Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820Cook, Sherburne Friend
History
Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820
Cook, Sherburne Friend
California -- Discovery and exploration; California -- History -- To 1846 -- Sources; Central Valley (Calif.)
San Francisco, May 26, 1817 Luís Argüello
(rubric)
VII. MINOR RAIDS AND FORAYS, 1810-1820
Apart from the records of major expeditions given in the previous
chapters a few scattered items from the Bancroft Library documents are
worth presenting. The first six below refer to various informal forays
and raids and give an idea of the character of these in the period near
1820. The last two are excerpts from recollections of early Spanish and
Mexican pioneers as recounted to Hubert Howe Bancroft's assistants in
1877 or 1878. The historical accuracy of these last is low, since they
refer to events which occurred sixty-five years before the telling.
Nevertheless, the personal flavor is worth preserving, including the
unabashed boastfulness. No detailed comment is required.
_Fr. Juan Cabot to Captain de la Guerra_
San Miguel, May 23, 1818
(De la Guerra Docs., VII: 88-89)
In the village of Telame there are at present thirty-three
Christians from several missions; as a rule, this is the place of
refuge ... from the direction of Santa Barbara there is no access
because everything is surrounded by water, but by way of Bubal there
is access.
Before getting to Telame there are five villages, among them
Quiuamine, where they killed the Christian of San Buenaventura.
The Santa Barbara soldiers could stop them from escaping by water.
In Yulumne there are some [fugitives] also.
If the other villages are treated in a friendly manner, without
our giving any indication of our intentions, and the first blow
is struck, I doubt if there will be any more trouble.
Regarding Telame, he says that he was there twice in different
years. The first year he did not see the people "because they were
almost entirely dispersed and debilitated from starvation." The
second time the people were there. The village is situated opposite
the mission, a league from the Sierra Nevada, in an immense oak
forest--many Indians, docile and friendly, who do not admit
fugitives to their village. A little farther toward Santa Barbara
is Choimoc, of the same type and character, but not as large. "None
of these villages has a fixed position, but the variation is less
than half a league."
_[Governor] to Captain Luís Argüello_
Rancho de Real Hacienda, September 14, 1819
(Cal. Arch., St. Pap., Sacramento, II: 241-242)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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