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Chapter
Twenty The de
Riberas of Nuevo Méjico, the end of the Españoles, the Méjicanos -
1821 C.E.-1846 C.E., and the Coming of the Américanos
To Españoles
like the de Riberas who became
soldados and pobladores of Norte América’s
Nueva España, España
must have seemed as though it was in another universe rather than across
the ocean. For Nuevo Méjicanos the thought of making the difficult and dangerous trek to
Méjico City, Nueva España’s capital, must have seemed like traveling to a
distant galaxy. The one hope that they had held out for during those
several hundred years of existence was that España
that country across the seas with which they had bonded would come to
their aid when needed. Méjico City,
that faraway virreinato, was
almost impossible to reach. This left the Nuevo
Méjicanos on their own to defend themselves and defeat enemies. It
was a backwater that was almost wholly dependent on its ciudádanos for its survival. They labored hard on the land, raised
their own livestock, kept a strong miquelets,
built villas and pueblos, and governed using Spanish law. Such an environment led to
a survivalist mentality and fiercely independent souls. What is of key importance here is that España
did not operate in an economic, political, religious, or military
vacuum. The Frenchman, Napoléon’s early-19th-Century
C.E. Spanish adventure, disrupted an already weakened
España. His occupation of España
would further destabilize and finally fragment the Spanish
administration. Its peninsular governance deteriorated into a series of
quarrelling provincial juntas.
This lack of centralized control from Madrid
caused España’s inability
to effectively address critical issues relating to the welfare of its
subjects. This in effect led to the outbreak of revolts all across el
Imperio Español. I cannot, given the length of the
chapter add the many, many revolutions that began and continued through
1810 C.E.-1821
C.E. and after in España’s
Nuevo Mundo. Chile, Venezuela,
Argentina, and other areas were some of these. At this juncture, it is necessary to
reinforce and clarify that el
Imperio Español’s failure during this period was not solely a
result of mistreatment of the “Noble Savage.” Nor was its failure
due to poor governance of Nueva
España as a result of the comportment of its administrative
officials and military as suggested by the “Black Legend.” It has
been characterized by most non-Spanish, Northern European, and other
non-Spanish historians almost exclusively as a result of these two
explanations. Here let me suggest some alternate views on the situation. España for
centuries having fought far too many wars had become weakened and
impoverished. Thus, she was unable to effectively and efficiently
administer her Imperio Español.
The result of these and ongoing wars was that the Corona
Española and its government had by necessity become Eurocentric and
Ibéria-centric. The lack of attention to España’s Nuevo Mundo
territories poisoned her relationship with the Nuevo Mundo possessions. By this, I mean to say Españoles
living in Ibero were caught up in their war with Napoléon’s France and a
struggle to maintain their sovereignty. It was truly an empire in a
death spiral hoping against hope that she would be spared Napoléon’s
complete takeover and desperately wanting to return to civility.
Centuries of Spanish wars in Europe had brought her to this point of
degradation. In addition, España had for centuries followed an economic policy whereby her Nuevo
Mundo possessions in the Spanish Américas
and all of her Nuevo Mundo
possessions were places from which to extract wealth and resources,
keeping the manufacturing of goods in Ibero,
and discouraged local industry. This she did as the other European
powers had. Additionally, whatever public or
private ventures taking place in Nueva
España were controlled or managed by the
Peninsulares acting as the leadership of its Imperio
Español ciudádanos in the Spanish Américas.
The majority of the Spanish Américanos
had become second class ciudádanos.
The second tier of leadership was the Criollos.
They did the managing but had little true decision-making rights. Next,
came the Mestízos especially
those of mixed European and Indian ancestry. These did the majority of
the hands-on work. The last in the social hierarchy were the Indigenous.
In short, all of those serving below the Peninsulares
had grown discontented with the status quo and now demanded change. It
is also true that the Spanish Américanos
lived in a caste system, one which alienated them from España
proper since the beginning of the expansion of el Imperio Español. It is also clear that they understood the
Spanish social order and their place in it. This was however the nature
of colonial life and social order of the time. One can deduce that they
were not happy with the status quo and by this time were ready for a
change. After all, the Américanos
had made the break with their British monarchy in 1776
C.E. and survived splendidly. At this juncture, It is important also
to remember that 7,000 soldados
from many of the Spanish Américano
Virreinatos served with General
de Teniente and Mariscal del campo
Bernardo Vicente Apolinar de Gálvez y Madrid, Vizconde de Gálvezton
and Conde de Gálvez (July 23, 1746 C.E.-November 30, 1786 C.E.) in
the American Revolutionary War on the side of the Américanos. They carried back home that Américano
germ of “freedom” upon their return to their respective Virreinatos.
There were also wealthy Criollos
from the Spanish Américas,
such as Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Miranda of Venezuela, those revolutionary firebrands
trained in Paris, France to transport the idea of Enlightenment back
home to their Latino América, José de San Marín of
Argentina, and others.
All of this, however, cannot be included in this chapter. The waning years of the Corona
Española’s control and of its España
Imperial possessions and on the North American Continent had begun.
The first few decades of the 19th-Century C.E.
would find the Españoles in grudging retreat from their Nuevo Mundo possessions. First to go was Louisiana in 1804 C.E., to
the French first and then to the Américanos.
Next, what occurred in 1817
C.E. was the loss of her possession Las
Floridas to the Américanos.
Later, the losses of España’s
possessions in the Spanish Américas
would become acute. The Spanish-speaking world called it the Guerra de la Independencia
Española or Spanish War
of Independence.
What must be clarified here is that
America had every intention of accomplishing this monumental feat. Was
it the sin of covetousness?
Or was it as simple as a need to ensure the integrity her borders from
the existing European powers on the Continent? Whatever the cause she
exploited every weakness of her many competitors. Whenever possible, she
coerced and
then purchased her latest security need. The United States of
America did nothing more or less than the other European powers had
done. Such was the way of the world. The years and the activities leading up
to the Américano conquest,
occupation, annexation, and purchase of
Méjicano lands including Nuevo
Méjico and the Méjicano
Period (1821 C.E. through 1846 C.E.) must also be discussed in order to
place the various economic, social, religious, and military struggles in
proper context. After all, historical events happening throughout el
Imperio Español and the world had significant impact upon Nueva
España’s provincia de Nuevo Méjico and the de Riberas. It was a revolutionary time in many ways. To Españoles
like the de Riberas who became
soldados and pobladores of Norte América’s
Nueva España, España
must have seemed as though it was in another universe rather than across
the oceans. For Nuevo Méjicanos the thought of making the difficult and dangerous trek to
Méjico City, Nueva España’s capital, must have seemed like traveling to a
distant galaxy. At this juncture it is important to
clarify for non-Hispanics some of the various differences of those
Hispanics who were found in Nueva
España before and after the emergence of el
Imperio Méjicano as these will not be discussed later in the
chapter. I would suggest that a Hispano
is a person of Spanish descent and considered a native or resident
living in the southwest United States. They are mostly descendants of España’s
pobladores, Basques, and Conversos.
The last were Spanish Sefardíes/Jews
converted to Christianity to escape persecution from the Spanish
Inquisition who immigrated to the northern edges of the Virrey
of Nueva España. Additionally, this term would
apply to Méjicanos of
European extraction, Mestízos,
and Indigenous Native Americans living in the area during the Spanish
Colonial Period (1595 C.E.-1821 C.E.). The term Hispano
would not apply to those Méjicanos
of European extraction, Mestízos
of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry having arrived in the
Southwest during the twenty-five year Méjico
occupation period (1821 C.E.-1846 C.E.). The term Hispanics might. The deeply engrained Spanish cultural
traits, integration of local customs, and the allegiance to España
differed greatly from those immigrants from Méjico
proper. Some Hispanos
continued to differentiate themselves culturally from the population of Méjicano-Américanos
whose ancestors arrived in the Southwest after the Méjico Revolution of 1821 C.E., which began in Méjico proper and was enforced upon the outer reaches of Nueva
España. In general, Hispanic is a term that is
applied to people having Spanish roots, speaking Spanish language, or
having cultural ties with Latino
América. Hispanic refers to
anything related to España,
in particular people having cultural ties with España
or the Nueva España that
refers to the territories conquered by España. The designation Hispanic is a broadly
applied word. It is not a term that refers to a particular race of
people but only refers to people having cultural ties with España. It gained currency when the word Hispanic started to be
used by the government to identify ethnicity of the people living inside
the country and having Spanish heritage. Today, organizations in the
United States use the term as a broad catchall to refer to persons with
a historical and cultural relationship with España,
regardless of race and ethnicity. The U.S. Census Bureau defines the
ethnonym Hispanic or Latino
to refer to "a person of Cubano,
Méjicano, Puertorriqueño, South or Central América, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of
race." The designation states that Hispanics or Latinos can be of any race, any ancestry, and any ethnicity.
Generically, this limits the definition of Hispanic or Latino to people from the Caribbean, Central and South America, or
other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race, distinctly
excluding all persons of Portugués
origin. A Méjicano
is a person who is the citizen of Méjico.
Méjico is a large country in
North America to the south of U.S. that achieved independence from España
in 1821 C.E. A Méjicano may
also be a citizen of U.S. who has Méjicano
parents. Or a Méjicano can be
a Méjicano citizen who has been granted U.S.citizenship because of
residence inside the country for many years. For many years, people
having Méjicano roots were
referred to as simply Méjicanos
inside the U.S. With this being said, my mother’s
people, the de Riberas, were,
and are, Hispanos from Nuevo Méjico, having arrived in North America about 1598 C.E. They
remained their well into the 20th-Century C.E. The de Riberas saw themselves as Españoles,
resentfully accepting Méjicano
authority for twenty-five years, and would finally become Américanos. To make a point, I believe they saw themselves first,
however, as Nuevo Méjicanos. Nueva España’s capital, Méjico
City was a faraway place almost impossible to reach. The de Riberas being Nuevo Méjicanos
were on their own to defend themselves and defeat enemies. They labored
hard on the land, raised their own livestock, kept a strong miquelets,
built villas and pueblos, and
governed using Spanish law. It was a backwater that was almost wholly
dependent on its ciudádanos
for its own survival. Such an environment led to a survivalist mentality
and fiercely independent souls. The one hope that they had held out for
during those several hundred years of existence was that España
would come to their aid when needed, that country across the seas with
which they had bonded.
At this juncture, it is important to
state that the expansionist methods employed by the Américanos were no different than any of those used by the Native
American tribes and peoples, and empires that came before her. The
removal of soldiers and citizens of other nation states and Native
American tribal entities was necessary in order to consolidate power and
increase control over lands won. It is also critical to place these Hispanos
into a cultural and political context which is explainable to the
average person. Thus, I have written to those human issues related to
their journeys and living situations before the Méjicano Period. “The Spanish Period before the Emergence of
the Méjicano Empire” As explained in earlier chapters, there
were decedents of Españoles
who had settled in French Louisiana. The territory had been claimed
earlier in 1682 C.E. by Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle for King
Louis XIV of France. By 1762 C.E., a
secret agreement was reached whereby France ceded Louisiana to España
in the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762 C.E.). The Treaty followed the last
battle in the French and Indian War in North America, the Battle of
Signal Hill in September 1762 C.E., which
confirmed British control of Canada. They did so prior to the Treaty of
Paris in 1763 C.E. España
signed the Treaty of Paris in 1763 C.E. As
discussed in earlier chapters, the Treaty of Paris ended the French and
Indian War/Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France, as well
as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up
all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any
foreign military threat to the British colonies there. For some time Britain had been warring
with its two greatest enemies France and España
for control of their world empires. Key to this struggle had been their
holding on the Continent of North America. The struggle would continue. The secret agreement whereby France
ceded the Louisiana to España
was implemented in 1764 C.E. allowing España’s
control of the Louisiana Territory. At the other end of the sparsely
populated Spanish North American Continent, in Las Californias, the Capitán
Gaspar de Portolá-Fray Serra
Expedition of 1769 C.E. took place.
Two expedition parties, one overland and the other maritime, were
prepared for the military occupancy of Alta
California. The objective of both expeditions was Monterey
Bay. As part of the planning, a way station at San
Diego north of Baja California
was to be established and then travel on to Alta
California to Vizcaíno's
famous port was to begin. For a period of time, following Sebastián
Vizcaíno's voyage, interest in Nueva
España's Alta California had waned. As noted in earlier chapters, Vizcaíno
was a Spanish soldado,
entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to Nueva
España, Las Filipinas,
the Baja California peninsula,
the California coast, and Japan. After Vizcaíno’s Alta California expedition, for over a century and a half, Jesuit misiónes were established in the Baja California frontier under the leadership of Padre
Eusebio Francisco Kino. After securing España's Baja
California outpost in western North America, with 17 misiónes
spread over 500 miles of territory, she was prepared for her next steps
of expansion. As discussed in earlier chapters, España
ordered the Jesuit misióneros
out of Nueva España, including Baja
California for political reasons. The expulsion of the Jesuit misióneros
who founded the misiónes in
the Baja California frontier was carried out by a company of cavalry and
Catalán Volunteers under the
leadership of Capitán Gaspar
de Portolá in 1767 C.E. and early-1768
C.E. The Jesuits were replaced with Franciscan misióneros as part of a renewed plan to explore and occupy Alta
California from established bases in Baja
California. A story is recounted about the naming
of San Francisco by California's
first historian and the first Franciscan pastor of Misión
Dolores, Fray Francisco Palóu. In 1768 C.E., José
de Gálvez, the Inspector General of Méjico,
informed Junípero Serra of
the names to be given to the misiónes
to be established in Alta
California. Serra
remonstrated saying, "Is there then to be no misión
for Our Father San Francisco?"
de Gálvez
jested, "If San Francisco
wants a misión, let him cause
his port to be discovered, and it will be placed there!" As fate
would have it, San Francisco
would lead España to this
future port. Seven years later, Juan
Bautista de Anza would march north from Pueblo
San Diego with a settlement party to establish a Spanish presidio and misión named
San Francisco. The Virrey of Nueva España, António
María Bucareli y Ursúa was concerned about the possibility of
Russian encroachment on what was held to be Spanish territory. He
ordered Capitán Juan Agustín
Bautista de Anza to recruit soldados
and pobladores in Sonora,
Nueva España (now Méjico),
prepare an expedition, and establish a misión
and presidio in the port of San
Francisco. By 1768 C.E., French and German colonists who objected to
the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762 C.E.)
granting of the territory of Luísiana
to España rebelled. The first gobernador of Spanish Luísiana,
Alejandro O'Reilly, was sent
to New Orleans in 1769 C.E. to quell a
rebellion. After his success, the formal establishment of a cabildo
or council occurred. Here, the Españoles
moved to exert their control over the area. The establishment of another presidio
north of the Monterey, California area was not in the original plans of el
Trono Español. España had no knowledge of the large body of water to the north. Vizcaíno
era maps did refer to a river at the location of the Golden Gate but it
was not explored and the location was passed by. That all changed on July
14, 1769 C.E., when San Francisco bay was rediscovered by an expedition from San
Diego. The first westerners to see the bay of San
Francisco would be members of the 1769 C.E.
Gaspár de Portolá Expedition. After establishing a precarious hold
in San Diego, de Portolá took a small party north in search of Monterey.
An advanced party under Sergeant José
Francisco Ortega, a Criollo
born in Guanajuato in central Méjico
reported that they had seen a "brazon
del mar" - an arm of the sea and noted this chance sighting.
They had sighted the Golden Gate and the San
Francisco Bay on November 1, 1769 C.E.
These Europeans had become aware of the existence of the immense
bay and its beautiful passage through the coastal mountains.
Ortega would be
destined to serve at the guarniciónes
of San Diego, Monterey,
and Santa Bárbara during his
career. Soldados for the land expedition were recruited with offers of land for
settlement in the frontier territory, as well as advancement in military
rank. When assembled in the Spring of 1769 C.E.,
the combined land expeditions consisted of a military component under Capitán
de Portolá, commander; Capitán
Fernando Rivera y Moncada with 27 cuirassiers (leather-jacket
attired light cavalry); Teniente
Pedro Fages and 25 Catalonian volunteers Padre Junípero Serra headed the Catholic Church’s component with
a number of Christianized Indians from the Baja
misiónes acting as servants,
interpreters, and contacts with local Indians; and Padre Juan Crespí,
company Capellán; Miguel
Costansó, military engineer and cartographer, and Dr. Pedro
Prat, army surgeon. The first Monterey Land Expedition under Capitán
Rivera left from Loreto, Baja
California for a rendezvous with the maritime contingent at San
Diego on March 24, 1769 C.E. The second Monterey Land Expedition under
Capitán de Portolá followed Capitán
Rivera on May 15, 1769 C.E., from Loreto, Baja California. On July 1, 1769 C.E., the first Monterey
Land Expedition under Capitán
Rivera and the second Monterey
Land Expedition under Capitán de
Portolá met at San Diego.
Unfortunately, the two land expeditions lost most of their Baja
California Indians to desertion. Only two of the Spanish ships San
Cárlos under Capitán Vila and San
António under
Capitán Pérez managed to reach San
Diego. These had lost two-thirds of their crew to scurvy. At San
Diego the combined land and sea expeditions camped and recuperated.
The California military
installation El Presidio Real de
San Diego was also established at San
Diego in 1769 C.E. Two weeks later, de Portolá assembled the ablest men, and with Rivera, Fages, Costansó, and Crespí
continued on the expedition toward Monterey
Bay. Padre Serra remained in San
Diego. The San Diego to Monterey Portolá
expedition, consisting of 64 persons, set out from San
Diego on July 14, 1769 C.E. To ensure economic control, under the Spanish
colonial government rules, trade was actively discouraged with
non-Spanish ships. The average number of ships traveling to España’s
Las California was 2.5 ships per year from 1769
C.E. to 1824 C.E., with 13 years showing no ships coming to Las
Californias. These ships brought supplies for the pueblos
and misiónes, but few new pobladores.
The very few non-Indian people living in Alta
California had almost nothing
to trade. The misiónes and pueblos were subsidized by the Spanish government. The occasional
Spanish ships that did arrive were usually requested by Californios and had Royal permission to go to Las Californias. The port of entry for trading purposes
was the Alta California Capital
at Monterey, California.
There custom duties or tariffs of about 100% were applied. The cost of Alta California’s minimal government structure was almost all paid
for by these tariffs. Unfortunately, these high duties resulted in
bribery and smuggling. The resulting black market avoided the tariffs
making more profit for the ship owners and made goods less costly for
the buyers. As the security of Spanish territories
was of great interest to the Corona
Española, a series of four presidios,
each manned by 10 to 100 soldados,
were built in Alta California.
The California military
installation El Presidio Real de
San Diego in San Diego was
established in 1769 C.E. On December 1, 1769 C.E., Luís de
Unzaga y Amézaga (1721 C.E.-1790 C.E.) became the second gobernador
of Spanish Luísiana from 1769
C.E. through 1777 C.E. On May 20, 1770 C.E., from France el Imperio Español officially assumed responsibility of the
Louisiana Territory. It then became Spanish Luísiana. In 1770 C.E.,
Don Pedro Fages took it upon
himself to forage a land route to the north in Alta
California. Don Fages and
a handful of Lanceros, along
with some arrieros, rode to
the Santa Clara Valley. From
there they went east, encamping near the present city of Alameda. By November 28,
1770 C.E. the men viewed a large "bocana"
or estuary mouth. Not being able to cross the Punta
de los Reyes, Fages halted
and then made his way back to Monterey. In March of
1772 C.E., Don Fages
again returned north with six soldados,
an arriero or muleteer, a
Native American servant and the Mallorcan-born Fray
Juan Crespí to gain a clearer understanding of the large body of
water to the north. From the east bay they saw the Farallónes
and three islets within the bay that someday would be known as Alcátraz,
Ángel Island and Yerba Buena.
Armed with this added intelligence, Don
Fages' party concluded its journey with a report and chart that
prompted additional interest in the region. Having read these reports, Padre
Junípero Serra began to lobby the virrey
for two more misiónes in the vicinity of what came to be called the Port of San
Francisco, one in the Santa
Clara Valley and one at the opening to the bay. Don
Pedro Fages felt that he did not have enough soldados
to support another misiónero program.
However, Virrey António María Bucareli y Ursúa championed Serra's cause, relieving Don
Fages and replacing him with Capitán
Fernando Xavier de Rivera y Moncada as military comandante
of Alta California. Don Fages was
sent off to the Apache wars in
Arizona. In 1774 C.E.,
an expedition led by Capitán
Fernando Xavier de Rivera y Moncada began explorations for a
suitable site for the Misión
of San Francisco. Accompanying the expedition was Fray Francisco Palóu. Charged with another survey of the
"Port and Río of San
Francisco," Rivera y
Moncada commanded 16 Lanceros,
an arriero, two servants, and one padre,
another native of Mallorca, Fray
Francisco Palóu. The 21 riders left Monterey
on November 23, 1774 C.E. By December 4,
1774 C.E., they halted at "a long lake ending down at the
shore" (now Lake Merced in the southwestern part of San Francisco).
Rivera y Moncada continued on
with Palóu and four troopers
until they reached either what now is called Land's End or perhaps
present-day Point Lobos, where
they set up a cross. Presents were made to Ssalson Ohlone people of
beads and Spanish food, including wheat and beans. Palóu
records in his diary that the Indians were much taken with the products
of European culture and Palóu
promised that he would return and help the First Peoples to plant seeds
and gather them in great abundance. Palóu
believed that the Ohlone were pleased, understood him and would help
build houses when he returned to establish a misión.
The next day they headed home making their way to Monterey by December 13, 1774 C.E. The result of this exploration was a
plan and program to settle the area south of the Golden Gate with a presidio
and a misión. This was the northernmost area of the Spanish possessions
over which they could exercise any control. The Españoles had no ships stationed in the area with which to go
further north and provide any meaningful control across the Bay. To facilitate his plans, Virrey
Bucareli turned to Capitán
Juan Agustín Bautista de Anza of the Tubac
Presidio, in present day Arizona, to found the presidio and provide the Christianized Native American pobladores
for the misiónes. One example of the number of
European-born soldados in California,
are the twenty-five from Teniente Pedro
Fages detachment of Catalán
Volunteers. Cabo Pasqual Rivera
(1742 C.E. San Luís - killed
by Yumas). 1a:153. 1775
C.E. Tubac soldado;
1776 C.E./1777 C.E. Anza,
1781 C.E. Yuma.
2a:144. 6a. and the following marineros
or sailors: Pedro Rivera. Most of the soldados on the Portola-Serra
expedition of 1769 C.E. and the de
Anza expeditions of 1774 C.E. and 1775
C.E. were recruited from the Spanish Army infantry regiments then
stationed in what is now Méjico.
Many of them were assigned to guarnición
the presidio and later retired at the end of their ten-year enlistments,
and remained in California.
Because there were many more men than women among the Spanish soldados
and pobladores, some of those who stayed in California married native Californian
women who had converted to Christianity at the misiónes. It is important to remember that Nueva
España’s pioneer migration to California
story of 1775 C.E.-1776 C.E. began while
the American Revolutionary War was beginning. 200 people of both sexes
and different ages walked from Méjico
City to California via Arizona. In
just over 2 months, they walked 1600 miles. During the subsequent
17 days, they walked from Los Ángeles
to Monterey which was an
additional 400 miles. Interestingly, only one person died en route,
a woman giving birth. In the meantime, 30-year-old Juan
Manuel de Ayala played another role in preparing the way for Spanish
settlement in Alta California. As the skipper of the packet San Cárlos, de Ayala
sailed from San Blas with
supplies for the proposed colony. His other duties included the charting
of the bay and its shoreline, and ascertaining whether a navigable
passage existed to the inland waterway from the sea. Finally, de
Ayala sought to learn whether a port could be established there. On August 4,
1775 C.E., the San Cárlos
arrived just outside the present day Golden Gate. The next morning, de
Ayala sent his first Piloto,
José de Cañizares, into the
harbor with a longboat. That evening he followed, anchoring somewhere
near what became North Beach. This was the first European ship to enter
this great bay. During the next 44 days de
Ayala and de Cañizares completed a thorough reconnaissance before heading
back to Monterey on September
18, 1775 C.E. Shortly thereafter, de
Ayala enthusiastically reported the fine harbor presented "a
beautiful fitness, and it has no lack of good drinking water and plenty
of firewood and ballast." He also concluded that it possessed a
healthful climate and "docile natives lived there". A chart of
the Bay of San Francisco was
prepared by de Cañizares. In October 1775
C.E., Juan Bautista de
Anza’s expedition departed from the Northern Nueva
España town of Tubac, Arizona
with 240 pobladores,
heading to the San Francisco
Bay in Alta California. The
Expedition was like a traveling village. In the journal he kept of the
journey, de Anza recorded the
following number of travelers: Comandante
Juan Bautista de Anza; Three padres;
40 Spanish soldados; 29 women
who were the wives of the soldados;
one hundred thirty-six other family members, including children of the soldados as well as four other volunteer families that did not
include soldados; fifteen arrieros;
seven servants of the padres
and of Capitán de Anza; five Indian interpreters; three others; and a
commissary. Animals in the expedition included 165 pack mules carrying
supplies, 320 Horses, and 302 cattle. Their 500-mile journey would lead
them on horseback across rivers, deserts, and snowy mountains, through
territory that had been traveled by only a few Spanish explorers before
them. The goal of the expedition was to
establish a Catholic misión
and military presidio near the
mouth of the San Francisco
Bay, and to secure the area for el
Imperio Español. The expedition was expected to be so difficult
that the Spanish virrey had to
promise to pay for the pobladores’
clothing, food, and supplies for years to come. Yet, only the poorest
families volunteered, in the hopes of a better life in Alta
California. Most of the people in the group knew they would never
again return to their homes in the settled regions of Méjico.
The circumstances were such that they had to bring with them whatever
they needed to survive in the new land, a land they had never seen,
where no Españoles had
settled before them. The year 1776 C.E., marked the greatest change in España’s
Nuevo Méjicano governmental and military affairs since the days of de
Vargas. In that year, military regulations were published. Nuevo
Méjico was incorporated into the Provincias
Internas. The Marqués de
Rubi's report, one of the most sensible ever written about Nuevo
Méjico, brought many of its woes to the attention of the Corona
Española. It is a credit to King Cárlos
III, his ministers, and various virreyes,
that de Rubi's perceptive ideas were implemented. The de Anza Expedition reached Monterey
on March 10, 1776 C.E., with its 240 pobladores
and domestic stock. By March 23,
1776 C.E., de Anza had
left his weary fellow sojourners at this location and took an advanced
party from Monterey to select
the new outpost of el Imperio Español.
From there de Anza led a party
of twenty men including Fray Pedro
Font onward to the San
Francisco Bay to investigate possible sites for the new presidio. Fray Font was another of the gifted Franciscans to chronicle early California
history, but only for a short period because he was there in connection
with the second de Anza expedition. Born in Giróna,
Cataluña, he came to Méjico
in 1763 C.E. Within a decade, he moved to Sonora
as a misiónero among the Pimas. Upon his return with de
Anza in 1776 C.E., he went to Ures.
There the Fray completed the
short version of the diary that gained him fame, the longer edition
being completed in 1777 C.E. Three years later, Fray
Font died at Caborca. Font included a map of the Port of San Francisco in his diary. According to an account kept by Fray
Font, on March 27, 1776 C.E.,
"the weather was fair and clear, a favor which God granted us
during all these days, and especially today, in order that we might see
the harbor which we were going to explore." After a march of four
hours, they "halted on the banks of a lake or spring of very fine
water near the mouth of the port of San
Francisco," today's Mountain Lake. This spot afforded a resting
place for the tired riders. Then, de
Anza took Fray Pedro Font
and four soldados to scout
further. Going to the northernmost tip of San
Francisco Bay's peninsula and looking down from Cantil
Blanco or White Cliffs, de
Anza had seen enough. He ordered the party back to camp. There, Fray
Font set down his somewhat over-optimistic impressions: "This
place and its vicinity has abundant pasturage, plenty of firewood, and
fine water, all good advantage for establishing here the presidio or fort which is planned. It lacks only timber, for there
is not a tree on all those hills, though the oaks and other trees along
the road are not very far away. Here and near the lake there are "yerba
buena" and so many lilies that I almost had them inside my
tent." Font continued and, for one of the first times, clearly used the
term San Francisco as the name
of the great bay: "The port of San
Francisco is a marvel of nature, and might well be called a harbor
of harbors, because of its great capacity, and of several small bays
which it unfolds in its margins or beach and in its islands." On March 28th,
1776 C.E., de Anza
returned to the Cantil Blanco
of the previous day to erect a wooden cross. This was at or near the
present-day toll plaza on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge. This
action marked the formal act of possession for España.
De Anza also selected the
ground where the cross stood as the spot for a presidio
to protect the region. Then the party further surveyed the immediate
area. Fray Font recorded:
"On leaving we ascended a small hill and then entered upon a mesa
that was very green and flower-covered, and an abundance of wild
violets. The mesa is very open, of considerable extent, and level, sloping a
little toward the harbor. It must be about half a league wide and
somewhat longer, getting narrower until it ends right at the white
cliff. This mesa affords a
most delightful view, for from it one sees a large part of the port and
its islands, as far as the other side, the mouth of the harbor, and of
the sea all that the sight can take in as far as beyond the farallónes
or Farallon
Islands. Indeed,
although in my travels I saw very good sites and beautiful in all the
world, for it has the best advantages for founding in it a most
beautiful city, with all the conveniences desired, by land as well as
sea, with that harbor so remarkable and so spacious, in which may be
established shipyards, docks, and anything that might be wished. This mesa
the Comandante selected as the
site of the new settlement and fort which were to be established on this
harbor: for, being on a height, it is so commanding that with muskets it
can defend the entrance to the mouth of the harbor, while a gunshot away
it has water to supply the people, namely, the spring or lake where we
halted. The only lack is timber for large buildings, although for huts
and barracks and for the stockade of the presidio
there are plenty of trees in the groves." Fray Pedro Font while accompanying that San Francisco Expedition, kept copious notes about the journey in
his journal. The following excerpts by Fray
Font recount the group’s experiences while traveling from the
South Bay Peninsula through an area which today is the Santa Clara
Valley. They provide some striking images of the world that the Españoles
encountered: “Friday, March 29, 1776 C.E.
We traveled through the valley some four leagues to the southeast and
southeast by south, and crossed the arroyo
of San Mateo where it enters
the pass through the hills. About a league before this there came out on
our road a very large bear, which the men succeeded in killing. There
are many of these beasts in that country, and they often attack and do
damage to the Indians when they go to hunt, of which I saw many horrible
examples. When he saw us so
near, the bear was going along very carelessly on the slope of a hill,
where flight was not very easy. When I saw him so close, looking at us
in suspense, I feared some disaster. But Cabo
Robles fired a shot at him with aim so true that he hit him in the
neck. Saturday, March 30,
1776 C.E: “On beginning to go around the head of the bocana
we found another village, Indians from there showed great fear as soon
as they saw us, but it was greatly lessened by giving them glass beads.
One of the women, from the time when she first saw us until we departed,
stood at the door of her hut making gestures like crosses and drawing
lines on the ground, at the same time talking to herself as though
praying, and during her prayer she was immobile, paying no attention to
the glass beads which the Comandante
offered her.” On April 5, 1776
C.E., the Friday before Palm Sunday,
Señor Comandante-Coronel Juan
Bautista de Anza explored a creek and lake. This day was
traditionally called the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Nuestra
Señora de los Dolores). He gave them both the name "Dolores."
The Misión San Francisco de Asís
has as its common name "Misión
Dolores," taken from the name of the now vanished Lake Dolores and Dolores Creek.
However, neither Font nor de
Anza would have to wrestle with the actual establishment of a
settlement since both men left the bay area for Monterey
on April 5th, arriving there some three
days later. After this survey of the bay, de
Anza returned from Monterey
to Méjico, and his second in command, Teniente José Joaquín Moraga,
took command of the expedition to lead it to its final destination. By April 14,
1776 C.E.,
Juan Bautista de Anza and Fray
Pedro Font, once again this time setting out for Méjico,
where de Anza would receive
another promotion and a new assignment destined to take him away forever
from California. Thus the presidio at San Francisco
would be established in June 1776 C.E.,
by an expedition which set out in two parts. One would leave from Monterey
and go by land, the other by sea. The objective of both was the bay
named in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, hence, San
Francisco. Moraga would
serve as both as comandante and
habilitado or authorized
person/deputy of the Presidio
of San Francisco from its
founding until his death on July 13, 1785 C.E.
He was the son of José Moraga
and María Gaona, he hailed
from Misión Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi, in
today's Arizona, where he was born on August 22,
1745 C.E. José Joaquín Moraga led the final leg of the colonizing expedition
northward. Moraga and the 193 weary pobladores departed
Monterey for the San
Francisco Bay on June 17, 1776 C.E.
These included both soldado and civil, some with
families and other single adventurers who made ready for a new life. Here is an excerpt from Moraga’s
correspondence of June 17, 1776 C.E., in
which he describes that final leg of the journey: “In the valley of
the latter there appeared before us a herd of elk to the number of
eleven, of which we got three without leaving our road. This merciful
act of the infinite providence of the Most High is noteworthy, for the soldados
were by now tired out by the difficulties of the road and weak on
account of the customary fare, consisting only of maíz
and frijoles, on which
they were being fed, a reason why the women with continuous sighs were
now making known their great dissatisfaction. But this refreshment of
meat appearing before us, and we being able with such ease to take
advantage of it, the soldados not only were revived with such a plenty of food, but they
were also delighted with the prospect of the abundance of these animals
which the country promised. And it is certain, most Excellent Sir, that
these elk are of such size and have such savory flesh that neither in
quantity nor in quality need they envy the best beef.” On July 26,
1776 C.E. or June 27,
1776 C.E., the land expedition contingent under of comandante
Don José Moraga arrived
in the neighborhood of the Golden Gate.
They halted at the site of what became the Misión
Dolores. It included Frayles
Palóu and Cambón, a few married pobladores
with large families, and seventeen dragoons. Part of the land expedition
contingent Frayles Palóu
and Cambón, five servants, six soldados
and families, and one poblador
with family would remain to manage the misión
site. The remainder of the Spanish party
moved about three miles northwest to establish the presidio of San Francisco
close to the south shore of what is now the Golden Gate channel. Padre
Palóu would dedicate the site five days before the American
Declaration of Independence was signed. On June 27,
1776 C.E., the expedition under the command of Teniente José Joaquín Moraga
reached the northernmost tip of the San
Francisco peninsula, which de
Anza had previously selected as the site for the military presidio. The pobladores
then arrived along the shore of Laguna
Dolores near what is today’s, Albión
and Camp Streets in the Mission District. San
Francisco, Alta California El Presidio Real de San Francisco was to
be founded soon thereafter. Although Moraga's main force arrived at a Bay Area clearing overlooking the
bay their destination, the pobladores
could not begin construction of the presidio
and immediately began work on a chapel and a few crude shelters for the guarnición.
The expedition had carried with them garden seed, agricultural
implements, horses, mules, and sheep. The group would rest there and
wait for supplies when the ship San Cárlos arrived. The San Cárlos
was delayed in its arrival, taking 42 days to sail from Monterey due to poor sailing conditions. This delay caused further hardship for
the soldados and their
families, as recounted here by Teniente
Moraga: “The ship was now
tardy and provisions were getting low, so I ordered the sargento to prepare four soldados,
two servants, and fifteen mules equipped with pack saddles so that they
might go to Monterrey to
request some provisions of Don
Fernando Ribera and at the same time ask him to supply me with some
goods, for the soldados are
naked and the cold in these days is severe, and it is a pity to see all
the people shivering, especially since they were raised in hot climates
and this being the first year in which they have experienced the change
of temperature. For this reason I am living in fear that such nakedness
may bring upon us some disastrous sickness. It was now necessary to
reduce the ration for the soldados
until the ship should
arrive or the pack train return, and, in order that hunger might not
make the people disconsolate, on the same day I detached my sargento with three soldados
and six servants with the order that, not sparing any effort whatever,
he should see if he could capture some elk, but although he tried hard
he was unable to aid us with this succor.” Two Franciscan padres, Fray Francisco Palóu
and Fray Benito Cambón had
accompanied them. Under an enramada
or arbor built by Moraga's soldados,
Fray Palóu celebrated the first Mass on the feast of Saints Peter
and Paul, June 29, 1776 C.E. or June
29, 1776 C.E. is the "official birthday" of the misión
and of the city of San Francisco. Don Moraga would pass the next several weeks actively exploring the region.
On these forays, he concluded that a plain to the southeast of the Cantil
Blanco seemed better suited for a military outpost. Don
Moraga realized cold fogs often shrouded the windy spot which had
been selected by de Anza. He
may have desired a slightly milder climate than the exposed cliffs
selected by de Anza. He also sought convenient sources of water, which he found
on a good plain in sight of the harbor and entrance, and also of its
interior. As soon as he found the location the Teniente
decided that it was suitable for settlement. With this in mind, Don
Moraga relocated the main force to the spot he selected. Without
waiting for the detachment which was coming by sea, the contingent chose
a site for the presidio and
began work upon the modest buildings of that station. Seed was planted,
the cattle and sheep were put out to graze, and the horses and mules
began their work. On June 30th, Moraga’s
sargento with three soldados
and six servants left to obtain aid from Monterrey. By July 4, 1776 C.E., the United States had claimed its Independence
from Great Britain and began seven years of war. With the
British-American colonies War for Independence in 1776 C.E.,
relationships remained strained. Britain would eventually lose her
colonies to Américano
independence. What was left undecided was the control of the remaining
land areas of North America. Thus began the British and American
political and military games of cat and mouse. España’s
Norte Américano
territories would also become tempting morsels for the expansionists of
the United States. On August 12, 1776 C.E., an Indian attack on people in the area was
carried out by the rival Ssalson tribe. From Padre Palóu: “The heathens of the villages of San Mateo, who are their enemies, fell upon them at a large town
about a league from this lagoon, in which there were many wounded and
dead on both sides. Apparently the Indians of this vicinity were
defeated, and so fearful were they of the others that they made tule
rafts and all moved to the shore opposite the presidio,
or to the mountains on the east side of the bay. We were unable to
restrain them, even though we let them know by signs that they should
have no fear, for the soldados
would defend them.” (Palóu
[1773-1783] 1926:4:135) The reason for the attack was never clearly
explained in the historical record. By Mid-August 1776, work at the misión involved a church and living quarters along with a corral
for herds of cattle and horses. Wheat and vegetable crop areas were also
laid out and turned for planting. In the early stages the main priority
was to survive while awaiting sea borne supplies. During this time Moraga's
force remained in its rudimentary encampment without any special
military preparations. That situation changed when the San
Cárlos finally arrived on August
17, 1776 C.E. After the ship's Capitán,
its piloto, and the ship's Capellán
came ashore, they concurred with Moraga's
selection for the fort and presidio.
With this, the piloto Cañizares
laid out: "A square measuring ninety-two varas
(ninety yards square each way) with divisions for church, royal offices,
warehouses, guardhouses and houses for soldado
pobladores, a map of the plan being formed and drawn by the first piloto."
To expedite construction a squad of Marineros
and two carpinteros joined in
to complete a warehouse, the comandancia
and a chapel while the soldados
worked on their own dwellings. The Royal Regulations of 1772 C.E.
required that the presidios be
constructed of adobe brick.
This was a suitable material and design for presidios
on the Southern Spanish Provincias
Internas but it was never suitable for the northern climate of Monterey
or San Francisco with their high winds and heavy rains. The Moroccan
design was meant for the arid climate but the Spanish bureaucracy could
not adjust to geography. Wooden or stone buildings were more appropriate
for those climates. The Spanish soldados,
however, followed orders and planned a design with an adobe wall and bastions that followed the 1772 C.E. regulations.
Consequently, from the beginning the San
Francisco Presidio was subject to continual rebuilding and restoral.
The Presidio was dependent on
the supply ships from San Blas
for basic food needs and there were often food shortages. The first part of September saw the
buildings of the post substantially complete. On September
17, 1776 with sufficient progress being made, the crew of the San
Cárlos which had arrived with supplies joined the soldados
and ciudádanos and four misiónero padres at a
solemn high mass. It was the feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis. In the name of the King of España,
a solemn possession of the Presidio
was led by the grizzled soldado
Moraga, while a mass was celebrated by Palóu. The ceremony of formal dedication was followed by the
singing of the Te Deum Laudamus accompanied by the peal of bells and
salutes were fired by repeated salvos of Cañónes,
muskets, and guns over land and water. A cross was then planted. The
roar and sound of the bells doubtless terrified the local Indians, who
hid themselves for many days. Thus, the presidio
of San Francisco was founded. The ship San Cárlos remained to provide help in building the presidio
and misión sites until October 21, 1776 C.E.
December, 1776 C.E. saw the first violent encounter with the Españoles
and local Indians who had started to return to their villages. According
to Spanish reports the Indians were harassing soldados
and women. One Indian was caught and flogged while others escaped. Soldados went after the others who denied guilt. As the soldados
started toward the Indians they started firing arrows, wounding a horse
and soldado. The soldados
fired back, killing one Indian and wounding others. Seeing death at a
distance, the Indians gave up and the two men accused of abetting the
original crime were whipped and told they would be shot if they tried to
attack a Spanish soldado again. The events were documented in Padre Palóu’s log. The California misiónes, after they were all established, would be
located about one day's horseback ride apart from one another for easier
communication and linked by the El
Camino Real trail. These misiónes
were typically manned by two to three frayles
and three to ten soldados. The misiónes of Alta California would
eventually claim about 1/6 of the available land in California or roughly 1,000,000 acres of land per-misión.
The rest of the land was considered the property of el
Trono Español. To encourage settlement of the territory, large land
grants were given to retired soldados
and ciudádanos. Most land
grants were virtually free and typically went to friends and relatives
in the California government. When the presidios and pueblos were
being established, the comandantes
of the presidios and the Alcaldes
of the pueblos were given the authority to grant lots of land within their
jurisdiction. From these presidial and pueblo
lots evolved the granting of lands outside of these jurisdictions. These
grants of land are known as Rancho
Grants, and were granted in order to encourage agriculture and industry,
reward soldados, and to
provide for pobladores who
held no property. These land grants were limited to a maximum size of
eleven square leagues, most were smaller and a few were larger. The
Spanish government required the compliance of the following four steps
for the granting of rancho lands. The first step was the submitting of a
petition by an applicant, containing the name, religion, residence
occupation, the size of the family, in addition to a land description,
and at times, a map of the tract (Diseños).
The diseños and land
description were usually very vague, calling to sloughs, trees, hills,
and other features which were not very permanent. The second step was the inquiries by
officials into the availability of the land, the character of the
applicant, and the posting of the petition in case another party had
objections to the approval of the application. The third step was the ''Informe" which
was usually a separate document or a note appended to the original
application, stating the findings of the officials in Step Number 2.
This third step usually entailed the actual grant of land or refusal of
the grant of land. The fourth and final step was the
confirmation of the grant by the Virrey.
This final step made the title to the land perfect. The applicant or
grantee was given possession by the Alcalde
(local judge) who caused the grantee to pull up grass, throw stones,
break twigs, and exclaim, "Viva
el Presidente y la Nación Mexicana" or long live the
President and the Mexican Nation. During the Méjicano
Period, these four steps were also used with minor alterations. Nearly all of the Indians adjoining the
misiónes were induced to join
the various misiónes built in
California. Most of the
physical labor was done by Indians who joined the misiónes.
The frayles provided
instructions for making adobe
bricks, constructing misión
buildings, planting fields, digging and managing irrigation ditches,
growing new grains and vegetables, herding cattle and horses, singing,
speaking Spanish, and understanding the Catholic faith. All of
this was thought to be necessary to bring the Indians to be able to
support themselves and their new church. Once the Indians had joined the
misión, if they tried to
leave, soldados were sent out
to retrieve them. The soldados supervised the construction of the Presidios and were responsible for maintaining order and preventing
Indians from leaving the misiónes.
To support the presidios and the misiónes,
half a dozen pueblos were
established in Alta California. These were Los Ángeles, San
Diego, San Francisco, Santa
Bárbara, Villa de
Branciforte (later abandoned before later becoming Santa
Cruz, California), and the pueblo
of San José. For a time,
these remained the only pueblos
in Alta California.
During this period, horses were
plentiful. Horse ownership for all except a few exceptional animals was
almost community property. Horses were so common and of so little use
that they were often destroyed to keep them from eating the grass needed
by the cattle. They were often left to wander around with a rope around
their neck for easy capture after being having
been trained to accept a saddle or harness. It was not unusual
for a rider to use one horse until it was exhausted, before switching
its bridle to another horse. Again, letting the first horse be free to
wander. California Indians later developed a taste for horse flesh as food and helped
keep the number of horses under control. An unusual use for horses
was found in shucking wheat or barley. The wheat and its stems
were cut from the gain fields by Indians bearing sickles. The grain
with its stems still attached was transported to the harvesting area by
solid wheeled carreta, almost
the only wheeled transport in California,
and put into a circular packed earth corral.
A herd of horses were then driven into the same corral or "threshing field." By keeping the horses moving
around the corral their hoofs
would, in time, separate the wheat or barley from
the chaff. Later the horses would be allowed to escape and the
wheat and chaff were collected and then separated by tossing
it into the air on a windy day so as to let the wind carry the chaff away.
By 1777 C.E., The Spanish and
later Méjicano governments
encouraged settlement of Alta
California (Present-day California)
by giving prominent men large land grants called ranchos,
usually two or more square leagues. A rancho was
a tract of land used for raising cattle, sheep, and horses. This
Spanish word has come into the English language as ranch. March 4, 1777 C.E. The first burial at the California
Misión of San Francisco
is listed as Francisca,
nine-year-old daughter of a Spanish soldado,
Joaquín Álvarez. On March 29,
1777 C.E., Alfonso or Alonzo
Rivera, Miguel Gerónimo de Ribera's brother, enlisted as a soldado
of España in the Provincia
of Nuevo Méjico. On June 24, 1777 C.E., Per Padre
Palóu three young local men
became the first baptisms at the California
Misión of San Francisco.
“They [Indians] began to come to [the California]
Misión [of San Francisco],
attracted by presents and other inducements, until we were able to
celebrate our first baptisms on St. John the Baptist’s Day” (Palóu
[1786 C.E.] 1913:208). Chamis, a 23-year-old from Chutchui, is
the first listed in the California
Misión of San Francisco
baptismal records. The other two were both 9-year-olds: Pilmo and Taulvo,
both from Sitlintac. On October 29, 1777 C.E., the first Indian, Pedro, was laid to rest in the
California Misión of San
Francisco cemetery. In 1778 C.E., existing California Misión of San
Francisco buildings besides the Church and living quarters included
a dormitory for girls and single women which had been reroofed. Also, in
this year a palazada or
fenced corral with granary and
offices were built. A corn field and orchard were fenced and a corral and irrigation ditch built. On April 24, 1778 C.E., The first California
Misión of San Francisco
Church wedding took place at the Misión
on this date. The bride, named Paszém,
a 14-year-old. The groom, named Francisco
Moraga, was 21 and was the first misión
neophyte. On July 10, 1778 C.E., France declared war against Britain after
making an alliance with the Américano
revolutionary forces. Several complete Spanish military
rosters for the 1779 C.E.-1783 C.E.
period are known to be available as "Extractos
de Revista" at La Paz,
Baja California Sur, Archivo
Historico "Pablo L.
Martinez." These were extracted by Carmen Boone and first
published in "Noticias Para
Los Californianos," January 1999 C.E.
Alfonso or Alonzo
Rivera, Miguel Gerónimo de Ribera's brother and his wife, María
Antónia Abeyta (Beitia),
were married on February 2, 1779 C.E., at
Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico. They chose to remain living at Pecos
as estancieros. It was Alfonso
who first brought the de Riberas
to Pecos. Another Ribera
or Rivera reference: [31890] Info by Fr. Bill Sanchez. Regarding [158481] Padrinos:
Jose Miguel Ribera (My Progenitor) y María Francisca Ortíz.
Testigos: Gregorio Escudero y
Diego Padilla. [31891] [S405] Santa Fe, New
Méjico Baptisms of, Vol. I
Page 226, 5th entry [31892] [S10] Census
1790, 1823, 1845, Spanish & Mexican Colonial
Page 58, Family #159 In April of 1779 C.E., España also joined the Américano cause against Britain. There were many Hispanic Soldados
of España in California. The
combined misión-pueblos among
the Yuma Indians near the
junction of the Río Gila
and the Río Colorado were established in late-1780 C.E.
and early-1781 C.E. by soldados of España and
Spanish Padre Francisco Garcés.
The first to be established was Misión
La Purísima Concepción at today’s Lompoc, California. The California Rancho Period may be said to span almost one hundred
years, from the 1780s C.E. when the first
big land concessions were made, to the 1880s C.E.
when the last of the ranchos
was sold to sub-dividers. On January 7,
1781 C.E., a second misión,
Misión San Pedro y San Pablo de
Bicuñer, was founded by soldados
of España and Spanish Padre Francisco Garcés, to protect the Anza
Trail where it forded the Río
Colorado, between Colonial Méjico
and Alta California. The
settlement was located about 10 miles northeast of Yuma Crossing, in present-day California, was not part of
the Spanish California misión
chain, but was administered as a part of the Arizona misiónes chain, followed a few miles away. Below are the names of soldados
in the Provincia of the Royal Presdio
of Santa Fé, for the company
garrisoned and under the charge of Fortress of the Villa of Santa Fé. Issued
by Don Manuel de la Azuela
interim Comandante and dated
March 1, 1781 C.E.
The Yumas believed they were being victimized and rose up in rebellion
in July 1781 C.E. They killed the padres,
pobladores, and soldados
at the two settlements Misión La
Purísima Concepción and Misión
San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer. The Indians then killed those who
remained with Capitán Rivera
from the Expedition of 1781 C.E. which was to settle Los
Ángeles and establish Santa Bárbara
Presidio. There were many soldados
of the misión and pueblos who were killed. One was Cabo Pascual Rivera. The majority of these soldados had families. From the same Toma come notes of recruits who deserted. Other notes show soldados
from the Sonora Presidios. Also listed without caption as of October
24, 1781 C.E., were 16 soldados, possibly from a contingent of recruits sent by Capitán
Rivera to Loreto, thence on to California.
Another list showing most of the above had additional recruit names. The largest number of soldados
ever involved in Spanish California
military operations involved three separate attempts to subdue the Yumas. Teniente
Coronel Pedro Fages led the Río
Colorado Expedition of 1781
C.E./1782 C.E. and recovered most of the captives. He was joined by
Capitán Pedro Fueros/Tueros; Alférez
Don Manuel António Arbizu; Sargento
Miguel Rivera, and 100 soldados
from Presidios in Arizona and Sonora. The number of Alta California Spanish
pobladores continued to be a minority of total population. It slowly
increased due to more births than deaths in the Californio population. In 1781 C.E.,
after the closure of the de
Anza Trail across the Río
Colorado most immigration
from Méjico was all by ship. California
continued to remain a sparsely populated and isolated. A few foreign colonists who became rancheros
and merchants were allowed to remain if they accepted Spanish
citizenship and joined the Catholic Faith, as the Nueva
España Inquisition in Méjicano
was nearly in full force and forbade Protestants living in Spanish
controlled territory. In the Spanish Period, many of the land
grants were later turned into Ranchos.
España made about 30 of these
large grants, nearly all several square leagues (1 Spanish league = 2.6
miles each in size. The total land granted to pobladores
in the Spanish Period was about 800,000 acres or about 35,000 acres
each. The few owners of these large ranchos
patterned themselves after the landed gentry in España. Many kept themselves living in a grand style. The remainder of the population under
the El Imperio Español sought
employment from the rancheros
in exchange for being supported. This was due to Alta California economic conditions and España’s laws. The majority of these workers were unpaid and most
of the rancho hands were paid
with room and board, simple clothing, basic housing, but no salary. Nearly all Spanish trained Indians
and/or Peónes how to
ride horses and raise some crops. The main products of these ranchos
were cattle, horses, and sheep. Most of these animals lived virtually in
the wild. The cattle were killed for fresh meat, hides, and tallow (fat)
which could be traded or sold for money or goods. As the cattle herds
increased there came a time when nearly everything that could be made of
leather was. This included doors, window coverings, stools, chaps,
leggings, riatas or vests
lariats, saddles, boots etc. Since there was no refrigeration,
often a cow was killed for the day's fresh meat and the hide and tallow
salvaged for sale later. After taking the cattle's hide and tallow their
carcasses were left to rot or feed the California grizzly
bears which roamed wild in Alta
California at that time, or to
feed the packs of dogs that typically lived at each rancho. On December 19, 1781 C.E., the animosity that led to the attack of two
tribes in August of 1776 C.E. came to an
end with the marriage at the California
Misión of San Francisco
of members of each tribe to one another. María
Francisca of Chutchui married Maríano,
a Ssalson at the California Misión
of San Francisco. A week
later María de los Remedios,
a Ssalson married Jácome de la
Marca, a Yalamu. The misiónero
logs record…“Some people from those villages [Ssalson] have come to
be baptized and to live at this misión.
They have married among those of this place…. With these conversions
the continuous warfare in which they lived has ceased, with which both
nations show themselves to be well pleased” (Palóu
and Cambón [1783 C.E.]). In early-1782
C.E., Teniente Coronel
Pedro Fages led a group of 38 soldados,
with considerable livestock, through the Yuma
country and on to San Gabriel.
A coordinated expedition under Teniente
Coronel Felipe de Neve then began from California
and Sonora. The Yumas withdrew from the area and there was little action. Felipe
de Neve was born in Bailén (Jaén), España
in 1724 C.E. Later, still another expedition from Sonora
with 108 men under Capitán José António
Roméu attacked Yumas
and killed many, but did not subdue them. The names of soldados
in these various expeditions have not been recovered. Of the rosters known to be available as
"Extractos de Revista"
at La Paz, Baja California Sur,
Archivo Historico "Pablo
L. Martínez." for the 1779 C.E.-1783
C.E. period, one roster is shown above, referenced as Doc 71.
There were 46 soldados on April
1, 1782 C.E. when Teniente Cañete made his report. In addition to the soldados,
Teniente Cañete also reported 21 naval persons under his
jurisdiction: From the Department of the Navy and Officials of the Maestranza
(Navy Yard/Arsenal): Carpintero de Rivera (shipbuilder carpenter), present Crew of the sloop El Pilar (all were on a trip to San
Blas) Skipper (Master) Diego Pérez; Guardian (Keeper) António Ballarta; and the following mariners/Marineros: Pedro Rivera. In Santa Bárbara, Alta California El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara was founded in 1782
C.E. 1782 C.E.: Construction at the California Misión of San
Francisco continued and an adobe
church with a sacristy was built. Also built were quarters for the misióneros,
including a reception room and apartments. A kitchen and girls’
dormitory with offices were constructed. Unfortunately, growing
conditions at the misión site
were not good and Padre Palóu
decided to move the misión
about a half mile away to a new location. In fact, he moved the misión about five different times until 1785 C.E. where he felt he
found the right location. On September 3, 1783 C.E., the Treaty of Paris was signed by the
victorious United States and a defeated Great Britain.
When these soldados returned to their various stations throughout the Nuevo
Mundo, they carried with them that germ called freedom. It would
grow until it ravaged the entire el
Imperio Español. Its impact would be felt in Venezuela,
Las Filipinas, Méjico, España’s Ibero, and other places within
the Imperio where soldados
returned from serving with de Gálvez.
Many of the French soldiers who had fought in the struggle on the side
of the Américanos had also
been infected with is virulent germ, thus the French Revolution of 1789
C.E. through 1799 C.E. To be sure, one of the many causes for
that freedom may also have been due to racism, however, not solely. Domíngo Labadie a native of France married Micaela
Padilla in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico
but when he came to Santa Fé
is not known. One of their daughters Joséfa
Labadie married Manuel José
Ribera in 1783 C.E. Their son José Vicente Rivera married María
Vicenta Rendon and their daughter María
Dorotea married Donaciano López
and their daughter married Domíngo
Maes and their daughter María
de Los Ángeles married José
Saturnino Romero. By 1784 C.E., Padre
Palóu visited the Misión San Cárlos Borromeo del río Carmelo or
the Carmel Misión in California
to give the last rights to his friend Saint Junípero
Serra. After Serra’s
death, Padre Palóu took over
as Presidente of the misiónes. Land-grant titles or concessions were
government-issued, permanent, unencumbered property-ownership rights to
land called ranchos. España made about 30 land-grants between 1784
C.E. and 1821 C.E. Approximately, 500 private California land grants were given by Spanish or Méjicano
gobernadores between 1784 C.E. and 1846 C.E. Juan Ribera, my great-great-great-grandfather, was born at Santa
Fé, Nuevo Méjico in 1784 C.E. to Miguel
Gerónimo and María de la Cruz Gurulé. It is suspected that his mother died
giving birth to Juan. In 1785 C.E., the Carmel
Misión in California was
resettled at its present location and construction started on the
permanent Misión structures.
The Church was dedicated April 3, 1791 C.E.
Its walls were four feet thick, built of sun-dried adobe
brick of playa soil or a mixture of local clay, sediment and straw.
These bricks were made in forms four inches deep by eight inches wide by
sixteen inches long. The completed adobe
structure was about forty-four varas long
and thirteen varas wide. Note: Early measurements were given in
terms of the Méjicano vara.
This measurement was also used in surveying grants and other
transferences of property. A large part of the survey of the City of San
Francisco was based upon the vara,
which accounts for the present uneven dimensions of feet and inches of
many parcels of property. On July 13, 1785 C.E., Teniente
José Moraga, the first Comandante
of the Presidio de San Francisco,
died and is presently buried under the sanctuary in the
Church. Failing health caused Padre
Palóu to retire to the Misiónero
College of San Fernando de Méjico
where he was elected guardian of the college and continued to work on
his Saint Serra biography. He
died in Méjico in 1789
C.E. Padre Palóu was
replaced in California by Padres Martí de Landaeta and António
Dantí. The Españoles living in Alta California
in the late-1700s C.E. would later become
Méjicanos, but for only 25
years. They were well-established but sparsely settled on far-flung ranchos. A few lived in pueblos
that grew up near the former presidios
and misiónes. These Californios
would later become Méjicano
citizens living in California.
Californios became accustomed to running ayuntamientos in local governments without interference from a
central authority much like the town councils did in New England. In
the process, Californios
developed a taste for self-government, as well as experiencing
frustration due to their lack of representation in the governing body in
faraway Méjico City. Influenced by the same 18th-Century
C.E. enlightenment philosophers that inspired the Américano
revolutionaries, the Californios
favored a republican government. They did not understand capitalist
enterprise. They clearly favored an aristocratic, feudal-style
agricultural economy based on honor, trust, and trade without money. This
would not bode well for them in the future, as America was built upon
multiple forms of taxation. Meanwhile, life had become more
peaceful in Nuevo Méjico. The
Indians were as tired of war as the Españoles.
Following the signing of a peace treaty with the Comanches in 1786 C.E., Spanish pobladores
began to look beyond the valley of the Río
Grande for new areas to farm and graze their livestock. Compared to
the crowded, drier, narrow valleys of the western slopes of the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains, the valleys to the east must have been green
and inviting. But crossing the mountains was no easy task. Soaring to
elevations of more than thirteen thousand feet, the mountain wall
extends more than eighty miles north to south with few breaks. One break
occurs at the southern end of the range at Glorieta
Pass. A steeper, more difficult pass lies near the headwaters of the
eastward-flowing Río Mora. My great-great-great-grandfather’s
father, Miguel Gerónimo de Ribera
re-enlisted in España’s
Army on August 21, 1789 C.E. Spanish Enlistment Papers of Nuevo
Méjico 1732 C.E.-1820 C.E. describe Miguel
Gerónimo de Ribera as follows:
…of Santa Fé, Farmer, 5’.25.” tall, Light chestnut hair and
eyebrows, dark eyes, straight nose, heavy beard, fair skin, scars on the
outside of left ear and under chin. Enlisted August
21, 1789 C.E., Married. On May 6, 1790
C.E., Juan’s father,
my great-great-great-great-grandfather,
Miguel Gerónimo de Ribera, married his second wife, Francisca Ortíz in Nuevo Méjico.
He was by then twenty-nine years-old. Juan’s
father, Miguel, continued to
ply his trade as a Spanish Soldado.
Juan would have looked
somewhat like his father. Alfonso Ribera, Miguel Gerónimo's brother, was discharged in
Nuevo Méjico on October 28, 1790 C.E. Alfonso
Ribera and his wife chose to remain living at Pecos as estancieros. It
was Alfonso who first brought
the de Riberas to Pecos. Family lore has it that, Miguel
Gerónimo unable to care for his orphaned children, Miguel gave Juan and his
4-year-old sister, Juana María de
la Cruz, up for adoption in 1790 C.E.
The 1790 C.E., Santa
Fé Census suggests that Juan
Ribera and a sibling were adopted by Alfonso
or Alonzo Rivera, Miguel Gerónimo's
brother. Alfonso was a
41-year-old soldado serving at
Pecos. What is of key importance, at this
stage, España and her
possessions did not operate in an economic, political, and military
vacuum. The Frenchman, Napoléon’s early-19th-Century
C.E. Spanish adventure, disrupted an already weakened
España. His occupation of España
would further weaken and finally fragment the Spanish administration.
Its governance deteriorated into a series of quarrelling provincial juntas.
The lack of centralized control from Madrid
caused España’s inability to effectively address critical issues
relating to the welfare of its subjects throughout the Nuevo Mundo. This in effect led to the outbreak of revolts all
across el Imperio Español. The first few decades of the 19th-Century
C.E. would find the Españoles in grudging retreat from their Nuevo Mundo possessions. It began the waning years of the Corona
Española’s control of its Imperio
Español possessions on the North American Continent. The retreat
would later become acute in the Spanish Américas.
The Spanish-speaking world called it the Guerra
de la Independencia Española or
Spanish War of Independence. At the turn of the 19th-Century
C.E., Nueva España,
parts of which are in today's Méjico,
had little to do with its northern most Spanish provincia Nuevo Méjico. The great distance between Méjico
City and Santa Fé made safe traveling almost impossible. Access to this
remote place, high in the mountains took a great deal of effort and
hardship. The Indians always on the warpath exacted a tremendous toll on
travelers. The people of Méjico
City and Nuevo Méjico,
therefore, remained distinct and apart. Trade with the outside world had
always been difficult for Nuevo Méjico.
Interaction was limited to decrees and laws passed to further control or
limit economic activities of all Nueva
España and Nuevo Méjicanos. Beginning in 1800 C.E., other newer Nuevo Méjico Hispano
settlements in the area were taking over the trade that had once made
the Pecos Pueblo prosperous.
My progenitor, Juan Ribera's
new home was becoming a backwater. In the early-19th-Century
C.E., several large Hispano
ranchos were established near Glorieta
Pass in the green and fertile valley of the Pecos
Río near Pecos, Nuevo Méjico. The year of 1800 C.E., saw the Spanish and French sign the Treaty of San
Ildefonso ceding Spanish Luísiana
to France. As can be seen from Chapter Nineteen, after it once again
became French Louisiana Españoles
remained. With time came the change in spelling of first, middle, and
last names of these Spanish families. The Españoles
also intermarried with the French, English, Germans, Mestízos
or persons of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and
Native American ancestry. Such had been the case with Bernardo
de Gálvez in 1777 C.E. marriage to
the half-French Mestíza,
Marie Felicité (Feliciana) de Saint-Maxênt d'Estrehan. There were also
marriages to Mulatos or
persons born from one European parent and one African parent; or to
persons of two Mulato parents,
local Indian tribes, and Blacks. By 1800 C.E., conflicts erupted between the Indians and the
French and Spanish pobladores
of Louisiana including the Adai, Alabama, Apalachee, Atakapa, Avoyel,
Bayogoula, Biloxi, Caddo, Chatot, Chawasha, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Houma,
Koasati, Koroa, Mugulasha, Muskogee, Natchez, Okelousa, Opelousa,
Ouachita, Pascagoula, Quapaw, Quinipissa, Souchitioni, Tangipahoa,
Tawasa, Washa and Yatasi. These wars would last throughout the 1800's
C.E. and dramatically impact the Spanish, French, and American
empires. As each lost or gained control of Louisiana, these empires were
forced to deal with savage Indian attacks. The Indians would gradually
be forced to cede their lands. In the early-1800's C.E. more Anglo Américanos and European immigrants began moving to California.
In the main, Californios had
included the descendants of agricultural pobladores
and retired escort soldados
deployed from the capital of Nueva
España in what is modern-day Méjico
City. This began many changes for Alta
California and its residents. Here we must stop and make a point. We
Americans of the 21st-Century C.E. are largely ignorant of what is meant
by the use of the term Spaniard in the context of Nuevo
Mundo el Imperio Español’s
inhabitants. American commentators and historians usually emphasize race
rather than nationality when dealing with people. Just as today, an
American may be of mixed racial ancestry, so too were many of the Nuevo Mundo el Imperio Español
inhabitants. We have dealt with this point of clarification in earlier
chapters. By this time, most Nuevo
Mundo el Imperio Español inhabitants were of mixed ethnicities, usually Mestízo (Spanish
and Native American or mixed African-American and Indian backgrounds).
Few Californios were
of "Ibero" Spanish
stock. These would have only included the Peninsulares
or Spanish born on the Ibero
Peninsula and the Criollos,
children of Españoles born in
América. Most with
unmixed Spanish ancestry were the Catholic priests,
career government officials, and military officers who did not remain in
California. According to misión records (marriage, baptisms, and burials) as well as Presidio
roster listings, several soldados
de cuero operating as escorts, misión
guards, and other military duty personnel were described as europeo (i.e.,
born in Europe), while most of the civilian pobladores
were of mixed origins (coyote,
mulatto, etc.). The term "Mestízo"
was rarely if ever used in misión
records, the more common terms being "indio,"
"europeo," "mulatto,"
"coyote," castizo," and other caste terms. During this period, most Alta
California Indians are thought
to have been located near the coast, the same areas the Spanish Misiónes
were established. During the Spanish and Méjicano
California periods the tribes were nearly all coastal tribes were
induced to join a misión.
Since California Indians had
no agriculture before it was introduced by the Franciscan Frayles, they were strictly hunter-gather society tribes
which could not support large populations. Much of the agriculture,
vineyards, and orchards planted and maintained by the misiónes
would deteriorate as the rapidly declining misión
Indian population fell from over 80,000 to very much below that in By now, the misiónes were becoming ever more strained as the number of Indian
converts drastically declined and the deaths greatly exceeded the
births. The ratio of Indian births to deaths is believed to have been
less than 0.5 Indian births per-death. Many of the Misión
Indians died due to working conditions at the misiónes and diseases such as measles, diphtheria, smallpox,
syphilis, etc. This resulted in raids being undertaken to new Indian
villages in the interior to increase the supply of Indian women at the misiónes.
As reported by historical researchers
in December 31, 1832 C.E., from 1800 C.E. to
1830 C.E., the misión padres performed a combined total of 87,787 baptisms and 24,529
marriages, and recorded 63,789 deaths. If historical researcher’s numbers
are to be believed, the Misión
Indian population had declined from a peak of about 87,000 in about 1800
C.E. to about 14,000 by 1832 C.E.
Afterwards, their numbers continued to decline. For the very few rancheros
and their families, this was the Californio's
Golden Age, although for all the others it was much different. The rancho family was characteristically patriarchal, with the son
regardless of age, deferring to his father's wishes. Hispano males had almost complete control of all family members. Women
of the rancho class had full
rights of property ownership and control unless she was married or had a
father. Spanish women in Californio rancho society
during this period have often been romanticized as beautiful, very
sheltered, protected, fun loving in nature, and wearing extravagant
dress. It is true that some women at the pinnacle of Californio
social standing did manage to live this kind of life. They also played a
key role in the development of Alta
California and its social interactions. They would continue in this
role through the transition from a Méjicano
territory to an Américano
possession. The social life of Californio
society was extremely important in both politics and business, and women
played an important but overlooked part in these interactions. They
helped facilitate these interactions for their husbands, and therefore
themselves, to move up in the social and power rankings of Californio
society. This ability to shape social situations was a sought after
trait when looking for a spouse, as prominent men knew the power their
new wife would have in their future dealings. This life style was extremely rare
among indigenous peoples. Most of these women worked to help their
families both in the home and outside. As of this time, a formal education
system in California had not
yet been created. It fell to the individual families to educate their
children. Traditionally, this was done by Church padres
or hired private tutors. The result was that only a few hundred early
immigrant inhabitants knew how to read or write. As more foreign, non-Spanish speaking
men began moving into California,
some wished to be included into the already established Californio social hierarchy and its upper echelons. They began to
use marriage with the women of established Californio
families as a way to join this hierarchy. It should be said that the Californios
were uneasy about these foreign, non-Spanish speaking men. Those who
married their daughters often were not Catholic. The foreigner’s ideas
of capitalism and their land-grabbing practices threatened the rancho
way of life. Until the Gold Rush, the number of foreigners was
small and did not represent an actual threat. In Nuevo
Méjico, my great-great-great-grandfather, Juan Ribera, married María de
la Candalaria Crespín. She
was born at Pecos, Nuevo Méjico
on February 2, 1784 C.E. The couple
married sometime before 1801 C.E. and
continued to live in Pecos.
They eventually had four children. Juan
Ribera and María de la
Candalaria Crespín’s first son was José
Pablo, was born about 1801 C.E., as
the Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico
Parish Census of 1821 C.E. shows him to
be a 20-year-old. By 1803 C.E.,
Great Britain became embroiled in an extended, bitterly determined, and
bloody conflict with Napoléon Bonaparte’s France. Both sides
attempted to block the United States from trading with other nations by
diminishing supplies from reaching their enemies. This also impacted the
inhabitants of Nueva España. In 1803 C.E., James Madison the U.S. Secretary of State paid
15 million dollars to France for what had been Spanish Luísiana.
The loss of Spanish Luísiana
to the French in 1803 C.E., and its sale
the Américanos in 1804 C.E., marked the
beginning of España’s
decline and the ascension of the United States of America in North
America. After the Américanos
came in to possession of the territory, they also intermarried with the
French and Españoles. At this juncture, it is necessary to
reinforce and clarify that el
Imperio Español’s failure during this period was not a result of
mistreatment of the “Noble Savage.” Nor was its failure due to poor
governance of Nueva España as a result of the comportment of its administrative
officials and military as suggested by the “Black Legend.” It has
been characteristic of most non-Spanish, Northern European, and other
non-Spanish historians to couch their statements around Spanish failure
in this way during the period. Here let me suggest some alternate views
on the situation. España for
centuries having fought far too many wars had become weakened,
impoverished thus, unable to effectively and efficiently administer her Imperio Español. The result of these and ongoing wars was that the Corona
Española and its government had by necessity become Eurocentric and
Ibéria-centric. The lack of
attention to España’s Nuevo
Mundo territories poisoned her relationship with her possessions. By
this, I mean to say Españoles living in Ibero
were caught up in their war with Napoléon’s France and a struggle to
maintain their sovereignty. It was truly an empire in a death spiral
hoping against hope that she would be spared Napoléon’s complete
takeover and desperately wanting to return to civility. Centuries of
Spanish wars in Europe had brought her to this point of degradation. In addition, España had for centuries followed an economic policy whereby her Nuevo
Mundo possessions in the Spanish Américas
were places from which to extract wealth and resources and discouraged
local industry, as did other European powers. With Peninsulares acting as the leadership of its Imperio Español ciudádanos in the Américas, the majority of the Spanish Américanos had become second class ciudádanos. The second tier of leadership was the Criollos.
They did the managing but had little true decision-making rights. Next,
came the Mestízos especially those of mixed European and Indian ancestry.
These did the majority of the hands-on work. The last in the social
hierarchy were the Indigenous. In short, all of those serving below the Peninsulares
had grown discontented with the status quo and now demanded change. The Spanish Américanos lived in a caste system, one which had alienated them
from España proper since the
beginning of the expansion of el
Imperio Español. It is clear that they understood the Spanish
social order and their place in it. One can deduce that they were not
happy with the status quo and by this time were ready for a change.
After all, the Américanos, Colonials born in America, had faced the same
restrictions. For this reason and many, many more, they broke with their
British monarchy in 1776 C.E. and
survived splendidly. Despite Britain’s blockading the
United States from trading with others, Américano
expansion had begun in earnest with the preparation for the Louisiana
Purchase of 1804 C.E., which had
previously for a time been Spanish Luísana. Its
sale by France was soon to be a factor in fragmenting the remainder of
the French Empire. With the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson
signaled America’s intent to expand and consolidate as much of the
North American Continent as possible. In fact, this was only the first
example of things to come. By 1804 C.E., the Louisiana Purchase was completed between
the new country of the United States of America and Old World France.
This massive territory included an area of land which would become
fifteen present U.S. states. It also gained two Canadian
provinces. The Américanos
with their need for territorial expansion and well-defined borders
purchased 828,000 square miles of land on the North American Continent.
The acquisition by the United States of the French Louisiana Territory
cost the Américanos
$15,000,000. This one acquisition was to radically change American
perspectives about expansionism.
This began a period of accelerated
movement westward toward the lands of el
Imperio Español. Américano
explorers soon began opening up trails and mapping the new lands that
shifted the fur trade to Américano
hands. Men such as, Lewis and Clark set out to explore the Great
Northwest from May 1804 C.E. through September
1806 C.E. In response, Pedro
Vial, a French resident in Nuevo
Méjico, was sent north by the Españoles
to ask the Plains Indians to stop the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Pedro Vial, or Pierre Vial, (born ca. 1746 C.E., Lyon,
France—died October 1814 C.E., Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico),
was a French explorer and frontiersman who lived among the Comanche
and Wichita Indians for many years. The Corona Española was aware that Américano
expansionism would continue unless checked. Zebulon M. Pike’s travels
should not be viewed simply as a man wandering in the wilderness. It had
purpose. In 1805 C.E., Pike roamed the
Rocky Mountains of Colorado
and Nuevo Méjico. The Américanos
were on their way to claiming the entire North American Continent. Américano
expansionism would continue. Pike was not just an ordinary Américano.
He was an Américano
explorer for whom El Capitán
in Colorado was renamed Pikes Peak. Later, he became
Brigadier-General Pike of the Américano
Army. Zebulon M. Pike pictured here, was a U.S. Army officer,
under the authority of third President of the United States Thomas
Jefferson led two expeditions through the new Louisiana
Purchase territory. The first was in 1805
C.E.-1806 C.E. to investigate the upper northern reaches of the Mississippi
River. Pike would also serve during the War of 1812. He was killed
in April of 1813 C.E., during the Battle
of York, near the then British colonial capital of Upper
Canada which later became Ontario. My great-great-great-great-grandfather,
Miguel Gerónimo de Ribera,
re-enlisted in the Spanish army on April 9, 1805
C.E. That year he also received a “Citation” for military
action against the Navajós in
Nuevo Méjico. On his second expedition, Zebulon M.
Pike explored the Southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish
settlements of Nuevo Méjico
and Tejas in 1806
C.E.-1807 C.E. Zebulon also crossed the Rocky Mountains into
what later was to become southern Colorado.
On this venture Pike and company were captured by the authorities of el
Imperio Español near Santa
Fé and marched to Chihuahua
in present-day Méjico to
be interrogated. In 1806 C.E., the Américanos
Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis launch the Freeman-Custis Expedition which
made its way up the Red River. Officially the Exploring
Expedition of Red River in 1806 C.E.
was one of the first civilian scientific expeditions to explore what is
today’s Southwestern United States. It was ordered to find the
headwaters of the Red River (Red River of the South) from the Mississippi
River. This was to be used as a possible trading route to Santa
Fé, then under Spanish government control in Nuevo Méjico. Their mission included contacting Native
American peoples for trading purposes. They were also to collect
data on flora, fauna, and topography, map the country and river, and to
assess the land for settlement. The Spanish officials intercepted the
expedition 615 miles upriver, in what is now northeastern Tejas,
and turned it back before the party achieved all of its goals. To view any of these explorers as
simply heading expeditions of exploration would be foolish. These were
military intelligence gathering reconnaissance. By now, it should be
clear to the reader that España
as an empire was under duress.
She was under tremendous pressure in her own homeland, and her far-flung
empire. To view España’s
political and military failures during this period as simply a result of
the racial oppression of her subjects and administrative mismanagement
is simplistic to say the least. In 1807 C.E., the French and Spanish armies in Europe
invaded and occupied Portugués.
This was the beginning of the Peninsular War (1807
C.E.-1814 C.E.). Soon after, España’s
government and people would be under siege when she was invaded by
France while still attempting to maintain their empire. España
would fight a debilitating war which would last until 1814 C.E. The Américanos
were well-aware of her weakness and vulnerability and soon began to
quietly exploit them to their own advantage. By 1807 C.E., the conflict with Napoléon Bonaparte prompted
Great Britain to pass the Orders in Council, requiring neutral countries
to obtain a license from its authorities before trading with France or
French colonies. España was
not an exception to this rule. By 1807 C.E., Zebulon M. Pike and some of his contingent
were escorted under guard by the Españoles
across Tejas and released from
custody near the Américano
territory of Louisiana. In March of 1807 C.E., one of the first Anglo-Américano travelers to Nuevo
Méjico provided a vivid description of life in the Río Grande Valley during the early-19th-Century
C.E. Both above and below Albuquerque,
its ciudádanos were beginning
to open the canals to let in the water of the river to fertilize the
plains and fields that border its banks on both sides. There he saw men,
women, and children of all ages and sexes at the joyful labor which was
to crown with rich abundance their future harvest and ensure them plenty
for the ensuing year. Those scenes brought to his recollection the
bright descriptions given by Savary of the opening of the canals of
Egypt. The cultivation of the fields was commencing and everything
appeared to give life and gaiety to the surrounding scenery. He crossed
at the Río del Norte, a
little below the villa of Albuquerque
where it was four hundred yards wide, but not more than three feet deep
and excellent fording. The growing Spanish population needed to increase
food supplies. By 1808 C.E., ongoing Portugués
issues had developed animosity between Britain and France. The matter
escalated when France turned on España,
its previous ally. It’s marked by the Dos
de Mayo Uprising on May 2, 1808 C.E.,
that rebellion by the people of Madrid against
the occupation of the city by French troops. Spanish ciudádanos provoked by the repression of French Imperial forces, triggered
an expansion of the Peninsular War. The military conflict was now
between the allied powers of Britain, España, and Portugués
against the empire of Napoléon. It was a struggle for control of the Ibero
Peninsula taken earlier by France. During 1808 C.E., Napoléon Bonaparte’s forces occupied España
and deposed of its monarchy. Adding insult to injury, Napoléon then
installed his elder brother, Joséph-Napoléon
Bonaparte, born Giuseppe Buonaparte on January 7, 1768, as
head of state. He was a French diplomat and nobleman, who Napoléon
Bonaparte had previously made King of Naples and Sicily (1806
C.E.-1808 C.E.) and later King José
I of España (1808 C.E.-1813
C.E.) After the fall of Napoléon, and his own abdication, he would flee
España, and take the title of Comte
de Survilliers. It should be clear to the reader that
the Peninsular War and it affects placed España
and her holdings under great economic and political strain. Américano
actions also did not help and already critical situation. Britain’s
backing of España in the bloody, destructive, and financially draining
Peninsular War against France left the Españoles
a broken people and their nation in shambles. As its government and its
economy in Nueva España began
disintegrating, many believe that the French adventure had led almost
directly to the Méjicano
province’s revolutionary elements gaining momentum for the Méjicano
war for independence. In 1809 C.E., the Américano
Congress repealed Thomas Jefferson’s unpopular Embargo Act. The Act by
restricting trade had hurt America more than either Britain or France.
The replacement act or the Non-Intercourse Act specifically prohibited
trade with both Great Britain and France. Unfortunately, it had proved
to be ineffective. In España,
the government and people were continuing the process of better
understanding their far-flung holdings. In 1810
C.E., España invited
each of its Nuevo Mundo
possessions to send a representative to its Cortés
or parliament. Pedro Bautista Pino
a humorous merchant of prominence from Santa
Fé, Nuevo Méjico was
chosen as a Cortés
representative. Pino's
significance was to demonstrate Nuevo
Méjicano boldness. His words and actions were forthright. He
thought that the Spanish government should respond to the needs of its
people and that these ciudádanos
should express their needs. Also, in 1810 C.E., growing dissatisfaction with the Spanish
government in the southern regions of Nueva
España turned violent. España
had begun fighting that losing battle against revolutionaries in her
Spanish Américas. As these
conflicts escalated over the next decade, they would finally climax in 1821
C.E., when revolution led to formation of the Méjicano Empire. By 1810 C.E., In North America, her Las Floridas looked like low-hanging fruit which could be easily
picked by the Américanos.
Largely a vast swampland Las
Floridas was separated from the remainder of the España’s
Imperio Español territories in North América.
It had little military manpower to support, protect, and supervise it. In España’s
North American territories, life remained largely unchanged at the California
presidios. After the revolution, its soldados would simply switch their allegiance to Méjico,
under whose flag they guarded the presidios
for the next thirteen years. Unfortunately, regardless of which empire
was in control, the presidios
continued to be poorly-supplied outposts. Far from the central
government in Méjico City, presidios would continue to be plagued with inadequate supplies and
support. During this time, supply ships from San
Blas continued to be erratic. The misiónes
and their native laborers were under great strain to provide for the California
population. When the native groups began to resist the increased
demands, they were placed under stricter military supervision.
Furthermore, additional tribes (including California
Coast Miwok, Yokuts, Pomo, Sierra
Miwok, Salinan) were gathered, mixed, and consolidated into dense
communities in order to serve the settlements. Under such conditions,
new diseases quickly spread further disrupting these native cultures. The Américano replacement act or the Non-Intercourse Act was initiated
in May 1810 C.E. It stated that if either
power dropped trade restrictions against the United States, the Américano Congress would resume non-intercourse with the opposing
power. Soon Napoléon hinted that he would stop restrictions. In the second
decade of the 19th-Century C.E., the political and economic
situations for España would
worsen. By September 16, 1810 C.E., Nueva
España’s political factional struggles began destabilizing its
government. A Catholic padre, Miguel
Hidalgo y Costilla, assigned to the small villa
of Dolores launched the Méjicano
War of Independence with his call to arms, the Grito
de Dolores or Cry of Delores.
A revolutionary tract called for the end of Spanish rule in Méjico,
redistribution of land, and racial equality. It had a tremendous impact
upon Méjicanos. El grito de Dolores set off a disturbance of revolutionary actions
by thousands of Indigenous and Mestízos.
These united the Hidalgo
rebellion to capture Guanajuato and
other major cities west of Méjico
City. Today, September 16, 1810 C.E.
remains celebrated as Méjico’s
Independence Day. The Américano President James Madison reacted to Great
Britain on November 1810 C.E. with the
blocking all trade with her. Over this time, some new members of
Congress began to agitate for war due to British violations of Américano maritime rights as well as its ongoing encouragement of
Native American hostility against Américano
expansion in the West caused righteous indignation. My great-great-great-grandparents,
Juan Ribera, and María de la Candalaria Crespín had a second son, my
great-great-grandfather, José Luís
Ribera. He was born in Nuevo Méjico
about 1811 C.E. The 1821 C.E. Census
gives his age as ten years old. Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla of the famous “El grito de Dolores,” was captured at Chihuahua in 1811 C.E. Though he
would later be killed, his name lives on in the Méjicano state of Hidalgo
of revolutionary fame. With the Américano-British War of 1812 C.E.,
the United States was proving its war making capabilities. By later
winning that war against the mightiest power on the planet, the Américanos would be in an advantageous position. Power begets more
power, and so it was with the Américanos.
It set the stage for further expansion. The War of 1812 was also
important to España and Nueva España because of the huge political, social, and economic
changes it brought. These events are often seen as separate and distinct
events of history. They should be viewed as concurrent, impactful, and
geopolitically relevant to España’
Nueva España. In 1812 C.E., Don
Pedro Bautista Pino of Nuevo Méjico
penned his views and published them in a book titled “A Concise and
Candid Exposition on the Provincia
de Nuevo Méjico.” These he provided to the Cortés
of España. He explained
to the Cortés his view on the
problems and issues facing his provincia
and offered suggestions regarding actions España
should take to remedy the problems. The author wrote that Américanos were menacing Nuevo
Méjico's borders. Pino
also told the government that his area needed schools, a better judicial
system, and a separate Catholic bishopric. The book detailed to some
degree the life and conditions facing the Nuevo
Méjico estancieros and ganaderos. Unfortunately, the Españoles
paid little attention to the needs of the Nuevo
Méjicanos. From the Américano point of view, if Las
Floridas was added to the United States, it would create clearer
borders and make them more defensible. Its takeover could also prevent
future military movements by the British such had been made against the Américanos in 1814 C.E. In 1814 C.E., Padre
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was executed for his treason. Miguel’s cause was not lost. He was soon followed by other Campesino
leaders. José María Morelos y Pavón, María
no Matamoros, and Vicente
Guerrero were some of these who led armies of Natives and Mestízo revolutionaries against the Imperio Español and its Royalists. Padre José María Morelos y Pavón succeeded Padre
Manuel Hidalgo y Costilla as leader of Méjico’s
independence movement. He proclaimed the need for a Méjicano republic. With time, Morelos
was defeated by a Mestízo, General
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and his Royalist
forces. Yet the revolution was not finished, the revolutionary banner of
Méjico passed to Vicente Guerrero. The first application for lands in the
vicinity of the Pecos Pueblo, Nuevo
Méjico that I was able to find was in 1814
C.E. when Juan de Díos Peña, 1st Alférez
of Cavalry retired, and 5th Regidor
of the Ayuntamiento of Santa
Fé, Don Francisco Ortíz 2nd, also a Regidor
and Don Juan Bautista Águilar
asked for "una porcion de
tierra baldia" in that locality; see Archive 703, op. cit. The war on the Ibero Peninsula lasted until April 17, 1814
C.E., when the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoléon. It is
regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation. The war
is significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla
warfare. At this time, a distracted Spanish
government wasn’t interested in Santa
Fé, Nuevo Méjico’s needs. The Catholic Church was, and sent Arzobispo
Jean Baptiste Lamy, to order the construction of St. Francis Cathedral
in Santa Fé. He arrived on October 11, 1814
C.E. His mission was to effect drastic changes to the Roman
Catholic Church in Nuevo Méjico.
Born in Lempdes, France, his world was about to change. In 1815 C.E., the first United States, English, and Russian
trading ships began arriving in California.
Clearly this created more concerns about the protection of Nueva España
from invasion. The Seminole Indian nation had been
making devastating raids against the Américanos
and retreating quickly to the protection of the España side of the border. Being situated on both sides of the Las
Floridas-Georgia border, it created difficulties for both powers. España’s
Las Floridas was also seen as a threat to the Américanos because of a fort inhabited by escaped slaves. It was
believed that this safe haven encouraged other slaves to run away and
join them. This slave fort would be blown-up in
1816 C.E., killing 270. In Nuevo
Méjico José Luís Ribera,
my great-great-grandfather, married María
Isabel Martínez (Martín),
of the famous Martín-Serrano
clan. She was born there in Pecos
on June 20, 1816 C.E. They settled into
their married lives as estancieros
on twelve hundred acres in Pecos,
Nuevo Méjico as is cited in
the 1860 C.E. Census. They had two sons and a daughter, María Marcelina Ribera. Isabel Martín Ribera Birth: June
20, 1816 C.E. By 1817 C.E., then Américano
President Monroe (1817 C.E.-1725 C.E.), expected Andrew Jackson to
occupy Las Floridas. Ambiguous
signals were sent and Jackson invaded Las
Floridas with two thousand men. He immediately occupied the fort at
St. Marks, in the East. Jackson then took the hub of Spanish rule in Las Floridas at the large fortification of Pensacola. One of his actions which drew international attention was
the hanging of two British subjects, allies of the marauding Indians. España’s minister demanded punishment for Jackson and immediate Américano
evacuation. The reply, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams criticized el Imperio Español for its failure to control the offending
Indians. In short, España was
to immediately station an adequate military force in Las Floridas at once for the protection of her territory, or cede it
to the United States. Obviously, the Américanos
knew of España’s weakness
and economic and financial difficulties. Adams
finally ended the impasse by negotiating a treaty purchasing Las
Floridas from el Imperio Español for the sum of five million dollars. This treaty
would provide the Américanos
with a wide corridor in the West to the Pacific Ocean. Andrew Jackson was made the military
Governor of American Florida while it was being consolidated as a United
States territory. He did what was necessary to shape needed institutions
of governance compatible with those in the United States. Unfortunately,
Governor Jackson found it necessary to employ overbearing methods in New
Orleans to accomplish these ends. Jackson would continue to serve as
Major General over a large area of the American south-east with a salary
of $2,400 a year and $1,652 in expenses. Interestingly, his military
staff included Sam Houston, later of Tejas
Independence fame.
Juan Ribera, my great-great-great-grandfather and María de la Candalaria Crespín’s first and only daughter, María
Trinidad Ribera, was born about December 12,
1819 C.E. in Nuevo Méjico. Her baptism is listed in the document, "Santa
Fé Baptisms 1747 C.E.-1848 C.E." By 1820 C.E., the Liberals took power in España.
With dramatic problems destabilizing the Ibero
Peninsula, the Nuevo Mundo
conditions worsened. Interestingly, it would be the
Nuéva España Méjicanos
of Spanish descent and other conservative Royalists who were calling for
independence. This they saw as a means of maintaining their privileges,
power, and position in Nuéva España’s soon to be Méjicano
society. They would ultimately bring about Méjicano
independence and a new government which would promise major reforms in
order to appease the Méjicano
revolutionaries. In 1820 C.E.,
less than one year before Méjico
achieved its independence, España
first opened Tejas to Anglo-Américanos. One
can only ask the question, why? This is puzzling since the first Américano, English, and Russian trading ships had
appeared in off the California
Coast just a few years before, causing fear of foreign invasion. By the 1820’s
C.E., the San Francisco
Presidio community had
expanded outside the original walled plaza
built by the Españoles.
Farmsteads were constructed to the south, in a small spring-fed creek
valley by the trail to the misión.
Here, near El Polin
Spring, Marcos Briones and the Miramontes
family constructed homes. It is also said that Russian sailors
constructed a timber house nearby for Juana
Briones, who was a successful landowner, businesswoman, ranchero, and healer during the Méjicano
and early Américano periods. Even before
Méjico gained control of Alta
California in 1821 C.E., the
onerous Spanish rules in effect from 1770 C.E.
to 1821 C.E. against trading with foreigners began to break down
as the declining Spanish fleet couldn't enforce their “no trading”
policies. As to the origin of Norte
América’s Nueva España ranchos, prior to
1821 C.E., España had granted huge tracts of land as a reward to 20 military
leaders hoping they would settle land and keep it safe for España. The requirement was that the land holder herd at least
2,000 cows and hire cowboys to tend them.
Before Méjicano independence
in 1821 C.E.,
the twenty "Spanish" land grants were issued at little or no
cost. In all of Alta
California many land grants were given to a few friends and
family members of the Alta California gobernadores. Stephen F. Austin's father, Moses, laid
the foundation for this colony in Tejas
during late-1820 C.E. and 1821 C.E., but
died before being able to implement his plans. Stephen, although
hesitant at first, decided to finish what his father had begun. Austin
travelled to San António de Béxar,
where he was declared the rightful heir to his father's grant. Austin
was issued an empressario contract to settle three hundred families in
Spanish Tejas. The Españoles demanded the pobladores
be, among other things, loyal to the official government and religion of
España. Both the government
and Austin realized the necessity of having colonists of reputable
character, and both made this a prerequisite for immigration. Soon after
gaining this contract, the eleven-year war for Méjicano
Independence ended successfully, and the new Méjicano government affirmed Austin's contract to settle Tejas
with families from the United States. Soon after, the first English-speaking pobladores
arrived in the Méjicano provincia
of Tejas. Led by S.F. Austin,
they relinquished their U.S. Citizenship to become ciudádanos of Méjico.
For these first English-speaking Méjicanos,
Tejas was a completely foreign
environment. Free ranging
longhorn cattle were so abundant that the new Anglo pobladores
needed only throw a rope and register a brand to become a cattleman. The
Anglo-Tejanos took cowboy
lessons from the Méjicano
ganaderos/vaqueros which had been developing the sheep and cattle
ranching industry for three hundred years or by apprenticing to seasoned
vaqueros as wranglers until
they learned the "ropes." An avid student of the cowboy and
ranching life, Austin, and many other Méjicano converts eventually learned. They borrowed everything Méjicano
from their Vaquero teachers, methods of working cows, the vaquero clothes, music, language, and even the registered brands. By 1821 C.E., the
California pobladores and
their descendents (who became known as Californios),
were eager to trade for new commodities, finished goods, luxury goods,
and other merchandise. The future Méjicano
government would abolish the no-trade with foreign ships policy and soon
regular trading trips were being made. In addition, a number of
Europeans and Américanos
became naturalized Méjicano ciudádanos and settled in early California.
Some of those became rancheros
and traders during the Méjicano
Period, such as Abel Stearns. Cattle hides and tallow, along with marine
mammal fur and other goods, provided the necessary trade articles
for mutually beneficial trade. The Californios, with almost no industries or manufacturing
capabilities, were eager to trade for new commodities, glass, hinges,
nails, finished goods, luxury goods and other merchandise. The main
products of these California
Ranchos were cow hides (called California
greenbacks), tallow (rendered fat for making candles and soap)
and California/Tejas
longhorn cattle horns that were traded for other finished
goods and merchandise. This hide-and-tallow trade was mainly carried on
by Boston-based ships that traveled for about 200 days in sailing
ships about 17,000 miles to 18,000 miles around Cape Horn to
bring finished goods and merchandise to trade with the Californio
Ranchos for their hides, tallow, and horns. Wild California
cattle and horses provided hides, tallow, and horns. Mutually beneficial
trade between the parties was a result of The Californios'
hides, tallow, and horns. As we end this portion of the chapter,
one can readily see that the lead-up to Méjicano
independence was anything but simple. The peoples of España
and Nueva España, the de Riberas,
were greatly impacted by the other European powers and their struggles
to obtain world dominance. Napoléon and his armies had during this
period pillaged and plundered España.
The French left her a shattered, confused second-rate power. Both on the Ibero Peninsula and in the Spanish Nuevo Mundo, the Españoles
were reeling from these major military, economic, religious, political,
and social jolts. All of this left North America with an imperial power
vacuum. Those of Nueva España were greatly impacted by the lack of Spanish leadership and
the economic woes they were suffering. The Américanos with their own needs for security and safety met the
challenge by first gaining the Louisiana Territory from the French and
then Las Floridas and a
portion of the Oregon Country from the Españoles.
The stage was set for further territorial concessions from the future, Méjicano nation. Méjicano
Independence By the start of the third decade of the
19th-Century C.E., Méjico
would win its independence from España.
In early-1821 C.E.,
in Méjico proper, it was agreed that the leader of the Royalist
forces, Agustín de Iturbide,
would negotiate the Plan of Iguala
with the Liberals’ representative Vicente
Guerrero. After Méjicano independence was won from España, the territory of California was still technically
under Spanish rule. When it fell under the jurisdiction of el Imperio Méjicano
Alta California would become a
territory rather than a full state, with the territorial capital
remaining in Monterey,
California, and a gobernador
as its executive official. As before, Alta
California was nominally controlled by an appointed gobernador
of the Méjicanos national
government. The first gobernadores
of California had been appointed by the virrey under control of el
Trono Español. After 1821 C.E., gobernadores
were appointed by approximately 40 Méjicano
presidentes from 1821 C.E.
to 1846 C.E. The costs for a very limited Alta
California governmental structure continued to be paid by means of
the 40%-100% import tariff collected at the entry port of Monterey. Méjicano rule over California would ultimately prove chaotic. Political upheavals were
to be routine in Méjico City.
A dozen Méjicano gobernadores ruled California
over the next 25 years. Some of these appointed gobernadores were democratically minded and able servants. Others
were to prove to be tyrannical and incompetent. Some were Californians however the majority were Méjicano. Several California rebellions
during the period would be organized against the worst gobernadores. Twice there would be political unrest that resulted in
military skirmishes in the Cahuenga
Pass north of Los Ángeles. Despite what most
21st-Century C.E. Americans believe, most Californios reacted
negatively to this news and were skeptical of Méjicano control.
It should be remembered that España had treated Californios
benignly. Some Californios were even thinking about independence
for California, or at least some form of local rule. The Spanish colonial government,
and later, Méjicano officials
encouraged through recruitment civilians from the northern and western
provinces of Méjico such as Sonora.
Sonorans and others still came to California
despite the area's lack of central government support and its isolation.
Many of the soldados’ wives
considered the California
assignment to be a hardship and California
to be a cultural wasteland and a hardship assignment. One incentive for
those soldados who wished to remain in California after completing military service was the opportunity to
receive a land grant. Land grants were difficult to obtain and probably
not possible at other locales. This arrangement resulted in most of California's
early pobladores being military retirees as few civilian pobladores
came from Méjico. The Méjicano government offered
land. This meant that Méjico, rather than España,
was now in control of California.
This was not well received by Californios.
This was only one of the factors leading to revolt against Méjicano rule. The vast lands controlled
by the Catholic misiónes made
them a target of Méjicano
republicans who, after gaining independence from España
in 1821 C.E., began calling for the privatization of church property.
The Franciscan misióneros were openly hostile to the new,
anti-cleric Méjicano government because it intended to
secularize the misiónes that dotted the landscape of the territory. The Mexican
government in Méjico City was no longer interested in supporting
the misiónes. It was not
until the Méjicano Period that the titles to the plots
of land were granted to individuals. This policy involved taking
the misión lands from the church and giving them to the local
inhabitants, Indians, Californios, and army veterans. Although
this had been España's plan from the beginning of its Nuevo
Mundo colonialization, the government and the church had abandoned
this plan when it became apparent that the Indians had no desire to
Europeanize themselves and that the misión
system was self-perpetuating. From 1821 C.E. through 1846 C.E., nearly all California misión
property and livestock would be transitioned into approximately 455
large ranchos grants by
the Californio authorities.
The Californio rancheros
claimed about 8,600,000 acres averaging about 18,900 acres each. This
land was nearly all originally misión
land within about 30 miles of the coast. Land grants by law were
provisional for five years in order that the terms of the law could be
reasonably fulfilled during the Méjicano-Period
from 1821 C.E.-1846 C.E. The boundaries of these ranchos
were not established as they came to be in later times. Predominately
they were based upon what may be understood as figurative boundaries.
These were based upon vegetation landmarks where an existing land grant
owner considered the end of their land. Méjicano rule over California would ultimately prove chaotic. Political upheavals were
to be routine in Méjico City.
A dozen Méjicano gobernadores ruled California
over the next 25 years. Some of these appointed gobernadores were democratically minded and able servants. Others
were to prove to be tyrannical and incompetent. Some were Californians however the majority were Méjicanos. Several California
rebellions during the period were organized against the worst gobernadores.
Twice there would be political unrest that resulted in military
skirmishes in the Cahuenga
Pass north of Los Ángeles. As California was a frontier society, initial rancho housing was considered rudimentary and crude. Its
construction little more than mud huts with thatched roofs. If the rancheros
prospered, residences were upgraded to the more substantial adobe structures
with tiled roofs. In an attempt to waterproof the rancho roofs, builders took advantage of local tar pits (La
Brea Tar Pits in Los Ángeles). Restoration efforts of these structures today often
result in a grander representation than if they had been constructed
during the Californio Period. Between 1821 C.E.-1848 C.E., Californios living on the ranchos
existed in an almost feudal-style system. To Californio
political power was republican in theory. In practice, however, it was
more like an oligarchy of the landowners. This federation of rancho
nobility considered loyalty and honor of great importance. The rancheros by necessity ruled themselves and largely ignored what
little Méjicano government
there was. There was a frequent turnover of gobernadores
appointed by Méjico. The town councils were
elected representatives. The California
legislature’s elected officials, unfortunately rarely convened. The
Méjicano central
government’s leadership was subject to instability and rivalry which
contributed to political unrest. The Natives and ex-soldados
were the rancho laborers. These laborers were not slaves however they could
not own land and were poor. These lived in a villa for workers outside adobe
house of ranchero. Only the fiestas
provided temporary equalization of rancheros
and their workers. Californio social and class differences
existed then as they do today. An elite group of rancheros, approximately 5%-10% of total population, controlled the
government, economy, and culture of the day. Much as the current
1%-10% of the American population controls the same areas. Since it was a frontier
society, the initial rancho
housing was characterized as rude and crude—little more than mud
huts with thatched roofs. As the rancheros
prospered these residences could be upgraded to more substantial adobe structures
with tiled roofs. Some buildings took advantage of local tar pits (La Brea Tar Pits in Los Ángeles)
in an attempt to waterproof roofs. Restoration of these structures
today, often suffered from a perception that results in a grander
representation than if they had been constructed during the Californio
period. Men who were not rancheros, worked as subsistence farmers, skilled vaqueros,
or in trades related to herding. Most people in pueblos
owned small private lots and homes, grazed and farmed the adjacent
common land or ejido granted
to all. Men who did not live at a rancho
or work as cowboys were often hired for seasonal work in rodeos (roundups) and matanzas,
or slaughters. The rancho society
had few resources except large herds of Longhorn cattle which
grew well in California. The ranchos produced the largest cowhide (called California
Greenbacks) and tallow business in North America by killing
and skinning their cattle and cutting off the fat. The cowhides were
staked out to dry and the tallow was put in large cowhide bags. The rest
of the animal was left to rot or feed the California grizzly
bears that were common in California.
With something to trade, and needing everything from nails, needles and
almost anything made of metal to fancy thread and cloth that could be sewn into
fancy cloaks or ladies' dresses, etc., they started trading with
merchant ships from Boston, Massachusetts, Britain and other
trading ports in Europe and the East Coast of the United States.
The trip from Boston, New York City or Liverpool England
averaged over 200 days one way. The main port of entry for
Alta California trading
purposes was Monterey, California.
Trading ships and the occasional whaler put into Monterey
and paid the import tariff or custom fees of 50-100%. The
ships then proceeded to Monterey,
San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, San
Pedro, San Buenaventura (Ventura), and Yerba
Buena (San Francisco). These high duties gave rise to much bribery and
smuggling, as avoiding the tariffs made more money for the ship owners
and made the goods less costly to the customers. Essentially all of the
cost of the small Alta California
government infrastructure was paid for by these fees. At the bottom of society
were the remaining misión
Indians. The Indians did the most menial labor on ranchos and were at times paid in clothing and alcohol. The
majority of rancheros or rancheros
treated Indians well. There were instances where this was not the case.
During the period, many Méjicanos
intermarried with Indians. On the northern frontier of
California, in today’s
Sonoma County where the location of the rancho
in Luckless Gulch was, women worked hard and were keystones of the
family. Even wealthy rancheros'
wives worked all day, overseeing domestic duties, household production
such as weaving, making clothing, candle-making, etc., and the
production of some agricultural crops. In fact, the ranchero's
wife often worked far harder than her husband. In the towns, women often
worked on a family farm and also earned wages as low level domestic
servants or teachers. Women worked alongside men in the fields and
pastures in a collective environment that required all family members,
including children, to contribute food to the household. The self-sufficiency of ranchos
include cheese-making, tanning of sheep and calf skins; weaving of
blankets or other cloth; wine-making; grain-raising, grinding, and
baking; amassing tallow and hides for trading. Field crops were grown
for use on the rancho, rarely
for trading. Men controlled the secular
and religious institutions and dominated the families, but women ran the
house, educated the children, and had property rights, both private and
community, that Anglo women did not have in Américano
states during this era. In spite of long distances
and various divisions, Californios
were tightly bound to each other. Families had to rely on
each other; few ever lacked food, shelter, or basic needs. "God
parents" kept bonds among families of all classes, often across
classes. Respect, patronage, and hospitality codes helped to
preserve unity. Californios
were also tied by bonds of the Catholic religion and Spanish language,
above all was the sharing of a common cultural heritage. Californios considered themselves Españoles
of el Imperio Español. Some Liberal commentators who are ignorant of
Spanish history and the facts of empire suggest that this was done to
create a myth of cultural superiority. Their underlying suggestion
really is that it was in fact a racial distinction, as most were Mestízos.
This is the usual 21st-Century C.E. American Liberal distinction, as
everything having to do with the Spanish Period was racial. Intermarriages were common
between Californios and
foreigners during the time of Méjicano
rule after 1821 C.E. Anglo-Américano
colonization in Méjicano Tejas took place between 1821 C.E. and 1835 C.E. Soon after, the first
English-speaking settlers arrived in the neighboring Méjicano provincia
of Tejas. Led by S.F. Austin, they relinquished their U.S.
Citizenship to become ciudádanos of Méjico. For these
first English-speaking Méjicanos, Tejas was a completely
foreign environment. Free ranging Longhorn cattle were so abundant that
the new Anglo settlers needed only throw a rope and register a brand to
become a cattleman. The Anglo-Tejanos took cowboy lessons from
the Méjicano ganaderos/vaqueros. These had been developing the
sheep and cattle ranching industry for three hundred years or by
apprenticing to seasoned vaqueros as wranglers until they learned
the "ropes." An avid student of the cowboy and ranching life,
Austin, and many other Méjicano converts eventually learned.
They borrowed everything Méjicano from their vaquero
teachers, methods of working cows, the vaquero clothes, music,
language, and even the registered brands. Méjico's independence did, however, create
the most notable change for Nuevo Méjico which came with the
termination of Spanish policies restricting contact and trade with
foreigners. It ushered in a new era of commerce along the Santa Fé
Trail that changed forever the course of Nuevo Méjico's history.
Under Méjicano rule the protectionist policy was replaced with
one that encouraged open trade with the outside, especially with the Américanos
from an emerging United States of America. With the Santa Fé Trail
open trade between Missouri and the new nation of Méjico began.
The entire trail was nine hundred and fifty miles long linking
Independence, Missouri and Santa Fé from 1821 C.E. to 1880 C.E. William Becknell led a group of Américano
traders from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico,
on the route that became the Santa Fé Trail. Becknell, under
forced escort by Méjicano troops, arrived at Santa Fé with
a pack train of goods. The de
Riberas and other Nuevo Méjicano Hispanos celebrating their newly won independence from España
and Américano commerce
quickly purchased all of the goods that were initially intended for
trade with the Indians. Becknell made a two thousand percent profit.
This marked the birth of the Santa Fé Trail, originating from
Independence, Missouri. Unfortunately, many traders would later complain
to each other that they lost much profit by having to bribe local
officials with goods or cash. A major problem that any trader faced was
the constant change of government during this period. One gobernador
would be permissive and the next far from friendly. Américano
traders never knew what to expect. Here we will end the painting of this
historical stage with a broad brush. The following timeline is necessary
to explain by years and month how complex this transition period was and
how completely amorphous the Méjicano
governmental, cultural, economic, political, and religious
infrastructures were. What we will find is that both external and
internal conditions were at play in these vast areas of the American
continent and abroad. On February 24, 1821 C.E., Méjicanos proposed a
blueprint for independence called the Plan de Iguala. The
Plan would allow Méjico to establish an independent
constitutional monarchy. In its proposal the Catholic Church would
maintain its privileged position. Méjicanos of Spanish descent
who were referred to as Criollos or Españoles born in the
Américas, would also be regarded as equals to Peninsulares
or Españoles born on the Ibero Peninsula. Mestízo
Méjicanos and those of pure Indian blood would be granted lesser
rights. On that same day, February 24, 1821 C.E., the Army of the Three Guarantees
was born and would continue battling Spanish Royalist forces which
refused to accept Méjicano
independence. España’s provincia of Méjico was moving
quickly toward declaring its independence from España. Méjico's
gaining its independence from España would bring to a close to
three centuries of Spanish rule on the North Américano Continent
and make Nuevo Méjico a part of the Méjicano Republic. By 1821 C.E., the Américanos
had arrived, intended to stay, and brought their love of the United
States and its freedom with them! Their first celebration of the Fourth of July was observed in the Nuevo Méjico
territory. It took place at McNees Crossing, sixteen miles north of
present-day Clayton in Union County. On August 24, 1821 C.E., España’s Virrey Juan de O’Donojú signed
the Treaty of Córdoba. It approved a plan to make Méjico an independent constitutional monarchy. This ended the
territory of Nueva España’s dependence on the Imperio Español
and its Corona Española. Independence for the Méjicanos
unfolded quickly and so did its financial woes. In Méjico the
Spanish military officer, Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (September 27, 1783 C.E.-July 19, 1824
C.E.),
a Mestízo, built a
successful political and military coalition. He would decisively gain
independence for Méjico. With
this organization he defeated his fellow
Royalist forces and took control in Méjico
City on September 27, 1821 C.E.
Led by de Iturbide, the Army
of the Three Guarantees triumphantly entered Méjico
City. The following day, on
September 28, 1821 C.E., several important things
would happen. The Méjicano nation’s founding document was
drafted in the National Palace in Méjico City by Juan
José Espinosa de los Monteros. That same day, Méjico would
declare independence. The Acta de Independencia del Imperio Méjicano
or the Declaration of Independence of the El
Imperio Español was declared. It was the document used by the Imperio Méjicano to move toward declaring itself independent
of el Imperio Español. España’s
provincia of Méjico then declared its independence from España.
On September 28, 1821 C.E., de Iturbide installed the Provisional Governing Board. António Pérez Martínez
y Robles was its chair and Juan José Espinosa de los Monteros
its secretary. After two years of political in-fighting the secession of Méjico
was secured. De Iturbide
was proclaimed President of the Regency. Soon,
the founding of the Méjicano
Empire (1821 C.E.-1823 C.E.) with Agustín
de Iturbide, as Emperor Agustín
I of Méjico was established.
It replaced the Españoles in
today’s Méjico and later
the American Southwest. Make
no mistake España was still opposed to
independence and the consolidation of Méjicano power.
Unfortunately, an impoverished España lacked the funds,
armaments, provisions, and appropriate troop strength to prosecute the
war against the insurrectionists. As a result, the new Spanish virrey
Juan de O’Donojú was forced to accept Méjicano
independence. It must be said that many maintain that
Méjicano independence came
about because of racism in the Nuevo
Mundo and Nueva España
which was an inherent part of the structure of the Spanish colonial
caste system. It is true that racism had a long history there, with Méjicanos of
light skin tones having absolute control over dark skinned Amerindians.
Generally speaking, white Méjicanos have
historically made up the majority of Méjico's
upper class. This gave the White Méjicanos
a sense of superiority over the Amerindian population who tend to be
predominantly of low income. Today in Méjico,
people who are darker-skinned or of indigenous descent continue to make
up the majority of the working classes. This, however, is an attempt at picking
the low hanging fruit. It would be sophomoric to conclude that Méjicano independence or the independence for any of the other
Spanish Nuevo Mundo
possessions was a result of one issue. The world and mankind are far
more complex than that. My progenitor, Juan
Rivera (B. 1784 C.E.), was by then a 37-year-old man. He would have
been told of the October 4, 1821 C.E., Méjicano Congress
adoption of a constitution patterned after the U.S. charter. Juan
thinking himself a Spaniard of Nuevo Méjico would
have understood the implications of the Spanish provincia, Méjico, declaring its independence from España.
The proud Españoles
understood Méjico's gaining its independence from España
brought to a close three centuries of Spanish rule in the North Américano
continent. This would make his precious Nuevo
Méjico a part of the very new, el
Imperio Méjicano.
Just think about it. If the United States of America underwent such a
change in another 65 years, would it not be a massive psychological
dislocation for its citizens? In reality, this change of
governments had little initial impact on Nuevo Méjico. Nueva España
(today's Méjico and the
American Southwest) at the turn of the 19th-Century C.E. had little to do with Nuevo Méjico, one of its
northern most Spanish provincias. Interaction was limited to
decrees and laws passed to further control or limit economic activities
of the Nuevo Méjicanos. Later, on October 13th of that same year, the first
political chief of Méjico City, Ramón Gutiérrez del Mazo,
published a proclamation with the Declaration of Independence. His
intent was to have all inhabitants be aware. The news would soon be
everywhere. Del Mazo wanted the courts, gobernadores, and
military authorities to understand the decisions and publish his
document nationwide. Nueva España’s old capital of Méjico
City, now the new capital of Méjico, still remained that faraway
place almost impossible to reach for Nuevo Méjicano. Here, it
should be remembered that the Nuevo Méjico economy had remained
largely self-sufficient during the Spanish Period due to its isolation
from Nueva España’s virriento in Méjico City
and the lack of authorized non-Spanish trade routes. That economy was
based upon the raising of livestock and agriculture. Horses, mules,
sheep, and cattle were raised by the Spanish and Native Americans.
Farming was both necessary and difficult due to the shortage of water.
The wool from sheep became an important trading product for the Nuevo
Méjicanos. Easily packed and transported, it was taken to Chihuahua
and traded for items not available locally. There was little mining or
manufacturing of sophisticated farming implements. These necessities and
luxuries were highly prized by the hard working Nuevo Méjicanos. These Nuevo Méjicano
Hispanos looking back as the Spanish Period drew to a close, could
see a history that originated almost 300 years before. It went back to
1540 C.E. with de Coronado's first probing of the remote, arid,
and hostile land. The original pobladores
had stayed and made their way. They became ciudádanos in that
new land and built a life. It is true that these Nuevo Méjicanos
proud of being Españoles, had their difficulties with the mother
country and its rules. Despite this, they had continued on generation
after generation to regard her as the mother country. As always, Nuevo Méjicanos were
on their own to defend themselves and defeat enemies. They labored hard
on the land, raised their own livestock, kept a strong miquelets,
built towns, and governed using Spanish law. It was a backwater that was
almost wholly dependent on its ciudádanos for its own survival.
Such an environment bread a survivalist mentality and fiercely
independent souls. My progenitors were among these, the de Ribera
strong minded Españoles, were among those that stayed and
kept the land and its promise. That last fifty years of el Imperio
Español’s rule over these lands were filled with turmoil. The one
hope that they had held out for during those several hundred years of
existence was that España would come to their aid when needed,
that country across the seas with which they had bonded. But life still
went on. During those 300 years of Spanish
control, Nuevo Méjico had found herself entrapped politically
and militarily. The forbidding land, its native peoples, the harsh
climate, and other factors contributed to this Spanish entrapment. Méjico
and the United States, too, would find this strange land to be a place
of disappointment. Fighting between Méjico and España at
San Juan de Ulúa, Méjico
began on October 26, 1821 C.E.
Alonso Ribera, a member of the Ribera clan,
would have understood the political changes. Nuevo Méjico was
always part of the El Imperio Español
and governed by Españoles. For him, the Méjicanos were
quite different. Their interests and intentions centered on a new
empire, the Imperio Méjicano, not the betterment of Nuevo Méjico.
This change of governments
would continue to have little initial impact on Nuevo Méjico,
one its provincias. Interaction was limited to decrees and
laws passed to further control or limit economic activities of the Nuevo
Méjicanos. The great distance between Méjico City and Santa Fé made
safe traveling almost impossible. Access to
this remote place, high in the mountains took a great deal of effort and
hardship. The Indians always on the warpath exacted a tremendous toll on
travelers. Therefore, these two peoples remained distinct and
apart. Trade with the outside world had always been difficult for Nuevo
Méjico, and remained so. Méjico's independence did, however, create
the most notable change for Nuevo Méjico which came with the
termination of Spanish policies restricting contact and trade with
foreigners. It ushered in a new era of commerce along the Santa Fé
Trail that changed forever the course of Nuevo Méjico's history.
Under Méjicano rule the protectionist policy was replaced with
one that encouraged open trade with the outside, especially with the Américanos
from an emerging United States of America. With the Santa Fé Trail
open trade between Missouri and the new nation of Méjico began.
The entire trail was nine hundred and fifty miles long linking
Independence, Missouri and Santa Fé from 1821 C.E. to 1880 C.E. William Becknell led a group of Américano
traders from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico,
on the route that became the Santa Fé Trail. Becknell, under
forced escort by Méjicano troops, arrived at Santa Fé with
a pack train of goods. Nuevo Méjicanos celebrating their newly won
independence from España and Américano
commerce quickly purchased all of the goods that were initially intended
for trade with the Indians. Becknell made a two thousand percent profit.
This marked the birth of the Santa Fé Trail, originating from
Independence, Missouri. This marked the birth of the Santa Fé
Trail, originating from Independence, Missouri. Eventually, many traders
privately complained to each other that they lost much profit by having
to bribe local officials with goods or cash. A major problem that these
foreign traders faced was the constant change of government during this
period. One gobernador would be permissive and the next far from
friendly. Américano traders never knew what to expect.
Eventually, many traders privately complained to each other that they
lost much profit by having to bribe local officials with goods or cash. Anglo-Américano
colonization in Méjicano Tejas took place between 1821 C.E. and 1835 C.E. Soon after, the first
English-speaking pobladores
arrived in the neighboring Méjicano province of Tejas.
Led by S.F. Austin, they relinquished their U.S. Citizenship to become ciudádanos
of Méjico. For these first English-speaking Méjicanos, Tejas
was a completely foreign environment. Free ranging Longhorn cattle were
so abundant that the new Anglo pobladores needed only throw a rope and
register a brand to become a cattleman. The Anglo-Tejanos took
cowboy lessons from the Méjicano ganaderos/vaqueros. These had
been developing the sheep and cattle ranching industry for three hundred
years or by apprenticing to seasoned vaqueros as wranglers until
they learned the "ropes." An avid student of the cowboy and
ranching life, Austin, and many other Méjicano converts
eventually learned. They borrowed everything Méjicano from their
vaquero teachers, methods of working cows, the vaquero
clothes, music, language, and even the registered brands. After Méjico won
its independence in 1821 C.E.-1844 C.E., settlement began to expand into
those fertile valleys east of the mountains in Nuevo Méjico. In the early-19th-Century C.E., several large Hispano ranchos
had been established near Glorieta Pass in the green and fertile
valley of the Río Pecos
in Nuevo
Méjico. These areas would see
great expansion. Méjico officially received its independence from España in 1821 C.E. news of the change did not reach Alta
California until 1822 C.E. From 1822 C.E. to 1846 C.E., hundreds of California rancho land grants were given to individuals by the Méjicano
gobernadores. Méjicano
law stated that the grants could not exceed eleven leagues (a
"square league" contained about 4,500 acres). Actually,
most of the ranchos were five
leagues (about 22,500 acres) or less. Some families, however,
managed to get several adjoining grants so that they formed very large
ranchos of 300,000 acres or more. The ranchos were located mostly along the western part of California,
following the line of the misiónes. The
northernmost rancho grant was in what is now Shasta County, along the Río Sacramento. What little economic opportunity did
exist in Alta California was
based on seal and sea otter furs as well as cattle hides and tallow. To
develop foreign trade in these goods, Méjico
opened its ports in 1821 C.E. Before
long, the Russian American Company, Hudson's Bay Company, traders from
Boston, and others arrived for business. Additionally, the Méjicano
government divided misión lands
and distributed them as land grants. Many former San Francisco Presidio soldados
and other Méjicano citizens
established cattle and horse ranchos
on this property; such citizens
generally maintained a high quality of life. Conversely, the
distribution of misión lands
prevented native people from returning to their former homes and many
found work as cowboys and servants on the Méjicano
ranchos or in pueblos. In 1822 C.E., the search to find a Borbón monarch prepared to rule Méjico
failed. Agustín de Iturbide
was then proclaimed the emperor of Méjico,
Emperor Agustín I. However,
this new Méjicano Empire
would be short-lived. In Nuevo
Méjico Don Salvadór Tapia
and sixteen other colonists built two fortress-like plazas, which are now called Upper Antón Chico and Lower Antón
Chico, in modern-day Guadalupe
County, New Mexico. In the 1870s C.E., Antón
Chico would be the seat of the one million-acre Antón Chico Land Grant
and a hangout for many cattlemen, sheepherders, and freighters. By December of 1822 C.E., Emperor Agustín
I’s Imperio was facing
several insurrections in the Méjicano
provinces. These were quickly quelled the Imperial Army, except for
António de Padua María Severino
López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón’s (A.K.A. Santa
Anna) forces in Veracruz.
This was because of the crafty Santa
Anna’s secret agreement made with General
Echávarri, commander of the Imperial forces. Their agreement
regarding the proposed Plan of Casa
Mata, Echávarri would
desert Agustín I, turn
traitor, and switch sides. In 1823 C.E., de
Iturbide, who earlier declared himself Emperor Agustín I of the new Méjicano
state, was deposed by his former aide, General
António López de Santa Anna. The General
declared a Méjicano Republic.
Guadalupe Víctoria became Méjico’s
first elected presidente and
during his tenure de Iturbide
was executed. A bitter struggle began between Centralist, or
Conservative, and Federalist, or Liberal, elements of the Méjicano
government which continued for the next several decades. After the Zacatecas, Méjico Rebellion on July
12, 1823 C.E., Zacatecas
declared independent statehood within the Méjicano
Republic. In the years to followed, many of the Méjicano
states, including Zacatecas,
would seek provincial self-government and political autonomy from Méjico
City. However, the self-determination that Zacatecas
sought for itself came into direct conflict with the Federal government. When the Franciscans erected their
final California misión in
1823 C.E., they seemed at the height of their powers. In the 60
years of their operation, the 21 California
misiónes had employed 142 padres
and baptized 53,600 natives. Misiónes
were at once churches, towns, schools, farms, factories, and prisons,
often operated in conjunction with a nearby military presidio and agricultural pueblo. In 1823 C.E. Domíngo Fernández petitioned the Territorial Deputation for
the "tierras oaldias"
lying adjacent to the lands of the Pecos
Pueblo, Nuevo Méjico; see
Archive 284, op. cit. By 1823 C.E., the republican leaders
and Méjicano generales, Santa
Anna and Guadalupe Víctoria, deposed de
Iturbide, and wrote and signed the Plan of Casa Mata. It did not recognize the first Imperio Méjicano, was to abolish the monarchy, replace it with a
republic, and call for the convening of a new Constituent Congress. This
was the basis of an agreement between the two generales, several other Méjicano
generales, gobernadores, and high-ranking governmental officials instituted the
Primera República Federal or
the First Federal Republic, and announced Guadalupe Víctoria as its first president. The Plan of Casa Mata was to be proclaimed throughout Méjico on February 1, 1823 C.E. As planned, before that date, this
group of insurrectionists forwarded their proposal to the provincial
delegations, requesting their acceptance and adherence to the Plan.
Within six weeks, the Plan of Casa
Mata had been dispatched many outlying areas such as Tejas,
and most of the other provincias
supporting the Plan. Juan Ribera, my great-great-great-grandfather, and (María de la) Candalaria Crespín’s
last son, José Tomás, was
born about March 8, 1823 C.E.; two years
after España had lost Nuevo
Méjico to Méjico, her former possession. He is also listed in the Santa
Fé Baptisms 1747 C.E.-1848 C.E. Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (September 27, 1783 C.E.-July 19, 1824
C.E.) became the
Constitutional Emperor of Méjico, reigning briefly from May 19, 1822 C.E.
to March 19, 1823 C.E. September 1823 C.E.: María
Luísa Rivera Will of 1823 C.E. Know all who see this testament that I,
María Luísa Rivera, finding
myself sick in bed, but in sound mind and judgment, order this will made
in the following form: I declare that I have been married to: Retired soldado, Juan García, we
lived together for 28 years; in which time we had raised eight children,
five of those having died; and they were: José Santiago (Unknown) José António (Unknown) José Luís (Unknown) Juan José (Unknown), who are children; María de Loreto (Unknown), married, living; María Joséfa (Unknown) María del Carmen (Unknown) Juana María (Unknown) I confess they are my legitimate
children and heirs. I declare the house where we reside as
my property and it is composed of five rooms and a porch; and a piece of
land measuring 300 yards, leaving my bedroom to pay for twelve masses
for the repose of my soul. A schedule is in my husband’s possession. I declare as my property 30 yards of
land situated near the house of my deceased mother; and 90 in the Cañada
of this city and one yoke of oxen, one female burro,
three goats. I declare as my chattels the household
furniture, seven holy pictures, two boxes, one kettle, one iron griddle,
one axe, two mattresses, one blanket, one bedspread, one brass jar, one
chocolate pot, one rug and two pillows. I declare I owe don Domíngo
Fernándes three pairs of stockings; and the gunsmith, Manuel
Sena, three yards of sackcloth; I order them paid. I declare having paid Señor
Pablo García 14 pesos,
products of the land, for the care of one cow about to have a calf; and
now it appears it is lost; I order it collected. I declare that Juan António Gonzáles, resident of Abiquiu, owes me one fanega
of beans; and Señora Rosa
Archuleta owes me one peso
in cash; I order them collected. It is my will, if God deigns to take me
in this illness, that my funeral be paid; and what remains of my small
holdings be divided, after the death of my husband, among my children in
equal parts in order that they may enjoy them with God’s blessing and
mine. I declare that I have made another
testament, which I annul; and this is to be the only valid one. I name as my administrators, in the
first place, Miguel Rivera, my
brother; and in the second place, Juan
Diego Sena, whom I commission, for the love of God, to comply with
and execute this last will and testament. Two witnesses who were present signed
with me in this City of Santa Fé,
on the 18th of September 1823 C.E. Manuel Baca (rubric); Witness: José
Larrañaga, (rubric) and Juan
Benabides, (rubric). References: Spanish Archives of Nuevo
Méjico, Series I, Twitchell 803, Reel4, Frame 1296-1298. The capitulation of San
Juan de Ulúa to the Españoles was in question. San Juan de Ulúa,
also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa,
is a large complex of fortresses, prisons, and one former palace on
an island of the same name in the Gulf of Méjico overlooking the seaport of Veracruz,
Méjico.
Months after Emperor Agustín
I and his Imperio Méjicano
fell, the Méjicano Republic
was proclaimed by a constituent congress on November
1, 1823 C.E. This Federal Republic would last just a short of
twelve years. It would see constant struggles between the competing
political parties. Those favoring a strong central government and a religious
state were the Conservatives. These included the landowners and
former monarchists. The opposition favored limited centralized
government and wished to have power divided among the federated
states. These also wanted a secular nation. These factions
were the Liberals and Republicans. The Republic would be ruled by
nine presidentes and two triumvirates. Constant
political infighting caused by the competing political parties would
create severe political instability and promote violence. During this
period of almost 30 years of an independent Méjico,
the only presidente who would complete his full term was Guadalupe
Víctoria. Prior to 1824 C.E., when the newly independent Méjico liberalized
the trade rules and allowed trade with non-Méjicano
ships, only occasional trading ship or Unites States whalers put
into a California port to
trade. There they got fresh water, replenished their firewood, and
obtained fresh meat and vegetables. These interactions would
become more common as time passed. By 1824 C.E., España
had lost all of its mainland possessions in the Américas. Cuba and Puerto
Rico were her only remaining possessions in the Caribe,
until the Cubano revolt of
1895 C.E. would trigger the Spanish-Américano
War, won by the United States. Since 1824 C.E.,
Lucas Alamán the Méjicano
Minister of Foreign Affairs had held the belief that Méjico
should seize Cuba, arguing that "Cuba
without Méjico is aimed at
imperialist yoke; Méjico
without Cuba is a prisoner of
the Golfo de Méjico." He believed that the Méjicano forces, with the support of foreign powers such as France
or England (which had been the first European power to recognize the
independence of Méjico
on July 16, 1836 C.E.), could overcome the Españoles
in Cuba. Protection
of the seas and Spanish ambitions for Méjico in Cuba would be
an ongoing problem. The Méjicano government, led by Guadalupe Víctoria, had come to the conclusion that España,
by its refusal to recognize the treaties, still posed a threat. The Méjicanos
believed that España would use Cuba
as a platform to launch a campaign to recover Méjico. Lucas
Alamán, who was then the Méjicano
Minister of Foreign Affairs, characterized the threat posed to Méjico
as one of the Spanish military forces stationed in Cuba.
The 1824 C.E.
Méjicano General Colonization Law established rules for petitioning for land
grants in California. Méjicano colonization
laws passed in 1824 C.E. and 1828 C.E.
allowed the grants of title to the land. This meant that the person
receiving the land actually owned it, rather than just being allowed to
use it. Many of the people who had received use permits from the
Spanish governors now applied for Mexican grants for the same land, to
make sure that they could keep their land. Nuevo Méjico briefly became a Méjicano
territory in 1824 C.E. My great-great-great- grandfather, the
56-year-old Juan Ribera of Pecos, and his father, Miguel
Gerónimo de Ribera (B. 1761 C.E.) would have cringed at the thought
of Spanish Nuevo Méjico
becoming a territory of Méjico.
But this was not to last. In just another twenty-two years, by 1846 C.E.,
United States General William Kearny's troops would follow the Anglo
merchants down the Santa Fé
Trail and occupy Nuevo Méjico.
Soon thereafter, it would become an Américano
territory. On February 6, 1824 C.E., Tomás
Ribera of Paso, Nuevo Méjico
the son of Juan António Rivera
and Feliciana Télles y Biviana
Agansa of Paso, daughter
of Ignacio Agansa, deceased, and Vicenta
Madrid, who lives. (CAT 1:
69-71) married. On February 6, 1824 C.E., Tomás
Ribera of Paso, Nuevo
Méjico son of Juan António Rivera and Aganza, Ignacio: farmer, Español,
Paso native, 21, married to Casimira
Montoya, Española, 21
years old has a son, 2, and a daughter 1 year-old.(1790 C.E.-1884 C.E.) Aganza, Ignacio: Español
from Paso, 20, farmer, married
to Casimiras Montoya, Española from Paso, 18.
They married at NSG on September 17, 1786 C.E., Casimira Montoya, daughter of Dionisio
Montoya and Damacia Padilla. His family: 1 son, 5 daughters (1788
C.E.-1866 C.E.) José Ignacio de Aganza, son of Miguel
Aganza, deceased, and Juana Télles
the parents of José Ignacio de
Aganza, Miguel Aganza and Juana
María Télles were married at NSG on September 1, 1766 C.E. (Magdaleno,
p. 73)] In Archive 288, op. cit., we find a
protest from two Pecos, Nuevo
Méjico Indians named Rafael
Águilar and José Coca
protesting against the unlawful action by which they had been
dispossessed of their lands in 1824 C.E. and asking that the gobernador of Nuevo Méjico
investigate and do justice. Rafael
Águilar was the 1st alcalde
and Coca the 2nd alcalde of the Pueblo. The
pobladores against which they
complained came from the capital and from "muchos otros puntos." Méjicano Presidente Santa Anna and his conservative centralist supporters
abolished the federalist constitution of 1824 C.E. which had been based
on that of the United States and introduced a centralized Departmental
Plan which made every state directly accountable to the national
government. The state gobernadores
were deposed, to be replaced with a gobernador
directly responsible to the central government, and state legislatures
were dissolved and replaced with appointed five-man councils. This Méjicano federation was legally established on October 4, 1824 C.E. when the Federal Constitution of the
United Méjicano States came
into force. This new Estados
Unidos Méjicanos or the United Méjicano
States was established during a period in Méjicano
history when for the first time there was both a republic and federation.
The Primera República
Federal or First Federal Republic was that period in Méjicano
history which corresponds to the first time in which both, the
republic and a federation were established as the form of
government in the Méjicano
nation. Officially the Estados
Unidos Méjicanos or United Mexican States was bordered on
the north by the United States of America and the
disputed Oregon Country which the British felt they were entitled to. On
its south and its west borders, it was met by the Pacific Ocean. On Méjico’s
southeast, it abutted the Federal Republic of Central Américan and the Caribe
Sea. On its east, it reached the Golfo
de Méjico. The Federal Republic of Méjico
would last approximately twelve years. There would be continued
struggles between the main political parties. The Conservatives,
landowners, and former Monarchists favored a strong central government
and a confessional state. The the Liberal factions and
Republicans wished to limit government power and to have it divided
among the federated states and a secular nation. These
disagreements would continue to cause severe political instability and
violence in Méjico. The
republic would be ruled by two triumvirates and nine presidentes
during the 30 years of an independent Méjico. The average number of ships visiting
California from 1825 C.E. to 1845 C.E.
jumped to twenty-five ships per-year versus the 2.5 ships per-year
common for the prior fifty years. The average shipping into San
Francisco, California during
the Méjicano Period, from 1825 C.E. to 1848 C.E., was approximately 25 vessels per-year.
This was a large increase over that of the Spanish Period. In 1825 C.E., "En
las tierras de Pecos," lands within the Nuevo
Méjico grant or league of the pueblo
were given by the Provincial Deputation to Rafael
Benavides, a retired soldado
of the Santa Fé guarnición and four others. Luís Benavides also obtained some of the "sobrante" of the lands of the Pueblo Nuevo Méjico; see Archives 135 and 138, vol. i, op. cit. In 1825 C.E., lands ("en
las tierras de Pecos"-Nuevo
Méjico) were given to Miguel
Rivera and five associates of the sobrante
of the pueblo; see Archive 807, op. cit. On January 28, 1825 C.E., Méjicano
General Francisco Lemaur was
relieved of command of San Juan de
Ulúa by José Coppinger.
On July 27, 1825 C.E., the Méjicano
frigate Capitán Pedro Sáinz de
Baranda was appointed commander of the Navy in the port of Veracruz; he immediately began the reorganization of the squadron
commissioned to blockade San Juan
De Ulúa. His blockade was successful. The Españoles,
who received little aid from Habana,
were compelled to surrender. Coppinger requested a suspension of
hostilities and began negotiations for the surrender of his forces. The
fighting between Méjico and España over San
Juan de Ulúa, Méjico which had begun on October 26, 1821
C.E., was concluded. The Méjicano Navy defeated the last Spanish stronghold in Méjico
on November 23, 1825 C.E. Despite the
victory of Méjico over España’s
last bastion in Ulúa, España still refused to recognize the Treaty
of Córdoba and hence the
independence of Méjico. In 1826 C.E., a Méjicano
proclamation was distributed which allowed for the partial conversion of
misiónes to new pueblos. After
the secularizing of the misiónes,
many of the surviving misión
Indians switched from being unpaid workers for the misiónes
to unpaid laborers and vaqueros
of the about 500 large Californio
owned ranchos. Beef was a common constituent of most Californio
meals and since it couldn't be kept long in the days before
refrigeration beef was often slaughtered to get a few steaks or
cuts of meat. Beef, wheat bread products, maize,
several types of beans, peas and several types of squash were
common meal items with wine and olive oil used when
they could be found. The Mestízo
population probably subsisted mostly on what they were used to: maize, frijoles, and
squash with some beef donated by the rancheros.
What the average Native Americans ate is unknown since they
were in transition from a hunter gatherer society to
agriculturalists. Formerly, many lived at least part of the year on
ground acorns, fish, seeds, wild game, etc. It is known that many of the
ranchers complained about Indians stealing their cattle and horses to
eat. The property and yards around the ranchos
were marked by the large number of dead cow heads, horns, or other
animal parts. Cow hides were kept later for trading purposes with Yankee
or British traders who started showing up once or twice a year after
1825 C.E. Leather, one of the most common
materials available, was used for many products, including saddles, chaps, whips,
window and door coverings, riatas or
leather braided rope, trousers, hats, stools, chairs, bed frames, etc.
Leather was even used for leather armor where Soldados
de cuera's jackets were made from several layers of hardened leather
sewn together. This stiff leather jacket was sufficient to stop most
Indian arrows and worked well when fighting the Indians. In August, 1826 C.E., Domíngo
Hernández, Rafael Benavides, Miguel Rivera, Juan António Armijo,
for themselves and other pobladores
"en las tierras de Pecos"
petitioned the Ayuntamiento of
San Miguel del Vado for lands.
The petition was referred to the gobernador
of Nuevo Méjico and
provincial deputation; see Archive 285, op. cit. Once again, we find a protest from two Pecos
Indians named Rafael Águilar and
José Coca protesting against the unlawful action by which they had
been dispossessed of their lands in 1824 C.E. and asking that the gobernador
investigate and do justice. The pobladores
against which they complained came from the capital and from "muchos
otros puntos." By 1828 C.E., the rules for establishing land grants were
codified in the Méjicano
Reglamento (Regulation) to possibly entice increased Méjicano
settlement. The Acts sought to break the monopoly of the Franciscan misiónes,
while paving the way for luring additional pobladores
to California by making land
grants easier to obtain. They did this because they feared the influence
of the Roman Catholic Church over their newly independent nation. The Méjicano
Gobernadores of Alta
California gained the power to grant state lands, and many of
the Spanish concessions were subsequently patented under Méjicano law—frequently to local "friends" of the gobernador.
The Méjicano government then closed all of the misiónes and
nationalized the church's property. They left behind a small "Californio" (white Hispanic) population of several thousand
families, with a few small military guarniciónes.
When the misiónes were secularized, the misión
property and cattle were supposed to be mostly allocated to the misión
Indians. In practice, nearly all misión
property and livestock were taken over by the about 455 large ranchos granted
by the Méjicano gobernadores—mostly
to friends and family at low or no cost. The rancheros claimed about 8,600,000 acres averaging about 18,900 acres
each. This land was nearly all distributed on former misión land within about 30 miles of the coast. The Méjicano land grants were provisional until settled and worked on
for five years, and often had very indefinite boundaries and sometimes
conflicting ownership claims. The boundaries of each rancho were almost never surveyed, and marked, and often depended on
local landmarks that often changed over time. Since the government
depended on import tariffs for its income, there was virtually no
property tax—the property tax when introduced with U.S. statehood was
a big shock. The grantee could not subdivide, or rent out, the land
without approval. The rancheros tried to live in a grand manner, and the result was
similar to a barony. For these few rancheros
and families, this was California's
Golden Age; for the vast majority it was not golden. Much of the
agriculture, vineyards, and orchards established by the misiónes
were allowed to deteriorate as the rapidly declining misión Indian population required less food, and the misióneros
and soldados supporting the misiónes
disappeared. The new ranchos
and slowly increasing pueblos
mostly only grew enough food to eat and to trade with the occasional
trading ship or whaler that put into a California
port to trade, get fresh water, replenish their firewood and obtain
fresh vegetables. The main products of these ranchos
were cattle hides (called California
greenbacks) and tallow (rendered fat for making candles and
soap) that were traded for other finished goods and merchandise. This
hide-and-tallow trade was mainly carried on by Boston-based ships that
traveled 14,000 miles to 18,000 miles around Cape Horn to
bring finished goods and merchandise to trade with the Californio
Ranchos for their hides and tallow. The cattle and horses that
provided the hides and tallow essentially grew wild. Lucíano Rivera, José
Luís Ribera’s eldest son, is listed in the 1860 C.E. New Mexico
Census as age 22 (born about 1828 C.E.). He’s shown as a farm laborer.
His wife, Monica, (last name?)
is listed as sixteen years of age, born about 1834 C.E. The concerted effort to ensure the
continued success of its independence movement and to protect Méjicano
territorial seas caused Méjico
to begin patrols by its Mexican
squadron in Spanish waters. These patrols culminated in the unsuccessful
Battle of Mariel on February 10, 1828 C.E.
The Américano, Porter
commanded the Méjicano brig Guerrero. It had a mounting of 22 guns and was one of the finest
vessels in the small Méjicano
Navy. Porter's son, midshipman David Dixon Porter was slightly
wounded. He was among the survivors who surrendered and were imprisoned
in Habana until they could be exchanged. Commodore Porter chose not to
risk his son again, and sent him back to the United States by way of New
Orleans. David Dixon Porter would later be a Union hero of the American
Civil War. Nuevo Méjico lands lying further down the river from "En
las tierras de Pecos" were also petitioned for and grants were
made to Don Pedro José Perea,
José Francisco Baca and
others; see Archives 136 and 139, op. cit. In 1829 C.E., Tomás Baca and José António
Baca petitioned the Ayuntamiento
of San Miguel for lands,
near Pecos, Nuevo Méjico.
Water was always a rare resource in the
Southwest. This was especially true in the desert country along the
lower Río Colorado. At one
point during the Expedition, young Rivera
(de Ribera) rode off alone on
a scouting mission. This was no easy task given the threat of the local
Indians or a possible mishap occurring without immediate help. He became
the first known non-Native American to discover a vast spring in the
grassy plains. This area was later to become known as Las
Vegas, Nevada. The spring was to become recognized as an important
watering hole along the Old Spanish Trail. There is a stute erected in
his honor in Las Vegas, Nevada. One year after the Battle of Mariel,
there was a new attempt at the reconquest of Méjico
by España. This time it was
from Cuba. The actions of the Españoles
confirmed the suspicions of the Méjicano
authorities. On July 5, 1829 C.E., España
appointed General Isidro Barradas
to lead 3,586 soldados of the
"Spearhead Division." The fleet left the port for Méjico,
consisting of a flagship, called the Sovereign, two frigates,
two gunships, and 15 transport ships. All commanded by Almirante Laborde. On July 26, 1829 C.E., the fleet arrived in Cabo
Rojo, near Tampico in
the State of Tamaulipas, Méjico.
The city and port is in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Río Pánuco, about 6 miles inland from the Golfo
de Méjico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. From there, the fleet began its
operations on July 27, 1829 C.E., trying
to land 750 soldados and 25
boats. The expedition began their advance towards Tampico
while the boats were moored at the Río Pánuco.
It was Santa Anna that led the successful resistance against España’s
final attempt to recapture Méjico
at Tampico
in 1829 C.E. with an invading
force of 2,600 soldados. Santa
Anna marched against the General
Isidro Barradas
Expedition with a much smaller force. He defeated the Espanoles,
many of whom were suffering from yellow fever. The defeat of the Spanish
army increased consolidated the independence of the new Méjicano
republic. The Battle of Pueblo Viejo, which developed between September
10th and September 11, 1829 C.E., marked the end of the Spanish
conquest attempts in Méjico. General
Isidro Barradas signed the capitulation of Pueblo
Viejo, in the presence of generales
António López de Santa Anna, Manuel de Mier y Terán, and Felipe de la Garza. In the 1830s C.E., the Américano
Richard Henry Dana, Jr. observed from his perspective that Indians
were regarded and treated as slaves by the Spanish-speaking Californios.
This view of his did not extend to the dismal treatment of Native
Americans by the Américanos. This was a far different treatment given to the Indians
by the Américanos, who herded
these Native Americans into isolated reservations after long marches
which killed many. So many California misión Indians died from exposure to harsh conditions
and diseases like measles, diphtheria, smallpox, syphilis, etc. that at
times raids were undertaken to new villages in the interior to
supplement the supply of Indian women. This increase in deaths was
accompanied by a very low live birth rate among the surviving Indian
population. The other center of Spanish power in Alta
California was the Franciscan frayles
who, as heads of the 21 misiónes,
often resisted the powers of the gobernadores. None
of the frayles were Californios,
however, and their influence rapidly waned after the secularization of
the misiónes in the 1830s C.E. The years between 1830
C.E.-1840 C.E., in California were very antagonistic, but without open warfare. Before Alta California had become a part of the Méjicano state, about 30 Spanish land grants had already been
deeded in all of Alta
California to a few friends and family of the Alta
California gobernadores. Here, I should clarify, that by
the turn of the 19th-Century C.E., and well into the third decade of the
century, Imperio Méjicano
had almost no contact with Nuevo Méjico,
its post-Spanish Period provincia.
The same was the case with and much of today’s American West and
Southwest. It was a great distance between Nueva
España’s capital, Méjico
City, and Santa Fé. Indian
raiding parties and the distances between presidios,
misiónes, villas, and pueblos
made traveling safely almost impossible. Therefore, the Nuevo Méjicanos and pobladores
of other provincias remained
distinct and apart. Interaction was limited to the occasional train of carretas
successfully making their annual visits from other provincias.
The Méjicano republic of federated states would be created, but Nuevo
Méjico would still remain a territory without the right to create
its own constitution and pass its own laws. After almost a decade, this
change of governments had little practical impact on Nuevo
Méjico. The federal decrees and laws passed to further control or
limit economic activities of the Nuevo
Méjicanos arrived by soldado
courier. Trade with the outside world had always been difficult for Nuevo
Méjico. Access to this remote place, high in the mountains took a
great deal of effort and hardship. The constant Indian raiding always
exacted a tremendous toll on these traders and travelers. By the 1830s C.E., the valley was occupied by ranchos
with tilled fields lining the river bottom.
Settlement in the rich, irrigable valley of the Río
Mora in Nuevo Méjico began about the same time. Here, too, the newly formed
and independent Méjicano
government made large land grants to pobladores,
as it sought to establish a buffer zone between itself and the rapidly
expanding United States to the east. Things soon began to change for the de
Riberas and the other men and women moving into these valleys.
French fur trappers moving south into the mountains and traders moving
west along the Santa Fé Trail
brought new ideas and customs with them. Many of these non-Hispanos
stayed in the area and married into Hispano
families. My great-grandfather, José
de la Anastácio Rivera, was also listed in the 1860 C.E. Census as
age 20, born about 1830 C.E. His land
holding were estimated at two hundred and fifty acres in the 1860 C.E.
census. He was listed as a farm laborer. In the long-term, Méjico's independence ushered in a new era of commerce along the Santa
Fé Trail with the Américanos
that changed forever the course of Nuevo
Méjico's history. The most notable changes came with the
termination of Spanish policies restricting contact and trade with
foreigners. Under Méjicano
rule the protectionist policy was replaced with one that encouraged open
trade with the outside, especially with the Américanos
from an emerging United States of America. With the Santa Fé Trail open trade between Missouri and the new nation of Méjico
began. The entire trail was nine hundred and fifty miles long, linking
Independence, Missouri and Santa Fé
from 1821 C.E. to 1880 C.E. The following decade of the
1830s C.E. would bring the settlement of Colonias,
in modern-day Guadalupe County of New Méjico. Originally called Las
Colonias it is one of the oldest settlements on Nuevo Méjico's eastern plains. Those early pobladores farmed and hunted buffalo in the fall. Few families still
live there. The decline of the misiónes
allowed for the rise of extensive ranching along the California
coast and in the Sacramento
Valley. To encourage agricultural development, the new Méjicano government distributed more than 500 land grants to
prominent families, using diseños
or maps that roughly marked each grant's boundaries. This informal
system of documentation would open the door to legal challenges by Américanos after the Méjicano-Américano
War. Well-connected Californio families (such as the Vallejos, Álvarados, and Peraltas
in the north and the Carillos, de
la Guerras, and Picos in
the south) could secure grants for each family member, creating an elite
class of rancheros who
controlled hundreds of thousands of prime acres. These families mainly raised cattle for
an emerging hide-and-tallow trade with Américano
ships that sold the hides to Boston tanneries and the tallow to South Américano
candle and soap factories. These elite families became known as Californios.
They held themselves apart from non-land-owning Méjicanos and natives, intermarrying with each other and with the Américano
and European entrepreneurs who began settling in California
during the 1830s C.E. Just as they had for the Misión
System, native Californios
provided most of the labor for the emergent rancho
economy. They worked as vaqueros
herding cattle, processed tallow in huge iron pots, tended gardens, and
harvested crops. These laborers were bound to their ranchos
in a state of endless indebtedness with difficult working conditions and
few alternatives. This state of almost servitude to their creditors remained
until their debts were paid.
Some of the Natives fled inland, joining mountain or desert groups and
using their ranching knowledge to organize raids on livestock. Other
Spanish-speaking natives intermarried with working-class Méjicanos,
making the already established racial categories more complicated. Like
other Californians, the Natives struggling to survive. Obviously, there
was massive social changes and rampant disease. In the process, Native
groups combined, split apart and recombined in response to the
conditions of the time creating new ethnicities and identities. As a
result of these changing conditions, Spanish became the common language
for the various native groups throughout California.
In the 1830s C.E. and 1840s
C.E., increasing numbers of Europeans and Américanos
arrived in California. Some,
such as Scottish sailor John Gilroy, left their ships, became Méjicano Ciudádanos,
converted to Catholicism, and married into Californio
families. Others, like John Marsh from Massachusetts and John Sutter
from Switzerland, made the difficult overland journey to establish
profitable ranchos in California’s Central Valley. Most Américano visitors to Méjicano
California portrayed it as a land of abundant resources
underutilized by the "idle" Californios.
“In the hands of an enterprising people, what a country this might
be!" exclaimed Richard Henry Dana, Jr., in his popular travel
memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Dana's account reinforced most
Anglo-American and Northern European existing conceptions that as a
result of their racial "impurity" and Catholicism, Hispanic Américanos
were indolent, unscrupulous, and immoral. To call Californios racists due to their attitudes towards the Natives and
not apply the same term to the Protestant Anglo-Americans and Northern
Europeans would simply be unfair. Here we simply state, res ipsa loquitur. In 1831 C.E., Manual
Víctoria, the cruelest and
most arbitrary of the Méjicano
gobernadores, banished from California
several opponents demanding democratic reforms. José
Carrillo and a foreigner, Abel Stearns, were only two the most
active. They were exiled to Baja
California. From there, they led a small army against Víctoria
who marched his army south from the capital at Monterey. As the two sides clashed in the Cahuenga Pass, Gobernador Víctoria's
face was severely slashed. Víctoria
resigned and the previous Gobernador,
José María de Echeandía, who remained in San Diego after he had been relieved of duty by Víctoria,
assumed control from his home. Méjico-born
California Gobernador Manuel Víctoria was forced to flee in
1831 C.E., after losing a fight against a local uprising at the Battle
of Cahuenga Pass. Further complicating the already
strained political climate, a rival government was almost immediately
established in Monterey by Capitán
Agustín Juan Vicente Zamorano. The Cahuenga
Pass became the temporary border between the two rival regimes. My great-grandfather, José de
la Anastácio Rivera, was listed in the Old Saint Anthonys Church
Cemetery at Pecos, San Miguel County Nuevo Méjico as born about 1831 C.E.
BIRTH 1831 C.E. DEATH: April 10, 1905 C.E. BURIAL: Old Saint Anthonys Church
Cemetery Pecos, San
Miguel County, New Mexico, USA PLOT: Neglected cemetery, list of
names from St. Anthony's Catholic Church MEMORIAL ID 116212694 Name: José de la Anastácio Rivera (My Great-Grandfather) Gender: Male Christening Date: 05 May 1832 Christening Place: San
Miguel, San Miguel, Nuevo Méjico Birth Date: 02 May 1832 Birthplace: San Miguel, San Miguel, Nuevo Méjico Father's Name: José Luís Ribera Mother's Name: Ysabel Martín Citing this Record: "Nuevo
Méjico Births and Christenings, 1726-1918," database, Family
Search (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDNG-LL1 : accessed 25
November 2015), José Luís Rivera
in entry for José de la Anastácio
Rivera, 02 May 1832; citing San
Miguel, San Miguel, Nuevo Méjico, reference 2:297LN7R; FHL
microfilm 17,001. In the early years of the
independent republic, two factions dominated Méjicano politics. The Conservatives,
backed by the large landowners, the Catholic Church, and the federal
army, favored the old system that had dominated colonial Méjico for three centuries. The Liberals,
however, challenged the old order. In 1832 C.E, Méjicano Federal forces under Presidente Anastácio
Bustamante y Oseguera, representing Conservative
interests, defeated rebellious Zacatecas
in the Battle of Gallinero
forces under the command of General
Estéban Moctezuma. Historian Dorathy Krell reported that as
of December 31, 1832 C.E., the Franciscan padres at
the California misiónes performed
a combined total of 87,787 baptisms and 24,529 marriages, and recorded
63,789 deaths. It should be noted that others have very different
numbers, however, if Krell's numbers are to be believed the misión
Indian population had declined from a peak of about 87,000 in about 1800
C.E. to about 14,000 in 1832 C.E.
and continued to decline. To be sure, the California misiónes were
becoming ever more strained as the number of Indian converts drastically
declined and their deaths greatly exceeded their births. The ratio of
Indian births to deaths is believed to have been less than 0.5 Indian
births per-death. In spite of these circumstances, the Indian towns at San Juan Capistrano, San
Dieguito, and Las Flores did
continue on for some time under a provision in the Méjicano Gobernador Echeandía. It has been agreed by historians that
after the California misiónes
were disbanded in 1832 C.E. the majority
of surviving Indians went to work on the approximately 500 newly
established, land grant, ranchos appropriated
from misión
"property." It is estimated that these ranchos
comprised about 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) acres/misión. The Indians typically also worked at one of the four
Spanish pueblos as servants or
attempted to join other tribes in the interior, as the new ranchos occupied nearly all their original tribal territories. In 1833 C.E., Santa
Anna became presidente of Méjico
after successfully leading the resistance against España’s
attempt to recapture Méjico
in 1829 C.E. His strong Centralist
policies encouraged the increasing rage of residents of Tejas,
then still part of Méjico. Through the Méjicano secularization act of 1833 C.E., the
Méjicano government
repossessed most of the California
lands initially "granted" to the Franciscan misiónes (about 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) per-misión)
by the Corona Española who had "appropriated" the land "for
the Misión
Indians." In this process, the Méjicanos
decided that all misión lands
should be transferred from the Catholic Church to the pueblos. This transfer was called "secularization,"
and it spelled the end of the Misión
Period in California.
Méjico would eventually grant approximately 270 land-grants between
1833 C.E. and 1846 C.E. The "golden days" of the Rancho
Period would be the years from 1833 C.E. through
1846 C.E. The Rancheros
would devote themselves to raising cattle and sheep. As Españoles,
these owners of the ranchos
would also attempt to pattern themselves after the landed gentry of España.
Their workers included Californian
Native Americans who had learned to speak Spanish, many of them
former misión residents. During this time, the people of the ranchos
were the leaders of California's
political and social life. These golden days would become known as a
time of fiestas, laughter, great wealth, and much leisure time for the Rancheros
to enjoy life, an incorrect depiction of the realities of rancho
life. My great-grandfather, José
de la Anastácio Rivera’s, wife María
Nicolása (Quintana) age 17 was born about 1833 C.E.
is listed in the 1860 C.E. New Mexico Census The original plan for the
California misiónes had been that the land would be given back to the Natives
who had lived there when the Spanish
came. California misiónes’ were
first begun with the raising of agriculture. After agriculture was
firmly established cattle, sheep, and horses were raised by the misiónes’ frayles,
soldados, and Misión Indians. As originally envisioned, these misiónes
were to last only about ten years before being converted to regular parishes.
Very little land was returned. The Méjicanos had a different view of land allocation. They intended
that only half of all misión
lands were to be turned over to local native groups. Unfortunately,
distribution was haphazard. After the misiónes
were secularized in 1834 C.E.-1836 C.E., misión
property and the majority of livestock were to be allocated to the Misión
Indians. Native Californios
were often never told that they owned land, and many drifted away,
strangers in their own ancestral homelands. Only a few Indians were
given grants of misión lands,
but most of these lost their land to Méjicano
rancho owners. Some Méjicanos traded liquor or sacks of goods to the Indians in
exchange for their land. Secularization was implemented in
earnest, between 1834
C.E. and 1836 C.E. This meant that misión
lands were then available to individuals. In fact, many people asked the
gobernador to give them land.
The process meant that the Méjicano
government only allowed the padres
to keep their churches, padre's
quarters, and padre’s
garden. The army troops guarding each misión
were dismissed. A commissioner was assigned to oversee the misión’s
crops and herds, while the land was divided up as communal pasture, a
town plot, and individual plots for each Indian family. The Misión Indians, freed from the misiónes,
often joined other interior tribes or sought work on the new ranchos
along the troops formerly assigned to each misión. The original intent of the
secularization legislation was to have the property divided among former
surviving Misión Indians. In
reality, secularization of the misiónes
was used to provide for Méjicano
land grants which greatly increased after 1834
C.E. Most of these land grants were made to local Californios, individuals who had been born in Alta California. It must be said here that the Méjicano
rancho grants were provisional. The boundaries, on paper, had to be
"officially" surveyed and marked. This produced a 'diseño',
a hand-drawn topological map, to define the area. Since there were
very few surveyors this requirement was seldom met. Most rancho
grants boundaries and other requirements were not checked by the poorly
paid and organized "government" of California
which had little interest in land that brought in no taxes. The grantee
could not initially subdivide or rent out the land. The land had to be
used for grazing or cultivated. Some type of residential house had to be
built within a year. Most of these were initially simple adobe
walled cabins. Public roads crossing through the property could not be
closed. Between 1834
C.E. and 1842 C.E., more than 300 ranchos
were granted California,
mostly from lands that had been used previously by the misiónes.
As stated, no taxes were paid on the land. During the period, revenue to
run the government was raised via tariffs collected at Monterey, California. After the Spanish Period ended the Presidio
de Sonoma in present-day
Sonoma, California was founded in 1834 C.E.
by the Méjicanos. The Indian population of California
was about 15,000 in 1834 C.E. The Méjicano government’s secularization process of the Franciscan run misiónes
started on August 9, 1834 C.E.,
in Alta California
with Misión San Juan Capistrano. It
was the very first to have land
taken way. The Catholic Church would soon be forced to give up
much of her misión property.
Nine other misiónes quickly
followed in this process of misión
secularization. These misiónes
were to be abolished, some of which had been in existence for over 66
years. Historical research shows that the
majority of rancho land grants
were given to retired non-commissioned soldados.
The largest grants to Nieto,
Sepulveda, Domínguez, Yorba, Ávila, Grijalva, and other founding
families were examples of this practice. After each seizure, the Californio
rancheros would dismiss the frayles
and the soldados and take over
the Misión land and
livestock. The remainder of the Franciscan frayles
and soldados supporting
these misiónes simply
disappeared after 1834 C.E. when the Misión
System was abolished. The Misión
Indians were then left to survive as best they could. Many of the Misión
Indians deserted the land returned to their tribes or found work
elsewhere. Many of the foreign residents also
became rancho grantees. Some
were "Californios by
marriage" like Stearns (who was naturalized in Méjico
before moving north) and the Englishman William Hartnell. Others
married Californios but never
became Méjicano citizens. Rancho ownership was possible for these men because, under Spanish/Méjicano
law, married women could independently hold title to property. In the Santa Cruz area, three Californio
daughters of the inválido José
Joaquín Castro (1768 C.E.-1838 C.E.) married foreigners yet still
received grants to Rancho
Soquel, Rancho San Agustín, and Rancho
Refugio. These new ranchos giving work to some of the former misión Indians provided it for room, board, clothing, but no pay. The
former misión Indians
performed the majority of the work herding cattle, planting and
harvesting the ranchos' crops.
The slowly increasing ranchos and
pueblos at Los Ángeles, San Diego, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San
José and Yerba
Buena (now San Francisco) grew only enough food to eat and
for trade. The exceptions were the cattle and horses growing wild on
unfenced rangeland. These animals originally owned by the misiónes
were killed for their hides and tallow. A large part of the Californio
diet was beef, but since there was no easy way to preserve it most of
the time another animal was killed when fresh meat was needed as when
visitors showed up—the hides and tallow could be salvaged and very
little was lost. The market for beef dramatically changed with the onset
of the Gold Rush, as thousands of miners, businessmen and other
fortune seekers flooded into northern California.
These newcomers needed meat, and cattle prices soared from the $1.00 to
$2.00 per hide to $30.00-$50.00 per-cow. The classic book Two Years Before
the Mast (originally published 1840 C.E.)
by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. gives a good first-hand account of
a two-year sailing ship sea trading voyage to California which he took in 1834 C.E.-1835
C.E. Dana mentions that they also took back a large shipment of California
longhorn cattle horns. Horns were used to make a large number of
items in this time period. As stated earlier, the rancheros
tried to live in a grand style of the wealthy hidalgos in España.
They expected the non-rancho
owning population to support this lifestyle. Nearly all males rode
to where ever they were going at nearly all times making them excellent
riders. They indulged in many fiestas, fandangos (a
lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance in triple time that is usually
performed by a man and a woman to the accompaniment of guitar and
castanets), rodeos and roundups as
the rancheros often went from rancho
to rancho on a large horse bound party circuit. Weddings, christenings,
and funerals were all "celebrated" with large gatherings. As stated before, since the
Méjicano government depended on import tariffs, also
called Custom duties and ad-valorem taxes, for its income there was
virtually no property tax. Under both Spanish and Méjicano
rule, all landowners were expected to the Díezmo,
a compulsory tithe to the Catholic Church of one tenth of the
fruits of agriculture and animal husbandry, business profits or
salaries. Priest salaries and misión
expenses were paid out of this money and/or collected goods. This
mandatory Díezmo ended with
the secularization of the misiónes,
greatly reducing rancho taxes
until the United States takeover. Later, the Américano
state property tax system made large self-supporting cattle ranchos
uneconomical in most cases. This drove the Californio
families into poverty and resulted in the loss of their lands. 1834 C.E.: María Marcelina Ribera married Husband: Jesús Manuel Roybal Father: Rafael Roybal Mother: María Manuela Madrid Married: May 1, 1848 C.E., San
Miguel del Bado, New Mexico Wife: María Marcelina Ribera Father: José Luís Ribera Mother: María Isabel Martínez (Martín) Born: October 1834 C.E. Santa
Fé, Nuevo Méjico Child 1: María Eluteria Roybal Female Died: January 1919 C.E. Pecos, New
Mexico Buried: Pecos, New Méjico Spouse: Bartoloméo Vigil Misión San Juan Capistrano in California
was the very first to feel the effects of this legislation the following
year when, on August 9, 1834 C.E. Gobernador
Figueroa issued his "Decree of Confiscation." General António López de Santa Anna Pérez de
Lebrón (Born February 21, 1794 C.E., Jalapa,
Méjico -Died June 21, 1876
C.E., Méjico City), declared
himself dictator of Méjico in
1835 C.E. That same year, Méjicano
Presidente Santa Anna instituted a centralized form of
government which greatly reduced local autonomy throughout Méjico. Santa Anna’s
purpose was primarily financial. The government of Méjico, after so much interior upheaval and then the depression in
world markets, was in grave need of funds to continue operating. Then, in 1835
C.E., the San Francisco
Presidio was temporarily
abandoned when General Maríano
Vallejo transferred his military headquarters north to Sonoma.
Over time, the Presidio's adobe
walls slowly dissolved in the winter rains. Six more California misiónes quickly followed in the process of misión
secularization in 1835 C.E. San
Buenaventura and San
Francisco de Asís California misiónes were among the last to
succumb to the process of misión secularization in 1835 C.E. Following the separation of Tejas
from Méjico in 1835 C.E., Méjico
sought to discourage any independence movement in California.
However, Américano mountain
men blazed new trails over the Rocky Mountains and more ships visited
the California coast. More pobladores
began establishing homesteads. As happened in Texas, Méjico
was losing its grip on California.
During this time, the newly installed Gobernador
Manuel Micheltorena had enraged many Californians
by bringing with him about 400 brigands who reportedly were present to
bolster law and order. Making Gobernador
Micheltorena even more
unpopular was his favoring the return of the misiónes
and their lands to the Church and evicting whoever happened to be there. Capitán Blas de Hinojos military gobernador
of Nuevo Méjico was killed on
February 28, 1835 C.E. in an ambush while
on a slave raid into Navajó country.
The reaction from the Méjicano
liberals (federalists) was strong and in several states rebellions broke
out. A second rebellion began in northern
state of Zacatecas.
They once again revolted against the national government.
On May 11, 1835, the Zacatecas
miquelets, under the command of Francisco
García, was defeated at the Battle of Guadalupe
by the Federal forces of General
Santa Anna in May 1835 C.E.
Santa Anna was quickly able to
subdue the rebels. In July 1835 C.E., Santa
Anna appointed Albino Pérez
(July 1835 C.E.-August 1837 C.E.), a distinguished army officer from
central Méjico, to be gobernador of Nuevo Méjico
succeeded Francisco Sarracino as
civilian gobernador and Capitán
Blas de Hinojos as military gobernador. Gobernador Pérez quickly became unpopular in Nuevo Méjico for his autocratic style and for the fact that he was
not a native Nuevo Méjicano.
He was seen as the representative of the unpopular centralist government
and expected to be the enforcer of the dreaded collection of taxes and
other obnoxious aspects of the Departmental Plan, which had already been
challenged in Zacatecas, Tejas, California, and
elsewhere in Méjico. The Albino Pérez administration was opposed by the people and
especially by the inhabitants of the northern part of the territory, who
resented the “outsider” forced upon them by Presidente
Santa Anna. Their dissatisfaction was exacerbated when, following Santa
Anna’s defeat in Tejas,
the Méjicano government drafted a constitution that tightened
administration and tax-collection and imposed property qualifications on
political participation. Nuevo Méjicanos
assumed that Pérez would
attempt to levy the taxes and completely restructure the regional
political system in accordance with the new constitution. Other grievances included Albino
Pérez's reinstatement of Francisco
Sarracino, a former gobernador
who had been suspended for fraud from his position as subcomisarío
(a customs official); Pérez's
appointment of a civil servant named Ramón
Abreú as prefect when others thought they were better candidates; Pérez's
failure to rein in customs officials who defrauded Américano
traders on the Santa Fé
Trail, some of whom lived in Taos
in northern Nuevo Méjico; and
the inadequate food and bad conditions endured by men forced to serve in
the miquelets against the Navajós
and Apaches. Some may also
have resented his adultery (he openly had a relationship with his
housekeeper, his wife being in Méjico
City) and his wealth and luxurious possessions, as most Nuevo
Méjicanos were poor. Initially the rebel government was
widely popular in the Department, but it soon made enemies by committing
atrocities in gaining power and confiscating the massacre victims'
property (at the expense of not only their heirs but also their
creditors). The ruling junta
popular was contentious and indecisive, its minutes full of
crossed-out sections. Meanwhile, in Santa
Cruz, Nuevo Méjico the Cantón did
not dissolve, instead continuing to imprison people and threaten them
with death, outside the control of Gonsáles's
government. In Taos, unrest
broke out against the Catholic Church and its leader there, Padre Martínez, in early-September 1837 C.E. By October 20,
1835 C.E., then Méjicano
Gobernador Albino Pérez gave an official grant of land to the pobladores
of Mora. By October 20th of that year, Manual Sánchez, mayor of Las
Trampas, established the Mora
Land Grant. After a boundary survey, he distributed land parcels to
seventy-five families who settled along the Río
Mora. In that same year Spanish pobladores,
now Méjicanos founded the
city of Las Vegas as a plaza for the region, a stipulation for receiving a Méjicano
land grant. Las Vegas
eventually became the present-day county seat of San Miguel County. After over a decade, on
October 23, 1835 C.E., the Méjicano federal republic was changed to a centralist
republic. After the repeal of the Constitution of 1824 C.E., the
Federal Republic was changed to a centralist republic. The República
Centralista de Méjico or Centralist Republic of Méjico,
officially the República Méjicana
or Mexican Republic was a unitary political regime established
in Méjico. Like Spanish Moderados,
the Méjicano conservatives were inspired by the ideal of a centralized, administrative
republic in the Central Republic of 1835
C.E. 1846 C.E. In Tejas,
rebellion was fomented not only by Anglo-Américano
settlers but also by Méjicano
federalists. The Tejas Revolution
ended in 1836 C.E. in victory for the
Texans and humiliating defeat for Santa
Anna. Yet another rebellion against the Méjicano
centralist government occurred in California
in 1836 C.E. in which the appointed gobernador Nicolás Gutiérrez was deposed and sent back to Méjico,
to be replaced with a native-born Californio,
Juan Álvarado. The most notable event of the period
for Nuevo Méjico occurred in 1836
C.E. The Méjicano
Republic representative, Albino Pérez,
after assuming the governorship implemented a new government. Pérez's
administration met with immediate opposition. Since 1821 C.E., most of Nuevo Méjico's gobernadores had been native Nuevo Méjicanos and the new gobernador
was considered an outsider. To make matters worse, Pérez replaced many local officials and instituted plans for new
taxes. Gobernador Pérez
alienated most of the members of Nuevo
Méjico’s upper society and the rural poor by imposing new taxes
and removing some of the rights of self-government that the Ciudádanos
had previously enjoyed. My great-great-grandfather, José Luís Ribera of Pecos,
Nuevo Méjico would have been one of these men. With over twelve
hundred acres of land he would have resisted the new taxes. Pérez’s
angering the Ciudádanos would
later spark a full-scale rebellion. After the Zacatecas, Méjico Rebellion a second rebellion in Tejas,
fomented not only by Anglo-Américano
pobladores but also by Méjicano
federalists. The Tejas Revolution
ended in 1836 C.E. in victory for the
Texans and ignominious defeat for Santa
Anna. The independence-minded Californios
were also influenced by the increasing numbers of immigrant foreigners,
mostly English and French. Américanos
were grouped with the "English." Many of these integrated with
the Californios, becoming Méjicano
citizens, and gaining land either independently granted to them or
through marriage to Californio
women. Their involvement in local politics was inevitable. For example, the foreigner Abel Stearns was
an ally of the Californio José
António Carrillo in the 1831 C.E. Víctoria
incident, yet sided with the southern Californians against the Californio
would-be gobernador Álvarado in
1836 C.E. Álvarado recruited
a company of Tennessean riflemen, many of them former trappers who had
settled in the Monterey Bay
area. The company was led by another Américano, Isaac
Graham; the Américanos
refused to fight against fellow Américanos.
Álvarado was forced to
negotiate a settlement. There was instability in the Méjicano
government, especially in its early years. Alta
California's geographic isolation, the growing ability of its
inhabitants to generally make a success of immigrating, and the increase
in the Californio population created a schism with the national Méjicano
government. As Spanish and Méjicano period immigrants were succeeded in number by those that
increasing lost an affinity with the national government, an environment
developed that did not suppress disagreement with the central
government. Méjicano gobernadores had little material support from far-away Méjico
to deal with Alta Californians. The Californios
were left to resolve situations themselves. As the Californios matured to adulthood and increasingly assumed positions
of power in the Alta California
government, including that of gobernador,
rivalries emerged between northern and southern regions. Southern
California regional leaders, led by Pío
Pico, made several attempts to relocate the capital from Monterey
to the more populated Los Ángeles.
Several times, Californio leaders attempted to break away from Méjico,
most notably Juan Bautista Álvarado in
1836 C.E. This rebellion against the Méjicano
centralist government in California
in 1836 C.E. caused the appointed gobernador
Nicolás Gutiérrez to be deposed and sent back to Méjico. He was to be replaced with a native-born Californio,
Juan Álvarado. wealthy hidalgos in España
During this same time, Nuevo
Méjico was experiencing its own difficulties with the central
government of Méjicano. The
most notable event of the period occurred in 1836 C.E. The Méjicano
Republic representative, Albino Pérez,
after assuming the governorship implemented a new government. Pérez's
administration met with immediate opposition. Since 1821 C.E., most of Nuevo
Méjico's gobernadores had been native Nuevo
Méjicanos and the new gobernador
was considered an outsider. To make matters worse, Pérez replaced many local officials and instituted plans for new
taxes. Gobernador Pérez
alienated most of the members of Nuevo
Méjico’s upper society and the rural poor by imposing new taxes
and removing some of the rights of self-government that the Ciudádanos
had previously enjoyed. My great-great-grandfather, José Luís Ribera of Pecos,
would have been one of these men. With over twelve hundred acres of land
he would have resisted the new taxes. Pérez’s
angering the Ciudádanos would
later spark a full-scale rebellion. It should be remembered that, since
1821 C.E., most of Nuevo Méjico's
gobernadores had been native Nuevo
Méjicanos and the new gobernador
was considered an outsider. To make matters worse, Gobernador Albino Pérez replaced many local officials and
instituted plans for new taxes. Pérez
alienated most of the members of Nuevo
Méjico’s upper society and the rural poor by imposing new taxes
and removing some of the rights of self-government that the ciudádanos had previously enjoyed. My great-great-grandfather, José
Luís Ribera of Pecos, would have been one of these men. With over twelve hundred
acres of land he would have resisted the new taxes. Pérez’s angering the ciudádanos
would later spark a full-scale rebellion. The Méjicano attempt of centralization had proven to be a chaotic
experience. The República
Centralista de Méjico would last for only eleven years. It created
severe political instability, armed uprisings, secessions, and
rebellion. These included a rebellion in Zacatecas,
the March 2, 1836 C.E. declaration
of Texas independence from Méjico,
ending Méjicano-Hispano
control of the region, and the separation of Tabasco.
The independence of Coahuila,
Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas
resulted in the formation of the Republic of the Río
Grande. Finally, Yucatán
moved for independence. The Republic
of Texas which would exist from March
2, 1836 C.E., to February 19, 1846 C.E., would be an independent republic and
sovereign country in North America until it would be
recognized by the United States of America. The Américanos
would delay the request to annex Texas as a state. With this
recognition, the Texans became emboldened. They quickly began taking
steps to exploit Méjico’s
weaknesses and interfere in several of its internal revolutions in
several states. Soon, Texas allied itself with Méjicano
Rebels in the Yucatán and
dispatched their small navy to blockade some of its port cities. The problems between the Provincia
de Nuevo Méjico and Texas began during the Texas Revolution for
independence. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the
Republic of Méjico on March
2, 1836 C.E. At the banks of the Río
Grande, Sam Houston inspected what he believed to be his newly won
territory and Texas Republic. He then decided this was to be the western
boundaries between his new Republic of Texas and Méjico.
It was to be from the Río Grande
from the mouth of the Río,
north to 39 degrees latitude, and then eastward along northern Nuevo
Méjico all the way to the Arkansas River, then at 100 degrees
longitude south to the Red River, following the river to the border of
Louisiana, and down to the Golfo
de Méjico. This geographic claim began Nuevo
Méjico’s problems with the Republic of Texas. The Texans were no
longer concerned about Méjico
as they felt free to take all that land as theirs. The Texans had
claimed all of Nuevo Méjico’s land east of the Río
Grande. Initially, the Nuevo Méjicanos
were unaware of the claim. In addition, the Méjicanos felt Santa Anna’s
agreement with the Texans was unacceptable. Therefore, the Republic of Texas and Méjico
were still at war in a continuing series of border struggles. The Texans
continued their belligerence. They hurled ethnic insults on the Méjicanos
in their newspapers. The Texans went as far as calling them “an
imbecile nation” and an “abject race,” that it was simpler to kill
than tolerate. What must be offered here is the recognition that the Américano psyche predisposed as it was to European racism and
ethnic condescension, was bound to create conditions for invasion of the
Méjicano states. A case in
point, the Texans also urged their sea captains to commit piracy on Méjicano vessels. Simply put, this period saw revolts in
ten Méjicano provinces
including Tejas, Nuevo Méjico,
and California. Most of the Méjicano
revolts were a result of similar causes. Also, Santa
Anna’s dissolution of the Méjicano
constitution and the creation of a republican central government in Méjico
caused many grievances. The Battle of San
Jacinto was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. It was
fought on April 21, 1836 C.E., in
present-day Harris County, Texas. Led by General Sam Houston,
the Texan Army engaged and defeated General António
López de Santa Anna's Méjicano army in a fight that lasted
only 18 minutes. General Sam Houston’s troops captured
Santa Anna, the Presidente of Méjico, the following day, April
22, 1836 C.E. He was held as a prisoner of war. Three weeks later, in May,
1836 C.E., Santa Anna
signed a peace treaty. In return for sparing his life, Santa
Anna agreed to remove his soldados
from Tejas. To ensure removal, the Texan army followed the Méjicanos
to the banks of the Río Grande.
These actions would pave the way for the Republic of Texas to
become an independent country. The treaties did not specifically
recognize Texas as a sovereign nation, but stipulated that Santa
Anna was to lobby for such recognition in Méjico
City. Note: To
clarify, historically a broad strategic military vision by España for Nueva España
(Which included Tejas) was to
extend her influence northward from Méjico
City to Nuevo Méjico by 1598
C.E. via a series of misiónes,
presidios, and villas. España would then push from Sonora
onward toward Tejas. Over some
time, Tejas became partitioned
into four provinces under the Virreinato
of Nueva España. The El Paso area would be under the jurisdiction of Nuevo
Méjico, the misiónes founded near La
Junta de los Ríos on May 31, 1715 C.E., by a Spanish entourage
under Fray Joséf de Arraneguí
were placed under Nueva Vizcaya.
The coastal region from the Río
Nueces to the Río Grande
and upstream to Laredo were
placed under Nuevo Santander
after 1749 C.E. Tejas was
initially under joint jurisdiction with the province of Coahuila. During
that period, Nueva España
moved its influence into a “T-like” geographic approach. By 1752 C.E.,
the Españoles then moved
access westward toward Arizona
with Catholic misióneros into
the Tucson area. By 1762 C.E., she moved access eastward through Tejas
and onto Luísiana for the purpose of increased trade. She would later move
westward over land through Arizona
to Las Californias. España then established the small guarnición or military post of San
Agustín del Tucson there before 1766 C.E. The presence of Españoles
increased in the region by the last quarter of the 18th-Century C.E. Even
before July 4, 1776 C.E., España
and France enter into a secret agreement with the Américano Colonists to support them in their rebellion against
Britain. Before and after the declaration of war, España carried on efforts to undermine its enemy Britain. She
maintained a complex network of “observers” throughout the Américas. They monitored the course of the Américano Revolution and reported on its progress. In
March of 1777 C.E., intensive Spanish settlement of Luísiana began under the direction of Bernardo de Gálvez. Knowing that the British Crown still had its
expansionist eye on España’s
newly acquired Luísiana
Territory and Nueva España
(areas of today’s United States and Méjico)
to the west, via the Treaty of Paris in 1763 C.E., de
Gálvez brought several hundred refugees from Islas Canarias. Many
of these Españoles remained
in those areas of Nueva España,
now belonging to the former Américanos
now the Texans and in the regions held by the Méjicanos.
With intermarriages, other family connections, commerce, and the like
these Españoles had
maintained their extensive contacts even to the time of el
Imperio Méjicano. In June
and December 1836 C.E. respectively, the Franciscans soon
thereafter abandoned most of the California
misiónes, taking with them almost everything of value they could,
after which the locals typically plundered the misión
buildings for construction materials, furniture, etc. or the misión
buildings were sold off to serve other uses. By September of
1836 C.E., the Texans voted to be annexed to the United States,
although it would not happen until nine years later. In Nuevo
Méjico rumors of rebellion were floating around and Gobernador Pérez proceeded to enact another controversial aspect of
the Departmental Plan. The Plan called for the dissolving of state
legislatures and this could be extended to the local level. In December
1836 C.E., Pérez
dissolved the ayuntamiento or
municipal council of Santa Cruz de
la Cañada on the pretext that most of the seven members were
related. This caused great consternation in the community, which was
further inflamed when the alcalde of Santa Cruz, Juan
José Esquibel, disobeyed the gobernador
on other legal issues. The Río Arriba Rebellion in Nuevo
Méjico arrived soon after the Texan revolt. It broke out in late-1836
C.E. and continued into 1837 C.E. Over 3,000 rebels from northern
Nuevo Méjico rose up. They
soon gained control of the entire upper portion of the provincia
including the capitol at Santa Fé.
After the Río Arriba rebellion ended, Nuevo
Méjicanos settled back down to Armijo’s
Méjicano rule. Murmurings of the sentiments of the revolt in
several locations of the upper provincia
continued. This encouraged the Texans who were visiting Nuevo Méjico and word got back to interested people in Texas. This period, saw revolts in ten Méjicano
provinces including Tejas, Nuevo Méjico,
and California. Most of the Méjicano
revolts were a result of similar causes. Also, Santa
Anna’s dissolution of the Méjicano
constitution and the creation of a republican central government in Méjico
caused many grievances. By December
of 1836 C.E., the Texans voted to include
parts of four Méjicano states
into their Republic. Finally on
December 28, 1836, España
recognized the independence of Méjico
under the Santa María-Calatrava Treaty,
signed in Madrid by the Méjicano
Commissioner Miguel Santa María
and the Spanish state minister José
María Calatrava. Méjico
was the first former colony whose independence was recognized by España;
the second would be Ecuador on
February 16, 1840 C.E. By December 30, 1836 C.E., with Méjico’s
enactment of the seven constitutional laws the Unitary Regime was
formally established. Note: Here
it should be mentioned that the 1837 C.E. rebellions
in Méjico were due in part to
several interconnected factors. One contributing factor was the impact
of the almost worldwide depression of 1837 C.E. The worldwide depression
began in most countries in 1836 C.E. It was the largest depression and
financial crash in history to that date and it affected all the trading
nations of Europe and the Americas. Great Britain, France, Belgium,
Germany, Canada, and the United States were hit especially hard. In
Canada there were two serious rebellions, as well as a rebellion in Guatemala.
In the United States the financial markets were devastated, and many
people were made destitute. These conditions also had their impact on Méjico,
Nuevo Méjico, and other Méjicano
provincias. By early-1837 C.E., the United States of America recognized Texas
as an independent republic. The Américanos,
however, would delay the request to annex Texas as a state. With this
recognition, the Texans became emboldened. They quickly began taking
steps to exploit Méjico’s
weaknesses and interfering in several of its internal revolutions in
several states. Soon, Texas allied itself with Méjicano
Rebels in the Yucatán and
dispatched their small navy to blockade some of its port cities. The Rebellion of 1837
in northern Nuevo Méjico
began in Santa Cruz de la Cañada
and neighboring communities along the Río Santa Cruz and its tributaries. Its causes were complex. They
can be attributed mainly to the poverty and discontent caused by the
large increase in population that Santa
Cruz and other rural areas had experienced since the mid-1700s C.E.
combined with limited water and other resources and isolation from the
rest of Méjico. In the series
of political upheavals which took place in Méjico
beginning with independence in 1821 C.E., Nuevo
Méjico had been forgotten and all but ignored. Nuevo Méjicano opposition to Gobernador Pérez had continued, with his opponents circulating
rumors of enormous taxes. The Departmental Assembly's list of three
nominees for the next gubernatorial term did not include some who felt
they should be a part of it. The opposition culminated in the summer
of 1837 C.E. The spark which set off the rebellion had to do with
the alcalde of Santa Cruz de la Cañada, Juan José Esquibel. Esquibel had accepted a bribe from a relative to release him from
jail when charged with a "grave crime" and had defied Pérez's
order to pay a fine and return his relative to jail. In addition, Esquibel
supported two merchants against a man who had documentation that they
owed him money. Pérez's
appointee as prefect, Ramón Abreú,
suspended alcalde Esquibel and
upon learning of the bribe had him placed in jail at Santa
Cruz in irons. At the end of July, 1837 C.E.
a mob freed alcalde Esquibel,
and he then formed a new governing council of twelve members which he
called a Cantón or
district, in conscious opposition to the government. He then organized a
rebellion. The Nuevo Méjico Chimayó Rebellion of August
1st-9th, 1837 C.E. at Río
Arriba County and Santa Fé
County was also known as the Revolt of 1837 C.E. There Nuevo
Méjicano rebels and local Pueblo
allies fought against Méjico.
It was a popular insurrection against Albino
Pérez, the Méjicano
gobernador at the time. On August 1, 1837 C.E., rebels from the northern Nuevo Méjicano communities gathered at Santa Cruz de la Cañada (near Chimayó) with Indians from the surrounding pueblos.
They called themselves the Cantón.
They then issued a proclamation denouncing the new administration. That
first proclamation issued by Esquibel
and his followers on August 1, 1837 C.E.,
explicitly stated their opposition to the Departmental Plan and to the
exacting of taxes. This protest quickly escalated into a
full-scale revolt that Gobernador
Pérez attempted to suppress with a small and badly equipped miquelets company. Pérez's
force was overwhelmed by the rebels near Black Mesa, south of present-day Española.
Despite this victory, the rebels did not succeed in their efforts to
establish a new government. The influential merchants and Ganaderos, of the Río Abajo
did not lend their support to the revolt.
On August 3, 1837 C.E., their twelve leaders, including Esquibel,
issued the following declaration: For God and the Nation and the Faith
of Jesus Christ! The principal points we defend are the following: 1.To
be with God and the Nation and the Faith of Jesus Christ. 2. To defend
our country until we shed every drop of our blood in order to obtain the
victory we have in view. 3. Not to admit the Department Plan. 4. Not to
admit any tax. 5. Not to admit any disorder desired by those who are
attempting to procure it. God and the Nation! Encampment Santa
Cruz de la Cañada, August 3, 1837 C.E. Gobernador Pérez soon learned that an armed insurrection was
taking place in Santa Cruz,
and he attempted to rally together enough troops to meet it. Few people
would commit to help him; local alcaldes
could muster only a few troops. He turned to the Río
Abajo area south of Santa Fé,
which he hoped was more supportive of him, and was able to put together
a force of about 200 volunteer troops, mostly from the Pueblos of Sandia, Cochití,
and Santo Domíngo. On August 7, 1837 C.E., Gobernador
Pérez and his small force of men under direction of presidial
officers from Santa Fé were
preparing to march north, along with other members of his government who
he expected would help in negotiations with the rebels. On August 9, 1837 C.E., Pérez
started for Santa Cruz with
the troops at his command. His force arrived at La
Mesilla (Black Mesa) near San
Ildefonso Pueblo, south of present-day Española
where he met a force of 1500 to 2000 armed rebels who immediately
attacked. This attack caused Gobernador
Pérez’s Pueblo volunteers, two officers, and ten soldados
to desert and join the rebels. Pérez
and a small remaining force attempted to defend themselves but soon had
to retreat to Santa Fé. Unable to find security in the capital,
Pérez attempted to flee the
city by night. That night he and a small party of supporters began to
retreat towards Río Abajo. On
the outskirts of Santa Fé
they were apprehended by a group of Indians from Santo
Domíngo Pueblo, sympathizers with the rebellion, who overcame them,
killed and decapitated Pérez
and returned his head to Santa Fé
for public display. A number of his supporters were also killed,
including Secretary of the Department Jesús
María Alarid, former interim gobernador
Santiago Abreú (one of Ramón's
brothers and two other members of the influential Abréu
family, and approximately 20 officials from the Pérez government were also killed, some by mutilation. The rebels then marched in full force
to Santa Fé and camped on the
outskirts near the Rosario chapel where on August
10, 1837 C.E., they proclaimed one of their leaders, José Gonzáles of Taos,
as gobernador of Nuevo Méjico. The ethnic background of Gonzáles has been debated over the years, with some calling him an
Indian from Taos Pueblo and
others claiming he was a Genízaro
Indian. However, it seems most likely that he was of español status, that is, he was a vecino, a member of the Hispano
community of Taos. He appears,
like many other rural vecinos of
the period, to have had little education (apparently he was illiterate)
and made his living as a Cíbolero or
buffalo hunter. According to Josiah Gregg who was present during the
rebellion, Gonsáles was “a
good honest hunter but a very ignorant man.”
Despite this victory, the rebels did
not succeed in their efforts to establish a new government. The
influential merchants and ganaderos,
of the Río Abajo did not lend
their support to the revolt. Nearly 200 Américano
merchants and traders living in Santa
Fé were unhappy not only because of the danger and chaos of the
situation, but because some of them had had their goods confiscated and
divided up among the rebels. Initially the Northern Nuevo
Méjico rebel government was widely popular in the Department, but
it soon made enemies by committing atrocities in gaining power and
confiscating the massacre victims' property (at the expense of not only
their heirs but also their creditors). The ruling junta
popular was contentious and indecisive, its minutes full of crossed-out
sections. Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz,
the Cantón did not
dissolve, instead continuing to imprison people and threaten them with
death, outside the control of Gonsáles'
government. In Taos, unrest
broke out against the Catholic Church and its leader there, Padre
Martínez, in early-September. In the town of Tomé in southern Nuevo Méjico,
Padre Francisco António de Madariaga began agitating for a
counterrevolution. On September 8, 1837 C.E.,
he and other "citizens who love their country" adopted the
"Plan of Tomé,"
which named former gobernador
Manuel Armijo to command their force. The 600-man army detachment of
Santa Fé, which Gonsáles
had disbanded, reorganized and marched south to join Armijo.
Armijo wrote
to the Méjicano authorities,
explaining the situation, and then marched to Santa Fé. He met little resistance. Gonsáles, who had gone to Taos
to visit his family, was arrested in Santa
Fé on September 11, 1837 C.E. Before Armijo's arrival in Taos
on September 14, 1837 C.E, while in Santa
Fé, Armijo wrote to Méjico
again, stating what he had done and asking for troops to complete his
victory and re-establish peace. A former mayor of Taos, Pablo Montoya, led a Cantón
force of reportedly 3,000 men on Santa
Fé. Though Armijo had
only about 1,000 soldados,
they were much better trained and equipped than the rebels, and Armijo
negotiated a peace treaty that was signed on
September 21, 1837 C.E. The rebels surrendered Juan
José Esquibel and three other men from Santa
Cruz to be indicted, but Gonsáles
was released and the other rebels received amnesty. Montoya would later be executed for his part in the Taos
Rebellion. On October 18, 1837 C.E., there was news of a new rebellion brewing in
the mountain town of Las Truchas,
east of Santa Cruz with the
intention of invading Santa Fé.
Armijo ordered the execution
of Esquibel and the three
other prisoners, but to Armijo's
anger, his subordinates postponed the execution. Armijo
spent the next few months raising funds to feed and pay his soldados,
who were on the point of mutiny. By 1838 C.E.
Pecos, Nuevo Méjico, the home of my progenitors, was
a virtual ghost town. The last seventeen residents walked away. These
last residents left the once-mighty Pecos
to the winds and rain when they moved away to live with their cousins at
Jémez. There were many that stayed at their farms and ranchos
just outside the pueblo
limits. However, there were many that stayed at their estancias
and ranchos just outside the Pueblo
limits. For years after its abandonment Pecos
suffered. It was badly weathered away by battering rains, heavy winter
snows, and harsh mountain winds. The great multi-storied Indian pueblo community houses with there hundreds of rooms melted down.
Much of the once beautiful church stripped of its roof and wooden beams
by area pobladores, partially
collapsed. By the time José Luís
Ribera, my Great-Great
Grandfather, died on October 1, 1891 C.E., the reddish soil from which
it came would reclaim it. By January of 1838 C.E., feelings were running high after Gobernador
Pérez of Nuevo Méjico
had been captured and beheaded. Pérez's
short two-year chapter in Nuevo Méjico
history with its political turmoil and intrigue ended. Nuevo
Méjico would continue to expand and grow. When a squadron of
Dragoons from Méjico arrived
at Santa Fé in January 1838 C.E., that short-lived Revolt of 1837 was
to come to a bloody end. My family, the de Riberas was to suffer greatly
from this injustice. On January 23, 1838 C.E., Gobernador
Armijo sent an ultimatum to the rebels in Las Truchas on the following day, when they did not surrender. Gobernador Armijo finally had his four prisoners executed on
January 24, 1838 C.E. By January 27, 1838 C.E., Armijo
marched towards Santa Cruz
with his troops, now augmented with over 150 dragoons from Veracruz who had been stationed in Zacatecas. There Gonsáles
and António Vigil of Truchas
were gathering their forces to return to Santa
Fé. While this rebellion in the mountain town of Las
Truchas never materialized, in January, 1838
C.E., a proclamation issued by António
Vigil (known as “El Coyote”)
of Las Truchas
was again intended to rally rebel forces and march on Santa Fé to free the four jailed leaders. Armijo’s force encountered the rebels near Pojoaque on January 28, 1838 C.E. The
two armies met between Santa Cruz
and Pojoaque, and Armijo's
forces then commanded by Teniente
Coronel Cayetano Justiniani
of the Veracruz dragoons prevailed in the battle. In that short battle they
were dispersed, with 20 rebels killed and eight captured. Gonsáles
fled to Santa Cruz. Next, Armijo
took possession of Santa Cruz
and took José Gonsáles
prisoner. By Armijo’s order,
he was immediately executed in the public square. António
Vigil was said to have been killed in the battle and his body hung
on a post near Pojoaque as
warning to the remaining rebels. Pablo
Montoya maintained his freedom thanks to his turning over the four
leaders of the original rebellion, but ten years later was an instigator
of the Taos Rebellion and was
hung by Américano soldiers. To be sure, the Chimayó Rebellion of 1837 C.E. was a rebellion by rural estancieros.
It was a populist revolt by Native Nuevo
Méjicanos against the Méjicano
government that was the sovereign entity in Nuevo
Méjico at the time. These participated strongly in the defiant
uprising over increased taxes, administrative and military incompetence,
and corruption by the Méjicano
government. They lived north of Santa
Fé, and were sympathetic Pueblo
Indians. The rebels who defeated Gobernador
Pérez’s army and killed his cabinet feared for their lives. They
also thought that their town would be ransacked, but it never happened.
Instead, José Gonsáles,
originally from Ranchos de Taos
was appointed as provisional Gobernador
by the rebels. Following the rebellion, the rebels
confirmed their loyalty to the Méjicano
government along with a list of grievances. Then they disbanded and went
home. Unfortunately, Gonsáles
who had been captured by Gobernador
Manuel Armijo and his soldados
was executed. Don Albino Pérez, the assassinated Méjicano gobernador, was more of an idealist than a politician. He
had ridden north with high hopes for his new office in a strange land.
After reaching Nuevo Méjico
and assuming his duties, Pérez
found that he had a strong and forceful opponent in the former Gobernador,
Don Manuel Armijo. The former gobernador
enjoyed popular support and was determined to sabotage all of Pérez's
programs. His opportunity came when Pérez
put into effect a vast taxation plan. A large non-coastal land grant was
given to John Sutter who, in 1839 C.E.,
settled there close to the future city of Sacramento, California. He called his land grant "New
Helvetia" (New Switzerland). There, he built an extensive fort
equipped with many of the armaments from Fort Ross which were
bought from the Russians on credit when they abandoned the fort. Sutter's
Fort (1839 C.E. to about 1848 C.E.) was the first non-Native
American community in the California Central
Valley. It became a major agricultural and trade colony, often welcoming
and assisting California
Trail travelers to California.
Most of the pobladores at, or
near, Sutter's Fort were new immigrants from the United States. Even as early as 1839
C.E., the Méjicano
authorities at Santa Fé
believed that an Américano
party under the leadership of a Julián
Werkeman or William Workman was fanning the flames of the previous Nuevo Méjico revolt. Werkeman and others were stirring up the old
grievances which had inspired the revolt. Their goal was another
revolution like Texas. It is believed that Texas was sending agents into
Nuevo Méjico with a message
from President Lamar Mirabeau, welcoming them as fellow Ciudádanos and inviting them to partake of all of the blessings
afforded to the Texans. Gobernador
Armijo moved quickly to arrest them for inciting rebellion. The Texans had been making preparations
to take control of their new lands in Nuevo Méjico. A trade expedition was formed to proceed to Santa Fé, where they fully expected most Nuevo Méjicanos to welcome them. Though it was described as a trade
expedition, the Texans found it necessary carry with them what is
described as a 6-pounder, a 2.2 inch cannon
firing a projectile weighing approximately 6 pounds. If the Nuevo
Méjicanos had agreed to revolt, the Texans were ready to plant
their Texan flag on the soil of Nuevo
Méjico. But they didn’t. The Texans were misinformed. The
sentiment of the people of Nuevo Méjico involved only the establishment of trade and expected
them leave peaceably. Two de Riberas were serving at the time. The Nuevo Méjico miquelets
Lists of 1839 C.E., List of Officers and Capable men as ordered by the
Territorial Gobernador: Rivera,
António of Pujuaque and Rivera, José
Crus of Cañada. José Luís Ribera, my great-great-grandfather, married María
Isabel Martínez (Martín),
of the famous Martín-Serrano
clan. They settled into their married lives as estancieros
on twelve hundred acres in Pecos,
as is cited in the 1860 C.E. Census. They had a daughter, María Marcelina Ribera. It lists José Luís’ wife, María
Isabel (María Ysabel Martín)
as age 30. Researchers have documented her relationship to Luís as: BIRTH: 7 JUL 1822, La
Puente, Río Arriba, Nuevo Méjico [95711] BAPTISM: 12 JUL 1822, Abiquiú,
Paroquia de Santo Tomás, Nuevo Méjico [95712] [95713] DEATH: Y Father: Juan Domíngo Martín Mother: María de Jesús Naranjo Note: She was actually born there in Pecos
on June 17, 1817 C.E. It is an accepted point that the ages provide
during census were many times misunderstood or in error. Birth: Jun. 20, 1816 C.E. Death: May 1, 1880 C.E.
Burial: Although Luís' third child and only daughter, Marcelina, is not listed, researchers have documented her
relationship to Luís as: María Marcelina RIVERA ____ - ____ Father: José Luís Rivera Mother: María Isabel Martín Family 1: José Manuel Roybal (Husband) MARRIAGE: 1 MAR 1848 C.E., San
Miguel del Vado Misión, New Mexico [164004] Lucíano, his
oldest son, is listed as age 22 (born about 1828 C.E.). He’s shown as
a farm laborer. His wife, Monica, (last name?) is listed as a 16-year-old, born about 1834 C.E. My great grandfather, José
de la Anastácio, was listed as age 20, born about 1830 C.E. His
land holding were estimated at two hundred and fifty acres in the 1860
C.E. census. He was listed as a farm laborer. His wife María
Nicolása (Quintana) age 17 was born about 1833 C.E. Nicolása was also listed as one of the heirs of the Ignacio
de Roibal, Original Grantee, in and to the Town of Jacona
Grant; Consisting of 6954.84 Acres, Private Land Claim, Report No. 92
(District Court, No. 6323) dated March 25, 1909 C.E. Anastácio
is listed as married to Nicolása
in the document, as well as, the following children: ·
Félix ·
Magdaleno ·
Aniceto ·
Isidro (my grandfather) ·
María ·
Gregoria ·
Pabla In the late 1600s, the king of España
had awarded the land grant to Ignacio
de Roybal. Luís' other
son, José Pedro de Los Ángeles
(not listed), was born in Pecos
about August 2, 1834 C.E. Then came Cristino, age 16, born about 1844 C.E. Ascension, age 18, born about 1842 C.E. Felipe, age
14, born about 1846 C.E. Lorenzo, age
10, born about 1850 C.E. Pablo, age
4, born about 1856 C.E. Another daughter, Vincenta or Vincentita
(not listed) And his daughter, Agapita, (not listed) came last of all. She was born in Pecos,
late in his life. The Nuevo Méjico Miquelets Lists of 1839 C.E. - List of Officers and
Capable men as ordered by the Territorial Gobernador "NS" below means not stated.
(?) Means not sure. Some spellings of names have changed over time. "Don"
is a title denoting honor, as in The Honorable Judge, etc. Albuquerque
was spelled Alburquerque in
many older records. "de"
means from, or of. The gobernador was Joaquín Velázques
de León and signed the order on April 23, 1839 C.E.
Ciudádanos (capable men): This list does not include all capable men in Nuevo
Méjico at that time. All areas were not surveyed. Some men may have
paid to avoid service.
Nineteen years after the Méjicano
War for Independence in 1821 C.E., and the loss of Spanish authority in California,
the primary means of Spanish control, the misiónes,
were dismantled in a process known as secularization. By
1840 C.E., this process would be complete, with the vast tracks
of misión land being divided
up among Méjicano landowners.
A handful of powerful families would assume control of most of the land.
Relying on the hide and tallow trade, the Californios
were content to import the manufactured goods they needed from abroad.
Given California's distance
from the rest of Méjico, a
new identity developed among the inhabitants, giving rise to the name Californios
rather than Españoles or Méjicanos. By the year 1840 C.E., Américano
settlers had already moved into California.
The Américano migration had
begun in the 1820s C.E. and would eventually change the face of California. Crestino Rivera (Ribera), the brother of José de la Anastácio Rivera was: Born in Nuevo Méjico, in 1840 C.E. to José
Luís Ribera and María Ysabel
Martín Crestino married Teodora Gonsáles
and had 4 children: Henríquez Rivera Juana Rivera 1868 C.E.-1870 C.E. Eulogio Rivera 1875 C.E.-Unknown Benina Rivera 1877 C.E.-Unknown Crestino married María Apolonia Sánchez
she was born on September 14, 1869 C.E. in Santa
Fe, New Mexico. She died at
Pecos, New Mexico on January 29, 1906 C.E. Paublita "Pablita
Paulita" Gonsález
formerly Rivera Born June 30, 1889 C.E. [location unknown] Daughter of Crestino
Rivera and María A. (Sánchez)
Rivera Sister of: ·
Nemecio Rivera ·
Encarnacion Rivera ·
Lucíana (Rivera) Gonsález
·
José E. Rivera ·
Benigna (Rivera) Luján ·
Juanita Rivera ·
Enríque Rivera ·
José de la Anastácio Rivera ·
Luís Rivera ·
Catalina (Rivera) Varela Wife of Gerónimo
Gonsáles — married October 9, 1911 C.E. in La Parroquia de Pecos, Pecos,
New Mexico. Mother of Florentino
Gonsáles, María D. Gonsáles, Melinda
(Gonsáles) Gallegos, Gerónimo
Gonsáles, José A. Gonsáles,
Died January 1, 1941 C.E. in Pecos, New Mexico Crestino married Carmen Gonsáles He passed away on 1870 C.E. In 1841 C.E., Méjicano
General Maríano Arial Arista was urging Méjicanos
to reconcile their many differences. He wanted to concentrate on Méjico’s
real enemy, Texas. Even the Américanos were having difficulty reconciling Texan actions. Unfortunately,
the Tejano revolt was not an
isolated event for Méjico. By
now, Texas and Nuevo Méjico
had become quiet enemies. The Nuevo
Méjicanos feared the belligerent Texans. They felt that it was only
a matter of time before the Texans extend themselves into Nuevo
Méjico. In 1841 C.E., the Américano
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell married María
de la Luz, the daughter of Cárlos
Hipolite Trotier Beaubien of Nuevo
Méjico, who eventually inherited the grant. Note: Lucien’s
great uncle was James Maxwell, Vicar General of Upper Louisiana. The
reverend Maxwell had received a large Spanish land grant on which he was
to settle Irish Catholic immigrants, among whom was his nephew,
Lucien’s father Hugh. Meanwhile, Lucien's maternal grandfather, Pierre
Menard, had been a partner with William Morrison and Manuel
Lisa in a company that conducted trade with Native Americans living
along the upper Missouri River, and afterwards with Pierre Chouteau in
the Saint Louis Fur Company. Pierre was a famed negotiator with Indian
tribes and was tapped by President John Quincy Adams to convene a major
peace conference in Wisconsin in 1828 C.E. He also served as the first
lieutenant governor of Illinois. It was
while trapping for the American Fur Company in the Rockies that Lucien
made the acquaintance of Kit Carson, with whom he was fast friends for
the rest of his life. Much about his days as a fur trapper is unknown.
He trapped on the Columbia, Platte, and Arkansas rivers. And during this
period he visited Taos, likely
in connection with the annual fur trade fair and probably more than
once. In the course of his visits he came to know a French Canadian
merchant of Taos, who had married into a Hispano
family there, Charles (or Cárlos,
as he was commonly known in Taos)
Hipolite Trotier Beaubien. Lucien took an occasional job at Beaubien’s
Taos store and while working
there met his employer’s young daughter, María
de la Luz. When Luz
reached the age of 13 in 1841 C.E., she and Lucien were married before Padre José António Martínez. Lucien
B. Maxwell of Nuevo Méjico
and the Américano Kit Carson
were later hired on as scouts and hunters for the first of five major
scientific expeditions led by the Américano
explorer John C. Fremont to map and explore Indian lands west of the
Mississippi. Note: In
1841 C.E., Luz’s father Cárlos
Beaubien and a close friend of his, Guadalupe
Miranda, secretary of the Méjicano
government of the Department of Nuevo
Méjicano, had submitted a petition for a grant of land to their
mutual friend Gobernador Manuel
Armijo. Three days after the petition was presented, the Gobernador granted Cárlos
Beaubien and Miranda’s
request, setting the wheels in motion for the transfer to them of a very
large, but ill-defined, tract of land in the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains of what is now extreme northern Nuevo Méjico and southern Colorado. The Méjicano Gobernador Manual Armijo would grant land to the Cárlos
Beaubien and Miranda families of Taos. In June, 1841 C.E., a threatening Texas expedition, a military
one, departed Austin for Nuevo Méjico.
It was an army with six companies under the command of Hugh McLeod, a
brevet brigadier general. It passed through Antón
Chico (Present-day Guadalupe
County) on its way to take control of the eastern drainage of the Río
Grande for the Republic of Texas. But the interlopers didn't get far
before they were overpowered by a group of Nuevo
Méjicanos who sent the expedition home to Texas. The army also brought with it three
commissioners, deputized as ambassadors who carried proclamations,
written in both English and Spanish. When Gobernador
Armijo learned of the approaching Texans, he took immediate action
to inform the pobladores and
place his soldados at full
battle readiness. The Nuevo Méjicanos
had been anticipating a Texan invasion for some time. The Presidio
of Santa Fé had alerted the
government of neighboring Chihuahua
to provide aid. They also posted scouts along the eastern frontier to
follow and report on the Texan progress. Prior to this incursion, tight
restrictions had been placed on all Américanos
living in the provincia,
inhibiting possible communications with Texas. Fortunately for the Nuevo
Méjicanos, the Texan Army became lost. After three months of
marching for about 1300 miles, on a march that should have been only 700
miles, the soldiers were in great difficulty. To make matters worse,
they had set out when the plains were almost waterless. The Indians
along the route had raided them and stolen their horses. A fire in their
camp had destroyed tents and ammunition. The soldiers had become ill,
were starving, and thirsty. They had been reduced to throwing away their
weapons when they became too heavy to carry. Gobernador Armijo contacted Capitán
Damaso (Damasio) Salazar,
the alcalde of San Miguel,
whom he had appointed earlier to guard the eastern approaches along the Río
Pecos. The Capitán and his force of 100 Nuevo
Méjicano soldados were dispatched to scout the eastern plains to
and locate the Texans. After the prisoners of the June,
1841 C.E., Texas Expedition had been escorted from Santa
Fé Nuevo Méjicanos and Américano
merchants continued their usual business. The invasion was over and the pobladores
had their needs for merchandise. When the prisoner columns of the June,
1841 C.E., Texas Expedition reached El
Paso del Norte they were met by General
Gonzáles, the Curé or
parish priest, and Don Ramón Ortíz.
They immediately moved to improve their conditions. The prisoners of the June, 1841 C.E.,
Texas-Santa Fé Expedition
finally arrived by early-1842 C.E. in Méjico
City in several divisions. While at El Paso, the prisoners of the June, 1841 C.E. Texas Expedition were
well treated. The Texan officers dined as guests of General Gonzáles. They sipped brandy and smoked cigars with the General.
During the dinner, Salazar was
arrested for his brutal conduct. It has been suggested that most of the
viciousness of Nuevo Méjico’s
treatment of the Texan prisoners was carried out by Salazar. After reaching Méjico City, some of the prisoners of the Texas Expedition of June,
1841 C.E. were released. The remaining soldiers were freed by Santa
Anna on June 13, 1842 C.E. One
soldier was condemned to death. However, later he was allowed to
purchase his freedom. The suffering of these Texan prisoners
must be placed in context. The Texas retaliatory massacres of hundreds
of Méjicano soldados at San
Jacinto was not in the distant past. For armed invaders, the Texans
were treated surprisingly well, especially by the once defeated Santa
Anna. To aggravate the situation for the Méjicanos,
a resolution was passed by the Texan Congress detailing Texas’ new
borders which now included eight of Méjico’s
northern states including Las
California, both Alta and Baja. On the Méjicano
side the attempted invasion brought a new resolution, the reconquest of
Texas. There were engagements at San
António, Goliad, and Refugio.
Unable to maintain the necessary robust offensive the Méjicanos
withdrew. A Texan force was sent to make sure they left. Once this was
accomplished many of the men disobeyed Houston’s order not to cross
the Río Grande whereupon they
swept into Méjico and
assaulted the town of Mier, in
the state of Tamaulipas,
located in northern Méjico
near the border of Texas. The Méjicano army apprehended of them near San Miguel del Bado on September 4, 1842 C.E.
Salazar captured three men who
escaped and were recaptured. One was killed when resisting arrest and
the other two were executed for attempted escape. Note: Juan Damaso Salazar was born in Nuevo Méjico to Juan Cristóbal
Salazar and Margarita Samora.
He married María Guadalupe
Trujillo (Ortíz) daughter
of Andrés Trujillo and Rosa Córdova on April 17, 1816 C.E. in San Miguel del Bado, Nuevo Méjico. María was born on December 8, 1799 C.E. in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico. She was christened on December 19, 1799
C.E. in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico. Later, on September
16th, Salazar captured
five more Texans near Cuesta
on the Río Pecos. It was his
plan to immediately execute all five. However, he was dissuaded by a Nuevo
Méjicano, Don Gregorio Vigil a wealthy Don.
Gregorio was well regarded as
a well regarded man who had great influence in Nuevo
Méjico. Gobernador Armijo now aware of destitute condition of the
invasion force, made his way with his army to meet the Texans.
Approximately, thirty miles out he came upon Salazar
and his detachment bringing in the five prisoners. One of the prisoners,
Captain William Lewis, wearing a military uniform claimed to just a
merchant. Armijo remarked that
the Captain’s buttons bore stars of Texas, as well as the word Texas. Armijo commented that he was not dressed like a merchant, but as a
soldier. By September 17th, ninety-four
more soldiers under the command of a Colonel Cooke were found by Capitán Salazar at Antón
Chico. The nephew of Armijo,
Manuel Cháves, was dispatched with 100 men to support Salazar. Upon his arrival near the villa
of San José, Manuel discovered the Texans at Cañon
Largo in a thick forest. He quietly surrounded the Texans during the
night. At dawn the next day, An unarmed Cháves made his way to their camp. Speaking in English Cháves
ordered them to surrender. Cooke hesitated. Cháves
then called to his men and they came out of their hiding. The
unfortunate Captain Lewis and Cháves
then negotiated their surrender. The Texans were informed by Lewis that Armijo
was not far away with an army 1,500 more soldados.
They immediately surrendered. Manuel
Cháves moved by their plight, supplied them with such food and
blankets as he had and later marched them to Santa
Fé. Note: Manuel António Cháves was born in 1818 C.E. in Atrisco. Manuel was
described as soft-spoken, with brown hair, grey eyes, and fair skin. His
family’s land grant was opposite Albuquerque,
on the west side of the river. The family had moved to Cebolleta when he was a young child. He was the son of Don
Julián Cháves and his grandfather was General
Fernando de Cháves, the original grantee of the Atrisco
land grant. His mother was Doña
María Luz García de Noriega, Daughter of Francisco
García de Noriega. Later, in 1844 C.E., he married María Vicenta Labadie, a descendant of French fur trappers. Manuel was not new to the miquelets. By age sixteen, in 1834 C.E., he and his older brother, Don
Pedro Cháves, were part of a 50-man contingent that went on a
punitive and captive gathering raid against the Navajó.
The company came upon the Indians when entering Cañon
de Cililí where they had been a gathering of thousands having a
celebration with feasts and dances. Lasting all day, the resulting battle
left only two Nuevo Méjicanos
who survived and escaped. They were Manuel
Cháves and a Navajó boy
who had been raised by a Nuevo Méjicano
family. Manuel was wounded
seven times and the boy only once. Cháves
was presumed by dead by the Navajós
and that the boy had hidden himself in the rocks. The two waited in
hiding until nightfall. After finding Manuel’s
brother they buried him. They then made their way without food or water
back to Nuevo Méjico. Along
the way, while on the trek, the boy died. Fortunately, a sick and
exhausted Manuel came upon some Méjicano
shepherds. Taking pity on him, they made a litter and carried him to
safety. His Cháves’
remarkable endurance and his bravery became legendary. Later, Cháves went to Saint Louis where he remained in exile for a couple
of years. While there, he improved his English. Manuel would eventually return to Nuevo Méjico. Manuel in
charge of the column brought the prisoners to Santa Fé. Once they arrived, Armijo
ordered the Texans bound and placed in the sheep corrales next to the Palacio
de los gobernadores, except for Commissioner-Colonel Cooke who Manuel
Cháves befriended and housed him in his own home. A vote by council
of officials taken at dawn was in favor of sending the prisoners to Méjico
City. The Texan six-pound gun remained and was installed as a monument
in the central plaza. By October 5th, Coronel
Juan Andrés Archuleta rounded up the remaining Texans of the June,
1841 C.E., Texas expedition at Laguna
Colorada. The following day after their arrival in Santa
Fé, these last prisoners were escorted to Méjico City. While on that difficult passage, Capitán Damaso Salazar executed three more prisoners. Salazar
cut off the dead men’s ears as a grisly testament of their deaths. Two
soldiers died of other causes. The other Texans were treated badly by Salazar.
It might have been worse had Presidio
Capitán Albino Chacón not been present on the march. Capitán took pity on the prisoners and did what he could to lessen
suffering. Note: It has
been reported that Salazar had
a cruel streak. As opposed to the other Nuevo
Méjicanos, it appears that he was one of the few soldados in the Provincia
who took the despotic Armijo
seriously. Salazar if the reports be true was a willing henchman. It is
reported that five pairs of ears were provided to Armijo who nailed them to a wall in the Palacio de los gobernadores. There, the Américanos found them in 1846 C.E. Note: Capitán Albino Chacón was the father of future U.S. Civil War
Captain Rafael Chacón of the
First Nuevo Méjico
Volunteers. Fortunately, these interlopers hadn't
gotten very far before being overpowered by this group of Nuevo Méjicanos who sent the expedition home to Texas. Secure in his position, Méjicano
Gobernador Manual Armijo, granted land to the Cárlos
Hipolite Trotier Beaubien and Miranda
families of Taos. Ordered by Sam Houston on October
3, 1842 C.E., the Somervell Expedition was organized as a
punitive measure following Méjicano
raids on San Antonio. After a general call, nearly 700 eager volunteers
streamed into San Antonio to participate in the affair. Before it occurred, however, the Méjicanos
were already aware due to their many contacts in Texas and Louisiana who
had alerted them. During the twelve years of 1821 C.E through 1843 C.E.,
little had changed for the Hispanos.
Here it should be recalled that many of the Peninsular Españoles
and Criollos of el Imperio Español’s Nuevo Mundo remained and became a part of el
Imperio Méjicano. The Texan Somervell Expedition departed
San Antonio on November 25, 1842 C.E. As early as November,
1842 C.E., Méjico’s
many contacts had reported in Nuevo
Méjico that a large group of Texans from the Somervell Expedition
was seen out on the plains. This was seen as preparation for attacking Méjicano traders should they attempt to cross the Missouri River
the succeeding spring. Texan logic was that since a portion of
the Méjicano trade route was
through territory claimed by Texas, these goods could be considered
contraband. The plan was to leave the Américano
traders unmolested, but plunder the Méjicano
goods. The Américanos had
very good commerce with the Méjicanos
for over twenty years. They were concerned that it be impacted.
Therefore, they were concerned about having their Méjicano
business counterparts plundered. This must have escaped the Texans and
the Méjicanos. The Somervell Expedition captured Laredo
on December 8, 1842 C.E. They then headed
south along the Río Grande and soon afterward took the town of Guerrero. Houston's instructions to Somervell
were to continue the invasion only if circumstances assured a reasonable
chance for success. Because almost one-third of the participants
returned home soon after the capture of Laredo,
Somervell determined that the remaining force was not strong enough nor
did they have the supplies and equipment to successfully sustain further
penetration into Méjico. He
therefore ordered his men to disband and return to Texas. A large number of the Texans, however,
felt betrayed by the order. They elected to ignore Somervell and
continue the raid into Méjico.
Thus, over 300 of the men elected to continue the raids in what came to
be known as the Mier
Expedition. The Mier Expedition was the most disastrous of all of the border
confrontations between Texas and Méjico
during the days of the Republic. It developed out of the Somervell
Expedition, which disbanded soon after making brief raids into Laredo and Guerrero along
the Río Grande. About 300 strong, the group elected
William S. Fisher as their commander and moved down the Río Grande opposite the Méjicano
town of Mier. With the main
force of Texans, Fisher crossed the river on December
23, 1842 C.E. and occupied the town of Mier
without opposition. They vacated later that day, however, after the town
alcalde promised to deliver
supplies to the Texans had demanded to their camp. Meanwhile, Méjicano General Pedro
Nolasco Martín José María de la Candelaria Francisco Javier Ampudia y
Grimarest (January 30,
1805 C.E.-August
7, 1868 C.E.)
arrived at Mier and
prevented delivery of the supplies. Pedro Ampudia was born
in Habana, Cuba, and
served Méjico as
a Northern army officer for most of his life. At various points he was
the gobernador of Tabasco, Yucatán,
and Nuevo León. He also
served a short term as Secretary of National Defense under Presidente Benito
Juárez. When the rations were not delivered as
promised, the Texans re-entered Mier
on Christmas day, this time by force. The Texan Mier Expedition descended upon the town and engaged in bloody
battle. Heavy fighting resulted which continued until the following
afternoon. The Texans, outnumbered by about ten to one, suffered
thirty-one killed and wounded versus Méjicano
losses estimated at 600 killed and 200 wounded. The raiding Texan civilians and Méjicano
troops had fought hard. In the end, however, the Texan's rations
dwindled rapidly and they soon agreed to surrender without formal terms. Over 200 Texans surrendered and became
prisoners. Some were shot. The remaining Texans were taken in chains to Méjico
City. This was a repeat of the earlier failed Santa
Fé Expedition. Fortunately for the Texans, Méjico’s
political situation was in turmoil and they would receive a reprieve
from war. The Texas prisoners of the Mier
Expedition were at first sentenced to execution, but the execution order
was later reversed. They were then held in the town of Matamoros
until ordered to be moved to Méjico
City. Lucien B. Maxwell of and The Américano
Kit Carson were hired on as scouts and hunters also joined Fremont for
at least part of the second and third expeditions in
1843 C.E.-1844 C.E. 1843 C.E.-1844 C.E. and 1845 C.E.-1846 C.E. to
map and explore Indian lands west of the Mississippi. The growing pains of the young Méjicano
nation, however, did not allow much attention or many resources to be
allocated to this distant province. Nuevo
Méjico remained isolated and generally ignored by the central
government. Under continual harassment by hostile Indian tribes, it
became increasingly vulnerable to external influence and internal
unrest.
In 1843 C.E., as if two failures were not enough, the Texans
decided upon a third intervention into Méjico. Texan newspapers cried out for revenge,
retaliation, and invasion. In 1843 C.E.,
Second Texan Invasion expected to plant their flag in Chihuahua and Nuevo Méjico.
Not satisfied with these two areas, it was also their intent to
instigate revolutions in other parts of Northern Méjico.
The Texans quickly mobilized another army to punish the Méjicanos. Their main targets were Gobernador Armijo and Nuevo Méjico.
To carry out this plan Colonel Jacob Snidely was selected to command a
force of eight hundred men. Possibly due to a lack of direction and
purpose, the much shouted about plan invasion died. The invasion plan
was put-off. Instead, the Texans chose to attack and plunder trade
caravans on the Santa Fé
Trail supplying Santa Fé and Chihuahua. The Texas prisoners of the Mier
Expedition managed to escape their Méjicano
captors at the town of Salado
on February 11, 1843 C.E. After much
suffering, however, all but three of them were recaptured either
individually or in small groups before they could make their way back to
Texas. The recaptured Mier
Expedition escapees, now totaling 176, were again sentenced to death by Méjicano
dictator António Lopez de
Santa Anna. This order was subsequently reduced, however, so that
one of every ten men, to be determined by lottery was to be executed. In
the lottery, which came to be known as the Black Bean Episode, seventeen
of the unfortunate prisoners who drew black beans from a jar were
blindfolded and shot. Further pending Texan attacks worried
the Méjicanos. It had been
suggested that that the Américanos
would enter the matter on the side of Texas against Méjico.
To forestall this move, the Méjicano
ambassador in Washington D.C. asked the United States to provide
protection for its caravans, to which they agreed. Captain Philip Saint
George Cooke, the commander of the Américano
troops in the area was alerted to be prepared to counter the Texan
bandits. In Nuevo Méjico
little apprehension seemed to exist. The Nuevo
Méjicanos continued normal commerce with Américano
merchants in Santa Fé.
However, it should be noted that Don
António José Cháves, of Nuevo
Méjico, left Santa Fé
for Independence with two wagons and fifty-five mules in February
of 1843 C.E. Texan authorities soon organized two
advanced scout companies for the Snively Expedition under the command of
John McDaniel and Charles A. Warfield to proceed ahead of the main body
and surveil. McDaniel’s small detachment was the first to advance. He
was soon followed by Warfield would. Remaining behind was Colonel
Snidely. He was to assemble the main Texan force for the Snively
Expedition. The Méjicano borderlands were almost completely undefended. The
military strength of the Méjicano
government was lacking. However, they took immediate steps raise troops
to meet the oncoming invasion. Under the command of General
José M. Monterde, a large military force was dispatched to Nuevo
Méjico to support General
Armijo. March 1843 C.E. was exceptionally cold. The ill fated Texan
advanced scout companies for the Snively Expedition suffered from
frostbite, losing most of their animals. At the Little Arkansas River, Cháves
was captured by John McDaniel and his small command of fifteen ruffians.
After plundering his goods, seven of the men left. The other eight drew
straws and shot Cháves. Josiah Gregg, noted merchant on the Santa Fé Trail wrote in his memoirs that although shooting of Cháves
may have been done as revenge for the cruelties faced by the Santa
Fé Expedition, Cháves
belonged to a powerful Nuevo Méjico
family, “one that was anything but friendly to the ruling Gobernador, Armijo.” António’s
Brother Don Maríano Cháves
possessed a rare friendliness of character. Furthermore Maríano and his wife had supplied the original Texan prisoners with
food and blankets, his wife even crossed the river and “administered
comforts” to them. Gregg even thought the Cháves
family might have been well disposed towards Texas but now would be
greatly resentful towards them. António José’s brother, Don
Maríano, was possibly the only man in Nuevo
Méjico that Gobernador Armijo feared and therefore he could do pretty much
what he wanted – even in giving aid to the Texan prisoners. While
McDaniel was busy with Cháves,
Captain Cooke’s U.S. Dragoons had been following his trail.
He and his men were arrested and sent to St. Louis where they were tried
for murder and robbery. “In due course, the sentence of the court
which found them guilty was carried out and John McDaniel and his
brother David were both hanged.” And they had complained about how the Méjicanos
had treated them! Neither Houston nor Mirabeau wrote any letters of
protest this time. But it wasn’t over yet. Colonel Warfield’s
company the second of the advanced scout companies for the Snively
Expedition was already on the move. Warfield had lived in Nuevo
Méjico and was familiar with much of the territory. He enlisted
twenty-four men and set out for the Point of Rocks where the company
would rendezvous. From April 24, 1843 C.E.-August
6, 1843 C.E., the
Texas Snively Expedition, led by Jacob Snively, was
implemented to intercept a train of Méjicano
traders who would be returning from Missouri on the Santa Fé Trail by way of Texas territory and to seize their
goods. This was to be in retaliation for the Méjicano
raids on San Antonio in 1842 C.E. and for the mistreatment of Texas
prisoners captured in the Mier
Expedition and on the Texan-Santa
Fé Expedition. Despite defeating a detachment of Méjicano
soldados on the Arkansas
River, they caused a border incident with the United States, and were
disarmed by U. S. Dragoons. Those who remained were not strong enough to
defeat the guard on the train and returned to Texas. In April 1843 C.E., the Texan advanced scout companies for the
Snively Expedition advanced toward Mora
and arrived there undetected. Actually, the Texans had stumbled upon an
advance camp of about sixty men, probably a grazing camp outside of
town. They rushed the guards at night and stormed into the camp, killing
five, wounding four, and capturing eighteen men along with seventy-two
horses and mules. Several of the Nuevo
Méjicanos escaped to warn the village. Knowing that the townspeople
would be ready for them the Texans prudently decided not to attack the
town but rather to retreat with their prize, the horses and mules. They
told the prisoners, “You are now free. Bury your dead, and remember in
the future how vain it is to resist the arms of Texas.” Then they fled in the direction of
Wagon Mound. On the way, they saw a body of mounted Nuevo Méjicanos on the horizon behind them but were so
overconfident they did not even keep vigilance that night. The exact
moment they realized that the guards were not at their posts the horses
were stampeded by a small group of mounted Nuevo
Méjicanos. Then gunfire erupted from all sides. They were
surrounded. The Texans charged outward and the Méjicanos
scattered, but with the loss of the herd they had to admit it was the,
“equivalent of a defeat.” With only two “half jaded” animals
left, they made knapsacks for themselves, packed the animals. After burning their saddles, Warfield
discharged his men from the Texas Army, separated them into three
groups, and started walking to Bent’s Fort. Warfield and some of the
men intended to try to hook up with Colonel Jacob Snidely’s force. On the way one of the Texan Warfield
advanced scout companies for the Snively Expedition groups was ambushed
and five men were captured. They were taken to Santa
Fé and imprisoned. Apparently the Nuevo Méjicanos did not heed Texan threats. Mora was not a good villa
to pick on. The villanos were
hardy frontiersmen and they maintained a very aggressive miquelets. Perhaps Warfield had forgotten that Nuevo
Méjicanos had been fighting this hit-and-run type of horse thieving
style warfare for a long time with the hostile natives and they easily
overtook Warfield’s company. It was amazing they didn’t kill them
all – but then again, leaving the Texans dismounted on the open
prairie would have been the highest form of insult. Apparently, they had
what they wanted – the horses and the prisoners. On April 25, 1843 C.E., Colonel Snidely’s Texan Expedition force was
now ready to follow Warfield. They left Georgetown which is near Austin
for the international boundary of the Arkansas River. “Colonel Jacob
Snidely and his ‘gallant’ band of Texan ‘avengers,’ to the
number, not of eight hundred, but about one hundred and eighty, now
appear upon the scene,” luckily bypassing the patrolling US dragoons. When they reached the Arkansas they
were joined by Warfield and the few men he had left. While at Bent’s
Fort Warfield had heard about the progress of the trade caravans. He was
able to inform Colonel Snidely that sixty wagons were on their way to
Bent’s Fort from Missouri and another caravan would soon be coming up
from Santa Fé. As it happened, Christopher Kit Carson, Charles Bent, and
Ceran St. Vrain arrived in the area with their own wagon train. Kit
describes his meeting with Captain Cooke (Carson’s notations are
corroborated by Cooke’s own journal of the expedition). The dragoons under Captain Phillip St.
George Cooke had camped at Walnut Creek. Cooke informed Carson that the
westbound train consisting of a mixture of Américano
and Méjicano traders were nearby to the east. Armijo’s east bound train would be coming up from Santa Fé. The westbound wagon train included about 100 men and a “large
number of wagons.” Captain Cooke’s informants had told
him that the Texans had advanced to the Arkansas River. There they would attempt to capture the
wagon train. He also believed they would kill any Méjicanos they captured. The Méjicanos
in the westbound train decided to stay with Cooke although he would only
escort them to the Arkansas. They paid Carson $300 to take a message to Armijo,
warning him of the situation. Carson accepted and set out with Dick
Owens. When he reached Bent’s Fort he was told that some Utes were on
the trail he must take. He set out from there alone but with an extra
horse with which to outrun the hostile natives. He made it past the
native village and continued on to Taos
where he sent the message to Santa
Fé. Upon receiving the news, Gobernador
Armijo raised several miquelets
units and called out the Presidio
Soldados. His force totaled 700 men who were to guard the eastbound
caravan. They left Santa Fé, headed for the international crossing. Meanwhile, Colonel
Snidely’s force, still eluding Cooke’s scouts, advanced down the Santa
Fé Trail. Most of the remaining prisoners of the Mier
Expedition were marched to Méjico
City, where they spent the summer of 1843 C.E.
making road repairs. On June 19, 1843 C.E. Colonel Snidely’s Texas force ambushed Armijo’s
advance guard, a group of one hundred Taos
miquelets under the command of Capitán
Ventura Lovato. When they approached the Texans Lovato thought they were Cooke’s men. Perceiving the mistake
Colonel Snidely allowed them to get very close before opening fire. Lovato
and fifteen others were killed and the rest were taken prisoner. Rufus Sage had been with Warfield. Now
with Colonel Snidely, he stated that the Texans had remained in hiding
as the Nuevo Méjicanos approached them. At the last moment, they jumping up,
identified themselves, and offered Lovato
a chance to surrender. But, as noted above, the Nuevo Méjicanos reported that Colonel Snidely passed himself off as
Cooke and opened fire at close range, without warning. The fact that not
one Texan was hit seems to place the evidence in favor of Lovato. But regardless of what actually occurred one Nuevo
Méjicano was able to escape by grabbing a Texan horse and riding
back to the main caravan. Armijo
quickly turned around and headed back to Santa
Fé. Once Armijo received the report, he sent messengers to the Américano,
Captain Cooke. Once t Cooke received the information, he quickly
mobilized his force to intercept the raiders. By this time, Colonel Snidely’s force
had been drastically reduced only about 100 men by desertions. His
expedition had also lost many mounts to Native American raids. He and
his force were camped about fifteen miles below Caches.
Texas Colonel Snidely had wrongly assumed that the Américanos would hail his troops comrades-in-arms. When the
Dragoons approached, he crossed over to the Américanos
to meet with Captain Cooke. He was very disappointed to find that Cooke
treated the Texans as illegally armed foreigners on the border of the
United States. Cooke, next immediately began disarming the Texans. Some
of the Texans hid their rifles and turned over the “worthless guns
which had been captured from the Méjicanos. The Texans reported to Captain Phillip
St. George Cooke that they had killed eighteen Méjicanos. They stated that they had wounded eighteen more and
captured the remaining Méjicanos.
Cooke sent forty of the Texans, presumably including Colonel Snidely to
Fort Leavenworth, and set the remainder free. After being released by
the Américanos, the remaining
60-70 Texans commanded by Warfield went into Méjicano
territory attack the southbound caravan on its way to Santa Fé. They soon gave up, however, and headed for Texas. Ironically, the Taos miquelets the Texans had defeated were of the very same people
that Workman and Rowland had intended to incite to rebellion. It has
been suggested that may have assist the Texans in their first invasion.
One member of the Texans wrote that if the Texans had proceeded
differently, Lovato’s men
surely would have guided him to Armijo’s
train where they could have captured him. These Hispanos
from Taos, no doubt veterans
of the 1837 C.E. rebellion, had apparently been forced to accompany Armijo.
They were not friendly towards him. Not only were most of them Pueblo
Indians, but had been forced to take this forward position by armed
coercion. Some had even being tied to their saddles. This assessment
that they would not only surrender but also lead the Texans to the Gobernador
may well have been an accurate one. Armijo had
always been more of a merchant than gobernador
or general. Once again, Armijo,
the “ruthless tyrant” showed his true mettle by immediately turning
the caravan around and rushing in a panic and retreated back to Santa
Fé. Understandably, the Américano
merchant freighters were also very disturbed by the Texan actions. As
reports mentioned, while the Texans had asserted they would not molest Américanos or their goods, the merchants could not, in good
conscience, have allowed the plundering and killing of the Méjicanos. An eye witness later wrote, “What Américano
worthy of his name, to save his own interests, or even his life could
deliver up his trading companions to be sacrificed?” His belief was
that every man in the train would have considered this nothing less than
treachery. In addition, each merchant would have ruined their own
business prospects in allowing this. By this time, the Méjicanos sponsored fully fifty percent of the Santa Fé Trail’s commerce. An attack on them would relations won the day. Soon, uninvolved
Texans residing in Nuevo Méjico
would become victims of their compatriot’s actions. “When the news
of the defeat of Lovato’s command
reached Taos, the friends and
relatives of the slain, the whole population, indeed, were incensed
beyond measure; and two or three naturalized foreigners, who were
supposed to favor the Texan cause, and who hitherto had been in good
standing, were now compelled to flee for their lives…” General Santa Anna, back in office again, due to these Texan
depredations closed all the ports of entry of northern Méjico to all commerce from August 7, 1843
to March 31, 1844. Thus, trade between the Américanos and the Méjicanos
almost completely ceased on the Santa
Fé Trail. Later, with the lifting of the ban, merchant caravans
began again. Ninety wagons and 200 Américanos
were once again working their way down the Santa
Fé Trail to the southwest. The warring Texans’ attempt to
negatively influence the commerce on the Santa
Fé Trail had failed. In September of 1843 C.E., prisoners of the Mier Expedition were transferred to Pérote Prison, a highly secure stone fortress East of Méjico
City. The remaining prisoners of the Mier
Expedition at the Méjicano Pérote
Prison, would escape, die, or remain until the last of the group was
released on September 14, 1844 C.E.
James Polk was born in Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina, in 1795 C.E.
Polk was studious and industrious, graduating with honors in 1818
C.E. from the University of North Carolina. As a young lawyer he entered
politics, serving in the Tennessee legislature. Later, Polk became a friend of Andrew
Jackson’s while acting as his chief lieutenant in his Bank War. He had
come to know Jackson’s while in the House of Representatives, where he
served as Speaker between 1835 C.E. and 1839 C.E. He then left to become
Governor of Tennessee. Until political machinations raised
Polk's ambitions, he was a leading contender for the Democratic
nomination for Vice President in 1844 C.E. Martin Van Buren had been
expected to win the Democratic nomination for President. Henry Clay was
to be the Whig nominee. Both tried to eliminate the expansionist issue
by removing it from the campaign. Each declared himself opposed to the
annexation of Texas. Polk, however, publicly declared that Texas should
be "reannexed," and all of the Oregon Territory
"reoccupied." An aging Jackson correctly sensed that
the American people favored territorial expansion. He urged the
selection of a candidate committed to "Manifest Destiny." This
was the view prevailed at the Democratic Convention. Polk was nominated
on the ninth ballot. "Who is James K. Polk?" Whigs jeered. The
Democrats resounding reply was that Polk was the candidate who stood for
expansion. In the end, Polk had successfully linked the Texas issue
popular in the South, with the Oregon Territory question, which was of
interest in the North. Polk also favored the acquiring California. The adoption of the 1844
C.E. Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon Territory.
This included the land from the California boundary northward, up to
latitude 54' 40', and the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. These
actions made clear United States' intentions. Extremists proclaimed
"Fifty-four forty or fight.” Polk, however, was aware of
diplomatic realities. He knew that no course short of war was likely to
get all of the Oregon Territory. Fortunately for all parties involved,
neither Polk nor the British wanted war. Instead, he offered a
settlement which extended the Canadian boundary.
This would be along the 49th parallel, from the Rockies to the
Pacific Ocean. When the British minister declined the offer, Polk
reasserted America's original claim to the entire Territory. Even before Polk assumed office,
Congress would pass a joint resolution offering annexation to Texas. In
so doing so, they left Polk with the probability of war with Méjico. She soon severed diplomatic relations with the Américanos.
The new American President, Polk, made his stand on the Oregon issue,
almost certainly risking war with Great Britain. Note: In
1818 C.E., the United States and the Great Britain, then
controlling British Canada, established a joint claim over the Oregon
Territory. This Joint control agreement worked for over 15 years. The
interested parties then decided that joint occupancy wasn't working and
set about to divide the Oregon Territory. On May 29, 1844 C.E., James K. Polk was
confirmed unanimously on the ninth ballot as the Democratic Party
presidential nominee. James K. Polk won the election for the
American presidency on November 15, 1844 C.E. Humbled by the loss of Tejas
and other failures, Santa Anna was forced to resign power by December of
1844 C.E. Lucien B. Maxwell and Kit Carson joined
Fremont for at least part of the second and third major scientific
expeditions led by explorer John C. Fremont to map and explore Indian
lands west of the Mississippi in 1845 C.E.-1846 C.E. The early annexation of Texas in
1845 C.E. would make war with Méjico inevitable. President James K. Polk eleventh President of
the United States of America (1845 C.E.-1849 C.E.) hoped to settle
matters with Méjico
peacefully. The determined president, however, would have his way by war
if necessary. The boundary dispute between the United States and Méjico
at Texas became a flashpoint. Upon Texas’ becoming a state in
1845 C.E., Méjico
dropped diplomatic relations with the United States. By 1845 C.E., many Californios
had had enough of Méjicano
political instability and had begun to look toward the United States.
President James K. Polk embraced the theory that it was "Manifest
Destiny" for the United States to stretch from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. Many Californios
hoped it was only a matter of time before they too were governed by the
United States. By 1845 C.E., the province of Alta California had a non-native population of about 1,500 Spanish
and Latino Américano-born
adult men along with about 6,500 women and their native-born children
(who became the Californios).
These Spanish-speakers lived mostly in the southern half of the state
from San Diego north to Santa Bárbara. There
were also around 1,300 Américano immigrants and 500 European immigrants from a wide
variety of backgrounds. Nearly all of these were adult males and a
majority lived in central and northern California
from Monterey north to Sonoma
and east to the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The U.S. Navy knowing it took
about 200 days, on average, for ships to travel the greater than
17,000-mile trip from the East Coast around Cape Horn of South
America to California acted. Speculating that war with Méjico
over Texas and other land was probable the U.S. Navy sent
several additional naval vessels to the Pacific in
1845 C.E. to protect U.S. interests there. The U.S. Navy was also
under orders to take over all California
ports in the event of war. Initially, as the war with Méjico
began there would be only 5 vessels in the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron
near California. Soon, hostilities began between the
U.S. and Méjico. These were
sparked in part by territorial disputes between Méjico
and the Republic of Texas. The main forces to be made available to
the Américanos in California were those on board the ships of the Pacific
Squadron. There would be about 400-500 U.S. Marines and U.S.
Navy bluejacket sailors available for possible land action on the
Pacific Squadron's ships. Armijo
became gobernador of Nuevo
Méjico again in 1845 C.E., until he
withdrew without a fight while Nuevo
Méjico was taken over by the United States Army under the command
of General Stephen W. Kearny in 1846 C.E. A pressure group of Californios,
led by Juan Bautista Álvarado
and José Castro, brought 284
men over the Cahuenga Pass
where they met Micheltorena's
force. On February 19th and 20th, 1845 C.E.,
the Méjicanos and Californios exchanged long-range artillery fire on the banks of the Los
Ángeles River while concerned ciudádanos
watched the cannonballs fly from nearby hillsides. After a truce was
called and both sides met in Los
Ángeles, Gobernador Micheltorena was resigned. His successor was the last of
the Méjicano governors, California-born
Pío Pico, an anti-cleric. Shortly thereafter, Gobernador Pico leased the San
Fernando Misión, effectively the entire San
Fernando Valley, to his brother, Andreas
Pico, and Juan Manso. President James K. Polk, eleventh
President of the United States of America (1845 C.E.-1849 C.E.), took
office on March 4, 1845 C.E. He was at
49, the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. Fortunately,
neither Polk nor the British wanted war. Instead, he offered to settle
by extending the Canadian boundary. It would be along the 49th parallel,
from the Rockies to the Pacific. When the British minister declined, the
stubborn Polk reasserted America's claim to the entire area. The British
finally settled for the 49th parallel, except for the southern tip of
Vancouver Island. The parties would negotiate and establish the boundary
between the U.S. and British Canada at 49° via the Treaty of Oregon in
1846 C.E. The exception to the 49th parallel boundary decision, is due
to its turning south in the channel separating Vancouver Island with the
mainland, then it turns south, and then west, through the Juan de Fuca Strait. This maritime portion of the boundary wasn't
officially demarcated until 1872 C.E. The boundary established by the
Oregon Treaty still exists today between the United States and
independent Canada. In November of
1845 C.E., President Polk sent John Slidell to Méjico with an offer of $5,000,000 for the purchase of Nuevo
Méjico and $25,000,000 for California.
The acquisition proved difficult. Polk's envoy offered Méjico
a settlement of damage claims owed to Américanos
in return for California and
the Nuevo Méjico. The offer
was rejected outright. Since no Méjicano
leader could cede half his country and still stay in power, Polk's envoy
was not received. In short, the Américano
offer was refused. In 1845 C.E., the United States of
America annexed and incorporated the Republic of Texas. It was admitted
to the Union as the 28th state on December 29,
1845 C.E. This early annexation of Texas in 1845 C.E. would bring
war with Méjico. General Stephen W. Kearny's 80 U.S.
Army dragoons or cavalrymen arrived over the Gila
River Trail in December 1845 C.E. The first five decades of the
19th-Century C.E., had seen the expansion of the Américano
Period’s efforts to gain additional territories on the North American
Continent. In 1846 C.E.
the Oregon boundary dispute was finally settled between Great
Britain and the United States. The British grudgingly settled for
the 49th parallel, except for the southern tip of Vancouver Island. With
the 1846 C.E. treaty was signed and the
British problem behind him, Polk was prepared to deal with the Méjicano
issue. Méjico and her lands
would become his next target.
The year 1846
C.E. would see the Américanos
moving against Méjico to gain
more territory by which they would reach the Pacific Ocean. The rapidly declining California
misión Indian population was only a few thousand by 1846
C.E. Fewer Indians meant less food was required. The Méjicano (non-Indian) population in California was 6,000 in 1846
C.E. and the population of San Francisco had exploded to 36,000.
The large majority of which were not landowners lived in coastal towns
and settlements adjacent to ranchos. Nuevo Méjico had not experienced Méjicano
rule for long. For Nuevo Méjico,
a quarter century of Méjicano
rule would end in 1846 C.E. The United States Congress would declare war
with Méjico over the Texas
annexation question. General
Stephen Watts Kearny and his Army of the West followed Anglo merchants
down the Santa Fé Trail
marching along into Nuevo Méjico's
undefended northern frontier. Gobernador
Manuel Armijo declared his intention to confront the Américano
army at Apache Canyon, east of
the capital. However, in a series of secret meetings with
representatives of the Américano
government Armijo was
persuaded not to resist Kearny's forces. He instead fled south to El
Paso. By
this time José Luis Ribera’s
son, Felipe Rivera, was born
when the Army of the West, commanded by General Stephen Watts Kearny’s troops occupied Nuevo Méjico. In a relatively bloodless military operation
he conquered New Mexico. Without
firing a shot he declared its annexation to the United States. His
invasion of New Mexico claimed
the territory for the U.S. on the Old Town Plaza
of Las Vegas in today’s San
Miguel County. Kearny's army encountered no resistance, the
annexation was not bloodless. The Américanos like the Españoles,
found that the land, the climate, and the great distances to travel
overland to be too great for them. The Santa
Fé Trail became an important commercial route to the West. Santa Fé developed into a bustling trade center from which caravans
continued on to northern Méjico
along the Camino Real, or to California
along the Old Spanish Trail. During this period, mountain men, fur
traders, and merchants of various nationalities came to Nuevo
Méjico, many of whom married into Nuevo
Méjicano families and became influential in local politics and
commerce. The growing pains of the young Méjicano
nation, however, did not allow much attention or many resources to be
allocated to this distant province. Nuevo
Méjico remained isolated and generally ignored by the central
government. Under continual harassment by hostile Indian tribes, it
became increasingly vulnerable to external influence and internal
unrest. In early-1846 C.E., the Méjicano
government authorized Gobernador
Pío Pico to take whatever
steps he deemed necessary to protect Alta
California from a foreign takeover. One of Pío Pico's largest assets was the former San Fernando Misión. By early-January 1846 C.E., the American presence would be felt. It was in
the form of a 600-man joint force of U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy bluejacket
sailors, General Stephen W. Kearny's 80 U.S. Army dragoons
or cavalrymen, and about two companies of Fremont's California
Battalion. They soon re-occupied Los
Ángeles. They did so after some very minor skirmishes, mostly for
posturing. Four months after the initial Américano
retreat, the U.S. flag again flew over Los
Ángeles. On April 4,
1846 C.E., Polk would send General Zachary Taylor to the disputed
area on the Río Grande. Américano
troops entered through southern Texas, an area under dispute with Méjico.
Taylor moved his troops between roughly parallel Nueces and Río Grande
rivers. At the Battle of Resaca de
la Palma, Américano
troops under General Taylor would force the Méjicano
army back across the Río Grande.
His forces then would cross the Río
Grande occupying Matamoros.
That same year, Monterrey, Méjico, was
captured by his forces after a four day engagement. The battle made
"Old Rough and Ready" Taylor, a Whig, into an American
national hero. His relations with President Polk, a Democrat, cooled
soon after. President Polk disturbed by General
Taylor's informal habits of command, and perhaps his Whiggery, kept him
in northern Méjico. The
President then sent an expedition under General Winfield Scott to
capture Méjico City.
At this time, Great Britain played an
important role at this time. President Polk and Lieutenant Colonel
Fremont were aware that Great Britain and Méjico
were allies due to a very large debt that Méjico
owed them. As Fremont was in Monterey
a British frigate brought 3,000 pobladores
to be relocated in the San Joaquín
Valley and thereby establish a foothold in California.
But, the pobladores left when
they found the political situation in so much turmoil. At this time
England and Canada were claiming additional Oregon territory. On the broader front, the superior Américano
forces would win repeated victories against Méjico.
On May 8, 1846 C.E., Battle of Palo
Alto was the first important engagement of the Méjicano
Américano War. It was
fought on disputed ground five miles from the modern-day city of
Brownsville, Texas. The Méjicanos lost that decisive battle. The battle made "Old
Rough and Ready" Taylor, a Whig, into a national hero. His
relations with President Polk, a Democrat, cooled subsequently. That year, on May
9, 1846 C.E., disturbing news reached James K. Polk, in
Washington, DC. Américano
troops were attacked by Méjicano
military forces on April 4th of that
year. To bring pressure, Polk would send General Zachary Taylor to the
disputed area on the Río Grande. Polk's next response was to request
Congress to grant a declaration of war. A hesitant Congress authorized
the president to call for fifty thousand volunteers and appropriated
$10,000,000. Congress and
the nation, however, were far from united on the idea of waging war with
the Méjicanos. Américano-Southerners favored war, as it was likely to extend slave
territory. Américano-Northerners opposed a war with Méjico for the very same reason. However, Congress declared war on May
13, 1846 C.E., despite much Northern opposition. Military
operations were to begin. President Polk then ordered U.S. troops
into the region under the command of General Zachary Taylor. They
entered through southern Texas, an area under dispute with Méjico. Taylor moved his troops between roughly parallel Nueces
and Río Grande rivers. To Méjicano
troops this was aggression. They soon attacked Taylor's forces. But
President Polk disturbed by General Taylor's informal habits of command
and perhaps his Whiggery, kept him in northern Méjico.
The President then sent an expedition under General Winfield Scott to
capture Méjico City. Taylor
was angered at the thought that the Battle of Buena
Vista (Feb 22-23, 1847 C.E.) opened the road to the city of Méjico and the halls of Montezuma
to others that might revel in them. President Polk had sent Captain John C.
Fremont, a military explorer and surveying engineer, to the Oregon
Territory and California on a
scientific and surveying expedition. If a war broke out in California,
he was to attempt to negotiate a peace with honor. (Polk had already
declared war on May 13, 1846 with Méjico over the boundary dispute for land along the Río
Grande River. By the time José Luís Ribera's son, Felipe,
was born about 1846 C.E., the Army of the West, commanded by General
Stephen Watts Kearny, would conquer Nuevo
Méjico and declared its annexation to the United States. His
invasion of Nuevo Méjico
claimed the territory for the U.S. on the Old Town Plaza
of Las Vegas in today’s San
Miguel County. Only three months after that fateful
day of May 13, 1846 C.E., when the United
States Congress declared war on Méjico,
General Stephen Watts Kearny and his Army of the West marched along the Santa
Fé Trail into Nuevo Méjico's undefended northern frontier. The then, Gobernador
Manuel Armijo’s, response was to declare his intention to confront
the Américano army at Apache
Canyon, east of the capital. However, after a series of secret meetings
with representatives of the Américano
government, Armijo was
persuaded not to resist Kearny's forces. Instead, he fled south to El
Paso. But still, some resisted. President James K. Polk sent Captain
John C. Fremont, a military explorer and surveying engineer, to the
Oregon Territory and California
on a scientific and surveying expedition. If a war broke out in California, he was to attempt to negotiate a peace with honor. (Polk
had already declared war on May 13, 1846 with Méjico
over the boundary dispute for land along the Río
Grande River.
He was born near Knoxville,
Tennessee, at Lowe's Ferry on the Holston River in Tennessee. It
was a few miles southeast of Campbell's Station in 1801 C.E. His parents
were Jordi (George) Farragut, a native of Menorca,
España, and his wife Elizabeth (née Shine, 1765 C.E.-1808 C.E.),
of North Carolina Scots-Irish American descent. Jordi Farragut y Mesquida
was born to Antóni Farragut
and Joana Mesquida in Ciutadella de
Menorca, España. He first went to sea at the age of 10. Later, he
left Menorca as a young man to
join the Spanish merchant marines. He commanded a small vessel that
traded goods between Veracruz, Méjico, New
Orleans (under French and Spanish rule), and ports in the
Caribbean, namely Habana,
Cuba. He joined his new country very early at
the beginning of the American Revolution.
Farragut y Mesquida
anglicized his first name Jordi
to George. Jordi was initially
a lieutenant in the South Carolina Navy. Farragut
then fought the British at Savannah and was captured in the Siege
of Charleston in 1780 C.E. where his left arm was broken by a
cannonball during the fighting. After being released in a prisoner
exchange, George fought as a volunteer at the Battle of Cowpens and
at Wilmington. George was described by his contemporary George W. Siever "as
a short, chunky man; very brave and a funny genius." David Glasgow Farragut was fostered by
naval officer David Porter after the death of his mother.
Despite his young age, Farragut served in the War of 1812 under
the command of his adoptive father. He received his first command in
1824 C.E. and participated in anti-piracy operations in the Caribbean
Sea. He served in the Mexican-American
War under the command of Matthew C. Perry, participating in
the blockade of Túxpam or Tuxpan on May
18, 1846 C.E. After the war, he oversaw the construction of the Mare
Island Naval Shipyard, the first U.S. Navy base established on the Pacific
Ocean. On June 17, 1846, Gobernador
Pío Pico sold 120,000 acres, not including the Misión itself, to Los Ángeles
resident Eugenio de Celis. The
timing for de Celis could not
have been better. Three weeks later Américanos
captured the provincial capital at Monterey,
the event was viewed in Washington as the end of Méjicano jurisdiction over California. The United States had begun its
conquest and occupation of Nuevo Méjico.
When one examines the facts, a quarter century of Méjicano rule in Nuevo Méjico
was but a few pages of history in a rather long historical book. Spanish
rule had lasted over hundreds of years. This rather brief and unwelcomed
regime would not be missed. General Stephen Watts Kearny and his
Army of the West marched along the Santa
Fé Trail into Nuevo Méjico's
undefended northern frontier. The then, Gobernador
Manuel Armijo’s, response was to declare his intention to confront
the Américano army at Apache Canyon, east of the capital. However, after a series of
secret meetings with representatives of the Américano
government, Armijo was
persuaded not to resist Kearny's forces. Instead, he fled south to El Paso. But still, some resisted. General Kearny entered Santa
Fé on August 18, 1846 C.E. He took
possession of Nuevo Méjico
without firing a shot. It was a bloodless conquest accomplished through
diplomacy and guile, much as Diego
de Vargas had done during the Reconquista
of 1692 C.E. By mid-summer of 1846, Américanos
forces were in control of the entire province. Méjicano forces in Los Ángeles,
under Capitán José
María Flores, mounted a revolt. The U. S. forces in Los
Ángeles, under Captain Archibald Gillespie, were under siege at
Government House, their headquarters. To strengthen Flores' effort, General
Andreas Pico raised a California
army in the San Fernando
Valley. On August 22, 1846 C.E., acting Presidente José
Maríano Salas of Méjico
issued the decree that restored the Constitution of 1824 C.E. and with
this, the return to federalism. The following year, 1847 C.E., would
see a revolt by a few Méjicano
loyalists precipitated battles at Santa
Cruz and the massacres at Mora
and Taos. Eventually Nuevo
Méjicano armed resistance ceased. By 1848 C.E., the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo would end the Méjicano-Américano
War. Nuevo Méjico was
about to enter into a new and more fruitful period, the Américano Period. On September 22, 1846 C.E., General Kearny instituted the Kearny Code.
This new set of laws would be used to govern New Mexico. To administer
these new laws General Kearny appointed Charles Bent as the first
American civil governor of New Mexico. He also appointed Donaciano
Vigil as Territorial Secretary and numerous other officials. For the
next several months, while war raged in Méjico,
all seemed quiet in American New Mexico. The quiet was deceptive in New Mexico.
While the Americans organized a new government in the ancient Spanish
capital, plans were being hatched to rid New Mexico of its latest
conquerors. Rumors of an impending uprising reached Santa Fe in
late-December, 1846 C.E. and several suspected leaders were arrested.
These actions did not quell the mounting unrest.
The expansion of America and the war
with Méjico began in earnest
for New Mexicans when on December 25, 1846 C.E.; U.S. Army Colonel A.W.
Doniphan reinforced U.S. troops. This would be the only Méjicano War battle to be fought in Nuevo Méjico. The Battle of El
Brazito took place on December 25, 1846 C.E.
between the United States Army and the Méjicano
Army during the Méjicano-Américano
War. En route to Chihuahua, Doniphan's regiment was attacked by a Méjicano
army about thirty miles from El
Paso del Norte, about 9 miles south of Las
Cruces, Nuevo Méjico, there at Brazito
on the Río Grande. Since it
was Christmas Day, December 25, 1846 C.E.,
Doniphan had halted his men's march at 1 PM that day. However, they
spotted the dust cloud of a Méjicano
scouting party to the south and Colonel Doniphan promptly ordered his
men to prepare for battle. Before long, the Méjicano force under the command of Major António Ponce de León arrived, consisting of the Chihuahua
infantry on the left, the El Paso
miquelets with a howitzer in the center, and the Veracruz
Lanceros on the right. The Méjicano
Comandante in parley demanded
the Américano surrender.
“Charge and be damned!” responded Colonel Doniphan. He and his men
used the parley delay to fully form their battle line. The Méjicanos
then made a frontal assault on the Américano
position. Doniphan ordered his troops to hold their fire until the Méjicanos
came within easy range. At 50 yards the Américanos
opened fire with their rifles and muskets. Their fire was devastatingly
accurate and the Méjicano
regulars broke and fled. Méjicano
Lanceros next attacked Doniphan's wagon train, but was driven off by
the teamsters. The Méjicano
force retreated under the command of Capitán.
Rafael Carabaja after Ponce
was wounded, abandoning their howitzer, which Lieutenant Nicholas B.
Wright's company recovered. Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George
Cooke, a member of the Army of the West, offered the following: “On
Christmas day, at a spot called Bracito,
when the regiment after its usual march, had picketed their horses, and
were gathering fuel, the advance guard reported the rapid approach of
the enemy in large force. Line was formed on foot, when a black flag was
received with an insolent demand. Colonel Doniphan restrained his men
from shooting the bearer down. The enemy’s line, nearly half cavalry,
and including a howitzer, opened fire at four hundred yards, and still
advanced, and had fired three rounds, before fire was returned within
effective range. Victory seems to have been decided by a charge of
Captain Reid with twenty cavalry which he had managed to mount, and
another charge by a dismounted company which captured the howitzer. The
enemy fled, with loss of forty-three killed and one hundred and fifty
wounded; our loss seven wounded, who all recovered. The enemy was about twelve hundred
strong; five hundred cavalry, the rest infantry, including several
hundred El Paso miquelets; our force was five hundred – Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson
with a part of the regiment arriving on the ground after the action.
Colonel Doniphan gave credit ‘for the most essential service in
forming the line and during the engagement’ to Captain Thompson, First
dragoons, ‘acting his aid and adviser.’” As the Méjicano forces fell back, they were harassed by Apache
natives who had been watching the battle. Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan's men
reached El Paso on
December 27, 1846 C.E., where they seized
five tons of powder, 500 arms, 400 lances, and four artillery pieces. After the Méjicano-Américano War of
1846 C.E.-1848 C.E., Méjico
would be forced to relinquish any claim to California
to the United States. Californios who
lived had finally had enough of the Méjicano
government and seized control of the territory of Alta California in 1846 C.E. By the end of Méjicano rule in California
in 1846 C.E., the ranchos covered 10 million acres and stretched from San
Diego in the south to Shasta County in the north. Individual ranchos
ranged in size from less than 4,000 acres to nearly 50,000 acres. Major Meriwether Lewis Clark Sr.
arrived on February
5, 1847 C.E. with about 100 men and a six-gun battery. Clark was
born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Missouri and corps of discovery
expedition leader, William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. He was named
after his father's friend and associate, Meriwether Lewis. Despite the battle and its
consequences, the Américanos
were not getting a bargain. The growing pains of the young Méjicano nation had not allowed much attention or many resources to
be allocated to this distant provincia.
Nuevo Méjico had remained
isolated and generally ignored by the central government. Under
continual harassment by hostile Indian tribes, it became increasingly
vulnerable to external influence and internal unrest. Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan led his
forces southward on February 8, 1847 C.E..,
headed to Chihuahua. Perhaps here, is a good time to recap
something important. The colonization of California
had begun with el Imperio Español’s
discovery of Nueva España.
Along with Méjico, today’s
U.S. states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and other lands,
made up what was once known as Nueva
España. California was one of the last of these Spanish territories to be occupied.
The first Spanish colony to be established in California was the misión and
presidio at San Diego. From this first settlement, the Spanish and Méjicano
governments founded four presidios,
four pueblos, and 21 Catholic misiónes,
along with granting vast amounts of rancho
lands to private individuals. When talking about this early Spanish California,
the misiónes, pueblos, and presidios
are invariably remembered. Almost everyone has visited or read about the
old town or pueblo of San Diego,
the misiónes at Santa Bárbara or
Monterey, the presidio at San Francisco,
and the pueblo of Los
Ángeles. These places have become famous historical landmarks. The remnants of these landmarks at the
now American cities of San Diego, San Francisco, and others are real.
They can be identified with because of their physical presence. These
are objects we can see, touch, and visit on vacations or holidays. They
are in fact a living history lesson. It is much easier to conjure up the
picture of Franciscan monks or Spanish soldados
when we are standing inside the misiónes
or presidios. One segment of this pastoral era of California
history, which is not as easily remembered, is the Spanish and Méjicano
ranchos. These ranchos, at one time, covered some of the most fertile land in California.
They are no more. To say that the cities of Pasadena,
Huntington Beach, San Clemente, Oakland, and many others, are on land
once part of Spanish land grants is a historical statement. This,
however, is not a statement verifiable by the present reality which has
a very dark side. We cannot stand in downtown Pasadena and physically
touch or see the old ranchos.
There is no visible evidence of these large ranchos
with their adobe houses.
Consequently, they have become the almost forgotten portion of California's
pastoral era. Whatever brings to mind these early
Spanish influences, it must be remembered that a majority of the fertile
land in California, at one
time, was influenced by this Spanish legacy. Private land title problems
can still be traced back to the government patents for these lands. An
awareness of California history might entail the solving or reassessment
of land title problems in particular situations, given the outright
legal theft by Americans of many of these lands. At the time of Spanish colonization in
California, all land title was vested in the Spanish Empire by virtue of
discovery. Private land claims in California emanated from the Spanish.
Later Méjicano government
practices of granting sovereign lands to private individuals. When one examines the facts, a quarter
century of Méjicano rule in Nuevo
Méjico was but a few pages of history in a rather long historical
book. Spanish rule had lasted over hundreds of years. For Nuevo
Méjico, life would change forever under the first Méjicano
Republic. Their lives as Españoles
came to an end and their existence as Méjicanos
had begun. Let there be no mistake, Nuevo
Méjico, as the other future Hispanic provincias,
had developed its own Spanish Nueva
España Américano cultural flavor because of its unique history.
This rather brief and unwelcomed Méjicano
regime would not be missed. After the prodding of the Spanish
Church, in 1598 C.E., authorities at the virreinalor
for Nueva España in Méjico
City had sent Don Juan de Oñate
north to found Nuevo Méjico.
At this point Nuevo Méjico
became a colony. These Spanish pobladores
had a difficult time establishing themselves in this new land. From the
outset, Nuevo Méjico provided
nothing but bleak prospects. There was no gold. There were no cities.
The parched countryside was relieved only by the muddy Río
Grande. The landscape was so uninviting, so unpromising that it
languished for another fifty years until pobladores breached its hostile
interior. Over time, they would succeed in expanding and flourishing. By 1680 C.E., a Native revolt had
driven the Españoles out of
the land. The Nuevo Méjico Españoles
had the opportunity to leave Nuevo
Méjico forever, but instead fought to return and regain control. It
was the moral power of the Church and a fear of losing land to foreign
powers that brought the Españoles
back. By 1692 C.E., the heroic figure of Don
Diego de Vargas retook the whole of Nuevo
Méjico. By 1695 C.E., de
Vargas had restored to España
all areas of the provincia. After the Méjicanos came the Américanos.
At this time, my paternal great grandmother, Nicolása Quintana’s nephew, Florentino
València, was living in Santa
Fé. Life would have changed little. Méjico
was too far away and had little or no influence. The families would
continue to live as they always had. These fiercely independent Hispanos, descendents of the Nuevo
Méjico Spanish families were no longer the conquerors that had
arrived hundreds of years before. Instead, they were now the conquered.
Just as the Indians had to accept defeat, so would my forbearers. They
were now Américanos, caught
in the Américano social,
political, legal, and economic systems. Soon, these would become heavy
burdens to bear. 03/02/2018 01:20 PM |
