 
meanwhile several trips back and forth between the two neigh- 



TUBAC. 69 

boring places. Anza and the troops of course took up their 
station in Tubac. 

3 From tu, , and bac, house, adobe house, also ruined 

house, ruins, etc. (the word occurring also in San Xavier del 
Bac, Quitobac, Bamachi, Bacuanchos, and other names of Piman 
settlements). This was a settlement of Pima, Papago, and pos- 
sibly Sobaipuri Indians, at which a presidio and mission were 
established in 1752, on the W. bank of Rio Santa Cruz, at the 
site of the present town of the same name, about 45 m. S. of 
Tucson, Ariz.; pop. in 1754-57, 411, including the garrison of 
50. In 1776 the presidio was transferred to Tuscon (it so 
appears on Font's map of next year), after which, but prior to 
1784, a company of Pima allies was stationed there, and in 1824 
a garrison was again established. In 1842-43 a rancheria of 
friendly Apache lived there. In 1848 the population was 
249. The presidial name of Tubac was San Ignacio, applied 
also to a mission further south, in Sonora. — F. W. H. 

Tubac has hardly any history back of 1752. The name is said 
to be given on a map of the 17th century, but does not appear 
on Kino's of 1701, though that good father had been on the 
spot more than once by that time. Ortega, in Apost. Afanes, 
p. 266, says that on Jan. 19, 1697, Father Kino left his mission 
of Dolores in Sonora for San Cayetano de Tumacacori and San 
Xavier del Bac, which he visited and returned; he must there- 
fore have twice passed the site of Tubac; but as there is no 
mention of such a place, probably no settlement then existed. 
The Rudo Ensayo, p. 254, speaks of the Presidio de Tubaca, as 
about 7 1. n.n.w. of Guevavi, on the spot where the Piman town 
of the same name stood prior to the revolt of Nov. 20, 1751; 
it was then a visita of Guevavi for mission purposes. This 
uprising caused the founding of Presidio Tubac in 1752, as above 
said. In 1762, when the Ensayo was being written, the natives 
of Tubac had moved S. to Tumacacori, the next place up river. 
At the same time there was another depopulated rancheria 
called Sopori, 2 1. or more N. From 1764 for some years the 



70 TUB AC. 

Presidio de Tubac was under the command of J. B. de Anza. 
A glimpse of Tubac in 1852 is given in Bartlett's Narr., ii, 
pp. 302-304, as a presidio or garrison, consisting of a collection 
of dilapidated buildings and huts, about half of which were ten- 
antless, and an equally ruinous church. " Captain Gomez, who 
commanded at Fronteras at the time of my visit there with 
Colonel Craig in 1851, was in command here . . . but as for 
this God-forsaken place, when I have said that it contains a few 
dilapidated buildings and an old church, with a miserable popu- 
lation, I have said about all. It was established as a presidio 
almost a century and a half ago [just 100 years — in 1752] and 
usually maintained a population of 400 souls. It was abandoned 
a year before our arrival, but had since been repopulated and 
might have comprised at the time of our visit a hundred souls." 

In 1858-60 the restored ruins of old Tubac were occupied by 
a small mixed population of Americans and Mexicans, with a 
temporary camp of 100 Papagos; and in those years was pub- 
lished the Weekly Arizonian, the first newspaper of the future 
Territory. The place was of some little consequence as only 
about 10 m. W. of the hacienda of the noted Santa Rita mines. 
The same distance N. of Tubac was then a place called Reven- 
ton, the fortified ranch of an American named William Rhodes, 
whose exploit in standing off single-handed a party of Apaches 
may be read in late popular books. This occurred near Reven- 
ton; see, for example, Pumpelly, pp. 47, 48. The Sabino Otero 
claim adjoins Tubac on the N. The latitude of Tubac is 31 
40': longitude very near 34 W. from Washington. 

' Oct. 22, Sunday. Good Father Font was an orotund and 
unctuous preacher who dearly loved to lay down the law, and 
must have been a tremendous smooth-bore to such a man as 
Anza. This time he drew his text from the gospel of the day, 
Nolite timere, fiusillus grex ("Don't be afraid, little flock"), 
exhorted his hearers to perseverance and endurance, and drew 
a fine parallel between the passage of this expedition across the 
Colorado to San Francisco and the " transito del Pueblo de 



ROSTER OF THE EXPEDITION. 'J I 

Israel a la Tierra de Promission por el Mar Bermejo"; an- 
nounced the castigation God had in store for them if they 
scandalized the gentiles en route; assured them that the most 
holy Virgin of Guadalupe would be to them as a tower of 
strength the whole way, if they behaved like good Christians, 
etc. What is more to the point, however, Font's Diary gives 
the complete roster and inventory of the expedition which 
started next day, as follows: 

Individuals. 

In the 1st place, the Sehor Theniente Coronel de 
Cavalleria, y Comandante de la Expedicion, Don 

Juan Bautista de Ansa, i 

Padre Capellan de Propaganda fide del Colegio de 

la Santa Cruz de Queretaro, Fray Pedro Font, . i 
Padres Fray Francisco Garces y Fray Thomas 
Eixarch: these were destined to remain on the 

Colorado, 2 

Proveedor de la Expedicion Don Mariano Vidal, r 
Theniente Don Joseph Joachin Moraga, who, 
though married, did not bring his family because 
his wife was sick at Terrenate, 1 

Sargento Juan Pablo Grijalba, 1 

Eight veteran soldiers from the presidios of 

Sonora, 8 

Twenty soldiers, recruits for Monterey, . . 20 

Ten veteran soldiers from the Presidio de Tubac 

as escort, 10 

Twenty-nine wives belonging to the sergeant and 

28 soldiers, 29 

One hundred and thirty-six persons of both sexes 

pertaining to the foregoing soldiers, etc., . . 136 
Twenty muleteers of the three pack-trains, etc., . 20 
Three herders of the beef-cattle, .... 3 
Three servants of the three padres, to which add 



- 2 OUTFIT OF THE EXPEDITION. 

one other who stayed with the two padres on the 

Colorado, 4 

Three Indian interpreters of the three nations, 
Yuma, Cajuenche, and Jalchedun, ... 3 

Total, 240 

Including in this number the woman who afterward died on 
the road. 

Baggage. 
There were taken one hundred and forty mules 
loaded with provisions, munitions of war, and 
equipments of the sehor comandante of the ex- 
pedition, and other effects of the latter, and pres- 
ents in the name of His Majesty for the gentiles 

of the transit, 140 

Item: About twenty-five loads of private baggage 

of the troops, 25 

Item: Horses belonging to the expedition, with 

some private ones and some saddle-mules, . 500 

Item: Some thirty mares, colts, and asses, . . 30 

Total of the horse-herd, etc., . . . 695 

Cattle. 

Item: Three hundred and twenty-five head of cattle 
for the subsistence of the expedition on the road, 
and the rest to start a herd in the new settle- 
ment and missions of the bay of San Francisco, 325 

Item: About thirty private cattle, .... 30 



355 
I think I would have been willing to hear Father Font preach 
for the sake of having such a tabular exhibit of this expedition, 
which we see was an extensive outfit — 240 persons and 1050 
beasts. The father notes that it was reduced en route by death, 
straying, and barter. He further notes that the regular order 



HOW THEY MARCHED. 73 

of march was this: At the proper hour in the morning the 
order was given to round up the cavallada and mulada, the 
soldiers and servants going for the horses and the packers for 
the mules. While these people were packing and saddling he 
used to say mass, as there was plenty of time. As soon as the 
three pack-trains were ready to start, the commanding officer 
gave the order to mount — Vayan subiendo! and they all mounted, 
forming a column in this wise: Four soldiers went ahead as 
scouts. Anza led off with the van guard. Font came next, and 
after him came men, women, and children, escorted by soldiers; 
then the lieutenant brought up the rear guard. Behind these 
followed the three pack-trains, with the loose horses, and last 
of all the beef-herd. As soon as they started Font would strike 
up a hymn, the Alabado, to which all the people responded. 
The column, as may be easily seen, was a very long one, even 
when well closed up. On making camp, when they had dis- 
mounted, the lieutenant came to report to the commanding 
officer whether they were all up, or any had been left behind, 
and receive his orders. At night the people recited their beads, 
each family by itself, and finishing by singing the Alabado or 
Salve, or something of that sort, everyone for himself, and 
Font remarks that the variety had a very pleasing effect. There 
were so many people that when they camped it looked like a 
regular settlement, with the shelters that the soldiers made with 
their cloaks and blankets on boughs, and with the 13 tents of 
the company — nine for the soldiers, one for the lieutenant, one 
for Garces and Eixarch, one for Font, and a big circular one 
for the senor comandante. 

* I shall continue to check and amplify Garces' Diary by 
Font's, during the time the two priests keep together. — This 
night a soldier's wife gave birth to a fine child, but the labor 
was difficult, the birth was feet foremost, and the woman 
died at dawn. She was taken to be buried at Bac next evening, 
and interred on the 25th by Garces, who went ahead with the 
body. 



J4 ON TO BAC. 

'After bending about the Santa Rita mts. N. of Tubac, the 
valley of Rio Santa Cruz widens into a plain rising to these 
mountains on the E., and to the Tinajita mts. on the W. ; pass 
Santa Rita peak and Mt. Hopkins on right, and Sopori cr. on 
left, somewhat more than halfway between Tubac and Canoa. 
The distance between these places is 14 m. by road, 12 in air 
line; at 10 m. by road was Reventon. Canoa will be found on 
modern maps, in this Spanish form; it means "canoe," though 
why so applied does not appear, unless it be in the literal sense: 
one of my maps marks the place " Canoe Crossg." The place 
is situated in tp. 19 of range 3 E. of the 2d guide meridian, and 
is included 'in the still unconfirmed San Ignacio de la Canoa 
private land claim. It was primarily a rancheria, doubtless of 
Papago Indians; in 1860-61 it consisted of a single stockade, 
available as an inn, and the latter year was the scene of a 
massacre in which a Papago and two Americans, one of them 
named Tarbox, were killed: Pumpelly, pp. 45-48. 

* Punta de los Llanos, otherwise called Llano Grande in an- 
other itinerary of this journey. This camp would be on the 
river, at or near the N. end of the Canoa claim, directly be- 
tween Mt Fagan on the E. and Samaniego peak on the W., each 
distant some 12-15 m -; nearest named place is Olive, 5 m. to 
the left. 

" In the evening Eixarch baptized the infant born on the night 
of the 23d. Font further notes that Bac was a pueblo of the 
Pimas Sobaypuris, once very populous but now much reduced 
by the incursions of the Apaches, and also on account of the 
unwholesomeness of the water, which was so thick and alka- 
line that a Jesuit once found that a single jugful left two 
ounces of alkali and other impurities. 

' According to p. 5 of " A Brief Sketch of the Mission of San 

Xavier del Bac, with a Description of its Church, written by a 

missionary of Arizona" [Rev. J. B. Salpointe,], 2 eds., Tucson 

• d San Francisco, 1880, 8vo, pp. 20, Garces was one of 14 

priests sent by the guardian of the Franciscan college of Santa 



SAN XAVIER DEL BAC. 75 

Cruz de Queretaro at the request of the viceroy, Marques de 
Croix, in the name of the king (Charles III.). These priests 
landed at Guaymas Mar. 27, 1768, proceeding thence to San 
Miguel de Horcasitas, where they established headquarters. 
Of these missionaries, Garces was assigned to San Xavier del 
Bac in June, 1768.— F. W. H. 

* Bac, house, adobe house (as in Tubac, etc.), probably so 
called from the remains of numerous ancient adobe pueblos in 
the vicinity. Bac was a rancheria of the Sobaipuri, a Piman 
tribe closely related to the Papago, with whom those who were 
not captured by the Apache were consolidated. The settlement 
was situated on Rio Santa Cruz, 9 m. S. of Tucson in the N. E. 
corner of what is now the Papago Reservation by executive 
order of July 1, 1874. The rancheria, Bac, was visited by 
Father Eusebio Kino in 1697, and no doubt as early as 1692, the 
church (still standing) having been begun in 1699. In 1697 
San Xavier del Bac contained 830 persons in 176 houses, mak- 
ing it the largest rancheria in the entire Pimeria, as the Pima 
country was called. In 1751 (during the revolt which con- 
tinued at intervals until late in 1753), it was plundered by the 
natives and abandoned, but was reoccupied two years later as a 
mission under the protection of the Tubac presidio. In 1760-64 
the population was 399; but in 1772 it had dwindled to 270. 
Little is known of its history from Garces' time to 1828, when 
it was practically abandoned as a mission. In 1865 it contained 
80 Papago families, and in 1869 was entirely under the control 
of that tribe.— F. W. H. 

Father Kino's first Arizona entrada was made with Father 
Juan Maria de Salvatierra in 1691. The padres were at Gue- 
vavi, Tumacacori and Suamca very early in that year. In the 
fall of 1692 Kino made his next visit to the Pimas, this being 
his second entrance into Arizona. The author of Apost. 
Afanes distinctly says that he started early in September of 
that year from his mission of Dolores, llego a San Xavier del 
Bac, y a Santa Maria Suamca, and returned to Dolores Dec. 11, 



76 SAX XAVIER DEL BAC. 

1692. This may be the opening of recognizable history of the 
place. In 1694. Mange calls the river on which it is situated 
Rio de San Xavier del Bac, noting the expedition to that river 
of Antonio Solis. Kino first reached the Gila in November. 
1694, and said mass in Casa Grande; but we have no route, and 
only presume he passed through Bac. On Jan. 19, 1697, he 
started for Tumacacori and Bac, which he visited and returned 
to Dolores. The same year he again reached the Gila, by way 
of the Quiburi (San Pedro) river, and returned by way of the 
Santa Cruz, being at Bac Nov. 24 and 25; perhaps this is the 
year in which the name San Xavier was given to Bac, and it 
also figures as Batosda in the itinerary of this tour. Kino was 
next at Bac in 1699, with Fathers Antonio Leal, Antonio Gon- 
zalez and Captain Mange; the party left Dolores Oct. 24, and 
duly reached Bac by way of the Santa Cruz; Kino and Mange 
pushed on to a rancheria they called San Agustin (t. e., Tuc- 
son), returned, and the party left Bac Nov. 4. Next year, Kino 
was again at Bac, having left Dolores Apr. 21, and returned to 
it May 5, 1700. This is the occasion, says his biographer, 
Ortega, Apost. Afan., p. 284, when Kino founded the church: 
" abrio en San Xavier los cimientos a una nueva grande Iglesia. 
y tan capaz, que bastasse para la mucha gente — big enough for 
a large congregation; and he used much tuzontle, "a certain 
light porous stone, very suitable for building;" still it is quite 
possible that the structure may have been actually begun in 
1699, and Kino have this time performed some corner-stone 
laying or other ceremony which was regarded as the first 
actual " foundation." 

The author of Rudo Ensayo says, p. 223: "This is the last 
[northernmost] mission among the Pimas . . . bounded on the 
west by the ranches of the Papagos who rove about this bleak 
wilderness; on the east by the Sobahipuris; and on the north 
... by Casas Grandes and Pima of the Gila. At a distance of 
3 leagues North . . . lies the Post of Tucson with sufficient 
people and conveniences to found another mission. Father 



SAN XAVIER DEL BAC. 'JJ 

Alphonsus [sic] Espinosa is [1762] the Minister of San Xavier, 
and he has to attend to more people than there are in all the 
other Missions. Many of the old people are new in the Faith, 
and he has to work hard with them to instruct them and keep 
them in obedience; for such is their character that the Opatas, 
when they are advised by the priest to be obedient and gentle, 
say: 'Are we perhaps Papagos?'" 

The church records of baptism, etc., 1720-67, are extant, and 
show that during this period Bac was successively administered 
by 22 Jesuit padres, the last of them being Alonso Espinosa, 
1763-67. Garces arrived in 1768, and for 10 years — with inter- 
vals of travel — administered the mission, which he found in a 
sadly neglected state. The date " 1797," still legible over the 
door of the present church, is traditionally and reasonably sup- 
posed to be that of its completion, the building having gone on 
for 14 years from 1783. It is not the old Kino church of 1700, 
but its successor, built close by to replace the original one. 
Balthasar Cavillo appears on the books from May 22, 1780, to 
1794, and Narciso Gutierres in 1794-99, so that no doubt it was 
finished under the administration of these padres. Each of 
them went to and died in Tumacacori; Gutierres shortly before 
Jan. 1, 1821. On Dec. 13, 1822, the bones of both were trans- 
ferred from an old to the new church, as we learn by the 
records. Owing to protection from the Presidio of Tucson, 
estab. in 1776, Bac flourished as a mission to 1810; it then went 
down, and ended on the expulsion of the Franciscans on the 
fall of the colonial government, Dec. 2, 1827. Bac had 16 
post-Jesuit padres, either as residents or temporary incumbents. 
Bac was never quite abandoned, as it was put nominally under 
charge of the parish priest of Magdalena after 1827; but it 
merely struggled along till 1859, when Arizona was ecclesiasti- 
cally segregated to the diocese of Santa Fe, N. M., whose bishop 
was Right Rev. J. B. Lamy, who sent Very Rev. J. P. Mache- 
beuf to Bac. A description of Bac in 1852 is given by Bartlett, 
ii, p. 298: " A ride of nine miles [from Tucson] brought us to 



TUCSON. 

the mission of Son Xaiicr del Bac; truly a miserable place, con- 
sisting of from So to ioo huts, or wigwams, made of mud or 
straw, the sole occupants of which are Pimo Indians, though 
generally called Papagos. In the midst of these hovels stands 
the largest and most beautiful church in the State of Sonora. 
It is built of brick on the summit of a low hill, and has two 
towers and a dome. In a square, around and directly con- 
nected with the cnurch, are some adobe houses, which were 
occupied when the mission was in a flourishing state. All save 
one are now tenantless, and this, which adjoins the church, is 
occupied by the only Mexican family in the place." (Bartlett 
continues with a description of the church.) In 1864 Bac was 
administered by Rev. C. Mesea, S. J. In 1866 a school for 
Papagos was opened at Bac; and in 1873 another, the latter 
under A. R. Wilbur as Indian Agent, supported by the U. S. 
Government and administered by three Sisters of St. Joseph; 
closed Apr. I, 1876, when the Papagos were consolidated with 
the Piman Agency. A good description of the church as it 
-tands may be read in the pamphlet above cited, pp. 16-20, and 
] here give a very recent photograph. 

10 This date is notable for one of the miracles which often 
happened during the journey — at least in Font's diary thereof. 
He says it is a wonderful thing that they were never jumped by 
Apaches, nor did they ever see one; which should be attributed 
to the patronage of Santisima Virgen de Guadalupe, for, if the 
Apaches had jumped them, no doubt there would have been 
trouble — a statement of fact, whatever we may think of such 
simple logic. 

11 From the Piman styuk-son, " dark or brown spring." Its 
settlement by Spaniards has been reputed to date from 1560, 
but there is little doubt that it became a Spanish settlement 
not earlier than 1776. Before that time it was a rancheria, 
probably of mixed Pima, Papago, and Sobaipuri, and from as 
early as 1763 was regularly visited, as San Jose de Tucson, by 
the missionary of San Xavier del Bac. In 1776 the presidio of 







J - * 


1 • i 




* — 














TUCSON. 79 

Tubac was transferred there and the name San Agustin de Tuc- 
son applied. The native population in 1760-67 was 331, and 
200 families were settled there in 1772; but in 1774, when Anza 
visited the place, he found but 80 families of " Pimas." It was 
occupied as a presidio until the beginning of the Mexican war, 
1846. The name appears in many forms in literature, among 
them being Fruson, Fucson, Lucson, Teuson, Toison, Tubso, 
Tubson, Tucsson, Tuczon, Tueson, Tugson, Tuguison, Tuison, 
Tulquson, Tuozon, Tuquison, Tuson, and Tuqulson; the last 
occurring on Font's map. — F. W. H. 

How long the site of Tucson had been a rancheria is un- 
known, but its alleged great antiquity as a Spanish settlement 
is a fable. There may have been a few whites there in Jesuit 
times, before 1767, but if so they had abandoned the place by 
1763. The rubbish that has been written about Tucson's' 
sixteenth-century dates is only matched by the like Santa Fe 
myths: see for example Bancroft, Ariz, and N. M., p. 374, where 
some of these stories are ridiculed. We have the first definite 
knowledge of Tucson as a rancheria de visita of the Bac mission 
in 1763. Its foundation as a Spanish settlement was in 1776, 
when the Presidio de Tubac was moved to Tucson; and we 
know of a paper dated Nov. 24, 1777, asking to have it brought 
back from Tucson to Tubac. At this time the name was San 
Agustin de Tucson, and the little Indian village alongside the 
presidio was called San Agustin del Pueblito de Tucson; but 
the name San Agustin, as applied to the site or rancheria of 
Tucson, is very much older, appearing in the annals of Kino's 
entrada of October, 1699. These statements of the date of 
Tucson as a presidio are confirmed by Font's journal, which for 
to-day has: " This pueblo de Tuquison is more populous than 
that of San Xavier del Bac; and the following year of 1776 the 
presidio of Tubac was transferred hither, where it remains still, 
and is called the Presidio de San Agustin del Tuquison." From 
these beginnings the history of Tucson, though unbroken, is 
little notable down to modern times. In Sept., 1848, the pop. 



80 TUCSON. 

was 760, increased in December by refugees from Tumacacori 
and Tubac after Apache troubles. A plate of Tucson as it was 
in 1852 faces p. 292 of Bartlett's Narr., vol. ii, giving a good idea 
of the entourage. This author says, p. 295: " Tucson is the most 
northern town in Mexico, and a very old place. It is found 
on the oldest maps, and is referred to by the early missionaries. 
It has always been, and is to this day, a presidio or garrison; 
but for which the place could not be sustained. In its best 
days it boasted a population of 1000 souls, now diminished to 
about one third that number. It stands on the plateau adjoin- 
ing the fertile valley watered by the Santa Cruz River, a small 
stream which rises ten miles north-east of the town of Santa 
Cruz, whence it flows south to that place. It then takes a west- 
erly direction for about 10 miles, after which it flows northward 
through Tubac and Tucson, and soon becomes lost in the 
desert. The lands near Tucson are very rich, and were once 
extensively cultivated; but the encroachments of the Apaches 
compelled the people to abandon their ranchos and seek safety 
within the town. The miserable population, confined to 
such narrow limits, barely gains a subsistence, and could not 
exist a year but for the protection from the troops. More than 
once the town has been invested by from one to two thousand 
Indians, and attempts made to take it, but thus far without 
success. . . The houses of Tucson are all of adobe, and the 
majority are in a state of ruin. No attention seems to be given 
to repair; but as soon as a dwelling becomes uninhabitable, 
it is deserted, the miserable tenants creeping into some other 
hovel where they may eke out their existence. We found 300 
soldiers in the place, although the average number for some 
years past has not exceeded 20." Tucson was occupied by a 
garrison of the First Dragoons in 1856, when we took posses- 
sion of the Gadsden Purchase, and on Aug. 29 of that year a 
convention was held to take measures for a territorial organiza- 
tion of Arizona. In 1860-61, the Weekly Arizonian, a newspaper 
which had been started in Tubac, was published in Tucson. 



TUCSON. 8l 

On Apr. 2-5, i860, a convention adopted a constitution of the 
provisional government of the Territory of Arizona, and pub- 
lished its proceedings, umo, pp. 23. In Feb., 1862, Tucson was 
occupied by Confederate troops, but held only till May. Tuc- 
son was named as the capital in the Arizona bill of March, 
1862, but eliminated from that which finally passed the U. S. 
Senate Feb. 20, 1863, and became a law on the 24th. The new 
capital was fixed at Prescott in 1864, but in 1867 it was re- 
moved to Tucson; it stayed there till 1877, when it was 
transferred back to Prescott, and there remained till Feb. 4, 
1889. when it went to Phoenix. The railroad reached Tuc- 
son in 1880, and the land office of the Gila district was removed 
from Florence to Tucson in 1882. Among the notabilia of 
Tucson are the two masses of meteoric iron, which long served 
as anvils in a blacksmith's shop. The larger one was removed 
in i860, and is now in the Smithsonian Institution, known as 
the Ainsa meteorite, brought in 1735 from Sierra de la Madera 
by Don Juan Bautista de Ainsa (sic — apparently same name 
as Anza or Ansa). It is an irregular ring of iron, 38 to 
49 inches in external and 23 to 26^ inches in internal diam- 
eter, weighing about 1600 lbs. The other meteorite was a 
slab, sent to San Francisco in 1862 by General J. H. Carleton; 
4 feet long, 18 inches broad, 2 to 5 inches thick, weight 632 
lbs. See Bartlett, ii, p. 297, and cut opp. p. 298; Whitney, Proc. 
Cala. Acad. Sci., iii, pp. 30 and 48; Pumpelly. Across Amer., p. 6. 

1J Visita de mi administration. A visita was a clerical out- 
post visited or to be visited by a padre residing elsewhere, hav- 
ing no resident minister of its own. There were usually sev- 
eral such in the vicinity of the principal mission where resided 
the padre, and all were under his administration; all also were 
considered as one " mission " — the main one with its pueblos 
de visita. As Garces lived at Bac, Tucson was a visita of his 
administration. 

u Sierra llamada Frente Negra, literally Black Face. This is 
the range variously called Sierra de Tucson or Tucson range, 



8J CONTINUING DOWN RIO SANTA CRUZ. 

lying directly W. of Tucson, extending N. W. and S. E. Two 
of its peaks are Nasson and Safford, the latter northernmost; 
the name " Nasson " appears to be a mistake for that of John 
Wasson, surveyor-general of Arizona, 1870-82; Safford was evi- 
dently named for Governor A. K. P. Safford, 1869-77. 

The journey has continued down Rio Santa Cruz past Rillito 
creek, practically along the present railroad, to camp near Point 
of Mountain or Rillito station, which is by rail 16 m. N. W. of 
Tucson. The Tortolita mts. are at a distance on the right. 
This locality is also called Llano del Azotado (azotado, one who 
has been flogged) and Tutuetac, in other itineraries of the jour- 
ney. Font tells the story which explains the name Azotado. 
He calls the place more fully Llano del Puerto del Azotado, the 
passage from the plain to the gap being made next day. On 
the 27th, before breaking camp, two muleteers hid away, in- 
tending to desert. Some Indians of Tucson were sent to find 
them, and at night eight came into camp with one of the de- 
serters. The runaway was put in custody and given twelve 
lashes; for which reason was the place called Llano del Azo- 
tado. 

14 To-day occurred one of the spats which were almost inces- 
sant between Anza and his priests, but the only one in which 
Garces seems to have taken part. Font, on the other hand, 
was continually in hot water with his commanding officer, 
whom he abuses, expressly or implicitly, throughout his diary. 
He was not well, and some allowance may be made for our 
model journalist on that account; but he was peevish, fussy, 
meddlesome, truculent, and puffed up with his chaplaincy, to 
the continual annoyance of his reserved and haughty superior. 
When breaking camp this morning, Garces expostulated with 
Anza concerning some beasts he had asked for and been prom- 
ised; to which Anza replied that he could give him none be- 
cause he had none to spare. Whereupon Garces talked back 
pretty plainly (con alguna claridad), and what he said made the 
senor comandante so angry that though Font succeeded in 



PAPAGO INDIANS. 83 

pacifying him, he would not speak to either of them all that 
day. 

15 The meaning of this name is not known, but it seems to 
contain the element o-a, to deface, to obliterate, probably in 
allusion to the pueblo that had been destroyed by the Apache. 
It has also been called Oapars, as on Garces' journey of 1771 ; 
while Anza and Font record it under the names Ditt- 
pax, Oitapars, Oytapayts, Oytaparts, and Pueblo viejo. — 
F. W. H. 

18 The derivation of the name of this important Piman tribe 
is involved in some doubt. It has been persistently stated by 
a number of writers that the word means " hair cut," or " bap- 
tized," the sign by which the " converted " Piman Indians were 
formerly distinguished. This is no doubt an error. More 
likely the term is a corruption of their own name Papab- 
ootam (ootatn signifying men, folk, Indians) or else derived 
from papavi-ootam, " bean people " (" Pimas Frijoleros ") be- 
cause their principal crop is beans. The latter derivation was 
suggested by Father Kino as early as 1699. The Papago are 
closely allied to the Pima Alta or Northern Pima, and in- 
habit the territory formerly and still limitedly known as the 
Papagueria. extending from the Gila southward into Sonora, 
and from Quitovaquito in the west to San Xavier del Bac in 
the east. In the 17th and 18th centuries they were less inclined 
to village life than the Pima, a fact doubtless due to the necessi- 
ties of their inhospitable habitat, where water is exceedingly 
scarce. They subsist by agriculture, but formerly conducted a 
considerable trade in salt from the inland saline lagoons. They 
also manufacture a syrup extracted from the pitahaya or giant 
cactus (Cereus giganteus). They are tall, dark-complexioned, 
and instead of wearing their hair in long braids or twists like 
their congeners the Pima, they cut it at a level with the shoul- 
ders. Their language varies little from that of the Pima, with 
whom they have intermarried from early times. They for- 
merly suffered considerably from Apache inroads. Pop. in 1897, 



84 VARIOUS PLACES. 

3.270 in Arizona, and probably as many more in Sonora. Other 
forms of the name are Papabi-ootam (1794), Papabi-Otawas, 
Papabos, Papabotas, Papaga, Papagi, Pa-Pagoe, Papagoose, 
Papahi-Ootam, Papahotas, Papalotes (1746), Papa-Otam 
(1764), Papapootam, Papavicotam, Papavo, Papawar, Papayos, 
Papelotes, Papigo, Piatos, Tono-Ootam (" Desert People," 
said to be one of their own names), etc. — F. W. H. 

' 7 Passing Rillito, Desert Wells, and Naviska stations, and 
thus from Pima into Pinal county, making about 16 m. to camp 
in the vicinity of present Red Rock. 

" Ranchcria, any village, settlement, or place cultivated, espe- 
cially by Indians; equivalent to rancho or ranch, in the west 
meaning what farm does in the east. 

a Quitoac also appears in print as Quitcac, and another name 
of this rancheria is Bajio de Aquituno, or Aquituno flats, from 
the Anza and Font narratives of the same journey. This was 
evidently an insignificant Papago settlement on the Santa Cruz 
near the present so-called Picacho peak, and was occupied at 
intervals when this intermittent stream afforded a sufficient 
water supply for a few families. The meaning of the name is 
not known, although the elements kit or quit (wall) and bac or 
vac (house, ruin) seem to appear in the term. As this territory 
contains the remains of many prehistoric pueblo ruins it is not 
unlikely that the name was suggested by an ancient house wall 
standing above ground. Arricivita calls the place Aquitun. — 
F. VV. H. 

Quitoac can be located more closely by Font's journal than 
by GarceY. The former says it was only half a league from 
the camp of last night, and consisted of some 30 jacals, inhab- 
ited at times by the Papagos, who were just then on the Gila, 
as we find beyond. Font spells the name Cuitoa and Cuytoa, 
and says that a little further on was a laguna — the sink of the 
Rio del Tuquison y San Xavier, as he calls the Santa Cruz 
river. 

20 Picacho, picache or peak, peak of a mountain, but more par- 



PIMAS GILENOS, ETC. 85 

ticularly applied to any such isolated elevation in a plain as 
would be styled a butte in most parts of the west. 

21 Cerro is properly a hill .r smooth rounded highland in any 
elevated rolling country, and is not well applied to this isolated 
picache or peak. Tacca also appears in print as Ttacca and 
Taceo (perhaps the Piman word ta-kju, meaning " iron "). This 
small mountain stands in the plain close to the railroad, 
on the left going north, between Red Rock and Picacho 
stations: there is another further off to the right, called 
Desert peak. The picacho is a conspicuous landmark in 
the Tucson desert; a cut of this formation, viewed from 
the south, is on p. 200 of Bartlett's Narr., vol. ii. As Garces 
is still traveling " by rail," as it were, it is easy to adjust 
his camps; his line of march is parallel with the rails, though a 
little west of them, as it is on the other (the left) side of Rio 
Santa Cruz, till to-day, as appears by Font's map. Besides is- 
suing the order of which Garces speaks, Anza to-day enforced 
discipline by directing 25 lashes to be given to the other mule- 
teer who had absconded and been brought in by Indians 
from Tucson. 

22 These were not a distinct tribe of the Pima, the name being 
applied to the Pima, Sobaipuri, and also evidently some stray 
Papago settled along the Gila, whence the name is derived. 
Also called Cilenos and Xilenos. They of course have no con- 
nection with the Apaches Gilenos or Gileno Apache to the east- 
ward, who also were called Xilenos, Gilenos, etc. — F. W. H. 

The author of the Rudo Ensayo devotes his chap, vi, sec. 2, 
pp. 188-192, to the " High and Low Pimas," i. e., those of 
Pimeria Alta and Baxa. " The villages of the Low Pimas are 
like landmarks in this province [Sonora]; for from Taraitzi to 
Cumuripa, Onapa, Nuri, Movas, and Onabas, they form such 
towards the south, and from Cumuripa, Zuaqui [or Suaqui, a 
Nevome village], San Joseph of the Pimas, Santa Rosalia, Ures, 
and Nacomeri, towards the west, they form the border line with 
the Seris. . . The Pimas of the mountains [i. c, High Pimas] 



86 PIMAN AND YUMAN FAMILIES. 

occupy all of the land from Cucurpe, through Santa Ana and 
Caborca to the sea, from east to west, and from south to north, 
all from said mission running through Dolores, Remedios, Co- 
cospera, the Terrenate fortress, and from there following the 
river San Pedro, called also Sobahipuris, as far as its junction 
with the Gila, and on both banks of the latter as far as the 
Colorado. . . The genuine Pimas of the mountains may be 
divided into four sections: the first comprehends those congre- 
gated in villages; the second, the Papagos already mentioned; 
the third, the Sobahipuris; and the fourth, those who live on 
the Gila river." i. e., the Gilefios mentioned in the text above. 
The Ensayo continues: "The Opas. Comaricopas, Hudcoa- 
dam, Yumas, Cuhuanas, Quiquimas and others beyond the 
Colorado river, may also be called Pimas and counted as so 
many tribes of this nation, for they all use the same language 
with merely a difference of dialect." But this last statement 
requires modification in order to recognize the Yumas, etc., as 
a distinct linguistic stock. The classification now accepted is: 

PIMAN FAMILY. YUMAN FAMILY. 

a) Northern. Cochimi. 
Opata. Cocopa. 

Papago. Cuchan (Yuma proper). 

Pima (proper). Diegueno. 

b) Southern. Havasupai. 
Cahita. Maricopa. 
Cora. Mojave. 
Tarahumara. Seri(?). 
Tepehuana. Waicuru. 

Walapai. 
Yavapai. 

" Bearing away from the Santa Cruz in the vicinity of present 
Picacho station, and proceeding little west of north for about 
32 miles, Garces approaches the Gila at a point some 8 miles 



VARIOUS PLACES. 87 

N. W. of the Casa Grande, as we learn from what he says for 
Oct. 31. The laguna where the party camped is called Camani 
in another report of this expedition. This position is in the 
S. E. portion of the present Gila River Indian Reservation, not 
far from the present Indian village which is 12 m. due W. of 
Florence. The reservation is a large one, running broadly 
down both sides of the river to the confluence of Salt river, and 
has quite a long history: see Executive Orders of Aug. 31, 1876; 
Jan. 10 and June 14, 1879; May 5, 1882; Nov. 15, 1883. The 
Gila is the principal branch of the Colorado in Arizona, and 
thus the second largest river of the Territory; with its main 
fork, the Salado, it is the first in importance from an agricultural 
standpoint. A special note on this river will be found beyond. 

24 Zacdte, more frequently sacate, from the Nahuatl gacatl, is 
the usual name for grass such as horses and cattle eat, also 
called indifferently by Garces pastos and pasturas, pasturage, 
forage, herbage. Such " grass " is distinguished from sacaton, 
the tall rank herbage, such as reeds, rushes, and the like, unfit 
for forage. 

25 Equituni is the same as Aquituno or Aquituni, the names 
applied by Anza and Font on this journey to Garces' ran- 
cheria of Quitoac. So far as known this is the first and in- 
deed only time the name is given. There is a close similarity 
between the names Quitoac and Quitoa (following), but unless 
Garces became confused they were doubtless distinct rancherias. 
— F. W. H. 

28 Cuitoa was a Papago village, the Papago also being loosely 
included with the Pimas Gilefios. See note 19 , p. 84. — F. W. H. 

" Vturituc was a Pima village on the Gila, 4 to 6 leagues west 
of Casa Grande ruin. Anza visited it in 1774, at which date it 
had 300 inhabitants. Font estimated the population at 1000. 
Its saint name was San Juan Capistrano, and it has been re- 
ferred to under the names San Juan Capistrans de Virtud, 
Ulurituc, Tutiritucar, Tutunitucan, Utilltuc, and Uturicut. — 
F. W. H. 



TROWESS OF THE PIMAS. 

* Sutaquison was a Pima settlement on the Gila between Casa 
Grande and a point 10 miles below. Kino first visited it in 
1694, naming it Encarnacion. It is probably identical with the 
modern Sacaton or Zacaton. According to Font the population 
was 5000 in 1775, and although this may be an overestimate it 
was in all probability the most populous of all the Pima settle- 
ments. Also recorded as Sudacson, Sutaguison, etc. The name 
seems to have a derivation similar to that of Tucson (Styucson), 
previously noted. — F. W. H. 

The evidence that Kino visited Sutaquison and named it En- 
carnacion in 1694 is positive by Apost. Afan., p. 253, where it is 
said, in substance, that in Nov., 1694, he undertook a new jour- 
ney, and penetrated unto the Rio Gila, distant as it were 43 
leagues from San Xavier del Bac, between north and west: "to 
the first rancheria which he encountered, composed of Piman 
people, he gave the name of Encarnacion; and to another, four 
leagues further on, that of San Andres." 

M The Pimas waged vigorous war against the Apaches 
whenever occasion offered, and there are still among the for- 
mer tribe many elderly men who bear wounds received during 
Apache campaigns. Had it not been for the friendly Pimas, 
many white settlements in southern Arizona would not have 
found it possible to exist. — F. W. H. 

The prowess of the Pimas was more than once felt by their 
oppressors the Spaniards. Three Jesuit missionaries and va- 
rious others were killed by them at different times. The 
tarliest victim was Father F. X. Saeta, murdered at Caborca on 
Apr. 2, 1695 (Apost. Afan., p. 257). The most notable uprising 
began on Nov. 21, 1751, on which day Fathers Tomas Tello at 
Caborca and Henry Ruen or Ruhen at Sonoita were killed; 
this revolt was not finally quelled till 1754. Another important 
insurrection occurred in 1761, and ran a year or two; this was of 
of Pimas Bajas and Seris. The Pimas, in fact, in spite of the 
eloquent protestations of their chief apostle Kino, were almost 
from the beginning regarded with suspicion by the Spaniards, 



MOTECUHZOMA. 89 

and the logic of events frequently justified such suspicion; but 
it should be added that they were more than once outraged and 
of course incessantly oppressed. Since we have owned the 
country I do not think we have ever had trouble with either 
Pimas or Papagos in Arizona. 

" Moctezuma is a compromise between the proper name and 
our familiar corruption, Montezuma: thus Bandelier, Amer. 
Anthrop., Oct., 1892, p. 319, has: "There is no need of proving 
that the name of the Mexican ' Chief of Men ' (Tlaca-tecuhtli) 
who perished while in the custody of the Spaniards under Her- 
nando Cortes in 1520 was Mo-tecuh-zoma, literally ' Our 
Wrathy Chieftain.' Bernal Diez [Diaz] del Castillo, an eye- 
witness and the much-prejudiced author of the 'True History' of 
the Conquest, is responsible for the corruption into Montezuma, 
which has since become popular and most widely known. It 
is interesting how that misspelling has taken hold of the public 
mind, how it has completely supplanted the original true 
orthography and meaning. Meaning even is out of place here, 
for, while Motecnhsoma is a legitimate Nahuatl word with a very 
plain signification, and also a typical Indian personal name, 
Montezuma has no signification whatever; and yet, in Mexico, 
even the Nahuatl Indians — those who speak the Nahuatl lan- 
guage daily — know only Montezuma, and would hardly recog- 
nize the original name as applicable to him, whom they have 
been taught to call an ' emperor.' " 

Ruins of unknown origin became " Montezumas " — not only 
" houses of Montezuma," but Montezuma himself — in popular 
speech. " Casas de Montezuma " are mentioned by this name 
as early as 1664 by Francisco de Gorraez Beaumont and An- 
tonio de Oca Sarmiento, speaking of those then recently dis- 
covered in northwestern Chihuahua (Bandelier, /. c, p. 320). 
The most famous of all such edifices is still standing near the Gila, 
only about a mile and a half south of the river, some nine miles 
west by south by the road from Florence, in the S. W. J4 of 
section 16 of tp. 5 S. of the base line, range 8 E. of the Gila 



90 DISCOVERY OF CASA GRANDE. 

and Salt river meridian; this is the one now visited by Font 
and Garces. Its position is almost on lat. 33°; so Father Font 
made a close observation on this Oct. 31, 1775. Its location 
is a reservation of about 54 square m., called by the name of 
the ruin, set aside from sale or settlement by Executive Order of 
June 22, 1892, in pursuance of Act of Congress of Mar. 2, 1889. 
Its literature is extensive; besides what I am about to cite, see 
Bandelier's Final Rep. in Arch. Inst. Papers, pt. ii, 1892, p. 439 
(t scq., referring to early Spanish reports; Fewkes in Journ. 
Amer. Ethn. and Arch., 1892, pp. 177-193; and MindelefFs elab- 
orate papers in 13th and 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. 
Waiving what has been erroneously adduced of Spanish knowl- 
edge of this Casa Grande in the time of Friar Marcos and Coro- 
nado, 1539-42, I will note something of the discovery of these 
ruins by Kino in November, 1694, on the occasion of his first 
pushing an entrada in Arizona to the Gila. It appears from 
Apost. Afan., p. 252 et seq., that Kino had heard of the ruin in 
Nov., 1694, when he undertook a new journey and reached the 
Gila: " En este sitio se hallo una casa grande, y antigua, que aun 
ahora [1752] permanece, y se assegura, que es de quatro altos; 
alii cerca se veian otras, que sin duda davan indicio de Pobla- 
cion grande, que havia havido en otro tiempo. Anade en su 
relation el padre Kino, que en otras ocasiones havia oido dezir, 
y algunas vezes el mismo visto, que mas adelante por los mis- 
mos rumbos de Oriente, Poniente, y Norte havia otros vestigios, 
y ruinas de semejantes Poblaciones " — that is to say, freely, in 
that Gila locality there was found a house large and ancient, 
which was still standing when Ortega was writing, in 1752, and 
was certainly four stories high; that thereabouts were to be seen 
others which had formerly existed; that Father Kino added in 
his relation, that on other occasions he had heard it said, and 
sometimes had seen for himself, that further on in the same 
directions, east, west, and north, there were yet other remains 
and ruins of similar settlements. Ortega goes on to speak of 
the ancient traditions, received by all the historians of New 



KINO AT CASA GRANDE. 91 

Spain, that through those interior parts came the ancient Mex- 
ican nation to seek lands in which to settle, and that this Gila 
locality was one of their stopping-places, in which they left 
those houses whose ruins were still recognized. Also, he says, 
there were existent between Presidio de Janos and Real de Che- 
guagua other casas grandes, having like relation to the peoples 
whose transmigration ended with the founding of the City of 
Mexico. Again, says Ortega, Father Kino is persuaded in his 
MSS. that this locality is the one which the venerable Padre 
Frai Marcos de Niza, who claims to have gone all through 
these lands, calls that of the Seven Cities (sc. of Cibola) in a 
volume he wrote about his peregrinations — which is, of course, 
a mistake, as that friar was never there. Kino is credited with 
having said mass in the casa in that autumn of 1694; he was 
again on the spot in November of 1697, and once more in the 
spring of 1699. On the occasion of his 1697 visit, his biog- 
rapher gives the following notice, Apost. Afan., p. 268: " Si- 
guiendo las orillas del mismo Rio Quiburi [now Rio San Pedro) 
llegaron a las del Gila, y caminando por tres dias rio abaxo 
. . . vinieron a la Casa grande, de cuya vista mucho se ale- 
graron los Cabos, y los Soldados; admiraronse, que distasse del 
rio Gila casi una legua en parage falto de agua: cesso en breve 
su admiracion, quando repararon en una Zanja de seis, 6 sieta 
varas de anchura con los bordos en una, y otra parte de 
tres varas de alto, que llegava hasta el rio Gila, y proveia de 
agua no solo las Casas, mas tambien con una gran buelta, que 
dava a una campina de muchas leguas de extension, en tierra 
liana, y pingue: indicava todo esto lo mucho, que anos pasados 
havia servido en dilatadas siembras, y las que en lo venidero se 
podian hazer alii " — that is to say, in substance, the soldiers 
wondered at the distance of the house from the Gila in such 
a dry place, but ceased to marvel when they found what a big 
ditch extended to the river, sufficing to irrigate all the country 
round about, etc. The diary of this expedition, by Juan Mateo 
Mange, who accompanied Kino, is printed in Doc. para Hist. 



92 RUDO ENSAYO ON CASA GRANDE. 

Mex., 4th ser., i, 1856, pp. 274-291, with ref. to the Casas 
Grandes on pp. 282-284, for Nov. 18, 1697. This, no doubt, is 
what is quoted by Bartlett, Narr., ii, p. 265, with ref. to a MS. 
cited in Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, iii, p. 301. Though 
Mange was also with Kino on the entrada of 1694, when the 
Casas Grandes were discovered by Kino, he did not share that 
discovery. But he has been repeatedly quoted as co-discoverer, 
as by Bartlett, p. 281, relying upon the notoriously inaccurate 
Schoolcraft, who even credits Mange, an army officer, with 
saying mass in the famous edifice! If we return to Mange's 
own diary of 1694, as pub. in the Docs, just cited, pp. 250-259, 
we find on p. 250 that the heading of Capitulo Tercero, devoted 
to Kino's third entrada, declares that " ejecuto por si (by 
himself) el dicho padre al descubrimiento de las Casas Grandes," 
etc.; while at the end of this chapter, p. 259, there is the follow- 
ing: " En el interin de esta campana mismo mes y ano [Novem- 
ber, 1694] salio por si el reverendo padre Francisco Eusebio 
Kino, a descubrir el rio [Gila] y casas grandes dentro de las 
cuales dijo misa " — went alone the Rev. Padre Kino to discover 
the Gila and Casas Grandes, in which latter he said mass. 

From the turn of the century, 1699-1700, we have little further 
information for about 60 years. Then the author of the Rudo 
Ensayo, writing in 1762, speaks as follows (I quote the English 
transl. first pub. June, 1894, in Am. Cath. Hist. Soc, v, No. 2, 
p. 127): "... the Gila leaves on its left, at the distance of one 
league, the Casa Grande, called the house of Moctezuma, because 
of a tradition current among the Indians and Spaniards, of this 
place having been one of the abodes in which the Mexicans 
rested on their long transmigrations. This great house is four 
stories high, still standing, with a roof made of beams of cedar 
or tlascal, and with most solid walls of a material that looks like 
the best cement. It is divided into many halls and rooms and 
might well lodge a travelling court. Three leagues distant and 
on the right bank of the river there is another similar house, 
but now much demolished, which, from the ruins, can be in- 



FONT ON CASA GRANDE. 93 

ferred to have been of vaster size than the former. For some 
leagues around, in the neighborhood of these houses, wherever 
the earth is dug up, broken pieces of very fine and variously 
colored earthen-ware are found. Judging from a reservoir of 
vast extent and still open, which is found two leagues up the 
river, holding sufficient water to supply a city and to irrigate 
for many leagues the fruitful land of that beautiful plain, the 
residence of the Mexicans there must not have been a brief one." 

The foregoing fairly reflects what was known or believed 
concerning the Casas Grandes, down to the date of our author's 
visit to the ruins with Father Font. Font's original report, 
in Spanish, has never been published; but a French translation, 
from some clerical copy of Font's Diary, appeared in Ternaux- 
Compans, Voyages, etc., 8vo, Paris, 1838, vol. ix, appendix, 
art. vii, pp. 383-386, headed " Notice sur la Grande Maison Dite 
de Moctecuzoma." This appears to be the basis of the account 
in English in Bartlett's Narrative, etc. Ternaux-Compans was 
a careless if not an incompetent editor of Spanish; there is 
always a suspicion that what he sets forth in French is not 
exactly what his Spanish author says in the original. I made 
a careful translation of the French at Santa Fe, Sept. 4, 1898, 
but on comparing it with Font's Diary I find it a loose para- 
phrase. With Font's own handwriting before me, I give it in 
as close a translation as I can make — as nearly word for word 
as English idiom will admit. At date of Tuesday, Oct. 31, Font 
says: 

" Determined the senor comandante to-day to rest the people 
from the long journey of yesterday, and with this we had an 
opportunity of going to examine the Casa grande, that they call 
of Moctezuma, situated at one league from the river Gila, and 
distant from the place of the laguna [Camani, where they had 
camped] some three leagues to the eastsoutheast; to the which 
we went after mass, and returned after midday, accompanied 
by some Indians, and by the Governor of Uturituc, who on the 
way told us a history, and tradition, that the Pimas Gilenos 



94 FONT ON CASA GRANDE. 

conserve from their ancestors concerning said Casa grande, 
which all reduces itself to fictions (patranas) mingled confusedly 
with some catholic truths, the which I will notice hereafter. I 
i bserved this place of the Casa grande, marked on the Map, 
which afterward I drew, with the letter A, and I found it with- 
out correction in 33." 11.' and with correction in 33.° 3.' J /2. 
[Ternaux-Compans has 33 30' by mistake — read 33 03' 30".] 
And thus I say: In the Casa grande of the river Gila, day 31 of 
October of 1775: meridional altitude of the lower limb of the 
sun: 42.° 25.' We examined with all care this edifice, and its 
\estiges, whose ichnographic plan is that which here I put [pen- 
and-ink ground plan of the Casa, oriented, 10% x 6}i inches, 
faces p. 20 of the bound MS.]: and for its better understanding 
1 give the description and explication following: The Casa 
grande, or palace of Moctezuma will have from foundation 
some five hundred years according to the histories and scanty 
notices that there are of it, and the Indians give: because, as it 
appears, the Mexicans made this foundation when in their trans- 
migrations the devil took them through various lands until they 
iirrived at the promised land of Mexico, and in their sojourns, 
which were long, they formed settlement, and edifices. The 
site on which is found this Casa is level in all directions, and 
apart from the river Gila about one league, and the ruins of 
the houses which formed the settlement extend more than a 
league to the east and the rest of the winds; and all this ground 
is strewn with pieces of jars, pots, plates, &c, some plain, and 
others painted of various colors, white, blue, red, &c, an indica- 
tion that it was a large settlement, and of a distinct people from 
the Pimas Gilenos, since these know not to make such pottery. 
We made an exact inspection of the edifice, and of its situation, 
and we measured it with a lance for the nonce, which measure- 
ment I reduced afterward to geometrical feet, and a little more 
or less it h the following: The Casa is an oblong square 
iquadrilonga — mm carre long), and perfectly to the four cardinal 
winds, east, west, north, and south, and roundabout (al rededor) 




Contour Intervol. I. Foot. 

GROUND PLAN OF CASA GRANDE (AFTER MINDELEFF) 



FONT ON CASA GRANDE. 95 

are some ruins, which indicate some enclosure or wall (ccrco 
6 muralla), which surrounded the house and other buildings 
particularly at the corners (esquinas), where it seems there was 
some structure like an interior castle, or watch-tower, for in 
the corner which falls on the southwest there is a piece of 
groundwork with its divisions and an elevation (un pedazo en 
pie con sus divisiones, y un alto — remains of basement and wall). 
The exterior enclosure has from north to south 420. feet, and 
from east to west 260. The interior of the Casa is composed 
of five halls, the three equal in the middle, and one at each 
extremity larger. The three [middle] halls have from north 
to south 26. feet, and from east to west 10. The two halls of the 
extremities [one at each end] have from north to south 12. feet, 
and from east to west 38. The halls have of height some 11. 
feet, and all are equal [in this respect]. The doors of com- 
munication have of height 5. feet, and of width 2. and are all 
about equal, except the four first [outer ones] of the four 
entrances, which it appears were twice as wide (otro tanto 
anchas). The thickness of the interior walls [is] 4. feet, and 
they are well constructed (enjarradas) ; and of the exterior 
ones 6. feet. The Casa has on the outside from north to south 
70. feet, and from east to west 50. The walls are sloped (escar- 
padas) on the outer side. In front of the door of the east, 
separated from the Casa, there is another building (pieza — 
piece), which has from north to south 26. feet, and from east to 
west 18. without [exclusive of] the thickness of the walls. The 
woodwork was of pine, apparently (por lo que se ve), and the 
sierra most near, which has pines, is distant some twenty and 
five leagues: and also has some mezquite. All the edifice is 
of earth, and according to the signs, it is a mud-wall made with 
boxes of various sizes (es tapia fabricada con caxones de varios 
tamanes, i. e., is built of puddled earth in blocks of various sizes). 
There comes from the river, and from quite afar, an acequia 
very large, with which was supplied with water the population, 
and it is now very blind (cegada, i.e., indistinct.) [Some translate 



96 FONT ON CASA GRANDE. 

this "almost dry"!]. Finally, it is known that the edifice had 
three stories; and if is truth that which can be found out from 
the Indians, and according to the indications that are visible, 
it had four, the basement of the Casa deepening in the manner 
of a subterranean apartment. To give light to the apartments, 
there occurs no more than the doors, and some circular open- 
ings in the midst of the walls which face to the east and west, 
and the Indians said that through these openings (which are 
pretty large) looked out the Prince, whom they name El 
Hombre Amargo [lliomme deplaisant, the ' ugly man,' i. e., 
our wrathy chieftain Motecuhzoma] upon the sun when it rose, 
and set, to salute it. There are found no traces of staircases, 
from which we judged that they were of wood, and were de- 
stroyed in the conflagration which the edifice suffered from the 
Apaches." 

Thus far Font with his excellent description. He goes on 
with two and a half pages of the yarn which the governor 
of Uturituc spun for him in the Pima tongue, translated as 
they went along by one of Anza's servants. But this is dreary 
rubbish, which it would be neither entertaining nor edifying 
to set forth; and so I refrain. When Lt. Col. W. H. Emory 
came by in November, 1846, he found an Indian who told him 
the fact about these buildings: "We know, in truth, nothing of 
their origin. It is all enveloped in mystery " (Report, etc., 
p. 83; with a plate of the main Casa Grande and the two adjoin- 
ing buildings, from the sketch made by J. M. Stanley, artist 
of the expedition, whose many paintings, mostly Indian por- 
traits, were destroyed by the partial burning of the Smithsonian 
Institution, Jan. 24, 1865). 

Font's description has been repeatedly quoted or copied, 
some authors making the strange mistake of citing his dimen- 
sions of the exterior enclosure, 420 x 260 feet, as those of the 
house itself. Bartlett's Narr., ii, p. 280, notices this blunder, 
after giving a long extract from Font, as far as it goes sub- 
stantially the same as the above. He visited the spot on July 12, 



BARTLETT ON CASA GRANDE. 97 

1852, and has left us a careful description of the ruins as they 
then were, in comparison with Font of 1775 and Kino of 1694, 
finding little change during the century and a half; his plate of 
the three principal ruins faces p. 274, and on p. 276 are the 
ground plans of two of them and two elevations. I think it 
well to transcribe his account (Narr., ii, pp. 272-yy): 

" The ' Casas Grandes,' or Great Houses, consist of three 
buildings, all included within a space of 150 yards. The prin- 
cipal and larger one is in the best state of preservation, its four 
exterior walls and most of the inner ones remaining. A con- 
siderable portion of the upper part of the walls has crumbled 
away and fallen inwards, as appears from the great quantity of 
rubbish and disintegrated adobe which fills the first story of 
the building. Three stories now stand and can plainly be made 
out by the ends of the beams remaining in the walls, or by the 
cavities which they occupied; but I think there must have been 
another story above, in order to account for the crumbling 
walls and rubbish within. The central portion or tower rising 
from the foundation, is some eight or ten feet higher than the 
outer walls, and may have been several feet, probably one 
story, higher when the building was complete. The walls at 
the base are between four and five feet in thickness; their pre- 
cise dimensions could not be ascertained, so much having crum- 
bled away. The inside is perpendicular, while the exterior face 
tapers towards the top, in a curved line. These walls, as well 
as the division walls of the interior, are laid with large square 
blocks of mud, prepared for the purpose by pressing the material 
into large boxes about two feet in height and four feet long. 
When the mud became sufficiently hardened, the case was 
moved along and again filled, and so on until the whole edifice 
was completed. This is a rapid mode of building; but the Mexi- 
cans seem never to have applied it to any purpose but the 
erection of fences or division-walls. The material of this build- 
ing is the mud of the valley, mixed with gravel. The mud is 
very adhesive, and when dried in the sun, is very durable. The 



98 BARTLETT OX CASA GRANDE. 

outer surface of the wall appears to have been plastered roughly; 
but the inside, as well as the surface of all the inner walls, is 
hard finished. This is done with a composition of adobe, and is 
still as smooth as when first made, and has quite a polish. On 
one of the walls are rude figures, drawn with red lines, but 
no inscriptions. From the charred ends of the beams which 
remain in the walls, it is evident that the building was de- 
stroyed by fire. Some of the lintels which remain over the 
doors are formed of several sticks of wood, stripped of their 
bark, but showing no signs of a sharp instrument. The beams 
which supported the floors, were from four to five inches in 
diameter, placed about the same distance apart, and inserted 
deeply in the walls. 

" Most of the apartments are connected by doors, besides 
which there are circular openings in the upper part of the 
chambers to admit light and air. The ground plan of the 
building shows that all the apartments were long and narrow, 
without windows. The inner rooms, I think, were used as 
store-rooms for corn; in fact, it is a question whether the whole 
may not have been built for a similar purpose. There are four 
entrances, one in the centre of each side. The door on the 
western side is but two feet wide, and seven or eight high; the 
others three feet wide and five in height, tapering towards the 
top, — a peculiarity belonging to the ancient edifices of Central 
America and Yucatan. With the exception of these doors, 
there are no exterior openings, except on the western side, 
where they are of a circular form. Over the doorway corre- 
sponding to the third story, on the western front, is an open- 
ing, where there was a window, which I think was square. In 
a line with this are two circular openings. 

" The southern front has fallen in several places, and is much 
injured by large fissures, yearly becoming larger, so that the 
whole of it must fall ere long. The other three fronts are quite 
perfect. The walls at the base, and particularly at the corners, 
have crumbled away to the extent of 12 or 15 inches, and are 



BARTLETT ON CASA GRANDE. 99 

only held together by their great thickness. The moisture here 
causes disintegration to take place more rapidly than in any 
other part of the building; and in a few years, when the walls 
have become more undermined, the whole structure must fall, 
and become a mere rounded heap like many other shapeless 
mounds which are seen on the plain. A couple of days' labor 
spent in restoring the walls at the base with mud and gravel, 
would render this interesting monument as durable as brick, 
and enable it to last for centuries. How long it has been in 
this ruined state, is not known; we only know that when visited 
by the missionaries a century ago, it was in the same condition 
as at present. 

" The exterior dimensions of this building are 50 feet from 
north to south, and 40 from east to west. On the ground floor 
are five apartments. Those on the north and south sides extend 
the whole width of the building, and measure 32 by 10 feet. Be- 
tween these are three smaller apartments, the central one being 
within the tower. All are open to the sky. There is no appear- 
ance of a stairway on any of the walls: whence it has been in- 
ferred that the means of ascent may have been outside. 

" On the south-west of the principal building is a second one 
in a state of ruin, with hardly enough of the walls remaining to 
trace its original form. The accompanying ground-plan will 
show what portions of the walls are standing. The dark lines 
represent the erect walls, the faint lines the heaps of fallen 
ones. The central portion, judging from the height of the 
present walls, was two stories high; the outer wall, which can 
only be estimated from the debris, could not have been more 
than a single story. 

" Northeast of the main building is a third one, smaller than 
either of the others, but in such an utter state of decay that its 
original form cannot be determined. It is small, and may have 
been no more than a watch tower. In every direction as far 
as the eye can reach, are seen heaps of ruined edifices, with no 
portions of their walls standing. To the northwest, about 200 



lOO LATE NOTICES OF CASA GRANDE. 

yards distant, is a circular embankment from 80 to 100 yards in 
circumference, which is open in the centre, and is probably the 
remains of an inclosure for cattle. For miles around these in 
all directions, the plain is strewn with broken pottery and 
metates or corn-grinders. The pottery is red, white, lead 
color, and black. The figures are usually geometrical and 
formed with taste, and in character are similar to the orna- 
ments found on the pottery from the ruins on the Salinas and 
much further north. Much of this pottery is painted on the 
inside, a peculiarity which does not belong to the modern pot- 
tery. In its texture too, it is far superior. . . 

" The origin of these buildings is shrouded in mystery . . . 
One thing is evident, that at some former period the valley of 
the Gila, from this ruin to the western extremity of the rich 
bottom-lands now occupied by the Pimos and Coco-Maricopas, 
as well as the broad valley of the Salinas, for upwards of 40 miles, 
was densely populated. The ruined buildings, the irrigating 
canals, and the vast quantities of pottery of a superior quality, 
show that, while they were an agricultural people, they were 
much in advance of the present semi-civilized tribes of the 
Gila." 

As Bartlett says, the origin of these and of other noteworthy 
pueblo ruins scattered over the entire Gila-Salado-Verde drain- 
age is as yet unknown; but Mr. Hodge thinks it not unlikely 
that investigations now being conducted by Dr. J. Walter 
Fewkes under the auspices of the Bureau of American Eth- 
nology will, within the next few years, prove beyond reasonable 
doubt that some at least are the remains of buildings erected by 
certain Hopi (Tusayan or Moki) clans of undoubted southern 
origin. 

Accounts of Casa Grande as an object of tourists' curiosity, 
more modem than most of those above cited, are of course in- 
numerable; several plates have been published, and photographs 
are easily accessible. In general, these popular notices are 
fairly good descriptions, but historically worthless or per- 




b to 



o £ 



^1 



BEST MONOGRAPHS ON CASA GRANDE. IOI 

nicious. The best monographs by far are those of Cosmos 
Mindeleff, entitled Casa Grande Ruin, in 13th Ann. Rep. Bur. 
Ethn., pp. 289-319, pll. li-lx, and The Repair of Casa Grande 
Ruin, Arizona, in 1891, in 15th Ann. Rep., pp. 315-349, pll. cxii- 
cxxv. 

The first of these papers opens with the location and character 
of the ruin, after which a brief survey of its position in litera- 
ture is given, and then an extremely careful and minute descrip- 
tion of the main house and collateral ruins of the group, in the 
state of dilapidation in which they were found when visited by 
Mr. Mindeleff in 1890. Among the plates the most important 
in some respects is the first accurate ground plan ever published, 
showing that Casa Grande is by no means oriented as Font 
and others supposed. We reproduce this plate, together with 
a general view of Casa Grande, by the kind permission of Major 
J. W. Powell, director of the Bureau. 

The second monograph gives a complete account of the re- 
pairs authorized by Act of Congress of March 2, 1889, for which 
the sum of $2,000 was appropriated and duly expended. Sev- 
eral plates show what has been done in the way of clearing out 
debris, underpinning and bracing walls, filling in openings, etc. 
Rev. Isaac T. Whittemore is at present the official custodian of 
what has been well styled " one of the most noteworthy relics of 
a prehistoric age and people remaining within the limits of the 
United States." 



CHAPTER III. 

DOWN RIO GILA TO YUMA, NOVEMBER, 1775- 

Nov. I. We departed from the laguna [Camani], 
and having marched 4 leagues westnorthwest we ar- 
rived at the Rancheria de San Juan Capistrano, 1 
where we were received by about a thousand Indians 2 

'Otherwise Uturituc: see previous note 27 , p. 87. Font has it 
in full, San Juan Capistrano de Vturituc. This place was at or 
near the modern Sacaton, a mile or so S. of the Gila, on the 
reservation, in what would be tp. 4 S., range 6 E. It was also 
called Tutunitucan or Tutiritucar, and more fully San Juan 
Capistrano de Uturituc or Utilltuc. The saint named was Gio- 
vanni di Capistrano or Johannes Capistranus, a Franciscan 
monk, b. in the Abruzzi, Italy, June 24, 1386, d. at Illock in 
Slavonia, Oct. 23, 1456, and canonized 1690. Oct. 31 is his day. 
He wrote a book called Speculum Conscientiae, crusaded in 
1443 under Pope Nicholas V. in Hungary and Bohemia against 
Hussites, and he also in 1456 led an army of crusaders to the 
relief of Belgrade, besieged by Mohammed II. A mission in 
California took his name Nov. 1, 1776, and still bears it. 

' This is not to be taken as the population of the place. Anza 
puts the figures at 300. There were doubtless a good many 
natives from other settlements gathered there to see the whites, 
whose great medicine were the crucifix, a cloth with Holy 
Mary on one side and a lost soul on the other, a breviary that 



RECEPTION BY THE PIMAS. IO3 

drawn up in two ranks. They had built a large 
bower (ramada) 3 in which to entertain us, in front 
of which had they set up a cross. Soon as we dis- 
mounted they passed from one to another to kiss our 
hand, 4 and saluted us in the name of God, as do all 
the other Christian Pimas. Since whenever [i. c, in 
1768, 1770, 1 77 1, 1774] I have been among these 
poor gentiles they have received me with equal kind- 
ness, I have felt deep grief to find that I could 
not gratify such great desire as they manifested to 
become Christians; but on this occasion particular 
was my pain to see so many people unite in begging 
us to remain here to baptize them, who in plenitude 
of affability and mode of living together in their 

told how such medicine operated, and a magic compass-needle 
that showed the Spaniards where to go. 

1 Ramada, for enramada, to translate which " bower " may seem 
like taking poetic license with such a prosaic affair as was the 
sort of hut or shed which the Indians built with branches of 
trees to accommodate their guests. Another local name of 
such a structure is wickiup. 

4 It is extremely doubtful if the natives actually kissed the 
hands of the Spaniards; more probably, as a greeting of friend- 
ship inspired by religious fervor, the Indian grasped the hand 
of the priest, drew it toward his own mouth, inhaled from it 
the " breath of life," and then passed the clasped hands toward 
the mouth of the Spaniard, who was supposed to do the same. 
This custom, which is still common among the Zunis at least, 
may be regarded rather as a religious greeting than as a mere 
gesture of courtesy. — F. W. H. 



104 PIMA POSSESSIONS. 

pueblo surpass all others of their nation; as it does 
not appear that the time has come to gather these 
sheep (ovejas) into the fold of the church. May God 
do that which may be to his greater pleasure! They 
waited upon us and were obsequious to the whole 
expedition. They possess flocks (ganado metwr) 6 
very like those of Moqui, or much the same, as I 
will tell in the final reflections on the Diary. They 
have poultry (gaUinas) e and horses, some of which 
they bartered (cambalacharon) with the soldiers for 
red baize (bayeta). 7 They brought water for the party 



1 Ganado menor — literally " minor stock," i. e., sheep, goats, or 
donkeys, as distinguished from ganado mayor, cattle or mules, 
ganado de cerdo, swine, etc. 

' " A few chickens and dogs were seen [among the Pimas], 
but no other domestic animals, except horses, mules, and oxen." 
(Emory's Reconn., p. 85.) All of these were obtained originally 
from the Spaniards. The neighboring Maricopas had a few 
ducks.— F. W. H. 

' Bayeta is a bright scarlet woolen cloth with a long nap, 
which was originally manufactured in Spain, imported into 
Mexico, and thus found its way among the southwestern In- 
dians until it became an article of commerce in eastern 
United States. Formerly the Navaho and Pueblo Indians un- 
raveled the bayeta and used the weft in the manufacture of their 
finest blankets; but the introduction of cheaper yarns and the 
more common use of the native wool have practically put an 
end to the use of this material. The Pimas used it for making 
blankets worn by both men and women. The only textiles 
manufactured by these Indians at present are baskets, splen- 



PIMA SPINNING AND WEAVING. IO5 

to drink, and served us in all respects as well as the 
most faithful Christian vassals of the king could have 

didly made and well decorated by interweaving ingenious frets 
in black.— F. W. H. 

Regarding spinning and weaving cotton, the Rudo Ensayo 
says, p. 185: " In these things they take a pride and a pleasure, 
while the Pimas of the mountains make their women work in 
the fields, and they themselves spin and weave, although this 
is a woman's trade. With the instruments that these women 
employ, the be"st weavers in the world could not do better. They 
weave however with a kind cf rude beauty. Their spun cotton 
is a good but rough imitation of the table cloths and napkins 
made in Germany, which on this account are called Alemanis- 
cas. They also imitate ticking and any other thing they see, 
provided they are allowed to undo the warp of the model." 

The primitive loom of the Pimas is thus described by Emory, 
Reconn. of 1846-47, Ex. Doc. No. 41, 1848, p. 85: "A woman 
was seated on the ground under the shade of one of the cotton 
sheds. Her left leg was tucked under her seat and her foot 
turned sole upwards; between her big toe and the next was a 
spindle about 18 inches long, with a single fly of four or six 
inches. Ever and anon she gave it a twist in a dexterous man- 
ner, and at its end was drawn a coarse cotton thread. This 
was their spinning jenny. Led on by this primitive display, I 
asked for their loom by pointing to the thread and then to the 
blanket girded about the woman's loins. A fellow stretched in 
the dust sunning himself, rose up leisurely and untied a bundle 
which I had supposed to be a bow and arrow. This little pack- 
age, with four stakes in the ground, was the loom. He 
stretched his cloth and commenced the process of weaving." 

A fuller account of the Pima loom, with figure of an Indian 
in the act of weaving, occupies pp. 225, 226 of vol. ii of Bart- 
lett's Narrative: "The implements used by these tribes for 
spinning and weaving are of the most primitive character. A 



106 ENCARNACION DEL SUTAQUISON. 

done. They were given tobacco and glass beads 
(abalorio). 6 

Nov. 2. After the 3 padres had celebrated nine 
masses, which some Indians attended, we traveled 4 
leagues west \ northwest, and halted on the bank of 
the Rio Gila near the pueblo called La Encarnacion 
del Sutaquison. 9 

slender stick about two feet long passing through a block of 
wood which serves to keep up the momentum imparted to it, 
constitutes the spindle. One end of this rests on a wooden cup 
inserted between the toes, and the other is held and twirled by 
the fingers of the right hand; while the left hand is occupied in 
drawing out the thread from the supply of cotton, which is 
coiled upon the left arm in loose rolls. In weaving, the warp 
is attached to two sticks, and stretched upon the ground by 
means of stakes. Each alternate thread of the warp is passed 
round a piece of cane, which, being lifted, opens a passage for 
the shuttle in the manner of a sley. The operator sits in the 
fashion of a tailor, and, raising the sley with one hand, with the 
other passes the shuttle, which is simply a pointed stick with 
the thread wound upon it, between the threads of the warp. 
The work is beaten up after the passage of each thread by the 
use of a sharp smooth-edged instrument made of hard wood. . . 
The weaving is generally done by the old men." 

* There is no reason to suppose that these beads differed 
greatly from those which the Pimas still wear in profusion as 
necklaces and ear-pendants. They are usually ordinary Vene- 
tian glass beads, turquoise blue in color, although other tints 
are also employed. A blue bead of this description was found 
in the ruin of Halona, at Zuni, one of the Seven Cities of 
Cibola, which was abandoned about 1680. — F. W. H. 

' For the name, see a previous note. Bartlett, ii, p. 268, quot- 



PIMA AGRICULTURE. 107 

There came forth to receive us the Indians of the 
pueblo with demonstrations of much joy, and me- 
thought that they might be about 500 souls. In all 
these pueblos they raise large crops of wheat, some 
of corn {maiz), cotton, calabashes, etc., to which end 
they have constructed good acequias, 10 surrounding 

ing Font's Journal for Nov. 1 and 2, gives the name as Sutagui- 
son; but the q is plain in Font's handwriting before me. The 
Rudo Ensayo, 1762, Engl, trans. 1894, p. 129, speaks of two im- 
portant Pima rancherias on opposite sides of the river, one called 
Tusonimo, and " the other, Sudacson or the Incarnation, where 
the principal of their chiefs, called Tavanimo, lived " — besides a 
third further down, Santa Theresa (sic), at a copious spring of 
water. I do not think Sutaquison can be exactly located now, 
especially as different itineraries of this trip give the distance 
from the last place as either 2 or 4 leagues. But we cannot be 
much out of the way if we set Sutaquison on the Gila not far 
from the place now called Sweetwater, the settlement next below 
Sacaton. It may, however, have been a little further along, near 
the place now known as Store. 

10 It would take us too far to go into the matter of Pima agri- 
culture by means of irrigating canals — the acequias of the text: 
see Hodge's Prehistoric Irrigation in Arizona, Amer. Anthrop. 
vi, pp. 323-330, July, 1893. The Rudo Ensayo has a misleading 
statement, p. 128: "Their irrigating canals, leading from the 
river and some springs, are well planned, the Indians undoubt- 
edly having been taught how to build them by Father Kino and 
other missionary fathers of the Society of Jesus, in their apos- 
tolic visits made from 1694 to 1751 "! This is loyal faith, but not 
fact; for ages before any white man entered Arizona immense 
acequias had been constructed by the builders of Casa Grande 
or their ancestors — works comparable in magnitude and effi- 



108 PIMA DRESS. 

the fields (milpas) in one circuit common (to all), and 
divided (are) those of different owners by particular 
circuits. Go dressed do these Indians in blankets of 
cotton (fresadas de algodon) " which they fabricate, 
and others of wool, either of their own sheep or ob- 
tained from Moqui. Not is this portion of the river 

ciency to the greatest of the present-day irrigating systems, 
which have altered the whole hydrography of the Gila-Salado- 
Verde water-shed — some of these modern ditches utilizing por- 
tions of the prehistoric ones! But the Rudo Ensayo is about 
right in saying, /. c. : " Between these Casas Grandes, the Pimas, 
called Gilenos, inhabit both banks of the river Gila, occupying 
ranches for ten leagues further down, which as well as some 
islands are fruitful and suitable for wheat, Indian corn, etc. So 
much cotton is raised and so wanting in covetousness is the 
husbandman, that, after the crop is gathered in, more remains 
in the fields, than is to be had for a harvest here in Sonora — 
this upon the authority of a missionary father who saw it with 
his own eyes in the year 1757." The Moquis were noted for 
their cotton and weaving from the earliest times of which we 
have Spanish records (1540). 

" The dress of the men consisted of a cotton serape [fre- 
sada, blanket] of domestic manufacture, and a breech cloth . . . 
The women wore nothing but the serape pinned about the loins, 
etc.," Emory, Reconn. 1848, p. 84. The same styles of garments 
were worn until very recently, when town ordinances prevented 
the entrance into white settlements of Indians only partially 
clad. The men are now adorned with overalls, the women with 
calico skirts to or below the knees and a camisa or chemisette 
hanging loosely somewhat below the waist. Pimas still some- 
times wear sandals with soles of rawhide, but not moccasins. — 
F. W. H. 



LAS LACUNAS DEL HOSPITAL. IO9 

abounding in pasturage (de pastos), but in this last 
pueblo called Sutaquison there is abundance, even to 
maintain a presidio, as has reported Sefior Capitan 
Don Bernardo de Vrrea, 12 having passed personally 
to inspect the situations most fit for founding mis- 
sions. In this Pueblo de Sutaquison and in San Juan 
Capistrano I manifested to the Indians the image of 
Maria SSma and that of the damned, and explained 
them in their language, which is the same as that of 
my pueblo (de San Xavier del Bac). 

Nov. j. Padre Font and I went from the place 
where we had camped to the Pueblo de Sutaquison, 
to distribute tobacco and glass beads. We returned 
to camp, and having gone 2 leagues northwest ar- 
rived at some pools of bad water, where some of our 
party were made sick, and for that were they called 
Las Lagunas del Hospital. 13 To the west of these 

u I have failed to trace the officer of whom Garces speaks, 
and the only mention of a contemporary Bernardo de Urrea I 
have happened upon is in Bancroft, North Mex. States, i, p. 
569, who speaks of one of that name as a colonel on duty at 
Altar, Mar. 32. 1767, citing Cancio, Cartas, 1881-83, regarding 
operations at Guaymas. See chap, v, note 2 , Jan. 3, beyond. 

"The Hospital lagoons are hardly identifiable with requi- 
site precision by the data the text affords, but I cannot doubt 
that they are the place well known since the American occu- 
pancy as Maricopa Wells, six miles west of Sacaton station on 
the Maricopa and Phoenix railroad. Observe that " lagunas " 
and " wells " are both plural— the only case of the kind here- 
abouts. 



HO SIERRA DE ESTRELLA. 

lagunas is the Sierra de San Joseph de Cumars, 14 
which ends on the Gila close to (junto) the place 
where this river is united with the Rio de la Asump- 
cion. 11 This river is much larger than the Gila, 

This is as far down the Gila as Garces goes before striking 
across country to cut off the Great Bend. But there is one old 
name of a place to be identified in this vicinity, if possible. 
This is the San Andres of Kino, more fully San Andres Coata. 
As early as 1694, according to the Apost. Afan., p. 253, Kino 
visited and named both Encarnacion (Sutaquison) and San 
Andres, the latter being given as 4 leagues below the former, 
both being Piman rancherias. Again, in 1699, coming up the 
Gila, Kino is said by the same authority, p. 276, to have dis- 
covered a Rio Azul, before reaching his San Andres, which was 
therefore above the mouth of Salt river, these two names being 
of the same river. Unfortunately, the distance of San Andres 
above Salt river is uncertain, as the various indications we have 
are vague or discrepant; but I think it was near Maricopa 
Wells, if not at that very spot; in which latter contingency, it 
would be identical with Garces' Lagunas del Hospital. Garces 
found nothing here; and on Nov. 28, beyond, where he first 
speaks of San Andres, he says that it was then depopulated. 

14 These mountains, designated by the curiously mongrel 
name San Joseph de Cumars, are the Sierra de Estrella, or 
Estrella or Star range, sometimes lettered Santa Estrella mts., 
extending some 20 m. about N. W. and S. E., parallel with the 
Gila, on its left side, and for the most part above the confluence 
of Salt river, near which the mts. end, as text says. There is a 
similar range across the Gila, running down to the point be- 
tween this and Salt river. Font on the 8th applies the name 
Sierra de Comars to the Maricopa Divide: see beyond, 
note '*. 

15 Or Rio de la Asuncion; present Rio Salado or Salt river, 



CUTTING OFF THE GREAT BEND. Ill 

which becomes very much (muchisimo) swollen in the 
summer by reason of the snows that there are in the 
sierras in which it rises and through which it flows, 
of which I will speak at the conclusion of the Diary. 
This position is found in 33 14' 30". Here we re- 
mained the 4th, 5th, and 6th days. 16 

Nov. J. We departed from Las Lagunas (del Hos- 
pital); and having gone 6 leagues — 1 southwest, 2 
westsouthwest, 3 west — we halted in an arroyo 17 

the main branch of the Gila: see a note beyond, at date of 
Nov. 28. 

ie We are elsewhere told that the detention of three days was 
caused by the sickness of a woman. Font gives all the particu- 
lars, and various things happened. On the 4th, it being the day 
of San Carlos, and so of the King of Spain, Font and Eixarch 
said mass " with all possible solemnity," and Garces sang. 
When they were ready to march the woman was too sick. Then 
the senor comandante gave the troops a treat, which amounted 
to a pint of aguardiente apiece, with which they had a bigger 
drunk than usual (una borrachera mas que mediana), and some of 
them kept up the spree two days. On the 5th and 6th there 
was more sickness, apparently colic. Font was taken down 
with tertian ague, which he did not throw off till he had crossed 
the Colorado. The morning of the 6th, after mass, he passed 
in the tent of the commanding officer, drawing for him a plan 
of Casa Grande which Anza had desired. This was before 
he had had a chance to breakfast, and what with the heat of the 
tent on an empty stomach he presently fell sick with the chill 
of the fever (el frio de la calentura). 

17 Arroyo is the most general name of a gully or gulch, less 
precipitous than the barranca, gorge or ravine, much less so 
than the cajon, caxon, or canon. An arroyo is generally the 



112 ARROYO SECO OR DRY WASH. 

without water. In all these 6 leagues there is good 
pasturage, though no water. 

dry bed of a possible water-course, like a ivady in Arabian 
countries, a nullah in Indian, a flume in Italian, etc. This is 
familiarly styled a " wash " in our West and especially South- 
west. In fact, the arroyo sin agua of the text, oftener called 
arroyo seco or dry arroyo, is the one marked Dry Wash on 
some of our modern maps, though not shown at all on others; 
it makes northward with some westing into the Gila, 5 or 6 m. 
above the place where the similar dry wash of the Hassayampa 
river comes to the Gila in the opposite direction, from the N. 
Having left Maricopa Wells and cotoyed or flanked the Estrella 
range already mentioned, Garces has come little S. of W. along 
the old emigrant road to the Dry Wash, where he camps on the 
spot called Chimney and so marked on some modern maps 
(not shown on the latest G. L. O. map). The day's march, 
which takes Garces out of Pima into Maricopa county, is for 
the most part parallel with and a little north of the S. P. R. R., 
ending not far from Montezuma station. This road cuts off the 
whole of the Great Bend of the Gila, passing directly westward, 
with considerable inclination southward, from Maricopa Wells 
to the place on the Gila known as Gila Bend. In the bight of 
the bend, south of the river, are the Estrella range on the E., 
then the above described Dry Wash, in the middle, and next on 
the west the Maricopa range or divide, which Garces will cross 
to-morrow. In the course of its bend the Gila receives Salt 
river at the N. W. corner of the Gila river reservation — a point 
where the Gila and Salt River meridian crosses the base line 
of official Land Office surveys. Three miles below this point is 
the confluence of Agua Fria river — or was. before the Agua 
Fria W. & L. Co. canal carried off the water westward. From 
the Salt river junction the Estrella canal meanders the whole 
bight of the Great Bend; and the lower part of the Bend. S. of 



SAN SIMON Y JUDAS. 113 

Nov. 8. We marched 9 leagues — 2 westsouthwest, 
1 west, in order to pass through a gap in a sierra, 18 
and the rest westsouthwest with some inclination to 
the west — and arrived at the Pueblo de los Santos 
Apostoles San Simon y Judas 19 of the Opa nation, 

the Hassayampa river and \V. of the Maricopa divide, is also 
meandered by the Gila Bend and Noonan canals. 

Font has much description of the Pimas at this date, and 
among other things a new name. Speaking of the adaptability 
of these Indians to missionary purposes, because they live in 
regular towns, he states that within an extent of some six 
leagues along the Gila there were five pueblos — the four above 
?aid on this side, and on the other one which Garces had called 
San Serafino de Nabcub, after Kino. See Venegas' map, i, 
1759, for San Serafin, and diaries quoted in Bancroft's Ariz, and 
N. M., pp. 359, 360, 385, 392, where appear the terms Guactum, 
S. Serafin, S. Serapin Actum, and S. Serafino del Napcub — all 
apparently synonymous. 

J " Sierra Maricopa, the Maricopa range or divide already men- 
tioned, intervening between the Dry Wash and that portion of 
the Great Bend of the Gila which flows on a mean course due S. 
from the mouth of the Hassayampa to the place called Great 
Bend, a direct distance of about 24 m. — more by the sinuosity 
of the stream. Garces passes the divide by the regular old 
road through the gap or puerto he mentions, elsewhere called 
Puerto de los Cocomaricopas, a little north of the place where 
the railroad now goes through. Across the Gila at a distance 
are the Gila Bend mts. and mesa. Font at this date speaks of 
going through the gap in the range " which is the Sierra de 
Comars." 

" San Simon y San Judas had previously been visited by Anza 
and Garces (1774), by whom it was probably given this saint 
name. The Maricopas called it Upasoitac (Opasoitac, Opar- 



114 AMONG THE COCOMARICOPAS. 

or Cocomaricopa, 20 which is the same, who received 

soitac, Uparsoitac), a name of unknown meaning. It will be 
observed that this is the first settlement of the Maricopa en- 
countered by the Spaniards coming from the eastward, which 
definitely fixes the limits of the tribe in that direction at the 
date given (1775). There was another San Simon y San Judas 
rancheria (probably Papago) situated in Sonora between the 
missions of Cocospera and Busanic, which Kino visited and so 
named in 1700. The San Simon y San Judas of Anza is sus- 
picously identical with the San Simon de Tuesani of Kino and 
Mange. — F. W. H. 

The village of the Holy Apostles Sts. Simon and Jude — 
characters who probably need no introduction to my Christian 
readers, though nobody has succeeded in establishing their re- 
spective identities — corresponds to the place at the elbow of the 
river called Gila Bend; -railroad station of this name near there, 
and also the Gila Bend Indian reservation, six miles square (tp. 
5 S., range 5 W., Executive Order of Dec. 12, 1882). Garces 
strikes the river on lat. 33 N., at the E. border of this reserva- 
tion, after a march of about 26 m. The extensive and high- 
flown name of the place he uses may have been originally im- 
posed by Father Kino during one of his Arizona entradas; but 
it does not appear on his map of 1701, though there is a " S. 
Simon Tuesani," perhaps the same place: see also " S. Simon de 
Tuesani " on Venegas' map of 1757, and " S. Simeon de Tue- 
sani " on the Kino map in Stocklein's Neue Welt-Bott. It is to 
be distinguished from a better known San Simon y Judas post in 
Sonora. It is given beyond (Nov. 28) by Garces as Vparsoytac, 
and appears in the Anza-Font itineraries of this trip as S. Simon 
y Judas de Opasoitac (or Uparsoitac) and also Posociom. It 
is the spot marked " 27 " on Font's map of the route. 

20 The Opa, or Cocomaricopa, or Maricopa, tribe belongs 
to the Yuman stock and therefore speaks a language totally dis- 
tinct from that of the Pima. The Pima name of the Maricopa 



COCOMARICOPAS. I 15 

us with great joy. There gathered in this pueblo to 

tribe, Awp-pa-pa, (aw/> = " enemy," the Pima name of the 
Apache) would seem to signify that the Yuman and Piman 
tribes were not always so friendly as they have been during late 
historic times, and indeed, farther on, Garces notes the fact that 
the Pima and Maricopa were not on amicable terms with the 
Yuman tribes to the west and north. It is stated that the 
Maricopa is a direct offshoot from the Cuchan or Yuma, and 
that they separated from the latter owing to a difficulty arising 
from an election of chiefs, establishing their settlements some- 
what farther up the Gila, the Yuma or Cuchan being settled 
about its mouth and on the lower Colorado. The Maricopa 
appear to have trended gradually eastward up the Gila until 
they came in contact with their old enemies the Pima, with 
whom they then formed a lasting friendship. According to 
Bartlett this occurred about 1822, but from Garces it is 
learned that the Maricopa as early as 1775 occupied San 
Simon y Judas, at Gila Bend: see note 3l . Like the Pimas 
they are agriculturists, and in all their general habits and 
customs the Maricopas and Pimas are similar. The two 
tribes have extensively intermarried, although they speak 
two entirely different languages. There are about 340 
Maricopas under the Pima agency in southern Arizona. 
The Maricopas call themselves Pipatsje, meaning "people"; 
their Yavapai (Yuman) name is Atchihwa. Other forms of 
their Piman name occurring in literature are Cocamaricopa, 
Comari, Cocomarecopper, Cocomarisepa, Cocomiracopa, Co- 
komaricopa, Comaniopa. Comaricopa, Coro Marikopa, Mapi- 
copa, Maracopa, Marecopa, Miracope, etc. — F. W. H. 

After speaking of some ranches of these people on the Gila, 
the author of Rudo Ensayo says, p. 129: " The other ranches, 
well known on the South, are Stucabitic, Ojia-taibues, Uparch, 
Tuquisan, and Sudacsasaba; and, on the other side Tucsasic, 
and some others less well known— all possessing very rich soil. 



Il6 COCOMARICOPAS. 

see us some 10 hundred 21 souls, and they were given 
tobacco and glass beads. Here the Indians raise 
all sorts of grain (semillas), and regularly two crops 
each year, whether the season be good or bad; 
but apparently (segun vimos — according to what we 
saw) an acequia can be brought from the river, 28 
which, as it already has been joined by the Rio de la 
Asumpcion, always carries much water. These In- 
dians go clothed much like (casi como) the Pimas 
Gilenos, of whom they are very good friends and 
companions in the campaigns that the one and the 
other make against the Yabipais Tejua, of whom I 
will speak beyond. Having shown them the Virgin 
and the lost soul, I preached through an interpreter, 
because theij language is not Pima, but Yuma. I 
asked them if they wished with all their heart to be 
Christians and to admit the padres in their land, and 
they replied very cheerfully, " Yes." Here we re- 
mained the 9th and 10th days. 

From Tumac, the most remote ranche of this nation, one does 
not encounter any more towns for forty leagues until this river 
[Gila] unites with the Colorado." 

n The MS. has a peculiar way of giving this number, 1000: 
it is a 10. (with a dot after it) and the circle of the cipher opened 
on top, making it look like a bad 6. 

a Not only one, but three large acequias concentrically 
flow past now— the Estrella, the Gila Bend, and the Noonan 
canals. 



SAN DIEGO — ARITOAC. 1 17 

Nov. II. We went about 2 leagues west, and ar- 
rived at a rancheria of Opas Indians which was near 
the river. 23 

Nov. 12. After going 5 leagues we arrived at ran- 
cherias of the same nation which were near the river 
and which we called (Rancherias de) San Diego; 24 
the course was west \ northwest. 

Nov. IS- Having gone 4 leagues west \ southwest 
we arrived at a place called Aritoac, 25 having crossed 
the river a little above this locality. 

"One itinerary says i J / 2 league, and calls the place San Mar- 
tin rancheria; Font says two leagues short, and has no name. 
The place was probably within the reservation or township last 
said, about its W. border, very likely on the spot marked Cot- 
terrell's on some maps. The place is Font's camp mark " 28." 

"One itinerary says 4 leagues only; Font gives same name of 
San Diego, whose day is Nov. 12. The term was first applied 
on this occasion. Four or five leagues, following the river, 
should bring Garces into the township of range 7 W.; but there 
is nothing to identify the spot, unless, very likely, it was Ken- 
yon's. In this vicinity are the celebrated Piedras Pintadas or 
Painted Rocks, covered with native petroglyphs, and for this 
reason also called Piedras Escritas. They have been known 
since 1744 at least. Three plates of the petroglyphs illustrate 
Bartlett's Nam, ii, opp, p. 196, and three others opp. p. 206. 

26 If we adjust the last two days' marches by Cotterrell's and 
Kenyon's respectively — both likely camping-places, and quite 
agreeable with the designated " leaguage " (or mileage) — we 
are brought to-day exactly to the most notorious spot on this 
portion of the Gila — no other than Oatman's Flat, sad scene of 
the massacre of Feb. 18, (or in March) 1851, when Roys (or 



Il8 OATMAN'S FLAT AGUA CALIENTE. 

Nov. 14. Having traveled 4 leagues westsouth- 
west we arrived at the Agua Caliente. 28 Immedi- 

Royse) Oatman, his wife, and four of his seven children were 
murdered, probably by Apaches, a son Lorenzo was left for 
dead, and two daughters, Olive and Mary Ann, were carried off 
captives. They were emigrants who had left Missouri in Aug., 
1850, and were then traveling alone. Lorenzo recovered; the 
younger girl, aged 10, died in 1852; Olive, aged 16, was sold to 
the Mojaves, and ransomed in 1857; she is said to have died in 
an insane asylum in New York before 1877. Almost all books 
on Arizona treat of the tragedy: see especially that by Rev. R. 
B. Stratton, Captivity of the Oatman Girls, etc., i2mo, San 
Francisco, 1857, pp. 231; 21st thousand, New York, 1859, pp. 
290, ills. One of the early accounts may be read in Bartlett's 
Narr., ii, 1854, pp. 203 and 218. Hinton's Handb. Ariz, has a cut 
of Oatman's Flat and grave on p. 174. Garces appears to have 
crossed the river at or near this flat, just below which on the 
other side was his Aritoac, so named also in Font, but called 
Rinconado in another itinerary. This is doubtless the same as 
Aritutoc of Father Jacob Sedelmair, Sedelmayr, or Sedelmayer, 
who visited it in 1744 on his way down the Gila: see his Rela- 
cion, p. 850. (His name appears as Jacobi Sedalman in Hin- 
ton's Handbook, p. 393; Sedlemayer in Bartlett, etc.) The 
crossing shows on Font's map: see mark "30." 

M Having come from Aritoac about 10 m. down the right bank, 
north side of the Gila, to a point at the S. end of the Bighorn 
mts., which here approach the river, Garces reaches a precisely 
identified spot, to be found by the Spanish name he uses on maps 
of to-day. This Agua Caliente, Ojo Caliente, or Hot Spring is 
situated almost exactly on lat. 33 in the N. W. *4, or about the 
middle of the W. border, of tp. 5 S., range 10 W., in the close 
vicinity (V/2 m.) of King Woolsey's ranche. (He was a famous 
character in Arizona a generation ago. I knew him in Pres- 
cott in 1864-65, when his reputation as an Indian fighter was 



SAN BERNARDINO. I K) 

ately in this position are the rancherias called of San 
Bernardino, and they are of the same nation. There 

great, especially after his infamous " Pinole treaty," in which 
many Indians, invited unarmed to a feast and council, were 
treacherously butchered in cold blood.) The spring is near 
the point of a hill; the Castle Dome canal runs by it; across the 
river is (or was) Burke's ranche, at a place later and now called 
Alpha. This long noted spring seems to have escaped Father 
Kino; but it has been known since 1744, when Sedelmair speaks 
of it unmistakably as at or near a Cocomaricopa rancheria he 
called Dueztumac. We hear of It from him still more explicitly 
on his next entrada, in 1748, when he came down the Gila again, 
and named the spring, as a fine site for a mission, Santa Maria 
del Agua Caliente. 

Sedelmair's Dueztumac appears to be the same ran- 
cheria above called San Bernardino; at any rate, the 
locations are practically identical; and all authors of the 
period agree that here was the last (lowest) settlement 
of the Cocomaricopas. Thus the author of the Rudo 
Ensayo, writing in 1762, says, p. 129: " These very nu- 
merous nations inhabit both sides for a distince of 36 leagues 
down the river, and at the far end of their territory there is a 
very abundant spring of hot water, a short distance from the 
river to the north." Standing at any sufficient elevation in this 
vicinity, and looking N. W., between the two parallel ranges 
of the Bighorn and Eagletail mts., which approach the river on 
S. E. courses, and are about 18 miles apart, we see, at a some- 
what greater distance from us, the bold prominences of Cathe- 
dral Rock and Sentinel mt. We are also almost upon the W. of 
Maricopa county, whence Garces will enter Yuma county on 
his first move. A plate of the Bighorn range and Gila at this 
point faces p. 198 of vol. ii of Bartlett's Narrative. 

Font's Diary for to-day is explicit concerning Agua Caliente 



120 GOVERNOR AND ALCALDE. 

came about 200 souls to visit us. I showed them the 
pictures, and preached to them, and to the proposition 
whether (de que si) they wished to be baptized and 
have padres in their land, they answered, " Yes." 
] proposed to the old men that they join our party, 
in order that the senor comandante might make in 
the name of the king a governor and an alcalde; 27 to 

and may be cited, especially as the name San Bernardino is in 
question: " This place has a grand spring of hot water, and 
some small springs of cold water, very good; and there is also 
grass, though not much, and rather poor, as far as the river, 
distant from Agua caliente about two leagues. . . The place 
is open, with a good outlook, but very inconvenient for settle- 
ment. On leaving camp (last night's) we climbed some low 
hills of black rocks heaped up as it were, and of mal pais, until 
we defended to the river, and were soon upon its borders, 
or bottomlands, which are very wide, and extend far from it. 
From the top of the hills we discovered at a great distance the 
Sierra de la Cabeza del Gigante, which the Indians call Bauqui- 
buri." On the 15th Font stayed, as Garces says. The governor 
^nd alcalde whom Anza made were respectively given the names 
Carlos and San Francisco. After this function was over, and a 
semblance of civil government thus set up, " se intitulo este 
parage y su govcrmc'wn. San Bernardino del Agua Caliente." 
This fact should be borne in mind; for Anza, on his return trip 
of 1774, applied the name San Bernardino to a place four leagues 
further down river, as will be seen by referring to my note for 
Nov. 16, on p. 126. 

''' An officer allied to a mayor, whose sole function was to 
direct the civil affairs of a settlement. As almost everything 
pertaining to the affairs of the natives of a village or a tribe, 
however, were directed by a religious priesthood or a society 



GOVERNMENT OF THE INDIANS. 121 

which responded one old man very seriously: " Be- 
hold, the justice is to punish the bad; but none of us 
being bad, for what is the justice? Already have ye 

of warriors (whose function was also religious), the civil offi- 
cers appointed or selected had little or no power among their 
own people beyond the settlement of such petty squabbles and 
the like as would appear to be below the dignity of the heredi- 
tary social or religious priests. — F. W. H. 

The Rudo Ensayo. pp. 235, 236, has the following: "The 
civil government of the Indian towns consists in a Governor 
and Alcalde, a police officer, and an inferior minister of justice 
[to pile]. The governor is elected by the Indians themselves, 
the Ministering Father being present. By royal decrees ac- 
companying an order of the Royal Court of Guadalajara, dated 
September 25, 1786 [read 1746?], and a warrant of His Excel- 
lency the Lord Viceroy D. Juan Francisco de Guemes y Hor- 
casitas, dated in Mexico on the 25th of November, 1746, the 
Ministering Father guides the people in this election, so that 
they may give their votes to someone whose conduct of life 
will not serve as a stumbling-block but as a check upon evil 
and a spur for all good [just as Piatt and Croker do in N. Y. 
and Quay in Penn.]. . . The Governor having been elected 
they proceed in the same manner to elect the Alcalde, and these 
two officers, together with the ministering father, in the pres- 
ence of the people, appoint the Police Officer and the Topil 
[completing the bloom of bossism]. In the same manner a 
War Captain is chosen. Such is the Senate or body politic of 
this Indian commonwealth, and it governs the Indians with a 
view to their own protection and maintenance, and for the 
preservation of the Royal service [i. e., the spoils system] and 
of the Church and its Ministers [as it was in the beginning, 
is now, and ever will be, at the combined hands of priests and 
politicians who construct and operate a machine]." 



122 INDIAN COSMOGONY. 

seen, Espaiioles, that we steal not, neither do we quar- 
rel, and though we be with a woman we take no lib- 
erty of doing anything wrong." I do not believe 
all that of their goodness, yet it is certain that this 
Opa nation is not less serious than the Pima. Hav- 
ing been asked what information they possessed of 
their ancestors (antepasados), they told me about the 
same things as {lo misnio poco mas 6 menos que) the 
(Pimas) Gilenos said to the senor comandante, and 
Padre Font put in his diary, concerning the deluge 
and creation; and added, that their origin was from 
near the sea in which an old woman created their 
progenitors; that this old woman is still somewhere 
(quien sabe en donde), and that she it is who sends the 
corals that come out of the sea; that when they die 
their ghost {corazon) goes to live toward the western 
sea; that some, after they die, live like owls (teco- 
lotes); 28 and finally they said that they themselves 
do not understand such things well, and that those 
who know it all are those who live in the sierra 
over there beyond the Rio Colorado. 29 The senor 
comandante made a governor and alcalde, who be- 

" From the Aztec or Nahuatl word tecolotl or teculutl, an owl. 
Some old maps show a place so called near the Arizona and 
Sonora boundary, and there is one now in New Mexico. 

"" This seems to be commendable as a simple yet compre- 
hensive system of cosmogony and eschatology; it is certainly 
modest, in disclaiming omniscience, and polite, in respectfully 



LAST OF THE COCOMARICOPAS. I23 

haved very haughtily, saying that now their names 
would reach the king; this, perhaps, may cause some 
jealousy on the part of the (a vista del) Captain 
Palma. 30 Here is where ends this Opa or Coco- 
maricopa nation, which is all one; though neverthe- 
less some of them are found further down river. 31 
It appears to me that this nation will number some 
30 hundred souls. We saw, furthermore, that still 

referring the good padre to more authentic sources of informa- 
tion, just over the great river. It is also as credible as most 
others with which we are acquainted, and more consistent than 
are the different stories related in early chapters of Genesis. 

80 The most noted Yuma chief of that time: much about him 
beyond, in his double character of model Christian convert and 
immodel heathen massacrer. See also my biography of Garces, 
antea, pp. 11-24. 

81 The extension of the Maricopas varied at different periods. 
Thus Emory, Reconn., Ex. Doc. No. 41, 1848, p. 89: "we 
know the Maricopas have moved gradually from the gulf of 
California to their present location in juxtaposition with the 
Pimos. Carson found them, so late as the year 1826 at the 
mouth of the Gila; and Dr. Anderson, who passed from Sonora 
to California in 1828, found them, as near as one could reckon 
from his notes, about the place [Gila Bend] we are now en- 
camped in." This statement, however, is controverted by Bart- 
lett, ii, p. 269, who says: " I cannot learn that they were ever on 
thj Gulf; although it appears from the missionary authorities, 
that there was a band of them on the western bank of the 
Colorado, ' living in a valley 36 leagues in length, and for the 
space of 9 leagues, remarkably fertile and pleasant,' who were 
' allied to the Coco-Mariocopas of the Gila.' " 



124 JALCHEDUNES OR ALCHEDOMAS. 

continues the peace 32 which the last expedition 3S 
made through our intervention between this nation 
and the Yuma, when in order to assure it some of the 
Opas went down with us to the Yumas, where it was 
ratified with great rejoicing on the part of each (de 
ambas partes); and thus our assistance, among other 
good results, has the effect of preventing the innu- 
merable murders which were committed on both 
sides. 34 From this place word was sent to the Jal- 
chedun 35 nation of our coming, and that they should 

33 Las pases, " peaces," in the plural, a locution we can only 
render by the paraphrase of the treaties or articles of peace. 

33 The " last expedition " which Garces mentions is that of 
1774, when he and Padre Juan Diaz accompanied Captain Anza 
with 34 men, 140 horses, and 65 cattle, from Tubac Jan. 8, via 
Caborca, Sonoita, etc., to Yuma and so on into California, to 
the mission of San Gabriel near Los Angeles, returning to 
Yuma May 10 and passing on up the Gila to vicinity of Casa 
Grande 24th, and home by Tucson and Bac, 26th. Orig. 
itinerary in Anza MS., Descubr. Sonora a California, aiio de 
1774, etc.; digested in Bancroft, Cal., i, pp. 221-223, from Arri- 
civita, Cron. Seraf., p. 450 seq. See also Fourth Entrada of 
Garces, antea, pp. 38-46. 

"The sense of the clause is clear, as above; the wording is: 
" y consuelo nuestro pues entre otros bienes que de aqui se 
siguen resulta impedir innumerables muertes que de una y 
otra parte se hazian." 

" These were the Alchedomas, a Yuman tribe, or more prop- 
erly a subdivision of the Cocopa, formerly scattered at intervals 
along the Colorado near the mouth of the Gila and extending 
above and below the former stream from about its mouth to the 



PROGRESS DOWN THE GILA. I25 

go down without fear to the Yumas in order to cele- 
brate peace. This position is found in latitude 33 
02' 30". The 15th day we remained here. 

Nov. 16. We traveled 9 leagues westsouthwest, 
and came to a halt near the river, whose bed is here 
very broad. 36 

vicinity of lat. 33 and perhaps farther northward along the 
stream on both banks. Their name seems to contain the 
Cuchan (Yuma) term ha-eli, "river" (Gatschet). Other forms of 
the name occurring in literature are Alchedomes, Alchedumas. 
Alchidoma, Algodomes, Algodones. Algodonnes, Halchedoma. 
Hudcoadamas, Hudcoadan, Jakechedunes, Jalchedon, Jalche- 
dum, Talchedon, Talchedums. As late as 1852 the remnants of 
the tribe were located on the Colorado below the mouth of the 
Gila, where Lieut. G. H. Derby marks " Algodonnes " on his 
map of 1852. They doubtless soon after became a part of the 
Yumas, but the name seems to survive in the California settle- 
ment of Algodones (as if Sp. "cotton" by corruption), near 
the Lower California line. — F. W. H. 

s " Continuing down the right bank, north side, of the Gila, 
about 24 m., Garces camps at or near Texas hill, in tp. 7 S., 
range 14 W. This is an isolated elevation close to the river, 
nearly midway between the points where the Eagletail mts. and 
the Castle Dome range respectively approach the Gila. The 
place is Font's camp mark " 32." His trail shows a long march 
to-day, which the other itinerary gives as 7 leagues, not 9. as 
above; it should also be noted that the published account, as 
digested in Bancroft, for example, says that San Bernardino is 
reached to-day — not yesterday, as Garces has it. There is noth- 
ing special to note on this side of the river; on the other, the 
railroad runs a few miles off, with stations called Aztec, Cristo- 
bal (" Chrystoval " by the kind of Spanish that appears on the 



126 ANOTHER SAN BERNARDINO. 

Nov. if. Having traveled 2 leagues westsouth- 
west we came upon the river. 37 
Nov. 18. With 4 leagues southwest we halted near 

G. L. O. map), and Texas Hill; there also are, or were, places 
on this side known as Sentinel, Stanwix, and Texas Hill camp. 

The difficulty or ambiguity in the case of the name San Ber- 
nardino lies simply in the fact that it was applied by Anza to 
two different places, and disappears on consulting Font's Diary. 
I have already cited him for the 14th and 15th. Now, on the 
16th, he says, in substance: " Left Agua Caliente at 9.30 a. m. 
and at 4.30 p. m. halted near the river, having come some 9 
leagues W. S. W. As this was my bad day, lest the calentura 
should catch me on the road, the sehor comandante let me go 
ahead with two soldiers, my young fellow, and my two pack- 
mules; and Padre Fray Thomas [Eixarch] came with me for 
the same reason, having caught a quartan ague, and this being 
also his bad day. The day's journey had to be about 4 leagues 
to the place that on the last expedition they called San Bernardino, 
which is an island that the river makes temporarily (por poco) 
when it rises, where there is grass enough, and some Indian 
rancherias." The poor padre had a hard time of it to-day; the 
guide lost the way, and they had to travel 10 leagues; the fever 
came on him; the guide said he would budge no further in any 
direction; the boy with the pack-mules got lost alone by him- 
self; and there is no saying what might have happened if Anza, 
seeing by their tracks that they had gone beyond where he 
intended to camp, had not sent a sergeant with two men to 
hunt them up and fetch them into camp. 

"To-day's advance is given in another itinerary as only ij4 
league, and the camp made is there called El Pescadero. It is 
not an identifiable spot, and we simply hold the expedition in 
the vicinity of the Texas Hill camp above said. See Font's 
mark " 33." 



CERRO DE SAN PASQUAL. 1 27 

the river at the foot of the Cerro de San Pasqual.'' 8 

"* Garces says nothing of crossing the river on this lap, but 
Font's map takes the trail from N. to S. of the river (see his 
camp-marks " 33 " to " 34 "), and his Diary says that halfway 
on the road to-day they passed the river for the second time. 
This is correct; and we shall recross the river again to get to 
the Yuma camp on the 28th. Now we are on the S. side, and 
camp at the foot of Cerro de San Pasqual (better Pascual), 
which corresponds closely to Mohawk Summit, on the rail- 
road; camp apparently in vicinity of the place called Mohawk, 
close to the river. Cerro de San Pasqual, so named by Anza on 
the last trip, 1774, is the modern Mohawk range, otherwise called 
Sierra de la Cabeza Prieta, or Black Head range, extending 
S. E. from the Gila to within a short distance of the Sonora 
boundary, and apparently so named from the Tinaja de la 
Cabeza Prieta, a watering-place on the road through Mo- 
hawk valley to Quitovaquito, Sonora. Font describes it as 
very rough and rocky, of moderate elevation, and as coming to 
the river from Papagueria, i. e., from the south. This extensive 
range is directly in line with another from which it is separated 
by the Gila; for on the north side of the river the Castle Dome 
range continues in the same S. E. to N. W. direction. The 
latter is so named from its most conspicuous summit, known 
as the Dome, or Dome Rock, or Castle Dome, some 25 m. off 
the river. The Dome lends its name also to a landing on the 
Colorado river, by no means to be confounded with the rock 
or peak itself; and to Castle Dome District, a mining area 
bounded by this range on the E., Chocolate mts. on the N., 
the Gila on the S., and the Colorado on the W. Castle Dome 
range appears to be that sometimes called the Pagoda mts., 
the date of origin of which name is no doubt found in the fol- 
lowing passage of Bartlett's Narr., ii, p. 188, June 20, 1852, 
when his party had come 39 m. by road up the Gila: " On 
the northern side of the river, arose a mountain chain about 



128 CERRO DE SANTA CECILIA. 

This locality was found to be in latitude 32 48'. 
Here we remained the 19th, 20th, and 21st days. 39 
Nov. 22. Having gone 6 leagues southwest 
we arrived at the hill that the Indians call 
Cerro del Metate; 40 and we, (Cerro) de Santa 

12 miles distant, presenting a continuation of fantastic summits, 
among which were three resembling the tops of Hindu pagodas. 
I took a sketch of these singular mountains; although at such 
a distance, but little more than the outlines could be discerned." 
A lettered plate of " Pagoda mountain " faces the page cited. 

30 For the 19th Font says that last night a woman happily 
gave birth to a boy, on which account the expedition remained; 
after mass he solemnly baptized the newborn, who was named 
Diego Pasqual, because the day was the octave of San Diego, 
and the camp was San Pasqual. He also speaks of the moun- 
tains visible at a distance, looking northward, beyond which 
he was told lived the Jalchedunes; these mountains being evi- 
dently the Castle Dome range said in my last note. There came 
to camp the governor and alcalde who had been appointed such 
at Agua Caliente, with other Indians, intending to accompany 
the expedition to the Yumas. On the 20th, the lying-in woman 
was still unable to travel, and Font was much troubled with his 
passages, besides his fever. On the 21st a soldier found across 
the river a deposit of very fine salt, white as snow, with which 
the troops were supplied abundantly. The cold was intense, 
and there was not wood enough for fires. 

40 From the Aztec or Nahuatl metlatl. A stone usually 18 in. 
or 2 ft long and about a foot wide, of sandstone or lava, of vary- 
ing degrees of coarseness, on which corn (and by the Mexican 
Indians also cacao) is ground by means of a mano or muller, 
generally of the same material, held in the hands. A coarse 
metate is usually first employed to crush the corn, then one of 
finer material, and lastly a metate of still closer grain which 
produces a fine meal. — F. W. H. 



SALINE LAGOON. 120, 

Cecilia. 41 Here were remained the 23d and 24th 
days. 42 

Nov. 25. Having traveled 5 leagues west I north- 
west, we arrived at the edge of a saline lagoon (La- 
guna salobrc).* 3 Here came a Yuma Indian sent by 

41 The distances for the 22d vary in different itineraries, and 
Metate or St. Cecilia hill is not easily identified. It may be 
Antelope hill, in the vicinity of Tacna station of the railroad, 
or possibly Pozo butte. But it may be also noted that there 
is hereabouts, on the north side of the river, a very conspicuous 
picacho, sometimes called Coronacion, at others Pagoda. 
Font in one place makes the full name Cerro de Santa Cecilia 
del Metate. 

** On the 23d the pack-trains started, but were ordered back, 
as it was already past eleven o'clock, and the horse-herd had 
not been rounded up, the animals having wandered far in 
search of grass; also, the beef-herd arrived only at this late hour, 
having been unable to come up the day before. Some of the 
cattle had died of fatigue, hunger, and cold. The delay of the 
24th was occasioned by a pregnant woman, who woke up sick, 
but was cured by the help of Anza, who took a notion to give 
her a plate of victuals (la que se retnedio Jiaviendola socorrido el 
senor comandantc con un antojo que tuvo, que fue un plato de 
comida — and if I do not mistake the Spanish the padre is 
satirical). 

** Garces does not appear to use the term as a name; but it 
is given as such, in the form Laguna Salada, by Anza, who 
makes to-day's leagues 4 instead of 5. Font names Laguna 
salobre, which he says is about one league from the river from 
which it is derived. He describes the whole way to-day as sub- 
ject to overflow when the Gila rises, and without any grass 
except in the place where they camped, in which there were 
piles of driftwood and other debris brought down by the river 



I30 EXPECTED BY THE YUMAS. 

Captain Palma to assure us that all his people were 
awaiting us with great eagerness. From here has- 
tened on ahead the Cocomaricopa justices who were 
accompanying us, and they went to the Yumas. 

Nov. 26. With 4 leagues northwest we halted on 
the bank of the river. 44 

in its formidable risings. The party appears to have come 
along past the place to be found on some maps by the name 
of Filibuster, and to have reached a point in the vicinity of 
what was called Mission camp in the stage-coach days, not far 
from present Adonde station of the railroad. " Filibuster " is 
perhaps a reminiscence of the abortive expedition of Henry A. 
Crabb, 1856-57. 

44 At a point named in the other itinerary as Cerros del Cajon; 
it is hardly determinable with exactitude, but was in the vicinity 
of a mining camp once known as Oroville. The name has 
disappeared with the camp; the nearest I can find to it on maps 
of to-day is Monitor P. O. It will be observed that to-day is 
the first decided northwestlng, showing what bend of the river 
Garces is descending. Font records that the road yesterday 
was bad, but to-day worse, following the river and within sight 
of it, at greater or less distance, over sandy ground subject to 
overflow. He and Eixarch went fishing, and caught a fish they 
called matalote, which seemed to be the only kind in the river, 
and which was no doubt the so-called scaleless Gila " trout." 
There was found in camp some straw for the horses, and it 
seemed that some Yumas had lately been ranching there. Font 
speaks of the Gila range as a rather high sierra, rough, rocky, 
and arid, which comes from Papagueria to the river; on the 
other side of which latter is a similar range, of a reddish color; 
and there, facing camp, was seen a squarish peak with four 
points, which they called the Bonnet (El Bonete). 



GILA NARROWS. I3I 

Nov. 27. Having gone 2 leagues westnorthwest 
we halted in a very narrow gap {puerto) 45 through 

* Los Cerritos is the name given to this place in another 
itinerary, which makes the distance 3 instead of 2 leagues. The 
puerto or gap is the place where the river is hemmed in between 
the Gila range on the S. and other elevations on the N. (See 
Emory's map.) Font underscores the phrase Puerto por donde 
passa el rio Gila recogido, as much as to say Gila Narrows. 
This is not far from Gila City, once a notable mining camp, 
then a deserted village indeed, then in succession a station of the 
stage road and railroad. Gila City sprang up in 1858 with the 
discovery of gold placers along the Gila, and may have had 
a population of 500 at one time; but the diggings were soon 
exhausted, and in 1862 the place was drowned out. J. Ross 
Browne's lively description of 1863 is typical of many another 
mining town: " We camped at Gila City, a very pretty place, 
encircled in the rear by volcanic hills and mountains, and pleas- 
antly overlooking the bend of the river, with its sand-flats, 
arrow-weeds, and cottonwoods in front. Gold was found in the 
adjacent hills a few years ago, and a grand furor for the ' placers 
of the Gila ' raged throughout the territory. At one time over 
a thousand hardy adventurers were prospecting the gulches and 
canons in this vicinity. The earth was turned inside out. 
Rumors of extraordinary discoveries flew on the wings of the 
wind in every direction. Enterprising men hurried to the spot 
with barrels of whiskey and billiard-tables; Jews with ready- 
made clothing and fancy wares; traders crowded in with wagon 
loads of pork and beans; and gamblers came with cards and 
monte-tables. There was everything in Gila City within a few 
months but a church and a jail, which were accounted bar- 
barisms by the mass of the population. When the city was 
built, bar-rooms and billiard-saloons opened, monte-tables es- 
tablished, and all the accommodations necessary for civilized 
society placed upon a firm basis, the gold placers gave out. In 



1$2 CAPTAINS PALMA AND PABLO. 

which flows the Rio Gila. Here came a brother of 
Captain Palma, and presently also Captains Pablo 
and Palma," who manifested singular joy, especially 
Palma, who went about embracing everybody. 

other words, they had never given in anything of account. 
There was ' pay-dirt ' back in the hills, but it didn't pay to carry 
it down the river and wash it out by any ordinary process. 
Gila City collapsed. In about the space of a week it existed 
only in the memory of disappointed speculators." 

" I will cite in full Font's portraiture of this interesting savage 
and his brother. " On the road there came to receive us a rela- 
tive of Captain Palma; and as soon as we camped, being at 
mess, there came to see us Captain Salvador Palma, and another 
captain, to whom we gave the name Pablo, accompanied by 
several Yuma Indians, and they saluted us with many demon- 
strations of contentment, especially Captain Palma, who em- 
braced us all, and presented some beans to the senor coman- 
dante, who in the evening took him through camp to visit the 
people, all of whom he went about saluting, giving an embrace 
to all, men, women, and children, in token of benevolence. 
This Captain Palma is he who at present commands in all the 
Yuma nation, which he has dominated by his intrepidity and 
verbosity, as commonly happens among Indians, but more by 
the appreciation of himself which the Spaniards have shown 
him, in these latter times, now on the part of Captain Ansa, 
and before that, of Captain Urrea; for which reason the other 
Captain Pablo recognizes him — he to whom we gave this name 
because he is captain of the rancherias that there are in the 
cerrito which Padre Garces antecedently called San Pablo — the 
same whom, on account of his ugly looks, on the last expedi- 
tion they named Captain Feo. The people of the rancherias 
of this Captain Pablo Feo are more numerous than those of the 
rancherias of Captain Palma, and he seemed to me to be of as 



CROSSING THE GILA. I33 

Nov. 28. Having forded the Rio Gila at (con) * 7 
5 leagues west | southwest, we halted in a bower 

much spirit as Palma, if not more, though he is subordinated 
to the latter. He is a great preacher, with a thick voice, and 
they say he is also a sorcerer, and to-night he made a grand 
sermon and long harangue to his people, which amounted to 
telling them that they must not rob or do any harm to the 
Spaniards, for these were friends who did no wrong. The 
senor comandante told me that this Captain Feo, the last time 
he was with the first expedition [of 1774], set himself to count 
the soldiers, and seeing they were not many, began to say to 
his people that it would not be difficult to kill them all and get 
hold of their horses and everything else the Spaniards had, and 
such were his intentions; which being learned by the senor 
comandante, he gave him (Pablo) to understand that if war was 
wanted, all his people and many others would unite, and he 
would see how they could defend themselves, and what ill would 
result; whereupon he (Pablo) forbore; and now he is very 
obsequious, and has manifested much affection, though then he 
sought to oppose the passage of the expedition over the rio 
Colorado." 

47 " Habiendo vadeado el Rio Gila con 5 leguas . . . paramos 
en una enrramada," etc. The clause is ambiguous as to the 
crossing-place, but Font makes it clear that they went five 
leagues along the S. side and then forded the river to the N., 
within a league of its mouth. Font's words are, " paramos en 
la Playa del rio Colorado, despues de vadear tercera vez el 
rio Gila, haviendo caminado unas cinco leguas," etc. — we halted 
on the shore of the Colorado, after fording for the third time 
the Gila, having traveled some five leagues: see also his camp- 
mark " 39." " About a league below this place," continues 
Font, "which is that which on the former expedition [1774] 
they called the Isla de Trinidad, because then this piece of 
ground was isolated by the Gila and an arm of the Colorado^ 



134 SAN DIONISIO. 

(enrramada) which Captain Palma had ordered to be 
built for this purpose. Many very festive Indians of 
both sexes soon gathered here, and in the presence 

though now there is no such island, owing to the shifting of 
land which the rivers make in their risings, the Rio Gila joins 
the Rio Colorado." Here we have the expedition, of course, 
with precision, in a place which received the name of San 
Dionisio from Father Kino on his entrada of 1700, because he 
reached it on the Areopagite's day, Oct. 3: " Poco mas adelante 
en la Rancheria grande de los Yumas del Rio Colorado en 
terreno mui bueno, y mui immediato al lugar, en que se junta 
con el Gila, llamado San Dionisio, por haver llegado alii dia 
de este Santo," Apost. Afan., 1754, p. 287. The location is in 
Arizona, N. of the Gila, E. of the Colorado, opposite the site 
of Fort Yuma: see Kino's map of 1701, place marked "$ S. 
Doonysio 1700"; Venegas' map of 1757, etc. On the edition of 
" Chino's " map of 1702, with Latin and German names, " S 
Dionysias 1700 " is marked with a mission house as big as any 
mountain in the vicinity, and so San Dionisio has often been 
treated as if it were a mission or settlement of whites, which 
it never was in Spanish times; for the establishments of 1780 
were across the river, in California, where Fort Yuma was 
founded in 1850. Thus even Emory, a strong, able, and usually 
safe authority, in his Reconn. of 1846-47 (Ex. Doc. No. 41, 
1848), p. 95, says: " Near the junction, on the north side [of the 
Gila], are the remains of an old Spanish church, built near 
the beginning of the 17th century, by the renowned missionary, 
Father Kino. This mission was eventually sacked by the In- 
dians, and the inhabitants all murdered or driven off." Here 
the allusion is evidently to the mission of 1780, destroyed by 
Palma on July 17, 1781, at Yuma, on the California side of the 
Colorado, and I have no idea what church ever stood on the 
Arizona side. The persistence of the fable that Kino estab- 



AT THE MOUTH OF THE GILA. I35 

of all was confirmed the peace between the two na- 
tions, Cocomaricopa and Yuma. About a league 

lished a mission here is remarkable: what Kino established was 
a name — nothing more. Thus Bartlett, Narr., ii, 1854, p. 183, 
says: " He established a mission at the mouth of the Colo- 
rado [!] and one at the mouth of the Gila. The former did not 
last many years [never existed]. The latter was in existence as 
late as 1776, when Fathers Pedro Font and Garces came with a 
large party from Sonora to replenish the missions of California," 
etc. But this is obviously wrong; for here we have Garces 
on the spot in 1775 — nothing there whatever. Unless a hut or 
two, in which lived a priest or two, on an occasion or two, 
1776 to 1779, can be called an establishment, no Spaniards were 
ever established here or hereabouts till the fall of 1780, and 
then they built on the west side of the Colorado. Indeed, I 
do not know that the Arizona site of San Dionisio was ever 
permanently peopled, except by Yumas, until about 1850. In 
Nov., 1849, just after the establishment of Camp Calhoun on 
the Californian side, a ferry was started; there was much emi- 
grant and other travel in 1850-54, and the latter year a paper 
" city " was surveyed and named Colorado City (later Arizona 
City). There was only a house or two in 1861, and hardly more 
than that in 1864 when I was there. Fort Yuma was then 
flourishing as a military post, and Arizona City, or Colorado 
City, later called Yuma, had more or less bona fide existence, 
becoming the county seat in 1871. The railroad came by in 
1877, and its station, Yuma, on the S. side of the mouth of the 
Gila, where the Colorado was bridged, became a permanency. 
It will be understood that I here speak of the several settlements, 
including a mile or more on either side of the Gila, from 
Kino's original San Dionisio to present Yuma of the railroad. 
The geodetic position of the Gila disembogue is lat. 32° 43' 
32" N., long., 114 36' 10" W. 



I36 HISTORY OF THE GILA. 

further down from this place the Rio Gila joins with 
the Colorado. The Rio Gila, 48 for all that I have 



* Rio Gila, Hila, Jila, Xila, Chila, also Hela, Helah, Helay, 
etc., has been longer known than the Colorado itself, and than 
any other river in Arizona or New Mexico; its present name 
is comparatively recent, taken from that of some place or region 
on its upper waters in Apacheria, dating from 1630. It was 
probably discovered in 1538 by two friars named Juan de la 
Asuncion and Pedro Nadal; this presumption is strengthened 
by the name Rio de la Asumpcion long applied to its principal 
branch, and colored by a statement Garces himself makes, be- 
yond. The Gila was certainly discovered in 1539 by the negro 
Stephen, Estevan, or Estebanico, avant-courier of Fray Marcos 
de Niza en route to Cibola, being crossed also by the latter 
immediately. Its mouth was passed in 1540 by Hernando de 
Alarcon, and of course the river was crossed and recrossed by 
Coronado's expedition, 1540-42, being doubtless the " deep and 
reedy " stream mentioned by Jaramillo. I do not know what 
name, if any, the Gila bore from 1539 to 1604, in which latter 
year it was named Rio del Nombre de Jesus by Juan de Onate, 
at the same time that he called the Colorado Rio Grande de 
Buena Esperanza, on his very memorable entrada from Santa 
Fe. There is almost silence till we come to Kino's time, when 
Gila or Hila first appears as a name of the river itself (above the 
confluence of Salt river, its main fork). The date of this appli- 
cation is said to be 1697, and that is probably about right, 
though Kino's biographer uses Gila in speaking of his earliest 
Arizona entrada of 1694. Feb. 27, 1699, is the exact date on 
which Kino named the Gila Rio de los Apostoles, at the same 
time he called four of its principal branches Los Evangelistas, 
and named the Colorado Rio de los Martires. Be the precise 
Kino dates what they may, his map of 1701 shows " R. Hila " 
for the main stream above Salt river, which latter is marked 



SIERRA DEL MOGOLLdN. 1 37 

been able to ascertain in my travels, arises in the Si- 
erra del Mogollon, 49 and flows regularly from east to 

" R. Azul." We thus have Gila, in the form " Hila," definitely 
affixed to an upper portion of the stream; it appears as R. Gila 
on Venegas' map of 1757, but still above Salt river; the date 
when it first descended to the mouth of the river does not 
appear. The name Rio de los Apostoles or Apostles' river long 
stuck to the Gila; thus, it is given on some maps of the present 
century; for example, the one drawn by Captain Clark at the 
Mandans and forwarded to President Jefferson on Apr. 7, 1805; 
and it appears in fuller form Rio Grande de los Apostoles on 
Vaugondy's map of 1783. The misapplication to the Gila of 
the name Rio de los Martires, which Kino had bestowed upon 
the Colorado, and which appears on Humboldt's map, and 
various others, is of uncertain date, perhaps not prior to the 
time of Font and Garces; the latter bestows it upon the Mojave 
river, as we shall see beyond. Among the changes in names 
rung by mappists upon Kino of 1701 may be noted the " Tabula 
California; Anno 1702," whereon " spinnfluss Hila fl." appears 
for the Gila above Salt river, and " Azul oder Blaufluss " is 
made the main stream down to the Colorado. For considera- 
tion of this case, involving origin of the terms Rio Azul, Rio 
Salado, and Rio de la Asumpcion for the main Gila tributary, 
see a following note. 

49 Named for Don Juan Ignacio Flores de Mogollon, native 
of Seville in Spain, once governor of Nuevo Leon, governor 
and captain-general of New Mexico, 1712-15. It appears that 
he was commissioned as such for five years at Madrid Sept. 27, 
and qualified Oct. 9, 1707, but did not take office till Oct. 5, 
1712, when he was installed at Santa Fe, with a salary of $2,000. 
He is commonly called Governor Flores. He was accused of 
various things, relieved from duty by the king's order Oct. 5, 
1715, and succeeded Oct. 30 by Felix Martinez. Some years 



138 RIO DE SAN JUAN NEPOMUZENO. 

west, though from Vparsoytac 50 it inclines to the 
westsouthwest. In its course it is joined by (se 
le agregan) the Rios de San Juan Nepomuzeno, 51 de 



after he had left New Mexico his case was tried in 1721, and 
went against him, which, however, was of no consequence to 
him, as neither his person nor any assets could be found. He 
was an old man, in poor health, of whom we hear no more. 
(Bancroft, Ariz, and N. M., p. 231, seq.) The application of his 
name to the mountains which still bear it was no doubt during 
the period of his gubernatorial incumbency; it is also borne by 
a tribe of Apaches, who are so called from their former habitat 
on the Mogollon " mesa." The Mogollon mts. of present no- 
menclature are a range in New Mexico near the Arizona border, 
not far below the ultimate sources of the Gila. The Mogollon 
mesa, formerly often mapped as the mountains or range of that 
name, may be described as the elevated plateau which forms the 
watershed between the basin of the Colorado Chiquito on the 
N. and that of Salt river (including the Tonto basin) on the S. 
The name is frequently spelled Mogoyon, being pronounced 
in Arizona mogy-yon' or muggy-yon', g hard and a strong ac- 
cent on the final long syllable. 

50 Otherwise San Simon y Judas of p. 113: see the note there. 

n Otherwise John of Nepomucen, Nepomuk, or Pomuk, 
patron saint of Bohemia, b. at Pomuk, a village in Klatau dis- 
trict, ca. 1330, tortured and murdered 1383 or Mar., 1393, re- 
garded as a martyr and miracle worker, canonized by Bene- 
dict XIII., Mar. 19, 1729; day fixed for May 16, and still 
celebrated at Prague. Marne, Vie de St. Jean de Nepomucene, 
Paris, 1741. Abel, Legende des heiligen Johannes von Nepo- 
muk, Berlin, 1855. The identity of two persons is supposed to 
be confused in the legends and myths which cluster about the 
name. 



mOS DE SAN PEDRO Y SAN CARLOS. 1 39 

San Pedro, 52 de San Carlos, 53 and by that (river) which 
is doubtless the one traditionally (en las memorias 
antiguas) called Rio de San Francisco 54 and de la 
Asumpcion; this is composed of two, which are the 
Verde and the Salado. (The Gila) receives the prin- 
cipal volume of its waters from the Rio de la Asump- 

02 For this note see p. 152. 

M The San Carlos is one of the smaller upper tributaries of 
the Gila, lying wholly in the present White Mountain Indian 
Reservation between the Gila and Salt river. It is chiefly nota- 
ble as forming, for most of its extent, a portion of the boundary 
between Gila and Graham counties, and for giving name to the 
important San Carlos Agency, once Camp or Fort San Carlos, 
where the dregs of the Apache dose are now being consumed. 

" This is simply a blunder of Garces, confusing the San 
Francisco with Salt river. The name seems to have been a 
very early one, and there was much confusion regarding the 
river which should bear it, in the minds of the comparatively 
early Spanish writers, for it has been applied to several, even 
as low down as the Verde. The original application or impli- 
cation of the term has escaped my search; we may recall in 
this connection that there were two Sts. Francis, one specially 
honored by the Jesuits, the other the founder of the rival Fran- 
ciscan order. The name has properly applied for about 100 
years to one of the two initial forks of the Gila, arising in New 
Mexico in that portion of the Continental Divide represented 
by the San Francisco range and the Tulerosa mts., in the 
vicinity of old Fort Tulerosa. At the same time, the name San 
Francisco was applied for many years to the Verde. Emory 
speaks of " where the San Francisco flows into the Salt river " 
in 1848; and in my own Arizona time. 1864-65, I heard and used 
this name oftener than I did Verde. 



140 RIO DE LA ASUNCION. 

cion," which is very much increased by the melting 
of the snows of the sierra through which it flows. On 

64 Garces is quite right in composing Assumption river of the 
Verde and Salado, and in assigning so great a volume of water 
to their joint stream. They were comparatively well known in 
his day — quite well known in their lower reaches. Thus the 
author of the Rudo Ensayo, writing in 1762, says, p. 129: 
"... the Gila . . . receives the waters of the Assumption 
River, which, eight or nine leagues farther up to the northwest, 
is formed by two other rivers, taking their rise, according to 
an account of Father James Sedelmayr [of his travels to the 
Yumas in 1748], in an extensive ridge of mountains in the land 
of the Apaches, on the other side of the Gila, farther up towards 
the east. Of these two branches, one is called Verde, owing 
to the verdure of the groves which adorn its banks, and the 
other Salado, because it is salty to such a degree, that after its 
union with the Verde, and even after joining the Gila, the 
water for some distance is unpalatable." And again, p. 200: 
" The river Gila receives the Asuncion, whose two branches, the 
Verde and the Salado, of which it is composed, come . . . from 
the mountains of the Apaches and descend, in a southwesterly- 
direction, to the Gila." All of which is quite true, and the 
nomenclature of the two branches is the same as now, except 
that we usually say Salt for Salado, and properly consider this 
the main stream, which we fetch down to the Gila, thus throw- 
ing out Assumption river. Now turning to the state of the 
case a little earlier than the Rudo Ensayo, we find Rio Asul, 
Blue river, to be the recognized name of the joint stream. 
Thus Ortega, writing the Apost. Afan. of 1754, says of Kino's 
visit to his Gilan rancherias Encarnacion and San Andres, in 
Nov., 1694: '' A.qui supieron, que por el rio Gila abaxo al Poni- 
ente, y entre Norte, y Poniente en el rio Asul, y mas adelante 
en el rio Colorado viven las Naciones Opas," etc., p. 253. 
Again, p. 276, noting Kino's entrada of 1699, he says: " descu- 



HISTORY OF THIS RIVER. I4I 

the banks of the Rio Gila there are cottonwoods, wil- 
lows, and mezquites. Generally this river is found 

brieron otro rio llamado Azul, poblado de muchas frondosas 
alamedas; juzgaron, que recogeria sin duda sus primeros 
manantiales en las cercanias de la Provincia del Moqui." I 
take this passage to indicate the actual discovery and naming 
of the river, leafy with cottonwoods, and supposed to flow from 
Moqui, on March 2, 1699. The case is exactly set forth on 
Kino's map of 1701, where " R. Azul " starts from Moqui by 
several branches, is joined by one large branch, and brought 
into the Gila at about the right place, below the Santa Cruz. 
The Blue name was given from the New Mexican Sierra Azul 
where the river was supposed to head. This date of Mar. 2, 
1609, is almost that on which Kino named the two branches 
Verde and Salado, lumped these with the Santa Cruz and San 
Pedro as the Four Evangelists, and styled the Gila itself Rio de 
los Apostoles; but we may search these records in vain for a 
Kinotic Rio de la Asuncion. The date of the latter name, 
sometimes given more fully as Rio de Nuestra Sehora de la 
Asumpcion or Asuncion, I have been able to trace to Sedel- 
mayr, 1743-44. On Venegas' map of 1757 it appears in due 
form, " R. Asump.", correctly composed of R. Verde and R. 
Salado, but brought into the Gila far too low down; while in 
its proper position " R. Azul" is also given! I have not 
Venegas' text at hand, nor Sedelmayr's Relacion; but the 
Apost. Afan., narrating Sedelmayr's entrada of 1743, p. 353- 
speaks of this padre's descent of the Gila, " que, incorporando- 
sele en aquel parage el de Assumption, corre bastamente 
caudaloso." Again, p. 357, referring to Sedelmayr's next en- 
trada, 1744, Ortega speaks of the river " muy caudaloso llamado 
de la Assumption, que se compone de otros dos nombrados el 
Verde, y el Salado; seSala el sitio, en que se junta el de la 
Assumpcion con el Gila," etc. This is conclusive of an As- 
sumption river dating back at least to 1743-44- It is curious to 



142 HISTORY OF THIS RIVER. 

short of grass; but the soil of the rancherias de San 
Andres, now depopulated, and that in all the vicinity 
of Sutaquison, abounds in brushwood and carrizo 
(Phragmites communis?). There is found in this 
river no other fish than that which they call matalote 56 

observe that in this very passage Ortega speaks also of a Rio 
Azul; but this one, which Sedelmayr had approached, travel- 
ing up the Colorado, was Bill Williams' fork, supposed to 
come from the Moquis. The origin of the name has been duly 
noted by Bandelier, Final Rep. pt. i, 1890, p. 113: " Fathers 
Sedelmair and Keller both visited the banks of the Salado, 
which they baptized Rio de la Asuncion, and they also examined 
the lower Verde." The only other nomenclatural point 
— the process by which this river was sometimes carried down 
to the Colorado, restricting the name Gila correspondingly — 
has been already noted. The Verde is the principal river in 
central Arizona, draining an extensive region south of the San 
Francisco mountains, but by no means approximating to 
Moqui, for the basin of the Colorado Chiquito intervenes. 
The Salado is still larger, with a course approximately parallel 
with that of the Gila, almost from the New Mexican border. 
Its earliest name dates from 1539, as it is the stream which 
Jaramillo, writing of the Coronado expedition, calls Rio de las 
Balsas, or River of the Rafts, because it had to be crossed by 
such means: see Hodge, in Brower's Mem. Expl., ii, Harahey, 
1899, p. 42. An upper portion of its extent is sometimes called 
Black river. An alternative name of Rio Salado or Salt river 
was Salinas; and I have already noted that the Verde was for 
years called San Francisco river. 

" From the Nahuatl name of a certain or rather uncertain 
fish. No doubt those to which Garces refers were of the genus 
Gila, so named by Baird and Girard in 1853 from the river they 
inhabit. There are several species, as G. robusta, G. gracilis, etc. 



PREHISTORIC EDIFICES. I43 

which is so very savory to the taste, but is trouble- 
some on account of the many bones that it has. 
On this river is found the Casa (Grande) said to be 
(que dizen scr) of Moctezuma, and very many other 
ruins, and other edifices with very many fragments 
of pottery (cascos de losd [sic, error of the scribe for 
loza]),* 1 as well with painting as without it; from 
what I have seen since (my visit to) Moqui I have 
formed a conception respecting these structures very 
different from that which I previously entertained. 

Nov. 29. This day was occupied in search of a 
path, in opening a way through the heavy woods 

" The prehistoric pueblo ruins of the Gila-Salado drainage, 
some of which, as Casa Grande, still rise to a considerable 
height above the surface of the sand drift, are usually of adobe; 
where stone was available for structural purposes, however, it 
was used, but generally to a limited extent, as the natural soil 
formed an admirable building material. Wherever such re- 
mains occur, their mounds and the vicinity are thickly strewn 
with pieces of earthenware, and it is these to which Garces 
refers as cascos de losd (read loza). Where adobe was em- 
ployed, the larger walls were usually constructed by first 
erecting two parallel rows of upright logs, the width of the pro- 
posed walls, then wattling them and filling in with grout. The 
smaller walls were made by rolling up balls of adobe mortar 
mixed with ashes or fine gravel, setting them in the wall as if 
stones, and plastering the exposed surfaces with the same ma- 
terial. So tenacious is this native mortar that, when dry, it 
withstands the elements sometimes for centuries, as Casa 
Grande still testifies.— F. W. H. 



144 RI ° COLORADO. 

(grande arboleda) of the Rio Colorado, 53 and in seek- 

58 This fixed name of one of the greatest rivers of North 
America is only one of many and by no means the earliest it 
has borne. Garces tells us beyond that the Yuman name was 
Javill; a word also rendered Hah-weal. Colorado is said to be 
the Spanish translation of the Piman name buqui aquimuti; I 
presume it to be of Kinotic date, as Kino's map of 1701 legends 
" R. Colorado del Norte," though the great Piman apostle also 
called it Rio de los Martires, perhaps commemorating the Three 
Holy Martyrs of Japan, as they were styled (there was a prin- 
cipal rectorate or missionary jurisdiction of this name in Sonora 
in Jesuit times). " Colorado 6 del Norte " also appears on 
Venegas' map, 1757, which is dressed on Kino's. " Coloratus 
fl. seu Nord-Strom " is the Latin-German legend of the Tabula 
California?, 1702, likewise based on " Chino." The " Norte " 
clause seems to have soon dropped out, leaving Colorado as 
we have it; a term often translated Red in English, and not 
seldom specified, among the many Red rivers of our country, 
as Red River of the West, or Red River of California, other- 
wise Rio Colorado del Occidente. But the great stream was 
discovered in 1540, and had a string of names for about half a 
century. The discovery was made at its mouth by Hernando 
de Alarcon, Aug. 26, 1540; he is said to have navigated it for 85 
leagues, but this distance is dubious; he called it Rio de Buena 
Guia, or Good Guide river. The same year, Coronado, being at 
Zuhi (Cibola), sent a party under Cardenas to explore westward. 
They went through Moqui and on to the Colorado somewhere 
in the course of the Grand Canon, which they have the honor 
of discovering on or about Sept. 15. 1540. Melchior Diaz, who 
reached the mouth of the river overland from Sonora via the 
Gulf coast, probably early in October, 1540, called it Rio del 
Tizon, a term translated Firebrand river, on account of the cus- 
toms of the natives, who carried firebrands with which to warm 
themselves. On Jan. 25, 1605, Juan de Onate also reached the 



RIO COLORADO. 1 45 

ing the ford, in order that the expedition might cross 
(the river). 69 

Nov. 30. The Cocomaricopa justices (justicias) 

mouth, or nearly there, coming overland from Santa Fe; 
he named it Rio Grande de Buena Esperanza. But the 
most remarkable point in this connection is, that Onate 
crossed the branch now known as Colorado Chiquito or 
Little Colorado, and named this Rio Colorado; whence it 
appears, that " Colorado " was first applied to the minor stream 
at this date, and later extended to the principal river: the actual 
connection of the two rivers cannot have been known to Onate, 
as it was many a long year from his date before the place where 
the one flows into the other was determined. 

" For the 29th Font gives further particulars. He said mass 
in the " bower," which was about eight varas long and four 
wide, and in which an altar was set up with the banner of the 
Virgin, which Garces carried. " As the rio Colorado has such 
a current, and runs so scattered through the bottomlands, we 
found no Isla de Trinidad, neither was there now the ford by 
which passed the expedition on the former occasion, the In- 
dians saying that the river was now very deep at that ford: for 
these two rivers Colorado and Gila rise every year to such ex- 
cess, and run through these flat and friable grounds with such 
lack of restraint, that they appear to shift their channels, form- 
ing wash-outs, and dividing into branches, according as the 
force of the current bears more or less to this side or to that. 
The result is, that at its greatest flood the Gila itself extends 
more than a league, and presumably the Colorado much more. 
Wherefore it was intended to cross the river on rafts; but the 
senor comandante, considering that it would be a long and 
tedious job to cross such a train on rafts, went with some sol- 
diers to examine the river, and with some difficulty found a ford 
across the Colorado higher up than it formerly was, and above 



I46 FROM ARIZONA TO CALIFORNIA. 

departed on their return to their land. The whole 
expedition passed over the Rio Colorado 60 without 

the place where we were; and having found it, he opened a road 
in the afternoon through the brush and woodland of the river 
bottom, in order to make the crossing next day." 

Emory's Report already cited has a plate of the Gila junction 
with the Colorado, and the condition of things he describes on 
p. 95 may be compared with Font's: "The Gila comes into it 
nearly at right angles, and the point of junction, strangely 
chosen, is the hard butte through which, with their united forces 
they cut a canon, and then flow off due magnetic west, in a 
direction of the resultant due to the relative strength of the 
rivers. The walls of the canon are vertical, and about 50 feet 
high, and 1,000 feet long. Almost before entering the canon, in 
descending the Gila, its sea-green waters are lost in the chrome- 
colored hue of the Colorado. For a distance of three or four 
miles below the junction, the river is perfectly straight, and 
about 600 feet wide." This " canon " is exactly what the mis- 
sionaries of 1775-81 called the Puerto (or Puertezuelo) de la 
Purisima Concepcion; and the mission of the latter name was 
precisely on the site of Fort Yuma. 

00 On making the ford the party passes from Arizona into 
California, and camps in the well-known locality of Fort Yuma, 
if not on the very site of this military post, which dates from 
1850. The first establishment there was made in Sept., 1849, 
when Camp Calhoun was formed by Lt. Cave Johnson Couts, 
U. S. Dragoons, in command of an escort for Whipple's boun- 
dary survey. The tide of travel was just then setting strongly, 
the Indians were uneasy, and military protection was impera- 
tive. Next year a ferry boat was running; and on Nov. 27, 
1850, Capt. and Bvt. Major Samuel Peter Heintzelman of the 2d 
Infantry arrived from San Diego with three small companies. 
The post he established that winter was called Camp Inde- 
pendence. Lt. George Hasket (or Horatio?) Derby, of the 



YUMA. 147 

any mishap. Having gone about a league northwest 

Topographical Engineers, better known as a humorist by the 
alias of John Phoenix, sailed from San Francisco Nov. 1, 1850, 
and was up the river in January, 1851, then meeting Heintzel- 
man. (See his Report, Reconn. Gulf Cala. and Col. R., 1850- 
51, Senate Ex. Doc. No. 81, 326. Cong. 1st sess., June 19, 1852, 
8vo, pp. 28, map.) In March, 1851, Camp Independence was 
shifted to the site of the old Spanish mission of 1780-81 called 
La Purisima Concepcion, and thus was Camp Yuma or Fort 
Yuma established. In June, 1851, on account of the difficulty 
of getting supplies by wagon across the desert, the troops were 
withdrawn to Santa Isabel (then a shiftless Indian village, with 
a roofless church), except a small guard left at Yuma under Lt. 
Thomas Wm. Sweeny. In Nov., 1851, this guard was re-enforced 
by a detachment under Capt. Delozier Davidson, 2d Infantry, 
but he abandoned Yuma in a few days, some time in December, 
owing to Indian troubles, scurvy, and exhausted supplies, first 
destroying some of the stores and caching others. Major 
Heintzelman returned Feb. 29, 1852, to rebuild the fort and per- 
manently establish a garrison. This consisted of the original 
one, another company of infantry, and two of dismounted dra- 
goons; though the latter remained only a month. The Indians 
uncached the stores and carried them off, together with the 
boats, and were troublesome till late that year, when some sort 
of peace was made. (See Heintzelman's letter of July 15, 1853, 
in Ho. Rep. Ex. Doc. No. 76, 34th Cong., 3d sess., 1857; also, 
on early Yuma annals, articles in Yuma Sentinel, May 4, n, 
18, 25, 1878.) In Oct., 1852, the Yumas are said to have been 
972 in number; on the 26th, a fire destroyed much of the fort, 
in Dec. an earthquake altered the river to some extent, and that 
month the first steamer, Uncle Sam, which had been brought to 
the head of the gulf and there put together, reached Yuma. 
Indian disturbances continued in 1853. Some of Walker's 
filibusters arrived in Apr., 1854, and Capt. Geo. H. Thomas of 



148 YUMA. 

we halted on the bank of the river. We crossed this 

the 3d Artillery took command in July of that year. Then also 
the steamer General Jesup was running; the steamer Colorado 
was put on in 1855; since which time the navigation of the river 
may be considered to have been established. The General 
Jesup, under Capt. Johnson, ran for some years; on Jan. 23, 
1858, she ferried E. F. Beale's party at Mojave, and left that day 
for Yuma. Ives' important exploration of 1857-58 is fully 
noted elsewhere. In Sept., 1865, when I spent some time at 
Yuma, it was a flourishing post, well built on the bluff, in adap- 
tation to the excessive heat, which often sent the mercury over 
ioo°, sometimes to 120 . One report gives a mean annual 
temperature of about 76° F., with a monthly mean of 93° for 
one July, and a daily rise to ioo° for 19 successive days. It 
is of Yuma, as of the hottest place in the United States, that 
are told the three stock stories; of the dog that ran howling 
on three legs across the parade ground because it burnt his 
paws, of the soldier who died and went to hell, but who came 
back for blankets, and of the hens that laid hard-boiled eggs. 
The egg story has some foundation in the fact that the mois- 
ture soon evaporates, leaving the contents sodden and sticky. 
But the air is so dry that the highest temperature is borne with 
comparative ease, if one keeps out of the sun. I often went 
shooting, and have suffered more from the heat in Washington, 
New York, and Quebec than I did at Yuma. Fort Yuma was 
turned over to the Interior Department by Executive Order of 
January 9, 1884; the military reservation was thus disposed of 
under Act of July 5, 1884, and by ruling of March 5, 1892, became 
part of the Yuma Indian reservation. 

The identity of Fort Yuma with the site of La Purisima Con- 
cepcion, the pueblo-presidio-mission founded in 1780 and de- 
stroyed by massacre in July, 1781, is established in the letter of 
Major Heintzelman above cited. I would quote it extensively, 
but it is too full of historical errors: for example, he says that 



YUMA. I49 

river (where it was) divided into three branches 

" Pedro " Garces and Father Kino! founded the mission, that 
it lasted 7 or 8 years, etc. But some portions of the letter, de- 
scribing what was within the writer's knowledge, are extremely 
interesting. I extract as follows, pp. 34, 35: 

"A little east of north from here [Fort Yuma], 45 miles on 
the top of a ridge of barren mountains, is a detached rock, 
several hundred feet high, resembling a dome [i. e., Castle 
Dome] . . . and in a direction west of north about 18 miles 
distant, on another range of similar mountains, rises a solitary 
rock, 500 feet high, which we here call Chimney Peak . . . 
The Colorado winds its way between these two ranges, runs 
south along the base of the hill we are on, then turns short to 
the west, through this cleft, for nearly seven miles, giving us 
both banks for that distance, and turns again more to the 
south, and finds its way to the Gulf. . . 

" When we occupied this point the rough stone foundations of 
the houses, with their earthen ruins, could be clearly traced. 
The buildings appear to have been of mud, between upright 
poles or forks, to support the roof. The charred ends we dug 
up, with the remains of a copper, urn-shaped vessel, of the 
capacity of about a quart. There were eight or ten buildings, 
fifteen or twenty feet, nearly square, irregularly placed, cover- 
ing an area of about an acre, and including the site of the 
present commanding officer's quarters. It was an excellent 
position for defence against Indians; the only point above it 
being beyond the range of arrows, and commanding a fine 
view of the surrounding country. During the high water a 
broad slough, in the rear of the post, is filled, and cuts off all 
communication with the main land, except by the means of 
boats. On a detached sandy plateau, above the rise of the river, 
near Hut-ta-mi-ne, are also the ruins of an old Spanish estab- 
lishment." 

In the course of the foregoing Major Heintzelman speaks 



150 YUMA. 

(brazos); its width I judged would be 400 varas, 81 

of one Jose Maria Ortega, founder of the Concepcion " pre- 
sidio " as son of Don Francisco Ortega, commandant " of 
the expedition of the discoverers of Alta California"; also of 
Martinez Ortega (brother of Joachim Ortega, both living in 
1853 at Santa Maria, Cal.) as a child three years of age at the 
time of the massacre. I know nothing of these names in the 
present connection. Mr. Hodge informs me that there was a 
ranch owned by Don Jose Maria Ortega, 7^ leagues west of 
Santa Isabel, S. Cala., visited by Whipple in 1849, this being 
evidently private claim 514 on the G. L. O. map of California. 
(See Schoolcraft, ii, pp. 101, 102.) 

This identity of Concepcion with Yuma is also evident from 
Bartlett's Narrative, ii, p. 161 : " Close by Fort Yuma the traces 
of the old Spanish Mission buildings may still be seen [June 
16, 1852]. These consist of partly demolished stone walls of old 
buildings; though a few years since the walls of a church were 
also visible. At the time of our visit these had been removed, 
and used for building the barracks. There were 200 soldiers, 
artillery and infantry, here, under the command of Major 
Heintzelman." This garrison was then still cantoned in tents. 
Thus the identity of the two establishments extends to incor- 
poration of some of the building materials of the old one in 
the new. 

"The Spanish vara in Mexico is 32.9927 inches; it is taken in 
California at 33 inches, in Texas at 33 1-3 inches. Garces judged 
the river to be about 366 yards wide. Font gives the particu- 
lars of crossing the river, in substance as follows. We broke 
camp at 9.00 a. m. and the whole expedition made the ford at 
1. 00 p. m. without any special mishap. Camped on the other 
side, having come a short league north. The width of the 
river where we crossed I judged to be 300 to 400 varas, and 
this is at its lowest; when it overflows it is some leagues wide. 
It was lucky to find the river here divided into three arms, so 



YUMA. 151 

and at this time it was very low, but when it is 
swollen it extends for leagues. 

that the crossing was facilitated, which otherwise would have 
been difficult. The first branch was wide and deep; the second, 
not so deep, and more contracted; the third was deep and much 
wider than the first. All the people got over safely, though 
there might have been trouble, because the beasts were swim- 
ming before they got through. One person took a different 
course, as if he had no fear of the river, and soon went under 
so far that the water washed away a blanket and some coritas, 
and he let go a child he was carrying; but the Virgin wanted us 
to get over without anything worse than a wetting; for the 
water came up to the horses' backs, though they were tall ones, 
like my own, and I was wet up to the knees. The three pack 
trains crossed in four sections, thus lightening each pack by 
one-third, and thus the whole beef-herd, horse-herd, and pack- 
mules went over with felicity, except that my pack was wetted, 
in which were the holy oils and ornaments; for they made so 
little of me, and of anything I said, though I charged the mule- 
teers to take care not to wet this pack, and supplicated the 
senor comandante to the same effect, perhaps on this very 
account was my pack the less cared for. Three Yumas took Padre 
Garces over on their shoulders, two by his head and one at his 
feet, stretched out stiff, face upward, like a corpse. I crossed on 
horseback, and as I was sick, with my head dizzy, three naked 
servants went with me, one in front, leading the horse, and one 
on each side to keep me from falling off. The whole train was 
so large that it took three hours to cross, and in order to dry 
ourselves we stopped on the very bank of the river. . . In 
the afternoon the senor comandante went with Padre Garces 
and Padre Thomas to Palma's residence, to see where to build 
a shed or hut for the habitation of said padres, who were going 
to stay on the Colorado to catechise the Yumans and explore 
the minds of other nations, etc. 



152 NOTE ON RIO DE SAN PEDRO. 



Note transferred from p. /jg. 

n Present name of one of the two principal tributaries of the 
Gila from the south, the other being Rio Santa Cruz. The San 
Pedro appears to have been so called from a place of that name, 
otherwise Casas de San Pedro, near its head, just over the 
Sonoran border, about lat. 31 ° 18', near long. uo°. This is 
an obscure spot in the vicinity of the old Spanish Presidio 
de Terrenate. There was another San Pedro, lower down the 
river, in Arizona, vicinity of our modern Camp Wallen and 
Camp Huachuca; and yet another application of the name to 
some mines still further down the river. No San Pedro appears 
on Kino's map in this connection, nor on Venegas' of 1757; so 
I suppose all these names to be post-Kinotic. In his time the 
name of the river was Rio de Quipuri, or Quiburi, so called 
from a then better known place in the vicinity of present Tomb- 
stone, Ariz. It may be noted that a place called San Pablo de 
Quipuri existed in Kino's time; and that Peter and Paul were 
so often paired off by their devotees that their names were 
sometimes transposed. " Kino passo a San Pablo de Quipuri," 
Dec. 10, 1696; again Nov. 9, 1697, " Kino llego a San Pablo de 
Quiburi," and therefrom " siguiendo las orillas del mismo rio 
Quiburi" he reached the Gila: Apost. Afan., pp. 266-68. In 
fact, the San Pedro or Quiburi was a highway from Sonora into 
Arizona in those early days and had been traveled as 
such since 1539-42, when Friar Marcos and the Coronado expe- 
dition took that route to Cibola, and one writer of the journey, 
Jaramillo, named it Rio Nexpa. The place on it above called 
San Pablo de Quipuri also figures later (about 1702) as San 
Ignacio Guibori, in Doc. para Hist. Mex., 4th ser., v, p. 136. 
The course of the river is approx. parallel with that of 
the Santa Cruz, a similar highway; the two are separated 
by the Santa Catalina, Santa Rita, and some lesser mountain 
ranges. Entering Arizona near long. uo°, just E. of the Hua- 



NOTE ON RIO DE SAN PEDRO. 1 53 

chuca mts., the river runs N. with a little inclination westward 
through Cochise co., Ariz., cuts off a small N. E. corner of 
Pima co., continues between the Santa Catalina and " Galiuro " 
ranges, is joined by Arivaipa creek at Camp Grant, and joins 
the Gila at Dudleyville, Pinal co. The name " Galiuro " is a 
curiosity; as Bandelier says, Final Rep., ii, 1892, p. 473, " it can 
be traced on the maps, through Salitre, Calitre, Calitro. to 
Galiuro." 



CHAPTER IV. 

DOWN RIO COLORADO FROM YUMA TO THE GULF AND 
RETURN, DECEMBER, 1775- 

Dec. i. We went — the sefior comandante, Padre 
Tomas (Eisarc), and I — with some muleteers (arri- 
eros) to the house of Captain Palma, which was dis- 
tant from the place where we had halted about one 
league westward, for the purpose of building the hut 
(xacal) 1 which had to serve as our habitation until 
the return of the expedition. This evening Captain 
Palma put on the clothes which the sefior viceroy had 
presented to him in recognition of the good services 
he has rendered to the Espafloles. 2 This same even- 

1 Aztec or Nahuatl xacalli (xalli, sand; calli, house, probably 
for the reason that it was originally a form of dugout or a 
brush shelter covered with sand or earth for temporary use). 
The term xacal or jacal is now applied to a low structure, made 
of brush or thatch usually closed on three sides, and sometimes 
covered with earth. It is the typical house shelter of the Yuma, 
Seri, and other southwestern Indians. Among the Pima and 
Papago the houses, although thatched, are much more elabo- 
rately finished and are more permanent in character. — F. W. H. 

1 Some further information relating to this episode is rendered 
in the postscript which Garces' scholiast appends to the Diary 



CAPTAIN PALMA. I 55 

ing came four Jalchedun women with one man, say- 
ing on behalf of their nation that already was it de- 

(see beyond). The Documentos para la Historia de Mexico, 
ser. i, tomo vi, pub. Mexico, 1854, contains the Diario Curioso 
de Mexico de D. Jose Gomez, Cabo de Alabarderos, on p. 11 of 
which is the following choice bit: " El dia 4 de Noviembre de 

1776 en Mexico, en el real palacio, el Sr. virey D. Antonio Maria 
Bucareli; y Urzua dio el baston de capitan a un indio meco, y 
por bien le hizo poner un vestido de uniforme azul con vuelta 
encarnada, la chupa galeonada de oro: este indio se llamaba el 
capitan Palma, no tenia otro nombre porque no era cristiano: 
no se sabe cuando se bautizara: y fue en lunes el dia de San 
Carlos." And on p. 17 the following: " El dia 13 Febrero de 

1777 en Mexico, en el Sagrario de la santa iglesia, se bauti- 
zaron cinco indios mecos, y entre ellos uno que era el capitan 
Palma, y les pusieron los nombres de Carlos, y fue su padrino 
. . . y fue en jueves." Here we have the date of the noble 
Yuman's investiture with the baton cf authority, likewise with 
a blue coat faced with red, and waistcoat trimmed with gold, 
also the date of his baptism, etc. These, however, were events 
after 1775, and we have only to turn ,in the present instance to 
Font, whose Diary for to-day has some particulars very much 
to the point regarding the same amiable savage: " Captain 
Palma appeared in the uniform which had been given to him on 
the part of the most excellent sehor Virrey (Bucareli), con- 
sisting of a shirt, trousers, waistcoat yellow in front with some 
trimmings, coat or cloak of blue cloth laced, and black velvet 
cap adorned with false gems, and a plume a modo de Palma. 
This captain is called Palma on account of the friendship that 
in past times he had with a majordomo of the mission of 
Caborca whose name was Palma, and which name he took; 
and he is called Salvador because he was given this name by 
the Indian Sebastian Tarabel when the latter came from Cali- 
fornia to Sonora, and was detained for some days in the house 



I56 VARIOUS INCIDENTS. 

termined, from the message that we had sent to them, 
to make peace with the Yumas. Here ensued this 
night a great joke (chiste). Asking the Jalchedun 
of affairs in his country, he told us that there was in 
his land a man who had fled from the new Conver- 
sions of Californias; 3 that this man had been killed 

of said captain. The seiior comandante brought the clothes 
on behalf of the Viceroy, and gave them to Palma this night, 
and made him put them on in his (Anza's) tent, without our 
concurrence, or letting us know anything about it; for he is 
so fond of keeping to himself all his actions, and setting him- 
self up in the opinion of others, that he will let nobody else have 
a hand in his affairs, nor admit to his presence anyone who 
might in any way attract the attention of the people he wants to 
keep for himself. So, though it would have been more regular 
for the presentation of glass beads and tobacco which he brought 
for the gentiles in the name of his majesty to have been made 
to the Indians at the hands of we three padres who accompa- 
nied the expedition, in order to exalt their minds, since in the 
end the religious have to be their ministers, and the Indians are 
inclined to recognize those who make them presents; never- 
theless, the sefior comandante always made such distributions 
with his own hand, and would never let us do it, and not once 
on the whole journey did he ask me if I wanted a string of 
beads to give to some Indian, excepting when we were return- 
ing, in the mission of San Luis (Obispo), where he gave me a 
few strings for which I begged." — Let us sympathize with poor 
Font, snubbed and abused, truculent and jealous, while we ad- 
mire the discipline enforced in all things, great and small, by 
the model commanding officer Anza. 

s The new conversions of California were the missions which 
had recently been established, namely: 1. San Diego de Alcala, 



A GREAT WIZARD. 157 

and burned by the nations through which he passed, 
but that he had managed to come to life again in 
some mysterious manner (tenia havilidud de volverse 
remolino); that he carried with him a viper, and finally 
that he was a great sorcerer, and that he was killing 
the Jalchedunes; in consequence of which they were 
in great terror. The sefior comandante was some- 
what mortified notwithstanding the great patience 
which he expends upon Indians, worthy to be imitated 
by all who devote themselves to such enterprises. I 
begged him for a few glass beads, which I gave them 
(these Jalchedunes). 4 

July 16, 1769; 2. San Carlos de Monterey, June 3, 1770; 3- San 
Antonio de Padua, July 14, 1771; 4. San Gabriel Arcangel, Sept 
8, 1771; 5. San Luis Obispo, Sept. 1, 1772. These are fully 
noted beyond. 

* While Garces was thinking of such things, for his heart was 
in his missionary work, Padre Font, who had no stomach for 
anything but theology, continued full of trouble on this Dec. 
1, and spreads it upon his pages. He proposed to Anza to take 
a geodetic observation, but Anza would not let him, he says, 
because Anza did not wish observations to be made in Font's 
name; and lest it should be said that Font made them, Anza 
always assisted in the operation, and would never let Font have 
possession of the instrument which Bucareli had sent, or do 
anything to enable Font to obey the orders he had received, 
etc. So to-day, as Anza could not assist in the operation, be- 
cause he was busy helping to build Garces' hut, he told Font 
that the observation could be taken next day. Then there was 
also trouble about a certain musical instrument. From the 
time Anza went through Font's mission of San Jose de Pimas, 



358 FATHER FONT'S TROUBLES. 

Dec. 2. I continued the building of the hut with 
the sefior comandante; the Indians assisted some- 
he persisted in carrying this instrument, persuading Font that 
the psaltery would be very convenient to attract the Indians, 
especially the festive Yumas, and though Font strongly objected 
to this, for fear the instrument should be lost on so long a jour- 
ney, yet he had to condescend to Anza's importunities; and 
then, after Font had taken it along with detriment enough, 
Anza never said anything about it, nor wished to hear it, nor 
would let the people assemble in Font's tent for music — and all 
the while Font was carrying the useless thing along without 
being able to try it on the Yumas or anybody else — it was 
really quite too awful! Then again, Anza wanted to finish the 
hut in one day, but no, that could not be done; and to-night, 
after supper, Font asked him if they were going to start next 
day, and Anza said no. So Font begged him that, as they were 
to be detained another day, he would order camp shifted to the 
place where the hut was building, to escape the inconvenience 
to which they were subjected from dust and wind, which were 
such that no cooking could be done; but Anza condescended 
not to this supplication, etc. Again, Font asked him in what 
sort of a fix Padres Garces and Eixarch were going to be left 
on that river, among gentiles, with no escort, and other ques- 
tions that he wished answered. Then Anza got very hot, and 
wanted to know whose business that was, saying that he did 
not have to give Font reasons for anything he did; that he was 
already doing more than he was obliged to in building the hut, 
as he had no orders to that effect; and that it was none of his 
affair to look out for the way in which the padres had to live 
on the Colorado, for they had come of their own account, in 
fact had asked to be sent, without being ordered to do so by 
the viceroy, and so, having chosen to come, they could look 
out for themselves. Font admitted that there was some force 
in this, and Anza finally told him that the three interpreters, 



THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 1 59 

what, and to those who worked were given beads. 
This day was distributed tobacco to all the Yumas 
and beads to all the women who assembled. 

two muleteers, and two servants should stay with the padres. 
But the three interpreters were three useless Indians, good for 
nothing, not even as interpreters, because their Spanish was so 
bad. One of the muleteers was the Indian Sebastian Tarabel, 
who had already accompanied Garces on former travels, and 
the other was a boy who had come along with a soldier, and 
served Eixarch faithfully, and was the only one who was good 
for anything, though he got no pay for his services, as the sehor 
comandante said that the boy was none of his to look out for. 
The two servants were one of them a worthless young fellow 
who had volunteered to go with Garces, for whom he did noth- 
ing, and from the Colorado went back to Sonora, and the 
other a small boy whom Eixarch had brought along to take 
care of his horse. Font says that he notes all this that it may 
not remain unknown what commonly happens on such expedi- 
tions in dealing with los sehores comandantes, and to shed 
light on what ought to be assured from the start, without 
trusting to promises and smooth words, as Garces did, who 
having confided in the general offers Anza made him, found 
out afterward that they were not fulfilled in particulars; seeing 
as how these sefiores who command such expeditions have 
nobody over them to contend with, and are so absolute that 
there is need of real patience in putting up with them, etc. The 
unhappy padre, whose tale of woe is thus recorded, concludes 
for the day by citing the Venerable Padre Fray Antonio Margil 
de Jesus (1655-1726), who seems to have known how it was him- 
self, for he used to say: A militibus libera nos, Domine! To do 
Font justice, he must have rubbed his chin with an afterthought, 
for he adds in the margin the saving clause, Bien que no hay regla 
sin exception. 



l60 RATIONS ISSUED TO GARCES AND EISARC. 

Dec. 3. The hut was finished, and the expedition 
arrived on this spot. The sefior comandante issued 
to Padre Fray Tomas and to me what was allowed 
us for our subsistence. 5 

5 Dec. 3 was Sunday, and Font's Diary is much more explicit. 
" The commanding officer determined to do as I begged him 
on the 1st, but not out of respect to my petition, or moved by 
my supplication. Padre Thomas said mass, and we all attended; 
after which we moved from the bank of the river Colorado at 
10.30 a. m., and at noon reached the rancheria of Captain Pablo, 
having marched a matter of a league west one quarter south- 
west [see map. camp marks "40" to "41"]. The rest of the 
day was occupied in finishing the hut, and though it was not 
quite done, it was put in fair shape, and the padres were satis- 
fied with what was given them for their two selves and the 
seven persons who stayed with them, which was: one tercio of 
tobacco; two boxes of beads; one arroba [25 lbs.] of chocolate; 
one arroba of sugar; one arroba of lard; five oxen; three tercios 
of jerked beef; one carga [about 4 bushels] of beans; one carga 
of coarse flour; a little fine flour; one almud [from s l / 2 to n 
pints] of peas; a box of biscuit; three hams; six cheeses; one 
frying pan; one other pan; one ax; twelve cakes of soap; twelve 
wax candles; and one jug of wine, with which they could not say 
mass, for it was so bad that it neither looked nor tasted like 
wine, and they had to send to Caborca for some. This was 
something, but not much for nine mouths, and the time they 
had to wait for more provisions, on the return of the expedi- 
tion." At night Padre Font sent for Captains Palma and Pablo 
to come to his tent, and exhorted them to take good care of the 
two padres, promising to report them favorably to the king if 
they behaved themselves, etc. To all of which they replied 
that Font need have no fear; that since Palma had received his 
baton and uniform he represented Captain Don Juan (Riv- 



DEPARTURE OF THE EXPEDITION. l6l 

Dec. 4. The expedition went on its destination,* 
and there remained in our company six persons — two 

era y Moncada, lieutenant-governor of California), and would 
be a father to the padres, etc., and Pablo chimed in that if any- 
one tried to rob or hurt the padres, he would kill them. Upon 
which the padre responded that neither he, Font, nor God, 
wanted any killing done, for that would not be right; but 
if anybody hurt the padres, to catch him and give him a thrash- 
ing. This suited Pablo so well that he lay on the ground with 
his arms and legs stretched out, and said very impressively, 
" Ajot, ajot," which means " Bueno, bueno." During Font's 
speech Anza sent for Palma, for no other purpose than to get 
him away from the padre's tent, for it did not suit him to have 
anyone talk to the Indians, especially to captains, or give them 
any instructions; and in order to entertain the Indians he got 
up a dance for them by the light of the fire in front of his tent, 
so that Font had no chance to say anything more. 

* Font's Diary for the 4th, on the departure of the expedition, 
is specially interesting, as it clearly indicates the topography. 
Having said mass in the hut, and taken leave of his compadres, 
he left Palma's rancheria at 9.30 a. m., and at 2.30 p. m. was near 
a laguna where Pablo had his rancheria, one league below the 
Cerro de San Pablo, having gone some 5 leagues west one quar- 
ter southwest. Soon after breaking camp he forded an arm of 
the Colorado, which was given off a good way higher up, and 
here joined the river. About one league from camp he came 
to the Puerto de la Concepcion, a strait between two low hills 
through which the now united Gila and Colorado flowed. He 
stopped awhile to look at the very extensive lowlands which 
stretched before him, and through which the river ran, as it 
seemed to him from eastnortheast to westsouthwest; and at the 
northeast, some ten leagues off, was descried the Cabeza del 
Gigante, which the Indians call Bauquiburi, a great round peak 
in the rough sierra between the Gila and Colorado; while to the 



l62 GARCES PREPARES TO FOLLOW. 

Espanoles, one little boy, and three interpreters on 
account of the expedition — and another Indian that 
Serior Don Bernardo Urrea let me have. 

Dec. 5. Seeing that the occasion was very pro- 
pitious for visiting the nations of the Rio Colorado 
down to the disemboguement, and investigating their 
willingness to be catechised, which is what the senor 
viceroy ordered me (to do), I determined to depart 
for this purpose. I set apart what there was where- 
north, three or four leagues off, was the other peak called 
Pefiasca de la Campana, surmounting another rough sierra, 
the Cerro de San Pablo, by whose base the river runs, etc. The 
road, though mostly level, was toilsome, being so overgrown 
with brush that in many places only a narrow trail could be 
found, and for the most part so choked with mezquite, screw 
mezquite and other growths, among them one called cachanilla, 
that the expedition only got along with much delay and the 
loss of some animals. 

No one familiar with the scenery about Fort Yuma can fail 
to recognize the fidelity of this description. On the west, the 
Cerro de San Pablo is the range capped by Chimney Rock (La 
Campana) to the north, and ending on the south at Pilot Knob; 
while much further northeast rises Castle Dome, or Giant's 
Head (Cabeza del Gigante or Bauquiburi). From Palma's 
rancheria to Pablo's was five leagues; Palma's was one league 
above Puerto de Concepcion and Pablo's was one league below 
the ending of Cerro de San Pablo in Pilot Knob, leaving three 
leagues between Yuma and Pilot Knob, which is just about 
right. The identification of Pilot Knob with the end of Cerro 
San Pablo is assured; for Font's Diary of the 5th says that here 
cl rio da una quinada quasi al sur (takes a turn about south). 



GARCES DEPARTS FROM YUMA. 163 

with to make them presents, and taking in my com- 
pany the Indian Sevastian Taraval and the other two 
interpreters I departed, after taking leave of my well- 
beloved companion padre. Having traveled five 
leagues westsouthwest I halted in the first Ran- 
cherias de San Pablo. 7 I talked to them, and ex- 
hibited the linen print of Maria Santisima and the 
lost soul. They told me that she was a nice lady, 

T This was a Cuchan (Yuman) rancheria the native name of 
which, if it had one, is unknown, but the position of which is 
fixed within a league of Pilot Knob, the prominent landmark 
already mentioned, on the right side of the Colorado, some 
seven miles west of Fort Yuma, and nearly on the present boun- 
dary of Lower California. The rancheria is also called Laguna 
de San Pablo, or Laguna del Capitan Pablo, apparently from 
the similarity of the names of the Yuman Indian and of the 
mountain range Garces called Cerro de San Pablo, ending at 
Pilot Knob near the rancheria. I also believe this place to be 
identical, or nearly so, with the site of the subsequent presidio- 
pueblo-mission of San Pablo y San Pedro de Bicuher, which 
was founded in the fall of 1780, and shared the sad fate of La 
Concepcion July 17, 1781. The location has been much dis- 
cussed, as it seems to me with needless uncertainty, and too 
great insistence upon the discrepancies found in the mileages of 
several writers. It was some eight or ten miles below Fort 
Yuma, about a league south of Pilot Knob, and thus so near 
the boundary between California Alta and Baja as to have 
occasioned some question whether the Franciscans or Domini- 
cans had the better right' there. This Californian San Pablo y 
San Pedro, on the west bank of the Colorado, is of course to be 
distinguished from each of the two places, the one called San 
Pablo and the other San Pedro, which Kino named on the 



164 LAGUNA DE SANTA OLALLA. 

that sefiora; that the lost soul was very bad; that 
they were not such fools as not to know that up in 
heaven above are the good people, and down under 
the ground are the bad ones, the dogs, and the very 
ugly wild beasts; and that this they knew to be a 
fact because the Pimas had told them so. I laid be- 
fore them the proposition, whether they wished that 
Espanoles and padres should come to live in their 
land, and they answered " Yes," that they should then 
be well content, for then they would have meat and 
clothing. I gave them some tobacco and glass beads, 
with which they were much pleased. 

Dec. 6. I went 10 leagues southwest, though in 
order to visit various rancherias I changed it (this 
course) now west, now south, and arrived at the La- 
guna de Santa Olalla, 8 where I met the sefior coman- 

south side of the Gila, and which have never been identified, 
if they ever existed except in name. 

Pilot Knob is notable, among other things, as the locality of 
a certain Fort Defiance, a stone structure built in 1849 or 1850 
by some Americans in connection with a ferry which had been 
established in that vicinity. The name of the fort appears only 
on Derby's map, among the many I have examined on this 
point. There was trouble here, owing to the behavior of the 
whites, ending in the massacre of a dozen or more of them by 
the Yumas. Accounts of the affair which have reached us are 
confusing: compare, for example, Bartlett's Narr., ii, pp. 174- 
176, and Bancroft, Hist. Ariz, and N. M., p. 487. The existence 
of Fort Defiance was brief, and it never became well known. 

* Otherwise Santa Olaya, as on some representations of Font's 



LAGUNA DE SANTA OLALLA. 1 65 

dante, Padre Font, and all the expedition. In these 
rancherias I met many of the Indians who live in the 

map: see his camp mark "44" (the 4th one down the W. side 
of the Colorado from the Gila confluence), made by Font to be 
in lat. 32° 33'. This latitude is nearly the same as that of the 
place, about 32° 30', where the international boundary line 
strikes the river on the other side, 20 m. S. of the mouth of the 
Gila, close by a place called Pedrick's or Padrick's. Santa Olalla 
(Santa Eulalia, St. Eulalie) appears to have been in the flood- 
plain of the Colorado in the course of New river, or nearly so, 
and not far from the spot to be found on some modern maps 
by the name of Captain Juan's. Examine also the places 
marked Bajadura and Five Wells on Sitgreaves' map, pub. 1854. 
It is probably not now determinable more closely than this. 
The floodplain down which Garces is wandering has an average 
breadth of six or eight miles on his side of the river. 

Font's Diary of the 6th gives the origin of the name Olalla 
on Anza's expedition of the year before (1774). It says that 
having left the Rancheria de Cojat (where was camp of the 5th, 
about halfway between Pablo's rancheria and Santa Olalla) he 
reached at five leagues southwest the Laguna de Santa Olalla, 
" nombre que se le puso en la expedition primera." The leag- 
uage given was not straight, for the road went twisting like a 
snake (culebreando) from south to west. On the return trip of 
1774, the position of Santa Olalla is given as four leagues west 
of the river and altogether eight leagues (by the crooked road) 
westsouthwest of the mouth of the Gila. As already intimated, 
probably no closer location of Santa Olalla can be made than 
near (somewhat above) the entrance of New river into the main 
floodplain of the Colorado, and some six to ten miles west of 
the latter. It was a notable place in those days, as the end of 
the Yumas and beginning of the Cajuenches. Font describes 
it as follows: La Laguna de Santa Olalla is narrow, like a great 
ditch, more than a league long, approximately parallel with the 



l66 QUEMEYA OR COMEYA INDIANS. 

sierras and whom the Yumas call Quemeya. 9 They 
wear sandals of maguey-fiber (guarachas de mescal), 
to protect themselves from the stones. These In- 
dians descend to this land to eat calabashes and other 

river, but apart therefrom about two leagues or rather more, 
whence may be inferred how many leagues the river spreads 
when it overflows, even to the depth of two varas, as we saw 
by the rubbish high up on the trunks of the willows which grow 
on the borders of the laguna, left there by the river when at its 
flood it overruns those lands. It was humid ground, with 
plenty of grass, and quail [Lophortyx gambeli] in the brush; the 
Indians also caught the fish called matalote in the laguna, and 
one of a kind named lisa. 

9 Or Cotneya. (Also found on some copies of Font's map as 
Quemexa, and elsewhere Quemeyab.) This appears to have 
been a collective name and to have been applied to several 
Yuman bands from the vicinity of San Diego (occupied by the 
Dieguenos) a hundred miles inland and even to the vicinity of 
the Colorado, in southern California, north and south of the 
present boundary, especially along San Felipe and Carrizo 
creeks, New river, and about Salton Lake. It is not unlikely 
that part at least of the Dieguenos were included by Garces in 
the group. They are no longer known as a tribe, having doubt- 
less consolidated with the Yuma, and probably with other Yu- 
man tribes now confined to reservations, except a small band 
known to the Mohave as Camilya in northern Lower California. 
As late as 1869 they were referred to, under the name " New 
River Indians," as a tribe, numbering 750, on intimate terms 
with the Cuchan (Yuma). Other forms of the name for them 
are Comaiyah, Comedas, Comoyah, Comoyatz, Comoyee, 
Comoyei, etc. — F. W. H. 

The Comeya were commonly identified with the Dieguenos. 
Thus Bartlett, Narr., ii, 1854, p. 179: "The Dieguenos, who de- 
rived their name from San Diego, are the Comeya of early times." 



HOME OF THE QUEMEYA. 167 

fruits of the river. These Quemeya Indians live in 
the situations of San Jacome and San Sevastian 10 in 
the sierra, and as far as San Diego. In these ran- 
cherias ends the nation of the Yumas. 11 

10 Neither of these places may be now identified, but both 
were on the route of the expedition, and Font's Diary throws 
some light on San Sebastian: Being at Santa Olalla on the 6th, 
Font went some 7 leagues W. N. W. to a place called Pozo 
salobre del Carrizal on the 9th; thence 7 leagues W. N. W to 
a dry gulch on the 10th; thence 14 leagues, mostly W. N. W., 
to Pozo de Santa Rosa de las Laxas on the nth; thence three 
leagues N. to a dry arroyo on the 12th; whence on the 13th, at 
7 leagues further, about N. N. W., he arrived at San Sebastian, 
" which is a small rancheria of the mountain Cajuenches, or 
more properly of the Jecuiches." See his camp mark " 49 " 
X " 126." This place was a spring of warm or tepid water, deep 
and permanent, like a cienega, with little current, with rushes 
and some grass not very good, for the whole of the low ground 
was whitened with alkali, as if it had been dusted with flour, 
though the water itself was not very bad; also, near the spring 
was a creek (zanjon) much choked up, and with very unwhole- 
some water, and some mezquites and other brush. Here lived 
a few mountain Jecuiches, 20 or 30 souls, the most miserable 
creatures Font ever saw. He supposed them to be of the 
Quemaya nation, according to the account of Garces, and the 
same as some he afterward found in the Puerto de San Carlos. 
So much for the Rancheria de San Sebastian, which Font made 
in lat. 33° 08' N., and where the expedition stayed several days. 
But there was also a Sierra de San Sebastian, so named on the 
expedition of 1774, in front of camp, all snowy from summit to 
base. 

11 On the other (east) side of the river, the last rancheria of 
the Yumas was named Santa Isabel by Kino in Nov., 1701. 



l68 THE CAJUENCHE NATION. 

Dec. 7. I remained at the Laguna de Santa Olalla 
in company with the seiior comandante, Padre 
Font, and the whole expedition. The latitude of this 
place was observed and found in 32 33'. At this 
laguna commences the Cajuenche 12 nation, and many 
of them joined us to-day, but not all, and so the popu- 
lation could not be ascertained. I distributed among 
them tobacco and glass beads, showed them the 
image of Maria Santisima and the figure of the lost 
soul, and gave them to understand the things of God. 
All showed by their great delight how much they 
were pleased with Maria Santisima, exclaiming that 
everything was all right, but the sight of the lost soul 
so horrified them that they would not look at it and 
wanted the picture reversed; 13 and (also exclaiming) 

12 A Yuman tribe formerly living on the Colorado from a 
short distance below the influx of the Gila, especially on the 
eastern side. They had palisaded towns and spoke a dialect of 
the Cocopa. There are probably remnants of the tribe still in 
Lower California, and it is not improbable that others have 
been consolidated with the Yumas. Garces speaks beyond of 
the difference of their language from Yuman. This is as was 
to have been expected, as the Cajuenche were more closely re- 
lated to the Cocopa than to the Cuchan or Yuma proper, 
although all three belonged to the same linguistic stock. Font 
estimated the Yumas at 3000, and the Cajuenches at somewhat 
more (algo mas). — F. W. H. 

18 Lest I be suspected of embroidering the passage a bit, I 
give the original: todas con gran regozijo manifestaron lo 
mucho que les quadraba Maria SSma, gritando que todo 



HOW HOLY MARY SUITED THEM. 1 69 

that it suited them that the padres and Espaiioles 
should come to their lands. At this laguna and in 
all its vicinity there is so much grass that the soldiers 
all agreed that the horseherd {cavallada — cavalry) 

estaba mucho bueno: pero la vista del condenado les causo 
tanto horror que no querian mirarlo — " all with great joy 
manifested how much Holy Mary suited them, shouting that 
all was very good; but the sight of the damned caused them 
such horror that they wished not to see it." It would be hardly 
credible that a grown-up man could write such nonsense — but 
there it is! The gentle, lovable Garces, simple as a child in 
religion, his heart inflamed with zeal for souls, clutched at 
every straw which seemed to show which way the wind blew for 
his missionary enterprise. Font himself seems to have been im- 
mensely edified by the performance, though he was a stark theo- 
logian who detested and despised Indians, seeking their salva- 
tion only in an official and perfunctory manner. His Diary has 
the following on the same occasion. " In the evening Padre 
Garces assembled the Indians, distributed a little tobacco and 
some beads, and then showed them a grand picture of the SSma 
Virgin with the infant Jesus in her arms, and they manifested 
a great joy and hurrah at seeing the image, and said, through 
the interpreters, that it was good, and that they wished to be 
christians in order to be as white and handsome as the Virgin, 
and that with pleasure would they be baptized; to the which he 
told them, that just now it could not be — some other time it 
might. He whipped about the cloth, on the reverse of which 
was painted a lost soul, and they raised a loud cry, saying that 
that did not suit them, etc. He did the same with the Gilenos, 
Opas, and Yumas, and all responded alike, without manifesting 
repugnance to christianism; many rather desired it, and have 
begged to be baptized, but nobody has been baptized, because 
none have been catechised; and it is known that the people are 



170 FRUIT OF THE LAND. 

could be well kept here. The Indians here raise 
countless calabashes and melons, 14 much corn and 
beans, with all of which the expedition was well sup- 
plied; and by bartering glass beads which the senor 
comandante gave to the troops a large stock of pro- 
visions was obtained. The whole expedition ceased 



sufficiently disposed to enter into the holy church, whenever 
arrangements are made therefor; and that they do not refuse 
subjection to the law of God, and to our sovereign, for they say 
that they wish that Spaniards and priests may come to live with 
them. It seems to me that a great Christianity could be had in 
these nations; yet, such is the fickleness of Indians that a pretty 
big presidio is always necessary, in order that respect for force 
of arms may restrain any insult they might intend to offer in 
the process of reducing them to subjection." Font evidently 
knew the use of having two strings to your bow — the man with 
a musket to back up the man with a crucifix. He was a saga- 
cious workman in the vineyard of the Lord. 

14 Calabazas y melones, perhaps better translated squashes and 
cantaloupes, or pumpkins and muskmelons. The Piman and 
Yuman tribes cultivated a full assortment of cucurbitaceous 
plants, not always easy to identify by their old Spanish names. 
The sandia was the watermelon, invariably; the melon, usually 
a musk-melon, or cantaloupe; the calabasa, a calabash, gourd, 
pumpkin, or squash of some sort, including one large rough 
kind like our crook-neck squash. The cantaloupe is properly 
cantalu in Spanish, but this word does not occur in records like 
Garces'. Major Heintzelman says of the Yumans, p. 36 of his 
Report already cited: "They cultivate water melons, musk 
melons, pumpkins, corn and beans. The water melons are 
small and indifferent, musk melons large, and the pumpkins 
good. These latter they cut and dry for winter use." 



PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. ljl 

not to extol this land. The 8th day I also remained 
here. 16 

16 Font assigns the above-said exhibition of the Virgin to the 
8th — very likely there was more than one such performance — 
and has much more for this day. It appears in his Diary that 
Garces was balked in starting on his tour down river by the 
unwillingness of the interpreters to accompany him, for fear 
they might be killed, even though the padre should not be 
harmed. Font counseled him not to go alone, for there was no 
use of going to see the nations Garces had already visited [in 
1771]; that the present purpose was so to order his journey as 
to sound the minds of the people for catechism and christian- 
ism, which could not be done without interpreters; and so it 
would be best for Garces to return to Eixarch and thence go 
to the Jalchedunes and neighboring nations; as for those down 
river, they could be got at when the presidio and mission should 
be established at the confluence of the Gila. Garces was about 
to take this advice, when this night there came an Indian say- 
ing that Palma and Pablo intended to go down river on the 
other side, to secretly observe how the Indians treated the 
padre, accompanied by some of their people, both on horseback 
and afoot. Font said this was not right, for if Palma went in 
that fashion people down river would think him on the war 
path, and then it might go hard with the padre — better tell the 
Indian to go back to Palma and ask him not to take that trip, 
or at any rate, if he must take it, to do so openly, in company 
with the padre; for he whose heart was right had no need of 
secrecy. While the interpreters were talking this matter over, 
there came the Indian, a relative of Palma's, who had gone out 
to receive the expedition on Nov. 15, and who, after agreeing 
with Garces that a messenger should be sent to Palma to tell 
the latter that he should not leave his rancheria, said that the 
thing to do was to send ahead of Garces two women, either 
from among the slaves that there were among the Cajuenches, 



172 font's portraiture of garces. 

Dec. p. Having taken leave of the senor coman- 
dante, of Padre Font, and of all the expedition I de- 
parted, accompanied by several Cajuenches and one 
Yuma who lives among them, and by my inter- 
preters. Having traveled 4 leagues southwest I 
arrived at the Rancherias called de la Merced, 16 in- 

or from among persons of that nation who were married there, 
to say that Garces was about to return to visit those whom he 
had seen before, bringing presents for them, and establishing 
peace with the Yumas; and this project so pleased the inter- 
preters that they plucked up courage to go, and so Garces held 
to his previous intention. Apparently wondering that he should 
do so, under circumstances which Font would never have util- 
ized for missionary purposes, the latter indulges in some private 
reflections on Garces. " Padre Garces," he writes, " is so fit to 
get along with Indians, and go about among them, that he 
seems just like an Indian himself {que no parece sino Indio). 
He shows in everything the coolness of the Indian (gasta una 
Aetna en todo como los Indies) ; he squats cross-legged in a circle 
with them, or at night around the fire, for two or three hours or 
even longer, all absorbed, forgetting aught else, discoursing to 
them with great serenity and deliberation; and though the food 
of the Indians is as nasty and disgusting as their dirty selves, 
the padre eats it with great gusto, and says that it is appetising, 
and very nice. In fine, God has created him, I am sure, totally 
on purpose to hunt up these unhappy, ignorant and boorish 
people." What Padre Font does not say in his Diary, but 
doubtless thought is, " Faugh! what a fool that fellow Garces 
is! Catch me doing anything of that sort!" There is all the 
difference between the Good Samaritan and the Pharisee. Font 
could have preached and quoted De Imitatione Christi; Garces 
was imitating Christ. 
1S I know of no other reference to the Rancheria de la Merced, 



AT THE RANCHERIAS DE LA MERCED. 1 73 

habited by Cajuenches. In this land there is plenty 
of grass, with very heavy crops of calabashes, water- 
melons, corn, and beans; but little wheat grows. I 
gave them some tobacco, and through the Yumas 
who live among them I talked to them of God and his 
mysteries, and explained to them the pictures on the 
linen. They all showed great joy at seeing me; for 
no sooner had they known who I was and learned 
that I was among the Yumas than they expressed 
their desire to see me. The language of the Cajuen- 
ches is so very different from that of the Yumas 
that my interpreters could hardly use it; what I 
caused to be done was, that the interpreters should 
talk to the Yumas and these to the Cajuenches, inas- 
much as they are neighboring nations who under- 
stand each other. It was really wonderful to see this 
land so abounding in crops, for the other time I was 
here, in the year 1771, 17 it was very barren; and on 

the exact site of which is not now recoverable. According to 
his language, Garces should be found somewhere west of a 
place on the river called Ogden's landing. 

17 This was Garces third entrada (second 1770, first 1768) : for 
details see this entrada, pp. 30-38. A point to be noted here is, 
that he distinctly affirms his previous being here, on the west 
side of the river, which has been questioned by some, e. g., 
Bancroft, Hist. Ariz, and N. M., pp. 387, 388. True, Arricivita's 
account is obscure and confusing; but he distinctly makes the 
same affirmation that Garces here confirms; so there can be no 
doubt of it. 



174 ALL WELL WITH THE CAJUENCHES. 

my asking the reason why, they told me that they had 
also planted much then, but could gather no crops, 
because the Yumas were their enemies, who de- 
scended upon them in harvest time, killed them, and 
laid waste their milpas; but now that they are friends 
they have plenty to eat. I saw here about 300 souls. 
Dec. 10. I went a league and a half southwest, fol- 
lowing the rancherias, saw the same abundance of 
provisions, and they gave me the same reason there- 
for, saying that as they kept the peace with the 
Yumas which I effected on the former occasion when 
I was in their lands, now all was well with them; and 
for this, perhaps, was it that they showed me so much 
affection, and made me so many gifts; for it was a 
profusion of watermelons, muskmelons, corncakes 
(panes dc maiz), gruels of seeds (atoles 18 de semillas), 
and fish 19 that they presented to me. 

18 Atole was a boiled mess or concoction which might be called 
soup, broth, gruel, porridge or mush, according to the con- 
sistency to which it was brought; any sort of grain or seed 
might enter into its composition. — E. C. 

The Yumas planted wheat in the river and laguna bottoms in 
Dec. or Jan., which ripened in May and June. The Cajuenche 
also had some wheat, Garces says. The atole, however, was 
possibly made of grass seed, as the Yumas at least are known to 
have raised it for food, though mesquite was their principal 
food, in all probability. It was usually prepared by pounding 
the pod in wooden mortars, then mixing the meal with water, 
kneading into a mass, and drying in the sun. — F. W. H. 

" Doubtless all the coast tribes ate fish. The Navaho, 



THE COCOPAS NOTED. 175 

Dec. II. To-day I only went about a league south- 
west. I observed this position with the quadrant 
that Padre Font had given me, and found it in 32 
25'. 20 There assembled at this rancheria an extra- 
ordinary crowd (un desmedido gentio). This day 
there came into it an Indian of the Cucapa 21 nation, 

Apache, and Pueblos strictly tabooed it and everything else 
that came out of the water, especially sea water, regarding such 
as sacred. — F. W. H. 

20 To-day's league does not materially alter Garces' position; 
and if we are to take his 32 25' on its face, we must still hold 
him west of Ogden's landing, — rather above than below this 
place. His observations for latitude, as a rule, are less reliable 
than Font's, but in this instance I should suppose him to be 
about right. 

21 More properly Cocopa. This tribe, which, like all the In- 
dians of Lower California, belongs to the Yuman stock, has 
occupied during historic times the lower Colorado from its 
mouth to a point about fifty miles up-stream where the Cuchan 
or Yuma rancherias formerly began, especially on the right 
bank of the river and extending into the mountains. They were 
once reputed to be a populous tribe, but probably on account 
of the incessant hostility of the Yumas, they were reduced to 
about a thousand by 1853. In arms, dress, manners, and cus- 
toms they were quite similar to the Yuma; and indeed, from 
their general appearance it was difficult to distinguish one from 
the other. They were agriculturists, raising corn, melons, pump- 
kins, and beans, and eking out their somewhat precarious exist- 
ence with grass seeds, roots, mesquite beans, fish, oysters, clams, 
mussels, etc. — in fact, nothing edible went amiss. The Alche- 
doma, Bagiopa, Coanopa, Cuculato, Cunai, Hebonuma, and 
Quigyuma (or Quiquima) have been regarded as former Cocopa 
divisions. The name appears in literature also as Cacopa, 



I76 JALLIQUAMAY OR QUIQUIMA NOTED. 

which occupies a wide area from the Laguna de San 
Matheo 22 to the sierra and the desemboguement of 
the Rio Colorado. This nation is hostile to the Jalli- 
quamay or Quiquima, 23 to the Quemeya who live in 

Cacupa, Cocapa, Cochopa, Co-co-pah, Cucapachas, Cucassus, 
Cucopa, Cucupah, Cupachas, Kokopa, etc. — F. W. H. 

In June. 1852, Bartlett notices the Cocopa as follows, Narr., 
ii, p. 179: " Between the Gila and the Gulf, and near the latter, 
there is also found a tribe called the Cocopas. They occasionally 
visit Fort Yuma, and profess to be at peace with the Americans. 
They are less numerous than the Yumas, with whom they are 
at war. Recently a party of Yumas were surprised by them, 
their chief and many others kille X and the party completely 
routed. At the latest accounts the Yumas were preparing for 
a campaign against them; and as their numbers are much larger, 
it may result in the annihilation of the Cocopas, who would not 
be the first tribe which the warlike Yumas have extinguished." 

" The Laguna de San Mattheo which Garces gives as a limit 
of the Cocopas was some sluice or overflow channel of the 
Colorado, not now identifiable, and very likely non-existent; I 
find no such name anywhere else, excepting beyond, at date of 
Dec. 16. 

" Of the Jalliquamay (Halliquamaya, Jallicuamai, Jallicuamay, 
Jallicumay, Tallignamay, Talligumai, Talliguamayque, Tlallai- 
guamaya. Tlalliquamalla, etc.) nothing is known beyond the 
fact that they were a Yuman tribe, allied to the Cocopa, residing 
on the lower Colorado, not far from its mouth. As Garces 
states, they and their Cocopa kindred were not on friendly terms. 
The padre also intimates that they were the same as the Qui- 
quima (Quigyuma, Quicima, Quihuima, Quigyama, Quimac, 
Quinquima, etc.), but whether or not this was true is now un- 
known. Indeed practically nothing more is known of these 
tribes than that which Garces gives. On Kino's map the Qui- 



KINO AMONG THE QUIQUIMA. 1 77 

the sierra, and to the Cajuenche. I warmly em- 
braced this Cucapa Indian, and made much of him; 

quimas are placed farther southward in Lower California on 
the eastern coast, being divided from the Bagiopas by the 
" Sierra Azul " of his map. Garces seems to have been the first 
authority to apply the terms Jalliquamay and Quiquima to a 
lingle tribe, although they have many times since been loosely 
employed as distinctive names. From Zarate-Salmeron (1626), 
cited by Bandelier, Final Rep., i, 1890, p. no, it appears that be- 
low the mouth of the Gila dwelt successively the Halchedoma, 
the Haclli, the Cohuana, the Halliquamayas, and finally the 
Cucupas, who ranged as far as the gulf. Bandelier here identi- 
fies the Halliquamayas with the Comoyei or Comeya, but, not- 
withstanding the similarity in names, this is an evident error if 
we are to accept Garces' assertion as authoritative. There is 
little doubt that Garces' Jalliquamay or Quiquima (p. 176) are 
the Quigyumas, Quicimas, Quihuimas, etc., of other writers, as 
above noted. They were visited in 1604 by Onate, who men- 
tions them under the name Tlalliguamayas, as living in six ran- 
cherias not far above the head of tidewater, where Kino (1701 
and 1702) likewise found them as below noted. — F. W. H. 

Kino visited the so-called Quiquima in Nov., 1701, and on 
the 19th entered the first of their rancherias on the east 
(Sonoran) side of the river, naming it San Felix de Valois. 
This was next to the last Yuman rancheria he called Santa 
Isabel. On the 21st, still going down the left bank, he crossed 
the river on a raft where it was 200 varas wide, naming this 
place La Presentacion. There, on the California side, he was 
still among the Quiquimas; he was visited by a throng of 
Coanopas, Cuteanas or Cutganas, and Giopas, Ojiopas, or 
Bagiopas; and was told he was only one day's journey from the 
mouth of the Colorado. Returning in Feb., 1702, with Father 
Francisco Gonzalez, he reached Santa Isabel March 1st, passed 
San Felix de Valois and La Presentacion, and came to a large 



178 GARCES STILL AMONG THE CAJUENCHES. 

and he told me that he already knew in his own coun- 
try that I was traveling in these parts, and therefore 
came to see me on behalf of his nation. He was 
accompanied by an old woman; and I charged them 
both that they should deliver many greetings to their 
people, and should tell them that within three days 
I would come there. I showed them the crucifix, the 
breviary, and the compass-needle, that they might 
know I was the same who had been in their land years 

Quiquima rancheria they named San Rudesindo. Continuing 
down the left bank they passed other rancherias of the same 
nation, one of which they named San Casimiro on the 4th; on 
the 5th they were at tide water (now Heintzelman's point) ; on 
the 6th they failed in an attempt to cross from the Sonoran to 
the Californian side, and on the 7th reached the very mouth 
of the Colorado — the first and last time Kino was ever actually 
there. 

The Quiquimas long continued to be heard of by this name. 
Thus the Rudo Ensayo, written in 1762, p. 131, speaks of a 
portion of the Colorado that " affords ample space for a commo- 
dious dwelling place to the Cuhana nation; but on the other 
turn of the river, on resuming its course toward the South, 
there dwells, on a most fertile plain, ten or twelve leagues in 
length, on the left [bank], the nation of Quiqitionas, the largest 
of all the nations along the river until it empties into the Gulf 
of California." This is a mere misprint for Quiquimas; for on 
p. 132, the Rudo Ensayo continues: "He [Kino] particularly 
sets down in his diary of that journey [of 1701] that, besides 
the Quiquimas, who are to be found on the other [left] side, 
there are Cutcanas, Coanopas, Ojiopas, etc." (names appearing 
elsewhere as Cutaganas, Coanopas, and Giopas). 



A CAJUENCHE SHOT. 1 79 

past (1771), and with this I dismissed them. The 
Cajuenches continued to show their satisfaction with 
great dancing and much shouting, and in the even- 
ing I went the league above said, all full of crops. 

Dec. 12. There gathered at the rancheria where I 
had slept a great crowd, almost all men, who were 
performing an extraordinary dance; and so great was 
the confusion of people that fell upon me when I 
came out of my little tent that I was obliged to re- 
tire into it, full of fear. At noon I heard great shout- 
ings and noise of runnings about. I came forth, 
and learned the news that a Jalliquamay Indian had 
wounded a Cajuenche in such manner that the flint 
penetrated near the heart, 24 and it had entered 
through the shoulder, and also there had remained 
within (the wound) a part of the shaft; they deter- 
mined to extract it in front, martyrizing him a sec- 
ond time. The medicine-man (hechizero) began to 
play his part of running, blowing, and gyrating. I 
commenced to pacify them when they sought to kill 
a young man whom they brought into my presence, 
and as this intention was not justified I told them 

24 The expression is: havia jareado a un Cajuenche de tal 
modo que se tocaba el pedernal cerca del corazon. Here jareado 
is for hereado or herido, and pedernal may be either arrowhead or 
spearhead; but as we are told that a piece of the shaft remained 
in the wound, doubtless it was an arrow with which the 
Cajuenche was shot. 



I So OTHER INCIDENTS. 

that they should release him and that as soon as he 
went to his rancheria there would come others to 
defend him, whereupon both sides would be able to 
fight " a heap " (de monton). The old men shot ar- 
rows, and the boys came to gather up those that the 
other party shot. There were no further mishaps, 
except that one man was given a beating. I 
spoke to the captain of the rancheria. complaining 
that they should have so little sense {ton poco entcndi- 
micnto) as to set themselves to fighting. I being here 
who came to put them all at peace. He replied to 
me that since it had happened it could not be helped. 
but thc.t there would be no more of it (que ya lo hecho 
no tenia rcmedio, pero que ya no habia mas). The in- 
terpreters whom I brought, as they saw what was 
going on, told me that they were not going to the 
Cucapas in my company, and the Indians terrified 
them more by assuring them that those down river 
(de aba.ro) would do the same with us if we passed 
through their lands: on which transit the guides re- 
fused (to go). Not only were these afraid, but also 
those who had accompanied me were terrified, and 
they made me depart with all haste, fearing that at 
night they might come to injure us, or the animals 
be stolen; to which I agreed, first catechising the 
wounded man as well as I could, who joyfully re- 
ceived holy baptism. 



ARRIVAL AMONG JALLIQUAMAIS. l8l 

At this rancheria ends the Cajuenche nation. I 
departed thence, and accompanied by many Jalli- 
quamais traveled about 2 leagues east, 25 and arrived 
at a rancheria of the Jalliquamais nation, where I saw 
about 200 souls. Through these lands there is little 
grass but they have plenty of provisions, and are very 
generous Indians. I also noticed that these Indians 
are more cleanly than the Yumas and Cajuenches, 
and as the women do not paint so much they appear 
middling white. All received me with great pleas- 
ure and entertained me handsomely, and having 
spoken to them as well as I could of God, they seemed 
to believe what I told them; and at sight of the pic- 
tures they used the same expressions as the Cajuen- 
ches. I could not explain myself well to them, for 
though the idiom appears to be the same as that of 
the Cajuenches, yet it differs much. 36 My next 
project was to cross the Rio Colorado and thus go to 

*• We can only conjecture where Garces was after these five 
miles. As he goes E., toward the river, the rancherias pre- 
viously visited must have been on or near W. border of the 
flood-plain; and as he makes no southing, we cannot yet take 
him much if any below Ogden's landing. It is a pity he is not 
more explicit with topographical details, for no one gives the 
various tribal limits more definitely than he does, so that we 
should know them exactly, if we could identify his localities. 

M This apparent contradiction in terms is easily explained. 
All these Indians were of the same (Yuman) linguistic stock, 
speaking different dialects of one language. 



l82 STILL AMONG THE JALLIQUAMAIS. 

visit the Cucapa nation; and for this destination I de- 
parted the following day, as I will relate. 

Dec. 13. I departed for the east, but could not fol- 
low that route, for all told me that neither to the east, 
nor to the south, were there any people; for, though 
it was true that I had seen many on the other occa- 
sion when I went alone through these parts, yet all 
had retired to that (a aqudla, i. e., to the other) side 
of the riverthrough fear of the enemy. It was neces- 
sary to agree with them, and having turned from the 
east I took to the northeast, traveling about a league 
and a half, and halted at a rancheria of Jalliquamais 
of 200 souls, in form of a pueblo, 27 such as the Cajuen- 
ches also build, the one and the other the better to 
defend themselves thus from their enemies; in all 
these rancherias they received me well. Almost all 
these Jalliquamais were living in the year 1771 on the 
other side of the river in the rancherias which I then 
saw and named (Rancherias) de Santa Rosa. 28 See- 

"' That is to say, a village of more or less permanency, per- 
haps arranged in an orderly manner, perhaps with a plaza, etc., 
as distinguished from a rancheria, which might be occupied only 
at certain seasons. 

"A name occurring nowhere else, to my knowledge, and of 
no other identification than present text affords. The inference 
is that Santa Rosa was inhabited in 1771 and had been since 
deserted. We are still somewhere in the vicinity of Ogden's 
landing, but at a point impossible to specify. 



ARRIVAL AMONG THE COCOPAS. 1 83 

ing that my purpose of crossing the river was frus- 
trated, I determined to return to the nearest rancheria 
of the Cajuenches. 

Dec. 14. I returned to the rancheria whence I de- 
parted the day before. 

Dec. 75. I went 2 leagues west and halted near the 
rancheria of the wounded Indian whom I had bap- 
tized, as said above, and who had died that night in 
a rancheria which consisted of 200 souls of Jalliqua- 
mais and Cajuenches. In this rancheria I remained 
the whole day and also the next, because it was very 
cold; and all went well (y lo pase bien). 

Dec. 16. Having gone 3 leagues southsoutheast 
(sic — sursueste) 29 I arrived at the Laguna de San 
Mateo. The Cajuenches who accompanied me took 
me over in their arms, and leaving me on the other 
side departed; for here ends their land and com- 
mences that of the Cucapa nation to whom they are 
hostile. I pursued my route, and traveling 4 leagues 
in the same direction arrived at (a rancheria of) the 

" I cannot help suspecting this to be an error for southsouth- 
west, which is approximately the course of the river for many 
miles. Garces could hardly go his 34-4=7 leagues S. E. to- 
day without running into the Colorado, from any position 
whence we can conjecture him to have staited. Whatever the 
exact course, this is a long lap, ostensibly between 18 and 19 
miles southward. I should suppose this distance to bring 
Garces within a few miles of tide water at Heintzelman's point. 



184 AMONG THE COCOPAS. 

Cucapa nation; this was abandoned and destroyed, 
for here was the place where recently had fought the 
Yumas, Cajuenches, and Jalliquamais with the Cu- 
capa. Here I camped (" made night " — hize ncche), 
and regaled myself with some very savory water- 
melons. In all this land there is plenty of grass. 

Dec. 18. When I was ready to resume my march, 
I saw some Indians who were passing on their way 
up; I called to them, and they came very joyfully, 
shouting as is their wont. These Indians were Cu- 
capas; they told me that they were in search of me, 
that already had they gone forth once before for the 
same purpose, because already they had been given 
word that within three days I would come to 
visit them; that already were all their people ex- 
pecting me. Here there is plenty of grass, much 
carrizo [PJwagmitcs communis], and tule [Scirpus 
califomicus, probably] ; there are good mesas with 
a very beautiful prospect; and as the river is 
distant hence some 3 leagues, I consider that there 
could be founded here a good mission, without fear 
of inundations. I am persuaded that during the 
freshets this Laguna de San Mateo, which has now 
some 10 leagues of length, will be a large arm of the 
river; but its channel is so deep that no doubt it will 
keep free from overflow the mesas that there are in 
this locality. I mounted my horse and in 4 leagues 



AMONG THE COCOPAS. 185 

southsoutheast, having on my right the Sierra de San 
Geronimo, distant about 3 leagues, I halted at a 
rancheria of Cucupas, who were so very numerous 
that though I began to make presents to them all I 
had to limit myself to only the women. Already had 
I halted when the Indian Sevastian, who was the only 
one that accompanied me, since the other two had 
stayed with the Cajuenches, possessed by fear, urged 
me not to remain here, as there was little grass, and 
the water was in wells (or pot-holes — pozos), where 
the animals could not drink. With the object of 
entertaining us both, an old man who seemed to be a 
chief invited us, saying that he would conduct us to 
his house. Whereupon we departed, traveling 3 
leagues southeast, on which route I found two 
rancherias. I arrived at the house of the old man 
after nightfall {entrada la noche); there were very 
many persons gathered here, and among them was 
an old woman who well understood the Yuma 
tongue. I spoke to them of peace, (saying) that now 
all the nations above continued friendly and would 
not come down to do them any harm, and that they 
themselves had no occasion now to go up to fight. 
This proposition suited them well; for they said that 
the wars had impoverished them and compelled them 
to live where there was little water and no wood. 
But the old woman would not believe what I said. I 



1 86 THE VIRGIN NOT ON EXHIBITION. 

asked her about the two little boys whom I had bap- 
tized when I was in this country in the year 1771, and 
presently she fell a-weeping, saying, " now they are 
both dead — dost thou not remember that I am the 
mother of one of them? " I made some presents to 
all, and consoled the old woman by telling her that 
her son was now in heaven. As all the baggage 
(ropa) had been left with the Cajuenche interpreters, 
I could not exhibit the Virgin, though they begged 
me to do so; for they had been told by those who 
brought them my message that they had seen her at 
the Cajuenches and thus they knew that I was now 
carrying her (que ya la llcbaba). But I told them 
about God and exhibited the crucifix, which they all 
kissed. All examined the breviary, and I had to 
show them all the leaves, because those who had seen 
them above had already told them that there were 
four or five, and so they were not satisfied to see only 
one. The compass-needle also I was obliged to pass 
from hand to hand, notwithstanding that they had 
already seen it on my other journey. I asked about 
the sea, and for those Indians who in the year 1771 
took me across the river; and they replied that all 
were near by. 

Dec. 19. In the morning I went 3 leagues south- 
southeast and southwest, visiting various rancherias 
consisting of people of the lowlands and of moun- 



APPROACHING SALT WATER. 1 87 

taineers (de la tierra y Serranos). At the last ran- 
cheria they insisted strongly upon my staying; but 1 
did not do so because the Indian Sevastian did not 
wish it, for the reason that here there were no tulares 
and the water was in wells. 30 The Indians urged that 
I should not proceed, saying that further down there 
was no more grass or fresh water. But 1 did not 
mind them, and continued my journey, and soon 
(came upon) some shores (or beaches — playas) with- 
out grass, without water except that of some pools, 
and it was brackish. I halted on this strand, and 
took an observation as well as I could, and found 
the position to be in latitude 32 17'. 31 I began again 

80 Pozos — not that we must understand wells artificially dug, 
but natural potholes or deep places in which water stood, as if 
in a well. This is the usual locution for water-holes in open 
country, those occurring among rocks being commonly called 
tinajas, and the latter being frequently known as " tanks " in 
Arizona, sometimes called tanques in Spanish. The tulares 
above said are low marshy places where grow tules or bulrushes 
and other coarse aquatic plants. A very extensive tract of 
country in California is known as the Tulares, and the term was 
also applied to Indians who lived there. The Californian tule 
or rush is of two species: Scirpus calif ornicus of the latest bo- 
tanical nomenclature, very similar to the widespread 5". lacustris 
of North America and Europe, in fact sometimes known as 5". 
lacustris occidentalis ; and the more different S. tatara. 

81 This observation, if correct, would put Garces almost 
exactly halfway between Ogden's landing and Heintzelman's 
point; but he comes to tidewater so soon that I think he must 
have been lower down. 



1 88 RANCHERIAS DE LAS LLAGAS. 

my journey south, with some deviations southwest 
and southeast, and continued along the same shore. 
The Indians who accompanied me, who were from 
the last rancheria whence I had departed in the morn- 
ing, insisted that now there would be found no more 
good water nor grass; that all this land was covered 
by the sea at high tide (quando crecia). The Indian 
Sevastian then told me that the animals had not 
drunk during the whole day; for which reason I de- 
termined to return to the nearest rancheria, in order 
to take the road the following day, after a rest (mas 
de espacio). I did so, and that night arrived at the 
rancherias which I persuade myself are the last ones 
there are down river; and the other time that I was 
through here I called them (Rancherias) de las 
Llagas. 32 Here I met the Indians who in the year of 

32 The rancherias of the wounds or sores (of Christ) are not 
now identifiable, but the statement is noteworthy as indicating 
about how far down the west side of the Colorado Garces 
went in 1771. That these rancherias were within reach of the 
tide or bore of the river appears from a statement made by 
Garces on the 22d, beyond. This would indicate a position 
somewhere below Heintzelman's point, which is at the head of 
tide water, or very nearly so. Regarding the name Llagas, it 
may be observed that Garces was here or hereabouts in 1771 on 
Sept. 17, which is given as the day of the wounds or sores of the 
seraphic St. Francis Assisi, founder of the Franciscans, upon 
whom in his sleep an angel is said to have impressed the 
stigmata or llagas de Jesus, sc. the marks of the nails and spear 



AT TIDEWATER. 1 89 

1 771 had crossed me over the Rio Colorado; which 
was to them and to me a great comfort. To reach 
this rancheria I went from where I took the observa- 
tion 4 leagues northeast. 

Dec. 20. I remained in this rancheria, regaled the 
Indians, and as well as I could spoke to them of God 
and of having padres, which they heard with gusto. 
I observed this place and found it in latitude 32 18'. 

Dec. 21. I went five leagues along a very extensive 
shore with neither grass nor any tree, on a general 
southwest course, with some deviations southeast and 
south. I arrived at the water and found that it was 
the sea; for it was salt, though from being neverthe- 
less mingled with that of the Rio Colorado it had not 
all the bitterness (acrimonia) which has that of the 
high sea (del mar adentro). This water made great 
waves like the sea; on the northeast it extended till 

with which Christ was wounded at the crucifixion. St. Francis 
was Giovanni Francesco Bernardino, b. at Assisi in Italy in 
1 182, it is said with a nsevus or birthmark of a cross on his 
shoulder; d. there Oct. 4, 1226. He is described as an unedu- 
cated, dissolute youth, who early in life had an illness which 
appears to have unsettled his mind, as he retired to voluntary 
poverty in the convent of Porciuncula, to found his order in 
1210; confirmed by Pope Honorarius III. in 1223. The miracu- 
lous stigmata, according to the legend, were impressed upon 
him after a visit to Egypt, which he made in 1219. He was 
then a hermit at Monte Alverno. He was canonized by 
Gregory IX. in 1228, and calendared for Oct. 4. 



190 AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLORADO. 

the end was lost to view — hasta perderle el fin) ; on 
the south it was the same; and from east to west it 
would reach more than a league. Although now I 
knew by all the signs that I was on the sea and at the 
mouth of the Rio Colorado, 33 nevertheless to make 
myself more sure of this I went a little less than a 
league further down, ordered the Indian to get some 
water, and it could not be drunk for saltness. Then 
I retraced (deshize, " undid ") this league that I had 
gone, and halted on the edge of the water in the place 
where I had (first) tried it. Here I camped for the 

" That Garces has fairly reached the mouth of the Colorado 
is obvious from all that he says. But I cannot pretend to stick 
a pin in any modern map and say that this is the very point. 
In the first place, there is no assurance that the hydrography of 
the Coloradan delta, with its lowlands alternately submerged 
and exposed every day, its numerous side-sluices and its tremen- 
dous " bore " or push of rushing waters heaped up from the 
Gulf in the straitening of their course, is now or lately much 
like what it was a hundred years ago. In fact, it is impossible 
to square Font's map, the only one we have for 1775, with 
modern charts, most of which I have studied with care for our 
present purpose. Yet there is a position which answers pretty 
well, on the whole, to the indications that Garces gives. This 
is Arnold's point, about the upper end of the collateral channel 
called Hardy's Colorado, opposite Howard's Point, above Point 
Invincible and the five or six more or less well marked islands 
in the delta; and that such was Garces' position, approximately, 
I have no doubt. It should be observed that Font brings the 
trail-dots clear down to the open coast of the Gulf, at an ap- 
parently impossible point. 



THE BORE OF THE TIDE. 1 9 1 

night {hize noche). About dark I noticed that the 
current of the waters (la corriente de las aguas, i. e., 
the tide) which in the morning ran toward the north- 
east, was turning to the southwest, and that it went 
down disclosing a low island; at the same time I heard 
a great noise of rushing waters [the "bore"], and 
hence inferred that the Rio Colorado runs to disem- 
bogue in the sea through two arms a little distance 
apart; but the next day I satisfied myself to the con- 
trary. 

Dec. 22. This (last) night I heard a very loud noise 
of waters; as soon as it was dawn I returned to the 
place where I had been the day before at dusk, and 
found that now was dry the whole shore (playa, 
strand, beach), nor was heard any noise of waters, 
there remaining only a little water in a tide-pool 
(sanjon) 3 * into which I threw a stick to see if there 
were any current, but it was no longer running (pero 
no se men-eo). That night had risen in the son j ones 
the water more than 30 paces (at the place where I 
was on the 21st). The water of the zanjon and of the 
other pools (charcos) which remained I saw was salt, 
but not so much so as that of the sea, from which I 
infer that on the 21st when I came to this spot I ar- 

84 Sanjon — or sanjon, for copy has both forms — is literally a 
great ditch, here used for tide-pool ; cut-off, sluice-way, or col- 
lateral channel of the river. 



I92 EARLIER DISCOVERERS. 

rived at high tide, and that this is the legitimate dis- 
embogue of the Rio Colorado, 35 whose noise heard 

35 We have seen the discovery of the mouth of the Colorado 
by Alarcon and Diaz in 1540; also, its rediscovery by Kino in 
1702, March 7. In July, 1746, Fernando Consag entered the 
mouth by way of the Gulf; details may be read in Apost. Afanes, 
pp. 348-388: see also Venegas, ii, p. 308; Bartlett, Narr., ii, p. 170; 
Bancroft, No. Mex. St., i, pp. 463-464, with Consag's map re- 
duced. On this map an island at the mouth is named San 
Ignacio. Garces appears next, on the present journey — for we 
have no assurance that he descended quite so far in 1771. In 
1826 Lieut. R. W. H. Hardy, R. N., made an exploration: see 
his Travels, London, 1829, p. 320. He put the mouth in lat. 
30 51' N., long. 114 01' W. (it is about 115 ). The rest of 
the case seems to be quite modern, subsequent to our occupation 
of California in 1847. Probably the original map of this period 
is Derby's, already cited, 4 m. to the inch, plotting the river up 
to Yuma. This marks Pelican and Gull islands near the mouth; 
Point Invincible in lat. 31 ° 50' N., long. 114 39' W.; Howard's 
and Arnold's Points opposite each other, at the mouth of the 
river, where it was joined by the side sluice called Hardy's 
Colorado, inclosing a large island; and higher up Heintzel- 
man's point, near the head of tidewater; then Ogden's landing, 
Algodonnes, Fort Defiance, and Camp Yuma, with the mouth 
of the Gila in lat. 32 43' 32" N., long. 114° 32' 51" W.; such 
being almost his entire nomenclature. In 1857-58 came the de- 
tailed exploration of Lt. J. C. Ives, with full report and the 
beautiful map pub. in 1861. This has nearly the identical 
nomenclature of Derby's, and hardly any more names up to 
Yuma, though it marks Pedrick's at 32 30', close to where the 
U. S. and Mexican boundary line strikes the E. side of the 
river. His survey started at Camp No. 1, called Robinson's 
landing from the boat's captain (with whom I navigated the 
Colorado from Mojave to Yuma and back in 1865), near 



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SECTION OF IVES' MAP OF THE LOWER COLORADO 



BACK TO RANCHERIA DE LAS LLAGAS. 1Q3 

the preceding night was [the " bore "] of the next 
tide. 

I returned to the Rancheria de las Llagas by the 
same road that I went on the 21st. The Indians told 
me, and I observed, that the tide reaches these ran- 
cherias; for here the shore is very flat. When the 
Rio Colorado overflows {viene crecido) these waters 
extend to the Sierra de Santa Barbara, which is a 
spur (ramo) of the sierra that, separated from the 
Sierra Madre de Californias, 36 runs southeast and 

Unwin's point. Comparison of Derby's with Ives' map, so 
near together in dates, shows very notable discrepancies in the 
details of formation of the delta. It may be added that Derby 
marks the sites of three different Indian rancherias, presumably 
of Cocopas, all below the head of tidewater. The later maps I 
have, as that of the U. S. Hydrographic Office (1877, based on 
surveys by Commdr. George Dewey and officers of the U. S. S. 
Narragansett in 1873-75, corrected to 1895), of the War Depart- 
ment, etc., throw no further light on the situation. 

°* Sic, in the plural, probably not referring to the two modern 
Californias, but a reminder of the time when California was 
supposed to be an archipelago of many islands — Islas de las 
Californias. When Alarcon went up the Colorado in 1540 he 
proved to the contrary; but his discoveries were forgotten or 
ignored for many years, till, at the end of that century and be- 
ginning of the next, Father Kino made several journeys and 
took great pains for the main purpose of setting this matter 
right — though not with such complete success that many per- 
sons did not long continue in doubt on the subject. In later 
times, on the political and ecclesiastical separation of the two 
modern Californias, they were distinguished by several differ- 



194 VARIOUS MOUNTAINS SIGHTED. 

ends on these shores, leaving a large valley open 
hence to the Sierra de San Geronimo, which ends 
where I passed the night of the 18th. Thus I per- 
ceive that at time of the great risings of the river the 
water can very well overflow this valley or strand 
that there is between the two sierras of Santa Bar- 
bara and of San Geronimo, 37 as far as the place where 
the first expedition [of 1774] found stranded that 
heap of fish of which is made mention in the diary. 
Beyond the Sierra de Santa Barbara I saw another, 
somewhat larger, which begins in the Sierra Madre 
de Californias and comes to an end on the shore of the 

ent pairs of antithetical names, as California Antigua or Vieja 
and California Nueva, California del Sur and California del 
Norte, California Baxa or Baja and California Alta — these last 
being of course the source of our Lower California and Upper 
California, though we have lately dropped the qualifying term 
for the latter. 

17 Garces' Santa Barbara and San Geronimo mountains are 
easily recognized on any good modern map, but mostly without 
these or any other names. Sierra de Santa Barbara is the short 
range which lies immediately west of and runs approx. parallel 
with the Colorado river down to about opposite Heintzelman's 
point, where it ends, leaving the " valley or strand " between it- 
self and the next range; which latter begins about opposite the 
mouth of the river, in the conspicuous white bluff called Range 
hill, 813 feet high, and continuous southward, approx. parallel 
with the west coast of the Gulf of California; this is Garces' 
Sierra de San Geronimo. On one of my maps I find the other" 
range lettered " Cocopas mts." 



VARIOUS MOUNTAINS SIGHTED. 195 

sea; this I called (Sierra) de la Natividad. Beyond 
(both of) these I saw another larger one which, aris- 
ing also on the coast — I mean, in the Sierra Madre — 
ends likewise on the coast; this has at its point a pass 
or gap by which, according to what the Indians said, 
the waters communicated, and I called it (Puerto de) 
San Pedro. Looking eastward I discerned another 
sierra, high but short, which appeared to me to be 
the Sierra Prieta 38 that is about west of Sonoitac,'" 

*" Immediately west of and south of Sonoita is the Sierra de 
Sonoita, "short and high," as Garces says; but this is behind 
the range which immediately skirts the gulf on the Sonoran 
side, and I should suppose the latter range to be the one he 
means. This is the Sierra Nazareno or Nazarine range — the 
name dating back to Kino's time. Among its summits is a 
northern one called Pinaculo or Pinnacle, 4.235 feet high, in the 
offing northeast of Adair bay; another is Table peak, 1,363 feet. 
over George's bay. Still the Sonoita mountains rise above 
9,000 feet, and may have been in view from Garces' position. 
There is a Sierra de la Cabeza Prieta, suggested by the name 
(Sierra Prieta) which Garces uses, but this is entirely in 
Arizona, northwest of Sonoita. 

39 Sonoita, Sonoitac, Sonoitag, Sonoyta, etc., Sonoaita, etc., 
was a rather notable place in N. W. Sonora, just over the 
Arizona line, on a small water course sometimes called Rio 
Papago, sometimes Rio de Sonoita, and also on the most direct 
route, almost necessary to be taken for water, between several 
points on the lower Gila, and such places as Caborca, Saric, 
Tubutama, etc. It still exists, and may be found by its original 
name on modern maps. Its history dates from Feb. 16, 1690, 
when it was a Papago rancheria visited on that day by Kino, 
Adam Gil, and J. M. Mange — " la rancheria que intitulamos 



It)6 SONOITA NOTED. 

of which I make mention in the year of 177 1. I per- 
suade myself by all the above said, which I have seen, 
that in the time of the lesser waters of the Rio Colo- 
rado it will be possible to pass this way to the mis- 
sions of California Baxa. 

During my stay (plies estando yd) in this place ar- 
rived many mountain Indians (Jndios Serranos — the 
Comeyas) to eat of the fruits which those of these 
rancherias gather, and they asked me if I was going 

San Marcelo de Sonoita " says Mange in his Diary, pub. in 1856, 
Doc. para Hist. Mex., 4th ser., i, p. 296. Some years afterward 
the name was changed to San Miguel de Sonoita, " in accord- 
ance with the wishes of the Marques de Villapuente, who at his 
death in 1739 had endowed this mission and that of Busanic," 
Bancroft, No. Mex. St., i, p. 543. Such was its style as a mis- 
sion in November, 1751, when it was destroyed in the dreadful 
Pima insurrection which laid waste also Saric, Tubutama, 
Caborca, etc., and cost many lives — among them that of 
Padre Henry or Henrique Ruen, Ruhen, Rhuen, or Ruhn, the 
missionary at Sonoita. Aside from perpetual Apache ravages, 
this revolt of Pima was the most serious disturbance Sonora 
ever suffered from the Indians. The Rudo Ensayo says, p. 167: 
" One single malcontent, one puffed up, haughty man like a 
Luis del Saric, with the reputation of a sorcerer, is sufficient to 
cause the ruin of a whole nation. We are still [in 1762] deplor- 
ing the sad consequence of the rebellion plotted by this man in 
1751, traces of which, together with the cruel Seris, still keep 
the royal troops in continual motion." The author, moraliz- 
ing on the subject, gives as the " four foundations of Indian 
character " ignorance, ingratitude, inconstancy, and laziness — 
" the pivot on which the life of the Indian turns." 



VARIOUS INCIDENTS. 1 97 

to visit the padres of California Baxa, or those of San 
Diego. These Serranos who come down to these na- 
tions of the river are different in many respects. 
They are very poor, they are very ugly, and degener- 
ated (desmcdrados); they are very dirty, on account 
of the much mezcal that they eat; their idiom is for- 
eign to those of the river. 40 They were very affable 
to me, and to divert me they brought a girl of about 
10 years, who, covering up what was most necessary, 
threw the right leg over the left shoulder, took a 
stick in the hand, and in this shape danced, ran, and 
leaped, repeating then (the performance) with the left 
leg; all the which was greeted with loud laughs by the 
Serranos and Cucapas of the rancherias where I was. 
Here they stole a knife that my Indian was carrying; 
at which the river Indians manifested so much feeling 
that if I had not interfered they would have destroyed 
the rancheria of the petty thief. It is evident that 
these poor (people) have never before seen do- 
mestic animals, especially mules; because the In- 
dian Sevastian told me that they saluted them (the 
mules) as if they were people. This is certain, that 
two or three nights they removed the hobbles, and 

40 The Comeya or Quemaya, with whom the Diegueno are 
also sometimes classed, had a different dialect from that of the 
Cocopas and other Yuman tribes of the Colorado of the same 
linguistic stock. — F. W. H. 



I98 THE JOURNEY CONTINUED. 

took them (the mules) to another rancheria to give 
them to eat calabashes. One day the jack mule 
mired down; and the Indians, seeing that he could 
not get out, all came to his assistance, took him in 
their arms, carried him to the fire, and warmed and 
consoled him. 

Dec. 23. We departed for the east, and passing by 
a laguna, having gone half a league there was a ran- 
cheria of about 200 souls, and another which would 
appear to be of mountain Indians (Serranos). I 
made them some presents, and having gone about 
4 leagues northwest [sic] and north approached the 
river opposite (en f rente de) some high hills which 
were on the other side of the river, to which in the 
diary of the year of 1771 I gave the name of Buena- 
vista. 41 I said to the Indians, " See! that is the place 
where is to be situated (donde se ha de potter) the house 
of the padre and of the Espanoles who may come with 
him." The Indians were overjoyed at this news, and 
told me that they would fetch the poles (pahs) to 
build the house of the padre. I observe that this sit- 

" I cannot locate Buenavista, for I have not the Diary of 1771, 
and what Arricivita says of it throws no light on the situation. 
We quite lose the good padre here, and do not find him till he 
is with Eisarc again at Yuma. The place where anything which 
could be called a mesa touches the river on the east side is 
Ogden's landing; but it is certain that no mission was ever 
founded there. 



THE RETURN TO YUMA. 199 

uation is the best, or one of the best, that there is on 
the Rio Colorado for founding a mission. It is a 
large and very high mesa immediately upon the river, 
with plenty of grass below it (azia abajo), and a 
cienega of water at a little distance. The Indians 
asked me when we should go on, for the fear that they 
have of the Indians above. From here they returned 
to their rancherias, and I continued my journey up 
river, examining well the places (passed) until (I 
reached) the Yumas. 

I put the Cucapa nation at about 30 hundred souls. 
The Jalliquamais, at about 20 hundred. The Ca- 
juenche, at about 30 hundred. Of the Serranos I 
could form no estimate, because I only saw those who 
came down to the river; but those of this (river) say 
that those of the sierra are few compared with them- 
selves. 

Until my arrival at the Yumas, where I had left 
my companion Padre Eisarc, I consumed the rest of 
the month of December, and three days of the fol- 
lowing January. 42 

a I have nothing whatever of Garces' movements for Dec. 
2 4. 1775 — Jan. 2, 1776. No doubt, however, he traveled up the 
west of the Colorado to Yuma, where we find him on the 3d. 



CHAPTER V. 

UP RIO COLORADO FROM YUMA TO MOJAVE, JANUARY, 
FEBRUARY, I776. 

Jan. 3, 1776. I arrived at the Puerto de la Con- 
cepcion at night, and unspeakable is the joy that I 
felt, finding my beloved Padre Eisarc in health and 
well content with the Yumas. He told me that in 
my absence they had served and obeyed him very well 
(grand 'entente), bringing wood and making him cakes 
to eat, almost in the same manner as it is done in the 
missions. I gave a thousand thanks to God to hear 
them sing some psalms divine that the padre had 
taught them, and to see that many came to hear mass. 
In all these pious things is singular the Captain 
Palma, who though still gentile would put to the 
blush (era confusion de) many veteran Christians by 
the reverence and humility with which he assisted at 
the holy sacrifice, imitating the most devout in mak- 
ing the sign of the cross, beating the breast, and other 
demonstrations of devotion. The padre has formed 
a concept, and I with him, that the Yumas are in a 



CAPTAIN PALM A S THEOLOGY. 20 r 

disposition proximate to Christianism, which nation 
will be able to aggregate themselves in a little while 
in the church. I asked the Captain Palma if he had 
any knowledge of God before he had treated with 
the padres. He replied to me, " Yes, though not so 
clear (an understanding) as now." In regard to the 
destiny of souls he coincided with the nonsense 
(delirios) already related of the Opas. He told me 
further that we did not feel the death of our relatives 
as they (the Yumas) that of theirs, since having seen 
funerals of Espanoles (he knew that the Yumas) 
mourn not as we do. (This captain has been several 
times * in the Presidio del Altar, 2 as also in the Villa 

1 Twice, in March, 1778, and subsequently. In referring to 
these visits Garces is not writing ex post facto, as his Diary was 
completed at Tubutama Jan. 3, 1777. The parenthetical state- 
ment is therefore an interpolation of the copyist or scholiast. 
I find it in parentheses in my copy, breaking in upon Garces' 
statement of Spanish and Yuman mortuary ceremonies. 

2 The name of this place originated with Kino, on or about 
Mar. 19, 1694, when he was traveling with Mange down the 
river from Tubutama to Caborca on an entrada to the Sobas. 
Mange's diary of the trip may be read in Doc. para Hist. Mex.. 
4th ser., vol. i, p. 242, seq. : see also my notice of Kino, beyond. 
The name clung to the place, which later became, as it is now, 
the principal one on the river, and was early extended to the 
whole river, which in 1694 was known as Rio de Tubutama; 
it is the principal branch of the one known as Rio de la Asun- 
cion, Rio de San Ignacio, and sometimes Rio Magdalena. 
Altar is the present name of the place and of the river. El Altar, 



202 ALTAR AND HORCASITAS NOTED. 

de San Miguel de Orcasitas, 3 when he went to visit 
the Senor Governador Don Francisco Antonio 

the place, was a settlement of the Soba branch of the Papago 
tribe, and was known as Pitic (not to be confounded with Pitic, 
otherwise San Pedro de la Conquista, the Seri rancheria that be- 
came the present town of Hermosilla on Rio de Sonora; pre- 
sidio founded there 1741). In 1694 the mission of Tubutama 
was in charge of Daniel Januski, or Janusqui, who had come in 
1693; but after the mission of Caborca was founded Pitic or 
Altar became a visita of the latter, prior to 1701, and had 313 
inhabitants in 1730. In 1753-54 the Presidio del Altar was estab- 
lished, in consequence of the great Pima revolt of 1751, under 
Captain Don Bernardo de Urrea, with a garrison of about 50 
men, these being 20 added to the 30 of the old Presidio de 
Cinaloa which was removed to Buenavista at the Yaqui rebel- 
lion of 1741, and to Pimeria Alta in 1751: see Rudo Ensayo, p. 

255- 

' Orcasitas, or Horcasitas, or San Miguel de Orcasitas, was a 
place on Rio de San Miguel or Rio de Horcasitas, the principal 
branch of Rio de Sonora. The place will be found on some 
modern maps by the name simply of San Miguel. Horcasitas 
is a part of the name of Don Juan Francisco de Giiemes y 
Horcasitas, otherwise Conde de Revilla Gigedo, 41st viceroy 
of New Spain, July 9, 1746, to 1755. San Miguel de Horcasitas, 
the town, and its presidio of the same name, were close together 
on the left bank of the river. In 1741, when Don Augustin 
Vildasola became governor of Sonora, two new presidios were 
erected, one of them at Pitic (or San Pedro de la Conquista, 
modern Hermosilla), which was ordered to be disestablished 
in 1744. But the governor resisted, and the order was not at 
once carried into effect, as we have record of the Presidio de 
Pitiqui for a few years (for example in Villa-Sefior y Sanchez, 
Teatro Amer., ii, 1748, p. 392). This presidio appears, however, 
to have been moved about 1748-50 from Pitic to Horcasitas, 



CAPTAIN PALMA S DISCOURSE. JO3 

Crespo, 4 and to beg liim that there should come to his 
land padres and Espaiioles.) How this nation and 
the others that I have seen do (mourn their dead) I 
will tell in the reflections that I will give at the end 
(of this Diary). 

One day of those that I was here came the Coco- 
maricopas and Jalchedunes, and according to what 
the interpreter told me Captain Palma spoke to them 
in this manner: " Now are we brothers who formerly 
were enemies. This good has come upon us by 
means of the padres and Espanoles, on whose account 
have I already laid down arms. Think not that this 
has been through fear; for indeed ye know that I have 
many people, and that now are my friends the Ca- 
juenches, Quemayas, Yabipais, and Jamajabs. They 
have told me that ye Jalchedunes are not firm in the 
peace which we have made. Take up arms if ye will; 

and the new Presidio de Horcasitas thus founded long con- 
tinued a notable post in its new site. In 1763 it was one of the 
five Sonoran presidios, the four others being at Altar, Tubac, 
Terrenate, and Fronteras; at this date the neighboring town of 
San Miguel de Horcasitas was the most populous and poorest 
place in the vicinity, and the presidio was the residence of the 
governor. About this time the place seems to have had some 
claim or pretension to be considered the capital of Sonora, but 
does not appear to have ever actually enjoyed that distinction. 
4 Governor of Sonora and Sinaloa from 1774. when he suc- 
ceeded Mateo Sastre, to the organization of the Provincias 
Internas in 1777. 



204 PUERTO DE SAN CARLOS NOTED. 

but I am enough, with the Espanoles, to chastise ye. 
Tell me, who are we, that we should oppose the 
soldiers? These are now on the march; for indeed 
ye know that there are Espanoles on the coast, 5 and 
near Moqui." 

From this discourse it is seen that Indians are not 
such fools as some think; and that by special divine 
providence they are afraid where there is nothing to 
fear. 6 

In these days I baptized seven moribund persons. 

As the Danzarines, who live in the sierra at the 
Puerto de San Carlos 7 and thence northward, saw 

5 Of California, at San Diego de Alcala (but mission destroyed 
Nov. 4, 1775), San Carlos de Monterey, San Gabriel Arcangel, 
San Luis Obispo, and San Juan Capistrano (begun 1775, but 
not formally existent till Nov. 1, 1776). Padre Escalante was, 
in 1775, the missionary at Zufii, " near Moqui." 

6 In the original: " En este discurso se ve que los Indios .no 
son tan tontos como algunos piensan, y que por especial 
providencia divina temen donde no hay que temer " — that is 
to say, it took a miracle to make such clever Indians afraid to 
oppose the Spaniards under the circumstances. 

7 Puerto de San Carlos or St. Charles pass can be located 
with precision as the modern San Gorgonio pass or San Ti- 
moteo canon, through which the railroad runs between the 
San Bernardino mts. on the N. and the San Jacinto mts. on 
the S. ; stations San Gorgonio, Banning, San Jacinto, White- 
water, etc. It was named Mar. 15, 1774, on Anza's expedition 
with Garces and Juan Diaz; on the 20th they crossed Rio de 
Santa Ana, and on the 22d were at the mission of San Gabriel. 
This fixes the habitat of the otherwise somewhat elusive Dan- 



THE DANZARINES OR JEQUICHES. 205 

that their friends the Jalchedunes had already made 
peace with the Yumas, and knew that we were there, 
they came down and made peace also. This nation, 
whom on the former expedition we called Danzarines 
on account of the ridiculous gesticulations they make 
when they talk, is known to the nations on the river 
by the name of Jequiches. 8 

In token of friendship the Cajuenches called upon 
Palma and his friends to come down on a tour 
through their lands to eat calabashes. 

There came one day a Quemaya who brought word 
that he had heard {refirio segun trajeron el recado) that 

zarines or Jequiches, lettered " Jecuich " on the map Font made 
at Tubutama in 1777. We hear of the Puerto de San Carlos 
again, in connection with our present expedition of 1775-76; 
for on p. 87 of Font's Diary, at date of Dec. 26, 1775, we read 
that the expedition left a certain dry arroyo at 9.15 a. m., and 
at 2.00 p. m. halted in a piece of low ground (baxio) immediately 
under the steep rocks {penascas) which form the Puerto de la 
Sierra Madre de California, called the Puerto de San Carlos, 
etc. On the 31st they were on the Rio de Santa Ana, and they 
arrived at the mission of San Gabriel Jan. 4, 1776. 

s This was the Yuman name of these Indians, whom Garces 
called the " Dancers." They were probably of Shoshonean 
stock, and we may look for their survivors among the so-called 
Mission Indians. Just north of the Puerto de San Carlos or 
San Gorgonio pass was the boundary between the Shoshonean 
tribes and the Yuman. The name appears as Tecuiche in Jose 
Cortes, as quoted in Whipple's Report, iii, pt. 3. p. 125, where we 
read that they " have their hordes as far as the port of San Car- 
los " — apparently a statement derived from Garces.— F. W. H. 



206 BAD NEWS FROM SAN DIEGO. 

already were united two or three nations to fight 
against the Espanoles of the seacoast; that already 
had they killed a padre and burned his house; that to 
the Espanoles who had passed through the Yumas 9 
they had done nothing, because they knew that they 
(Spaniards) were their (Yumas') friends; that if these 
Espanoles united themselves with those that there 
were on the coast and should make war together, then 
they (the Indians) would defend themselves and rob 
them (the Spaniards) of all they possessed; that he 
brought this message on behalf of his nation, because 
they well knew that they were very old friends; that 
they did not seek to take up arms, but only to remain 
quiet if perchance there should be war. As almost 
every day we heard various idle tales (cuentos) that 
the Indians told us, we did not then credit {no dimos 
asenso entonzes a) this information; but it turned out 
to be true. 10 It is easily seen how important it is to 

* That is, to the Spaniards of Anza's present expedition of 
1775-76, which had just passed through the Yumas and not 
been molested on the coast of California while en route to San 
Francisco. 

10 Unfortunately it was only too true, for this report was that 
of the outbreak at San Diego of Nov. 4, 1775, when Padre Luis 
Jaume or Jaime and others were killed, and the mission was 
temporarily broken up by the Dieguenos. This was the first 
mission ever established in California Alta; its full name was 
San Diego de Alcala, the same as that long before given by 
Vizcaino to the Bay of San Diego on which the foundation was 



SAN DIEGO MISSION NOTED. 207 

have on our side the nations of the river, not only 
in order that we may be able to pass whenever it may 

made, so called from St. James of Alcala in Spain, a Franciscan 
friar who lived 1400-63, was canonized 1588, and still has his 
day on Nov. 12. About 40 persons of all sorts formed the 
settlement at the Indian rancheria Cosoy, identical with modern 
Old Town on the bay, on Sunday, July 16, 1769, when Padre 
Junipero Serra formally started the establishment by raising 
and blessing the cross and executing the other ecclesiastical 
functions which were " to put to flight all the hosts of hell and 
subject to the mild yoke of our holy faith the barbarity of the 
gentile Dieguinos." But these gentile, though not gentle, bar- 
barians were a squalid and stolid set who did not fancy a yoke 
of any sort, and preferred to go scot-free in the ways to which 
they had been used, as we shall see. The original site of the 
mission, and of the presidio founded there very soon after- 
ward, did not prove desirable, and by 1773 there were several 
propositions made for its removal. The change was made in 
August, 1774, when the mission was moved about five miles 
northeastward, up the valley, to a place called by the Indians 
Nipaguay, some six miles from the present harbor and city of 
San Diego. Hence the mission was often called San Diego 
de Nipaguay, and by the end of 1774 consisted of a wooden 
church thatched with tule, 57 x 18 feet, an adobe blacksmith's 
shop, several dwellings or storehouses, etc. There had been 
no great change from this condition at the time when the 
storm burst, on the night of Nov. 4-5, 1775, without any warn- 
ing. The disaffected Dieguenos attacked and burned the mis- 
sion, killing Padre Jaume and several other persons of the little 
company of eleven Spaniards. The cause of the outbreak is 
not very specific, but seems rather to have been a general dis- 
satisfaction of the Indians far and near at the way they were 
treated by their new masters; it is therefore the same old story. 
We have full details of the disaster, as in the report of Nov. 30, 



208 APACHE MOJAVES NOTED 

be convenient to the establishments of Monte-Rei, 
but also in order that these may subsist; as I will 
make clear at the end of the Diary. 

Besides the continual visits which the Jalchedunes 
made us, there arrived here nine Indians whose na- 
tion they here call Yabipias Tejua, 11 and we Apaches. 

J 77S. by Lieut. Ortega to Lt.-Col. Anza, and in the mission 
books, especially the account by Padre Fuster, who survived 
his compadre Jaume: for these and other original sources of 
information, see Bancroft, Hist. Cal., i, pp. 249-256. The San 
Diego mission was re-established in October of the next year, 
1776, and continued to flourish without special mishap till its 
abolition in 1834. 

11 This tribe is more widely known under the name Apache 
Mohave, meaning " hostile " or " wild " Mohaves, and not indi- 
cating an admixture of Apache and Mohave. When they first 
became definitely known the Yavapai or Apache Mohave occu- 
pied the interior region of western Arizona from Bill Williams 
fork southward to Castle Dome, Eagletail, and Bighorn moun- 
tains, eastward to the vicinity of a line drawn about south of 
Prescott. They seem gradually to have drifted eastward, and in 
1873, vvhen they were rounded up and placed under the Rio 
Verde agency, they claimed as their territory the valley of the 
Verde and the Black mesa, and from the Rio Salado northward 
to the neighborhood of Bill Williams mountain. At this time 
they are said to have numbered about 1,000. In 1875 they were 
removed to San Carlos Agency, Arizona, where they now num- 
ber 526. The name is said to be derived from a native term 
signifying "sun people." Other forms are: Cruzados (of 
Onate, 1604); Jum-pys, Nichoras, Niforas, Nigoras, Nijor, 
Nijoras (Pima name); Nijotes, Niojoras, Nixoras (in Font), 
Nyavapai, Tontos (not the Tonto Apache), Tubessias, Yabapais. 



THESE YABIPAIS TEJUA. 200. 

These Yabipais are old friends of the Yumas, and so 
they had a great feast. They came as they are accus- 
tomed to do every year, to eat of the fruits of the 
land; they come in winter, for then is the road 
good, which is a five-days' journey through very 
rough (quebrada, broken) country. These Yabipais 
danced whilst we were eating, and afterward 
we showed them the images, vestments, and 
other trifles (y demas cositas) which we possessed; 
at all of which they manifested great compla- 
cency, and the next day they heard mass with the 
same attention as Captain Palma (did). There was 
a Yuma who understood the Yabipai language well, 
and by this means I asked them how they lived; on 
what did they subsist; who were their friends; and 
whether they ever came to the land of the Espanoles, 
or the Espanoles to theirs. They replied that they 
lived scattered about (csparramados) ; that the regular 
means of subsistence was the chase, though they also 

Yabijoias, Yabipaces, Yabipaiye, Yabipay, Yabipias, Yalipays, 
Yampaio, Yampais, Yampaos, Yampas, Yampay, Yampi, Yam- 
pias, Yapapi, Yavape, Yavapies, Yavaipais, Yavipay, Yubipias, 
Yubissias, Yum-pis, Yupapais, Yurapeis. 

" The Tejuas are neighbors [of the Mohave] on the east bank 
of the Colorado, below the little Colorado," says Taylor in 
California Farmer, Jan. 31, 1862. This would make them 
Yuman, and doubtless a branch of the Yavapai. They of course 
have no connection with the Tigua or Tegua, pueblo In- 
dians of New Mexico. — F. W. H. 



210 THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 

raised some corn and a few calabashes; that their old 
friends are the Yumas, Jamajabs, and (certain) other 
Yabipais of the east who are enemies of the Es- 
pafioles, and that these never have come to their 
lands, nor have they themselves ever gone to those 
of the Espafioles; that they are enemies of (certain) 
other Yabipais that there are on the north of the 
Moquinos (Moquis), of the Cocomaricopas and (Pi- 
mas) Gilefios; but once that all made peace, as indeed 
they saw and had heard said (was to be done), then 
they would do likewise with all; and (they said) also 
that they knew that the Yabipais of the East, their 
friends, had great fear because many Espafioles were 
entering into their lands. I told them that they 
should seek to live all together in some good place, 
and give their children for baptism; that I would 
come to see them, and they should procure peace with 
all their enemies; that soon would come the padres 
and the Espafioles to live on the Rio Gila and also 
on the Rio Colorado; then no longer would be their 
enemies either the Jalchedunes, or the Yabipais of 
the North, or the Moquinos, because these are friends 
of the Espaholes of New Mexico; and thus would 
everything be settled (todo se compondria). They re- 
plied that on returning to their land they would 
assemble the people, and tell them all that Captain 
Palma and I said. To the nine I gave to understand 



REMOVAL TO PUERTO DE LA CONCEPCION. 211 

that Espanoles only do harm to bad people, and when 
they cease to be bad, then war ceases. 

These Yabipais reported, and the same did the Co- 
comaricopas, that the Rio Gila was beginning to rise 
and would run much water; and for this reason was 
it necessary to move the hut (xacal) from the house 
of Captain Palma to the Puerto de la Concepcion. 
Padre Fray Tomas did this, aided by the interpreters 
and by some Yumas. Not because these Indians as- 
sisted in this work is it to be supposed that the gen- 
tiles can be compelled hereafter to build the habita- 
tion of the minister, or the church, for already are 
known the evils which may result ; and this being con- 
sidered a thing certain and just, it will be necessary 
for these first buildings to go on under the hands of 
the Espanoles, or of the soldiers themselves, in so far 
at least that there may be an adobe apartment in 
which can be kept safe from accidental or incendiary 
fire our most valuable and necessary possessions. " 

u Garces is thinking of certain official regulations or restric- 
tions regarding employment of Indians in the construction of 
buildings for the Spaniards. The whole sentence, not easy to 
render word for word, stands as follows in the original: "No 
por que estos Indios ayudaron a este trabajo se ha de pensar 
que se puede obligar desde luego a los Gentiles a que hagan la 
avitacion (for habitacion) del Ministro e Yglesia pues se deja 
conocer las malas resultas que puede tcner, y supuesto esto 
como cosa cierta y justa, sera preciso que estas primeras fabricas 



212 EXAMINATION OF PUERTO DE SAN PABLO. 

One day during my stay here I went down to the 
Puerto de San Pablo, to examine more carefully the 
site where could be best founded the mission. I 
found one very advantageous, between the sierra and 
the shore (medandl), among some high hills that are 
beyond the puerto, in whose immediate vicinity there 
is a channel (zanjon) through which runs the water 
when the river is high; and when it is not, with facility 
can be dug wells which may hold much water; and 
even now water can be had by opening a little the 
paderon 13 of the river. This situation affords plenty 
of grass, and I consider it as very much to the pur- 
pose of founding a mission. 

corren por mano de los Espanoles, 6 de los mismos Soldados 
como tambien que a lo menos una pieza sea de adove para poder 
guardar en ella libre de un Yncendio casual 6 maquinado lo 
mas precioso 6 preciso que se Hebe." 

13 The clause runs: " y aun se puede hazer ya por ella abriendo 
un poco el Paderon del Rio." This word paderon would be a 
corker, could we not discover that it is an anagram by the 
scribe's slip of the pen for paredon, large wall, sc. high bank of 
the river. The Beaumont MS., fol. 17, and the pub. Doc, p. 
267, both read paredon. Nevertheless it is a curious fact that 
in Arizona to-day you can hear paderon said by Mexicans as a 
sort of provincialism. Garces means that if the wells he speaks 
of should not answer, water could be fetched directly from the 
river or from the side channel. The whole passage is in good 
evidence of the position I have already assigned to San Pablo, 
in the immediate vicinity of modern Pilot Knob, which makes 
a sort of puerto where the river turns sharp from west to south. 



GARCES STARTS UP RIVER. 213 

During this period the Jalchedunes came repeat- 
edly to see me, and urged me to go to their land. I 
gladly agreed to do so, on condition that (con tal que) 
they should conduct me afterward to the Jamajabs. 
To this they objected, for fear that I should be of 
assistance to them (i. e., to the Jamajabs), and con- 
cluded that not (would they do so); but that they 
would take me all through their land, and then ac- 
company me (back) to the Yumas. Seeing this 
repugnance I determined to go first to the Jamajabs 
with an Indian of that nation who was here. 

Feb. 14. Having taken leave of my companion I 
departed from the Puerto de la Concepcion in com- 
pany with two interpreters, Sevastian and a Jamajab, 
and went 2\ leagues northwest. 

Feb. 15. I went two leagues in the same direc- 
tion. 14 

Feb. 16. I set out to the westnorthwest and went 
two leagues, passing the Sierra de San Pablo 15 

M Having started from Yuma, Garces goes up the Colorado 
on the California side, but for these first two days bears away 
from the river, which is here flowing about southsouthwest, he 
going northwest. His twelve miles for the two days should 
place him opposite and west of the Purple hills, but not yet 
abreast of Chimney Rock. 

"The Sierra de San Pablo, it will be remembered, is Garces* 
own name for the range which reaches from the vicinity of 
Chimney Rock southward to Pilot Knob. He is now west of 



214 INDICATIONS OF GOLD. 

through a gap, and on the other side found rain 
water in a canada. The old interpreter whom I 
brought is versed in mines, and told me that this 
land indicated much gold, for there was much tepustete 
de color™ In this land there is little grass. I called 
this Aguage de San Marzelo. 

Feb. if. I went one league northwest. 

Feb. 18. I went 4 leagues northwest. Soon after 
my start this day I sighted the Cavesa del Gigante on 

this range, but not yet up to the Rock, of which he does not 
speak till the 18th. His mileage is excessive, for any direct 
distance from Yuma, but doubtless much less so by the way he 
came. He finds water in a box-canon, and names this aguage 
or watering place in the rocks for St. Marcellus. 

18 Tepustete is a word derived from the Nahuatl tepustetl = 
tepustli metal, -(- tetl, stone, and will not be found in ordinary 
Spanish dictionaries. It means a kind of rock which was re- 
garded as a sign of gold. Thus the author of the Rudo Ensayo, 
p. 243: "... the idea that the ground contains those qualities 
which concur in the generation and maturation of gold. This 
occurs particularly in those places where the stones called 
tepustete are found, which are very heavy like stones of lead. 
They are called ' gold guide ' because if the ground is dug 
wherever the tepustete is found there is a certainty of finding 
gold." Again, the Diario y Derrotero of Escalante, 1776-77, in 
the pub. Doc. of 1854, p. 435, speaks of a rock " que los mineros 
llaman Tepustete, y que era indicio de mineral de oro." A 
similar word, tepetete, is in modern mining use for the rubbish or 
tailings left when ore is cleaned up, and also for barren rock 
through which a vein of ore runs. This is apparently the 
Nahuatl tepetlatl, meaning limestone. 



CASTLE DOME — CHIMNEY ROCK. 215 

the east. Also I discerned the great Medanal de 
San Sevastian and its surroundings, and passed near 
the Penon de la Campana, which from here has a 
diverse aspect. 17 

Feb. 19. I went 8 leagues north with some short 
turns northnortheast, and passed the sierra 18 that is 
north of the great Medanal (de San Sevastian) by a 
very easy gap. The watering-place where I camped 
consists of several tanks (tinajas) that are on 
the surface of the ground in a canada, with conven- 
iences for the animals to drink; there is also much 



" The Cabesa del Gigante or Giant's Head we have already 
(p. 162) found to be Castle Dome, the most conspicuous feature 
of the range of the same name on the E. side of the Colorado. 
As Garces sights it on the E., he evidently started to-day from 
the vicinity of Chimney Rock, which he says he passed near; 
for this is his Penon de la Campana, called by Font Pefiasca 
de la Campana on Dec. 4, antea, note 8 , p. 162; the terms both 
mean " great rock of the bell," or Bell peak, the applicability 
of which will be evident to one who knows the shape of this 
remarkable landmark: see, for example, the fine view of the 
peak which forms the frontispiece of Lt. Ives' report, pub. 
1861. It bears about 15 miles N. N. W. of Fort Yuma in air- 
line, and has a different appearance at such distance from that 
which it presents as Garces passes near it on its west. The 
Medanal de San Sebastian, of which he speaks, is the great 
sandy plain or desert to his left. 

18 This sierra is simply the extension of the great San Ber- 
nardino range to the Colorado, where it takes the name of 
Chocolate hills on both sides of the river. 



2l6 A PARTY OF MOJAVE INDIANS. 

grass. I called this place (Aguage de) San Joseph. 19 
From here it is one day's journey to the river, travel- 
ing to the east, and another of the same length to the 
Jequiches, on which they tell me there are many 
lagunas of water which, though somewhat saline, is 
not undrinkable(?zo impide el beberse);hom all of which 
it is inferred that this road is more suitable than that 
which the expedition has taken. 20 

Feb. 20. I tarried and took an observation in this 
Parage de San Joseph, finding it to be in 33 28'. 
There is a sierra in this aguage that runs from west 
to east and unites with that of California. 

Feb. 21. I went a league and a half northnorth- 
west and two (leagues) eastnortheast; passed the 
sierra, and arrived at a valley 21 where I met a party 
(una patrulla) of Jamajab Indians who would be about 
80; they were going down to the Yumas, moved by 
the reports that they had heard. These I comforted 
and regaled, for they were going very hungry; and 
having spoken of the peace made between the Yumas 

16 San Joseph of the text appears elsewhere in the more usual 
form of San Jose. The location is not easy to find, and I know 
of no modern equivalent of the name. 

20 The direct route thus indicated is that now taken by the 
railroad; the expedition went roundabout, much further south. 

11 Still south of the Halfway mts., and at a considerable dis- 
tance from the river; but we lack data for greater precision, and 
have no modern names of places along here. 



HALFWAY AND RIVERSIDE MOUNTAINS. 217 

and Jalchedunes, they told me that they were taking 
with them two captive Jalchedun women. These I 
begged them for with great insistency; and many 
objections being overcome, I succeeded in that they 
gave them to me for a poor horse and some other 
small presents. They proceeded on their route, 
the greater part of them, there remaining the captain 
and some others here with me, where we passed the 
night; and the animals went to drink at San Joseph. 

Feb. 22. I went four leagues northnorthwest and 
two eastnortheast, in a roundabout way (rodeando), 
because they told me that the packmules could not 
proceed on a direct course (por derecho). 

Feb. 23. I went two leagues eastnortheast and 
four north. After surmounting a sierra that comes 
from the west, which I called Santa Margarita, 22 I 
found myself on the border of the Rio Colorado. I 
passed a valley and arrived at an aguage that is in 
a caiiada of another sierra 23 which comes likewise 
from the west. This route is not necessary; for I 
came thus roundabout on account of the Jamajabs 
being at war with the Jalchedunes. 

Feb. 24. I observed this position and found it in 
33 25'. In the afternoon I went a league and a half 

" This sierra de Santa Margarita is apparently the range now 
known as the Halfway mts. 
iS This other sierra is the Riverside mts. 



2l8 JENEQUICHES NOTED. 

west, winding about because the passage of the sierra 
is bad. 2 * 

Feb. 25. I passed over the sierra by a good gap 
on a northwest course and by the westnorthwest ar- 
rived at the Tinajas del Tesquier, 25 having gone three 
leagues. Said tinajas hold plenty of water, and are 
very commodious for the animals to drink. This 
aguage is one day's journey from the river, and ad- 
mits of passage {proporciona el camino) from the Jal- 
chednnes to the Jenequiches, 26 who are those of the 

14 He went westward of his way to find the good gap in the 
mountain crossed next day. 

" Tesquier, plainly, in my copy. Beaumont MS., foja 17 
vuelta, has Tesquien, and pub. Doc, p. 270, prints Tezquien. 

M Of the Jenequiches we know no more than Garces says. 
His location of them on the Rio Santa Anna agrees with Font's 
map, on which the " Jenicueich " appear among the mountains 
of California, in the vicinity of the " Jecuich " (the Jequiches or 
Danzarines of Garces). The name has appeared as Teneque- 
ches by mistaking manuscript J for T. Thus Jose Cortes, who 
seems to have cribbed most of his matter from Garces, and 
bungled it in the process, says in Whipple's Report, iii, pt. 3, 
p. 125, that the Teniqueches " adjoin the Talchedums and the 
mission of Santa Ana," by which he means San Gabriel. This 
throws light on who these and the Tecuiche or Jecuiche actually 
were. Eliminating the first syllable we have the Spanish 
form of Kizh (sig. " houses "), a division of the Kavouya 
(Cahuilla, Coahuila, etc.) of Shoshonean stock (according to 
Gatschet) and the name of the natives of San Gabriel (accord- 
ing to Hale). It is practically impossible to fix the bounds of 
any of these tribes, as they seem to have roamed at will. — 
F. W. H. 



AMONG THE CHEMEBETS. 2IO. 

Rio de Santa Anna. 27 In the evening I went three 
leagues through quite a difficult sandy place (par un 
medano bastantc perwsd). 

Feb. 26. I determined to send to their home the 
little Jalchedunes (Inditas Jalchcduncs) whom I had 
rescued from captivity, which I did, with the old 
interpreter, and with many assurances of my friend- 
ship, such as that he should say to them on my part 
that already were they friends, and that they had 
ceased to war with the Jamajabs; and that he should 
await me there. The Jamajab captain who was go- 
ing with me made a great harangue to the Indian 
women (Indias) and to the interpreter, in order that 
they should repeat it there, breaking a bow and 
throwing away the arrows in his presence, as a sign 
of veritable peace. 

This day I went eight leagues northnortheast and 
north. I passed through the gap of a sierra that runs 
northwest, and at its base made a halt at some small 
springs of water that I called (Ojitos) del Santo 
Angel, where I met some 40 persons of the Cheme- 
bet 28 nation. Six Indians of this nation that were 

17 Present name of the river in the San Bernardino valley of 
California: see beyond, date of Mar. 22. 

28 The Chemebet and Chemeguagua of Garces (beyond) are 
synonymous, being the Chemehuevi. These were the most 
southerly of the Paiute tribes, of Shoshonean stock, formerly 
occupying two distinct areas. The first was in Nev. and Colo., 



220 THEY ARE THE CHEMEHUEVIS. 

on a hill came down as soon as we called them, with 
the speed of deer, and regaled me with very good 
mezcal. The garb of these Indians is, Apache mocas- 
sins (zapato), shirt of antelope skin (vestido de ga- 
muza), white headdress like a cap {gorra blanca a nwdo 
de solideo) with a bunch of those very curious feathers 
which certain birds of this country have in their crest. 
These Indians give me the impression of being the 
most swift-footed of any I have seen. This nation 
inhabits the territory that there is between the 

west of the great bend of the Colorado, as far as Providence 
mts.; there were probably several hundred of these. Another, 
formerly (1853) in five bands (the names of which are not 
known) occupied the E. bank of the Colorado between Bill 
Williams fork and the Needles, being thus, in later times at 
least, between the Cuchan and the Mohave, both Yuman tribes, 
with whom the Chemehuevi were on friendly terms. Their 
chief seat was the beautiful Chemehuevi valley, extending 8 or 
10 miles — in width for 5 miles — along the river. They are 
agriculturists and are physically inferior to their Yuman neigh- 
bors. There are about 300 on the Colo. Riv. reservation, and 
probably a few at Moapa agency; others probably roam with 
their kindred, the Paiute. Other forms: Chemahuava, Chema- 
wawa, Chemchuevis, Chemegerabas, Chemehueris, Chemehue- 
vitz, Chemeonahas, Chemiguabos, Chemiheavis, Chemihuahua, 
Chemihuevis, Cheminares, Chimawava, Chimchinves, Chimeh- 
whuebes, Chimhuevas, Chimohueois, Chimwoyos, Genigneihs, 
Itchi-mehueros (Mohave and Walapai name), Kemahwivi, 
Simojueves. Their own name is Tantawats, which signifies 
" southern men " (Powell), evidently in reference to their hab- 
itat, which is south of that of the other Paiute tribes. — F. W. H. 



WHAT ARE CORITAS? 221 

Beneme, a tract of land very scant of water, follow- 
ing thence the border of the Rio Colorado on the 
northern side as far as (hasta lie gar a) the Yuta 
nation, of whom they give much information; and 
they are friends of these, as enemies of the Coman- 
ches and Moquis. The Chemebets say that their 
nation extends to another river, north of the Colo- 
rado, and that there they sow. They also keep 
friendship with the Apaches Tejua; they have a lan- 
guage distinct from all the nations of the river; they 
are intimate friends of the Jamajabs, and when these 
break their weapons, so do they also. They make 
some baskets (coritas) 29 very similar to those of the 

29 Corita is the name now used in Mexico for a sort of pannier 
borne by pack-mules; it is not a Spanish dictionary word, and 
Garces' meaning of " basket " is not evident at first sight. But 
a passage in Ortega, Apost. Afanes, 1754, p. 298, clears up this 
matter: " Los [Indios] que estavan a la [orilla] del Poniente 
[del Rio Colorado] passaron los mas a nado a la contraria. 
para saludar al Padre [Kino], y en unas bateas, qui son proprias 
de la Pimeria Alta, texidas de ciertas particulares yervas visto- 
mente entreveradas, que llegan a recibir el agua, sin que pueda 
penetrar dentro, traxeron sus comidas, y sustento. Mas en este 
parage las bateas llamadas coritas, que en la Pimeria son por 
lo comun mas pequenas, eran tan crecidas, que cargavan mas 
de una fanega de maiz, y los Indios por el rio, rempujandolas 
a manera de barquitas andantes, las trasportavan a la otra 
banda " — that is to say, in fine, most of the Indians who were 
across the river swam over to salute Father Kino, bringing their 
victuals in vessels (bateas) proper to Pimeria Alta, woven 



222 CANAL DE SANTA BARBARA NOTED. 

Canal. 30 Through the different lands that they in- 
water-tight of certain plants and handsomely ornamented. But 
these vessels, called coritas, were so much larger than those 
commonly used in Pimeria, that they held more than a bushel 
of corn, and were shoved over the water like little boats. 
Thus these coritas were evidently the large shallow baskets, like 
circular platters or trays, so well known throughout the south- 
west. See also Garces beyond, p. 282, where he is taken across 
a river and his effects are carried over in coritas. 

I find a much earlier and different use of the word corita in 
Doc. para Hist. Mex., 4th ser., i, p. 327, where J. M. Mange 
wrote of Mar. 12, 1701 : " Dimos a mano con coritas 6 gicaras 
[for jicaras] agua a las mulas de carga que ya peridian de sed," 
i. e., gave the pack-mules, which were perishing of thirst, water 
by hand by means of coritas, here used in a sense which the 
synonym gicaras shows. These vessels were probably small 
jugs of basketware, made water-tight with gum or pitch, and 
with them water was dipped up or ladled out of a scanty 
source. The word jicara is not very common, but has become 
very well known in its diminutive form as the designation of 
the Indians called Jicarilla Apaches, often pronounced " Hick- 
ory " Apaches, who are now on their reservation in northern 
New Mexico and southern Colorado. 

w The Canal, as Garces calls it, with a capital and without 
qualifying term, is the Canal de Santa Barbara, or Santa Bar- 
bara channel, between the coast of California and the collection 
of islands in the offing. Font's map of 1776, for example, letters 
Canal de Sa. Barbara below Punta de la Concepcion, with one 
large island lettered I. de Sa. Cruz, and four smaller ones 
unnamed. In modern nomenclature the five largest islands of 
the group are Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, San 
Nicolas, and San Clemente; besides which are several smaller 
ones, including that called Santa Barbara, 60 miles S. W. of 
Los Angeles. All are collectively known as the Santa Barbara 



THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 22$ 

habit they take different names, as are Cajuala Se- 

islands; they are eight in number without counting Begg's rock 
as a ninth. The history of the channel and its islands goes back 
to 1542, in the fall of which year Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed 
northward along the coast, and named many places, but not 
the channel itself. He died on this navigation Jan. 3, 1543, at 
a place he called La Posesion, on present San Miguel island, 
the northwest one of the group, lat. 34 . His names need not 
detain us, as they never acquired vogue and had mostly been 
forgotten or were ignored when the expedition of Sebastian 
Vizcaino came along in 1603. He was in San Diego de la 
Alcala bay in November, so naming it for the saint whose day 
is Nov. 14. Before the end of the month he named San Pedro 
bay for St. Peter, bishop of Alexandria, whose day is Nov. 26, 
and also the islands still known as Santa Catalina and San 
Clemente. Next was named the Canal de Santa Barbara, which 
saintess' day is Dec. 4, and also the Isla de Santa Barbara and 
Isla de San Nicolas, both of which names persist. The four 
islands of the more northern group appear on Vizcaino's map 
by other names than they now bear. Passing and naming 
Punta de la Concepcion, now Point Conception, the voyage 
was continued past Rio de Carmelo, so called from Carmelite 
friars who accompanied it, round Punta de los Pinos, still 
known as Point Pinos, and on Dec. 16 into the Bay of Mon- 
terey, so named for the ninth viceroy of Mexico, Gaspar de 
Zuhiga y Acebedo, Conde de Monterey. Even this glance shows 
how much of the present nomenclature of the California coast is 
derived from Vizcaino of 1603, how little from Cabrillo of 1542. 
But we have still to account for Santa Barbara mission and the 
saint herself. A project for occupying the channel was formed 
by Neve in June, 1779, and some new regulations for California 
took effect in 1781, providing for the founding of a new presidio 
and mission of Santa Barbara, with two others on the channel 
to be called San Buenaventura and La Purisima Concepcion. 



224 OTHER INDIANS NOTED. 

vinta, Cajuala Chemebet, or Chemeguagua. 31 They 
conducted themselves with me most beautifully; by 

San Buenaventura was soon established, Mar. 31, 1782, but Santa 
Barbara not till Dec. 4, 1786, and Purisima not till Dec. 8, 1787. 
Dec. 4 is the day of Santa Barbara Virgen y Martir, as already- 
said, and on that day of 1786 the ceremonies were begun which 
founded the mission in the course of the month. She is a 
legendary character, never satisfactorily identified, and some 
very wild stories attach to her name. She is the patroness of 
Spanish artillerists and sailors in the Spanish navy, and her 
name is the synonym of a powder-magazine. The present town 
of Santa Barbara is the capital of Santa Barbara co., Cal. 

31 Cajuala Se vinta, Cajuala Chemebet, etc. As Garces states, 
these were evidently names applied to various small Shoshonean 
tribes. The Sevinta or " Cajuala Sevinta " were apparently the 
Shivwits, who occupied the plateau of the same name, bounded 
by the Grand Wash cliffs, in extreme northwestern Arizona, 
although they extended into the surrounding region. Some 
of the Shivwits were seen as far south as Peach spring in 1871. 
They were a division of the Paiute, and are not popularly dis- 
tinguished from the rest of that Shoshonean tribe. Beadle 
called them " Lee-Biclies ; " Cortes corrupted Garces* form of the 
name into Chemeque-sabinta; Orozco y Berra, Chemegue sebita 
and Chemegue sevicta. Other forms: Seviches, Sheav-wits, Sher- 
wits. Major J. W. Powell, 1873-74, was the first to call attention 
to the tribe under its proper name, and probably the first white 
man to see them after Garces' time. They then numbered 182. 

I do not know the signification of " Cahuala " in connection 
with the tribal names. There is a Shoshonean tribe known as 
Kauvuya, formerly in Cabezon, San Jacinto, and Coahuila val- 
leys, E., S. W., and S. E. of San Bernardino, Cal., and thence 
extending in straggling bands to the river Colorado. In 1873 
they numbered 1,937 in *3 rancherias. They were later placed 
on the Mission reservation, where they are still officially re- 



ARRIVAL AT MO J AVE. J_5 

no means were they thievish or troublesome, but 
rather quite considerate. They all carried a crook 32 
besides their weapons. 

Feb. 2/. I observed the position of Santo Angel, 
and found it in 34 31'. Thereafter I went six 
leagues northwest and northeast, though for the most 
part northeast. I halted where there was grass, but 
no water. 

Feb. 28. I went seven leagues northnortheast and 

garded as " Coahuilas." Other forms: Caguilla, Caqulla, Cah- 
nillo, Cahual-chitz, Cah-wee-os, Cah-willa, Carvilla, Cavio, 
Caweo, Cohuilla, Cowela, Cowilla, Kahweaks, Kah-\ve-as, Kah- 
weyahs, Kavayos, Koahualla. 

Jose Cortes (in Whipple's Report, p. 125-126) has: " North- 
ward of the river Colorado live other bands, which may be 
considered as one numerous nation; they are the Chemeque- 
caprala, Cehmeque-sabinta, Chemequaba, Chemeque, and Pay- 
uches [Paiute]; all speaking the same language, with the ex- 
ception of the last." All of these, except the " Payuches," 
would seem to be divisions of the Chemehuevi, and probably 
the Shivwits or " Sabinta " were an offshoot of the same. Both 
the Shivwits and Chemehuevi are now regarded as Paiute divi- 
sions — this is based on linguistic classification by Powell. Cor- 
tes' " Caprala " seems to be the same as Garces' " Cajuala." I 
can identify them with no other than the Kauvuya or " Coa- 
huila," who, as previously mentioned, extended to the Rio 
Colorado. On a Yuma map of the river in Whipple, iii, pt. 3, 
p. 16, the " Ca-hnal-chitz " are located above Bill Williams' 
fork (Hah-weal-ha-mook) and the Mohaves. — F. W. H. 

" Alcayata, hook, crook. He means the hooked stick which 
these and many other Indians habitually carried for the pur- 



226 AMONG THE MOJAVES. 

arrived at the Jamajab 33 nation, having passed over 

pose of pulling rats, gophers, and other small game out of 
their holes. This instrument was about the size of an ordinary 
walking-stick. 

" The Jamajab = Mohave were the most populous tribe of the 
Yuman family, and formerly the most warlike. In historic 
times they occupied the valley of the Rio Colorado, but mainly 
the eastern bank, between the Needles and the entrance to Black 
canon, especially the vicinity of Camp Mohave. Their name 
is derived from hamok, " three "; habi hemi, " big rock or moun- 
tain," and points to one of their oldest habitats around the 
Needles on the E. side of the Colorado. They numbered 1371 
in 1890, on the Colorado River, Mohave, and Yuma reservations. 
Other forms: Amacava, Amaguagua, Amahuayas, Amajabas. 
Amajavas, Amochave, Amojaves, Amoxawi, Amuchabas, Ha- 
mockhaves, Hamoekhave, Hamokiavi, Hamukahava, Jamajas, 
Jamalas, Machaves, Macjave, Mahaos, Majabos, Majave, Mo- 
hahve, Mohave (1841: present form), Mohavi, Mohawa, Mo- 
hawe, Mohaoes, Mojaris, Mojaur, Mojave, Molxaves, Moyave, 
Soyopa, Tamajabs (misprint; after Garces' Jamajabs), Tamasa- 
bes, Wah-muk-a-hah'-ve, Yamagas, Yamajab. — F. W. H. 

It is probable that the Mojaves have been known to the 
whites, or known of, since 1540, when Alarcon went up the 
Colorado by boat, mostly cordelled by Indians, for 15 days. 
How far he went is uncertain; but it took only 2 l / 2 days to de- 
scend with the current. Again he started, Sept. 14, 1540, in 
three boats loaded with provisions and merchandise, and went, 
it is said, 85 leagues, or some 225 miles. Probably he saw all 
the tribes on the river excepting the Havasupais; I am inclined 
to allow him up to the Needles, and thus to the Mojaves. In 
1604-05, Juan de Ofiate may have come into some relation, 
direct or indirect, with the Mojaves. After that we only hear 
vaguely of them till these full accounts by Garces of 1776. But 
even these seem to have made little impression; and how little 



AMONG THE MOJAVES. 227 

a sierra 34 that runs to the northwest and ends on the 
Rio Colorado. Having continued further, the ran- 

was really known of them till into the '50's, when Whipple, Sit- 
greaves, E. F. Beale, and especially Ives told us so much, may 
be judged from the following extract from Bartlett's Narr., 
1854, ii, p. 178: 

" At Fort Yuma [in June, 1852] we heard of a tribe called the 
Mohavi, who occupy the country watered by a river of the 
same name, which empties into the Colorado about 150 miles 
above the fort. They are said to be a fine athletic people, ex- 
ceedingly warlike, and superior to the other tribes on the river." 
Needless to add, the Mojaves never lived on the Mojave river, 
which does not flow into the Colorado. 

34 This sierra is of course the Mojave range, which separates 
the Chemehuevi valley from that of the Mojaves. Garces 
has no name for it here; but on his return down the Arizona 
side of the river, he names it Sierra de San Ildefonso, Aug. 1 ; 
see the date, p. 419. From the N. W. this range comes S. E. 
to the Colorado, and continues on the other side of the river, 
which thus cuts through it to the extent of the Mojave canon. 
This runs N. and S. between lats. 34° 30' and 34 45'; whence 
it appears that Garces' observation of 34 31' on the 27th is 
too low. Some of the elevations of the range immedi- 
ately upon the river, where the canon is most boxed, take 
the forms of spires; these are called the Needles, having been 
known as such since the time of Ives, 1857-58, on whose 
map they are delineated and so lettered. His report also 
gives figures 15 and 16 of the outlet and inlet of Mojave 
canon, together with a panoramic view (No. 2, opp. p. 64) 
of the whole Mojave valley up to Pyramid canon. The rail- 
road now crosses the river near the Needles, and Needles 
is the name of the last station on the California side. In 
Garces' time, as in Ives' and ours, the villages or rancherias 



228 AMONG THE MOJAVES. 

cherias of the Jamajab I saw were on the opposite 
bank of the river; these I called (Rancherias) de la 
Pasion, without crossing to the other side. Here 
came soon all the Jamajabs, because the captain who 
was accompanying me hastened on to inform them of 
my arrival. Those who came to see me that day 
remained to sleep in this place, so that I could speak 
to them to my satisfaction on all subjects. To all 
that I set forth to them they replied that it was good; 
and added that license was given me to remain here 
to baptize them, because they knew that thus would 
result all sorts of good things. I can say with entire 
truth that these Indians have great advantages over 
the Yumas and the rest of the nations of the Rio 
Colorado; they are less molestful, and none are 

of the Mojaves extended along the river all through the valley, 
to the next (Pyramid) canon, above the site of the military 
camp or Fort Mojave, now an Indian school reservation with 
the name Mojave City on some maps. This is a little N. of 35 , 
about 14 miles N. of Needles station, and twice as far above 
the Needles themselves. Whipple's crossing of Feb. 27, 1854, 
was in close vicinity of the present railroad station; Beale's 
crossing of 1857 was a little above Fort Mojave, at or very near 
present Hardyville, or Hardy. I was three times at Fort Mo- 
jave in 1865, and post surgeon there in March, 1881; in the 
former year, when I navigated the Colorado from Mojave to 
Yuma and back, the master of the sternwheeler Cocopa, Cap- 
tain Robinson, was the same who had piloted the Explorer on 
Ives' expedition. 



AMONG THE MOJAVES. 22<) 

thieves; they seem valiant, and nowhere have I been 
better served. I showed them the picture of the Vir- 
gin; it pleased them much, but they did not like to 
look at that of the lost soul. As I am the first Es- 
panol 30 who has been in their land they celebrated it 
beyond bounds (sobre manera) by their great desire 
to become acquainted with them (Espanoles); and 
considering them to be very valiant, they manifested 
extraordinary joy at being now friends of a people so 
valorous. 

Feb. 29. I tarried here, because there came suc- 
cessively many persons, and among them three cap- 
tains, of whom one said that he was the head chief (el 
principal) of the nation, against whose will was 
naught determined; that he had come in order that 
I should tell him that which there was for him to do; 
that I should know him for what he was when I 
should see him do out of the goodness of his heart all 
that which I might propose; and finally he said that 

85 1 see no reason to doubt Garces' claim that he was the first 
Spaniard who was ever among the Mojaves — actually " in their 
land " and on terms with them. At the same time we must not 
forget the original ascent of the river by Alarcon in 1540. The 
point he reached will ever remain uncertain, but he may easily 
have come to the Needles, and thus to the verge of the Mojave 
country. Also, there is the question of Ofiate of 1604-05; for 
he may then have had some communication with these Indians, 
direct or indirect, though he was never actually among them. 



23O AMONG THE MOJAVES. 

he would be baptized and married to a woman, add- 
ing other good things of like tenor. This is the cap- 
tain general of them all (que ay), and he lives in the 
center of this nation. The female sex (el mugerio) 
is the most comely on the river; the male (la gente) 
very healthy and robust. 36 The women wear petti- 
coats of the style and cut that the Yumas (wear). 
The men go entirely naked, and in a country so cold 
this is well worthy of compassion. These say that 
they are very strong; and so I found them to be, es- 
pecially in enduring hunger and thirst. It is evident 
that this nation goes on increasing, for I saw many 
lusty young fellows (gandules), and many more boys; 
the contrary is experienced in the other nations of 
the river. There came together to visit me about 20 
hundred souls. Abound here certain blankets that 
they possess and weave of furs of rabbits and otters ST 

s " Perhaps there could be no more striking instance of the 
absurdity of grammatical gender than is shown in this sentence, 
where women collectively are el mugerio, masculine, and men 
collectively are la gente, feminine! 

" Nutrias is the word used, properly meaning otters, but 
Garces may have meant beavers. In proof of this use of 
nutrias for beavers I can cite a passage in Escalante's Diario, 
Doc. para Hist. Mex., 2d ser., i, 1854, p. 426: " Aqui tienen las 
nutrias hechos con palizades tales tanques, que representan a 
primera vista un rio mas que mediano — here have the beavers 
made with sticks such ponds that they look at first sight like 
a river larger than usual "; the reference being of course to the 



AMONG THE MOJAVES. 23 I 

brought from the west and northwest, with the people 
of which parts they keep firm friendship. They have 
been also intimate friends of the Yumas. Their lan- 
guage is different; but through constant communica- 
tion they understand well enough the Yuma. They 
talk rapidly and with great haughtiness (arrogancia). 
I have not heard any Indian who talked more, or with 
less embarrassment, than their captain general. The 
enemies that they have are, on the northeast the Yabi- 
pais Cuercomaches; 38 on the east the Jaguallapais; 3 * 

damming of the stream by these animals. Mr. Hodge observes 
that the above-mentioned rabbit-skin robes are those so well 
known to be manufactured principally by the Paiutes, who are 
the people referred to by Garces as living on the west and 
northwest. 

38 A division or mere rancheria of Yavapais, on one of the 
heads of Diamond creek near the Grand canon, unknown by 
name save for mention by Garces. Compare date of July 17, 
beyond. 

39 The Jaguallapais of Garces are the Walapai or Hualapai, a 
Yuman tribe whose habitat in early historic times was the 
middle Rio Colorado, above the Mohave tribe, from the great 
bend eastward. They extended from the southern bank of the 
river well into the interior, occupying Hualapai, Yavapai, and 
Sacramento valleys, and the territory of the Cerbat, Hualapai. 
and Aquarius mts. Present Bill Williams' fork and its brancli. 
Rio Santa Maria, formed their southern extremity. Their name 
is derived from huala, " pine tree," " pinery," " pine forest," and 
pax, "all men," "people" — i. e., "pinery Indians." The Co- 
honino or Havasupai are an offshoot frum the Walapai, and still 
speak a dialect more nearly like the Walapai than any other of 



232 AMONG THE MOJAVES. 

and on the south the Jalchedunes. During the ha- 
rangues that they make they give smart slaps with 
the palms on the thighs. 40 Manifesting to these 
people the desires that I had to go to see the padres 
that were living near the sea, 41 they agreed and offered 

the Yuman languages. They are now confined to a reservation 
bordering the great bend of the Colorado in N. W. Arizona, 
where they number 631. They seem to be gradually diminish- 
ing in numbers. Other forms of the name are: Hah-wal-coes, 
Haulapais, Ha-wol-la Pai, Ho-allo-pi, Huaepais, Hualapais, 
Hualipais, Hualopais, Hualpaich, Hualpais, Hualpas, Hualpias, 
Huallapais, Hulapais, Hwalapai, Jagullapai (after Garces), 
Jaguyapay, Jaqualapai, Jaquallapai, Tiqui-llapai, Wallapais, Wil- 
ha-py-ah. — F. W. H. 

*" Jose Cortes (in Whipple's Report) must have had access 
to Garces, for his statement of the language and gesticulation 
of the Mojave, whom he miscalls " Tamajabs," is almost a literal 
translation of the above: "The language is very strange; it is 
spoken with violent utterance and a lofty arrogance of manner; 
and in making speeches, the thighs are violently struck with the 
palms of the hands "! 

41 That is to say, at the mission of San Gabriel, in the vicinity 
of Los Angeles, Cal., whither we will now follow the good mis- 
sionary. We shall be able to trace his very steps on this jour- 
ney, as I once followed his route very closely, and have my own 
itinerary before me, Oct. 30-Nov. 14, 1865, from Mojave to 
San Gabriel. Besides myself the party consisted of John N. 
Goodwin, governor of Arizona; Lieutenant Charles A. Curtis, 
5th U. S. Infantry; two servants, one of them my Mexican boy 
Jose, whose full name I never knew, and the other Curtis' 
striker; and two teamsters, one of the 4-mule ambulance in 
which we rode, the other of the 6-mule wagon for our baggage 
and rations. The route, in brief, was west to Soda lake, then 



DEPARTURE FROM MOJAVE. 2 /, .: 

soon to accompany me, saying that already they had 
informations of them and knew the way. But as now 
I had few provisions, I determined to depart imme- 
diately (quanto antes); and told them that on the re- 
turn we would see them again (de espacio). I left 
here the greater part of my baggage and the inter- 
preter that I had sent with the Indian girls (Inditas) 
that I had rescued; and in company with the Indian 
Sevastian and the Jamajabs I departed from this 
place. 

up the Mojave river, through the Cajon pass to San Ber- 
nardino valley, and thence to San Gabriel mission near Los 
Angeles. The clearest map of the road that I know of is one 
on a scale of 16 miles to the inch published by the Wheeler 
survey of 1875, being a topographical sketch of the route fol- 
lowed by a party under Lieut. Eric Bergland, corps of Engi- 
neers, U. S. A. This road does not agree well with the present 
railroad line, but in those earlier years it was the only road from 
Mojave westward. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROM MOJAVE TO SAN GABRIEL, MAR.-APR. 8, 1 776. 

Mar. 1. I went three leagues northwest, accom- 
panied by the principal captain of the Jamajabs; and 
having turned aside from the fields of wheat I arrived 
at the rancherias where was his house, and which I 
named (Rancherias) de Santa Isabel. 1 

Mar. 2. I tarried at request of the captain in order 
to satisfy others who desired to see me. This day 
visited me another captain with his people, and two 
Indians of the Chemebet nation. 

Mar. 5. I proceeded three leagues on the course 
northwest with some turns to the westnorthwest. 2 I 
observed this locality to be in 35 01', and I named 
it San Pedro de los Jamajabs. 3 In this situation and 

1 These rancherias were in the vicinity of the present railroad 
station Needles. 

2 So my copy, oestnoroeste, but there seems to be some doubt 
of this reading. Bancroft's copy had the impossible " east- 
northwest " (Hist. Cal., i, p. 275) ; Beaumont MS. has estnor- 
ueste, and so has the pub. Doc, p. 276. I am inclined to make 
it estnordeste, eastnortheast. 

' If we allow the reading eastnortheast, we can bring Garces 



POZOS DE SAN CASIMIRO. 235 

in that below there are good mesas for the founda- 
tion of missions, and though they are near the river 
they are free from inundation. 

Mar. 4, on which was made the observation noted 
on the 3d day. I departed, accompanied by three 
Jamajab Indians and by Sevastian, on a course south- 
west, and in two leagues and a half arrived at some 
wells [which I named Pozos de San Casimiro. 4 
There is some grass. 

around a bend of the river, and take his 35 01' at its face value, 
as a mile above the point where the Nevada boundary line 
strikes the Colorado at 35 . This sets his San Pedro de los 
Jamajabs nearly opposite the well-known site of Fort Mojave. 
This military post was built in 1858 on a bluff on the left bank 
of the river, lat. about 35 03', and some five miles below Hardy. 
The Mojaves and other Indians were then hostile; but they 
were defeated in battle by troops under Capt. and Bvt. Major 
Lewis A. Armistead of the 6th Infantry (who soon afterward 
joined the C. S. A. and was killed at Gettysburg July 3, 1863), 
and thereafter gave no trouble. The fort was abandoned May, 
1861, but reoccupied the same month of 1863 by two companies 
of the 4th California volunteers. The military reservation, 
established by Executive Order of Mar. 30, 1870, was turned 
over to the Interior Department by President Harrison, Sept. 
19, 1890, under A. of C. approved July 31, 1882. 

4 Lacuna here in our copy, by fault of the scribe. I bracket 
the required matter from the Beaumont MS. and ihe pub. Doc, 
both of which name these wells: see also beyond, p. 308. When 
I ferried across the river from Fort Mojave, Oct. 30, 1865, I 
went 3 miles to some water called Beaver lake; whence it was 
22 miles to Piute springs, the usual first camp out from the fort. 
The road was fair, though mostly up and down hill, and either 



236 SIERRA DE SANTA COLETA. 

Mar. 5. 5 Departing by the northwest I traveled 
eight leagues west one quarter westsouthwest, on a 
road level and grassy, and halted at some wells of 
excellent but little abundant water. Sebastian said 
that two mule-trains could drink.] 

Mar. 6. I traveled five leagues west and three west- 
southwest, through land level and grassy. I arrived 
at a sierra that has pines, though small ones, and I 
named it (Sierra) de Santa Coleta. 6 The aguage, 

sandy or rocky. But it appears that Garces did not go exactly 
this way. He started west from the river below Fort Mojave, 
and took an Indian trail that runs approx. parallel with, but a 
few miles S. of, the main wagon road I was on, joining the 
latter further on. 

s No entry for Mar. 5 in our copy, by continued scribal omis- 
sion, which I supply in brackets; for both the Beaumont MS. and 
the pub. Doc. give an 8-league journey between San Casimiro 
wells and another day's journey to camp on the 6th. I have no 
doubt this is correct, as this interpolation adjusts Garces' camps 
well with what I know of the route he is on. March 5, therefore, 
we send Garces eight leagues west x /\ westsouthwest to some 
nameless wells. These should be found on Pahute or Piute 
wash, at a point a few miles S. of the well-known Piute springs 
of my last note. 

8 When I traveled the main road on Oct. 31, 1865, from Piute 
springs it was 20 miles to Rock springs, where I found no 
water and went two miles further to water at what were called 
Government holes in those days; total, 22 miles. Now Garces 
is coming along his trail but little south of my road, and nearly 
parallel therewith. His eight leagues to-day, nearly west, takes 
him on to the Sierra de Santa Coleta, in which range he finds 



CANADA DE SANTA TOM AS, ETC. 2yj 

which is somewhat scanty, is in the midst of the sierra, 
but there is much grass and of good quality. Here 
I met four Indians that were coming from Santa 
Clara, 7 after trading in shells (cucntas)* I was lost 
in wonder (quede admirado) to see that they brought 
no provisions whatever on a route where there is 
naught to eat, nor did they carry bows for hunting. 
They replied to my amazement, " the Jamajabs en- 
dure hunger and thirst for four days," to give me to 
understand that indeed are they valiant men. 

Mar. 7. In the afternoon I passed the sierra 
through a good gap, and at the outlet (a la salida) 
entered into a Canada that on both sides has hills of 
sand; I named it Canada de Santo Tomas, 9 and hav- 
ing traveled four leagues westnorthwest I halted, 
though better would it have been to follow the 

a scanty aguage. This watering-place is Cedar springs, in the 
Providence mountains of modern geography. Observe the 
name " Cedar " springs, and the statement that the sierra " has 
pines, though small ones." 

7 The note on Santa Clara will be found on p. 257. 

8 Cuentas were certain seashells highly prized by the Indiana, 
and a brisk trade was carried on in them between tribes of the 
interior and those of the coast where they were found. Much 
more about cuentas beyond. 

"There are more than one of the name; I presume Garces 
named the Canada for St. Thomas Didymus, one of the 12 
apostles, not for St. Thomas a Becket, b. London 11 18, mur- 
dered in Canterbury cathedra! Dec. 29. 1170. canonized 1x72. 
Observe the northing to' the dry camp. 



238 SIERRA PINTA — ARROYO DE LOS MARTIRES. 

Canada, since the footing was firm. Here there was 
grass, but no water. 

Mar. 8. I went six leagues westsouthwest, in part 
through the cafiada and in part through the medano. 
I arrived at some very abundant wells which I named 
Pozos de San Juan de Dios, 10 and there is sufficient 
grass. Here begins the Befieme nation. 11 

Mar. p. I went 5 leagues [west] \ westsouthwest, 
and arrived at a gap in the sierra that I named 
(Sierra) Pinta for the veins that run in it of various 
colors. Here T encountered an arroyo of saltish 
water that I named (Arroyo) de los Martires. 12 
There is good grass. 

10 For note on the ''ozos de San Juan de Dios see p. 258. 

11 Befieme. These ;re doubtless the Panamint Indians, of Sho- 
shoean stock, after whom the valley and range west of Death 
valley (their present habitat) were named. Formerly they occu- 
pied the region mentioned (in Inyo county, Cal.), and the ad- 
jacent desert stretches. As late as 1883 they numbered about 
150; ten years later their number did not exceed 50. These 
Indians live mainly on herbs and roots, and therefore have 
been popularly known, with other tribes, as " Root Diggers," 
or " Diggers."— F. W. H. 

The above text of Garces is evidently the basis of Cortes in 
Whipple's Report, p. 124: "Journeying from the nation of the 
Tamajabs [sic] to the west quarter northwest, at the end of 20 
leagues begins the nation of the Beneme." 

13 Mar. 9 is the memorable day on which Garces discovers 
Mojave river, never before seen by a white man. He has 
reached the sink of the river, modern Soda lake, and names it 



DISCOVERY OF THE MOJAVE RIVER. 239 

Mar. 10. I went 6 leagues up the arroyo on a course 
westsouthwest, and with various windings I halted 
in the same arroyo, at a place where it has cotton- 
woods, much grass, and lagunas. 1 ' 

Mar. ii. Having gone one league eastsoutheast 
I arrived at some rancherias so poor that they had to 
eat no other thing than the roots of rushes (rayses de 

Arroyo de los Martires — a term appearing as " R. de los Mar- 
tires " on Font's map of 1777, but " R. de los Martinez " by mis- 
print on the reduced copy in Bancroft, and Rio de los Martires 
having originally been Kino's name of the Colorado in 1609. 
Hence arose some confusion; but there is not the slightest doubt 
of Garces' discovery and present position. Mojave river has 
no outlet, but sinks in the sand at Soda lake or marsh, a place 
which varies much in appearance at different seasons or condi- 
tions of water supply. The sink has an extent of about 20 miles 
from N. to S., but is narrow in the opposite direction, and the 
main road takes directly across the middle of it from E. to W. 
when the water is low. When I crossed it- was nearly dry ex- 
cept in some reedy patches, and most of the surface was whit- 
ened with alkaline efflorescence; the water was bad, as Garces 
says; the grass was poor, there was no wood, and myriads of 
mosquitos tormented us, though water had frozen half an inch 
thick on our buckets on the night of Oct. 31. On the W. side 
of the sink a road goes northward; the road to follow is the 
left-hand one, which runs about W. S. W. and strikes the river 
a few miles higher up, as the river comes into the extreme S. 
end of the sink. This is Garces' course for to-morrow, " arroyo 
arriba con rumbo al Oestsudoeste." 

"The distance given should set Garces in the vicinity of a 
place on the river called the Caves— a usual first stopping place 
in going up the Mojave from Soda lake. 



24O BENEME INDIANS SAN JOSE NOTED. 

title); they are of the Beneme nation and there were 
about 25 souls. I gave them of my little store (los 
regale con mi pobreza), and they did the same with 
their tule-roots, which my companions the Jamajabs 
ate with repugnance. The poor people manifested 
much concern at their inability to go hunting in order 
to supply me, inasmuch as it was raining and very 
cold, and they were entirely naked. Here grows the 
wild grape; there is much grass; also mezquites and 
trees that grow the screw. 14 This nation is the same 
as that of San Gabriel, Santa Clara, and San Joseph. 15 
They have some baskets (coritas) like those of the 
Canal (de Santa Barbara). They have coats of otter, 

14 Arboles que crian el tornillo, literally as above rendered. 
This is the screw-mezquite, Prosopis pubescens. 

u Of San Gabriel more anon, when we come to it. For Santa 
Clara see note 7 , p. 257. San Joseph is frequently written instead 
of the Spanish form, San Jose, in annals of this period; the mis- 
sion of this name was not founded till June 11, 1797, and the 
first pueblo in Upper California was not established till Nov. 
2 9, T-777- This was named San Jose, more fully San Jose de 
Guadalupe from the river on which it was situated, sometimes 
called San Jose de Alvaredo for the governor, sometimes San 
Jose de Galvez for the visitador general of that name, who in 
a pronunciamiento of Nov. 21, 1768, appointed St. Joseph patron 
or overseer at large of the operations about to be undertaken 
for the new conversions of California, because his image had 
driven away locusts from San Jose del Cabo in 1767. But this 
Pueblo de San Jose is not the place meant by Garces; he means 
the Valle de San Joseph which he names beyond, Mar. 22, and 



CONTINUING UP MOJAVE RIVER. J.\ I 

and of rabbits, and some very curious snares that they 
make of wild hemp, of which there is much in these 
lands. As a rule are they very effeminate, and the 
women uncleanly, like those of the sierras; but all are 
very quiet and inoffensive, and they hear with atten- 
tion that which is told them of God. 

Mar. 12. I traveled two leagues westsouthwest, 
and halted in the same arroyo [*. e., on the Mojave 
river], at an uninhabited rancheria; the rain, the cold, 
and hunger continued, for there were no roots of tule, 
and the remaining inhabited rancherias were afar 
(largo trecho). In which emergency I determined 
that my companions should kill a horse to relieve the 
necessity; not even was the blood thereof wasted, for 
indeed there was need to go on short rations (poncr 
coto en las raciou-es) in order to survive the days that 
we required to reach the next rancherias. On ac- 
count of the severe cold turned back from here one 
Jamajab Indian of those who were accompanying 
me; of the other two Indians of his nation I covered 
the one with a blanket, and the other with a shirt 
(tunica). As there Avas much to eat of the dead 
horse, they would not depart hence until the 15th 
day. 

Mar. 15. I went two leagues westnorthwest [and 

which is the modern San Bernardino. See note :4 , p. 247, at date 
of Mar. 23. 



242 PAST OLD CAMP CADY. 

a league and a half northwest. I halted in the same 
arroyo. There is much grass. 

Mar. i6. l& I traveled two leagues westnorthwest] ; 
then quitting the arroyo I traveled southwest until I 
fell into it again, and continued therein with some in- 
clination to the south. Having gone four leagues (I 
came to where) there were good grass, large cotton- 
woods, cranes, and crows of the kind that there is at 
San Gabriel. 

Mar. 17. At the passage of the river the mule 
mired down, and wetted was all that he was carrying, 
and for this did I tarry here. This day I dispatched 
one Jamajab and Sevastian, that they should seek 
the inhabited rancherias. I observed, and found this 



"No entry for the 16th, and that for the 15th defective, owing 
to hiatus in our copy, which I fill up in brackets from the 
Beaumont MS. and the pub. Doc. Hence it appears that 
about this time Garces passes what was once a notable point 
on the Mojave river — the site of Camp Cady. This mili- 
tary post was occupied when I came by, Nov. 4, 1865, 16 miles 
from my camp at the Caves already mentioned. I find the fol- 
lowing in my journal of that day: " Half a day's pull through 
heavy sandy and gravelly washes brought us to this God- 
forsaken Botany Bay of a place, the meanest I ever saw yet for 
a military station, where four officers and a handful of men 
manage to exist in some unexplained way in mud and brush 
hovels. The officers were Capt. West, Lieut. Forster, Lieut. 
Davidson, and Dr. Lauber — glad enough to see us — or any- 
body else." 



ANOTHER BENEME RANCHERIA. 243 

position in 34 37'. 1T This day there came five Jama- 
jab Indians who were returning from San Gabriel 
from their commerce, and very content to have seen 
the padres, who had given them corn; they imitated 
the bleating of calves. 

Mar. 18. Sevastian returned without mishap, prais- 
ing the kind reception that had been given them 
[himself and his companion] by the Indians whom 
they had seen; and thereupon I went five leagues 
southwest up river, 13 and arrived at a rancheria of 
some 40 souls of the same Beneme nation. Inas- 
much as I observed that I was going below {bajaba) 
the 35th degree, I entreated the Indians that they 
should take me toward the west; but with all the in- 
sistency that I urged I could not succeed, and they 

17 Regarding the observation of 34 37' see beyond, p. 306, at 
date of May 19, when Garces returns to the river. 

18 We have recovered Garces' mileage, and we have him safe 
enough on the river. From what he says of his southwest 
course, and his anxiety at finding himself going so far below 
lat. 35 , I should suppose him to be somewhere between Grape- 
vine and Cottonwood. From Camp Cady to Grapevine 
(Jacobi's) is about 25 miles; at 1 1 miles of this distance is a 
point called Forks of the Road, where a road to Salt Lake 
City branches. Most of the way is along the left bank, north 
side of the river; then comes a stretch off the river, which is 
regained at a place called Fish Pond; whence it is four miles 
further to Grapevine. The railroad now crosses the river in 
this vicinity, between stations Fish Pond and Waterman. I 
was last there in Dec, 1891. 



244 POLITENESS OF THESE POOR INDIANS. 

simply responded that they knew no other road. In 
this rancheria they regaled me with hares, rabbits, 
and great abundance of acorn porridge, wherewith we 
relieved the great neediness that we had. 

Mar. 19. I went one league southsoutheast (sic) 
and arrived at the house of the captain of these ran- 
cherias. He presented me with a string of about two 
varas of white sea-shells; and his wife sprinkled me 
with acorns and tossed the basket, which is a sign 
among these people of great obeisance. In a little 
while after that she brought sea-shells in a small 
gourd, and sprinkled me with them in the way which 
is done when flowers are thrown. Likewise when the 
second woman came she expressed her affection by 
the same ceremonies. I reciprocated these atten- 
tions as well as I could (del modo que pude), and mar- 
veled to see that among these people so rustic are 
found demonstrations proper to the most cultivated, 
and a particular prodigality (magnificenciu) in scat- 
tering their greatest treasures, which are the shells. 

Mar. 20. I went two leagues and a half east and 
southsoutheast (sic), following up the river. I took 
an observation near the gap between two small cerros 
through which the river passes, and found it in 34 
18'. In the afternoon I went five leagues south and 
southeast (sic) 19 and arrived at a rancheria of about 

" Garces continues up river, as he says h*e does; the words 



LEAVING THE RIVER BY A CANADA. 245 

70 souls, where I was received with great joy. On 
my arrival (quando iba llcgando) some howled like 
wolves, and others made long harangues in a very 
high key (en voz muy alta). Here there were two 
captains who with all the other men presented me 
with white sea-shells, and the women made the 
demonstration of sprinkling me with acorns; some 
extended this favor to my mules. 

Mar. 21. Leaving the river I set forth southwest- 
ward, and having gone two leagues through a Canada 
and some hills, I arrived at a rancheria of five huts 
(xacales) on the bank of the river. I continued on a 

" est " " sursueste " and " sueste " are unmistakable in the hand- 
writing before me. The road which I followed in 1865 crosses 
from left to right bank of the river a few miles above the Grape- 
vine place said, continues past -Cottonwood to Point of Rocks, 
22 miles from Grapevine, on a southwest course; at Point of 
Rocks it turns due south to what was called Lane's, or the 
Upper crossing, and there leaves the river entirely to strike 
straight south by west for Cajon pass in the mountains, reached 
in 19 miles from Lane's. This is the way I went, as my itinerary 
shows: "Nov. 9. To Martin's ranch, 29 miles S. from Lane's 
crossing; more than half the distance in open country, and 
then we entered the Cajon pass in the mountains, where there 
is a tollgate. The pass is a narrow, deep, and tortuous canon, 
the roughest I have ever traversed on wheels: there was 10 
miles of this from the tollgate to Martin's ranch." Now Garces 
has been sent through Cajon pass, with a query, as by Ban- 
croft, Hist. Cala., i, p. 275; but I do not think he went that way. 
Taking his courses on their face, he continued up the Mojave 



246 OVER THE SIERRA. 

course to the south and entered into a Canada 20 of 
much wood, grass, and water; I saw many cotton- 
woods, alders, oaks, very tall firs, and beautiful juni- 
pers (sabinos); and having gone one league I arrived 
at a rancheria of about 80 souls, which I named 
(Rancheria) de San Benito. I was received with 
great joy, and they made me the same obeisance. 
Mar. 22. I went three leagues and passed over the 
sierra by the southsouthwest. 21 The woods that I 
said yesterday reach to the summit of this sierra, 
whence I saw clearly the sea, the Rio de Santa Anna, 

river, with considerable easting as said, passed Huntington's 
on the river, and then through Bear or Holcomb valley rounded 
up to the mountains directly north of the San Bernardino valley, 
and crossed them by the well-known trail into this valley. See 
notes following. 

20 This cafiada is the pass through which Garces crossed the 
mountains, between the San Gabriel and the San Bernardino 
ranges, from Holcomb's valley into the beautiful one which 
became the site of the present city of San Bernardino. He is 
tracing the Mojave river up to its very source, near which is the 
rancheria he calls San Benito. See last and next notes. 

31 Into the San Bernardino valley, which is Garces' Valle de 
San Joseph, on the upper reaches of his Rio de Santa Anna, 
which is the present name of this river, commonly in the form 
Santa Ana. This rises in the San Bernardino mts., runs 
through the valley just said, and takes a mean S. W. course to 
the sea at Newport, under Point Lasuen. Garces is about to 
fall upon the trail of the main expedition, and the names he 
uses for the river and valley are easily identified by this: see 
note for Mar. 23. 



UPON THE ROAD OF THE EXPEDITION. 247 

and the Valle de San Joseph. Its descent is little 
wooded. At a little distance from its foot I found 
another rancheria where the Indians received me 
very joyfully. I continued westsouthwest," and 
having traveled three leagues along the skirt of the 
sierra, I halted in the Arroyo de los Alisos. 23 

Mar. 23. I traveled half a league westsouthwest, 
and one south, at the instance of some Indians who 
met me and made me go to eat at their rancheria. 
Thereafter having gone another league westsouth- 
west I came upon the road of the expedition. 24 which 

13 Bancroft, /. c, misprints this course " E. S. E.," no doubt by 
error of his copy; it is very plainly " Oestsudoeste " in my copy. 
The Beaumont MS. has " Oestsudueste, y al Oeste"; the pub. 
Doc, p. 281, has " estsudueste y al oest." 

23 Arroyo de los Alisos, which would be Alder (or Sycamore) 
gulch in English, is a tributary of Santa Ana river, and on it is 
Cocomungo or Cucamonga, which was merely a ranch when I 
passed it in 1865, between San Bernardino and the modern 
Pomona, on the main road to San Gabriel and Los Angeles. 
It was called Arroyo de Osos or Bear gulch on Anza's expedi- 
tion of 1774, which Garces accompanied. His halt to-night is 
at or near the site of this ranch. 

M Route of the main party under Anza, easily picked up from 
Font's Diary, which enables us to identify the names used by 
Garces along here. Refer to note 7 p. 204, after date of Jan 3. 
where Puerto de San Carlos is identified with modern San Gor- 
gonio pass; and see Font's map, camp-mark " 55," on this spot. 
Thence on Dec. 27 the expedition went some 6 leagues N. \V. 
and W. N. W. to the beginning of the Canada de San Patricio; 
mark "56." Dec. 28, remained; observed lat. 33° 37'. Dec. 20. 



248 ARRIVAL AT SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 

I followed at a good gait (a paso largo) till nightfall; 
and having gone eight leagues in this direction and to 
the northwest, I halted [on Rio de San Gabriel, at 
or near a place now called El Monte]. 

Mar. 24. At two leagues westnorthwest I arrived 
at the mission of San Gabriel, 26 where I was received 
by the padres with great kindness, and had the special 
pleasure to have arrived on the day on which my 
seraphic religion celebrates the Santo Principe; to 

7 full leagues N. W. J4 W., with some turns N., to the Arroyo 
de San Joseph, where ended the Canada which had been fol- 
lowed; mark " 57." Dec. 29, the crystalline water of the Arroyo 
de San Joseph, from the Sierra Nevada, was so beautiful that 
they called the gorge down which it ran the Canada del Paraiso 
(Paradise), and thence it flowed through the Valle de San Jo- 
seph; route 5 leagues W. N. W. from Arroyo de San Joseph 
into Valle de San Joseph at foot of a hill; mark " 58." Dec. 31, 

8 leagues W. N. W. in the valley to Rio de Santa Ana; mark 
"59." Here the expedition is at or near modern San Bernardino. 
(Observe that Font's other map, of 1777, connects Rio de Santa 
Ana with R. de los Martires or Mojave river, making the latter 
run to the Pacific — at least, such is the connection on the copy 
of the map in my hands; but there is no such blunder on the 
original Font map of 1776.) Jan. 1, 1776, remained. Jan. 2, 6 
leagues W. N. W. to Arroyo de los Alisos; mark " 60." Jan. 3, 
some 6 leagues W. N. W. to an arroyo which joins another to 
form the Rio de San Gabriel; mark " 61." This seems to have 
been at the place now known as El Monte; wherever it was, 
Garces camps there this night of Mar. 23, for he gets into the 
mission to-morrow at a couple of leagues, just as Font does 
Jan. 4; camp mark "62," and big letter " B " of his maps. 

* This long note on San Gabriel begins on p. 258. 



SAN LUIS OBISPO MISSION NOTED. 

which was added that of seeing this mission so ad- 
vanced, both in the spiritualities and the temporali- 
ties, since the former occasion when I was here. 28 
My principal intention since I departed from the Ja- 
majabs was to see if I could go directly to the mission 
of San Luis, 27 or further upward, in order that thus 
might be facilitated (quedasc facil) the communica- 

24 In March, 1774: see antea, Garces' Fourth Entrada. p. 43. 

" San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, the fifth in order of time of 
the Californian conversions, founded Sept. 1, 1772; named for 
St. Louis, bishop of Toulouse, son of Charles of Anjou (King 
of Naples), and nephew of San Luis Rey de Francia (Louis IX.. 
King of France, 1226-70); b. 1275, became Franciscan 1294, 
d. 1298, canonized 1 3 1 7 ; his day, Aug. 19. The mission was 
sometimes called San Luis de los Tichos, an Indian tribe, and 
must not be confounded with the other of similar name, San 
Luis Rey, so called from the King of France just said, founded 
June 13, 1798. San Luis Obispo was started by Governor Fages 
and Padre Serra on a spot called by the natives Tixlini, a mile 
or more from the Canada de los Osos or Bear gulch. The 
present San Luis Obispo county of California, its present county 
seat, and also San Luis bay and Point San Luis on the coast, 
all take name from this original establishment. The first min- 
ister was Padre Jose Cavalier. Missionaries there about 1773. 
besides Cavalier, were Padres Domingo Juncosa, Jose Antonio 
Murguia, Juan Prestamero, and Tomas de la Pena. In 1774 
a church of some size lacked only the roof. On the present 
expedition of 1776, Mar. 2, Anza brought a number of immi- 
grants to San Luis Obispo, and stood godfather to some chil- 
dren Font baptized. Most of the buildings were destroyed by 
native incendiary fires on Nov. 29 of this year, while Cavalier 
and Figuer were in charge, assisted by Murguia and Mugar- 



250 SAN CARLOS MISSION NOTED. 

tion, as the most excellent seiior viceroy desires, of the 
provinces of Sonora and Moqui with Monte-Rey. 28 

tegui; and there were two other extensive fires within a few 
years. 

38 Otherwise the Bay of Monterey, where the mission of San 
Carlos Borromeo de Monterey was founded June 3, 1770, mak- 
ing the second one in California Alta (San Diego, 1769). The 
name is that of Count Carlo Borromeo, son of the Count of 
Arona, nephew of Pope Pius IV., an Italian nobleman, arch- 
bishop of Milan, cardinal, etc., b. at Arona near Lake Maggiore 
in Italy Oct. 2, 1538, d. at Milan Nov. 3, 1584, canonized in 
1610; his day is Nov. 4; he is commonly called St. Charles 
Borromeo in English, and his colossal statue, 70 feet high, 
finished 1697, stands on a hill near his birthplace. The San 
Carlos was also one of the ships which composed the extensive 
expeditions by sea and land for the occupation of the Bay of 
Monterey and the founding there of new conversions; and 
Carlos III. was then King of Spain. The expeditions came 
together about the last of May or first of June, and on the 3d 
of the latter month, when the people assembled in an enramada, 
a shelter made of boughs, Captain Gaspar de Portola took 
formal possession in the name of his sovereign, while Padre 
Junipero Serra planted the cross and sprinkled holy water to 
rout the devil and all his imps. Thus were started both the 
mission and presidio of Monterey. On May 21, 1771, there 
came on the ship San Antonio ten padres for service in five 
other missions it was proposed to establish soon. But the 
original site of San Carlos did not suit Padre Serra, who wished 
to transfer the mission about one league to Rio Carmelo, so 
named from the Carmelite friars. Permission to this effect 
seems to have been given by the Viceroy Croix Nov. 12, 1770, 
and the transfer was soon effected. The exact date is in ques- 
tion; some say Dec, 1770; some, late in 1771; others, 1772. 
Be this as it may, the new mission of San Carlos Borromeo del 



THE TULARES NOTED. J51 

Not having been able to effect this purpose (lograr), 
because the Jamajab Indians who were accompany- 
ing me refused, I determined to ascend to San Luis 
by the royal road (camino real — regular highway), in 
order to depart thence to the east, and explore the 
Tulares 28 that I was already informed there were in 

Carmelo de Monterey was firmly established on its permanent 
site, where it continued to flourish till the secularization of 
missions by order of Aug. 9, 1834. 

** " It is recorded that some time during 1773 Comandante 
Fages, while out in search of deserters, crossed the Sierra east- 
ward and saw an immense plain covered with tulares and a 
great lake, . . . This may be regarded as the discovery of 
the Tulare Valley," Bancroft, Hist. Cala., i, p. 197. A tular 
was any marshy place in which grew tule, the common bulrush 
of California, either Scirpus calif ornicus or .9. tatara; and Tulares 
became the name of the whole basin of which Tulare lake is 
the sink: see "Tulares" lettered on Font's map of 1777, where 
the whole valley is delineated, probably for the first time. But 
if Fages first saw the Tulares in 1773, our indefatigable Garces 
in 1776 is the original explorer of that region, thus adding fresh 
laurels to those won by the first white man who ever went from 
Yuma to Mojave by land, and thence to San Gabriel, discover- 
ing and traversing the whole of the Mojave river. In 1806 
Arrillaga desired this whole interior region — a great refuge for 
deserters from the army and apostates from the missions — to 
be explored, and by order of July 10 an expedition started from 
Santa Barbara July 19. The record of this entrada, made by 
Padre Zalvidea, is extant, and is extracted in brief by Bancroft, 
Hist. Cal., ii, pp. 48-50, with map, p. 49, tracing the route. On 
this is lettered Laguna Grande de los Tulares; and Garces' own 
route of 1776 is also dotted. This will be found more helpful 



252 RIVERA Y MONCADA. 

that direction, and to return by the same to the 
Jamajabs. To this end I asked the corporal (cabo) 
who was on duty at San Gabriel for an escort and 
some rations, which he refused me. I then had re- 
course to Sefior Comandante Rivera, 30 who at the 

than the very poor indication of Garces' route on Font's map; 
the latter is practically useless. There was another exploration 
of Tulare valley in 1806 under Ensign Moraga, whose route 
is also dotted on the same map; and Padre Pedro Munoz' diary 
of this tour is fully abstracted by Bancroft, /. c, pp. 52, 53, under 
the title: Diario de la Expedicion hecha por Don Gabriel 
Moraga, Alferez de la Compania de San Francisco, a los 
Nuevos Descubrimientos del Tular, 1806. Garces' route we are 
about to follow is also digested by Bancroft, Cal., i, pp. 275-77, 
with which the following account may be compared. The 
Tulare region he explored lies in present Kern and Tulare 
counties. 

80 Don Fernando Xavier Rivera y Moncada, then command- 
ing in California Alta. We have already noted in Font's Jour- 
nal his arrival at San Gabriel Jan. 2, 1776, on his way from 
Monterey to San Diego to reinforce the presidio and punish 
the Dieguehos for destroying the mission, and now we have 
his return to San Gabriel. Rivera and Anza had joined forces 
in the San Diego affair, but do not seem to have got along well 
together. Rivera was certainly a difficult man for anyone to 
deal with; some of his associates appear to have doubted that 
he was in his right mind. We here see how he treated Garces, 
and what a singular order he issued for the treatment of any 
Indians who should come to the California establishments from 
the Colorado river. He seems to have been " rattled " by the 
San Diego affair; indeed, in relation to the very order of which 
Garces goes on to complain, the scholiast of the MS. notes in 
the margin that this was what made Rivera so timid (produjo 



THE COMMANDING OFFICES IS HUFFY. -'5.; 

time (en la actualidad) was in San Diego, and in the 
same manner did he absolutely deny me all that which 
I requested. A few days after I received his reply 
His Worship (sit Merced) arrived at San Gabriel; I i 
whom I represented that there could be no such im- 
possibility as he had written me, considering that 
here there were many animals belonging to the expe- 
dition; that the padres would furnish provisions on 
his order; that as His Worship was going on to Monte- 
rey I could go in his company as far as the end of the 
Canal (hasta salir de la Canal), to which point was the 
escort necessary, we then separating to proceed on 
our respective routes. Seeing the truthfulness 
(verosimil) and feasibility (facil) of this proposal, he 
no longer alleged impossibility, as he had done in 
writing; but simply said that he had no orders from 
His Excellency, and for that reason could furnish me 
with nothing; only he did let me have a horse belong- 
ing to the expedition. 

este timido motivo en Rivera), and sums his character in the fol- 
lowing terms: " Rivera era vn Payo juicioso, pero corto de 
entendimiento y practica en otras cosas finas. pero conocia el 
caracter de los Indios del suelo " — he was a judicious churl, but 
lacked insight and experience in delicate matters, though he 
knew the character of the natives. As the reader of the biog 
raphy of Garces, antea, will remember, Rivera was killed in hifl 
camp at the mouth of the Gila on the first day of the Yum.i 
massacre, July 17, 1781. 



254 HE IS ALSO OBSTINATE. 

These circumstances persuade me that the senor 
comandante has taken it much amiss that I came into 
these parts, inasmuch as in his reply to the (letter 
I wrote him) on my arrival he states to me that not in 
the very least (ni tantito) does it please him that the 
Indians of the Rio Colorado should come to the 
establishments of Monte-Rey. In fact, a little while 
before I arrived at San Gabriel there had been here 
some Jamajab Indians for their commerce in shells — 
those whom I met on their return to their land, as 
I say above [Mar. 17]; and information of this hav- 
ing reached the senor comandante, he ordered in 
writing the corporal who is in the mission that he 
should seize those Jamajab Indians, and take them as 
prisoners on the way to their land till they should be 
left afar from here. This order was not carried into 
execution because the Indians had already taken their 
departure when it arrived. I do not doubt that the 
senor comandante would remain unshaken in his 
resolution (pensaria solidamente para esta determina- 
tion), in consequence of the opinion he has formed 
that communication and trade between the nations 
of the Rio Colorado and those of the coast is perni- 
cious; but, by his leave, I say that this appears to me 
so far from being pernicious that rather do I consider 
it necessary, in order to carry out with security the 
project of opening communication between these 



f\ 



HE IS TAKEN TO TASK BY GARCES. 255 

provinces and those establishments. 31 It is the com- 
mon policy in every nation, to refuse right of way 
(negar el paso) to all those whom they know to be 
going to favor their enemies; so, if the nations of the 
river and those of the coast are at war, how then 
will the Espanoles get to those missions, the transit 
being necessary through the former? Furthermore: 
the king our lord commands that all the gentiles 
who arrive at the presidios be admitted with demon- 
strations of kindness and benevolence; then how can 
an order be given to arrest them, without contraven- 
ing the mandate of his majesty? International law 
(el derecho dc las gcntes) allows the commerce of na- 
tions with one another; how then can be prevented 
the legitimate and most ancient commerce of the 
nations of the river with those of the sea, which con- 
sists of certain white shells? If we go to preach to 
the gentiles the law of love (una ley que toda es cari- 

" Garces is writing this at Tubutama in Sonora. next year 
after the date of the events narrated; hence "these" provinces 
(Provincias Internas) and "those" establishments of California. 
His scholiast notes in the margin that the padre reasoned well 
at the time, but that the rebellion and outrages of Palma and 
his Yumas (1781), in which the padre lost his life, would seem 
to have justified Rivera's fears of what might happen if the 
Indians of the Colorado and of the coast should join forces, as 
he believed they already had done; hence his anxiety to keep 
them apart. 



256 THE ARGUMENT CONTINUES. 

dad), how can be approved anything that sows dis- 
cord? Some of the nations who are nearest to the 
new establishments are most justly irritated with the 
Spanish soldiers at the outrages they have suffered, 
especially from deserters; soon, if these same motives 
be given to the remote nations, they may unite with 
one another, then will the new establishments be un- 
able to subsist, and still less can others be founded; 
remaining thus defeated the Catholic wishes of our 
monarch. Wherefore can I not assent to the dictum 
of the seiior comandante; rather do I well persuade 
myself that it would have been both just and useful 
for him to have ordered those Jamajab Indians to be 
received and treated kindly, in order that they should 
carry this good news to their land, to the end that the 
good conduct of the Espaiioles should become known 
to the Gentiles. They were entertained by the offi- 
ciating padres, the soldiers, and the neophytes; 
whereupon they went back contented, and speaking 
well of them (their hosts), as I found by the informa- 
tion (they gave me) on the road; which would not 
have been the case but quite the reverse (antes 
bien todo lo contrario), if the arrest ordered to 
be made had been carried into effect; and even 
would they have complained to their friends 
the Yumas, through which nation had the 
Seiior Teniente Coronel Don Juan Bautista de 



DEFERRED NOTE ON SANTA CLAKA. jz,j 

Ansa to pass on his return, who perhaps in conse- 
quence might not have been received by them in the 
same manner as theretofore. Already have I said 
above that the prompt tranquilization of San Diego 
resulted from this: that the Quemaya having come 
with the information, 32 found friends of the Spaniards 
in all the nations of the river, and witnessed at the 
same time the affability and good treatment that they 
were experiencing from the senor comandante of the 
expedition. Such is my opinion. 

With regard to provisions, that which the Senor 
Comandante Rivera did not do was then made up for 
by the kindness of my brothers the padres, who also 
outfitted (regalaron) my companions; and with these 
I proceeded to carry out my designs, but not by way 
of the Canal, the padres having assured me that there 
was much risk in going that way. I was in this mis- 
sion until the 8th of April (inclusive). 

M See back, p. 206, where the Comeya brings to Yuma the 
report of the destruction of San Diego. 



' This Santa Clara has nothing to do with the mission of the 
same name which was founded in Jan., 1777, and long afterward 
gave name to Santa Clara count)', etc.; the reference is to the 
Santa Clara river or valley, greatly further south than the said 
county, falling into the Santa Barbara channel near San Buena- 
ventura. As early as 1772 or 1773 it had been proposed to found 
a mission on the river, or in this valW, but the project was 
never carried into effect. This double employ of the name 



258 DEFERRED NOTES. 

should be borne in mind to prevent misunderstanding. The 
four Mojaves whom Garces met were evidently returning from 
this Santa Clara river or region, which is not far north of San 
Gabriel mission, whither he was going. But the woman in the 
two cases appears to be identical. She was born of a noble 
family of Assisi, Italy, in 1193, died in 1253, was canonized 1255. 
and has her day on Aug. 12. She is described as a frivolous 
fashionable girl, who at the early age of 17 was so much affected 
by the preaching of St. Francis that she became a religious, 
retired to the convent of Porciuncula, and finally became 
famous for her piety and austerity. In 1212 she founded the 
religious sorosis called in French l'Ordre de Sainte-Claire or 
Les Clarisses — a name which reminds us of Clarissa Harlowe. 
the virtuous heroine of Samuel Richardson's novel of 1748. 
See beyond, date of Apr. 13, p. 267. 

10 Marl springs is the principal watering place between the 
Rock springs or Government holes already said and the Sink 
of the Mojave river to which we presently come; but Garces' 
mileages of the 7th, 8th, and 9th are not so adjustable that we 
can confidently identify his Pozos de San Juan de Dios with 
Marl springs, though his total leaguage from Cedar springs to 
the Sink is near enough. Also, the trail we have followed thus 
far joins the main road at Marl springs, and if he was not there 
on the 8th there is no named place that I know of where he 
could have found abundant water and grass. When I left Gov- 
ernment holes I nooned at Marl springs, Nov. 1, went 15 miles 
further to a dry camp, and made the sink in 20 miles next day. 

25 More fully San Gabriel Arcangel, a notable character in old 
Jewish and new Christian mythology, also utilized in the Ko- 
ran as a medium of revelation to Mohammed: see Dan. viii, 
16; ix, 21; Luke i, 19, 26, where the archangel is supposed to 
interpret Daniel's dreams, and announce the birth of John the 
Baptist and Jesus. The name is Hebrew, translated " God is 



FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION'. 2 5 ) 

my strong one." This mission was the fourth of the California 
series, founded Sept. 8, 1771. and still in evidence in the en- 
virons of Los Angeles, which latter city was originally estab- 
lished as a pueblo Sept. 4, 178L It had been intended at first 
to set the mission on Rio de Santa Ana, which at one time was 
known as Rio Jesus de los Temblores, or Jesus of the Earth- 
quakes river; whence the mission was sometimes called San 
Gabriel de los Temblores, though its actual site was near the 
later San Gabriel river, which had been called Rio dc San 
Miguel in 1768, and of which the principal branch is Los An- 
geles river, originally called more extensively Rio de Nuestra 
Sefiora de los Angeles de Porciuncula, sometimes also Rio Por- 
ciuncula. The people who were to start the new mission were 
drawn from San Diego in August, 1771. and the first ministers 
were Padres Somera and Cambon. There was almost imme- 
diately a fracas with the natives, on account of the outraging of 
Indian women by Spanish soldiers, and some blood was shed; 
re-enforcements were at once brought by Governor Fages, and 
two new padres replaced the former ones. Who these were on 
the arrival of Font on Jan. 4 and of Garces on Mar. 24, 1776. 
together with some account of the mission at this date, is given 
in the following extract from Font's Diary: 

" Jan. 4, Thursday. The mission of San Gabriel is situated 
about eight leagues distant from the sea, in a place of most beau- 
tiful proportions, with enough water and very good grounds. 
The site is level and unobstructed {despejado), about two leagues 
from the Sierra Nevada, which bounds it on the north, and 
from which at the Puerto de San Carlos we came, having it on 
the right; it seems that here it ceases to be snowy, but it does 
not end, for it is the [San Bernardino and San Gabriel ranges of 
the] same Sierra Madre de California, which continues on very 
far into the country, and to all appearances is the same continu- 
ous sierra which Padre Garces passed on this journey and 
named Sierra de San Marcos [for which see beyond, at date of 
Apr. 25, p. 271]. On leaving camp [this morning at the Arroyo 



260 FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 

de San Gabriel] we went by a bed of swollen river [overflow 
channel of the river — caxa de rio crecido] which was without 
water, and has enough small woods, and it is the river which 
runs to the old site of the mission, where it has always sufficient 
water. In this mission we found the sehor capitan comandante 
de Monterey Don Fernando de Ribera y Moncada [commonly 
Rivera y Moncarda], who, on account of the insurrection of the 
Indians of the mission of San Diego, which they destroyed and 
killed its minister, Padre Fr a y Luis Jaume, had come on his 
way to that presidio from Monterey and arrived at this mission 
[San Gabriel] on the night of the 2d. A little before our arrival 
there came out on the road to receive us the senor comandante 
Rivera, and the padre ministro of the mission Fray Antonio 
Paterna; and our arrival was (a matter) of much joy to all, the 
guard of the mission receiving us with a salute, and the other 
two padres who were here, Padre Fray Antonio Cruzado and 
Padre Fray Miguel Sanchez, with many peals of bells and with 
especial demonstrations of content. 

"Jan. 5. We remained to rest; and the sehores comandantes 
talked over the business of the rebellion of the Indians of San 
Diego. After breakfast I went with Padre Sanchez to see the 
spring of water whence they bring the acequia for this mission 
of San Gabriel, by means of which are conferred the greatest 
conveniences; for, besides being sufficient, and passing 
in front of the house of the padres, and of the little huts 
(jacalitos) of the Christian Indians who compose this new mis- 
sion, who will be some 50 souls of recent converts, big and 
little, this acequia renders all the flats of the immediate 
site apt for sowing, so that the fields are close to the pueblo; 
and it is a mission which has such good adaptabilities (propor- 
tions) to crops, and is of such good pastures for cattle and 
horses, that no better could be desired. The cows that it has 
are very fat, and give much rich milk, with which they make 
many cheeses and very good butter; there is a litter of pigs 
and a small flock of sheep, of which on our coming they killed 



FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 26] 

three or four muttons that they had, whose meat was particu- 
larly good, and I do not remind myself of having eaten mutton 
more fat and beautiful; and they have also some chickens. It 
has enough wood of oak (madera de enzinos) and other logs 
(pahs) for building, and consequently much fuel (leha) ; only 
is wanting lime, which has not been found hitherto, though 
perhaps by searching well it may be found, to improve the 
buildings, which at present are some of adobe, and the most of 
wattles and tule, for which reason they are very risky and ex- 
posed to fire. At present the whole building is reduced to one 
very large hovel (jacalon), all in one piece with three divisions, 
and this serves as the habitation of the padres, granary (store- 
house — troxe, for troje), and every thing else; somewhat apart 
from this there is another square hovel (jacal) which serves as 
a church; and near this another, which is the guardhouse, as 
they call it, or quarters of the soldiers of the escort, who 
live in it, who are eight; and close by some little huts (jacalitoj 
of tule which are the little houses (casitas) of the Indians, be- 
tween the which and the house of the padres runs the acequia. 
In the spring of water grows naturally apio, and other 
herbs which appear to be lettuces (lechuguitas) and some roots 
like parsnips; and there are thereabouts many coleworts 
(nabcs) which from a little seed that was sown now cover the 
ground; and near the old site of the mission, which is distant 
from this new one about a league southward, grows great 
abundance of water-cresses (berros) of which I ate enough; and 
finally is the land, as Padre Paterna says, like the Land of 
Promise; though indeed the padres have suffered in it many 
needinesses and travails, because beginnings are always difficult, 
and more so in those lands where there was nothing, and they 
would suffer the inconvenience of lacking supplies for two years. 
The converted Indians of this mission, who are of the Benenre 
nation, and also Jeneguechi (sic), seem tame, and of middling 
good heart; they are of medium stature, and the women some- 
what smaller; round-faced (cariredondos). flat-nosed (chatos). 



262 FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 

and rather ugly; their custom in gentiledom is for the men to 
go entirely naked, and the women wear some sort of deer skin 
with which they cover themselves, and also some small coat 
(cobija) of skins of otter or of hare; though the padres try to 
make the converts dress as well as they can. The method which 
the padres observe in the reduction is not to force anybody to 
make himself christian, and they only admit those who volun- 
tarily offer themselves, and this they do in this fashion: As 
these Indians are accustomed to live in the plains and hills like 
beasts, so if they wish to be christians they must not take to 
the woods (no se luin de ir al monte), but they must live in 
the mission, and if they leave the rancheria (for thus they 
call the huts and dwelling place of the Indians) they will be 
gone in search of, and be punished. Whereupon they (the 
padres) begin to catechize the gentiles who voluntarily come, 
showing them how to make the sign of the cross and the rest 
that is necessary, and if they (the Indians) persevere in the 
catechism for two or three months with the same mind, being 
instructed therein they pass on to baptism. The discipline of 
every day is this: in the morning at sunrise mass is said regu- 
larly, and in this, or without it if it is not said, all the Indians 
join together, and the padre recites with all the christian doc- 
trine, which is finished by singing the Alabado, which is sung in 
all the missions in one way and in the same tone, and the padres 
sing it even though they may not have good voices, inasmuch 
as uniformity is best. Then they go to breakfast on the mush 
(atole) which is made for all, and before partaking of it they 
cross themselves and sing the Bendito; then they go to work at 
whatever can be done, the padres inclining them and applying 
them to the work by setting an example themselves; at noon 
they eat their soup (pozole), which is made for all alike (de 
comunidad) ; then they work another stint; and at sunset they 
return to recite doctrine and end by singing the Alabado. The 
christians are distinguished from the gentiles in that they 
manage to go clothed after a fashion (tal qual vestidos), or cov- 
ered as well as the indigence of these lands will permit; and no 



FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 263 

account is kept with the catechumens of the soup, unless 
some of what is left over is given to them. If any Indian wishes 
to go to the woods to see his relatives, or to gather acorns, he i-> 
given permission for a specified number of days (f>or dias SfOa- 
lados), and regularly they do not fail to return, and sometimes 
they come with a gentile relative who stays to catechism, either 
through the example of the others, or attracted by the soup, 
which suits them better than their herbs and eatables of the 
woods, and thus these Indians are wont to be gathered in by the 
mouth [as we say, " the way to a man's heart is through his 
stomach"]. The doctrine which is recited in all the missions 
is the brief of Padre Castani, with total uniformity, without 
any padre being able to vary it by a word or add a single thing; 
and this is recited in Castillian, even though the padre may 
understand the (Indian) language, as is the case in the mission 
of San Antonio, whose minister, Padre Fray Buenaventura 
Sitjar, understands and speaks well the language of the Indians 
of that mission, and with all is recited the doctrine in Castillian, 
and as the padre translated (saco) the doctrine in the ver- 
nacular, the most that is done is to recite daily once in that, 
and again in Castillian; conforming thereby with that which has 
been so many times ordered since the first Mexican Council, 
and treated so well by Serior Solorrano, that the Indian be 
taught doctrine in Castillian, and be made to speak in Castillian, 
inasmuch as all the languages of the Indians are barbarous, and 
very lacking in terms (muy faltas de terminos). In the missions 
it is arranged that the grown-up girls (muchachas grandes 
doncellas) sleep apart in some place of retirement (recogimicnto) . 
and in the mission of San Luis (Obispo) I saw that a married 
soldier acted as mayordomo of the mission, so that the padre 
had some assistance, and his wife took care of the girls, under 
whose charge they were, and whom they called the matron (la 
maestro), and she by day kept them with her, teaching them to 
sew, and other things, and at night locked them up in a room, 
where she kept them safe from every insult, and for this were 
they called the nuns; the which seemed to me a very good thing. 



264 FONT ON SAN GABRIEL MISSION. 

Finally, the method which the padres observe in these new mis- 
sions seemed to me very good, and I note that the same which 
is done in one, is done in the rest, and this is what suited me 
best; excepting the mission of San Diego, in which, it being 
the poorest, and the soil not permitting through the little suit- 
ability that it has, there are no fields in common, nor any 
private ones, nor is given soup to all, and the Indians are 
allowed to live on their rancherias, under obligation to come 
to mass on Sundays, as is done in California Baxa; and this is 
the reason why this mission is so backward, besides that its 
Indians are the worst of these new missions." 

The foregoing is no doubt the best description extant of San 
Gabriel as it was in 1776, just before Garces' visit. It is also 
the clearest indication I have found of the relative positions of 
the first temporary and second definitive sites; the former of 
which, however, was such a mere beginning that San Gabriel 
may be said to have always been in the other position. Font 
also gives us a very clear insight into the working of these 
missions in early days. Fancy a pack of stolid squalid root- 
diggers put through such a " demnition grind" of theology! 
But it can be said in favor of the system that they were fed, 
and allowed to sing; that the girls were locked up at night; 
and that all were taught to talk Spanish while they were being 
made to " walk Spanish." 

Mr. Hodge reminds me to say that those who would like to 
hear more of Padre Sitjar may look up his Vocabulary of the 
Language of San Antonio Mission, California. By Father 
Bonaventure Sitjar, of the Order of St. Francis. Printed under 
the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. New York: Cra- 
moisy Press. 1861. (Shea's Library of American Linguistics, 
vii.) The author was son of Antonio Sitjar and Juana Pastor, 
born at Perreras, near Palmas, in Majorca, Dec. 9, 1739; 
founder of the San Antonio mission, July 14, 1771, with Juni- 
pero Serra, and of the San Miguel mission, July 25, 1797. He 
died at San Antonio, Sept. 3, 1808, and was buried near the altar 
of the church. 



CHAPTER VH. 

FROM SAN GABRIEL THROUGH THE TULARES TO MO! 
APRIL 9-MAY, I776. 

Apr. p. I departed from this mission of San 
Gabriel, accompanied by two Indians of the mission 
and by my former companions. Having traveled a 
league and a half northwest and westnorthwest I 
arrived at a rancheria where were the Indians well 
content. I preached to them by means of an Indian 
of the mission, who is Castellano. 1 Hence 2 the two 
from San Gabriel returned. 

Apr. 10. With a guide whom the gentiles gave me 
I departed, and having gone two leagues and a half 
northwest arrived at another rancheria where 1 
nooned (donde hizc media did); in the afternoon I 
traveled three leagues northnorthwest with some 
windings in other directions, holding always to the 
skirt of the Sierra de San Gabriel on my right/ 

1 That is to say, tlie Indian understood Spanish, and could 
act as interpreter. 

'Not on account of the good father's sermon, let us hope; 
but hence, de aqui, from this place. 

' San Gabriel range is still the name of the mountains Garcea 

265 



266 TRAVELING TOWARD THE TULARES. 

Apr. ii. I tarried in this place to send back to San 
Gabriel for a small book that I had left there. 

Apr. 12. I went two leagues and a half northwest 
with some turns; passed a cienega and two arroyos, 
and arrived at a rancheria where the young women 
were in hiding on account of some experiences they 
had on the passing of the soldiers; for, though this is 
not the road, yet these people go down at times to the 
sea, and then have they seen and experienced various 
abuses. Since I departed from San Gabriel there was 
on my left another sierra. 4 I observed this position 
and found it in 34 13'. 5 

is cotoying northwestward, approximately in line with the rail- 
road which now runs into Los Angeles. He is passing this 
way up San Fernando valley, and his progress thus far sets 
him somewhere between Sepulveda and the mission mentioned 
in the next note but one. 

* Portions of the Coast range now known as Santa Monica 
and Santa Susanna mts. lie in the direction indicated. 

1 Observation not exact, but it is evident from the distances 
and courses that Garces is now in the vicinity of the mission 
of San Fernando, which was founded Sept. 8, 1797, and gave 
name to the valley in which it was situated. This was the 17th 
in order of time of the Californian missions, and the 4th of the 
five founded in 1797-98, between San Buenaventura and San 
Gabriel; it was started in Encina valley at Reyes' ranch, a spot 
known to the natives as Achois or Achoic Comihavit. It was 
under Gobernador Diego de Borica that Padre Presidente Fer- 
min Fernando Lasuen, with Padre Francisco Dumetz, dedicated 
the establishment to San Fernando Rey de Espaha. This saint 



VALLE DE SANTA CLARA. 267 

Apr. ij. I passed over a sierra 8 that comes off 
from the Sierra Nevada and runs to the westnorth- 
west, and entered into the Valle de Santa Clara, 7 hav- 
ing gone two leagues on a north course; in the after- 
noon, having gone a league and a half northwest, 
I arrived at the Cienega de Santa Clara. One of the 
Jamajabs having been taken sick, I tarried in this 
place until the 23d day; during which time I visited 
various rancherias that there are in these sierras, as 
also the caxones and arroyos, with much water and 
most abundant grass, and from whose inhabitants I 

was Fernando III. of Spain, b. about 1200, d. 1252, King of Cas- 
tile 1217, and King of Leon 1230, thus uniting these crowns; 
canonized by Clement X. in 1671, and calendared for May 30. 
He was son of Alfonso IX. of Leon and Berengaria, sister of 
Henry I. of Castile; his exploits were directed against the 
Moors, from whom he took Ubeda in 1234, Cordova in 1236, 
Jaen in 1246, and Seville in 1248; he also caused to be trans- 
lated and codified the Forum Judicum or Visigothic laws. At 
the new mission besides Dumetz there was Padre Francisco 
Xavier Uria, and both served for several years, with very fair 
luck in raising neophytes, stock, and crops. 

* Making the pass through which the railroad now runs, and 
reaching the vicinity of stations Andrews, Newhall, etc., still 
in Los Angeles county, near the border of Ventura county. 

7 Present name of the valley through which flows the large 
river of the same name from Los Angeles county through 
Ventura county to the sea near San Buenaventura; to be dis- 
tinguished from any application of the name in the much further 
northward Santa Clara county, etc., though the saint concerned 
is the same: see note 7 , p. 257. 



268 OVER THE LIBRA MOUNTAINS. 

experienced particular meekness and affability. I 
baptized one infirm old man, the father of the chief of 
these rancherias, having instructed him by means of 
Sevastian, though with difficulty. There came other 
Indians from the northnortheast and promised to 
conduct me to their land, as also they did with five 
more Jamajabs who arrived these days to trade. 

Apr. 23. I departed west, and at a little distance 
took a course north, on which I surmounted the great 
sierra; and halted at a cienega that is on the descent, 
having traveled thus far nine leagues. 8 

Apr. 24. I went half a league northeast and found 
a laguna, 9 and near thereto a rancheria where, accord- 

* This is a long lap, chiefly northward, with but little to guide 
us on his trail. But it appears probable, as well as I can gather 
from the scant indications, that the Santa Clara river was 
crossed at or near Castac, a place at the mouth of the creek of 
the same name; up which creek Garces went as far as its first 
fork, there taking the right-hand branch, to be found on modern 
maps by the name of Canada de la Laguna, and following this 
up over the Libra mts. There is no question that this range is 
the "great sierra" he makes to-day; the course here noted is 
quite right for Garces' " north," with due allowance for mag- 
netic variation E. ; and the laguna he finds to-morrow, half a 
league from to-night's camp, may not impossibly be the very 
one which gives name to the Canada de la Laguna. 

* This laguna is queried by Bancroft, Hist. Cal., i, p. 276, as 
Elizabeth lake, which it would be if Garces went on the usual 
road from Newhall, up San Francisco creek, and thus by the 
pass of the same name, over the Libra mts. But it seems to me 



VARIOUS INDIANS NOTED. 260, 

ing to the signs, had been Senor Capitan Faxes. '* 
The Indians were very affable, and the women clean- 
lier and neater than any I had seen before of this 
same Beneme nation. In the evening there came 
two Indians from the north, known to the Jamajabs 
by the name of Cuabajay. 11 

a little too far E., and I must adhere to the determination made 
in my last note. 

10 Or Fages — Capt. and afterward Lt.-Col. Don Pedro Fages, 
governor, etc., who seems to have been the first to approach 
the Tulares in 1773, as noted on p. 251. 

"I cannot trace the Cuabajay; they were, however, more likely 
Shoshonean (Paiutes) than Mariposan (Yakuts). Of the Inds. 
about Tulare valley and eastward. Powers (Tribes of Cala.. 
pp. 370-371) says: "So severe were the latter [the Paiute attacks] 
that the Yokuts, as a geographically solid body of allied tribes, 
were cut in two in one place and nearly in another. Their 
habitat stretched originally from the Fresno river to Fort Tejon; 
but the Paiuti tribes, swarming through Ta-hi'-cha-pa, Tejon. 
and Walker's passes, seized and occupied Kern river, White 
river, Posa creek, and Kern lake, thus completely severing the 
Yokuts nation, and leaving an isolated fragment of it at Fort 
Tejon, in a nook of the mountains. . . At the time of the 
American advent, therefore, the Yokuts occupied the south bank 
of the Fresno; the San Joaquin, from Whisky creek down to 
the mouth of the Fresno; King's river, from Mill creek down to 
the mouth; the Kaweah, Tule river, and Deer creek: the west 
shore of Tulare lake, and the isolated mountain nook at Fort 
Tejon. Their tribal distribution was as follows: On the San 
Joaquin, from Whisky creek down to Millerton, are the Chuk'- 
chan-si; farther down, the Pit'-ka-chi, now extinct. On King's 
river, going down stream, are the following bands, in their 



27O VARIOUS INDIANS NOTED. 

Apr. 25. I completed the passage of the sierra, 
crossed a valley, and came upon another large sierra 

order: Tis-e'-chu, Chai-nim'-ai-ri, It-i-cha, Wi'-chi-kik, Ta'-chi, 
No-toan'-ai-ti, the latter on the lake, the Tachi at Kingston. 
On Dry creek are the Kas-so'-vo; in Squaw valley the Chu- 
kai'-mi-na. On the Kaweah river, beginning in the mountains, 
are the Wik'-sach-i, Wik-chum-si (in the foot-hills), Kau-i'-a 
[not the Shoshonean Kauvuya] (on the edge at the plains), 
Yu'-kol (on the plains), Te'-lum-ni (two miles below Visalia), 
Chu'-nut (at the lake). On Tule river are the O-ching'-i-ta (at 
Painted Rock), Ai'-a-pai (at Soda spring), Mai-ai'-u (on South 
fork), Sa-wakh'-tu (on the main river), Kai-a-wet'-ni (at Porter- 
ville). At Fort Tejon are the Tin-lin-neh (from tin'-nilh, ' a 
hole ' ), so called on account of some singular depressions in the 
earth in that vicinity. A little further north, near Kern lake, are 
the Po-hal'-lin-Tin'-leh (squirrel holes), so named on account of 
the great number of ground-squirrels [Spermophilus beecheyi] liv- 
ing in that place. . . Every [Yokuts] village consists of a 
single row of wigwams, conical or wedge-shaped, generally 
made of tule, and just enough hollowed out within so that the 
inmates may sleep with the head higher than the feet, all in per- 
fect alignment, and with a continuous awning of brushwood 
stretching along in front. In one end-wigwam lives the village 
captain; in the other the shaman or si-se-ro (Spanish hechizero) ." 
These houses do not agree with Garces' description. But see 
the Shoshone houses following: " Among these [Paiute] tribes 
[bordering on the Yokuts] are the Pal-li-ga-wo-nap' (from 
pal-up', ' stream,' and c-kc'-zvan, ' large ') on Kern river; the 
Ti-pa-to-la'-pa on the south fork of the Kern; and the Wi-nan- 
gik' on the north fork. Another name for the Tipatolapa was 
the Ku-chi-bich-i-wa-nap' Pal-up' (little stream). At Bakers- 
field was a tribe called by the Yokuts, Pal'-e-um-ni. In the 
famous Tahichapah pass was a tribe called by themselves Ta- 
hi-cha-pa-han'-na; by the Kern river Indians, Ta-hichp'; and by 



SIERRA DE SAN MARCOS. _7 I 

which makes off from the Sierra Nevada and extends 
northeastward; to which I gave the name of (Sierra 
de) San Marcos. 12 We made the ascent (hurimos 
alto) near an arroyo, having traveled thus far four 
leagues north. In the evening 1 went a league in the 
same direction, and halted in the cited arroyo. 

the Yokuts, Ka-wi'-a-suh. They are now extinct. The Kern 
River Indians were called by the Yokuts of Fort Tejon, Pi-tan'- 
ni-suh; and the Indians of Kern lake, Pal-wu'-nuh (which de- 
notes 'down below')- On Kern River slough are the Po-e'-lo; 
at Kern River falls, the To-mo'-la; on Posa creek, the Bc'-ku. 
On White river there are no Indians, neither have there been 
for many years, owing to the prevalence of malaria; but there 
are indications that the lands along this stream were once in- 
habited " (p. 393). [The Palligawonap] " live in wigwams 
made of tule, woven and matted into various fashions. Tule is 
also the material from which they construct a rude water-craft. 
This is only about six feet in length, with the bow very long 
and sharp-rounded, and the stern cut nearly square across " (p. 
394)--F. W. H. 

13 The Tehachapai or Tehachepi range of modern nomencla- 
ture, given off in the direction said from the main Sierra 
Nevada. It is crossed in several places, the best known of 
which is the Tejon pass, in which was situated Fort Tejon, a 
military post which was flourishing in the '50's. The San Mar- 
cos or Tehachapai range is what shuts in the Tulare valley on 
the southeast, across the head of the valley, by connecting the 
main Sierra Nevada on the west with the mountains which 
enclose the valley on the east. I take no exception to Ban- 
croft's statement that Garces " entered the great Tulare valley 
by way of Turner's and Tejon passes," for I think that this is 
most probable; yet I should hesitate to so affirm without a sav- 
ing clause. 



2"J2 RANCHERIAS OF THE CUABAJAY. 

There are on this sierra large pines, oaks, and other 
trees. 

Apr. 26. I surmounted the Sierra de San Marcos, 
having traveled two leagues and a half north; 
thereupon I saw large sierras, and caxones very- 
leafy and grassy, and in three leagues and a 
half further, on courses west and southwest, I 
arrived at some rancherias of the Cuabajay na- 
tion, wherein they received me well, the old 
women regaling me with many seeds, especially 
of the chia 13 with which those grounds abound. 

13 Chia is the Spanish name of the lime-leaved sage, Salvia 
tilinfolia, a labiate plant of the mint family. In Mexico, Ari- 
zona, and California chia is applied to several different indige- 
nous species of the same genus, especially S. columbarice, the 
seeds of which are edible, and also used for making a mucilagi- 
nous infusion something like flaxseed tea. 

On the general subject of food plants in the Tulare valley 
Mr. Hodge writes me: " Chia is doubtless the chelis of the 
Yokuts of the Tule River reservation. It is the shepherd's 
purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris, a well-known cruciferous plant) ; 
' the seed highly esteemed for pinole, a very nutritious, fari- 
naceous beverage which the Indians learned from the Mexi- 
cans ' (Powers, Tribes of Cala., p. 428). The la-chun (Com- 
posite) is used for the same purpose. Tule pollen, ail-loh, is 
also used for making pinole or mush; this is derived from 
Scirpus califomicus or 5". tatara. Hau'-pun (Span, fresnio) is a 
root highly esteemed as a purgative in certain internal diseases. 
Al'-lit is a " kind of salt," principally alum in a crude state, 
collected by these Indians as a seasoning for greens. They 
go in the morning, when the dew is on, to a low, alkaline piece 



RANCHERIA DE SAN TASQUAL. 2J3 

This I named the Rancheria de San Pasqual. The 
disposition and form of their dwelling-house is as 
follows: A spacious square inclosure, completed by 
an archway or covering of mats upon bows of willow, 
the mats sewn of the same tule, of which material is 
the roof composed, in which are there some openings 
for the escape of smoke. 14 It has only two doors, on 

of ground, and either pull up the grass and dissolve the salt 
off from the water, or collect it by sweeping a stick through 
the grass and washing off the adhering salt (Ibid., p. 429). 
Ke'-yet-sah is a plant of the Crucxfera, with reversed siliques; 
its seed is used in making panada or mush. So'-gbn is a wild 
tobacco; dried and beaten up very fine, then wet and com- 
pressed together in solid lumps or plugs. Around old camps 
and corrals there is found a wild tobacco (pan) which Asa 
Gray pronounces Nicotiana quadrivalvis, and Prof. Bolander 
N. plumbaginifolia. Smoked alone or mixed with dried manza- 
nita leaves it has a pungent peppery taste, not unpleasant." 

"In the original: " Vn claustro ancho en quadro perfecto de 
bobeda, 6 cubierta de petates con arcos de saus cozidos los 
petates del mismo tule de su materia con que esta cubierto en 
el que ay algunas ventanas para que saiga el humo." This is 
a description of a type of the large communal houses built by 
various tribes of the Pacific slopes, the sides of upright logs or 
poles like palisades, the roof thatched with bulrush mats sup- 
ported on bowed sticks, the interior divided into separate rooms 
whose entrances face each other, and the outer wall with op- 
posite entrance on two sides. Compare note ", this chapter. 

The Beaumont MS. has: " Vn claustro ancho, con arcos de 
sauz, y la bobeda hecha de petates de tule dclgado y cosido, en 
la que ay algs. ventanas para que saiga el humo." etc. The 
printed Doc. differs again: " un claustro quadrado y grande 



274 COMMUNAL DWELLING DESCRIBED. 

the east and on the west, and at each of these there is 
a sentinel all night. This cloister or corridor 
(daustro 6 galera) consists of several cells or compart- 
ments on all four sides wherein they enter to sleep 
whenever the hour arrives, and at this time each 
family stays by the fire in front of the door of its own 
room. I said that only the old women entertained 
me; inasmuch as, the Jamajabs having hastened for- 
ward to give notice of my approach, so soon as they 
knew that I was an Espafiol, all the young persons 
fled to the woods, and there remained none when I 
arrived at this rancheria. Therein they also thought 
might be Espanoles the two Jamajabs who went 
clothed on the whole journey, the one in my shirt 
and the other in my blanket; wherefore were they also 
regarded with suspicion. But after a while, seeing 
that I did them no harm, and that my companions 
were not Espanoles, but Jamajabs, all the people were 
coming out of the woods; and with much content- 
ment at the sight of me they kissed the crucifix, and 
showed by their manner that it was good, and that 
they would believe whatsoever I told them. They 
gave me to understand that for the night their cap- 
tain had caused to be sent all the animals from the 
part of the west to that of the east, for the reason that 

con arcos de sauz, y el techo de petates de tide delgado y 
cosido; tiene algunas ventanas," etc. 



SERVICES HELD IN THE GREAT HUT. JJ^ 

on the former side were there bad people. My 
Jamajabs were grieved because those of the rancheria 
ceased not to ask me if I was an Espanol of the west ; 
they said no, that I was of the east, that I did harm 
to no one, and that for this reason did all the nations 
desire me much; that they themselves accounted me 
as a Jamajab, and therefore came they with me. 

As these stories pleased them {sabidas estas borucas), 
at the approach of night I entered in the great hut. 
where I found each family at its own fireside; I went 
on greeting and laughing with them all until I came 
to that of the captain, where I seated myself, and by 
means of Sevastian and of another Indian who was 
well versed in the language of San Gabriel, I told him 
that I well knew he had a good heart and that no 
harm would he do me; but that they told me that 
hereabouts were there bad people, and would he in- 
form me if he knew anything about it? " Have no 
fear," he replied, " that any will do thee harm. I will 
accompany thee to-morrow with all my people to the 
next rancheria. We know that thou hast behaved 
well to the people of the great river." With which 
response was I greatly comforted. Thereupon I 
arose and recited the rosary (corona) of Maria San- 
tisima, singing the hymn (alabado) with the Indian 
Sevastian and the two Jamajabs who accompanied 
me from the beginning, and who already knew the 



276 OTHER INCIDENTS. 

Ave Maria. This have I practiced in all the 
rancherias, and it has served to the great astonish- 
ment of all the nations. The first who witnessed and 
heard this performance gave prompt notification 
thereof, and of the compass-needle, breviary, and 
Santo Cristo, to all the others; and thus it occurred to 
me that they themselves asked me, " When dost thou 
pray? See! Those persons who are not now 
present do not wish thee to leave till they may see 
thee pray and sing." I have observed that this was 
to set me praying, that then their shoutings, dancings 
and chaffings (bonicas) ceased, and everything re- 
mained in profound silence. In many places they 
sought to trade my rosary for a multitude of white 
shells. A little while after the service began the wife 
of the chief arose, took a basket (corita) of seed 
(chico) and scattered it over the Santo Cristo I wore on 
my breast; the same did other women, and they even 
threw some of this seed (semi! I a) on the fire, in order 
that there should be a bright light. 14 " Having fin- 
ished the praying and singing I seated myself by the 
captain and the rest of the elders of the rancheria, who 

"°Garces misinterprets their design, which was not to make 
the fire blaze up. The casting of seed into the fire was doubt- 
less a form of sacrifice. The present Pueblos, before eating, 
frequently throw a small quantity of food into the fire. — 
F. W. H. 



EFFECTS OF TOBACCO JUICE. 277 

had assembled as soon as I began the services. They 
smoked the tobacco that I gave them, and begged me 
to exhibit again — already had I done this with some 
of them during the evening — the breviary, compass- 
needle, and other little things, manifesting great de- 
light throughout. This seen (visto csto), the captain 
took a white stone, which he drew out of a bag and 
threw it on the fire, in order that it should be heated; 
he withdrew it at the proper time, and braying it well 
in a stone mortar mixed it with wild tobacco (tabaco 
del monte) and water till it became as it were a paste 
(atdle). Then he handed me the pestle of the mor- 
tar, that also was of stone, in order that I should taste 
that mess (caldo), which I found extremely bitter. I 
returned him the pestle, which he wetted again, and 
gave to an old man, who licked it very well though it 
was with great effort that he was able to swallow that 
sauce (salsa), which all the others successively tasted. 
My companions the Jamajabs having tried it were at- 
tacked at once with vomitings so violent that I 
thought one of them would die; which those of the 
rancheria greeted (celebraron) with great laughter. 
Then the meeting was broken up, for that there was 
no one else who would try it any more. I slept 
within the lodge near the door. I have been able to 
ascertain that they drink this sort of gruel (cstc gencre 
de atole) to cure fatigue, and consequently it is cus- 



278 THE JOURNEY RESUMED. 

tomary to offer it to all their guests. I saw here 
small baskets (coritas), knives of flint, vessels (bateas) 
with inlays (embiitidos) of mother of pearl, like the 
shell-work {texidos de cuentas) on the handles of the 
knives, and all the other articles (obras — manufac- 
tures) that it is said there are on the Canal, with (the 
people of) which they carry on much commerce, and 
perhaps it is that very nation; according to the re- 
ports that I have they also agree closely in the dress 
and cleanliness of the women. 

Apr. 27. Accompanied by the captain and the 
greater part of his people I went a league and a half 
on a course westnorthwest. I passed by good 
grounds and woods of the same arroyo, and arrived 
at another rancheria composed of several large huts. 
They received me with pleasure and entertained me 
as in the former one. I observed this position and 
found it in 35 09'. 15 

This was the last observation that I made on my 
journey; concerning which I note that for all former 
ones I availed myself of the tables computed by a re- 
ligious of my college for the meridian of Sonora. 
The Indians urged me not to proceed further, all of 

16 This is about the latitude of Kern and Buenavista lakes, 
which are connected, both discharging northwestward into 
Kern river a few miles above Tulare lake. As Garces men- 
tions no such bodies of water, it is clear that he was east of 
them. 



TO WALKER RIVER. j~>, 

them, even Sevastian and the Jamajabs, refusing to 
accompany me; for which reason I tarried here until 
the 30th day, in which interval I mounted a horse 
twice and explored the neighborhood of this locality, 
returning to sleep on the same spot. Knowing the 
longings that I had to pass onward, they told me that 
could not be, for that the next nation called them- 
selves Noches, were very bad, and no relations of 
theirs. Finally, seeing me grieved, an old man of the 
Noche nation who was housed (casado — married) in 
this rancheria agreed to be my guide and companion. 
Apr. 50. Informing Sevastian and the Jamajabs 
that they should await me here for the four or five 
days during which I might dally, I set forth in com- 
pany with the old man eastward until we passed over 
some hills, and halted in an arroyo which I named 
Arroyo de Santa Catarina; 10 having gone thus far 
eight leagues north. On the road I met some small 
boys of the Noche nation, to whom I made presents. 
The Sierra de San Marcos extends through these 
parts to the northeast and north, and is distant from 
that of San Luis some eleven leagues. Whilst I was 
eating with the old man a very good herb which 
grows in the arroyo, we descried on the sierra three 

10 This is Walker river, which Garces strikes two or three 
miles above its entrance into Kern river, having crossed the 
line of the present railroad near Pampa station. 



280 TO KERN RIVER. 

Noches Indians; my old man went to speak to them, 
but seeing that they drew not nigh to where I was I 
directed my steps (me encamine) toward them in 
order to regale them. In all of which could I suc- 
ceed no further than that one of them approached 
and threw me from some distance two squirrels. I 
did the same with some white shells for himself and 
his companions, each one of whom, as soon as they 
saw them (the shells), threw me two squirrels; so that, 
with six others which they had already given to the 
old man, our larder abounded. We went to sleep 
lower down on the border of the same arroyo, where 
I found two families on their ranchos. 

May i. Having gone one league northwest I came 
upon a large river 17 which made much noise, at the 

17 This is Kern river, which Garces beyond calls Rio de San 
Felipe, lettered Rio de San Phelipe on Font's map. He strikes 
Kern river at an exactly identifiable place where it leaves the 
mountains, and goes down it a little piece, then crossing it to 
the rancheria on its right bank. We thus have him safe and 
^ sure on Kern river, a little distance above Bakersfield, capital 
of Kern county. This stream is the principal affluent of Tulare 
lake, emerging from the mountains on the east side of the valley, 
and below Bakersfield rounding northward to the lake. The 
Southern Pacific railroad, coming south through the valley, 
turns eastward through Bakersfield and so on across the moun- 
tains. See beyond, note S6 , p. 299, at date of May 7, when 
Garces returns to Kern river, and descends it a piece to Bakers- 
field. 



KERN" RIVER CROSSED. 28 1 

outlet (al salir) of the Sierra de San Marcos, and 
whose waters, crystalline, bountiful, and palatable, 
flowed on a course from the (del) east through a 
straitened channel. As soon as I came thereupon I 
desired to cross; albeit the current was very rapid, to 
withstand it was not impossible; from which the old 
man dissuaded me. We proceeded down river, and 
in a little while found a rancheria, where they were 
obsequious to us; I descended further, accompanied 
by three Indians whom I met on the road, and 
reached a position wherefrom I perceived a rancheria 
on the other side of the river, and my old man told 
me that here could I cross. But great difficulties 
presented themselves. They asked me if I knew 
how to swim, and I answered them nay; I supplicated 
them that they should make a raft, and they answered 
me that they knew not (how to do so). 18 At last they 
ordered me to undress (desnudar), which I did, down 
to shirt and drawers; they insisted that I should put 
off every garment, but this I refused to do. They 
convoyed me across between four of them by swim- 
ming, two taking me by the arms, and the other two 
by the body; whereupon I took advantage of the 

" Respondieronme que no sabian — which might mean either that 
they did not understand what he said, or did not know how 
to make a raft. Both the Beaumont MS. and the pub. Doc. 
take the latter alternative; one adds hazerlas, the other hacerU. 



282 NAMED RIO DE SAN FELIPE. 

occasion to bathe at my pleasure in that water so 
limpid and beautiful. The mule crossed by swim- 
ming, with the clothing {avito, for habito) and saddle 
in baskets {en coritas). The people of the rancheria 
had a great feast over my arrival, and having regaled 
me well I reciprocated to them all with tobacco and 
glass beads, congratulating myself on seeing the 
people so affable and affectionate. The young men 
are fine fellows, and the women very comely and 
clean, bathing themselves every little while; they 
take great care of the hair and do it up in a topknot 
(copete); they wear petticoats of antelope skin and 
mantas of furs, though they are not very coy (aunque 
son poco recatadas). 19 I rinsed my clothes, and in the 
evening came a captain of the rancheria on the west 
to invite me thither. I declined, with the statement 
that I was journeying northward; but even then they 
did not wish me to leave. Then I produced the com- 
pass-needle (agujon), and seeing that for all that they 
moved it about it always pointed in the direction 
that I said; they left me, all alike lost in amazement. 
No wonder — for in other nations, when they have 
seen the mariner's compass (bruxula) they have been 
given to understand that it possesses intelligence. 
On this famous river, which I named Rio de San 

" The scholiast notes in the margin playfully, " Casi en todas 
partes experimentaba buena hospitalidad este padre." 





RIO DE SANTIAGO OR POSA CREEK. 283 

Felipe, there are abundant pastures, famous woods, 
and much irrigated ground (ticrra dc rcgadio). Dis- 
engaging myself as best I could from the Indians, I 
set forth from this rancheria on the bank of the river, 
and went this evening three leagues northwest and 
partly north; whereupon I reached a river that I 
named (Rio) de Santiago.- There is no great vol- 
ume of water at this time, but by the breadth of its 
bed it is evident the river increases largely on other 
occasions; it abounds in heavy timber. Here I 
" made night " in a rancheria of very handsome (bcl- 
lisima) people, who showed me every attention; and 
I managed to reciprocate with some trifling presents. 
As ever since I set forth from Rio de San Felipe my 
old man had traversed broken ground, he was weary, 

70 This is the next stream north of Kern river, to be found 
on various maps as Posa, Poso, and Posey creek — one of a 
series of many streams, which successively come out of the 
mountains from the east into the great valley, and flow to or 
toward its sink in Tulare lake. It is delineated on Font's map. 
but without any name: see his trace between Rio de San Phelipe 
and " R. Sta Cruz." The saint concerned is James, one of 
several persons of apostolic times not very well identified, there 
being at least three in question. The one who became Santiago 
in Spanish acquired the character of a sort of national patron; 
his name attaches to much geography, besides furnishing a 
war cry which has occasionally been heard in territory now- 
owned or controlled by the United States from the time when 
Coronado stormed Hawiku in 1540 to the Hispano- American 
war of 1898. 



284 SWEATHOUSES OF THE NOCHES. 

and determined to proceed not beyond this rancheria, 
saying that someone else should go in his stead. In 
this Noche nation, even as in the Beneme, is common 
the use of the temascal, 21 which consists of an under- 
ground room covered with sticks and grass after the 
manner of an oven ; it has no more than one opening, 
which in some (cases) is in the roof and in others at 
the side. The hour of entering therein is either dur- 
ing the morning, or during the evening. When once 
the persons are inside, they kindle a fire; and as there 
is little ventilation (desavgo), they cease not with the 
heat and the smoke to cry out and to sweat until the 
earth grows wet; when indeed they can endure no 
more they climb out by means of their ladder of sticks 
and throw themselves into the river. This is with- 
out doubt the cause of these peoples being so clean; 
but though of good habit of body (disposition) they 
are meager and quite tender-footed (de bastante deli- 
cadeza para andar a pie). 

51 Temascal is a word adopted in Spanish for the estufa or 
sweathouse which Garces describes, from the Nahuatl temascalli, 
which is thus defined: " Salle, etablissement, maison de bain, 
etuve. Ces sortes de bains de vapeur sont encore en usage 
principalement sur les hauteurs du centre du Mexique, et le 
mot a passe dans la langue espagnole (temazcal). Avec la 
postp. co: temascako, dans un bain; yuhquin temazcalco, il fait 
chaud comme dans un bain." — Simeon, Dictionnaire de la 
Langue Nahuatl, 1885.— F. W. H. 



ANOTHER RANCHERIA. 285 

May 2. I went in company with an Indian four 
leagues and a half north, and passing by some unin- 
habited {despobladas) rancherias I arrived at another 
where there were some bearded Indians, and among 
them one old man who had it (the beard) so grown 
{poblada) " long and gray that he resembled an 
anchorite much to be revered; and even more so 
when, having begged of me the crucifix, he hung it 
upon his breast. In this rancheria I found that the 
little damsels went naked; and though in other parts 
the same occurred among the women grown, I have 
not seen in them all (t*. e., in any rancheria) an im- 
modest action. 228 

May 5. I went two and a half leagues to the north, 
accompanied by another Indian, and came upon the 

" Poblada is the word I have translated " grown " in this case, 
as I suppose it would not do to say " populous," or even " in- 
habited " of the reverend old man's beard, though that is the 
most usual meaning of poblada. Let us hope that it was neither, 
but despoblada, like the rancherias the friar passed by; for other- 
wise he might have regretted that he allowed the crucifix to 
be placed upon the graybeard's breast! 

" a My MS. has: " En esta Rancheria repare que las Doncel- 
litas iban indecentes, y aunque en otras partes sucede lo mismo, 
en las Mugeres mayores no he visto en todas ellas accion al- 
guna menos decente." The Beaumont MS. variant is: "En 
esta rancheria, repare, que las doncellas, ivan indecentes; y con 
todo que a vezes succede lo mismo en las mugeres, no he adver- 
tido, ni en esta, ni en otra rancheria de esta nacion la accion 
menos decente." The printed Doc. varies again, as follows: 



286 RIO DE LA SANTA CRUZ OR WHITE RIVER. 

river that I called Rio de la Santa Cruz, 23 nigh unto 
which there was a rancheria as it were of 150 souls, 
who received me with great acclamation, commenc- 

" Repare aqui que las dencellitas (sic) iban indecentes, y aun a 
veces las mujeres, pero no vi ni aqui ni en otra rancheria 
accion menos decente." 

" R. Sta Cruz " on Font's map of 1777. This is no doubt 
present White river; the mileage alleged, 7 leagues north from 
Kern river, is near enough, and the small dry creek which 
intervenes between Poza creek and White river would hardly 
be named as a river by Garces. White river is one of the same 
series of streams making out of the mountains into the valley, 
and running toward or into Tulare lake according to the state 
of the water. Higher up than Garces comes to the stream 
there is a place on it called White River; and the railroad 
crosses it much lower down, between stations Alita and 
Delano. 

At White river Garces is quite up to the latitude of the 
southern border of Tulare lake, or rather beyond; but he is too 
far east to see or have anything to say of the great lake, being 
on the skirts of the mountains. The parallel of lat. 36° crosses 
about the middle of the lake, which is some 30 miles broad in 
any direction, though very variable in different states of the 
water, especially on its N. and S. sides. Garces on White 
river is at the northward limit of his excursion; and any map 
or record which carries him further on does so in error. His 
trail as dotted on the map in Bancroft, Hist. Cal., i, p. 59, loops 
around a branch of Tulare river itself, N. of lat. 36°; but this 
is a mistake. " On White river there are no Indians, neither 
have there been any for many years; . . . but there are indica- 
tions that the lands along this stream were once inhabited," 
says Powers, p. 393: see also note", this chapter. Garces here 
furnishes the evidence of the fact which Powers indicates. 



INDIAN REFUGEE — DYING CHILD. jSj 

ing to shout soon as they saw me, " Ba! Ba! Ba! Ba! " 
Then they gave themselves smart slaps with the palms 
on the thighs. To all I presented of the small store 
that I bore. Whilst they were kissing the Santo 
Cristo, there came to me one, and begged of me in 
Spanish {Castillo) paper wherewith to make cigars. 
I wondered much, and on questioning him he told 
me that he was from the sea where there were padres 
like myself; that in four parts had he seen Espanoles, 
and that it was distant herefrom a four days' journey. 
When he took to kiss it the Santo Cristo, he did so 
with great veneration, and set himself to preach to 
the rest. I had a suspicion that he might be some 
Christian who had just fled from the missions of 
Monte-Rey, since he made signs of shooting and of 
flogging. 24 Here there lay dying a little boy. I 
asked of his parents if they wished him to be baptized; 
they gave me so to understand, and I administered 
the sacrament with great consolation ; I fondled him 
and called him muchachito (dear little boy). Then 
spake the Indian who had begged of me the paper. 
saying, "Pare," pointing to the west; " Pare muclni- 
r/n'/o." 24a Whereupon I was finally assured that 

M Pues hazia senas de cscopeta, y dc azotar. I think tin. sen 
as above, qu: bore the marks of shooting and flogging? 

Ma My MS. and the Beaumont copy both have the word pare, 
and the former repeats pare as above indicated. The sense is 



288 NOCHES PAGNINOAS. 

he was an Indian refugee from the missions. 
There came to conduct me to their rancherias 
some Noche Indians from the west, whom I de- 
nied. There came yet other Noches from the north 
to see me, called Noches Pagninoas, 25 and sought to 
take me to their land; but equally did I deny myself 
unto them, fearing lest Sevastian and the Jamajabs 
should betake themselves off and should leave me 
thus alone, if I returned not at the time appointed. 
Those Indians related to me that in their land had 
they taken the life of two soldiers (who I persuaded 
myself were deserters), because they were very wicked 
with the women; adding that they had cut off the 
hands, had laid open the breast and all the body, had 
torn them asunder, and scattered the remains. 28 I 

uncertain, unless the Indian meant to say that it was all over 
with the little boy. But the printed Doc. gives an entirely dif- 
ferent turn to the clause, having padre and muchachito in italics, 
as if the Indian simply pronounced these Spanish words, 
thereby indicating that he had picked them up at some mission. 

n Unidentified, but apparently some small division or ran- 
cheria of Yokuts, of the Mariposan linguistic stock; unless we 
can do violence to the dissimilarity in names, and regard them 
as possibly the Palligawonap, a Paiute division formerly on 
Kern river. — F. W. H. 

2 " . . . . anadien lo que les habian cortado las manos, les ha- 
bian abierto el pecho y todo el cuerpo, los havian despedazado y 
tirado." What was done is plain, but the ambiguity of Spanish 
pronouns in such a construction makes it equivocal. Did the 
soldiers do that to the women, or did the Indians do that to 



OTHER UNIDENTIFIED INDIANS. 289 

told them that also did the Espanoles put to death 
those who are evil-doers, and that presently would 
they punish two who had done wrong things with 
Indian women. They named to me toward the north 
yet other nations that I believe arc no more than ran- 
cherias of the same nation, and they call themselves 
Choinoc, Coguifa, Buesanet. 27 On the northwest 28 
live the Telamoteris, 19 who slay and possess fire-arm?, 
and have stolen from these Indians some grown girls. 
They told me that nortlnvard seven days' journey 
there was a very great water that, according to their 
signs, was a river 30 and ran from the northeast, unit- 

the soldiers? A somewhat different locution, both in the Beau- 
mont MS. and the pub. Doc. makes it clear that the Indians 
thus disposed of the soldiers who had maltreated the women 
in some other way. 

a These three rancherias all belonged to the Mariposan 
linguistic stock. The Choinoc of Garces were doubtless the 
Chunut of Powers, the Choo-noot of Wessells (1853), the Cho- 
e-nuco of Barbour (1852), and the Choi-nucks of Johnston 
(1851).— F. W. H. 

38 Copy is blind at the word, whether Nordcst. northea6t. or 
Noroest, northwest. The Beaumont MS. and pub. Doc, p. 297, 
both have norucstc, and so I read northwe-t. 

"Los Tclamoteris—sic, one word, as name of the tribe. The 
Beaumont MS. has Telam 6 Torim, three words (with the two 
accents grave instead of acute); pub. Doc, p. 297, prints Te- 
lam 6 Torim. But who the Telam or Torim wore i^ Kit open 
to conjecture. 

*°This great river is of course the San Joaquin: see the trace 



290 SAN JOAQUIN RIVER NOTED. 

ing itself with the Rio de San Felipe. Let it be as 
I will say hereafter; one of the two branches into 
which it divides runs a course to the north; but they 
gave me to understand that the other river was three 
times larger than that of San Felipe. They insisted 
that I should go to see it, telling me that in all direc- 
tions except to the northwest and west there were 
good people. I desired much to see the river, which 
according to my computation should be distant from 
this place some 35 or 40 leagues, howbeit they told 
me seven days were necessary to reach it; but these 
Indians travel little, because they bathe much, and do 
not have any covering on the feet. I determined not 
to go, for the reason said above, and because I had 
no longer the wherewithal (que regular). The Sierra 
de San Marcos runs by here to the northnorthwest, 

on Font's map with the legend " Rio de quien se tiene noticia 
por el P Garces." What the text says of its " branches," and 
of its joining Rio de San Felipe, is a little dubious at first sight, 
but is correct in fact. Kern river runs into Tulare lake, and 
the issue from the lake unites with the San Joaquin. No doubt 
this connection of the lake with the river is what is meant by 
the " branch " of the latter, which " runs a course to the north." 
The pub. Doc. has a footnote on p. 297: " Este gran rio que 
corre a los 36° puede ser el que entre al puerto de San Francisco 
en la California, 6 al brazo del rio Colombia"; but we can take 
our stand on the San Joaquin as against any tributary of the 
Columbia river! It is a little remarkable that the Indians did 
not inform Garces of the lake itself. 



SIERRA NEVADA NOTED. 20J 

and between this and that of San Luis intervene some 
very broad plains; whence I infer that these are the 
Tulares of which Padre Font makes mention in his 
diary, and which his map shows with particularity. 
This Sierra de San Marcos is that which they saw 
snowy at about 40 leagues of distance on the east of 
the Tulares; for, though here there is no such dis- 
tance, I saw clearly how the sierras go widening or 
disparting (from each other) in such a manner that at 
the last only is seen that of San Marcos. 31 

31 The last sentence stands thus in the original: " Esta Sierra 
de San Marcos es la que vian nevada como 40 leguas de di> 
tancia al Oriente de los Tulares, pues aunque aqui no ay 
esta distancia, vi claramente que se van abriendo, 6 apartandn 
de las sierras, de modo que a lo ultimo solo se ve lo de 
San Marcos." This puzzling statement is cleared up com- 
pletely if we omit the preposition de before las sierras; and that 
this de is a scribal error is evident on comparing our copy with 
the Beaumont MS. and the pub. Doc. I accordingly translate as 
above, but I may paraphrase it in plainer English, thus: '"This 
San Marcos range is the Sierra Nevada which Font, when 
he was with Anza's expedition, on the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, saw at a distance of about 40 leagues across thr San 
Joaquin valley; and though here where I am the Tulares have- 
no such breadth, I could see them widening northward till 
the San Luis range ends and there is left only the Sierra \'< 
vada." The Sierra de San Marcos, which Garces first named at 
the Tehachapai range, he subsequently extended to include the 
Sierra Nevada as far as he knew it, on the east side of the whole 
Tulare and San Joaquin valleys; and this is the Sierra Nevada 
delineated and so lettered on Font's map, which runs " Tulare-, " 



292 BACK TO A FORMER RANCHERIA. 

May 4. I went half a league east to visit a ran- 
cheria where they gave me wild rice, 32 urging me at 
the same time that I should make a night of it with 
them; and in order the more to oblige me, hardly 
had I arrived when all the young women came forth 
to bring grass for the beast, a thing whereat I won- 
dered much, not having seen the like in any other 
place. I gave them of the small store that I brought, 
and betook myself back to the rancheria whence I had 
set forth; where, refusing me the guide, they made 
it necessary for me to pass the day with them. The 
little boy that I baptized was now about to die (se iba 
ya muriendo); whereupon began to wail sorely his 
parents, with whom some old women took turns 

clear up through the San Joaquin valley from the Tulare valley 
proper to north of San Francisco. Garces' Sierra de San Luis 
is the whole range or ranges bounding this same interior valley 
on the west. The passage in Font's Diary which speaks of 
sighting the Sierra Nevada at 40 leagues is found on p. 209, at 
date of Apr. 2, 1776: " Como a distancia de unas quarente leguas 
divisamos una gran Sierra Nevada, cuyo rumbo me parecio 
correr de sursudeste a nornoroeste." On that date Font left 
Boca del Puerto Dulce, which " mouth of the fresh water port " 
he made out to be in lat. 38 05' 30", and which was about the 
modern Suisun bay and Carquines strait; traveled E. some 7 
leagues, to the Arroyo de Santa Angela de Fulgino, where he 
camped (see his mark " 100 ") ; and between these two localities 
it was that from a hill he descried said " gran Sierra Nevada." 

M Arroz simarron; which, if we may take it botanically upon 
its face, means the seeds of the common Zicania aquatica. 



THE DANCE OF DEATH. J<;^ 

(alternaban) in weeping and singing. Successively 
came yet other women, and all the young fellows 
(gandulcs) of the rancheria, the same making a large 
circle and within it a bonfire; the parents of the boy 
began to wail anew, and the old women to accom- 
pany them in counter tenor (por contraulto) ; suddenly 
these ceased, and the captain, together with the men 
of the circle, commenced to sing in a mournful tone, 
yet keeping time (a compas). Presently all the men 
arose, and did so without putting the hands to the 
ground; they danced, bending the body to the meas- 
ures of the same incantation, with the arms hanging 
down; then opening the hands and putting the arms 
together they extended them forward, drew them 
back to the breast, stretched them out crosswise (en 
forma de criiz) palms downward {mirando las palmas 
d tierra), raised them over the head, and finally clasp- 
ing hands with a loud noise they squatted down 
plump (de golpe) on their hams, in all this keeping 
time to the tune of the song. I visited the little boy 
many times, and saw that his mother placed upon him 
all the shells that she had; I laid a small cross upon 
his breast, and left with him the cloth-of-gold (paiiito 
de sol) that I carried, to serve as a shroud when he 
should die. 

May 5. Still had not died the small boy. They 
urged me that I should not betake myself away, for 



294 BACK TO RIO DE SANTIAGO. 

they said that there were coming from all parts people 
to visit me; but having the care of my companions 
upon me, and seeing that there was none willing to 
accompany me, I resolved to set forth alone. Soon 
did I perceive (eche de ver) that the refusal solely 
originated in a desire to detain me; for at a little dis- 
tance an Indian overtook me, and guided me to the 
rancheria whereat I had been before, which was dis- 
tant two and a half leagues south. From this five 
Indians set forth to accompany me; I traveled with 
them two leagues in the same direction, on the east 
of which I saw one rancheria; and on a southeast 
course I arrived at the Rio de Santiago. In the inte- 
rior of the sierra that is there the river runs more 
water. I passed over it, having gone thus far three 
leagues. 33 

Here we halted to partake of that which the In- 
dians offered us to eat, and the same was not a little; 
they making me also great importunities, in order 
that I should rest myself. In this I did not concur, 
for the purpose of reaching the rancheria that I had 
seen on this very river when I came. Accompanied 

" Altogether "j l / 2 leagues S. and S. E., taking him back beyond 
Posa creek, which he strikes higher up than where he crossed 
it before. He is now on his return trip, and will soon bear away- 
eastward to leave the Tulares by a different pass through moun- 
tains from that by which he entered the valley. 



SPANISH DESERTER. 295 

by all the men and women of this one, I depart c 1 
down river, course southwest, and soon found an- 
other, and therein a captain very grave, who insisted 
that I should tarry, giving- me to understand that <»n 
the next day he would take me to see an Espanol 
who was married to an Indian woman of the Noches 
Colteches, 34 who are very nigh unto here on the east; 
adding that said Espanol wore on the breast a certain 
round thing that I conceived should be some medal 
or reliquary; that he spoke of God, and pointed out 
to them that he (God) lived in the sky; that he (the 
Espanol) already had a little son; that he was of a 
good heart, and was much in request of all, living (as 
he did) like the rest of the Indians; and finally he 
(the chief) made me signs that he (the Espanol) was 
still wearing some sort of clothes (ulgo de ropa). I 
persuaded myself that this should be some one of the 
deserters, whose life was spared with great clemency. 
This captain gave me some pieces of dried bear's 
meat (tasajos de oso) and with much feeling on the 
part of all I took my leave when it was already very 
late, beginning to travel with the assurance that I 
should soon arrive at the rancheria which I had seen 
when I entered [May 1]. Two Indians set out 

"Compare beyond, p. 304, date of May 12. These Indian-* 
were probably of the Mariposan linguistic stock, bordered on 
the east and south by intrusive Paiute bands— F. VV. H. 



296 TRAVELING IN THE DARK. 

in my company, upon whom I urged that we should 
follow the current of the river; but they assured me 
that could not be, on account of the extent of the 
cajones in some places. Having passed a very high 
hill they put me on the road, making a sign whither 
were the rancheria and the river, and then left me 
alone, in spite of all the remonstrances that I made 
to them, to the end that they should accompany me. 
This is not to be attributed to any disaffection, but 
only to (the fact) that they went naked, it was very 
cold, and for another thing they were much afraid 
of the bears in which these lands abound. To noth- 
ing of this did I give heed, in the anxiety that I felt 
to reach the place where I had left my companions; 
and so at a little distance I fell upon great precipices, 
and already was it dark. It is true that I saw some 
tracks; but they being for those who go afoot, I soon 
encountered an impediment to the progress of the 
mule; whereupon (hasta que) God willed that I could 
descend into a large Canada that I judged led to some 
one of the rivers, or at least to the plains on the west. 
I traveled through this the rest of the night, having 
the happiness of coming out, though making some 
turns, upon the same Rio de Santiago, on whose 
banks I arrived at the break of day, having traveled 
four leagues and a half since 1 departed from the last 
rancheria, on courses west and southwest. 



TO THE NOCIIE RANCHER! A. _■■ ,J 

May 6. Ascending and descending the river, at 
a loss for the situation of the rancheria I sought, 1 
descried on the upper part four Indians. I directed 
my steps toward them, and when they saw me ap- 
proach they fell to shouting and laughing. They 
were squatting down to rest under the burden of the 
much meat that they were carrying. They threw me 
some half-cooked squirrels, and bade me partake of 
the meat they were carrying, opening for this purpose 
a gray hide which appeared to be that of a mule; and 
as I saw with the meat a similar head, I formed the 
opinion that Sevastian had come in search of me, and 
that they had killed his beasts. Nevertheless, on ac- 
count of the kind treatment I experienced from them. 
I condescended to go to their rancheria, whither they 
invited me, traveling three leagues southeast and 
east, the whole way through the sierra. The ran- 
cheria contained more than ioo souls, of the same 
Noche nation, who received me with great gusto, and 
in a little while entertained me with a dance. Here 
they repeated the information of the Espanol. and 
urged upon me that I should go to see him, saying 
that I should arrive in a day and a half; under appre- 
hension of the injury I imagined done to Sevastian, 
I only desired to be freed from my care. 

May 7. I went three leagues southsouthea>t and 
came upon the Rio de San Felipe about one league 



298 ON RIO DE SAN FELIPE. 

above the place where I first crossed it (mas arriba 
del paso de mi venida). I arrived at the rancheria 
where I had been on that occasion, and where they 
now advised me that I should descend the same river, 
and cross it without wetting myself. To this end I 
traveled two leagues southwest, wondering again at 
the extent of woodland, pasturage, and fitness for irri- 
gation (proporciones de regadio). I arrived at a ran- 
cheria which should contain some 150 souls; in which 
place runs the river now divided in two branches 
(brazos), and has the bed wider; so that they have 
been able to make a bridge of two trunks of alders, 36 
which serve for the crossing, though at some hazard. 
The branch of this river which passes immediately by 
the rancheria takes a course to the westnorthwest, 
and they told me that lower down it turns to the 
north till it unites with that very large river of which 
the Noches Pagninoas cited above gave me some in- 
formation in the last rancheria. The other branch of 
this river, which is smaller, flows to the west, dis- 
charging its waters when they are swollen over some 
very fertile plains, in which are formed large lagunas 

" Alisos is the word used. Those whose notions of alders 
are based on such bushes as Alnus serrulata or A. incana, might 
wonder at a bridge said to be built of alders. But A. rhombi- 
folia, the species of the region where Garces is traveling, is 
a tree sometimes 70 or 80 feet high, and A. oregona grows still 
larger. The sycamore is also called aliso in California. 



AT SITE OF BAKERSFIELD. 

and marshes (pautdnos). This place, which has beau- 
tiful hills for the situation of missions free from all 
inundation, I named San Miguel de los Noches por 
el Santo Principe, 38 one of the patrons of the expedi- 
tion. The people were rejoiced at my coming, and 
regaled me with much game and fish, and with a kind 
of marquesote, 37 somewhat sweet, which they make 
of certain roots abounding in those surroundings. 
Nevertheless, I had the feeling that the greater part 
of the people would not kiss the crucifix, when they 
saw that one old man objected thereto. This indi- 
vidual said that indeed shells and tobacco were good, 
but that el Cristo was not, and that he held it in great 
dread. Hence arises the great risk that there is in 
these entradas, and in the beginning of the Founda- 
tions (of missions); a scene of the highest felicity and 

M Garces is back on Kern river, his Rio de San Felipe, at the 
point where it sends off two arms; one of these, the main 
stream, continuing to Tulare lake, and the other, an overflow 
stream, spilling in the direction of Kern and Buenavista lakes 
(apparently the lagunas and pantanos of the text). The ran- 
cheria named San Miguel, etc., may therefore be identified with 
the site of Bakersfield; see note ". p. 280. The whole context 
of to-day would indicate that he first struck Kern river at or 
near the mouth of Walker river, and thus not far above Bakers- 
field, to which place he now comes down. 

37 Unidentified: compare macuilxochitl, defined in Simeon's 
Nahuatl Diet, as " Caryophyiium mexicanum, a medicinal 
plant."— F. W. H. 



300 DEPARTURE FROM KERN RIVER. 

docility shifting in an instant to one of mishaps and 
fatalities. They told me that the sea was very far off; 
that otters they catch in lagunas very large; they 
possess many skins of deers, and there come to pur- 
chase them the Indians of the west, of whom I saw 
some who urged me that I should go to their land, 
conducting themselves toward me with great affabil- 
ity, and assisting the mule and the baggage to cross 
over. Though I used diligence to ascertain the 
depth of this branch of the river with a stout stick 
of about three varas in length, I was unable (to do 
so); for the strong current bent it, though it was 
steadied against the bridge. The Indian Sevastian 
told me afterward that when he came in search of me 
on this very spot, he tried it by fastening a large stone 
to the hitching-rope (cctbresto, for cabcstro), and that 
it took the whole length of the same, which was seven 
varas. The Indians told me that here had been Se- 
vastian, and that already had he gone away with the 
Jamajabs, and they gave (me) also to understand that 
they had killed (jareado) the mule; all of which added 
much concern to that which I felt, and confirmed me 
in the idea that had occurred to me above, when I 
saw the meat and the skull. 

May 8. I departed, accompanied by three Quaba- 
jay Indians, and by other mountain Indians (Serranos) 
who had come to that rancheria, and went three 



ON GROUND SQUIRREL PLAINS. 301 

leagues southsouthwest. The Serranos betook them- 
selves to their land, and I proceeded with the Quaba- 
jay on courses southeast and east, passing by dry 

lagunas, woods, and a level plain much undermined 
by the tusas, 38 of which there are infinite numbers in 
all the plains that I have seen of the Quabajay higher 
up; we fell down, the mule and myself, and several 
times I was in danger of the same, because of the 
insecurity of the ground. In the fall I lost the com- 
pass needle, and did not think of returning to search 
for it, because it made me afraid to see a land so dry 
and dangerous to travel. I arrived at the Quabajais, 
having gone six leagues further. So festive were the 
Quabajais, that there was a dance this night and the 
next day; but I meanwhile was full of concern at find- 
ing here not one of my companions. There came 
next day [May 9] the Jamajab Luis with two beasts 
and a message from the captain of the Pueblo de San 

38 Tuza, tusa, or tuga is a Mexican name of certain pouched 
rats or pocket-gophers of the genus Geontys, one species of 
which, inhabiting Florida, is now technically known as G. hUO. 
But these animals do not burrow in such fashion as t<> render 
a plain dangerous to ride over, and what Garces means is the 
common gray ground squirrel or spermophile of California, 
Spermophilus beecheyi, extremely abundant in the region he U 
now traversing, where it honeycombs the ground with its bur- 
rows, and is a nuisance to agriculture. See note ". this chapter, 
where the Pohallin-tinleh are so called on account of these 
squirrel holes. 



302 AGAIN AT RANCHERIA DE SAN PASQUAL. 

Pasqual that I should come quickly to his rancheria. 
He told me that Sevastian had gone back in search 
of me to the Rio de San Felipe; I determined to await 
him, and he arrived in the evening with no news. 

May io. I went over to the Rancheria de San 
Pasqual, where I found two Jamajabs recently arrived 
from their land (the others who had accompanied me 
had already gone back, leaving only Luis and Ben- 
tura): hence is to be inferred the frequent commerce 
that the Jamajabs hold with these nations and those 
of the sea. Here they supplied us with pinole de 
chia, rabbits, and small loaves (*. e., cakes — panecillos) 
of seeds, offered in great glee and not even half paid 
for by what was given in return (ni aim medio pagado 
en la recampensa). They reiterated the question of 
when would I come back again ; I continued to coun- 
sel the captain that there should be no more war 
against those of Santa Clara, where they had killed 
another captain. I was intent upon persuading him 
that the Espanoles were a good people; to which he 
would by no means assent, bearing very much in 
mind the baskets (coritas) and other valuables of 
which the passengers 39 had robbed them. One old 
man among others who arrived gave the information 
that in those days there had passed by the western 

" Pasageros, passengers, travelers, wayfarers; sc, the members 
of the Spanish expedition. 



RETURNING BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE. 303 

border of the sierra women and cattle; and further, 
that many people and horses had come back. 40 1 was 
obsequious to said old man, and urged upon the 
Jamajabs that they should return with me to (Rio de) 
San Felipe in order to follow up river to the Cheme- 
bet Quajala, but this they refused to do; for, though 
there was no difficulty about it, yet thence to their 
land there intervened very rough sierras that the 
beasts could not traverse because they were very 
lame. Although this project was unsuccessful, I ac- 
complished the return journey by a different route. 41 

40 The return of the Anza-Font expedition of 1776, from San 
Francisco southward, was in April along those portions of the 
route to which Garces' old man referred in saying that mounted 
troops " had come back." It can be followed with precision in 
Font's Diary before me, but this is not the place to go into 
those particulars. 

a " Aunque no se consiguio esto logre el volvcr por dist into 
camino," which I have rendered rather freely in the text. From 
Apr. 24, when through the Tejon (?) pass Garces entered the 
Tulares, he has been knocking about a comparatively small 
area on the S. and E. of the valley and adjoining skirts of the 
mountains, never further N. than White river. We have fol- 
lowed him pretty closely, though not with entire precision. 
To-day, May 10, he starts from his Rancheria de San Pasqual 
to return to the Mojaves by a different route, until he strikes 
his outward trail on reaching the Mojave river. His mean 
course will be due E. to the Mojave river, crossing the moun- 
tains by the pass between the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapai 
ranges — the same by which the railroad now goes from Bakers- 
field to Mojave station. I was last over this road in 1891. 



304 LEAVING THE TULARES. 

May 11. I surmounted the Sierra de San Marcos 
on the east and northeast, and having gone thus far 
two leagues I halted at a laguna which I called (La- 
guna) de San Venancio. 42 

May 12. I went one league in the same direction; 
half a league northwest (sic), one league southsouth- 
east, and yet another southeast. Here I found a ran- 
cheria of a people of a different language from the 
Noches and Quabajais, and whom the Jamajabs call 
Cobaji; and I discovered them to be those whom the 
Noches themselves call by the name of Noches Col- 
teches. 43 There were here none but women and chil- 
dren, who made us presents of meat, seeds, and even 
of two baskets to take along with us. There are here 
firs, oaks, and many other kinds of trees. I returned 
the favor with some small shells (cuentesillas), such as 
they prize, but the women told me that they regaled 
me solely because we were so needy; that their nation 
was generous (bizarra), not stingy like that on the 
west. I believe they are right about this, for those 
of the west are dealers even among their very selves, 

42 Certainly Garces never got over the main range in anything 
like two leagues; which I suppose to be only the distance he 
traveled between his San Pasqual and San Venancio. See May 
17, P- 305, when he came out of the mountains. Bancroft, Hist. 
Cal., i, p. 277, says Garces " left the valley probably by the 
Tehachepi Pass but possibly by Kelso Valley." 

43 See back, p. 295, date of May 5. 



NOCHES COLTECIIES — JOURNEY CONTINUED. $0$ 

and by so much the more do they value and take care 
of their possessions — though certainly I have no 
reason to complain of them. These people arc very 
robust, the women at least, who are the only ones I 
saw, as the men were out hunting. They told me 
that toward the northnortheast there were many peo- 
ple, and that I could go there. As the hospitality 
was good, I tarried at their invitation the 13th day. 

May 14. I went one league and a half southeast 
and halted in an arroyo that I called (Arroyo) de la 
Ascencion. 44 The Jamajabs knew not the road, so 
that I was obliged to charge it upon Sevastian that 
he should go to seek it accompanied by Bentura, I 
remaining with Luis [May 15, 16]. 45 

May iy. I went six and a half leagues southsouth- 
east, and having come out from the sierra entered 
upon some plains, grassy but lacking in trees and 
water. 46 Nevertheless I found a small pozo; and at 

M Unidentified. 

48 No entries for the 15th and 16th, during which days no 
doubt Garces stayed in camp, awaiting the return of his two 
scouts. Neither the Beaumont MS. nor the pub. Doc. has any- 
thing. 

48 Garces emerges from the mountains in the vicinity of Mo- 
jave station, where the railroad branches, one line running due 
S. toward Los Angeles, the other continuing eastward to the 
Mojave river and so on. One who has traversed the dreary 
waste upon which Garces now enters will recognize the fidelity 
of his description. 



306 BACK AGAIN ON MOJAVE RIVER. 

half a league further southward I found another, with 
only water enough for ourselves and the beasts; but 
by digging deeper these wells they would hold water 
in abundance, for the plain is marshy (pantanoso) like 
an alkaline cienega. 

May 18. Having gone two and a half leagues 
southsoutheast I entered upon a very wide plain 
wherein I found a pozo like the foregoing ones; it is 
evident that this plain has been a laguna in times 
past. 47 

May ig. I traveled four and a half leagues in the 
same direction and fell upon the Rio de los Martires 
near the position observed before in 34 37'. 48 

May 20, 21, 22. I retraced the same road that I 
had come, as far as the Pozos de San Juan de Dios. 49 

May 23. Quitting the road of the coming, I di- 
rected my steps to the eastnortheast, and having gone 



47 The whole alkaline waste between the mountains and the 
Mojave river is marked with small dry lakes, pools, and pot- 
holes, fully justifying this observation. 

w He is again upon the Mojave river: see back, 242, Mar. 17, 
where the observation for latitude taken on the river is given 
as 34 37'. Garces appears to strike the river about where the 
railroad does. 

48 Having descended the Mojave river, Garces reaches the 
wells where he was on Mar. 8: see note 10 , p. 258. From this 
position he reaches the Colorado by a road a little further north 
than the one on which he went before. 



ADVANCING TOWARD MOJA\ ;. 

two leagues I halted in the sandy plain (mcdano) 
where there was a Chemebet rancheria. 

May 24. Here I tarried because some of the 
Jamajabs who had arrived at this rancheria for the 
commerce of shells were taken sick. 

May 25. I went four and a half leagues eastsouth 
east, completing the crossing of the sandy plain and 
of the Sierra de Santa Coleta. 50 

May 26. I traveled three leagues eastnortheast, 
with one turn to the south, and halted nigh unto a 
pozo, scant of water in consequence of its shallowness, 
which I named (Pozo de) San Felipe Neri.'' 1 

May 27. I traveled five leagues east and northeast. 
The continuous sierras abound in grass and arc 
clothed with a few trees. 

May 28. I went one league and a half on a course 
northeast, and came to a good watering-place that I 
named Aguage de la Trinidad. Here I saw a 
Chemebet rancheria. In the afternoon I went a 

00 So named Mar. 6, when Garces was at Cedar springs: see 
back, p. 236. 

"St. Philip Neri. or Filippo de' Neri in Italian, was born at 
Florence July 22, 1515, founded the Congregation of the Ora- 
tory, died at Rome May 25, 1595, and was canonized in 162a. I 
do not feel quite sure of the Pozo named for him, but if it were 
not modern Rock springs, it was in that vicinity. Likt 
the place named Aguage de la Trinidad on the 28th was prob- 
ably Piute springs. 



308 ARRIVAL AT MOJAVE. 

league and a half southeast and halted in another 
rancheria at the request of its Indians. In the sierra 
there is a water-tank. 

May 29. Having gone two leagues east I found a 
well of very abundant water, and having gone seven 
more on a course southeast, I reached the Pozo de 
San Casimiro. 52 

May 50. Having gone three leagues eastsoutheast 
I re-entered into the Jamajab nation. Inexplicable 
are the expressions of delight which said nation 
made to see me again in their land. They had sum- 
monsed to my arrival the Yabipais Tejua, Jaguallapai, 
Chemebets, and Jalchedunes, in order that in my 
presence all might speak at great length and celebrate 
peace firmly. To this end they gave me to under- 
stand that a detention of eight days was required, 
notwithstanding they were aware {en medio de saber 
cllos) that I had received a letter from the senor 
comandante of the expedition, and another from my 
companion Fray Tomas (Eisarc), in which they noti- 
fied me to return without delay to the Yumas. 53 In 

52 See back, at date of Mar. 4, p. 235 and note there. 

63 Anza's expedition, having left the vicinity of San Francisco 
early in April, reached the Colorado at Yuma on May n 
(Font's camp mark "130"). The following extract from 
Font's Diary of that day bears upon the above passage: 

" Reciprocal and great was the joy that I had to see Padre 
Fray Thomas Eixarch content and safe in this place, living with 



WORD RECEIVED FROM THE EXPEDITION. 309 

the general council of these five nations, such was the 
crowd, clamor, and confusion they made, that for this 
and the heat I feared that I might be sick. At last 
they all made terms of peace (las paces) with signs 
that it was to be kept up (con scnalcs de per sever ancia), 
to their great joy and my entire satisfaction. On this 
occasion I talked much with the Jallaguapais [sic] 
about the distance of Moqui and New Mexico; to 

such satisfaction among so many gentiles, who are well disposed 
toward the Spaniards, and worthy of appreciation and esteem, 
especially Captain Palma. This Puerto de la Concepcion, 
situated a little below the confluence of the Gila and Colorado, 
is a place of some bluffs (territos) of moderate elevation, which 
form a little pass, through which the Colorado is straitened, 
and on leaving which it again spreads; so that this is the situa- 
tion of a very pleasant vista, and the hest place I have seen on 
the river for settlement, because it is immediately upon the 
river, yet secure from its inundations, however much it may 
overflow; though of such little extent, that the small uneven 
mesa which it makes would hold no more than the church and 
a few houses, [etc. — a good description of the bluffs on which 
Fort Yuma stands]. Here we met Padre Fray Thomas 
Eixarch, who came to live here with Captain Palma, as this 
was a better place than that where we left him when we went 
away, distant from this puerto one league up river, where also- 
one could not maintain himself during the rise in the river. 
We were expecting to find in this place Padre Fray Francisco 
Garces; but he was not here, nor had Padre Fray Thomas had! 
any word from him since he went up river to the Jalchedunes. 
The last word we had had from Garces was the letter of Apri) 
15 which he wrote to senor comandante Ansa from the mission 



3IO DEPARTURE FROM MOJAVE. 

which they responded fully, giving me information of 
all the land that lay hence to the capital [Santa Fe]. 
I desired to go there, but the letters received obliged 
me to descend to the Yumas. 

Next day [May 31] I took leave of all, first mak- 
ing some presents, especially to the Jaguallapais. At 
the departure of these for their lands, when they 
reached the river some of the Jamajabs set up a yell. 



of San Gabriel, where he was during holy week, early in 
April. . . In this letter he said that he should return to the 
Jamaja nation, as that was necessary, and that afterward, if he 
should learn of anything worth his while (algo de bueno) he 
would keep on [to Moqui], but if not, he would come down the 
Colorado to await us, so that we could go back together. 
When we arrived at the mission of San Gabriel the padres there 
told us, that when Padre Garces left he said, speaking of his 
journey, that if he met Indians who would accompany him, 
and he did not think there would be much difficulty in this, his 
intention was to keep on inland (internarse) and discover a 
route to New Mexico. When we reached Puerto de la Concep- 
cion we got a rather confused report that Padre Garces was 
among the Jalchedunes. So the sehor comandante immedi- 
ately sent an Indian interpreter there with a letter in which he 
informed him (Garces) of our arrival, and saying that in three 
days we should continue our journey. This was time enough 
for the padre to come here, if he was there; but the padre did not 
come in the three days, nor did the messenger return, nor could 
we get any word of him after the more than three months which 
had passed. Whence I inferred, that Padre Garces had found 
a way and the means of going to New Mexico as he desired, or 
else that he had met with some great setback in his apostolic 



FRACAS AVOIDED. 3 I I 

wishing to kill them on account of some relatives of 
theirs whom they (the former) had killed in the pre- 
vious wars. This determination was repressed by 
the principal Indians of the rancheria, agreeably with 
the peace which had just been celebrated through my 
intervention. They brought the Jaguallapais to 
where I was; and seeing them so terrified and mis- 
trustful — as I likewise was, having little faith in the 
Jamajabs — I instantly told them to have no fear, for 
I was determined to accompany them myself. Noth- 

journeyings, on which he had started somewhat sick; if indeed 
he had not died or been killed by Indians. I note that when 
Sefior Ansa dispatched the interpreter with the letter, he 
ordered him, if he did not find Padre Garces, but found his 
beasts, to bring them. This he did without minding (sin 
hacersc cargo) that Padre Garces might be there, or further off, 
and would need them when he should return, as actually hap- 
pened. It shows the delicacy of Sefior Ansa, and such are the 
favors which he says he always shows to padres. This I knew 
for certain, because the interpreter himself told me so when he 
returned; on my asking him why he had brought the beasts, 
leaving the padre in want of them, he replied that he could do 
nothing else, being under orders, and that his master Sefior 
Ansa had so ordered; and this he said in the presence of Sefior 
Ansa, without being contradicted." 

Thus things are seen to have been as pleasant as ever be- 
tween Anza and Font, when they returned to the Colorado. 
The letter above said, which was dispatched on the 12th, ap- 
pears to have reached Garces at Mojave. The expedition 
crossed the Colorado, and left the mouth of the Gila on the 16th, 
taking with them Padre Eisarc and Captain Palma. 



312 DETERMINATION TO GO TO MOQUI. 

ing could dissuade me from this resolution, even 
though there are encountered as a rule, many difficul- 
ties in such an enterprise. Immediately went on 
ahead one Jaguallapai with two Jamajabs to notify 
the nation of the former that I was coming to their 
lands. Anticipating that I should be unable to re- 
turn to the Jamajabs, I left orders with Sevastian that 
unless I was there within a few days he should go 
down with the Jalchedunes to their lands. This In- 
dian, who was the only one that remained still in my 
service — for the interpreters had returned to the ex- 
pedition — was unwilling to follow me, for all that I 
begged him to do so. 



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