It will be observed by the foregoing, that out of the 74,621 converts received into the missions the large number of 47,925 had succumbed to disease. Of what nature was this plague it is hard to establish; the missionaries themselves could assign no cause. Syphilis, measles, and small-pox carried off numbers. But these diseases were generated, in all probability, by a sudden change in their lives from a free, wandering existence, to a state of settled quietude.

Two years after Mexico was formed into a republic, the Government authorities began to interfere with the rights of the fathers and the existing state of affairs. In 1826 instructions were forwarded by the Federal Government to the authorities of California for the liberation of the Indians. This was followed, a few years later (1833-34), by another act of the Legislature, ordering the whole of the missions to be secularized and the religious to withdraw. The object assigned by the authors of the measure was the execution of the original plan formed by the Government. The missions, it was alleged, were never intended to be permanent establishments; they were to give way, in the course of some years, to the regular ecclesiastical system, when the people would be formed into parishes, attended by a secular clergy. Between these pretexts may probably have been an understanding between the Government at Mexico and the leading men in California, that in the change the Supreme Government might absorb the pious fund, under the belief that it was no longer necessary for missionary purposes, and thus had reverted to the State as an escheat, while the civil authorities in California could use the local wealth of the missions, by the rapid and sure process of administering the temporalities. These laws (the secularization laws), whose purpose was to convert the missionary establishments into Indian pueblos, their churches into parish churches, and to elevate the Christianized Indians to the rank of citizens, were, however, executed in such a manner that the so-called secularization of the missions resulted only in their plunder and complete ruin, and in the demoralization and dispersion of the Christianized Indians.

Immediately upon receipt of the decree, the then acting Governor of California, Don Jose Figueroa, commenced carrying out its provisions, to which end he prepared certain provisional rules, and in accordance therewith the alteration in the missionary system was begun. Within a very few years the exertions of the fathers were entirely destroyed. The lands which hitherto had teemed with abundance, were handed over to the Indians, to be by them neglected and permitted to return to their primitive wildness, and the thousands of cattle were divided among the people and the administrators for the personal benefit of either.

In 1829, when Amador was major domo at the Mission San Jose, about one thousand Indians resided there. Of these about seven hundred died of smallpox that year and the cholera four years later took the remainder. They were found dead by the dozen around the springs and rancherias. The Spanish soldiers at the missions were kept, among other reasons, for the purpose of capturing and bringing to the missions the Indians to be Christianized, baptized and saved, because it was believed that all who died out of Christ were lost. Many of them resisted and were killed in the efforts to Christianize and civilize the remainder. Amador participated in many of these expeditions and others

Vol. 1-2

for the recovery of stolen property. He claimed that he himself killed no less than two hundred of the natives in these various expeditions. He bore fourteen wounds from his conflicts with them. In 1875 there resided at the Mission San Jose an Indian who remembered well the building of the first mission structure there in 1797

In 1797 a party of thirty soldiers crossed the bay from San Francisco in rafts and had a fight with the Cuchillones, who were kindred or allies of the Sacalanes. The latter became exasperated and threatened San Jose. Sergt. Pedro Amador, who went some time after to ascertain the cause of this disturbance, found the Sacakabes disposed to annihilate the neophytes, and even the soldiers if they interfered. He was accordingly directed to take twenty-five men and fall upon their rancheria. The tribe refused to surrender deserters and dug pits so that the horses could not enter. The soldiers dismounted and attacked them with sword and lance. In this fight, which occurred on the 15th of July, two soldiers were wounded, and seven hostiles killed. The Cuchillones, being also attacked, fled. Amador returned to San Jose with a considerable number of deserters and several gentiles. Some of the captives were sentenced to receive from twenty-five to seventy-five lashes, and to hard labor with shackles on for a couple of months in the presidio. The runaway neophytes at the investigation made it appear that they had been forced by hunger, and harsh treatment at the hands of the missionaries, to desert. This allegation was declared to be positively untrue, by the then president, Father Lasuen, who claimed that the real cause of the natives' flight had been an epidemic which had broken out among them.

The Sacalanes continued their hostile attitude for a long time, and the presidio had often to deal condign punishment. In 1880 the sergeant with some armed men attacked them, slaying a chief and destroying all their bows and arrows, besides capturing a number of runaway neophytes.—(Amador's report on the affair of 1800 is in Provincial Records, MS., VI, and also in Prov. State Pap., MS., XVI and XVII.)

It is generally supposed that the Contra Costa region which included Alameda county was originally inhabited by four tribes of Indians, called Juchiyunes, Acalanes, Bolgones, and Carquinez, who were all in all a degraded race. Doctor Marsh described them as stoutly built and heavy limbed, as hairy as Esau, and with long heavy beards. They had short, broad faces, wide mouths, thick lips, broad noses and extremely low foreheads, the hair of the head in some cases nearly meeting the eyebrows, while a few had that peculiar conformation of the eye so remarkable in the Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from the common American Indian or the Polynesian. He states further: The general expression of these Indians has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing or the haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. It is more commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity. The men and children are absolutely and entirely naked, and the dress of the women is the least possible or conceivable remove from nudity. Their food varies with the season. In February and March they live on grass, and herbage, clover and wild pea vine are among the best kind of their pasturage. I have often seen hundreds of them grazing together in a meadow like so many cattle. They are very poor hunters of the larger animals but very skillful in making and managing nets for fish and

food. They also collect in their season great quantities of the seed of various grasses, which are particularly abundant. Acorns are another principal article of food which are larger, more abundant and of better quality than I have seen elsewhere. The Californian is not more different from the tribes east of the mountains in his physical than in his moral and intellectual qualities. They are easily domesticated, not averse to labor, have a natural aptitude to learn mechanical trades, and I believe, universally a fondness for music and a facility in acquiring it. They are not nearly so much addicted to intoxication as is common to other Indians. I was for some years of the opinion that they were of an entirely different race from those east of the mountains, and they certainly have but little similarity. The only thing that caused me to think differently is that they have the same moccasin game that is so common on the Mississippi, and what is more remarkable, they accompany it by singing precisely the same tune. The diversity of language among them is very great. It is seldom an Indian can understand another who lives fifty miles distant; within the limits of California are at least a hundred dialects, apparently entirely dissimilar. Few or no white persons have taken any pains to learn them, as there are individuals in all the tribes which have communication with the settlements who speak Spanish. The children when taught young are most easily domesticated, and manifest a great aptitude to learn whatever is taught them; when taken into Spanish families and treated with kindness, in a few months they learn the language and habits of their masters. When they come to maturity they show no disposition to return to their savage state. The mind of the wild Indian of whatever age appears to be a tabula rasa, on which no impressions, except those of mere animal nature, have been made, and ready to receive any impress whatever. They submit to flagellation with more humility than the negroes. Nothing more is necessary for their complete subjugation but kindness in the beginning, and a little well-timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is common for the white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed any fault, how many lashes he thinks he deserves. The Indian, with a simplicity and humility almost inconceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion of the magnitude of the offense. The white man then orders another Indian to inflict the punishment, which is received without the least sign of resentment or discontent. This I have myself witnessed or I could hardly have believed it. Throughout all California the Indians are the principal laborers; without them the business of the country could hardly be carried on.

For disease their great "cure-all' was the sweat-bath, which was taken in the "sweat-house," an institution that was to be found in every rancheria. A fire being lighted in the center of the temescal (the term applied to the native sweat-houses by the Franciscan Fathers) the patient is taken within and kept in a high state of perspiration for several hours; he then rushes out and plunges into the convenient stream on the bank of which the structure is always raiseda remedy whether more potent to kill or cure is left to the decision of the reader. The following graphic description of the experiences of a gentleman in a temescal, is given to the reader as a truthful and racily told adventure:

"A sweat-house is of the shape of an inverted bowl and is generally about forty feet in diameter at the bottom and is built of strong poles and branches of trees, covered with earth to prevent the escape of heat. There is a small

hole near the ground, large enough for Diggers to creep in, one at a time, and another at the top to give out the smoke. When a dance is to be held, a large fire is kindled in the center of the edifice, and the crowd assembles, the white spectators crawling in and seating themselves anywhere out of the way. The apertures, both above and below, are then closed and the dancers take their positions. Four and twenty squaws, en dishabille, on one side of the fire, and as many hombres, in puris naturalibus, on the other. Simultaneously with the commencement of the dancing, which is a kind of shuffling hobble-de-hoy, the 'music' bursts forth. Such screaming, shrieking, yelling and roaring, was never before heard since the foundation of the world. A thousand crosscut saws, filed by steam power-a multitude of tom-cats, lashed together and flung over a clothes-line-innumerable pigs under a gate-all combined would produce a heavenly melody compared with it. Yet this uproar, deafening as it is, might possibly be endured, but another sense soon comes to be saluted. Here are at least forty thousand combined in one grand overwhelming stench, and yet every particular odor distinctly definable. Round about the roaring fire the Indians go capering, jumping and screaming with the perspiration streaming from every pore. The spectators look on until the air grows thick and heavy, and a sense of oppressing suffocation overcomes them, when they make a simultaneous rush at the door for selfprotection. Judge their astonishment, terror, and dismay to find it fastened securely-bolted and barred on the outside. They rush frantically around the walls in hope to discover some weak point through which they may find egress, but the house seems to have been constructed purposely to frustrate such attempts. More furious than caged lions, they rush boldly against the sides, but the stout poles resist every onset. There is no alternative but to sit down, in hopes that the troop of naked fiends will soon cease from sheer exhaustion. The uproar but increases in fury, the fire waxes hotter, and they seem to be preparing for fresh exhibition of their powers. See that wild Indian, a newly-elected captain, as with gleaming eyes, blazing face and complexion like that of a boiled lobster, he tosses his arms wildly aloft as in pursuit of imaginary devils while rivers of perspiration roll down his naked frame. Was ever the human body thrown into such contortions before? contortions before? Another effort of that kind and his whole vertebral column must certainly come down with a crash! Another such convulsion, and his limbs will surely be torn asunder, and the disjoined members fly to the four points of the compass! Can the human frame endure this much longer? The heat is equal to that of a bake-oven. The reeking atmosphere has become almost palpable, and the victimized audience are absolutely gasping for life. The whole system is sinking into utter insensibility, and all hope of relief has departed, when suddenly with a grand triumphal crash the uproar ceases and the Indians vanish through an aperture opened for that purpose. The half-dead victims of their own curiosity dash through it like an arrow and in a moment more are drawing in whole bucketfuls of the cold, frosty air, every inhalation of which cuts the lungs like a knife, and thrills the system like an electric shock. They are in time to see the Indians plunge headlong into the ice-cold water of a neighboring stream, and crawl out and sink down on the banks, utterly exhausted. This is the last act of the drama, the grand climax, and the fandango is over."

In its early day the whole military force in Upper California did not number more than from two hundred to three hundred men, divided between the four presidios of San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco, while there were but two towns or pueblos, Los Angeles and San Jose, the latter of which was established, November 29, 1777. Another was subsequently started in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz, which was named Branciforte, after a Spanish viceroy. It may be conjectured that the garrisons were not maintained in a very effective condition. Such a supposition would follow the disuse of arms and the long absence of an enemy. The cannon of the presidio at San Francisco were grey with mold, and women and children were to be seen snugly located within the military lines. The soldiers of the San Francisco district were divided into three cantonments -one at the presidio, one at Santa Clara mission and one at Mission San Jose. Following is a list of the soldiers connected with the presidio in the year 1790, which has been copied from the Spanish archives in San Francisco. Here will be found the names, position, nativity, color, race, age, etc., of the soldiers, as well as those of their wives, when married:

Don Josef Arguello, Commandante, age 39; Don Ramon Laro de la Neda, Alferez de Campo, age 34; Pedro Amador, Sergeant. Spaniard from Guadalaxara, age 51, wife, Ramona Noriega, Spanish, age 30, seven children; Nicolas Galindo, mestizo, Durango, 42; Majio Chavoya, City of Mexico, 34, wife, a Bernal; Miguel Pacheco, 30, wife, a Sanchez; Luis Maria Peralta, Spaniard, Sonora, 32, wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, 19; Justa Altamarino, mulatto, Sonor, 45; Ygnacio Limaxes, Sonora, 49, wife, Maria Gertruda Rivas, Spaniard, 38; Ygnacio Soto, 41, wife, Barbara Espinoza; Juan Bernal, mestizo, Sonora, 53, wife, Maxima I. de Soto; Jph. Maria Martinez, Sonora, 35, wife, Maria Garcia, mulatto, 18; Salvador Iguera, L. C., 38, wife, Alexa Marinda, Sonora, 38; Nicolas Berryessa, mestizo, 25, wife, Maria Gertrudis Peralta, 24; Pedro Peralta, Sonora, 26, wife, Maria Carmen Grisalva, 19; Ygnacio Pacheco, Sonora, 30, wife, Maria Dolores Cantua, mestizo, age 16; Francisco Bernal, Sinaloa, 27, wife, Maria Petrona, Indian, 29; Bartolo Pacheco, Sonora, 25, wife, Maria Francisco Soto, 18; Apolinario Bernal, Sonora, 25; Joaquin Bernal, Sonora, 28, wife, Josefa Sanchez, 21; Josef Aceva, Durango, 26; Manuel Boranda, Guadalaxara, 40, wife, Gertrudis Higuera, 13; Francisco Valencia, Sonora, 22, wife, Maria Victoria Higuera, 15; Josef Antonio Sanchez, Guadalaxara, 39, wife, Maria Dolora Moxales, 34; Josef Ortez, Guadalaxara, 23; Josef Aguil, Guadalaxara, 22, wife, Concellaria Remixa, 14; Alexandro Avisto, Durango, 23; Juan Josef Higuera, Sonora, 20; Francisco Flores, Guadalaxara, 20; Josef Maria Castilla, Guadalaxara, 19; Ygnacio Higuera, Sonora, wife, Maria Micaelo Borjorques, 28; Ramon Linare, Sonora, 19; Josef Miguel, Saens, Sonora, 18; Carto Serviente, San Diego, Indian, 60; Augustin Xirviento, L. C., 20; Nicolas Presidairo, Indian, 40; Gabriel Peralta, invalid, Sonora; Manuel Vutron, invalid, Indian; Ramon Borjorques, invalid, 98; Francisco Romero, invalid, 52.

A recapitulation shows that the inmates of the presidio consisted altogether of 144 persons, including men, women and children, soldiers and civilians. There were thirty-eight soldiers and three laborers; of these one was a European other than Spanish, seventy-eight Spaniards, five Indians, two mulattoes, and forty-four of other castes. An inventory of the rich men of the presidio, bearing date 1793, was discovered some years since, showing that Pedro Amador was the proprietor