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California was under the dominion of Spain. He was in Monterey in the year 1800, and had such a vivid impression of the great earthquake of 1812 as to give quite an interesting account of the forty days shaking which then occurred. He was with Captain Morago on the first expedition sent to explore the country, when that Captain discovered the San Joaquin River, and reached the Sierra Nevada, giving the present name to Calaveras county, in consequence of finding the bones of so many dead Indians scattered about. What changes have taken place in the country during the life of this old resident!

It appears to have been the design of the Spanish government to settle the country by such men, as it authorized the laying out of "pueblos," or towns, near each of the presidios and missions, in which every settler was to have had a two hundred vara lot of ground, as a homestead, with the privilege of certain common and timber lands, laid out for the use of the villages. This relic of Spanish rule in California has been the source of much litigation since the country has come into the possession of the Americans, as the titles to lands made by the Spanish or Mexican authorities are recognized in the courts of the United States.

The site on which the City of San Francisco has been built was a portion of the pueblo of the mission located there. A number of parties claimed this land, on the pretext that there was no pueblo at this place, but the Supreme Court of the United States having decided that there was, a new cause of litigation arose, to decide who were the lawful custodians of the four leagues of these pueblo lands-by whom, and to whom, they should be distributed. These points continue to attract much attention, and are of vital importance to the present and future prosperity of the State.

There were also three independent towns, or pueblos, altogether separate from the missions and presidios, formed by the old Spanish or Creole soldiers discharged from the service, who married among the natives and settled at these places, which were: Los Angeles, San José, and Branciforte-now Santa Cruz.

THE ABORIGINES OF CALIFORNIA.

There is scarcely any subject connected with the early history of the State, more instructive or suggestive, as exhibiting its natural wealth, than the condition of its original inhabitants, when they were first discovered.

Owing to the studied efforts of the missionaries, to misrepresent the mental and physical condition of the native Californians, in order

to palliate their own conduct in holding them in bondage for so many years, it is not safe to trust the writings of the Fathers on this subject. According to their reports, the unfortunate race stood at the very foot in the scale of humanity--were inferior in intelligence to the Bosjesmen of Africa, and worse in their habits than the disgusting aborigines of Australia. Such a character not only does injustice to the aborigines of California, but to the country that gave them birth; although it is generally accepted by those who form an estimate of the condition and disposition of the race, by the wretched remnant of it now remaining. It is necessary to go back to the period ere he became sophisticated by civilization, to form a just estimate of the aboriginal Californian, or of the country he inhabited. Fortunately, there are numerous disinterested sources through which the most reliable information on the subject may be obtained, from the date of their first discovery.

It is unjust to charge him, as do some, with being indolent, because his native land furnished him with abundance of food, without much exertion on his part; or to say he was cowardly, because he was not continually at war with his neighbors, in an incessant struggle for existence the normal condition of most savage races; or to consider him more savage than other savages, because he built only frail houses and made but few clothes, which the mildness of the climate, and the fashions of his race, enabled him to dispense with. Some writers even go so far as to insist that the Californian Indians were lower, as types of humanity, than the Fejee or Sandwich Islanders, because the latter made clothes, cultivated the soil, and were skilled in the use of weapons of warfare. Such writers should remember that the islanders were compelled to make garments, to protect themselves against the heat and cold of their country; were obliged to cultivate the soil, or starve, as it produced but little spontaneously, and had to become dexterous in the use of weapons of warfare, in order to avoid being eaten by their conquerors. No such exigency or necessity attended the life of the aboriginal Californian. Is it fair, then, to charge him with indolence, because his beneficent Creator had abundantly provided for all his wants, and left him but little to do except to enjoy life? No country in the world was as well supplied by Nature, with food for man, as California, when first discovered by the Spaniards. Every one of its early visitors have left records to this effect-they all found its hills, valleys and plains filled with elk, deer, hares, rabbits, quail, and other animals fit for food; its rivers and lakes swarming with salmon, trout, and other fish, their beds and banks covered with

mussels, clams, and other edible mollusca; the rocks on its sea shores crowded with seal and otter; and its forests full of trees and plants, bearing acorns, nuts, seeds and berries, while its climate was so mild and genial, that clothing was not a necessity. It would have been strange indeed, if an uncivilized race, whose lot was cast in such a pleasant place, had not been found enjoying life, as they understood it. It may have been their misfortune to have been born in so desirable a country-one so well adapted for the dwelling-place of their superiors; but it is not just to charge such a circumstance against them as a fault, or to accuse them of indolence when there was no necessity for them to labor. Equally unjust is it, to charge them with being stupid, and incapable of instruction, in the face of the fact that it was their labors that enriched the missions, and proved to the world the latent value of the soil of California. Nor is it true that, as a race, they were cowardly. The record shows how bravely many of the

chiefs and tribes contested the encroachments of the first settlers on their lands. Marin county owes its name to the chief of the Lecatuit Indians who inhabited that section of the State until 1824, and for many years defied all the forces sent to dispossess him. Sonoma, the name of another county, containing one of the most beautiful valleys on the coast, derives its name from a famous chief of the Chocuyens. Solano, the name of another county, was once that of a warlike chief of the Suisuns. Napa county derives its name from the tribe that once owned the land between San Pablo bay and Mount St. Helens, which now forms its beautiful farms, orchards, and gardens, which they fought long and fiercely to retain as their hunting grounds. So with Colusa, Shasta, Yolo, and several other counties-their names are the mausoleums of extinct tribes of aborigines, who bravely struggled against an inexorable destiny, which has in so few years swept them away.

The annals of the State, during the past eighteen years, either prove how fiercely the natives fought for the land of their birth, or that many thousands of dollars were expended in exterminating a race of men who did not deserve thus to die.

They are accused of having been destitute of any conception of religion, affection, trade, art, or any of the higher attributes of humanity. This is unjust to them, as well as to California. If it be true, as it is asserted by philosophers, that Nature dominates over man, and constrains his actions through the agency of the scenery and physical conditions that surround him—a theory strangely confirmed by the distinguishing traits of all civilized nations-then California,

with its cloudless skies, salubrious air, gorgeous scenery, and abundance of all the elements that minister to human happiness, could not have produced a race destitute of faculties to enjoy the blessings provided for them by their Creator. Nor did it produce such a race;

there is abundance of proof to the contrary.

Cabrillo, the discoverer of the country, who spent six months among the natives who dwelt in what is now Santa Barbara county, has left on record the names of forty towns, or villages (pueblos) which existed in that section of the State, at the time of his visit.

Viscayno, who visited the same section of the coast in 1602, or sixty years after Cabrillo, confirms all that his predecessor had stated about the condition of the aborigines, and says: they lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering seeds, nuts, and wild fruit. This authority states, further, that on the Island of Santa Catalina, off the coast of Santa Barbara, the natives had large wooden canoes, capable of holding twenty persons each, with which they caught large quantities of fish, which they sold to the natives on the main land.

It has been known to the Jesuit Fathers, and Spanish Government in Mexico, since 1540, that the natives of Upper California traded with the tribes dwelling far in the interior of the continent, for abalone, cowry and other shells, and various other articles. Father Palou says: "the natives of the main land made rafts, or canoes of the tule, for fishing, in which they went a great way out to sea." These extracts are sufficient to show that the natives were not destitute of skill, enterprise, or intelligence.

With reference to their notions of morality, Father Junipero Serra, the founder of the missions in Upper California, writing to his brethren on the peninsula, under date of July 3d, 1769, two days after his arrival in what is now the State of California, says:

"The number of savages is immense. All those of this coast, from the shore of Todos Santos, live very contentedly upon various seeds and fish, which they catch from their canoes made of tule, with which they go out a considerable distance to sea. They are very affable. All the males, both large and small, go naked; but the females are modestly clad, even to the little girls at the breast."

Father Palou records the same peculiarity of clothing the females, as do all the early visitors to the coast. Captain Woodes Rogers, who was here in 1711, says none of the young females were permitted to be seen by him or his crew.

They were remarkable for the affection that existed between parents

and children, and for the firmness of the friendships that were formed among them.

They were not quarrelsome, rarely fighting, and amused themselves with games of skill or chance, and dancing, which, if considered stupid by those accustomed to scenes in other lands, was quite exciting to them. In their marital relations they did not differ materially from the Mormons of the present day-the daughters and their mother often being the wives of the same man. Father Palou says: "The first baptisms made at the mission of San Francisco, were of three children, all born within two months, sons of an Indian and three sisters, to whom he was married, as well as to their mother.

They must have had some idea of a future state, or they would not have burned or buried their ornaments and weapons with the dead, as was the universal custom. They expressed their ideas of a change from life to immortality, by saying that "as the moon died, and came to life again, so man came to life after death;" and believed that the "hearts of good chiefs went up to heaven and were converted into stars, to watch over their tribe on earth.”

There were priests, or sorcerers, both male and female, among them, who pretended to exercise supernatural control over their bodies, claiming to cure disease by incantations and curious rites and ceremonies. These priests wore long robes made of human hair, and were formidable rivals to the missionaries. Scores of these humanhair robes were burned by the Fathers, before their rivals were driven out of the field.

Viscayno says, the natives of Catalina Island had a temple, containing an idol "which they worshipped with sacrifices." These excerpts are sufficient to prove that they were not destitute of all "conceptions of religion."

Captain Rogers says, of their honesty, that they never took anything belonging to him, though his carpenters and coopers generally left their tools on shore. Other voyagers speak in similar praise of their honesty.

Forbes says, "their children, taught by the missionaries, spoke Spanish, and became polished by conversation."

With reference to their taste and skill in making ornaments, weapons, and utensils, La Pérouse, who was here in 1786, says: "they wore ear-rings made of carved wood, bandeaux of feathers round their beads, and shells strung as beads around their necks and bodies. He describes some of these feather bandeaux as exceedingly beautiful, and

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