Spanish colonization in the Southwest

IV

SPANISH COLONIZATION

IN THE

SOUTHWEST

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES

IN

HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor.

History is past Politics and Politics present History — Freeman.

EIGHTH SERIES
IV

SPANISH COLONIZATION

IN THE

SOUTHWEST

BY FRANK W. BLACKMAR, PH. D.

Sometime Fellow in the Johns Hopkins University, now Professor of History and Sociology in the
University of Kansas.

BALTIMORE

PUBLICATION AGENCY OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
April, 1890

COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY N. MURRAY.

JOHN MURPHY A CO., PRINTERS.
BALTIMORE.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
SPANISH POLICY:

The Opportunities of Spain 8

Causes of Spain's failure to hold power and territory 9

The policy of Charles V/and Philip II 9

Cortes' methods of conquest and government 10

Government by the viceroys.. .« 12

Establishment of towns and provincial government 12

Ecclesiastical system in New Spain 13

COMPARATIVE COLONIZATION :

Spanish colonies resemble the Roman 14

Nature of the Roman colonies 15

The extent of Roman colonization 17

The Roman provincial system .*. 18

The Roman praesidium 19

The complete Romanization of Spain 21

Spanish colonization resembles the Roman 21

Relation of the Spanish colonies to the central government 22

Commercial monopoly t 23

Attempts to settle California 25

Settlements in New Mexico 26

Reasons for settling California 27

THE MISSION SYSTEM:

The civil, religious, and military forces cooperate in conquest 28

Treatment of the Indians 30

The race problem 31

A communistic state in Paraguay 32

Methods of civilizing the Indians in Mexico and California 33

The civil and religious conquest of San DiegVand Monterey 34

Method of founding a mission 35

Legal status of the Indian 36

Social condition of the neophytes 37

Social and industrial life at the missions 38

Description of San Louis Rey 40

5

6 Contents.

PAGE.

Architecture of the missions 41

Plans for secularization 42

Decree of the Spanish Cortes 44

Mismanagement and ruin of the missions 46

Methods used by the Franciscans in domesticating the Indians 47

Civic COLONIES:

Use of the term pueblo 48

Early municipalities of Spain 49

Two methods of forming a Spanish provincial town 52

The regulations of Philip de Neve 53

Inducements offered to settlers 55

Method of founding a town 56

Different forms of land tenure 60

The founding of San Jose* 64

Laws for founding Los Angeles 67

The settlement of Branciforte 67

Causes of failure of the civil colonies 69

Local administration 70

PRESIDIAL PUEBLOS:

Roman origin of the presidio 74

The slow growth of fortress towns 75

The plan of a presidio .'.... 75

Presidios as centers of military districts 77

Land grants to settlers 77

Transformation of San Francisco into a civil pueblo 78

The plan of Pitic 79

SPANISH COLONIZATION IN THE
SOUTHWEST.

SPANISH POLICY.

The remains of Spanish civilization in the United States
are meager and insignificant in comparison with our rich heri-
tage of Germanic institutions. And since the life and spirit
of modern progress flow largely from Germanic sources, our
laws, our forms of local government, our education and our
social life have a direct continuity with these early institu-
tions ; wherever we find the vitalizing process of modern civ-
ilization, there we recognize the effect of the " liberty born in
a German forest," and we may trace the germs of American
institutions to " the generous barbarians."

It is not surprising that the study of Germanic institutions
in America, as they have come to us through England, has
ever been more attractive to the student than that of the frag-
mentary results of the Spanish occupation of the New World ;
for indeed the former are the living issues that represent the
vital forces of history, and as such they appeal more directly
to the positive interests of humanity. But in conceding this,
we must always remember that the " generous barbarians " and
their worthy descendants owe much for their forms of admin-
istration, government and law to the Roman civilization that
preceded them ; and that wherever the direct descendants of
the old Roman civilization have gone they have carried with
them the Roman system, a system that will be a subject of
study and admiration so long as history is made.

8 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [122

It should be also considered that there are causes which
prevent natural development and eminent success, and that
these bring their own peculiar lessons in history and politics.
Even the relics of departed greatness may invite the attention
of the investigator. And at this particular period when the
spirit of liberty is awakening the Spanish provinces to renewed
life, and on the eve of the quadrennial celebration of Spanish
discovery, the institutions of this Romance people have some-
thing more than a mere antiquarian interest to us.

All Spanish history is tinged with the high coloring of ro-
mance and abounds everywhere in strange paradoxes. A lib-
erty-loving people, the Spanish have produced the worst types
of complete absolutism ; possessed with an active and progres-
sive spirit, they have been slow to grasp and hold the vital
elements of permanent improvement ; abounding in magnifi-
cent opportunities for gaining and holding power, they were
again and again forced to yield to the strength of foreign
aggression on account of the internal maladies that consumed
them ; while popular representation and individual rights, the
flowers of early independence, were crushed by the ruthless
feet of tyranny and despotism. Among all of the modern
nations of Europe, no other had such great opportunities for
extending territory, for building and establishing a great em-
pire, as Spain ; no other power had such a prestige in the New
World. Yet with all of this prestige and means of power,
Spain yielded her territory, step by step, and passed from the
front rank of the nations of the Old World. The discovery
of America, first accomplished under the patronage of the
sovereigns of Spain, gave to that nation the first and best right
to the territory. In the century succeeding the discovery,
Spain became the foremost nation of all Europe, at home and
abroad, and had, therefore, a vast advantage in the strife for
the possession of the New World. Again, the first adven-
turers and explorers that overran America were Spaniards ;
this fact strengthened the claims of the government to the new
territory. So rapidly did they explore that within the short

123] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 9

space of seventeen years they had overrun a territory greater
by one-third than the whole of Europe. The magnificent gift
to Spain, by Pope Alexander VI, of nearly the whole of the
western continent, strengthened the Spanish cause ; the gift
was readily accepted, and Charles V hastened to incorporate
it under the crown of Spain forever.

The failure of Spain, under such favorable circumstances,
can be largely attributed on the one hand to the management
of the home government and on the other to the methods of
colonization. There seems to have been at the seat of govern-
ment an ignorance of wholesome administration or a total dis-
regard of the sources of national prosperity. Consummate
shrewdness in war and diplomacy was accompanied by a fatal
stupidity in the ordinary affairs of the nation, and bigotry and
oppression followed closely on the track of every attempt at
enlightenment. The conquest and expulsion of the Saracens
lost to Spain her best artisans and laborers ; the expulsion of
the Jews took away needed capital; the inquisition, like a
monster, entrapped the unwary and destroyed the best blood
of the nation. It was an instrument to be used alike by priest
and king against all who opposed the established order of things.

It was the policy of both Charles and Philip to make
Spain the foremost nation of the world, and to establish the
unity of the Catholic faith. To this two-fold idea they sac-
rificed the liberty and the prosperity of the nation. The
voice of the people was hushed, and the Cortes, a time-
honored institution, was suppressed. The gold that poured
into Spain from the Indies did not remain, but passed on to
those nations that supported Spain in war, or furnished her
citizens with manufactured goods. Heavy taxation had dis-
couraged home industries, and more especially as it fell heavier
and heavier on the few remaining tradesmen and agricultur-
ists. The vast estates of the nobles and of the church were
exempt from taxation, and they rapidly increased in value.
Laborers and peasants were despised and all labor was becom-
ing dishonorable, while all home industry was unprofitable.

10 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [124

Factories closed for the lack of workmen and the soil went
without cultivation. Meanwhile other nations saw the situ-
ation and hastened to profit by it, and soon all of the foreign
and domestic trade, as well as the foreign industries, passed
into their hands. Such is a partial picture of Spain at the
period of her early colonization in America. Let us see what
was the effect of the policy of the mother country on the
colonies.

For more than twenty years after the great discovery the
explorations by the Spaniards in the New World were carried
on by private parties under the sanction of the government,
and had for their chief object the search for gold. As far as
the discovery of gold was concerned all of these expeditions
failed, until Cortes, by an accidental discovery of stores of
hoarded wealth, and by bold and daring conquest, reduced
exploration to a paying basis and robbery to a science. Ac-
cording to the custom of the times Cortes fitted out his own
expedition, with the permission of the Spanish government ;
but, transcending the orders of the crown, he transformed ex-
ploration into conquest, and soon became master of all Mexico,
over which he set up a provisional government. He was in-
structed by Galvaez, acting for the crown, " to observe the
conduct befitting a Christian soldier ; to prohibit blasphemy,
licentiousness and gambling among his men, and on no ac-
count to molest the natives, but gently inform them of the
glory of God and the Catholic King."1 Pretending to fol-
low out this instruction, Cortes chose for his banner a red
cross on black taffeta, surrounded with the royal arms and
embroidered with blue and gold ; with the following motto
inscribed on the border : " Amici, sequamur crucem, et si nos
fidem habemus, vere in hoc signo vincemus."2 It was with
this sentiment that Cortes inspired his men to hope for victory ;
with this sentiment he attempted to justify his conquest of the

r

1 Bancroft, Mexico, I, 54.
* Icazbalceta, Documentos para la historia de Mexico, II, 554.

125] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 11

harmless natives. Behind all this show of piety and pretence
of justice there seemed to be an understanding between Cor-
tes and Galvaez, as well as among the men, that licentionsness
and plunder were to be their rewards for facing the perils of
the expedition. But, enduring hardships and dangers with-
out number, urged on by hopes of plunder and conquest, the
adventurers soon extended their explorations to the center of
Mexico.

In this early era of exploration and conquest the same
plans were followed that were inaugurated in the conquest of
the Saracens ; the cross and the sword were combined in the
work of extending the king's domain. The priest and the
soldier went forth to conquest, hand in hand, and while the
wolves of Spain were conquering, robbing and plundering the
outraged natives, the cowled monk and the barefooted friar
were holding out the consolation of the Gospel of Peace to an
oppressed people. While the home government pretended to
make beneficent laws for the sons of the wilderness, it cared
only for the gold obtained from an enslaved people by robbery
and forced toil.

The government of Cortes, in Mexico, did not long remain.
His enemies worked against him to such an extent that he was
superseded by another. The government of Cortes was a
loose form of monarchy with no particular policy except to
subdue the natives and subvert their system. But, failing
to establish the confidence of the home government in his
actions in New Spain, Cortes was forbidden to make further
conquests, and the chief power was placed in the hands of a
viceroy. As far as possible the government of Spanish Amer-
ica was now made a pattern of the home government, and, in
fact, the new territory was incorporated into the kingdom of
Spain ; and in it were instituted the vices and follies of that
kingdom. Despotism, fanaticism, and all of the follies of the
mother appeared in the most aggravated form in the daughter.
Even the horrors of the inquisition found their worst types,
and this notorious instrument of torture its most unfortunate

12 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [126

victims, in the New World. There was no judgment and no
restraint in its use, and consequently it proved but a horrid
instrument of extermination.

The civil system divided the territory into districts and
provinces, and over these were appointed governors and depu-
ties with judicial functions. The whole provincial govern-
ment was subject to the control of the viceroy, who, though
receiving authority from the king of Spain, held royal sway
in New Spain. The viceroys tried to imitate their sovereign
in every way possible : they held court in great state and per-
formed all of the functions of office with great display and
pomp. The chief settlements of the country were made in the
fertile valleys for the purpose of agriculture or in the moun-
tains for the purpose of working the mines. There were also
large grants of land to individuals who carried on the cultiva-
tion of the soil by means of the natives ; these as fixtures to
the land were granted with it. It was quite common to re-
ceive a royal grant of land and a certain number of Indians to
till it, the recipient being allowed to obtain and control the
slaves as best he could. Later, laws were enacted by which
the slaves were distributed according to what is known as the
repartimiento system. Subsequently this system was abolished
and the natives were protected to some extent by laws freeing
them and forbidding enforced labor. But the early practices
were usually adhered to ; and the natives, unused to the hard
toil of the mines and of the plantations, were rapidly extermi-
nated.

In this early colonial period there were towns planted by a
company of individuals who received a grant of land for the
purpose and founded each town and established its laws accord-
ing to royal decrees. The laws for the establishment and
control were always made by the home government ; but the
towns had a municipal independence, as far as their internal
control was concerned, although they were subject to the gen-
eral authority of the provinces and of the viceroy. The
towns had their own alcaldes and mayor ; but their independ-

127] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 13

ent action was somewhat limited, on account of the nature of
the laws made in Spain for their government.1

The ecclesiastical system of Spain which was transplanted
to the New World modified all forms and practices of govern-
ment. From the first the religious idea was prominent in the
new conquest and settlement, and it continued to increase in
importance until the whole territory was under the control
of the religious orders. Faulty as their system might be, and
ignorant as were many of those who sustained it, the rule of
the ecclesiastics is after all the only redeeming feature of the
early American policy of Spain. The missionaries, as far
as possible, stood between the natives and the Europeans, and
shielded the former from the oppression of unjust and rapa-
cious men.2

Yet the ecclesiastics not only obtained control of the re-
ligious work but had great influence upon the civil govern-
ment ; hence they not infrequently stood in the way of a more
rapid development of the country. For the church system in
Spanish America was a type of that of old Spain ; an expen-
sive system, with the usual pomp and ceremony, with the
hierarchy of abbots, bishops and priests and the various
other orders. It was through the church that the tithes
were collected ; but, by the bulls of Alexander VI and
Julius II, the revenues derived from this source were made
due to the king of Spain and were consequently at his dis-
posal.3 It is generally conceded that the establishment of so
great a number of monasteries in a new country, where it was
important that the population should be rapidly increased and
that all available labor-power be utilized, was, upon the
whole, a great hindrance to the development of the country

1 When Spain first took possession of America a greater part of the ter-
ritory was parceled out among the settlers and conquerors, much of which
subsequently reverted to the crown. (Robertson, III, 276; RecopUacion,
VI, VIII, 48).

* Burke, European Settlements, I, 164.

3 Robertson, III, 282.

14 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [128

besides being a heavy drain upon the wealth of the land. The
great power placed in the hands of the ecclesiastics was not
always used for the best interests of the country nor for the
glory of God ; although it may be said that the laws estab-
lished by the central government for the control and protec-
tion of the natives were the wisest of any ever recorded for
treatment of an inferior race in a conquered territory by the
conquerors.1 Passing from the general outline of the policy
of Spain in the American colonies, let us examine more es-
pecially the institutions of this nation which were developed
in the Old World and established in the New, and investigate
the customs and the methods of procedure in colonization and
settlement.

COMPARATIVE COLONIZATION.

The Spanish colonies resembled somewhat the Roman pro-
vincial colonies in the method of their formation and their
relation to the mother country, although they differed greatly
from these in their actual life. There was sufficient resem-
blance between the two to establish the origin of the Spanish
colonies as Roman, and this accords with their historical devel-
opment. The first provincial colony of Spain, although
founded more than sixteen hundred years after the Roman
provincial colony, was more Roman than Spanish, for Spain,
at the time first-mentioned, had hardly developed a nation-
ality, and the Roman type was stamped indelibly upon insti-
tutions of the Spanish race. The Spaniards, like the Romans,
considered the lands colonized to be part of the territory of
the parent country, and the government of the colony an in-
tegral part of the central government.2 Both nations either
displaced the inhabitants already occupying the territory or
else attempted to incorporate them into the colony, and hence
under the general government. The method of procedure in

1 Burke, European Settlements, I, 76.

* Robertson, History of America, III, 255.

129] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 15

the foundation of a colony had many marks of similarity in
both nations, and the laws for controlling and establishing a
colony were the same in both. As to the motives which led
to the establishment of colonies, they varied in both countries
at different periods of national life. Thus we find in the
Roman policy four chief objects of colonization, namely : to
people the province with persons of Roman blood ; to guard
and control a conquered province ; to dispose of the surplus
population of the city, and to settle the soldiery, whom Rome
paid in land and thus removed a dangerous element. In
all of these methods of settlement the idea of guarding the
frontier was never entirely abandoned.1 In the Spanish policy,
the extension of the king's domain, the establishment of the
frontier garrisons, the holding of conquered territory against
the encroachments of other nations, the civilization of the
natives and the extension of commerce were among the prime
objects. Among all of these the promotion of commerce was
a constant factor and so prominent was this idea that Spain
finally established a commercial monopoly and developed a
system different from anything else known among ancients or
moderns.2

The earliest colonies of Rome were purely military gar-
risons sent out to occupy the territory, to keep it in sub-
jection and to guard the frontier. Cicero terms the Roman
colony of this class, "Specula populi Romani et propugna-
culum." 3 These colonies were few in number at first and lim-
ited to the country of the Sabines and to Latium, but they
were soon extended over all Italy. They grew in size and
importance as there was need. Six thousand men were sent
to Beneventum to guard Campania.4 These military colonies
developed into cities where Roman law and custom prevailed.
As Rome continued her conquests beyond the limits of the

1 Arnold, Roman Provincial Administration, 218.
"Bobertson, III, 265. 3Pro Fonteio, I, 33.

4Duruy, II, 488.

16 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [130

peninsula, it became necessary to plant colonies for the sake of
retaining her sovereignty over those countries which were only
partially subdued. In the Province of Spain there was founded
at Italica (Old Seville) a military colony by Scipio's veterans
which developed at a later date into a flourishing city, from
which Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius came. Somewhat
later in 171 another colony of the same nature was established
at Carteia, but as the colony was formed of families of a mixed
race it had Latin right only.1 The Senate had not yet sent
citizens to settle in the provinces, and it was not until after
the passage of the law of Gracchus (lex Sempronia agraria),
which had for its chief object the relief of over-populated Rome
and the provision of land for the poor, that any move was
made to form colonies of citizens in the provinces.2 The plan
of Caius Gracchus for trans-marine colonies failed during
his lifetime, but in after years it was carried out with good
results. In 122 B. C. he set out with 6,000 colonists to found
a colony at Carthage, which he called Junonia.3 A burgess
town with full Roman rights was established, but during the
absence of Caius, influences were brought to bear upon his ad-
ministration by his enemies which caused the repeal of the
land law during the following year, and the new colony waa
without support of the central government.

The colonists, though disfranchised, continued to claim their
holdings, and in later years the colony was in a flourishing
condition. This was the first burgess town founded as a
colony outside of Italy, although others were begun before this
became firmly established. In 118 B. c. the Colonia Narbo
Marcius, called Narbonensis, was permanently established in
Gaul. In nature and object it partook more of the form of a
military outpost than of a civic colony ; but it had a burgess
population with full Roman rights.4

'Duruy, History of Rome, II, 217.

* Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, Alterthiimer, IV, 106.

8 Mommsen, III, 110, 133 ; Plutarch, IV, 542 ; Ihne, IV, 456, 473-4.

4 Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwcdtung, Alterthiimer, IV, 262.

UHIVERSI1

Xsa

oir

131] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 17

In the latter part of the first century before Christ foreign
colonization was carried on extensively. At this period
Caesar founded many colonies and established not less than
80,000 citizens in the different colonies outside of Rome, many
of whom were sent to Spain and Gaul.1 Augustus continued
the colonization so vigorously prosecuted by Julius ; the ma-
jority of the colonies founded by him were of a military
nature and created for the purpose of disposing of the army
veterans.2 Frequently other colonies were formed than those
sent out by Rome by admitting the towns of the provinces to
the rights and privileges of colonies ; although sometimes the
inhabitants of the towns were expelled to give room to Roman
colonists. And again Roman colonists would be added to the
already existing population, and the town would thus receive
the rank of a colony.3 When this was the case dissensions
arose, which led to a struggle for supremacy ; and this usually
ended in giving to the original inhabitants larger privileges,
though sometimes it produced results just the opposite. But
wherever Rome went, there went the Roman government, and
the Roman law and system of administration ; and the recog-
nition of provincial towns as far as possible as parts of Rome
seems to be a distinct policy. Whether the town was formed
on a civil or military basis, it was still a type of old Rome ;
an integral part of the empire. Even in the founding of the
town, Rome was imitated ; and municipal life and municipal
custom as well as municipal law and administration were taken
directly from the parent city.4 From the moment of the con-
quest the Romans appropriated all of the royal domain, and
frequently part of the common lands and in some instances
the whole territory of the conquered, which at once became
the Roman domain. The inhabitants were allowed to hold
these lands as tenants of the state and were obliged to pay

1 Arnold, Roman Provincial Administration, 218.
* Marquardt, IV, 118. » Arnold, 218.

4 Arnold, 220.

18 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [132

taxes on the land (one-tenth), a personal tax, as well as duties
and royalties, and to furnish requisitions when demanded.1
On the other hand the colonists were Roman citizens and
might, if they so desired, go to Rome and exercise their rights
as such. They were also free from the tribute on land, but
must fill all requisitions in time of war made by the central
government. Though the colonists were Roman citizens they
could not own the land which they occupied, but held it as a
fief from the state. When the officer appointed for the pur-
pose (agrimensor), led out a colony, he chose a tract of land,
divided it into squares (centuriae) of two hundred acres each,2
which he again divided into smaller ones (sortes), and appor-
tioned with the houses to the colonists according to rank,
to be held as a sort of fief of the state. Thus the inequalities
of old Rome were transferred to the colonies. At first the
method of distribution varied, but it is held that Caesar estab-
lished a form for the apportionment of lands in the several
colonies.

As to the internal workings of the colony, the Roman right
or the Latin right was a meagre affair as far as an independent
organization of the municipium was concerned. It received
its municipal law from the Roman Senate and its whole form
and process of administration were received from the mother
country. There were senators or decuriones, consuls called
duumvirs, and censors or duumviri quinquennales. But with
all of this a certain amount of civil and military power was
delegated to local authority, and the towns tended to develop
a slight originality in government as the central government
at Rome declined.

The provincial system of administration in the Roman gov-
ernment had, during its organization under the Republic, many
marks of excellence. It was the policy of the Roman Senate
never to destroy people, cities, and institutions, unless it was
deemed necessary for the present or future safety of the Re-

1 Duruy, II, 229. » Arnold, 219.

133] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 19

public. The policy was economic rather than humane ; for a
depopulated town pays no tribute, and furnishes no men in
war. The people conquered were, as a rule, allowed to retain
their own religion, their laws, their magistrate, and their pub-
lic assemblies.1

And frequently they were left in possession of a part or all of
their lands and revenues. When the country first submitted to
Eome, a constitution was given to the people fixing the amount
of tribute to be paid and defining their obligations to the new
government, and, that order might be the sooner restored, the
people were given a new civil code which retained, as far as
possible, the old forms of municipal government.2 By degrees
the territory, with its laws and people, was Romanized. The
governor was the chief ruler in the province, and municipal
authority, except in cases of towns granted special privileges,
was reduced to a minimum and the signs of a provincial as-
sembly removed by the policy of " divide et impera." 3

There was one class of Roman towns formed, by the estab-
lishment of garrisons throughout the provinces for the sake of
guarding the frontier, which are of historic interest and which,
although already alluded to, deserve particular attention.
Whenever it became necessary for the protection of the Roman
interests or the repression of a warlike people, a chain of
fortresses was established along the frontier, or in the heart of
the territory of the offending people.4 But, whether planted
on the boundary line of the Roman possessions or in the midst
of a disaffected people, the primary object of these garrisons
was to protect Rome.

Examples of this garrisoned town are those military set-
tlements founded among the Silures in Britain and the later
colonies established by Agricola.5 Another notable example

1 Duruy, II, 27; Tacitus, Annals, III, 60-63.

2 Duruy, II, 229. 3 Arnold, 17.

4 Tacitus, innate, XIV, 33.

5 Merivale, History of Eome, VI, 30-31.

20 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [134

is the line of fortresses established in Gaul by Caesar on the
boundary of Narbonensis j1 other familiar examples are the
line of presidia in Spain, and the forts along the Danube.
The development of towns from these military centres must
have been very gradual, the military camp changing first into
a village and then into a municipium or a colony.2 There is
but little distinction between these terms; in a general sense
they may be used interchangeably, although the colony was
of a higher order than the municipium,3 having been sent out
by Rome and having been granted full civil privileges from
the start. However, a municipium might become a colony,
and in fact a town might partake of the nature of the muni-
cipium and of a colony at the same time.4 It was customary
for the camp followers, such as sutlers, settlers and merchants,
to pitch their tents outside of the ramparts, where a small
community, more or less united, sprang up. If the camp re-
mained in one place for a long time, as was frequently the
case, the village grew rapidly and finally became a town with
all of the rights, duties and privileges of Roman citizenship
attached.

The soldiers usually intermarried with the surrounding
people and became attached to the soil, or they brought their
families with them and thus became permanent settlers. There
were other species of military colonies : first, those that were
established by Rome from the beginning, as when a whole
army was retired to subdue the country ; and secondly, the
colonies formed by retired veterans who were given lands in
payment for services, or as pensions, and were paid according
to their rank. The natures of these colonies differed chiefly
in the process of formation ; the ceremonies in distribution of
land at the foundation of a colony were uniform in all cases.
But it is not possible to pursue this subject further than the
bare indication of the Roman method of colonization.

1 De Bdlo Gallico, VII, 8. 2 Arnold, 206.

8 Aulus Gellius, Noctes Attitae, XVI, 13. * Duruy, II, 242.

135] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 21

Spain was among the first provinces to receive the Roman
civilization, and no other country was more completely Roman-
ized.1 This early transformation was accomplished by means of
colonies, by the system of provincial administration, and by
voluntary immigration. In the period immediately following
the conquest of Scipio, from the year 196 to 169 B. c., more
than 140,000 Italians crossed into the province of Spain.2
This aided greatly in the infusion of the language, customs,
and institutions of the Romans. Along the Mediterranean
coast, the indigenous population and that of the Phoenicians
was made to conform, under the Republic, to the customs of
the ruling people.3

Under imperial reign, by means of colonization and the
extension of the municipal system throughout the peninsula,
Spain was completely Romanized. Under the rule of Augus-
tus there were in all Spain fifty communities with full citizen-
ship ; nearly fifty others up to this time had received Latin
rights and were, in their internal organization, equal to bur-
gess communities.4 Some of the earlier towns adopted Roman
civilization long before ; thus Baetica in the time of Strabo
was Roman in custom and speech. On the occasion of the
imperial census instituted in 74 A. D. the Emperor Vespasian
introduced the Latin municipal organization into the remain-
ing towns of Spain.5

Once Romanized, the Spanish people, naturally conserva-
tive, retained their adopted language, customs, and system of
administration ; and these the conquests by Teuton and Saracen
did not eradicate. In respect to colonization we find traces of
the Roman system as late as the eighteenth century. There
was one element in Spanish colonization which did not enter
into the early Roman plan, that of the Christian religion ;
and so strong was this element that it characterized all of the

1 Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, I, 78.
'Duruy, II, 217. 3 Mommsen, I, 74.

4 Mommsen, I, 75. 5 Marquardt, IV, 258.

22 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [136

undertakings of the Spaniards after the union under Ferdi-
nand and Isabella ; from that time on the mission and the
presidio were constantly associated.

Not only did the Spaniards send out military colonies to
guard the territory but they established missions for the con-
version of the natives. They also established civic colonies
for the purpose of peopling the land, and to this end held out
inducements to settlers. At first a legal fiction was assumed,
that the soil by justice and right belonged to the natives, but
on a religious basis they were deprived of this right, which
was vested, without the consent of the supposed owners, in the
crown of Spain. In whatever form the colonization took
place, whether of a mission, a presidio or of a civic colony, the
colonists were occupying a part of the royal domain and were
controlled by the royal government. All colonial powers and
policies originated with the king ; and from the sovereign
flowed all grants of land, because he was sole proprietor of the
soil.1

The colonists had no rights arising from the situation, there
was no political power developed out of popular government ;
it came from the king. The result of this policy was inevita-
ble : without thought of religious or civil liberty, hampered
on every side by the laws of trade and by oppressive taxation,
the colonists were but puppets in the show of government.
Even the assistance which the home government gave the
colonists in the beginning, was of such a nature as to stifle
every attempt at self-government or independent development.

As a result of colonization, the Spaniards resembled the
Romans in several phases, one of which was the mingling of
the blood of the conqueror with that of the conquered, thus
producing a new race of people with peculiar traits and habits.
The Spaniards, like the Romans, had a complex system of pro-
vincial government and departments, all of which were offi-
cered by appointments from the home government. This

1 Recopilacion de leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, I, 523.

137] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 23

provincial government was so arranged that direct communi-
cation was established with the central government and so
diversified that every part could be set to watch every other
part and thus prevent federation of towns and independent
life. On the contrary, in the attempts to incorporate the con-
quered people into the general government, it was the policy
of Rome to tolerate, as far as possible, existing institutions,
while Spain demanded a complete revolution in religion,
government, and life, and a complete destruction of all insti-
tutions. In both, the character of the colonists was not the
best ; and, while some adventurers, criminals and gold-seekers
came to other colonies, the Spanish colonies had more than a
fair proportion of these classes.

The idea of commercial monopoly is at the foundation of
all modern national colonization schemes, and Spain, more than
any other country, attempted to enforce monopoly by direct
governmental control of all trade and commerce. After
Europe emerged from the feudal ages, and at the same time
modern states were developing, along with the development of
new industries there was a great demand for the precious
metals, and each nation tried to make them flow into its own
territory and to prevent their return, believing that this course
of action would lead to wealth.

Spain sought gold directly in the mines of Peru and Mex-
ico, and to her the colonies were valuable and worthy of con-
sideration in proportion as they furnished an abundance of the
precious metals. Later, as trade developed between the col-
onies and the mother country, the latter imposed the severest
measures possible for the control of commerce. As the at-
tempt to control the flow of gold and other products of the
colonies increased in ardor, the industries of Spain passed to
other countries and left her powerless to contend with other
nations in the markets of the world, after her short but glor-
ious reign closed. The gold continued for a long time to flow
into Spain, but it passed on into other countries containing
the industries which fed and clothed the Spanish people. Be-

24 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [138

fore the discovery of America, Spain was a noted manufac-
turing country ; but, by the close of the reign of Philip III,
the common commodities in her markets were produced by
other countries.1

The first great arbitrary measure was the establishment of
the Council of the Indies with full control of all affairs in the
provinces, whether ecclesiastical, military, civil or commercial.2
Under the influence of the council everything and everybody
were kept in close subjection to the ruling power; legislation
was minute and explicit to the smallest shadow of a doubt,
while obedience to authority was the great law of being.
Through its power the officers of the crown were appointed,
and to it all officers of the crown were amenable for their
conduct. For the immediate control of trade a special tribunal
was created, called the Casa de Contratacion, whose special
duty was, besides being a court of judicature, to regulate all
intercourse of Spain with the colonies in America.3 With
these two instruments of power in the home government and
the vice-royalty and the inquisition in the New World, there
was ample opportunity for the exercise of arbitrary power.
Nor was that opportunity left unimproved. All vessels were
obliged to unload their cargoes at Seville and later at Cadiz ;
this course concentrated trade and secured a monopoly to a
few merchants in Spain, while a few persons by purchasing all
of the imports into the colonies had the monopoly of the trade
in New Spain.4 To keep trade firmly under control the gov-
ernment prohibited the cultivation in the colonies of any pro-
ducts that were produced in Spain ; such as saffron, tobacco,
hemp, olives and grapes. These and other arbitrary measures
finally threw Spanish commerce, and other enterprises con-
nected with New Spain, into a decline. But the search for

1 Dunham, History of Spain, V, 265 ; Coxe, Kings of Spain, III, 517.
* Recapiladon, libro II, titulo 2, leges 1, 2.

3 RecopHadon de leyes de las Indias, libro IX, titulo 1.

4 Merivale, Colonization and Colonies, 10.

139] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 25

gold, the greed for land, and the love of adventure, had
already stimulated the Spaniards to explore large territories :
and the home government with its constantly diminishing
power found it difficult to secure and hold such vast domains.
The result was a lull in conquest until the revival of the nation v
under Carlos III, about the middle of the eighteenth century.

This monarch brought about a reform in politics and ad-
ministration ; revived industries and trade ; established com-
merce, which was carried on by a new navy, and brought back
vigor to national life.1 The vigor of his administration was
felt to the utmost bounds of the provinces, and it was during
this revival that the colonization of Alta California was accom-
plished. Prior to this, exploration and settlement had been
constantly extended to the north and west, carried on chiefly
by the influence of the religious and the civil authorities com-
bined. After attempting many times to make permanent set-
tlements in the peninsula of California, the civil authorities
surrendered the enterprise into the hands of the Jesuits, who
succeeded in making a permanent reduction of the country in
the early part of the eighteenth century.2 By the aid of the
military and civil authorities they were able to hold their posi-
tion until 1767, when they were expelled from New Spain
and forced to yield their work to the Dominicans and the
Franciscans.

This enterprise, together with the explorations of Cabrillo
(1542) and Yiscaino (1597-l6()2), opened the way for settle-
ment of Alta California. But long before this was accom-
plished the present territory of the United States had been
penetrated and settled farther to the east in that part of the
interior of New Spain, now known as New Mexico and Ari-
zona. The story of the wanderings of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de
Vaca, the hero of the Narvaez expedition, is familiar to every

, Memoirs of the Kings of Spain, III, 517; Dunham, History of Spain
and Portugal, V, 265.
2 Venegas, History of California, Part III, sec. 1.

3

26 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [140

one. He and his companions, becoming detached from the main
expedition, continued their exploration, returned to the coast,
built frail boats and embarked on the gulf in search of the
main expedition or the settlements of Mexico; and, having
been shipwrecked, Cabeza and his three companions were cast
on shore on the west coast of Louisiana, the only survivors of
the ill-fated enterprise.1 Wandering thence they passed through
the Indian country and near enough to the pueblos of
New Mexico to bring glowing accounts to Mexico of populous
and wealthy cities to the far north. The desire to possess this
wealthy territory led to the expedition of Coronado for the
purpose of exploring and conquering the "Seven Cities of
Cibola." 2 The expedition brought trials and hardships, and
although populous villages were discovered, the stores of
wealth, the real objects of their dreams, were not found ; con-
sequently the enterprise was called a failure. Fifty-five years
after this expedition the Viceroy of Mexico made a contract
with Juan de Oflate for the conquest and settlement of New
Mexico.3 A successful occupation of the territory was effected,
but the difficulties in the way of developing the resources of
the country were never overcome. The civic colonies and
towns were always weak and there were no inducements for
persons to settle in a place where there was no market. The
missions were soon in a flourishing condition, but the methods
of treating the natives led to innumerable troubles, and finally
to a revolution and massacre. In the year 1630 the official
records show fifty missionaries in the field, ministering to sixty
thousand converts, dwelling in ninety pueblos. Notwithstand-
ing this apparent success New Mexico was for seventy years
an isolated community of settlers, soldiers, neophytes and
Franciscan missionaries, who curbed their desires within the
limits of bare subsistence. The colonies were not self-

1 Winsor, II, 231, J. G. Shea.

8 Winsor, II, 473-504, H. W. Haynes; Bancroft, XV, 83,

8 Bancroft, California, 1, 12.

141] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 27

supporting; the salaries of the missionaries, as well as all
agricultural implements, were forwarded from Mexico.1 There
was no thrift, no enterprise; and the settlers, living in the
presence of stores of wealth in the mountains, had to main-
tain a constant warfare with the stubborn Moqui and the
fierce Apaches. It was during this period that Sante Fe, the
oldest town in the west, and having the oldest church in the
United States, was founded. In this territory are many
remains of Spanish and Mexican institutions and ruins of the
works of the early missionaries and colonists ; but their study
must be made in another place.2

When Spain was awakened from her lethargy, at the time
of Carlos III, above referred to, there was a well grounded
fear that unless immediate action was taken the claims of the
nation to the territory of the northwest could not be main-
tained. Consequently the king gave orders for the occupation
of Alta California.3

The whole enterprise was placed under the supervision
of Galvaez, the Visitor-General of New Spain. He dis-
patched two expeditions by land and two by sea, and all
were under instructions to found, as soon as possible, mis-
sions at San Diego and Monterey and to establish missions
at intermediate points. The aims of the project are set forth
in the words of Galvaez, who affirms that they are " to extend
the dominions of the king, our lord, and to protect the
peninsula from the ambitious designs of foreign nations." After
many trials and delays attendant upon the necessarily imperfect
methods of communication and travel in those times, the ex-
peditions all met at San Diego and founded a presidio and a
mission there, and subsequently moved on and occupied Mon-
terey. From this time until the Mexican revolution the
Spaniards made constant endeavors to develop and people the
country.

1 Bancroft, Gal., I, 27. 2 Winsor, II, 471, et seg.

5 Venegas, Part IV, 213-225.

28 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [142

THE MISSION SYSTEM.

The occupation and settlement of Alta California was ac-
complished by a three-fold plan, involving the civil, religious,
and military forces of the government. First, there were es-
tablished the presidios, or frontier fortresses, to guard the
" mark," which finally combined the civil with the military
function and developed into military towns ; and secondly, the
purely civic community, or pueblo, composed of colonists
settled on the land ; and finally the mission, which was ecclesi-
astical in its nature, but to be eventually resolved into a civil
pueblo. In the colonization of California, the mission must
ever hold the front rank, more on account of the zeal and en-
terprise of those connected with its management, and on
account of the amount of the work accomplished, than because
of the nature of the settlement. Whereas the State regarded
the missions as temporary institutions, the priests, to whom
their welfare was entrusted, regarded them as the most im-
portant of all the institutions encouraged by the government ;
and consequently they threw their whole life into the work *
of civilizing the natives.1 Whatever the intentions of the
government might have been on the subject, it was firmly
held by the padres that their work was to be permanent.

It is very interesting to note the cooperation of the civil,
ecclesiastical, and military powers, in the settlement of a new
country ; and these all acting under the express commands of
a sovereign nearly five thousand miles away.

The military and the religious forces were used by the State
in the consummation of its plans. Although it was often
affirmed that the object of Spanish expeditions was to convert
the natives, and doubtless it was so intended by at least some
of the sovereigns of Spain, yet it was never the prime object
of the State.2 Galvaez was a zealous Christian, and believed

1 Venegas, History of California, Part III, Section 1.

2 Bancroft, Mexico, III, 409.

143] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 29

heartily in the conversion and civilization of the Indians ; but
he was also in the service of the king of Spain, and believed
that friars were to be made politically useful, and consequently
he hastened to secure their services in the conquest of Cali-
fornia. On the other hand the relation of the military to
the mission was that of protection against hostile invasion.
Viewed from the standpoint of the ecclesiastic, the soldiers
were sent to guard the missionaries and to build forts to pro-
tect them against sudden attack ; and consequently soldiers
were subordinate to the priests in the process of settle-
ment.1 This was in part true; for wherever missionaries
went a guard was sent to protect them ; but this guard was
sent by the king or his representative. Beyond the design of
protection to the missions was the greater object of guarding
the frontier against foreign invasion. The friars, like the
soldiers, were to be dismissed from the service of the State
when their assistance was no longer needed, and the results of
their efforts in the cause of civilization were turned over to the
civil authorities.

Prior to the conquest of California, the civil power had relied
very largely upon the ecclesiastical in the management of the
Indians ; although the ecclesiastic was always under the di-
rection of the civil law.2 In the conquest and settlement of
Mexico and South America, the religious orders were found
very useful in domesticating the natives, and in controlling
the Spanish colonists and soldiery. For this, as well as for
other reasons, the extension of the faith was always encouraged
by the crown of Spain. The pious sovereigns no doubt de-
sired to improve the conditions of the natives and to save
their souls, but there was involved in the process an ever-
present idea of advantage to the State. During the early ex-
plorations in the New World, the natives received very little
consideration, although friars accompanied each expedition to

1 Venegas, Part III, Section 21.

2 Proclamation of Ferdinand VI, Venegas, III, 21.

30 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [144

administer to the spiritual needs of the Spaniards, and to
preach to the natives when opportunity offered. In the year
1522 Friar Melgarejo came from Spain to grant indulgences to
Spaniards, on account of their outrageous conduct toward the
natives ; and on his return he carried a large sum of gold
which was lost in the sea.1 It was not long after this that
Father Otando and other friars began in real earnest the work
of domesticating and baptizing the Indians, but it was many
years before the work was well systematized.

In the early history of the conquest the Indians were made
slaves and disposed of at the will of the conqueror ; subse-
quently a general law of the Indies laid a capitation tax on
all of the natives, which could be paid by working eighteen
months in the mines or on a rancho.2 In the oldest grants
made to proprietors in Hispaniola the Indians were treated as
stock on the farm, and the deed of transfer of property
declared the number which the proprietor was entitled to
treat in this way.3 After this the natives were treated by
what is known as the repartimiento system, under which they
lived in villages, but were compelled to labor in places
assigned them for a given period. The proprietor had a right
to their labor but could claim no ownership of their persons.4
The next legislation in regard to the disposal of the Indians
engrafted upon the repartimiento the encomiendas system.
This required that within certain districts the Indians should
pay a tribute to the proprietors of that district, which of
necessity must be paid in labor, and the lords of the soil were
required to give the natives protection. It was a revival of
the feudal theory in part, but the relative positions of the con-
tracting parties rendered the tribute sure and the protection
doubtful. But with all this apparently wise legislation the

1 Bancroft, Mexico, II, 175.

2 Recopilacion de leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, libro VI, titulo 3.

3 Merivale, Colonies and Colonization, 279.

4 Arthur Helps, Spanish Conquest of America, Ch. I and II.

145] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 31

condition of the Indian grew worse ; he was still at the mercy
of the conqueror.

To improve their condition the decrees of the king of
Spain instructed the priests to gather the natives into vil-
lages and compel them to live in communities.1 For lands
occupied they paid a rent to the proprietor and a personal
tax or tribute to the crown. Here they were under the imme-
diate control of the ecclesiastics, but were granted the privil-
ege of electing alcaldes (judges) and regidores (councilmen) of
their own race for the control of municipal aifairs.2 But this
was a mere show of freedom, for the priests in charge had the
power to control this election by-play as they chose.3 Under
this system, and forever afterwards, the natives were treated
as legal minors under a trusteeship. The royal decrees so
recognized them, and the missionaries, in all their dealings,
treated them accordingly. It was a common thing for the
padres to call the neophytes their children. This was the
outcome of the legal fiction held by the king that the natives
had the primary right to the soil ; the Indian race was to be
retained and to share the soil with the Spanish people, but to be
in every way subordinate to them. However well recognized
this policy might have been the children of the conquered
land usually submitted to the convenience of the conquerors.
The race problem of placing a superior and an inferior race
upon the same soil and attempting to give them equal rights
was then, as now, difficult to solve.

On the other hand the priesJs and the secular clergy were
diligent in the salvation of souls. Thousands were baptized
by the friars and taught the rites of the new religion. It is
said that in a single year (1537) above 500,000 were bap-
tized,4 and that the Franciscans baptized, during the first eight
years of their active work, not less thanJL$QO,000.5 But the

1 RecopUaeimi, VI, 3, 1-29. 2 Ibid.

3 Humboldt, Essay on New Spain, I, 421. * Bancroft, Mex., II, 408.

5 Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, III, 156.

32 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [146

process of civilization was too severe, and the treatment
received at the hands of the dominant race too oppressive, to
make rapid progress in the arts of civilized life possible, and
the numbers of the natives decreased rapidly under the treat-
ment of the conquerors.

The most perfect example of this method of civilizing the
natives is that furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, where,
in the last half of the sixteenth century, they held absolute
sway over a large part of the territory.1 In this tract of land,
granted them by the king, untrammeled by government,
custom, law and the common nuisance of settlers and adven-
turers the Jesuits began their state. The Indians were gathered
into towns or communal villages called "bourgaden" or
reductions, where they were taught the common arts, agricul-
ture and the practice of rearing cattle. In each town were
appointed two spiritual guides who baptized the natives,
taught them the rights of the Christian faith and religious
and moral life in general.

At first all property was held in common, the labor
of each person being allotted according to his strength and
skill. While the villagers gave over to the community the
products of their toil they were in turn fed, clothed and
instructed. The chief occupations of the natives were agri-
culture and the rearing of cattle, but they soon had a sufficient
number of skilled artisans to manufacture all of the necessary
commodities for the use of the young state, and were conse-
quently economically and commercially independent. For
many years these colonies flourished, and there were large stores
of surplus grain in the villages, while the plains were covered
with herds of cattle.

At the time the territory was ceded to Portugal there were
300,000 families gathered into forty-seven villages or districts.2
As soon as the families had adopted the elements of modern

1 Documentos para la historia de Mexico, II, 204.

2 Burke, European Settlements in America, I, 328 et seq.

147] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 33

civilization and had shown a capability of independent life they
were permitted to hold land in severalty, to call it their own,
and to have the right to the product of their own labor.
There was an attempt to teach them the elements of self-
government by allowing the natives to elect from their
number, by ballot, magistrates to represent each district;
these, when chosen, were to be subject to the approval of the
Jesuits in charge. Here, away from the contaminating in-
fluences of modern civilization, was an ideal state, equal to
any of the dreams of St. Simon, Fourier or Bellamy. It
was successful enough, and the natives were very happy
until they came in contact with the natural selfishness and
avarice of the European, for it must be understood that while
under Spanish authority no stranger was allowed to enter this
land unattended by an official of the Jesuits. But here, as
elsewhere, the direct contact of the sturdy Europeans with
the native race has been productive of disaster to the weaker,
and no legislation has been able to protect them. It is worthy
of attention that in this, as in all other successful commu-
nistic societies, the great mass of the people must be as children
before the central authority, and must subscribe to a law of
absolute obedience to this central power. This same method
was attempted in Mexico, but an attempt to gather the natives
into villages failed, and the severe treatment that they received
at the hands of the conquerors wasted them away, while the
constant contact with the Spaniards prevented the adoption of
systematic methods of civilization. Yet we find that certain
individuals pursued the same plan elsewhere. Salvatierra
carried out the same methods in Lower California,1 and Serra,
the Franciscan, adopted this plan in Mexico prior to his
entrance into Upper California, where he continued to follow
the same system, with some modifications. It cannot be said
that it was the system of the Jesuits, but rather the system

Venegas, Part III, Sec. 11.

34 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [148

founded by the laws of the Indies, but first successfully ap-
plied by the Jesuits.

As has been stated, the first colony in Alta California was
planted at San Diego, in 1769, as a result of the four expedi-
tions dispatched from Mexico by Visitador Galvaez. The
first public exercises, after the arrival of the colonists, were to
say mass and erect a cross, and this was done with the usual
ceremonies.

At Monterey we find the same order of exercises. Mass
was accompanied with the roar of cannon and the rattle of
musketry, after which Captain Portola unfurled the Spanish
flag and took formal possession of the land in the name of the
king.1 At San Diego and at Monterey a few rude huts were
thrown up at first, one of which was used as a church, and the
more permanent buildings of the presidios were erected after-
wards. As soon as practicable the friars began their mission-
ary labor, and from that time on it was the most important
work accomplished in the occupation and settlement of Cali-
fornia under Spanish rule. After the occupation of Monterey
news was dispatched to Mexico informing the authorities there
of the progress of the expeditions. The accomplishment of a
plan that had been in the minds of kings and rulers for over
two centuries caused great rejoicing in the capital city. The
unity of the civil and religious powers in the temporal and
spiritual conquest of California is shown in the nature of the
celebration that took place in Mexico on the arrival of the
news of the grand achievement. The cathedral and church
bells rang ; a solemn thanksgiving was held in which all of
the government dignitaries participated, and a grand recep-
tion was given, at which Minister Galvaez and Viceroy Croix
received, in the name of the king, the congratulations of
the people on account of the conquest. In the midst of this
enthusiasm an order was issued for the completion of the plan
of conquest and for the founding of five new missions.2

1 Bancroft, California, I, 170.

2 Bancroft. XVIII, 173.

149] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 35

The usual method of founding a mission in a territory was
as follows. After the construction of a few rude huts the
missionaries, by a display of banners and pictures, attracted
the attention of the natives, and further gained their confidence
by. gifts, of food, trinkets and bits of cloth. A banner with a
picture of the Virgin, was among the most powerful attrac-
tions held out to the natives ; it appealed to their superstitious
nature, and when explained to them had a wonderful influence
in their control. Little by little the friars induced familiarity
and confidence in the natives, who returned each day, bringing
companions with them. Finally they were led to listen to the
teachings of religion and consented to engage in work about
the mission buildings, as long as they were remunerated with
food, trinkets and bits of clothing. As soon as possible they
were induced to live in huts in or near the mission and to take
up the forms of religion and civilization. The rude mission
buildings soon gave away to more habitable structures and
the products of arts and industries began to .accumulate.1
Prior to the occupation of California by the Europeans the
Indians dwelt, more or less, in temporary villages, later called
" rancherias," where they had an imperfect government, con-
trolled by chiefs, councils and priests.2

It was the custom of the friars to go out frequently from
the established mission to these adjacent villages and instruct
the Indians, and this resulted in making the surrounding
rancherias dependent upon the central mission. From these
villages the neophytes of the mission were re-enforced. In
later times, after the wild Indians became scarce, predatory
excursions were made and the natives were secured by force
and brought to the mission for civilization.

~~- — ».- -gs —

It was the policy of Charles V that the Indians should be
" induced and compelled " to live in villages, this being con-
sidered they only way to civilize them. Minute instructions

1 Forbes, History of California, 42, 56, 199, et seq.

'Powers, Stephen J., Aborigines of California; U. S. Geological Survey,
J. W. Powell, 1888. Dwindle, History of San Francisco, 13.

36 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [150

were also given by this monarch for their government in the
village.1 They were to have a priest to administer religious
affairs and native alcaldes and regidores for the management of
municipal affairs. It was further provided that no. Indian
should change his residence from one village to another, and
that no Spaniard, negro, mestizo or mulatto should live in an
Indian village over one day after his arrival, and no person
should compel an Indian to serve against his will in the mines
or elsewhere. In all of these, and similar provisions, the.laws
of Spain for the treatment of the natives were, upon the
whole, wise and humane. Carlos III granted special privi-
leges to the natives and annulled the laws providing for the
repartimiento and the encomienda systems, although it was
still the policy of the government to keep them in a condition
of perpetual minority. It was upon these and similar laws of
the Indies that the practice of treating the natives of California
was based, although the method varied in its details.

As soon as a new convert was baptized he was made to feel
that he had taken personal vows of service to God, whom the
priest represented, and to think that the priest had immediate
connection with God. From this time on he was a neophyte
and belonged to the mission as a part of its property. A.S the
padre in charge had full control of all of the affairs as well as the
property of the mission the relation of the missionary to the
neophyte was in loco parentis. As far as the individual work-
ings of the missions were concerned there was established a
complete form of patriarchal government. If a neophyte
escaped from the mission he was summoned back, and if he
took no heed of the summons the missionary appealed to the
governor who dispatched soldiers to capture him from his
tribe and return him to the mission. After his return he was
severely flogged. For small offences the neophytes were
usually whipped, put in prison or the stocks or else loaded
with chains ; for capital crimes they were turned over to the

1 Recopilacion, Libro VI, for laws governing los Indies.

151] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 37

soldiery, acting under the command of the governor, to undergo
more severe punishment.

In the general government of the missions the Viceroy of
Mexico was the final arbiter of all disputed points, but the
immediate authority and supervision was given to a padre
president, who had advisory control of all the missions. As
there was a military governor of the entire province in which
the mission was located, frequent disputes occurred between
the military and ecclesiastics. In each mission were two eccle-
siastics ; the senior having control of the internal affairs of
the mission, and his subordinate, who superintended the con-
struction of buildings, the sowing and harvesting of grain, and
the management of the flocks and herds.

It will be seen that by this system the neophyte was poli-
tically and economically a slave ; the missionary had control of
his labor-power and had a legal right to the products of his toil.
The law called for Indian magistrates, but the part played by
the neophyte in this novel state was exceedingly small. The
fathers utilized the leaders of the tribes, " capitans " as they
were called, in the control of the natives, and frequently went
through the formality of an election in appointing them as
mayordomas or overseers, alcaldes or councilmen ; but it was
indeed a matter of form, for the power all lay with the priest.

The life of the natives at the missions varied with the
nature of the friar in charge, but as a rule the tasks were not
too heavy. Upon the whole, the life was quite easy enough to
those who liked it, although the neophyte found the steady
round of duties at the mission far different from that which
the wild and reckless habits of his former life had taught him.
Under the discipline of the mission he must undergo a cease-
less round of religious, social and industrial duties, which
must have been severe indeed to the life that had been
accustomed to its freedom and had never toiled except by acci-
dent. Much attention was given to religious affairs, and if
we may credit the report of explorers, frequently the temporal
needs of the natives, who lived in a condition little removed

38 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [152

from the original, were sacrificed for the sake of religious and
ceremonial practices.

As the products of the labor of the neophytes were under the
control of the friars, and as a large amount of the products
were spent in embellishing the churches or were hoarded in
the missions, it is evident that much more might have been
done to relieve the temporal condition of the natives and con-
sequently to improve their spiritual condition.1

At sunrise the angelus summoned all to mass, and from
the several departments, directed by the overseers and led by
the priest, the neophytes filed into the church to engage, for
one hour, in public worship. At the close of the public service
breakfast was served and the natives repaired, as directed by
the overseers, to the fields or to the workshops, to pursue their
various occupations. Seven hours of each day were devoted to
labor, two to specific prayer, and the remainder of the time
to rest and divine worship. The neglect of religious service
was considered a misdemeanor and visited by corporal punish-
ment. The industries of the mission were varied. Apart from
the missions were the great ranches where the sheep, cattle and
other stock were herded or allowed to roam with the least pos-
sible care. These needed attention and were cared for by the
natives, under the direction of the overseers of Indian blood.
Somewhat nearer the mission were the fields for sowing and
the vegetable gardens and the orchards; all o* these needed
care and hard work. Then the creek or the river must be
dammed and the long irrigation ditch built and these must be
kept in repair. In seed time, and in harvest, as well as while
the crops were growing, there was no lack of toil for the
domesticated Indian.

There were other industries carried on. Artisans were sent
from Mexico to teach the natives to make saddles and shoes, to
work at the forge, to spin and weave, and in fact to teach them
all of the common industrial arts. The construction of the

1 De Mofras, II, 316.

153] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 39

churches, the storehouses and the dwellings required much
labor, for stones must be quarried, brick made and dried in
the sun and timber hewn and frequently carried a great dis-
tance. For all of this the native received food, clothing and
instruction. The food of the natives consisted of roasted
barley (atole) for the morning meal, which was prepared while
mass was progressing, by persons appointed, one from each
cabin, as cooks for the time being. The barley was roasted in
quantities and further prepared by boiling, but apportioned to
the neophytes daily, according to their supposed needs. At noon
a more substantial meal was served, composed of vegetables, in
addition to the barley preparation.1 Doubtless the natives were
more regularly and better fed than when wild they fed upon
the products of the chase, or on roots, herbs and acorns, but
it may be doubted that they were better physically under this
new life.

The clothing of the natives was always meagre ; a coarse
cloth was made into blankets and shirts which, with shoes or
sandals, made their chief covering, although sometimes a more
complete civilian dress was given. When a ship arrived from
Spain or Mexico small quantities of fancy goods were dis-
tributed among the neophytes.

As for shelter, the first houses of the natives, in their domes-
ticated state, were made of sticks, driven in the ground and
covered with straw. They were not far removed from the
rude huts in which the natives dwelt prior to their connection
with the missions. The sun and air had free play in the
loose structures and the inmates suffered much from the effect
of the storms of winter, but it was maintained by the fathers
that the natives could not be induced to live in better ones and
that these structures were more conducive to their health than
closely constructed buildings. It was also necessary to burn
these houses occasionally in order to free them from vermin,
and it cost but little labor to replace hovels. It is to be

1 Forbes, 219.

40 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [154

noticed, however, that as soon as convenient the natives were
given more substantial houses, although the public buildings
of necessity had to be remodelled first, and especially the
church. In the larger buildings of the mission better apart-
ments were prepared for the fem.aj.es, who were regularly
locked up for the night, that they might be properly protected.

Not all of the time of the natives at the mission was
occupied in religious ceremonies and the daily routine of toil.
The life at the missions was relieved by social hours, in which
the neophytes could engage in games or enjoy idleness, as
suited their taste. They were very fond of games and music
and the padres took advantage of these inclinations to teach
them many things in a social way.1 Besides some innocent
game,s of chance, gambling was learned from the Spaniards
and carried to criminal excess.2 Dancing was a favorite
pastime in some of the missions. In their games the Indians
resembled grown children in simplicity. We must except gam-
bling, in which, like drinking, they imitated to perfection a
class of white men who were anything but childlike. The
padres took great pains to teach the domesticated natives music
on the violin and other instruments, and as the neophytes
were fond of this pastime it helped to spend the evenings
more pleasantly, and was especially helpful at divine worship.

Much could be added of interest pertaining to the life at
the missions, but the subject will be closed with a quotation
from De Mofras describing the mission of San Louis Key :
" The building is a quadrilateral. The church occupies one of
its wings; the fa9ade is ornamented with a gallery. The
building, raised about ten feet above the soil is two stories
in height. The interior is formed by a court. Upon the
gallery, which runs around it, are the dormitories of the
monks, of the majordomas and of travellers, small workshops,
school-rooms and storehouses. The hospitals are situated in
the most quiet part of the mission, where the schools are kept.

1 La Perouse, II, 224. 2 Forbes, 223.

155] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 41

The young Indian girls dwell in the halls called the monas-
tery, and they themselves are called nuns. They are obliged
to be secluded to be secure from outrage by the Indians.
Placed under the care of Indian matrons, who are worthy of
confidence, they learn to make clothes of wool, cotton and flax
and do not leave the monastery until they are old enough to
be married. The Indian children mingle in the schools with
those of the white colonists. A certain number, chosen
among the pupils who display the most intelligence, learn
music, chanting, the violin, the flute, the violincello and other
instruments. Those who distinguish themselves in the car-
penters' shop, at the forge or in agricultural labors are
appointed alcaldes or chiefs (overseers) and charged with the
direction of a squad of workmen. Before the civil power was
substituted for the paternal government of the missionaries
the administrative body of each mission consisted of two
monks, of whom the elder had charge of the interior and of
the religious instructions and the younger of the agricultural
works. In order to maintain morals and good order in the
missions they employed only so many of the whites as were
absolutely necessary, for they knew that their influence was
wholly evil, and that an association among them only de-
veloped those habits of gambling and drunkenness to which

ley are unfortunately too much inclined."1
The missions were all built upon the same general plan,

Ithough they differed very much in regard to convenience,
quality, and magnitude of structure. At first the build-
ings were of the rudest nature conceivable, but these gave
way to more substantial structures of stone or brick. The
plan of building about a quadrilateral with the buildings
opening on an interior court planted with gardens where the
trades could be plied in the open air on pleasant days, was
universal. The church was the principal building, and upon
it was lavished the greater part of the wealth of the primitive

42 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [156

community, and upon it was bestowed the most elaborate work
of the padres and their carpenters. The walls of the buildings
were thick and substantial. Though the architecture was
somewhat clumsy it is to-day a monument of the skill and
industry of the padres.

There are traces of the Moorish architecture as modified
in Spain after the first expulsion of Moors in the eighth
century. The Saracens introduced certain types of architec-
ture which they derived from eastern countries and these
types became prominent features of the national architecture
of Spain.1 The Roman was united with these types in
their development. This primitive architecture was trans-
planted to America before the universal introduction of the
pointed arch called Gothic; indeed, there are remnants of
this Moorish style in the modern architecture of Spain, the
Gothic never having completely dominated it.2 But the old
architecture remains in its purest forms in the Spanish prov-
inces, thus following a universal law of development. The
remains of the old buildings are full of historic interest, but
the historian looks beyond the buildings to the ruins of the
institutions represented there, and reflects upon the course of
events that wrought a civilization which endured less than a
century; upon the nature of the government that existed,
failed and passed suddenly away. The buildings are fast
crumbling into decay ; the natives are scattered, the most of
them dead, and soon there will not be a vestige left of the
civilization that cost hoards of treasure and many lives, and
was an expression of holy zeal and long continued self-denial.

The plan of reducing the country by means of missionaries
involved the intention of the government to change, as soon as
possible, the missions into pueblos and to replace the mission-
aries with regular ecclesiastics.3 This plan had been adopted

1 Freeman.

2 Del Arte Arabe en Espana, par D. Rafael Contreras, 101.
8 Wm. Cary Jones, Report on Land Titles in Ccdifornia, 13.

157] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 43

in Mexico and in other provinces of New Spain, and it was
clearly the intention of the government to carry it out in
California as soon as practicable. The patriarchal community
was to be changed into a civil community, the missionary
field was to become a diocese, and the president of the missions
to be replaced by a bishop.1 The mission churches were to
become curacies and the communicants of the neighborhood
were to become parish worshippers. The monks who had
entire charge of the missions having taken vows of poverty
and obedience were civilly dead and consequently had no right
to property. The missions had no right or title to the land,
either by general law or grant, but held an easement or
usufruct of the occupied territory. It was supposed that within
a period of ten years the Indians would be sufficiently instructed
in Christianity and the arts of civilized life to become citizens,
and that the missions would become pueblos, all passing under
civil jurisdiction.2

The plan of secularization of the missions was well under-
stood by the government and the church, and there could be
no doubt on any question except that of the time when the
natives must be educated in the forms of industry and civil
government and prepared for an independent life. The
priests were zealous in the instruction of the Indians in the
industries and had given to the leading ones more or less inde-
pendence, but the entire mass of the natives was tending
away from independence and self-government toward a species
of slavery. They went through the daily round of toil under
fear of punishment and allowed the missionaries to think and
act for them in all other matters. In fact they were becom-
ing less and less prepared to maintain an independence in
contact with a superior race.3 The plan of secularization also
involved the grant of lands to the Indians in severalty, but
the church had no power to make such grants.

1 Dwindle, 20. * Opinion of Judge Felch, Dwinelle, 20 : Moses, 9.

3Cf. Humboldt, New Spain, I, 421.

44 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [158

In choosing the lands for the establishment of the missions
the padres had wisely chosen the most fertile and otherwise
most favorably located valleys, and soon a line of twenty-one
missions extended from San Diego to Point Reyes, occupying
all of the most fertile land of the coast. For the mission
property included the missions and grounds, the tillable
lands, as well as the great pasture fields where the herds of
the mission were kept.1 Thus the claims of one mission
touched the claims of another, and as no civil town could be
legally founded within five miles of the mission 2 the entire
land was exempt from the settlement of Spaniards*

Having lived a long time on the lands which they were
accustomed to treat as their own ; having accumulated property
and having governed with almost absolute sway, the friars,
though they owned not a foot of soil, were never ready to give
over the property to secular authority without a struggle ; con-
sequently they invariably fell back upon the fact that the
neophytes were not yet fit to become citizens. The secular
clergy and the friars had been at strife on this question for cen-
turies,3 and many complaints had been entered against the friars
by gentes de razon on account of the arbitrary manner in which
they strove to control the lands. Finally, to settle the matter,
the Spanish Cortes passed a decree on the thirteenth of Sep-
tember, 1813, to ,the effect that missions which had been
founded ten years should be given over to the bishop, without
excuse or pretext, in accordance with the laws. The friars
might be appointed temporary curates and a certain number
might be retained permanently where needed, but the majority
must move on to new fields.4

By this, the first law respecting secularization in California,
the missions were to be transformed into pueblos, the mission
lands to be reduced to private ownership and the neophytes

1 Bryant, History of California, 281. * Eeeopiiacion, IV, V, 6.

•Bancroft, California, II, 399. * Bancroft, California, II, 499.

159] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 45

governed by town councils and by civil authorities.1 The
last section of the decree reads as follows : " The religious
missionaries shall immediately cease from the government and
the administration of the property (haciendas) of said Indians,
it being left to the care and election of these (Indians) to
appoint among themselves, by means of their ayuntamientos,
and with the intervention of the governor, persons to their
satisfaction, capable of administering it, distributing the lands
and reducing them to private property, agreeably to the decree
of the 4th of January, 1813, respecting the reduction of
vacant and other lands to private dominions." 2 This decree
took effect in portions of Spanish America, but was not officially
published in California until January 20th, 1820, and was prob-
ably unknown there until its publication. At this time the Vice-
roy of Mexico published a proclamation which he forwarded
to Prefect Payeras and Guardian Lopez, with instructions to
comply with the terms of the decree at once, or as soon as
demanded by the bishop. This led to a controversy, and with
this the matter was dropped for the time.

After the revolution in Mexico the subject was again
agitated, the friars continued to resist all encroachments upon
the mission lands, although they were coveted by many
and although the missions had proved the granaries of the
country and the friars had always rendered assistance to the
presidios and the pueblos, there was still a feeling that the mis-
sion system was antagonistic to the best interests of the country
and the government. But the main plea for the secularization
was that the Indians were in. a state of servitude, and, indeed,
in the decrees of secularization, the term " emancipation " was
used in reference to the neophytes.

Again, in 1833, the Mexican law declared that the govern-
ment should proceed to secularize the missions of Upper and
Lower California according to principles already laid down.3

1 Tuthill, California, 126.

* HallecVs Eeport, 125 ; Hall's History of San Jose, 430 ; Dwindle, 39.

zHalleck's Report, 148.

46 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [160

Article fifth of these regulations provides that "To every
head of a family, and all of those above twenty-one years of
age although they have no family, a lot of land, whether
irrigable or otherwise, if not exceeding four hundred varas
square, nor less than one hundred, shall be given out of the
common lands of the missions ; and in community a sufficient
quantity of land shall be allotted them for watering their
cattle ; common lands shall be assigned to each pueblo, and
when convenient municipal lands also." * In accordance with
the same instrument one half of all the movable property
and personal property was to be divided among the settled
neophytes. The Indians were forbidden to sell, burden or
alienate, under any pretext, the lands which may be given
them, neither might they sell their cattle. In order to carry
out this plan of secularization the governor was instructed to
appoint commmissioners who should take an inventory of
property, lay out land for the Indians and explain to them,
with " suavity and patience," the changes about to take place.
In the following year the California deputation, in accordance
with the Mexican law, established specific regulations for
secularization.

From this time on, numerous laws and decrees were passed
by the Mexican Congress or by the authorities in California
for the secularization of the missions, with a final result of the
destruction of the greater part of the mission property. The
laws which had for their assumed purpose the conversion of
the missions into pueblos " were, after all, executed in such a
manner that the so-called secularization of the missions resulted
in their plunder and complete ruin and in the demoralization
and depression of the Christianized Indians." 2 Whether so
intended or not the ruin was complete, and the civilization
wrought by the faith and the zeal of sixty years was soon
destroyed by the improper legislation of a fickle and revo-
lutionary government. De Mofras states that there were

1 Ibid, 150. 2 Dwinelle, 54.

161] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 47

30,650 Indians connected with the missions in 1834 and only
4,450 in 1842, and that the property of the missions had
declined in like ratio. Of the 424,000 horned cattle in posses-
sion of the missions in 1834 there remained only 28,220 in
1842. Other wealth of the missions was squandered in a like
ratio. The amount of this wealth was considerable, for
in twenty-one missions, extending on a line from San Fran-
cisco to San Diego, linking together the most fertile valleys of
the coast, there were produced in 1834, 70,000 bushels of
wheat and 30,000 bushels of smaller grain; also 100,000 cattle
were slaughtered every year, yielding a product of ten dollars
per head.1 The total product of the missions was more than
two million dollars, and the valuation of movable stock, aside
from the buildings, orchards, vineyards, etc., was, in 1834, not
less than three millions. Besides all of this the " Pious
Fund " yielded an income of fifty thousand dollars.2

Many criticisms are, from time to time, offered on the
methods pursued by the Franciscan fathers and the Spanish
authorities in their attempts to civilize the Indians, but history
records no better work ever accomplished in modern times for
an inferior race. Over thirty thousand natives had been
domesticated and well started on the road to civilization.
They had been brought from the state of savagery, taught to
wear clothes and accustomed to a regular life of toil, taught to
read and write, instructed in music and trained in the service
of the church and practiced in the doctrines of the Christian
religion.3 They were taught the useful trades, and could they
have been persuaded to continue, they might, under favorable
circumstances, have been self-supporting. But the system
rested upon the theory of no contact with other races, and the
neophytes were still treated as children.

The Indian was treated too much like a child, too much
like a slave, and too little like a man.4 There had not yet

1 De Mofras, I, 321. 'John C. Doyle, Oal. Hist. Soc., Vol. I.

3 Dwinelle, 84. *La Perouse ; Bancroft, Cal, I, 436.

48 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [162

been instilled into him the principles of and practice of poli-
tical and economic independence. Yet a recent visit to
Haskell Institute assures me that the United States Govern-
ment, after experimenting for over a hundred years in the
treatment of the Indians, has finally adopted the principal
features of a method used by the Franciscans in California
over a century ago. They are taught the useful trades, arts and
music and instructed in the elements of learning. The late
Indian severalty bill also has in it a familiar feature of this
old method, as it provides for the ownership of a piece of
land by every Indian, which shall be guaranteed as his own.

Civic COLONIES.

The purely civic colonies of California were called pueblos
to distinguish them from missions or presidios. The term
pueblo, in its most extended meaning, may embrace towns of
every description, from a hamlet to a city, and consequently
might apply equally well to the missions, with their adjacent
Indian villages, to the small villages springing up around the
presidios, or to the regularly settled colony. However, in its
special significance, a pueblo means a corporate town, with
certain rights of jurisdiction and administration. In Spain
the term lugar was usually applied to towns of this nature,
but the Spanish Americans have preferred and persistently
used the term pueblo. But the word may be used in several
distinct ways, each of which may be entirely correct. In the
first place it had a political significance when it was applied
to the jurisdiction of all the legal voters within a certain
territory ; secondly, it applied to the judicial jurisdiction
represented by an alcalde of the pueblo, which did not always
coincide with the political jurisdiction ; and thirdly, the pueblo
had a proprietary existence defined by the rights to certain
lands given by the grant, and when complete it had a town
council (ayuntamiento), composed of councilmen (regidores),

163] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 49

judges (alcaldes) and a mayor.1 This view gives to the con-
ception of the term a wider signification than that of a mere
collection of houses (aldea), its most common signification.

The use of these terms remind us that the origin of this
institution, like that of many others in Spanish America,
dates from an early period of old Spain. It is quite remark-
able that in our so-called Anglo-Saxon nation there should
have existed, as late as the present century, so many of the
customs and usages of a Romance people, and that there still
remain in some of our States vestiges of the laws and judicial
procedure of old Spain. Spain has ever been a conservative
nation, in spite of frequent revolutions, and her customs and
laws have been preserved throughout the centuries, and, like
other nations, the best preservation of these laws and customs
is found in her colonies.

Not only was Spain the first territory to be fully colonized
by Rome but the first to develop the municipal system, the
first to allow the communes representation in the general
assembly, and the first, in fact, to formulate a code of modern
laws. The Spanish commune had its origin in the attempt of
the government to repopulate the territory made vacant by
the wars against the Saracens, and especially those lands
vacated by them.2 Inducements were held out by the govern-
ment to settlers to form towns, with certain chartered rights
granted to the colonists (pobladores). The first charter granted
is said to have been that of the city of Leon in 1020, which
recognizes the municipal council as a time-honored institution.

In this charter, and in others of this period, the citizens
were granted certain privileges of the succession of property
and a right to their own judges, either appointed by a higher
authority or elected wholly or in part by the people of the town.4

1 Instructions of the Governor of California in a letter to the Ayunta-
miento of Monterey, Jan. 25th, 1836; cf. Dwinelle, 51.

2 Dunham, History of Spain and Portugal, 99.
3Hallam, Middle Ages, Part II, Chap. II.

4 Alberto Lista, Del Regimen en Espana.

50 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [164

It is difficult to point out the exact origin of the munici-
pality. It is claimed by some that the Roman municipality
was never entirely obliterated by the Teutonic and Arabic
invaders and that many of the early colonies of Rome retained
their identity and their time-honored rights. Considering the
general effect of the Roman law and the Roman government,
especially that of the municipality, upon the Northern invaders
this is wholly plausible. At a very early period the Spanish
pueblo was composed of lords and commoners, but in connec-
tion with these were the courts or companeros of the king,
consisting of the military governors and captains of the army
charged with the defence of the country and the re-settlement
of the frontier.1 It is certain that the towns must have made
some progress in self-government at an early date, for we find
that the towns were granted popular representation in a general
assembly about the middle of the twelfth century.2 The depu-
ties of the towns were represented in the courts of Leon in
1188, and there are references that seem to indicate that this
was not the first instance of popular representation.3

The establishment of towns with municipal rights and
popular representation developed a new branch of the law
composed of fueros, that is of chartered rights, of privileges and
decrees. The first compilation of these new laws occurred in
the famous Siete Partidas, formulated by Alphonso X in 1258,
which became, after the succeeding reign, the basis of the
common law of Spain and the authority to which were re-
ferred all procedures of doubtful character.4 Although this
body of laws was formed of the Code Justinian, the code of
the West Goths and the Fueros Real, it represented a body of
ancient law and usage that endured throughout all subsequent
legislation. Consequently it formed the basis of the royal de-

2 Popular representation occurred about a century later in France, Eng-
land, Italy and Germany ; cf. Hallam, Part II, Ch. II.

3 Dunham, IV, 134. * Dunham, IV, 134.

165] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 51

crees made for the settlement and the government of the colonies.
Based on this code the kings of Spain, especially Charles V,
Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV, made laws and gave de-
crees for the settlement and government of Spanish America.
Not only was the newly colonized territory considered a part of
the national domain, but the laws and ordinances for its govern-
ment were promulgated from the central government. In this,
as well as in the idea of peopling and guarding the frontier,
the Roman method was closely followed. All details must
be reduced to law and pass through a process of administration
before any action was taken, nothing was trusted to the needs
of the colony arising from peculiarity of situation or from
subsequent development.

Nevertheless the Spanish sovereigns endeavored to work
out in detail those laws best suited to the supposed con-
dition of the settlers, and in later times they endeavored to
consider the exact condition of the colonists before making
laws for their control. But it was not until the time of Carlos
III that there was any show of liberality on the part of the
sovereign in regard to self-government. There was at this
time, after two hundred and fifty years of occupancy of the
land, evidence of original development, of the modification of
the old laws and of provincial independence. But it was very
slight, as we find the laws of two and a half centuries being
enforced with little modification. The colonies were servile,
and as far as administration was concerned, they developed
but little vital liberty.

There was, however, one distinct feature of the Spanish
American town which separated it from others of its class in
the old world — and that was unity. Made after the same
pattern the towns and colonies were quite similar. Not so in
Europe, for it was not uncommon to find a single province
containing towns of every variety, one holding its lands in
full proprietary right, another by mere usurpation, another in
common with a neighboring lord, and yet another in partner-
ship with a bishop, a church, a convent or a monastery. All

52 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [166

liberty in the towns of old Spain was either purchased or
forced from the power of feudal nobility or received directly
through chartered rights granted by the sovereign.

There was at least symmetry in the foundation of the
rights of the towns of Spain, and this led to the formation of
all the towns in the colonies upon the same general type, or at
least after special types.1 This had a tendency to guarantee
the rights of the town and to free it from irregularities and
exactions. And, as has been already stated, the general laws
and regulations governing the province and the provincial
town proceeded from the crown, nevertheless the provincial
governors were recognized as having special privileges, and
their recommendations were frequently followed, and especially
so during the latter part of Spanish rule ; and under Mexican
domination, the provincial governors were recognized as having,
to a certain extent, an independent administration.

Although laws for the settlement of the new territories
were made by Charles V, the first general system of laws regu-
lating colonization were enacted by Philip II.2 There were two
principal methods set forth in the royal decrees. The first
vested the land by proprietary right in the individual, pro-
vided that he found a colony after prescribed rules. The
second plan granted the land to a company of individuals and
reserved to them certain rights as citizens and colonists. The
first method allowed the proprietor to settle a town with
Spanish colonists by contract, with a town council (ayuntami-
ento), composed of alcaldes and regidores, and required the
proprietor, as a guarantee of the grant, to establish, within a
given time stated in the contract, thirty settlers each provided
with a house, ten breeding cows, four oxen and additional
small stock.3 The proprietor must procure a priest for the
administration of the sacrament and provide a church and

1 Dwindle, 34.

9 RecopUaeion de leyes de los reynos de las Indias, II, 19.
3 RecopUaeion, Libro IV, Titulo V, ley. 6.

167] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 53

utensils for divine worship. The priest was at first tempo-
rarily appointed by the proprietor, but the king reserved the
right to make all subsequent appointments. Should the
proprietor fail to comply with all the requirements of the
law as manifest in his bond, the improvements already made
would revert to the king and the proprietor be subjected to an
additional fine of one thousand pesos of gold; on the other
hand, should he succeed in founding the colony according to
agreement, he was then entitled to four square leagues of land.

By the second method it was provided that ten married
citizens, or more, might form a settlement, with the customary
pueblo grant of four leagues of land. They were accorded
the common municipal rights and granted the privilege of
electing, annually, alcaldes of the ordinary jurisdiction and a
common council.1 This guaranteed to the settlers certain
democratic rights, and represents in this respect the type of
the true Spanish pueblo. More laws were added to these from
time to time, the Spanish sovereigns always giving very
explicit instructions to the minutest details of procedure;
even so small a matter as sending irons for branding cattle
must receive the royal sanction.

The laws for the colonization of California, though based
on the laws above referred to, were set forth in regulations
proclaimed by Philip de Neve, governor of provincial Cali-
fornia in 1779, but did not receive the royal approval until
1781. The first settlement in Alta California had been made
ten years prior to this proclamation and several missions and
presidios had been founded in the intervening time. These
regulations mark the beginning of a new enterprise, that of
an attempt to settle the province with Spanish people (gente
de razon). They represent but little that is new in the law,
but are rather a development and explanation of the laws of
the Indies. The regulations relate to all departments of the
government of the province, but title fourteen treats especially

., ley. 10.

54 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [168

of political government and colonization. The instructions
are set forth clearly and in detail, embracing the methods to
be employed in founding colonies and the rules to govern
the colonists.1 In the introduction the governor states that it
was desirable to found colonies in California in order " to
fulfil the pious intentions of the king " and to secure to his
majesty " the dominion of the extensive country which occu-
pies a space of more than two hundred leagues, comprehend-
ing the new establishments, the presidios and the respective
ports of San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco." Another
reason of prime importance was urged, that towns should be
established in the interest of the state in order that the people
might encourage agriculture, cattle breeding and other branches
of industry to such an extent that in a few years the produce
of the colonies would be sufficient to supply the garrisons of
the presidios. San Jose" had already been founded with this
idea in view and another pueblo was contemplated to be
peopled with settlers (pobladores) from Sinaloa and Sonora.
In this way it was hoped to obviate the great risks and
losses which the royal government might suffer in the trans-
portation of supplies so great a distance. Still another con-
sideration must not be overlooked, namely, the new colonies
would supply recruits for the presidio garrisons, and at the
ime time prove a means of defence to the entire country.
The law provided that each poblador, to whom house lots or
lands were granted, should be obliged to hold himself " equipped
with two horses and a complete saddle, musket and other
arms " for the defence of his respective district, subject to the
call of the government.2 It would not be difficult to trace
in this grant of land, on consideration that the receiver hold
himself in readiness to defend the king's territory, something
analogous to the old feudal regime.

1 Halleck's Report, Ex. Doc. 17 ; 31st Con., 1st Sess., 134-9 ; Hall's History
of San Jose, 450, et seq; Dwinelle's Colonial History of San Francisco; Ban-
croft, Col., I, 333; Archives of Col., 732, 762, 746.

8 Regulations of de Neve, XIV, 16.

169] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 55

Prior to the regulations of Neve each settler was entitled to
receive one hundred and twenty dollars and food, annually, for
the first two years after enlisting as a colonist, and provisions
alone for the three following years. At the end of five years
he might be put in full possession of the land, provided that
all of the conditions had been fulfilled. By the new regula-
tions this law was changed so as to give to each settler one
hundred and sixteen dollars and seventeen and a half cents
for each of the first two years and sixty dollars per annum for
each of the remaining three years. The colonists were to
enter upon their possessions at once, their salaries, stipends
and rations beginning with the enlistment.1 But these pro-
visions were a small part of the inducements offered to settlers
by the Spanish government. Each settler was entitled to
receive a house-lot, a tract of land for cultivation, another for
pasture and a loan of sufficient stock and implements to make
a comfortable beginning. In addition to these he received
two mares, two cows and one calf, two sheep and two goats, all
breeding animals ; two horses, one cargo mule and one yoke of
oxeir <5r~steefs"; one plow point, one spade, (of wood with steel
point) one axe, one sickle, one wooden knife, one musket and
one leather shield. In addition there were given to the com-
munity at large, to be held as town property, the males, cor-
responding to the total number of cattle of the different kinds
distributed to the settlers, and other animals, for the purpose of
breeding. The town also had one forge, one anvil, six crow-
bars, six iron spades, the tools necessary for carpenter and
cast work and other necessary tools and utensils.

The implements and stock granted to the settlers were to be
repaid within five years, in horses and mules, " fit to be given
and received/7 But the surplus produce of the colonists must
be purchased by the government for the use of the presidios,
and a certain part of this return must be set aside each year
for the payment of the loans.2 And all of the above regulations

1 Neve, XIV, 3. * Neve, XIV, 15.

56 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [170

were approved by his majesty the king, according to the laws
of the Indies.

In the process of founding the town and laying out the
land the instructions were not less explicit. By an ancient
law a pueblo grant was four square leagues of land, laid
out in the form of a square or an oblong, according to the
conditions of the country.1

The first point to be established was the plaza, which in an
inland town must be laid out in a rectangular form at the
center of the town, or in case it was on a river or bay, the
plaza was to be located on the water front.2 Having located
the plaza the surveyors proceeded to lay out the town, dividing
it into blocks and lots.3 At the center of the plaza was located
the pueblo jail (juzgado), and facing the plaza were the public
buildings, the council house, the church, the store rooms, etc.,
while the remaining frontage was occupied by dwelling-houses.4
There are traces of these old plazas yet remaining in some
of the towns of California, although the majority have been
used for public parks or for the location of public build-
ings. After the location of public buildings, the land com-
posing the remainder of the proposed towns was divided into
building lots and granted to the founders (pobladores). The
Spanish law provided that each settler should receive a build-
ing lot thirty varas square, separated by streets often varas in
width between each block of two lots.5

However, there were variations in the size of the house lot ;
thus, the lots of Los Angeles were twenty by forty varas and
by the Mexican ordinance of 1828 for the colonization of the
territories of the Republic, each lot must be one hundred
varas square.6

1 Recopttacion, II, 19. 2 BecopUacion, V, IV, 6.

3 Bancroft, Central America, I, 496. 4 See Figure 1, B.
6 A vara is a Spanish yard of 32^ inches, and is still used as a measure
in selling city lots in California towns.
6 Halleck, Sec. 15,142.

171] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest.

57

p

ann

O -5

l&
10 II

t

lH

i«i

air I

73!
rjl

t

•ronmirg:

= SBJBA ooo'OI

58 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [172

Thus the town proper was laid out for the erection of
dwellings and for religious and political purposes. But in
considering the Spanish pueblo it must be remembered that it
included a large area, ten thousand varas square, of which the
collection of houses represents but a small part. In this
respect it resembled the New England town, as it included not
only village lots but small farms of tillable soil, the commons,
common pasture and common woodland.1 Consequently there
were, in addition to the town lots, five classes of lands to be
considered in the formation of a town, as follows : First,
there was a certain strip of land, called ejidos, lying on one
side of the town, or else surrounding it entirely, which must
be reserved for the convenience and common benefit of the
colonists, where they might pasture a few milch cows or tether
a horse.2 In its use it bears a close resemblance to the com-
mons of the New England town. The ejidos belonged to the
town and could not be alienated from it except by royal order
granting its occupation by new settlers.3 It seems that this
was one method employed to allow the town to expand after all
of the lots of the original survey had been taken. Although the
laws are explicit in guaranteeing to each pueblo ejidos assigned
out of the public domain, there seem to have been differences of
opinion and of usage at different periods concerning their
disposal.4

It was held by Gutierrez that the ejidos must be maintained
as vacant suburbs for pasturage of cows and horses and for
ventilation, walks and alleys, but could be sold, if necessary,
by the town for building lots.5 Dwindle and Hall each
assert that the Spanish law resembles that of the ancient

1 See Fig. 1 A. * Recopilacivn, IV, VII, 7, 13, 14.

3 Ibid, 13.

4 Dwindle holds that the term " ejidos," used in a general sense, meant
all of the common lands attached to a town, but that it also had a par-
ticular meaning of " commons," as described above. Gutierrez gives the
same explanation. Dwindle, 32, 337.

5 Dwindle, 52.

173] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 59

Hebrews in regard to the " field of the suburbs," which says :
" But the field of the suburbs (or pasture lands) of their cities
may not be sold for it is their perpetual possession."1 The
situations of the Hebrew commonwealth and the Spanish
monarchy were so widely different that little is to be gained
by the comparison, although there is a striking resemblance in
the law and the usage in both countries. The king of Spain
being absolute proprietor of the land in theory and practice,
all grants of public lands to towns gave to those towns the full
right and title to the lands which the king could not revoke,
although he might usurp these rights. Nevertheless, the
grant to a town was not equivalent to a grant in fee simple
but rather a guarantee of perpetual use. The grants to settlers
were of similar nature, and consequently when the king granted
the occupation of the lands to settlers it was a transfer of use
only, and the king could maintain a right to allow the occu-
pation of these towns by his own decree, although the town
could not. Under Mexican rule Gutierrez assigns the right
formerly held by the king to the town council.

Within the pueblo, and some distance from the village,
were located the arable lands or suertes which were granted to
the settler for the purposes of agriculture. These grants were
provided for in the laws of the Indies to which the regulations
of Neve apply more specifically. After the reservations of
the land for town lots and for the suburbs were made, all of
the remaining land was divided into two classes, the irrigable
and the non-irrigable. One-fourth of the lands having been
reserved for new settlers and another portion for the town, the
remainder was divided among the first founders. If there
were sufficient lands to allow it, each poblador received two
suertes of irrigable land and two of non-irrigable, the latter
suitable for pasture or crops without irrigation. As each
suerte consisted of a tyt two hundred varas square, every
settler received, under favorable circumstances, about twenty-

1 Dwinelle, 11 ; Hall, 52 ; Leviticus, XXV, 34.

60 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [174

eight acres of tillable land besides his own lot. All citizens
were treated alike in the distribution of lands, and in this
the Spanish colony differed from the Roman, in which land
was allotted according to the rank of officers and civilians.

The conditions attached to the grants indicate the strong
hold the king retained on the lands, for by the laws of the
Indies, colonists were forbidden to sell or otherwise alienate
their lands until after the fourth year of their occupation ; 1
but this law must have been changed, for we find the regula-
tions of 1791 forbidding, under any conditions, the disposal of
land by sale. The houses and lands were to remain forever as a
perpetual inheritance to the sons and daughters of the colonists,
with the exception that the daughters should receive no land
unless married to useful colonists who had received no grant.
Although the lands were to be kept " indivisable and inalien-
able forever " the owner of the suerte might, if he chose, will
it to one son, provided he be a layman. Another precaution-
ary measure asserted that the colonists and their successors
could not impose upon the house or parcel of land allotted
them, " either tax, entail, reversion, mortgage (centa, vincula
fianza, hipotica) or any other burden, although it be for pious
purposes." The penalty for failing to comply with this law
was the entire forfeiture of the property in question. This
law, in part, survived the revolution, for we find in the decree
of 1824 that lands shall not be transferred in mortmain.2

Among other conditions of grants worthy of notice is that
within five years after his first occupation each settler must
possess two yoke of oxen, two plows, two points, two hoes and
other instruments for tilling the soil, and by the end of three
years he must have a house entirely finished and " supplied
with six hens and a cock."

The colonists were forbidden to kill any cattle granted
them, or their increase, within the fi^st five years, but sheep
and goats might be disposed of at the age of four years. The

1 RecopUacion, IV, XII, 1. 2 Halleck's Report, 140.

175] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 61

penalty for the breach of this law was the forfeiture of the
amount of a year's rations.1 The colonists were exempt from
the payment of all tithes or any other tax on the products of
the lands and cattle given them, provided that within one year
from the date of settlement they build a house to live in, con-
struct a dam for irrigation and set out fruit or other trees on
the boundaries of their possessions. But the community
must complete, during the third year, a store-house to keep
the produce of the public sowing, and within the fourth year
suitable government buildings. Also from the third to the
fifth one almud (one-twelfth of a fanega, or one peck) of corn
must be given by each poblador for the sowing of the public
lands and these lands must be tilled, the grain harvested and
stored by the labor of the settlers. These were forms of
municipal taxation and the harvested grain was stored as
public revenue. But after the expiration of said term of five
years the new pobladores and their descendants will pay, in
the acknowledgment of the direct and supreme dominion
which belongs to the sovereign, one-half of a fanega2 of
Indian corn for each suerte of cultivable land.

The colonists of the civil establishments of California formed
in no respect a community where goods and property were
held in common, but there were connected with the founding
of the towns several characteristics which are marks of the old
village community. Within the four square leagues of land
included in the pueblo grant there were reserved for sale and
permanent occupation a common pasture land and a common
woodland which were secured to the settlers by law. The
pasture land was necessarily limited, but as it was established
by law that each pueblo be located at least five leagues from
every other village or settlement, there was sufficient room for
the pasturage of the large herds outside of the pueblo limits.3

1 Neve, Sec. 12.

2 One bushel ; a fanega being about two bushels.
*Recopilacion, VII, IV, 14.

62 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [176

These lands outside belonged to the king but they could be
used by the inhabitants of the town ; in fact, the great pasture
fields (dehisas) were guaranteed to each town.1 On these the
large herds belonging to the inhabitants of the town, usually
roamed without any special limits of territory except that of
convenience. Other property set apart for the common good
of the community was the royal lands (realengas) ; these were
devoted to the raising of revenue for the support of the town
government. Portions of these were set apart and assigned
to the care of the town council and were consequently called
" propios" or the estates of a city corporation. These lands
were to be leased to the highest bidder, for a term not exceed-
ing five years, and the proceeds of the rental were used to
defray the city expenses in lieu of taxes.2 The ayuntamientos
had full control of these lands and fixed the minimum price
of rent and conducted the rental. Not all of the expenses of
the town government were met in this way, but sufficient to
relieve taxpayers.

The fact of a government, having sole right and title to the
laud, founding a town in a new country, and reserving a part
of the public domain to defray the expenses of city govern-
ment and thus lessening taxes, appeals to our sense of justice
and is a subject for the consideration of the modern political
economist.3 Since it would not be well to free entirely a
people from taxation, the above method is a legitimate and
rational way of lightening the enormous burdens of taxation
that fall upon the people of large cities.

Another very important grant of land was termed a sitio
(site), which in its primary legal sense, meant the individual
grant of a square league of land. It obtained a general
signification as applied to all of those grants of land made to
individuals outside of the pueblo for the purpose of rearing

llbid. 'Dwinelle, 8, 51.

3 There is a parallel to this law in the Hebrew custom of reserving certain
lands for them that serve the city. Ezekiel, 48, 18.

177] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 63

cattle. It is through this process of obtaining land that the
extensive Spanish grants in California originated. The sitio
gradually increased in size until under Mexican rule the law
fixed the maximum grant that might be made to a- single
person at eleven square leagues of land, or about seventy-one
and one-half square miles, or very nearly two legal townships.
The regulation of 1824 provided that no person should be
allowed to receive a grant of more than one square league of
irrigable land, four superficial ones dependent upon the seasons,
and six superficial ones for the purpose of rearing cattle.1

In 1828 the maximum amount of grants to a single indi-
vidual was, of irrigable land, two hundred varas square, of
land dependent upon the seasons, eight hundred varas square,
and for breeding cattle twelve hundred varas square.2 The
legal titles to these Spanish grants have been the source of a
great deal of legislation in the California courts.

Having thus outlined the method of colonization as estab-
lished by law, it remains to give a brief description of the
few examples in history of the application of these laws in
California. Like all laws, and especially like Spanish laws
of the period, we shall find that they were far more exact in
theory than in practice. Philip de Neve was governor of
Lower California, with a nominal supervision of Upper Cali-
fornia prior to the year 1775, when a royal order directed him
to take up his residence at Monterey as governor of the
province, and Rivera, then at Monterey, to return to Loreto
to act as lieutenant-governor.3 The order was repeated the
following year and the change was directed to be made at once.
Philip de Neve believed in making permanent settlements of
Spanish people (gente de razon) in the province, as the only
means of successfully holding the territory against the en-
croachments of foreign nations. He also had the courage to
undertake measures for the encouragement of agriculture,

1 Halleck's Report, 139. 2 Hall, 142.

3 Bancroft, California, I, 307.

64

Spanish Colonization in the Southwest.

[178

commerce and other industries, trusting to receive the royal
sanction of his actions. Having resolved to form a pueblo he
proceeded to establish San Jose" according to law, and then
reported to the Viceroy what had been done, which in turn

FIG. 2.

/

18

a

12

H

15

16

13

12

11

8

9

10

6

7

3

4

5

a

1

2

a

F0EBLO

MAP OF SAN JOSE.

Bancroft, California, I, 350.
a, a, a, = Realengas. 1, 2, 3, etc. = Suertes.

was communicated to the king and received his royal sanction.
In his communication to the Viceroy in 1776, before leaving
Loreto, he had recommended the sowing of certain fertile
lands for the purpose of increasing government supplies.1

1 Bancroft, California, I, 311.

179] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 65

After taking a survey of Alta California he concluded that
his object could only be obtained by founding two pueblos, one
at Los Angeles and one at San Jose". He therefore asked the
authorities for laborers and necessary supplies for this purpose,
but without waiting for a reply he took nine soldiers from the
presidio of Monterey who knew something about farming, and
with five other settlers proceeded to the Guadalupe river and
made an informal settlement of San Jose" in 1777. Five
years after Don Pedro Fages, then governor of California,
ordered Don Jose* Moraga, lieutenant-commander of San
Francisco, to go to San Jose", and in accordance with the
royal regulations, to give in the name of the king, full posses-
sion of the lands to the nine pobladores, residents of San Jose".1
It would seem from this and the method pursued in the found-
ing of Los Angeles that it was customary to consider the con-
tract with the settlers formally closed after five years of occu-
pancy, when the settlers went into full possession of their
rights.

The commissioner placed each settler in formal and legal
possession of the soil and located all of the public lands accord-
ing to his best judgment, always complying with the regula-
tions of Neve.2 The commissioner chose two witnesses and
proceeded with the nine settlers to the land, and in the presence
of all located each man's grant. Each title was signed by the
two witnesses, and the one to whom the land was granted, and
then forwarded to the governor to sign.8 A copy of the deed
was held by the settler and it was properly recorded in the
register of the city council or " book of colonization." Each
colonist received one house lot, (solar) and four suertes for
cultivation. Soon after the site for the town had been selected
and the land surveyed, houses were constructed for the colonists.

1 Hall, 25.

2 The settlement of a colony by a commissioner resembles the Roman
method of sending out the colony in charge of the agrimensor or of three
magistrates. Livy, XXXII, 29.

3 Hall, 26.

66 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [180

They were at first very rude, being constructed of palisades or
posts driven in the ground and plastered with clay and roofed

FIG. 3.

MAP OF Los ANGELES, 1786.

Bancroft, California, I, 348.

A = Guard House. C = Trozo del posito.

B = Town Houses. D, E, F, etc. = Town Lots (solares).

L, F, G, H, etc. = Suertes.

The map of the pueblo (P) is on a scale five times greater than that of the fields (L, F,
G, etc.).

with poles and earth or with tiles. These rude structures
were not greatly improved for many years when they gave

'228^

181] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 67

away to more substantial dwellings of adobe. It is difficult to
realize as one walks the streets of the magnificent modern town
of San Jose" that its first foundation was represented by a few
inferior mud-bedaubed cabins. After the construction of the
houses for shelter, a dam was thrown across the river and
ditches constructed for irrigation. The town was situated on
an eminence by the river and near it the ejidos were laid out
fifteen hundred varas long and seven hundred varas wide. On
the other side of the river a tract nineteen hundred and fifty-
eight varas long was measured for realengas and propios.
/" In the foundation of Los Angeles the instructions of Neve
reveal several methods of procedure not given in the founda-
tion of other towns. After the selection the next step was to
select a suitable place for a dam, before the most suitable lands
could be selected for cultivation. The plaza of the town
must be two hundred by three hundred feet, and from it two
streets open out on each of two opposite sides and three on
each of the other two sides.1 The solares were authorized to
be twenty by thirty varas and their number equal to the
number of available suertes. On the east side of the plaza
the public lots were reserved for public buildings. In select-
ing lands the pobladores shared equally as to the number and
they cast lots for position, according to an ancient law.2

Notwithstanding the liberality and care of the Spanish
government to establish colonies the pueblos were not success-
ful. They continued an insignificant existence for a period of
nearly twenty years when the question of peopling the country
was again agitated, on account of the French, English and
American explorations on the Pacific coast. The sudden agi-
tation resulted in a determination to create a new settlement
on an improved plan and led to the founding of the villa of
Branciforte (Santa Cruz).

The plan of the town of Branciforte partook somewhat of
the nature of a presidial pueblo, although the cultivation of

1 Bancroft, I, 345. 2 Recopilacion, IV, VII, 7, 13, 14.

68 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [182

the soil and the practice of industries were associated with the
defence of the country. It was to be situated on the coast
and resembled in design the old Roman military town con-
structed for the defense of the frontier, but in real existence
Branciforte was but a third-rate pueblo. An attempt was
made to form a town of a higher class than those already
established, consequently the governor requested the Viceroy
to send robust country people from temperate or cold climates
to engage in farming, and artisans, smiths, carpenters,
stonecutters, masons, tailors, tanners, shoemakers, tilemakers
and sailors.1 The inducements held out to the settlers were
very favorable. Each civilian was to receive one hundred and
sixteen dollars annually for two years and sixty-six dollars
annually for the remaining three years, besides a house, live
stock and farming implements. Each soldier was to receive a
house, a year's pay and a supply of live stock and farming
implements. A peculiar feature of the laws for the settlement
of Branciforte was the order to grant every alternate house lot
to an Indian chief, who, living among citizens, officers and
soldiers, would thus become accustomed to civilized life and
lead his tribe to adopt the laws and customs of genie de razon.
This is evidence that the original plan of the Spaniards to
unite the two races in the possession of the soil had not yet
been abandoned. The greatest difficulty in the way in this
particular instance was that there were no Indian chiefs in
that locality.

The first colonists were to come from the surplus popula-
tions from San Jos6 and Los Angeles and subsequently the
artisans and soldiers were to arrive. The rules made for the
government of the colonists were very fine, indeed. They
were enjoined to live in harmony, to refrain from drunken-
ness, gambling and concubinage.2 The penalty for neglect
to attend mass on holidays was three hours in the stocks ;
prayer and the rosary must close the day's labor ; the annual

1 Bancroft, California, I, 568. * Bancroft, California, I, 569.

183] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 69

communion and confessional must be attended and certifi-
cates must be forwarded to the governor that these requirements
had been met.

It would seem that these liberal inducements and fair pros-
pects would bring an industrious and thrifty class of settlers
to found a thriving town, but with all of this the villa was a
failure, and the colonists, if not a criminal class, were at least
a worthless class. The commandante Guerra, writing to
Arrillaga, said that to take a charitable view of the subject,
their absence " for a couple of centuries, at a distance of a
million of leagues, would prove most beneficial to the province
and redound to the service of God and the glory of the king."

There were many things that caused the failure of the civil
colonies in California, but none greater than the character of
the majority of the colonists. The class of thrifty pioneers
seeking homes, so notable in the English colonies of the
Atlantic coast, was wanting. Spain had a minimum of thrs
class and they were needed at home. On the other hand, the
policy of shipping criminals to a new country was suicidal to
the interests of the colonies and to those of the parent country.
The colonies on the Atlantic coast had common cause of com-
plaint on account of the same practice, but they were more
fortunate than the Spanish colonies in this respect. The
majority of the colonists of New England came to build homes,
to accumulate property, to engage in industries and to establish
civil and religious liberty. A great purpose dominated their
entire life and controlled every adventure. Without assistance
from the government they wrought out their own destiny by
the master-stroke of toil ; they were true founders and
builders. On the other hand, the Spanish colonists were given
lands upon which to build, lands to till, live stock, tools and
rations and then paid a salary to occupy territory and live a
life of ease and laziness. The close proximity to the domes-
ticated Indians, who could be either hired or forced to work,
had a tendency to degrade all labor. Nearly all of the labor
was done by the neophytes, who were given a certain per-

70 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [184

centage of the crops for tilling the soil or were hired from the
padres at the missions. There were many other difficulties in
the way of success ; there was no market for produce and but
little commerce ; the general policy of Spain in the treatment
of her colonies was detrimental to the best interests of the
provinces. The colonies were for use, and though recognized
as an integral part of the kingdom there was a continual
process of subordination of the interests of the colonies to the
interests of the home government. And all of this was
carried on with mistaken notions of advantage. The chief
officers controlling the provinces were sent out from Spain by
appointment, and they carried with them an abundance of
legislation, which always tended to suppress any tendency
toward freedom or self-government.1 The religious orders
were first in the field and always zealous and aggressive.
They monopolized the products of Indian toil, appropriated
the best lands and opposed the civic communities. Under
these circumstances of constant discouragement it is little
wonder that Spanish colonization was a disappointment and a
failure.

The local administration of the provinces was represented
by the pueblos which were the units of local government.
The decree of Philip II provided that the pobladores of the
colony should elect their own magistrates ; that is, alcaldes of
ordinary jurisdiction and members of a town council.2 In
accordance with this act Philip de Neve, with the approval of
Carlos III, provided, that for the good government of the
pueblos, the administration of justice, the direction of public
works, the distribution of water privileges and carrying into
effect the regulations of the governor, they should be fur-
nished with ordinary alcaldes and other municipal officers in
proportion to the number of inhabitants. It was provided in
this law that the governor should appoint the alcaldes for the
first two years, and for each succeeding year the people should

1 Merivale, 11. 2 Ifccoptfocum, V, III, 12.

185] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 71

elect their own officers. But the regulations of local govern-
ment in California under Spanish dominion are based upon the
provisions of the Spanish Constitution of March 19, 1812, and
the decrees of the Cortes in 1 81 2 and 1 8 1 3.1 These laws became
effective in the departmental and local government of the
provinces, but had little authority in California until after the
Mexican revolution. It was enacted that every pueblo should be
governed by an ayuntamiento, composed of alcaldes, regidores
and syndicos, (city attorneys) and that the alcalde should be
president of the council, or if there be more than one alcalde
the first one elected should be president. Every town, of at
least one thousand souls, must establish an ayuntamiento.
Each year, in the month of December, the citizens of the pu-
eblo were to meet and choose electors, who should, in the same
month, elect the requisite number of officers. The duties of
the ayuntamientos were clearly specified. Among other things
they were to care for the comfort and health of the people,
provide for raising taxes, charities, public highways, the encour-
agement of agriculture, trade and other industries ; in fact, they
were to attend to all of the " politico-economic " affairs of the
town.2

The decrees of the Cortes gave more specific directions for
the municipal administration. The ayuntamiento was com-
posed in its simplest form of one alcalde, who was mayor and
president of the council, and a limited number of councilmen.
Section four of the decree of 1812 asserts that "there shall be
one alcalde, two regidores and one procurador-syndico (city
attorney) in all towns which do not have more than two
hundred inhabitants ; " in towns having more than two hundred
and less than five hundred inhabitants the number of regidores
(councilmen) shall be increased to four; in towns having
above five hundred and less than one thousand there shall be

1 Cf. Moses, Establishment of Municipal Government in San Francisco, 12 ;
Hall, 102.

8 Schubert, Verfasmngs Urkunden, II, 44, et seq.

72 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [186

six council men ; in towns having over one and less than four
thousand inhabitants there shall be two alcaldes, eight council-
men and one procurador-syndico, and in the larger towns the
number of regidores shall be increased to twelve. In the
capitals of the provinces there must be at least twelve regidores,
and should they possess over ten thousand inhabitants their
number must be sixteen.1 The official term of an alcalde was
one year, the time fixed by Philip II. The term of the city
attorney was the same, and that of the council men was two
years.2

The number of electors chosen by the people to elect the
town officers were apportioned as follows : Towns having
less than one thousand people were entitled to nine electors ;
those having more than one and less than five thousand were
entitled to sixteen, and those having more than five thousand
were entitled to sixteen electors. To avoid confusion which
might occur in large towns or sparsely settled districts, each
parish might choose the number of electors to which it was
entitled according to population, at least one elector being
allowed to each parish. Small towns, having less than one
thousand inhabitants, and in need of town councils, must
apply to the Deputation of the Province, which may in turn
apply to the governor for permission to establish an ayunta-
miento, and all other towns must attach themselves to the
nearest ayuntamiento or to the one to which they previously
belonged. Thus the pueblo system formed a complete local
government.

The above laws remained in force until repealed in 1850.
However, changes were made in regard to the basis of popula-
tion and also in 1837 to the general provincial regulations of
towns. This law of 1837 provided that, "the capital of the
department, ports with a population of four thousand inhabi-
tants, interior towns of eight thousand inhabitants, towns which

Section 3, decree of 1812 ; Hall, 103. 2 Moses, 13.

187] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 73

had ayuntamientos previous to 1808 and those to whom the
right is given by special law shall be entitled to ayuntamientos
or town councils." * The number of town officers must be deter-
mined by the departmental legislation acting in concert with
the governor, but the number of alcaldes, regidores and sin-
dicos could not exceed six, twelve and two respectively.2

The chief results of the laws of 1837 were to strengthen the
central government and to detract from the powers of local gov-
ernment. The province was managed by a governor, a depart-
ment legislature, prefects, sub-prefects, ayuntamientos, alcaldes
and justices of the peace. The ayuntamientos were respon-
sible to the sub-prefects, the sub-prefects to the prefects, and
the latter to the governor ; and they had charge of the police,
health, comfort, ornament, order and security of their res-
pective jurisdictions. Their duties were carefully specified.
They were to supervise the food and liquor, to insure its good
quality, to care for drainage, hospitals, prisons, etc.

The duties of the alcalde in California were multifarious,
although he was of more importance in the local government
of old Spain, where he was the chief officer of the local gov-
ernment. But in California he was arbiter of disputes and
was in duty bound to settle difficulties and to prevent, if pos-
sible, cases coming into court.3 His function was judicial, in
that he tried cases which were subject to appeal to the royal
audiences. His duty was also administrative, as he executed
the decrees of the governor. Sitting at the head of the
council he had to do with the politics and economics of the
town, and in addition he combined the function of police
judge with those of policeman and constable.4

JSec. 5, Art. I; Debates in the Convention of California, Appendix V,
Art. III.

2 Section 5, Art. III.

3Cf. Mining Camps, Chas. H. Shinn, 83, 104.
4 RecopUacion, V, III, 1, 2.
6

74 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [188

PRESIDIAL PUEBLOS.

But little space remains for the discussion of the third method
of colonization by means of the fortress, but a few of its im-
portant features will be represented here. As has been already
stated the Spanish presidio is a survival of the old Roman
presidium and we find a tendency toward the growth of towns
around the fortresses in the Spanish as well as the Roman
provinces. Although the object of the Spanish fortress was
the same in general as that of the Roman, namely, to people
and guard the frontier, yet the employment of priests by the
government to carry on a " spiritual conquest " necessitated the
establishment of garrisons for the protection of the missionaries.

The part that Christianity played in the settlement of the
territory and the civilization of the natives introduces an
entirely new element.

There were only four presidios in Alta California prior to
the American conquest, and the process of the formation of
towns about them was so slow that they figure more as mere
bastions of defence than as the centers of towns. Their con-
nection with the missions in protecting the missionaries against
the natives caused a constant strife between the soldiers and
the priests, and the strong influence of the latter brought
to bear upon the garrisons rendered the development of pre-
sidial towns very slow. The friars always assumed complete
control of everything connected with the colonization and could
brook no opposition to their opinions and methods; at first
they claimed entire control of spiritual affairs and finally as
they grew stronger, they claimed the right of administering
the temporalities.1 They soon claimed all the available pasture
land within reach of the missions for their flocks, and resisted
any encroachment upon this. They even disputed the right
to locate the King's farm, always making the plea that the

1 Cf. Humboldt, New Spain, II, 294.

189] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 75

rights of the natives must be maintained. It was well that
the natives had some one to plead their cause, but the friars
frequently carried their claims to a ridiculous extent.

At first the presidios, like the missions, were usually
temporary structures, but were improved from time to time.
Although the Spanish law was very precise and the plans of
settling uniform, the slow progress of the Spanish frequently
permitted one portion of a fortress to decay while another was
being built.1 The following description of the Spanish pre-
sidios, from De Mofras, best shows their nature : " All of the
presidios were established on the same plan. Choosing a favor-
able place, they surrounded it with a ditch twelve feet wide
and six feet deep ; the earth of the ditch served for the outwork.
The enclosure of the presidio was formed by a quadrilateral
about six hundred feet square. The rampart, built of brick,
was twelve to fifteen feet high by three in thickness ; small
bastions flanked the angles. Its armament consisted of eight
bronze cannon, eight, twelve, and sixteen pounders.

" Although incapable of resisting an attack of ships of war,
these fortifications were sufficient to repel the incursions of the
Indians. Not far from the presidios, according to the topo-
graphy of the land, was an open battery pompously styled
the castle; within the enclosure of the presidio was the
church, the quarters of the officers and soldiers, the houses ot
the colonists, storehouses, workshops, wells and cisterns. Out-
side were grouped some houses, and at a little distance was the
king's farm (El rancho del Hey) which furnished pasturage to
the horses and beasts of burden of the garrison." 2 De Mofras
follows with a description of the condition of the soldiery, of
their grotesque armor and of the monotonous life of the
garrison.

The presidios of Monterey, San Diego, Santa Barbara and
San Francisco were centres of presidial or military districts

1 Cf. Vancouver's Voyage, II, 495.
8 De Mofras, I, 276. See Figure 4.

76

Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [190

down to the close of the eighteenth century. A few inhabit-
ants had taken up their residence in the vicinity or in imme-

17

FIG. 4.

18'

2 1

I \

2

18

1? I 11 1?!^

R

PLAZA.

330

LUll

13

10 3 3 3

19

9

9}

9

9

PLAN OF SANTA BARBARA PRESIDIO, 1788.

Bancroft, California, I, 464.

1 = Chief entrance.

2 = Store houses.

3 = Family houses.

5 =Church.

6 = Sacristy.

7 = Ensign's quarters.

8 = Commandant's rooms.

9 = Family houses.
10 = Chaplain's rooms.

11 = Sergeant's house.

12 = Guard room.

13 = Corrals, kitchens, etc. (ensign).
14= " " (commandant).

15 = Chaplain's corral.

16 = Western bastion.

17 = Eastern bastion.

18 = Corrals.

diate connection with thefort, but they occupied for the most part
houses outside of the presidial wall. Although the presidio

191] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 77

was entitled to four square leagues of land for the establish-
ment of a presidial pueblo there were few specific instructions
for the settlement of the pueblo prior to 1791. Instructions
given by Bucareli, Viceroy of Mexico, to the commandant of
the presidio empowered him to grant lands to Indians who
would devote themselves to agriculture and the breeding of
cattle, and to other settlers, lands on the same condition.1
Settlers must keep themselves armed and in readiness to assist
the garrison of the mission in repelling invaders.

This law applies especially to the missions, but might apply
to the presidios as well. The first explicit instructions per-
taining to the formation of a presidial pueblo were given by
Pedro de Nava, general commandant.2 He authorizes " cap-
tains of presidios to grant and distribute house lots and fields
ot soldiers and citizens who may solicit them to fix their
residences on." These lots were to be granted within the
extent of four common leagues of land belonging to the pre-
sidio ; the four leagues were to be measured from the center of
the presidio, two leagues in every direction.3 " There is no
clear evidence," says Bancroft, "that any such grants were
made." 4

In 1794 Arrillaga gave permission to several persons to
settle temporarily on the Rio de Monterey, from three to
five leagues from the presidio. Governor Borica opposed
the granting of lands to Spanish settlers, as it could not yet
be determined what lands the missions would need, and
because it would cause strife between the owners and the
rancheria Indians.5 He therefore recommended that settlers
of good character should have permission provisionally to

1 Halleck's Report, Appendix I.

'Dwindle, 34; Bancroft, California, I, 610 ; Halleck, Appendix 3.

3 This is a mistake, for two leagues in every direction would make sixteen
square leagues. Los Angeles, under this law, claimed sixteen leagues, but
the claim was not recognized.

4 Bancroft, Col., I, 611. 5 Ibid.

78 Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. [192

occupy the land. However, the soldiers, with their families,
and other settlers continued to multiply around the presidios,
and small towns sprang up. The number was augmented by
pensioned soldiers who settled in the vicinity of the fort.
Thus, we find that there were, in 1795, at Santa Barbara, seven-
teen pensioners, fifty-nine soldiers and two hundred and ninety-
four other inhabitants, making three hundred and seventy
persons in the population of the presidio. Although there was
no rancho del rey at Santa Barbara there were four thousand
horses and cattle and six hundred sheep, and the yearly pro-
duct of grain in 1797 was sixteen hundred and fifty fanegas.
Although the presidio of Los Angeles was the first estab-
lished, those of Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Francisco
assumed greater importance. In the early period Monterey
was of the greatest importance on account of its being the
capital of the province, but subsequent history has developed
the greatest interest about San Francisco, a place whose import-
ance the Spaniards were slow to recognize. Prior to the year
1834, San Francisco, including the pueblo, mission, and pre-
sidio and all of the settlements, was under the control of the
military governor and the commandant of the presidio. A
small village or pueblo had grown up between the mission and
the presidio.1 At this time the transition was made from a
military to a civil government. The territorial governor,
Jos6 Figueroa, wrote to' the commandant at San Francisco,
stating that the territorial council had ordered the partido of
San Francisco, which included the government of the peninsula
and the adjacent coasts, to proceed at once to elect a constitu-
tional ayuntamiento, composed of one alcalde, two regidores
and a sindico, the same to reside at the presidio.2 Also the
civil functions formerly exercised by the commandant should
devolve upon the ayuntamiento whose jurisdiction extended
over the affairs of the mission, the presidio and the pueblo, the

Moses, 18. « Moses, 18.

193] Spanish Colonization in the Southwest. 79

commandant being limited to the military command alone.1
Here, then, is a clear example of the conversion of a presidio
into a civil pueblo according to law. There is one other famous
record of the same method in what is known as the " Plan of
Pitic," a royal order executed in 1789 for the formation of the
town of Pitic in Sonora, Mexico, by the union of a presidio and
a pueblo. This plan of Pitic furnished not only an example
of the transition of a presidio into a presidial pueblo, with a
limited jurisdiction to the military power, but it gave a plan
for the formation of other newly projected towns. After this
plan were founded the pueblos of Santa Barbara, San Francisco,
and Monterey,2 whose history, though very interesting, we
cannot continue at present.

Dwinelle, 48. 'Dwinelle, 31.

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