The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Fall 1978, Volume 24, Number 4
Thomas L. Scharf, Managing Editor

By Bill Mason
Curator, History Division, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

THE HISPANIC period in San Diego has been studied from differing points of view and with a variety of subjects in mind. Little, however, has been written specifically on the men who served in the Spanish and Mexican armies in San Diego and its jurisdiction. The names of these men, with some statistical data and slight anecdotal dressing, may serve to fill a gap in the history of San Diego’s formative period. An early photograph of Serra Cross. The landmark was erected in 1913 using tile salvaged from the San Diego Presidio. It stands on the hill once occupied by the San Diego Presidio and near the spot where Father Junípero Serra founded Alta California's first mission in 1769.

The first soldiers to reach San Diego in the Sacred Expedition to California were on the ship San Antonio which anchored in the bay on April 11, 1769. It was joined eighteen days later by another vessel, the San Carlos, and on May 14, 1769, cavalrymen from the Presidio of Loreto rode in. More than sixty men, mostly from the sea expedition, died on the beach in a makeshift tent hospital built of sail canvas in the days that followed the ships’ landings. Contemporary sources say they died of scurvy, although it would seem that other diseases were possible causes. The longest period either vessel had been at sea was less than four months, and the length of time without fresh fruits or vegetables was probably less than three months. Dysentery or some other highly communicable disease may have been the real killer. Many sailors, some laborers, and a dozen Catalonian infantrymen died, leaving the expedition shorthanded.1 In 1770, half the expedition left for the north to establish Monterey Presidio, leaving behind a small garrison at San Diego Bay. After establishing a settlement at Monterey and sending some soldiers into Baja California for more supplies, there were still some eighteen men left at San Diego. In a letter written on October 10, 1770. Sergeant José Francisco de Ortega listed the cavalrymen at San Diego as follows:

Captain Don Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, married
Corporal Guillermo Carrillo
Soldiers:

Juan José Robles
Bernardo Rubio, married, sick with scurvy
Mateo Ignacio de Soto
Juan María Miranda, married
Francisco de Avila
Rafael Hernández
Marcelo Bravo
Nicolás Antonio Sambrano
José Ignacio Olivera
Mariano de la Luz Verdugo
Alejo Antonio Gonzales
Juan de Osuna, married, sick with fever
Sebastián Alvitre
Andrés Cota, married
José Joaquín Espinosa, married
Agustín Castelo2

This group formed the nucleus of the future Presidio of San Diego, living in small huts of palisade sticks with thatched roofs, at the site called Cosoy by the Indians in the vicinity of Presidio Hill and Old Town.3

In 1771 a few more soldiers were sent north from Baja California to be added to the enterprise.4 San Diego received some of these men, but with the founding of San Gabriel mission that same year, the San Diego garrison was reduced to only seven or eight men, while most of the district’s soldiers were allotted to the new mission. On October 17, 1772, the following men were known to have been at San Diego:

Manuel Mariano de Robles
Luis Aguilar
Carlos la Marcha
Juan Antonio Coronado
Antonio de Cota
Rafael Gerardo Gonzales
Marcelino Bravo5

Pedro Fages, lieutenant in charge of the Catalonian Company, seems to have been temporarily in command of the garrison at that time. His quarrel with José Cañizares on that date was witnessed by the above mentioned men of San Diego. There may have been one or two more men, but they are not mentioned. According to church records of San Gabriel Mission, the following men of the San Diego company were at San Gabriel late in 1772.

Sergeant Juan Puig (Catalonian Volunteer)
Gerónimo Planes (Catalonian Volunteer)
Soldados de Cuera:
Corporal José María Góngora
Soldiers:

Rafael Villavicencio
José Ignacio Olivera
Juan Francisco López
Juan Estevan Rocha
Luis Gonzaga Lugo
Alejo Duarte
José Antonio Peña
Juan María Olivera
Francisco Peña
José Antonio Rubio
José Antonio López
Ramón Noriega6

The Catalonians evidently left with Fages for Monterey at the end of 1772.

Bancroft lists sixteen men at San Gabriel mission in the latter part of 1771, and names of fifteen from that garrison are available.7 Added to those of San Diego proper, there was a total of at least twenty-two men in the jurisdiction, which covered 120 miles between San Diego and San Gabriel.

California outposts consisted of nothing more than two small military posts guarding five missions. By 1773-74 Monterey and San Diego had split the little force of fifty cavalrymen and twenty-five Catalonian infantry. Spread thinly over more than 400 miles, these forces left several serious gaps in the line of defense against possible attack by Indians.8 Serious abuse of the Indians around San Gabriel in 1771 had resulted in reprisals by the natives. Hence, a relatively large garrison was maintained at San Gabriel, at the expense of San Diego. The deployment was harrowing: a presidio and mission were at Monterey, similar to the situation at San Diego, but there were two other missions to garrison in the Monterey jurisdiction, one at San Antonio de Padua and one at San Luis Obispo. Warfare among rival Indian groups at the latter mission complicated matters temporarily in the Monterey district.

Between San Gabriel and San Luis Obispo were over 200 miles of territory without a single Spanish outpost, and it was an area densely populated by Indians, primarily the Chumash. Some Chumash villages numbered over 500 inhabitants, and the coastal population between Ventura and Point Concepcion was estimated at from 8,000 to 10,000 by Governor Felipe de Neve in 1777.9 The delivery of mail, movement of troops and some supplies, tours of inspection, and general communication between the northern and southern districts had to pass through this territory or go by sea. To the south communications were no better. From San Diego to the nearest mission in Baja California was more than 300 miles.

The founding of Rosario Mission in 1774 and Santo Domingo in 1775 cut the distance to just under 200 miles from San Diego to the limits of control in Baja California.

On January 1, 1775, the San Diego garrison was larger than in earlier years. A few additional soldiers had been sent from Mexico, and despite the withdrawal of the Catalonians (aside from the five who had married California Indian women), there were more soldiers in the province by the end of 1774 and more scheduled to arrive in a year. In 1774 San Diego Mission had moved from Presidio Hill to its present location in the valley. It was deemed adequate protection to place a corporal and four soldiers at the mission as escolta, since it was only five miles from the presidio. At the fort were one lieutenant, a sergeant, one corporal, and twenty-three soldiers:

Lieutenant José Francisco de Ortega, married
    [to Antonia Carrillo; two children, Ignacio and Luisa].
Sergeant Mariano Carrillo
Corporal Guillermo Carrillo
Corporal Mariano de la Luz Verdugo
Soldiers:

Alexo Gonzales
Manuel Robles
Alejandro Soto
Francisco María Rúiz
Manuel Bernal
José María Soberanes
Martín Reyes
José María Ortega
Juan Estevan Rocha
José Raymundo Carrillo
José Manuel León
Nicolás Gonzales
Juan Francisco López
Mariano Cordero
José Antonio Rúiz Leyva
Luis Lugo
Juan José Domínguez
Ignacio Vallejo
Joaquín Higuera
Joaquín Armenta
Antonio Patron
Nicolás Beltran
Francisco Antonio Sotelo
Juan de Ortega
Ignacio Rafael Alvarado
Alexandro Rúiz
Blacksmith Felipe Romero [and his mother,
Petrona García de Romero]
Blacksmith José Manuel Arróyo
Carpenter Manuel Rodríguez
Muleteer Manuel Virgan
Muleteer Francisco Bernal

The San Gabriel garrison had been reduced to a corporal and five soldiers:

Corporal Juan José Robles
Soldiers:

Gerardo Peña
Antonio Cota
José Bonifacio Estrada
Juan Alvarez
Rafael Márquez

Prisoners at San Gabriel:

Anastacio Camacho
Agustín Castelo
Carpenter: José Lorenzo Esparza, married to
Manuela Davila
Muleteer: Cristóbal Cárdenas10

Exclusive of the several thousands of southern California Indians in the San Diego district there were fifty-one gente de razón living in the garrisons and missions. Forty were at San Diego Presidio and Mission, and eleven at San Gabriel. A mule trail united the little garrison at San Gabriel with San Diego, and there were no outposts between the two points as yet.

The Monterey district had about 120 men, women, and children. Of these, forty-four were military personnel. Monterey district did have most of the wives and children of the California colony; of twenty-four married couples in the province, twenty-two were in the northern district. Ten of the wives were California Indian women, of whom five were married to the five Catalonian privates who had elected to stay in the province. These five men were the only natives of Spain in California by 1775. None was in San Diego at this time.

Between January and March, 1775, several men from San Diego were transferred to Monterey, leaving only twenty-eight officers and men in the southern district. A list of March 28, 1775, gives the remainder of the garrison:

Lieutenant José Francisco de Ortega
Sergeant Mariano Carrillo
Corporal Mariano Verdugo

Soldiers at San Diego Presidio and Mission:

Juan Estevan Rocha
Mariano Cordero
Luis Lugo
Juan Francisco López
Nicolás Gonzales
José Antonio Leyva
José Raymundo Carrillo
José Mariano Yépiz
Ignacio Vallejo
Antonio José Patrón
José Manuel de I.eón
Ignacio Alvarado
Nicolás Beltrán
José Domínguez
Joaquín de Armenta
Juan de Ortega
Francisco Sotelo
José María Ortega
Anastacio Camacho, deserter, in prison

At San Gabriel Mission:

Corporal Juan José Robles
Soldiers:

Gerardo Peña
Bonifacio Estrada
Antonio Cota
Francisco Rafael Márquez
Juan Alfarez

Also at the presidio were:

Carpenter Lorenzo Esparza
Blacksmiths Felipe Romero and Manuel Arroyo
Muleteers Francisco Bernal, Manuel Virjan, Luis Contreras,
Cristóbal Cárdenas11

Only a few months after reducing the San Diego forces at the presidio itself, it was decided to place yet another mission in the district, this time at San Juan Capistrano. Lieutenant Ortega, Sergeant Carrillo, and twelve of the soldiers departed for San Juan, leaving only two corporals and ten soldiers. Of these, one corporal and four soldiers were five miles away at the mission, leaving a presidial force of one corporal and six soldiers. Ortega was to return soon with four of the men he had taken, and more recruits were expected overland from Sonora in a few weeks.12

On November 5, 1775, Indians in the surrounding area strongly reacted to Spanish presence. San Diego Mission was attacked by a force estimated from 600 to 1,000 men from several rancherías. Arriving late at night, they nearly succeeded in overcoming the little garrison at the mission. Corporal Juan Estevan Rocha had only soldiers Alejo Antonio Gonzales, Juan Alvarez, and Joaquín de Armenta at his disposal. Francisco Pena had been sent back to the presidio because he was sick and had not yet been replaced. The two blacksmiths, Felipe Romero and José Manuel Arroyo, were present, along with carpenter José Urcelino. The two priests at the mission were Luis Jayme and Vicente Fuster. Two boys, Leonardo Verdugo, fourteen, and Ignacio Ortega, ten, had come from the presidio to the mission to hear mass the next day.

The blacksmith Arroyo was killed at the outset of the attack, when, hearing a noise, he went outside with sword in hand. He was hit by an arrow and fatally wounded. Romero, seeing him stagger back into the smithy to die from his wounds grabbed a musket to shoot one of the attackers. In the confusion among the Indians after the shot, Romero ran to the guards’ hut, where the soldiers, by now aroused to danger, were trying to put up a defense. The carpenter Urcelino was fatally wounded in the stomach during the melee and Father Jayme was missing. His body was later discovered in the arroyo, where he had been clubbed to death by a party of Indians.

All three of Corporal Rocha’s soldiers were wounded by arrows, as was the corporal himself. A rain of rocks, firebrands, and arrows assailed the survivors, which included Padre Fuster and the two boys, as well as the soldiers and Romero, the blacksmith. They put up a defense in a half-completed adobe cookhouse and managed to keep the Indians at bay until dawn, when the attackers withdrew. Three neophytes who had remained loyal to the mission were sent to the presidio for help. Corporal Verdugo released three men from confinement to aid in a sortie against the enemies still believed to be in the area around the mission. With four men he relieved the mission without difficulty, since the Indians had gone. As one Indian explained later, they had run out of arrows before daybreak. The survivors were escorted to the presidio by Verdugo’s little group and a messenger was sent to Ortega at Capistrano. The lieutenant and a party of four returned to San Diego to survey the extent of the tragedy. On seeing the damage he ordered his group back from San Juan Capistrano. The concentration of some twenty-five soldiers at the presidio prevented any immediate attack on the presidio itself, although fear of attack remained for some time.13

For two months San Diego’s garrison awaited troops from Monterey or Baja California. Neither Loreto nor Monterey had surplus soldiers to spare. The timely arrival of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and his party of soldiers and colonists from Sonora was most helpful. Anza and party arrived at San Gabriel early in January, 1776, and immediately sent troops to San Diego. Shortly thereafter a few soldiers were sent from Monterey and from the northern Baja California missions as well. By late June, 1777, Lieutenant Ortega had the aid of a supply officer, a sergeant, six corporals, and sixty-six soldiers. It was considered necessary to keep San Diego’s roster larger than before, thanks to recent excitement over an Indian gathering involving twenty-one rancherías.14

The garrison, by December 21, 1777, was reduced to a lieutenant, a sergeant, six corporals, and forty-eight privates:

Lieutenant José Francisco de Ortega
Sergeant Mariano Carrillo
Corporals:

Nicolás Beltrán
Guillermo Carrillo
José Ignacio Olivera
Alejo Rodríguez
Juan Estevan Rocha
Mariano Verdugo

Soldiers:

Ignacio Rafael Alvarado
Juan Alvarez
Francisco Acebedo
Antonio Alegre
Juan Angel Amarillas
Joaquín de Armenta
Manuel Bernal
Francisco Bruno García
Agustín Castelo
Antonio de Castro
Antonio Cota
José Dolores Domínguez
Juan José Domínguez
Anastacio Féliz
Hermenegildo Flores
Vicente Féliz
Francisco de Paula García
Pedro Garrancino
José María Gloria
Rafael Gerardo Gonzales
Joaquín Guerrero
Joaquín Higuera
José Antonio Leyva
Pedro Antonio Lisalde
José María López
Juan Francisco López
Luis Gonzaga Lugo
Francisco Rafael Márquez
Pedro Molina
José María Ortega
José María Olivares
Ignacio María Patrón
Francisco Peña José
Antonio Peña
José Ignacio Pérez
Santiago Pico
Martín Reyes
Francisco Ramírez
Julián Rios
Manuel Antonio Robles
Mateo Rubio
Alejo de Sotomayor
Francisco Sotelo
Alejandro Solís
José María Verdugo
Juan José Vallejo
Matías de la Vega
Pío Quinto Zúñiga15

The garrison lost seven men on November 26, 1777, when they were sent to the Monterey district. Conditions at San Diego were judged sufficiently stabilized to cut the number of soldiers somewhat. The names of those soldiers who were sent to Monterey in November were:

Julián Acebedo
Ignacio Cantua
José María Guerrero
Joaquín López
Toribio Martínez Guzmán
José Antonio Rodríguez
Francisco Villagomez15

The artisans, mechanics and other employees of the presidio at the time were: carpenter Lorenzo de Esparza, muleteer Tadeo Rivera, storekeeper Rafael de Pedro y Gil, blacksmiths Antonio Sandoval, Felipe Romero and two San Gabriel employees of San Juan Capistrano Mission, José Manuel Silvas and Isidro José Leal. Both San Diego and San Juan Capistrano Missions were re-established in 1776, once it was safe enough from Indian attack to do so.

Other soldiers had been borrowed from Monterey and Baja California in 1776, and those who were still in San Diego’s jurisdiction in 1777 are mentioned. From Monterey, the following:

Corporal Juan José Robles
Soldiers:

Sebastián López
Serferino Lugo
Juan María Ruiz
Mariano Yépiz15

Those of the Loreto Company who had been in the northern part of Baja California and were temporarily attached to San Diego were:

Sergeant Francisco Aguiar
Soldiers:

Francisco Xavier Aguilar
Pablo Amador
Juan Botiller
Juan Miguel Camacho
Joaquín Díaz
Claudio Victorio Féliz
Ignacio Higuera
Luis López
Julián Morillo
Felipe Santiago Moreno
José Manuel Nieto
José Ramón Noriega15

Most of the men lived in huts of palisada roofed with reeds, or after the danger of fire was demonstrated during the revolt at the mission, with clay and earth over sticks and reeds. There were but two adobe buildings at San Diego Presidio as late as 1778, when the work of building the presidio was earnestly begun. The presence of married soldiers was an added inducement for improved quarters to house their families.16

Probably the most important problem to the average soldier was that of food. In 1774 the ration had been one almud of corn (a dry measure, which weighed 13.6 pounds for corn) per week, and a half-almud of beans. Added to this rather starchy ration was an eighth of an almud of chile and three and one-half pounds of jerked beef per week. Married men were to receive two almudes of corn, and if the couple had children, another half-almud was added for them. It made no difference if a man was married or not, his bean and chile rations were the same. Only one-half pound of meat extra was allowed to married men.17 Additional rations had to come out of a soldier’s pay.

Married women at the presidios managed to obtain some extra rations by making tortillas for bachelor soldiers and preparing other food for them. In exchange for such work it was customary to give some corn, beans, or whatever other food the soldier could spare.

Approximately half the diet was corn. Small amounts of garbanzos, rice, lentils, brown sugar loaves (panocha) and a bit of chocolate occasionally varied the diet. But, the bulk was a humdrum fare largely of corn and beans, sometimes reduced when supply arrival was delayed.

In, January, 1777, Lieutenant Ortega reported that his men received only one and one-half almud of corn and one-eighth almud of menestra weekly. The latter was a mixture of beans, garbanzos and lentils, not a sufficient diet. His soldiers subsisted for the most part on tortillas. To supplement their poor diet, Ortega gave the men a half-pound of powder and two pounds of shot to hunt the abundant wildfowl in the area. Twenty pounds of corn and about two or three pounds of mixed beans was hardly adequate.

In 1778 the ration was but slightly larger per man, and somewhat more varied, although half the ration was still corn. In addition to the beans were garbanzos, lentils, and rice. Plus, in small amounts, lard, flour, panocha, chile, fresh meat (San Diego now had a herd of nearly 50 cattle), a little dried fish for Fridays and a fair amount of hardtack. With some of the brown sugar, sifted corn flour, and a pinch or two of chocolate at times, atole could be made for breakfast.18

New uniforms were provided in 1777, since the old ones in the company were in poor condition. Standard black hats and black silk scarves were issued, as well as blue jackets with red collars, cuffs, and lapels. Knee-length pants were trimmed on the sides with metal buttons and were of blue wool, like the jackets. White stockings were almost entirely covered by botas, or loose leggings of deerhide, which hung from just below the knee to the ankle and touched the tops of the lowcut shoes. Over this uniform was worn a large sleeveless coat of six thicknesses of deerhide, yellowish brown in color, carefully stitched together with the royal crest and the name of the presidio embroidered on it. This was the cuera, leather armor which could stop an arrow at point blank range. This distinctive leather coat, or cuera, was the reason the Spanish frontier soldier was called a soldado de cuera. His weapons were a musket, two pistols, a sword, and lance. Cartridges were carried in a case on his belt. All across the northern frontier of Mexico, from Texas to California, this uniform was worn with slight variation.19 Mounted on their horses, these soldiers were formidable antagonists. Horses still were not plentiful in California even as late as 1778. Before that time, some men were mounted on mules.

The San Diego Company by January 1, 1780, consisted of Lieutenant Ortega, supply officer Pedro y Gil, one sergeant, five corporals, and forty-six soldiers:

Lieutenant José Francisco de Ortega
Supply Officer Rafael Pedro y Gil
Sergeant Mariano Carrillo
Corporals:

Guillermo Carrillo
Mariano Verdugo
Juan Estevan Rocha
Alejo Antonio Gonzales
José Ignacio Olivera

Privates:

Alejandro Soto
Nicolás Beltrán
José María Verdugo
Luis Lugo
Juan Francisco López
Anastacio Féliz
Martín Reyes
Manuel Antonio Robles
José Antonio Leyva
Antonio Cota
Rafael Márquez
Manuel Bernal
Francisco Peña
Juan Alvarez
Ignacio Alvarado
Salvador Carreaga
Francisco Bruno Garcia
José María Gloria
Francisco de Paula García
Antonio Sandoval
Pedro Lisalde
José María Ortega
Joaquín Higuera
Juan José Domínguez
Joaquín Armenta
Juan Angel Amarillas
Rafael Gerardo Gonzales
Francisco Acebedo
Vicente Féliz
Santiago Pico
Mateo Rubio
Joaquín Guerrero
Antonio Castro
José María López
Pedro Garrancino
Agustín Castelo
Alejandro Solís
José Miguel Flores
Tomás María Camacho
Pío Quinto Zúñiga
Juan María Olivera
Francisco Sotelo
Hermenegildo Flores
José Ignacio Pérez

Carpenter: Lorenzo Esparza
Blacksmith: Felipe Romero
Employees: Antonio María Beas and Anastacio Camacho
Muleteers: Bonifacio Salazar and José Miguel Véliz 20

The distinctive long leather coat, or cuera, made of six thicknesses of deerhide, was the reason the Spanish frontier soldier was called a soldado de cuera. Five of the men listed above can be traced back to the first list of 1770. These are José Ignacio Olivera, Guillermo Carrillo, Mariano Carrillo, Mariano Verdugo, Alejo Antonio Gonzales, and Agustín Castelo. There were other veterans of the 1769 expedition at San Diego in 1780 who had been elsewere in 1770. These were José Francisco de Ortega, Antonio Cota, Juan José Domínguez, and Alejandro de Soto.

Of those who had been at San Diego on January 1, 1775, eighteen men were on the list of 1780. In five years only one-third of the garrison still remained. There were several married men in the company, especially since the Anza Expedition had added some men and their families to San Diego. There had been few children at San Diego in 1775, but by 1780 there were several at the presidio and among the mission guard company’s families.

The events after the attack of 1775 and two years of alarms and fears of a new outbreak gave way to a period of relative stability and peace between 1778 and 1781. Another expedition of soldiers and colonists as large as the Anza Expedition was expected to arrive in the summer of 1781. Another presidio was to be placed at Santa Barbara and a pueblo to be founded near San Gabriel. The latter settlement would grow crops to feed San Diego and the new presidio. Ideally the troops would no longer be given corn and bean rations from central Mexico, which were too often exposed to mold in ships’ hulls. From San Diego’s point of view, prospects were brighter.

With the new presidio, additional missions in the California chain, and the shortening of the distance to the Baja California frontier by the founding of San Vicente Mission in 1780, San Diego’s isolation was lessened considerably. The distance to San Vicente from San Diego was but 140 miles, and from the future site of Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo, Monterey district’s southernmost mission, only about 100 miles. These gaps were trifling compared to the earlier period, and were to be filled with missions within the decade.

The old fears of Indian attack were renewed in August of 1781 when the revolt of the Yuma Indians on the Colorado River severed the land connection pioneered by Captain Anza and gave the California settlements several anxious months. No Indian attacks, however, were made against San Diego. On May 20, 1782, a garrison list read as follows:

Lieutenant José de Zúñiga, commander, age 29
Alférez José Velásquez, age 64
Sergeant Guillermo Carrillo, age 49

Corporals: Age: Birthplace: Caste: Literate Illiterate
Juan Estevan Rocha 46 S. Fco. de Los Pozos Español   *
Ignacio Rafael Alvarado 37 Baja California Español *  
Francisco Acebedo 34 Sinaloa Español *  
José María Verdugo* 31 Loreto Español *  
Juan María Olivera* 32 Loreto Español   *
 
Soldiers:
Juan José Dominguez 59 Sinaloa Español   *
Manuel Pérez Nieto* 34 Sinaloa Español   *
José Antonio Peña 36 San José del Cabo Español *  
Juan Francisco López* 46 El Sur de Baja Calif. Español   *
Juan Alvarez* 39 Rio Yaqui Mestizo   *
Manuel Antonio Robles 33 Loreto Español   *
Antonio de Cota* 50 El Fuerte Español *  
José Joaquín Armenta 50 Sinaloa Mestizo   *
Manuel Ramón Bernal 46 Alamos Mestizo   *
Santiago Pico* 49 S. Miguel Horcasitas Mestizo   *
Vicente Féliz 41 Alamos Español *  
Mateo Rubio* 30 Belgium Español *  
José María Gloria 34 Guadalajara Español *  
Julián Acevedo 25 Loreto Español   *
Agustín Castelo 45 Sinaloa Español   *
José María Lopez* 23 Baja California Español   *
Francisco Bruno García 23 Mexico City Indio   *
José Olivares 26 Guadalajara Mestizo   *
José Alejandro Solís 27 San Martín Mestizo   *
Pío Quinto Zúñiga* 35 Guadalajara Mestizo  *  
Antonio de Castro 40 Cádiz Español  *  
Pedro Antonio Lisalde* 29 San Miguel de Horcasitas Español *  
José Antonio Leyva* 30 El Fuerte Mestizo  *  
Salvador Carriaga* 20 Loreto Coyote  *  
Gregorio Sandoval* 41 Durango Mestizo   *
Roque Jacinto de Cota* 57 El Fuerte Español  *  
José Francisco Féliz 20 Alamos Español *  
Juan María Romero* 35 Sinaloa Mestizo   *
Francisco Sepúlveda* 40 Sinaloa Español *  
Segundo Valenzuela* 39 Alamos Mulato   *
Pedro José Mejía* 23 Sinaloa Mestizo   *
Juan Antonio Ibarra* 22 Mazatlan Coyote   *
José Ramón Buelna 21 Sinaloa Español   *
Máximo Alanís* 22 Chametla Mestizo   *
José de la Luz García 27 Sinaloa Español   *
Francisco Serrano 37 Sastago [Aragon] Mestizo   *
Manuel Bustamente 29 Santiago [Cuba] Mestizo   *
Pedro Valenzuela* 24 Alamos Mestizo   *
Francisco Sotelo 29 Sinaloa Español   *
Hermenegildo Flores 31 Ahuacatlan Español   *
José Ignacio Pérez 34 Rio Yaqui Mestizo *  
Gregorio Crispín Pérez* 29 Sinaloa Español *  
Juan Francisco Padilla 33 Santa Ana [Baja Calif. Mestizo   *
José Manuel Cañedo22 19 Culiacan Mestizo   *

*Asterisks after men’s names indicate soldiers known to have been married by 1782.

Racial composition of the San Diego company shown in the 1782 list is particularly noteworthy. The data show thirty-one men are classed as españoles, seventeen as mestizos, two coyotes, one mulato and one indio. If this list is compared with the 1790 census of San Diego which follows, it is discovered that there are some inconsistencies.23

Of the fifty-two men on this list, twenty-four were married, five of them to Indian women from California. The proportion of married men in the presidial companies increased steadily through the years. This compares favorably with the two married couples at San Diego and San Gabriel in 1775, when a total of less than five percent of the company was married. By 1790, out of fifty-seven men, thirty-seven were married, eighteen were single, and two were widowers. A total of sixty-seven percent were married in 1790, as compared with only forty-six percent in 1782. The occupation of frontier soldiers was no longer a celibate profession within twenty years after the establishment of Spanish control in California.24

It is also worth noting that the population of San Diego was becoming relatively stable. The turnover in presidial personnel had slowed over the decade; from March 1775 to May 1782 only eight men had remained in the San Diego Company. Between 1782 and 1790, there were twenty-nine out of the company who were still serving at San Diego. After the Yuma massacre presidial life had settled down to a routine succession of guard-mounts, garrison duty at the missions, occasional mail runs and once in a while an exploration into the back country around Cuyamaca, Santa Isabel, Lake Elsinore, or even the northern part of Baja California.

A list dated December 1, 1784, provides an opportunity to review the usual duties and distribution of the San Diego company. At the presidio and in reserve were the lieutenant, alférez (second lieutenant), sergeant, and twelve soldiers, all in reserve. On duty as presidial guards were a corporal and five soldiers. Three soldiers nearby guarded the horses and cattle. At each of the missions – San Diego, San Juan Capistrano and San Gabriel – were a corporal and five soldiers.

Three soldiers were on guard at the pueblo of Los Angeles and two men on special duty in San Francisco by order of the governor. Two more men were with Governor Pedro Fages on special duty and three men were in San Gabriel with the mule train for supplies.

A second list of December 1, 1784 includes the following names:

Lieutenant José de Zúñiga
Sergeant Ignacio Alvarado
Corporal Francisco Acebedo
Corporal Juan María Olivera
Alférez José Velásquez
Corporal Juan Estevan Rocha
Corporal José María Verdugo

Soldiers:

Manuel Nieto
Antonio Peña
Francisco López
Juan Alvarez
Manuel Robles
Antonio de Cota
Joaquín de Armenta
Ramón Bernal
Santiago Pico
Vicente Féliz
Mateo Rubio
José María López
Francisco Bruno García
Luz García
Manuel Bustamante
Francisco Sotelo
Juan Padilla
José Manuel Silvas
Estevan Pérez
Juan José Sepúlveda
José Ignacio Mesa
José Olivares
José Solís
Pío Quinto Zúñiga
Pedro Lisalde
Antonio Leyva
Salvador Carriaga
Antonio Sandoval
Roque de Cota
Francisco Féliz
Francisco Sepúlveda
Juan Segundo Valenzuela
Ramón Buelna
Máximo Alanís
Francisco Serrano
Pedro Valenzuela
Crispín Pérez Nieto
José María Pico
José Miguel Silvas
Luis Pérez
Macario de Castro

Blacksmith: Felipe Romero
Carpenter: Lorenzo Esparza

Total: One Lieutenant, one alférez, one sergeant, four corporals, 45 privates.25

The gaps between missions from Baja California to Monterey, the capital, were lessened by 1787 with the addition of San Miguel Mission in Baja California and La Purísima Mission between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. The only region between Loreto and San Francisco which still had no missions was that area separating San Miguel (between Tijuana and Ensenada) and San Vicente Mission. Here were ninety miles of country in which the Indians had been unfriendly in the past. The founding of Santo Tomás in 1791 closed this gap, as the sixty-five miles from San Miguel to Santo Tomás could be traveled in a day or two.

CENSUS OF SAN DIEGO COMPANY, 1790

1. Don José de Zúñiga, lieutenant, español, native of Cuautitlán, Mexico, 34 years old, unmarried.

2. Don Pablo de Grijalva, alférez, español, native of Valle de San Luis, Sonora, 48 years old; married to Dona Dolores Valencia, española, from San Miguel de Horcasitas, Sonora, 40 years old, one orphan, (unnamed in this list), español, 14 years old.

3. Ignacio Alvarado, sergeant, español, from Real de Santa Ana, Baja California, 45 years old, unmarried.

4. Francisco Acebedo, corporal, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 42, unmarried.

5. Antonio Vorba, corporal, europeo, from Villafranca, Catalonia, Spain, age 47; married to María Josefa Grijalva, española, from San Miguel de Horcasitas, Sonora, age 24; four children: Antonio, 15; Francisco Xavier, 13; José Antonio, 4; Tomas, 2.

6. José María Verdugo, corporal, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 37; married to María López, española, from San Antonio, Baja California, age 24; four children: María Josefa Antonia, 11; María Antonia Martina, 5; María Ignacia, 3; and Julio Antonio, a baby.

7. Juan María Olivera, corporal, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 37; married to Guadalupe Briones, mestiza, from San Luis Potosí, age 26; four children: Leonardo Martín, 9; Desiderio, 4; Máximo, 7; Matías, a baby and an orphan, María Briones, 13.

8. Francisco Serrano, corporal, europeo, from Sástago, Aragón, Spain, age 46; married to María Silvas, española, from Villa Sinaloa, age 26; two children: Leandro, 7; and Ramona, 3.

9. Manuel Nieto, mulato, from Villa Sinaloa, age 56; married to María Teresa Morillo, coyota, from Loreto, Baja California, age 34; two children, Juan José, 11; José Antonio, 5; Nieto’s mother, Manuela Pérez, española, age 70.

10. Antonio Peña, español, from San José del Cabo, Baja California, age 44; unmarried.

11. Francisco López, español, from Todos Santos, Baja California, age 48; married to Feliciana Arballo, española, from Culiacán, Sinaloa, age 38; five children: Ignacio, 12; José, 3; Margarita, 10; Josefa, 5; and María Antonia, a baby.

12. Antonio de Cota, español, from El Fuerte, Sinaloa, age 58; married to María, india, from San Juan Capistrano, age 26; two children: Marcela, 11; and Matilde, 5.

13. Vicente Féliz, español, from Alamos, Sonora, age 51, widower.

14. Mateo Rubio, europeo from Yes, Belgium, age 38; married to Ursula Dominguez, india, from Santa Gertrudis, Baja Californa, age 26; five children: Ramón, 9; Jose Santiago, 3; Josefa Vicente, 10; María Paula, 5; and Luisa Antonia Juana, a baby.

15. Julián Acebedo, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 34, unmarried.

16. José Olivares, mestizo, from Guadalajara, age 34; married to Juana Ontiveros, mulata, from Villa Sinaloa, age 21; two children: Pedro, 3; and José Francisco, a baby.

17. Francisco Bruno García, indio, from Mexico City, age 32; unmarried.

18. Pío Quinto Zúñiga, mulato, from Guadalajara, age 44; married to Rufina, india, from San Juan Capistrano, age 30; four children: Ventura, 11; Serapio, 5; Ignacio, a baby; María Anastacia, 6.

19. Pedro Lisalde, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 36; married to María Encarnación Pérez, coyota, from the Yaqui River, age 22; three children: Diego, 4; Francisco, 1; Marcela, five months.

20. Antonio Sandoval, mulato, from Durango, age 50; married to María Dolores Ontiveros, mulata, from Batopilas, Chihuahua, age 34; one child: María Antonia, 11.

21. Salvador Carriaga, indio, from Loreto, Baja California, age 30; married to María Guadalupe, india, from San Juan Capistrano, age 30.

22. Francisco Féliz, español, from Alamos, Sonora, age 28; married to Josefa de Cota, española, from Loreto, age 19.

23. Juan Segundo Valenzuela, color quebrado, from Alamos, Sonora, age 39; married to Agustina Alcántara, mulata, from Alamos, age 36; five children: Miguel, 6; Máximo, 5; María Antonia, 20; María Dominga, 3; and Juana, a baby.

24. Pedro Mejías, color quebrado, from Villa Sinaloa, age 38; married to Ana María Ortega, española, age 36, from Villa Sinaloa.

25. Francisco Antonio Ibarra, color quebmdo, from Mazatlán de los Mulatos, Sinaloa, age 34; married to María de los Angeles Velásquez, coyota, from Villa Sinaloa, age 30; five children: Alvino, 11; Gil, 6; Desiderio, 4; Andrés, 3; and Gertrudis, 9.

26. Ramón Buelna, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 30; married to Petra Mejías, mulata, from Villa Sinaloa, age 21; four children: Jose Ramón, 3; Juan José, 2; María Guadalupe, 4; María Francisca, four months.

27. Maximo Alanís, español, from Chametla, Sinaloa, age 32; married to Juana Miranda, española, from Alamos, age 34; five children: Nicolás, 6; Antonio, 4; Dorotea, 3; Juliana, 10; and Paula Josefa, a baby.

28. Manuel Bustamante, color quebrado, from Santiago, Cuba, age 38; married to Clara, india, from San Diego, age 26; four children: María Josefa Leyva, 11; María de Jesús Leyva, 9; Valeria Leyva, 6; and Marta Francisca Bustamente, a baby.

29. Carmen Arazña, español, from Cosalá, Sinaloa, age 32; married to Manuela Astorga, española, from Villa Sinaloa, age 32.

30. Doroteo Féliz, español, from Alamos, Sonora, age 26; married to Juana Villalobo, española, from Villa Sinaloa, age 19, one child: María Martina Petra, 2.

31. Francisco Sotelo, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 40; married to Gabriela Silvas, española, from Villa Sinaloa, age 34; four children: Ramón, 11; José Antonio, 7; Francisco, 5; Venancia, 2.

32. Crispín Pérez Nieto, mulato, from Villa Sinaloa, age 38; married to María Reyes Armenta, coyota, from Villa Sinaloz, age 30; one child; María Gertrudis, 13.

33. Juan Padilla, español, from Real de Santa Ana, Baja California, age 43; unmarried.

34. José María Pico, español, from San Xavier de Cabazán, Sinaloa, age 27; married to María Eustaquia Gutiérrez, española, from Culiacán, Sinaloa, age 18.

35. Manuel Silvas, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 27; married to Gertrudis Camacho, mulata, from Santa Gertrudis, Baja California, age 22; two children: Juan José, 3; José María, 2.

36. Esteban Pérez, coyote, from the Vaqui River, Sonora, age 27, unmarried.

37. Juan Verdugo, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 28, married to Matilde Amézquita, mulata, from Terrenante, Sonora, age 21.

38. Juan José Sepúlveda, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 23; married to Tomasa Gutiérrez, española, from Culiacán, Sinaloa, age 21; one child: Patricia, 2.

39. José de Herrera, color quebrado, from Guadalajara, age 31, unmarried.

40. José Carlos Rosas, indio, from Rosario, Sinaloa, age 32; married to María Dolores, india, from San Gabriel, age 26; three children: Baltazar, Juan José, a baby; Serafina, 3.

41. Felipe Romero, armorer, color quebrado, from Guadalajara, age 36; married to Rosalía Márquez, color quebrado, from Loreto, Baja California, age 20; three children: Anselmo, 10; Catalina, 12; Luisa Beatriz, 3.

42. Joaquín Higuera, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 39; married to María Beatriz de Cota, española, from Loreto, Baja California, age 34; three children: Juan José, 13; José María, 5; María Victoria, 2.

43. Joaquín de Osuna, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 22, unmarried.

44. Pedro Alvarez, color quebrado, from the Yaqui River, Sonora, age 30; married to María Teresa Graciana, mulata, from the Vaqui River, age 28; four children: Doroteo, 10; María Bernarda, 12; Josefa Alvina, 7; María Luisa, 2.

45. Vicente Rodríguez, mulato, from Cosalá, Sinaloa, age 22, unmarried.

46. Juan José Alvarado, español, from Loreto, Baja California, age 21, unmarried.

47. Francisco Duarte, mulato, from Alamos, Sonora, age 24; unmarried.

48. Feliciano Ríos, español, from Tepic, Nayarit, age 22; unmarried.

49. José Monroy, color quebrado, from Tepic, Nayarit, age 37; widower.

50. Ignacio Rúiz, español, from the Yaqui River, age 20; married to María Gorgona Valenzuela, coyota, from Topago, Sonora, age 20.

51. Patricio Ontiveros, mulato, from Chametla, Sinaloa, age 18, unmarried.

52. Claudio López, español, from Real de San Antonio, Baja California, age 23; married to Luisa de Cota, española from Loreto, Baja California, age 14; one child: Esteban, a baby.

53. Juan Antonio Espinosa, español, from Villa Sinaloa, age 36, unmarried.

54. José Féliz, español, from Alamos, Sonora, age 29; married to María Celia Cota, española, from Loreto, Baja California, age 32; five children: Silvestre Botiller, 9; Joaquin Botiller, 4, José Antonio Botiller, 3; María Luisa Botiller, 6; and Juana Gertrudis Féliz, a baby.

55. Luis Gonzaga Manríquez, coyote, from San José de Comondú, Baja California, age 19, unmarried.

56. Lorenzo Esparza, carpenter, español, from Aguascalientes, age 45, married to Juana Alvarado, mulata, from Guadalajara, age 34; two orphan Indian girls, aged 20 and 9.

57. Juan Barajas, deserter, color quebrado, from San Blas, age 30, unmarried.26

There were 190 persons listed in the above census, of whom ninety-six were adults. Among the adults forty-nine were listed as españoles,of whom three were europeos, that is people born in Europe; two were from Spain, one a Belgian. There were twenty-five mulatos and colores quebrados, that is, people with some degree of African ancestry who made up about a quarter of the adults. There were only two mestizos; seven were classed as coyotes, in California usually meaning persons of one-quarter Spanish ancestry, and either three-quarters Indian, or half Indian and one-quarter black. Nine were classed as indios, of whom five were women of Alta California, and two were from Baja California.

Of the forty-nine españoles on this list at least seven were classed as mestizos or other castes on earlier lists or in church records of Sonora and Sinaloa. José María Pico, for example, although he was listed as an español, has brothers who are mulatos at Santa Barbara and Los Angeles in 1790, while his parents are listed in Los Angeles as a mestizo and a mulata. Máximo Alanís showed a tendency to lighten through the years. In 1780, at Alamos, Sonora, he was an indio; in San Diego, 1782, he was listed as a mestizo, and by 1790 he was an español. One’s racial background was not of serious consideration to the people of northern Mexico, although such things as caste and racial origin were apparently more important in the major cities of central Mexico, hence the reason for including such designations on reports which were sent to Mexico City.

A possible reason for the need to lighten the soldiers of the California garrisons was a decree of 1762 which stated that militia companies were to have a least two-thirds españoles in their garrisons.27 Even so, the California garrisons fell short of this requirement, which, in any case, was not enforced rigorously by the 1780s. Three presidios on the Sonoran frontier were composed almost entirely of Indian soldiers by 1785. The California presidios did not quite achieve the two-thirds ratio, although Monterey came closest in the 1782 list with sixty-six percent. San Diego followed with sixty percent, while San Francisco had fifty-one percent. The castes for Santa Barbara in 1782 are not given, but a 1785 list is extant. Although it is more properly a census rather than a garrison list, the Santa Barbara Company had fifty-eight percent españoles.28

The phenomenon of caste drift is by no means confined to San Diego. At Monterey between 1782 and 1790 only one person became lighter in caste while nine became darker. At San Diego during the same period two became lighter, seven became darker, and one is uncertain, depending on whether color quebrado is darker or lighter than coyote. The difference between mulato and color quebrado is not certain-both are used to denote persons with some African ancestry.

The role played by veterans of the San Diego Company in the development of the Pueblo of Los Angeles was significant. The first three rancheros in the Los Angeles area (and in California, for that matter) were Juan José Domínguez, Manuel Nieto, and José María Verdugo, who were granted ranchos in 1784.29 Nieto and Verdugo remained in the army, stationed nearby at San Gabriel, while Domínguez retired to the pueblo after serving the required eighteen years for the little pension of eight pesos per month. It was barely enough for the survival of even a small family. Augmented by some subsistence farming and stockraising, however, a comfortable retirement was possible. A milpa or two of corn, a patch of wheat to sell to the presidios, a few beans, garbanzos, pumpkins, melons, squashes, tomatoes, cabbage and other vegetables were grown for personal consumption.

A few retired soldiers chose to stay near the presidio and grow vegetables, raise some chickens and herd two or three milk-cows, since the soldiers for many years were restricted in the number of cattle they might keep in the vicinity of the presidio.30 At the Pueblo de Los Angeles they could raise many more cattle and horses.

Others of the San Diego Company who settled around Los Angeles to become rancheros were Pío Quinto Zúñiga, who received a land grant near the pueblo south of what is now Santa Monica; Pablo Grijalva, who received the Santa Ana rancho around 1801, which was inherited by his sons-in-law Antonio Vorba and Juan Peralta; and Vicente Féliz, who received Féliz rancho later known as Griffith Park in Los Angeles and was for thirteen years the man in charge of Los Angeles. Although only a private, Féliz was made comisionado of the pueblo, a position which was something of an Indian agent, military attaché, police chief, militia head and city manager. He was a sort of burgermeister, who had authority over the elected heads of the pueblo, the alcalde and regidores-the mayor and his two councilmen. Féliz reported directly to the commander of Santa Barbara, although he was a member of the San Diego Company, since Los Angeles was just inside the jurisdiction of Santa Barbara Presidio. Vicente Féliz was probably the most powerful private in the army stationed in California. He held his post in Los Angeles until the end of 1794 and then returned to San Diego where he was later sent on some explorations of the San Diego back-country, such as the 1795 reconnaissance of Warner’s Hot Springs and Santa Isabel regions. Féliz received his discharge in 1798 and returned to Los Angeles. He received his land grant not long after settling in the pueblo once more.31

By 1794 a few changes had been made in the San Diego Company roster, although there was some stability observable in the early part, between 1784 and 1790. There were now two officers, a sergeant, five corporals and fifty-one soldiers. All of the corporals and the sergeant had been members of the San Diego Company in 1790, as well as thirty-three of the soldiers. To retain thirty-three out of forty-seven soldiers, even for such a short period as four years, was not a great turnover. A garrison list dated December 31, 1794, gives these names:

Lieutenant Antonio Grajera Corporal José Verdugo
Alférez Pablo Grijalva Corporal Francisco Serrano
Sergeant Ignacio Alvarado Corporal Francisco Acebedo
Corporal Antonio Yorba Corporal Juan Olivera
Soldiers:
Manuel Nieto José Silva
Francisco López Pedro Alvarez
Vicente Féliz Juan Sepúlveda
Francisco Bruno [García] Lorenzo Esparza (carpenter)
Pedro Lisalde Joaquín Osuna
Antonio Sandoval José de Herrera
Juan Valenzuela Felipe Romero (armorer)
Antonio Ibarra Juan Alvarado
Máximo Alanís Vicente Rodríguez
Manuel Bustamente Leandro Duarte
Francisco Sotelo José Monroy
Crispín Pérez Feliciano Ríos
Juan Verdugo Ignacio Rúiz
Doroteo Féliz Patricio Ontiveros
José Pico Claudio López
Luis Manríques José Féliz
Joaquín Verdugo Francisco de Acosta
Pedro Pollorena Ignacio Valencia
Rafael Sepúlveda Francisco Yorba
José Miguel Soto Francisco Sepúlveda
Juan García Juan Higuera
José Lobo Mariano Domínguez
Anastacio Leyva Ignacio López
Ignacio Ortega Alvino Canedo
Vicente Ortega Manuel Figueroa 32

The presidio buildings, although completed some years before and kept in a moderate state of repair, did not impress San Diego’s early foreign visitor of note, Captain George Vancouver. He did not think the presidio should be placed on the uneven hills, but in a position to dominate the bay. When Vancouver arrived in 1793 some repairs were in progress on a few of the presidio’s weakened walls. Its state of disrepair may have inspired him to regard San Diego as the least of California’s forts. He considered the bay to be unprotected and in need of more than the three cannons placed on Presidio Hill, some five miles from the landing.33 The relative lack of defense at San Diego, when viewed in terms of internation rivalries in the Pacific, was well known to Spanish authorities. California defenses would have to be strengthened to make some effort to repel invasion.

 


NOTES

1. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California, 7 Vols. (San Francisco: The History Company, 1884), Vol. I, pp. 130-131 and p. 131, fn. 10; Junípero Serra, O.F.M., “Nota Previa”, a preface to the first book of death records at San Diego Mission, a microfilm copy in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Anthony J. Lorenz, “The Conquest of Scurvy,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, XXX (July, 1945), p. 668.

2. Thomas Workman Temple II, “Three Early California Letters,” Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, Los Angeles, Vol. XV supplement, 1933, p. 63.

3. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. I, p. 137.

4. Ibid., vol. I, p. 181.

5. Archivo General de la Nación, Papeles de Californias, Vol. LXVI, n.p., Microfilm copy in the Bancroft Library, Berkeley.

6. San Gabriel Mission, First Book of Baptisms, San Gabriel, California. These soldiers’ names appear as godfathers for Indian converts to Christianity between August, 1772, and January, 1773. Lieutenant Fages evidently took the Catalonian Volunteers with him from the San Diego district to Monterey in December, 1772, as their names appeared as god-fathers in Monterey district mission baptisms early in 1773.

7. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. I, pp. 181-182.

8. Archives of California, MS transcripts in Bancroft Library, Berkeley, Vol. XXII, p. 71, Monterey, June 3, 1777, Governor Felipe de Neve to Commandant General Teodoro de Croix, in Arizpe, Sonora. [California Archives, hereinafter cited as C-A.]

9. C-A 22, p. 72, Monterey, Neve to the Viceroy, Mexico City, June 3, 1777. Neve estimated between 8000 and 10,000 Indians in 21 villages between Point Concepción and Ventura.

10. Diary of Fernando de Rivera y Moncado, 1773-1775, Ms in California Historical Society Library, San Francisco. A transcript is in the T. W. Temple Collection, History Archives, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

11. C-A 1, p. 150, Santa Ana, Baja California, Lieutenant José Francisco de Ortega to Captain Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, Monterey, Mar. 24, 1774.

12. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. I, pp. 248-249.

13. C-A 15, pp. 2-8, San Diego, Ortega to Rivera y Moncada, Monterey, abstract of letter, November 30, 1775; Antonine Tibesar, O.F.M., Writings of Junípero Serra, 4 Vols. (Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1956) Vol. II, pp. 449-458. This is a translation of a letter from Father Vicente Fuster to Father President Junípero Serra, written at San Diego, November 28, 1775.

14. C-A 22, p. 81-82, Monterey, unsigned, no address, (probably Gov. Neve) Feb. 18, 1777: 68 men in the San Diego district; pp. 68-71, Gov. Neve to the Viceroy, June 4, 1777: twelve men at San Diego Mission, eleven men at San Juan Capistrano Mission, nine at San Gabriel Mission, nineteen free for service at the presidio, others on mail runs, etc.; p. 85, Monterey, unsigned, no address, Aug., 1777: 69 men in San Diego district, 45 men in Monterey district; p. 84, Monterey, unsigned, no address, Dec. 31, 1778: San Diego Company: one sergeant, five corporals, 69 soldiers, 75 men total; p. 197: Governor to Joaquín Fernández de la Vega (dated in Arizpe on Feb. 9, 1780): San Diego Company has one lieutenant, one sergeant, five corporals, 46 soldiers, 53 men total.

15. C-A 15, pp. 34-39, San Diego, Supply Officer Rafael de Pedro y Gil, January 10, 1778.

16. C-A 22, p. 20, Monterey, Gov. Neve to Gen. Croix, Sept. 19, 1777; p. 90, Monterey, Gov. Neve to Gen. Croix, August 10, 1778.

17. C-A 1, p. 14, La Paz, Baja California, Vicente Vila, Jan. 5, 1769. Vila states that the almud of corn used here is thirteen pounds, nine ounces. This is larger than most almudes locally, which would seem to be about ten pounds on the average, if we assume twelve almudes to the fanega. C-A 1, p. 239, Monterey, Commander Rivera y Moncada to Pedro Gil, July, 1774.

18. C-A 21, p. 56, San Diego, Rafael de Pedro y Gil’s Accounts, December 31, 1778.

19. C-A 22, pp. 81-82, Monterey (Neve?), Supplies Ordered, Feb. 18, 1777. A description of the uniform is included with the request.

20. C-A 21, pp. 67-70, San Diego, Lieut. Ortega and Pedro y Gil, January 1, 1780.

21. Bancroft, History of California Vol. I, Chap. XVII.

22. Zoeth Skinner Eldridge Papers, MSS in Bancroft Library, Garrison List of San Diego Presidio, May 20, 1782, signed by Lieut. José de Zúñiga, Typescript in T. W. Temple Collection, History Archives, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. The asterisks after some of the names are not in the original record, but have been added to indicate married men. The baptismal records, marriage records, and death records of San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, and San Gabriel Missions usually indicated such status whenever soldiers were mentioned as godfathers or witnesses to marriages, as well as marriage and death records of the soldiers themselves.

23. To explain the caste system and the racial terms as they evolved in northwest Mexico would require a lengthy article in itself. In Alta California a variety of terms was used; at least a dozen are known to have been employed between 1781 and 1790. By far the most common used in California, however, were indio, español, mulato, mestizo and coyote. According to present prevailing theories, mestizos are half Spanish and half Indian; coyotes are three-quarters Indian and one-quarter Spanish; mulato, half Spanish and half Negro; indio, Indian; and español, Spanish. Such precise amounts as the above classifications were uncommon after the middle of the sixteenth century in Mexico. For example, persons classified as mulatos in Sinaloa could be as much as three-quarters Negro, or as little as three-sixteenths, if they are traced two or three generations. It is probable that most California soldiers were to a greater or lesser degree tri-racial in the late eighteenth century, and their castes added in these lists had only approximate value, varying from decade to decade, place to place, and enumerator to enumerator.

24. There was a disparity in the ratio of adult males and adult females in California even as late as 1790, with males still in the majority. The ratio was nearly equal, however, within twenty years, when there were 588 men and 555 women in the province among the gente de razón, or non-Indian, population, which would have been a ratio of about 106:100. Among children for the same year (Dec. 31, 1811) there were 416 boys and 410 girls, C-A 17, p. 51, List of Inhabitants in the province of Alta California, written at Monterey, March 1, 1812, unsigned.

25. C-A 54, pp. 67-69, San Diego, José de Zúñiga, Commander, December 1, 1784.

26. Zoeth Skinner Eldridge Papers, Bancroft Library, MSS, Padrón of San Diego, 1790, signed by José de Zúñiga. Transcript in T. W. Temple Collection, History Archives, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Children’s names have been added from baptismal and confirmation records of San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, and San Gabriel Missions. The original has only age and sex.

27. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico, 5 Vols. (San Francisco: The History Company, 1886-89), Vol. III, p. 404. This was also the case for militia units in the rest of-Mexico.

28. The garrison lists for Monterey and San Francisco of 1782, as well as the Santa Barbara Padrón of 1785 are also in the Eldridge Papers of the Bancroft Library.

29. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. I, pp. 661-62.

30. Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., Alexander Taylor Collection, Doc. No. 523, San Diego, Fr. José Sánchez to Governor Pablo Vicente Solá, October 12, 1816. Father Sánchez lamented the increase in livestock the soldiers were permitted to keep, formerly there had been a limit of two or three milk-cows permitted each soldier.

31. William M. Mason, “Fages’ Code of Conduct Toward Indians,” Journal of California Anthropology, Vol. II (Summer, 1975), pp. 90-100. A short biography of Vicente Féliz is found in footnote 1, p. 99.

32. C-A 54, pp. 16-18, San Diego, Antonio Grajera, Habilitado, List of San Diego Company, December 31, 1794.

33. Captain George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific and Round the World (London: G.G. & J. Robinson, 1798) Vol II, pp. 495, 501.