History of Monterey, (Monterey County) California United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Monterey, (Monterey County) California, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Local History Notes:

In a few days the heathen, with surprising trustfulness, came back to camp, bringing some of their wounded for treatment. They were received with kindness, and the surgeon gave them his best attention. Their behavior was now much improved, but they were very silent, and no progress was made in conversion. These indians were by no means devoid of intelligence, and one among them, a boy of fifteen, was induced by gifts to remain in camp, where he readily picked up some Spanish words. Through him Serra persuaded a heathen father to bring his child for baptism, on the promise of clothing as a reward. The Indian came at the appointed time, followed by many others, but, after the child had been covered with a beautiful cloth and the father was about to sprinkle it with holy water, the Indian hastily seized it and ran off, leaving the disappointed Serra holding the shell of consecrated water in his hand. For many days after the loss of this first fruit hoped for in this new land, he was sad of countenance, attributing his failure to his own sins, and for years afterwards he shed tears when telling the story.

Meanwhile death continued its ravages, taking before January eight soldiers, four sailors, one servant, and six Indians, leaving only twenty of those left at San Diego. Portolá was greatly disheartened, especially as the provisions were growing alarmingly short, and there were no signs of the relief ship. Not wishing to expose the entire company to death from starvation, though it was his intention to hold the territory until the last possible moment, he took an inventory of the supplies, and, after setting aside enough for the return trip to Velicatá, resolved to remain until the remainder should be exhausted, when it seemed there would be no alternative but to abandon San Diego. But first, to leave no stone untumed, and 'lest he should incur such discredit as would result from the abandonment,' he resolved to send Captain Rivera back to the peninsula for supplies and to bring up some of the cattle which had been left at Velicatá on account of their weak condition. It was calculated that the supplies would last until about the middle of March, the 20th being fixed upon as the date of departure in case the relief ship had not appeared at that time.

This decision was an arrow in the heart of Serra, for he felt sure if the undertaking were abandoned now it would be years before a new attempt would be made. The dream of a lifetime was fading before his eyes; in his disappointment he resolved to remain, alone if necessary, and in a letter to Palou which he sent by Rivera he says:

What I have desired least is food. Our needs are many, it is true; but if we have health, a tortilla, and some vegetables, what more do we want? -- If I see that along with the food hope vanishes, I shall remain with Father Juan Crespi and hold out to the last breath.

Crespi was the only one to stand by him, the rest, suffering from homesickness and not being sustained by the missionary's sublime faith, clamored for an early departure. Nothing else was talked of in the camp, and active preparations for the exodus were set on foot. An appeal to the powers above now seemed to be the only thing left; therefore, with the approval of the governor, a nine days' prayer to Saint Joseph for the coming of the ship was begun, to culminate in a grand ceremonial on the saint's own day, the 19th, the day before the one appointed for the abandonment. Day after day the missionaries knelt and sent up their supplications. Day after day with anxious eyes they looked seaward, but no glimpse of white sails gladdened them. Slowly the time wore away until the afternoon of the last day, the 19th; the hours passed heavily by, with the fathers watching, watching, from a height to which they had gone for better view, until the dusk of twilight began to obscure the horizon.

Serra was about to yield to despair, when suddenly a loud cry of 'The ship! The ship!' rang through the camp. For a brief moment the sail was dimly seen, then disappeared, but all knew that California was saved. They knew that the ship had but run on to the north for some reason and would soon be back. They were right, for in four days the San Antonio, blessed vision, sailed into the harbor and dropped anchor. Captain Pérez had had orders to sail directly to Monterey, in the supposition that Portolá would be there, but being compelled to enter the Santa Barbara Channel for water, the natives there informed him, by getting astride of barrels and imitating the motions of men on horseback, that the land party had returned to San Diego. He also lost an anchor there, which fortunately obliged him to turn back just in time to prevent the abandonment of California.

The arrival of the San Antonio with abundant supplies put an entirely new face on matters. Serra's heart overflowed with thankfulness, and there was feasting among the starved pilgrims. Pérez brought new instructions from Gálvez and the viceroy which determined Portolá to make immediate preparations for a return to Monterey. Sending the San Antonio ahead on the 16th day of April, with Father Serra, Engineer Costansó, and Surgeon Prat aboard, and a cargo of stores for the new mission, Portolá set out the next day by land for the same port.

Following the same route as on the former expedition, the party finally encamped, May 24, near the spot where they had left the second cross the previous winter on the shore of Monterey Bay. Judging by the description of the place--where the sand dunes and a lagoon are--this cross must have been erected near the site of the present parish church in Monterey. They found it still standing, but now surrounded with a circle of arrows, with the feathers attached, thrust in the ground, and some sticks to which were tied fresh sardines, while at the foot was a small heap of mussels. The fathers were deeply touched by this sight, which they accepted as an offering of reverence on the part of the savages. Later the Indians told strange tales of seeing the cross shining with a white light in the darkness and grown until it seemed to touch the heavens. Bret Harte made this incident the subject of a poem:

The spelling of the famous leader's name used in this poem, though better suited to the poetic meter, is incorrect, as is amply proved by several examples of his original signature in the archives in the City of Mexico.

After visiting the cross, the governor, Father Crespi, and Lieutenant Fages, went to walk on the beach, front which, as the day was very clear, they had a fine view of the immense bay, which was as calm as a lake, with innumerable seals barking and swimming about, while two large whales sported within twenty feet of the shore. At last their eyes were opened:

The San Antonio arrived a week later, and on June 3, 1770, the presido and mission of Monterey were formally inaugurated. In the shade of the very same live-oak tree under which the Vizcaíno expedition held services in 1602 an altar was erected, bells were hung, and a cross and the royal standard set up. There amidst the pealing of the bells, and the firing of salvos of artillery a solemn mass was celebrated. All the people joined, on bended knees, in singing the Te Deum Laudamus, and Father Serra sprinkled the beach and adjacent fields with holy water, thus 'putting to rout' all infernal foes. The church ceremonies ended, the governor proceeded to take formal possession in the name of Carlos III by hoisting and saluting the royal flag of Spain, and going through the usual forms of pulling grass, throwing stones, and recording all the prescribed acta. Finally, all the officers and friars ate together under the shade of the trees near the shore, while the soldiers and others enjoyed their feast a little apart.

Thus were founded the first presidio and second mission in California, dedicated to San Carlos Borroméo. This saint belonged to a noble family of Lombardy. The large fortune which he inherited he gave away in charity, reserving for himself merely enough for bread and water and straw on which to sleep. For the public he gave feasts, but never partook of them himself. At the time of the plague in Milan, when all others fled from the place, he remained to attend the sick. His remains repose in a rich shrine in that city.

A soldier was dispatched to carry the glad news to the peninsula, where, as well as in the City of Mexico, it was received with salutes of artillery, the ringing of bells, a thanksgiving mass, and general rejoicing.

According to orders from Gálvez, Portolá, as soon as a beginning was made at Monterey, turned the government over to Fages as military comandante and sailed away on the San Antonio on July 9, and California knew him no more. In her history he must always be a prominent figure, as the first of her governors, the leader of the first party of settlers over the long trail of a thousand miles from Velicatá, and the discoverer of San Francisco Bay. He had not the vision, the unfailing optimism, and the unquenchable enthusiasm of Serra, but he was a brave, capable, humane, and conscientious soldier, worthy in every respect of all the honor that California can give him.

For the sake of wood and water, the mission of San Carlos was soon removed to the delightful little bay of Carmel, about four miles from the present town of Monterey. In that enchanting spot, beside a sapphire sea, where the soft air is redolent with the spicy odor of the tall pines growing almost to the water's edge, a great peace settled upon the soul of Junipero Serra. He was at last at home--a home that he never left again except for necessary visits to the other California missions and one journey to Mexico. From Carmel he wrote to his old friend Palou, 'If you will come I shall be content to live and die in this spot.'

The occupation of California was now accomplished; the threat of Russian encroachment was checked; and the harvest of heathen souls lay ready for the sickle of the Christian faith.

The purpose of the government of Spain in occupying California was military rather than religious. On this point Father Englehardt, the church historian, says:

The church establishments, however, had as their chief aim the conversion of the Indians, but, nevertheless, their activities were the most powerful agent in the civil development of the country. The history of the missions, therefore, is practically that of the state during the Spanish period.

Extracted from California and Californians edited by Rockwell D Hunt, published 1932.

Biographies:

Joseph Sadoc Alemany, R. C., archbishop, was born at Vich, Catalonia, Spain, July 13, 1814. In 1821 he entered the Dominican order and pursued his theological studies at the convents of Trumpt and Garona. After his ordination at Viterbo in Italy, 1837, he was master of novices, which office he filled until he was appointed assistant pastor of the church of Minerva in Rome; here he remained until 1841, when he joined the American mission. The first years of his missionary work were spent in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn. In 1847 he was made provincial of the order of Dominicans in the state of Ohio. In 1850 his abilities attracted the attention of the papal court during his presence at the general chapter of the order, and he was consecrated bishop of Monterey by Cardinal Franzoni in the church of San Carlo. Leaving Rome immediately, he brought to his new see religious of both sexes, with whose aid he founded various institutions of learning in California. In 1853 he was elevated to the see of San Francisco as its first archbishop. In 1883 he resigned his office and retired to a convent in Valencia, Spain, intending to devote the remainder of his life to the rehabilitation of the Dominican order in Spain, and died there April 14, 1888. He wrote a "Life of St. Dominick."

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Q. Cannon, Mormon elder, was born in Liverpool, England, Jan. 11, 1827. He immigrated to the United States with his parents, who were Mormons, and settled in Nauvoo, Ill., where he was employed as a printer. He removed to Salt Lake city in 1847; was a missionary to the Sandwich Islands in 1850, became an apostle in 1859, and was a delegate to congress to ask that Utah be admitted as a state in 1862. He was president of the European mission, 1862-4, which resulted in the sending of 13,000 converts to Zion; served as a member of the legislative council, 1865-66, and 1869-72, and was sent to congress again in 1872, to urge the admission of Utah as a state. He was a delegate to the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th congresses, 1873-81, was appointed first councillor to President John Taylor in 1880; served as regent of Deseret university and as editor of the Deseret News. He died at Monterey, Cal., April 12, 1901.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Jean Bautista Alvarado, governor of California. He led a revolt against the authority of Mexico. On the death of Governor Figueroa in 1835, an extremely unpopular man named Chico was put in authority by the Mexican government. Public opinion obliged him to surrender his office, and in November, 1836, Alvarado seized Monterey and held that city with a force consisting of native Californians and adventurers from the United States. Independence was declared, a legislature assembled, and Alvarado was elected as governor ad interim. For a time Lower California remained loyal to the Mexican rule, but it was not long before Alvarado, by shrewd diplomacy and by the display of force, won Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to himself. He declared, therefore, in January, 1837, that the whole of California was united, free, and independent. An emissary of the Mexican government was sent to treat with Alvarado, whose diplomacy converted him to the Californian view and he was sent back as a friend of the new government. To end this indeterminate state of affairs, the Mexican government appointed a governor without acquainting Alvarado of its action. Hostilities ensued, an engagement was fought in which one man was killed and the Mexicans were defeated. He was recognized as governor of what was called the "Department of California" by the central government 1840-'2, when he was deposed by the Mexican government. The conquest of California by the United States put an end to all attempts at revolution and ended the career of Alvarado.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Abraham Coles, author, physician and surgeon, was born in Scotch Plains, N. J., Dec. 26, 1813; son of Dennis and Catherine (Van Deursen) Coles; grandson of James (born 1744) and Elizabeth (Frazee) Coles, and a descendant on his mother's side of Everardus Bogardus and his wife, Anneke Jans. Until the age of twelve he was educated by his parents, and in 1828 became a clerk in a New York dry goods store. In 1830 he taught Latin and Greek at Plainfield, N. J., for a few months, and in 1831 began to study law, which profession he subsequently relinquished as his vocation in life for the study of medicine. He attended the University of the City of New York, and the College of physicians and surgeons, New York, and in 1835 received his M.D. degree from Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia. In 1836 he began practice at Newark, N. J., and in 1842 was married to Caroline Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Jonathan Combs and Maria (Smith) Ackerman of New Brunswick, N. J. He several times visited Europe for study and travel, giving especial attention to languages, both ancient and modern. He was one of the founders of the Newark library and of the New Jersey historical society, and a member of the board of education and other organizations. He owned a valuable collection of books, paintings and statuary gathered during his lifetime. A colossal bronze bust of Abraham Coles by J. Q. A. Ward, with its pedestal of stones quarried for the purpose in Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and on the Mount of Olives, Palestine, was unveiled in Washington Park, Newark, N. J., July 5, 1897. The pedestal is founded on a rock weighing about seven tons, which was transported with much difficulty from a grove near the landing place of the pilgrim fathers at Plymouth, Mass. He received from Rutgers college the degree of A.M.; from Lewisburg university that of Ph.D. in 1860; and from the College of New Jersey, Princeton, that of LL. D. in 1871. In 1847 appeared in the Newark Daily Advertiser his first translation of the "Dies Ir?." This was extensively copied and made him famous throughout the literary world. In 1859 he published a volume comprising thirteen original translations of Dies Ir? (6th edition, 1892), to which he subsequently added five other translations. He also published a translation of Stabat Mater Dolorosa (1865, 3rd edition, 1892); a translation of Stabat Mater Speciosa (1867, 2nd edition, 1892); Old Gems in New Settings (1866, 3rd edition, 1892); Man, the Microcosm (1866, 5th edition, 1892); The Evangel (1874, 2nd edition, 1884); The Light of the World (1884); and A New Rendering of the Hebrew Psalms Into English Verse (1887). He was the author of many patriotic and devotional hymns. See Abraham Coles; Biographical Sketch, Memorial Tributes, Selections from his Works, edited by J. Ackerman Coles (1892). He died at Hotel Del Monte, near Monterey, Cal., May 3, 1891.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor