The New York Herald Newspaper, April 29, 1850, Page 2

gp ilar RE DINE A ee ssa ih V remainder of the lands, i Tv tore en rants by the ved epecia! Fiver in the distant colonies of §; re gy z path pie ut of Whi 201 aul ne 3 me settlers been supposed, hove co "7 3 wi api bic: poe uy cs . il wee 90 brought from theneighboring ufovinces ‘uded amet je Paes yy Ay ft Au- governor, pabjeot Bg oy by the go » the A gembly passed eo | * So, ¢ the subsequent steps, onbral on ec Senora an loa, am was of Sin Jos i i exis + i a LAND TITLES OF CALIFORNIA. | ,, se er, Mp tthe (er factime af te “sneab Bay of § co and fa or athe nll ni ieee rng sin ord o aks ef t ; cles, eagues from t el t ect or came? . 28th May pre- ra There were Bot, fens icarn, any re- | were early founded. The gov etndr ex: reised the tional be ame a this ip ti et 7 doce “7 fh most ay 8 tgs tracts, and TEM it. the presidios were au horized to gy his dwelling; at the emancipated ation oF thigpron should unite in common labors for the citltivation of Mexi ernment has al - cerfedthe right, ot pearen over all the milous San Gab" of, Sin Luis Rey, San Diego, and others: Sin:—On the 12th of July b received a leer | sorbed wt : “ ‘ ne tke ci y % Of 5 ord wilding tots, end emall tracts for gardens and farms, | the countiy, and #do not think that the supposition 4 d . a aaa . «tm like circumstances. 2. the 790 of 1 aye ae he Papation ut of Bta grants usually contained a direetion | within the distance of two leagues from the pr uae oven ot raised fey exico, that they were the | he vineyards, gardens, and fold nate bso r ‘of said establishments had ‘a ioe ing nog cee food Deen SPs H ive judicial po +. Ly these means the wission wacts begaa | property of the missionaries or the ys Bnet 2 should remain undivided until ¢ 9 daterminstios <= ifthe cae was tot suffisent oF Celiforni yo je pone oo ati ‘oper Magistrate (use respectively to have something like a bonnda- the supreme government; that the donees, "" yer | cover the same, they ht be put 4 the regulation, should not sell, barthen, OF U gn Spor 3. That if, from this author their grants, either of hind or cattle unde Any pees 1 in order to avoid the destruction to whic! ries; though the lands they thus o¢ dd were tll ae to the condition of land titles in Cajifors t should then he de- | not vieWed, in agy light, as the property of the mics and, at the same time, your le of inst ‘Vhe general ee ress of Mexico, ina decree of festates the 4th Ay concerning, thespublic reves pone; deckives the of ihe Inaaisilon, ag well I fi > Commissioner of t y, With ** suit rionaiies, but as the demain of the crown, appro- t ities, to be woperty of the na- | text; und sny contracts to this eM set should be | missions were approaching, should determine to. ons <eoncodhiean aoa tbpsconmaasaeniiinadt usr prited to the use of the inissions while the state of ae oe Pree phe pecony, OF Se from | null, the property reverting to (:< nation, #&e par- | sell them to pire’ Be the sale should be by Pursuant to these, I left thia procuring ttendance the country should requize it, and at the pleasure of | property of the States—making no question of their | chaser losing his money; U Jedi OR donee of | puble ? ~ hat wi sold, if, Pyne oats publ wit ve indicint p on aceording to the | the politieal authority, ; 4 Raat siblie property, This term would inelade which mightdio withoat leaving should re- | debts were satistied, there be an} - ‘ H fin Gravion (lite: ned in the grant. Somme of Jt was the custom throughout New Spain, (and | pot adhe the mission establishments, but all rents, | Vert to the nation; that ranchertas (hamlets ef In- | der, its be distibuted to the Indians of lace on the 2h, f subsequently ay ther parts of the Spanishcolonies u!so,) to secu | petits, and income the monks recetve from them. dions) situnted at a distance from missiong, and | respective establishments. ° 6 That, in view of the: latize, or to subvert, the mission establisliments at exceeded twenty-five families, might form | ex ler the ex m se ‘Re i ahi nses necessary in A tike vet of the 7th July, vat again embraces st, and of divine wo! * > y obtaining a passage to Califor- the discretion of the ruling political functionary 5} the estates of the inqnisiiion and temporalities as | separate pueblos, under the same rales as the pria- i ea gga tr Cohevse was by the and this not as an act of arbhiury power, but in the ngenet ity, and places them with “other | cipal one. ‘This regulation was to bezin with, tere jetermine a portion of the property, eideeishiy Oregon, the 280 : ived cxekeise of an acknowledged ownership aot at | yoral and suburban estates,” under charge of a | of the missions (withont specifying them), and | of cultivable lands, houses, or of any otcr o y, the’ then eapit nia, and | Of the 1 ; thority, ‘The great establishments of So: director general. The executive regutations for | successively be applied to the remaining ones. tion, according to his diseretion, “A the where the territorial archis posited, on | When the ed the concurretice of th been fold, were di tween White sett colonizing the territories may raise au idea of terri- | ‘The deputation, in session of the dd ot November | tion'with the respective : tha tah of Seutember. 1 d the | Setnbly: ali provisions of the law, and of the colo- | and settlements of the torial atatnetted property in them, bat it puts ont fof the same year (1834), made. provision for di-4 thus determined, should be delivered as A tmus of Ge ge i Sen t eculetions of the supreme sovernment, | the establishments, of the question any proprietary right in the mission- | viding the missions and other settlements into | but subjectto a perpetual interest of four per Francisco, and returned to »made to the tite being * detinitively valid,” | broken up, the Indians were dispers: ; aries, .| parishes or curacies, according to the law of | for the uses above indicated. 7. That the present Saaearmante for aoide by a is then fultiled, “These, i think, saust | have been granted to white settlers. La New Mex- ‘he 17th article of these regulations, (executive | August, 1833; authorized the missionary piests to | act should not afleet anything plreaay. dong Hf cote principal places on th lete tithes, ws x ico, t am Jed to suppose, the Indian pupils ofthe eniations for colonization 6f the territogies, | exercise the functions of curates, natil erates of | tracts made in pursuance of the decree of ane ‘hakelen; and t of there be any move books, files, or archives | miszions, or their descendants, still, in great part, adopted 2st Nevember, 1823,) relates to the mis- | the secular clergy should arrive, and provided for | latt, nor prevent anything being done ting in of the (J ery kece whatsoever, showing the nature, charee- | occupy the old establishments ; and other parts are | sions, and diveets that, “In those territories where | their salaries and expenses of worship. No change | to that decree. 8 "That the goreinee should impractics er. ond extent of these id occupied by white settlers, in virtue of gronts and | there are missions, the lands which they oceupy | Wes made, in this act, in the regatations established | vide againet all impediments that might not be the fel : ’ eco sales.*| The undisputed exercise of this authority | ciyuil not at present be colonized, nor until it be fd by Governor Figueroa, for the distribution and ma- | seen by the act, und in six months, at farthest, sea to San Diego. f grants, which & found existing | over all the mission establishments, and whatever | termined ifthey ought to be cousidered as property | Nagement of the property. CH an account to the assembly, of the results of its Apaecles: abd on the $4 of ent archives at Monterey :— property was pertinent to them, is certain, of the settlements of the neophyte-catechumens and Accordingly, for most or all of the missions, ad- filment. . San Diege, in order to emba Cuaderno del registro de los. sitios, ‘The liability of the missions of Upper California, | Mexican settlers.” ministrators were appointed by the governor; and Previous to several of the last mentioned cs que posean lo: “ San Fr habitantes del ter- | however, to be thus dealt with, at the pleasure of 1 1 | in some, but not all, partial ‘distributions of the | that is, on the 24th Al 1844, the De s at that time expected from San I 20. ne rs o beequent acts and measures of the general » i th August, pari ed ee ee ni es Suh a aes ' | ritorio de ueva Colifornia.”—(Book of regis- | the government, does not rest only on the arga- ees Patexics ia direct reference fs mis- | lands and movable property were made, according | Assembly, in anticipation of a war breaking out,. steamship Un Pepe i 5 treGon of the farms, brands, and marks [for mark- | ment to be drewn from this constant and uniform | Sons, and afiecting those of California, are briefly | to the tenor of the regulation. From this time, | passed a law authorizing the fovernor, 90 the. bap itle] possessed by the inhabitants of the ter- | practice. It was inherent in their foundation—a however, all tracts of lands pertinent to the mis- y of New Ca sions, but not directly attached to the mission buildings, were granted, as any other lands of the territory, to the Mexican inhabitants, ay to colo- nists, for stock farms and tillage. as follows:— A decree of the Mexican Congress of 20th No- vember, 1833, in part analogous to the decree be- ore quoted, of the Spanish Cortes, of September, 1813, directing their general secularization, an the ‘baiite’ ¢ / fornia.) ¢ dition of their establishment. A belief has pre- Sinformation of the situation, | yuiled, and it is so stated in ali the works I have ex- purtenances of several of the | siuined which treat historieally of the missions of iced ; of two pueblos, San | that country, that the first ect whieh logked to their ning of that conti either “to sell, ieeate, or rent the houses. landed propert Nad Reha lands of the missions, comprehended in the w extent of the country from San Diego to Sonoma,’ except that of Santa Barbara, “reserved for the re= th. On the 1th ithe Ith of the 2 Craz tor Mobile, enth embarked trom Ve mee avein in this city on. the let of Febru. | sciforte, end the records of about | seeularetion, and especially the first act by which | Contai Vi i The act of the Mexican Congress of 1855, direct- | sidence of the bishop.” Haig gooey om Me Bn d oles iipenindg ee le by verious Spanish, Mexican, | any authority was conferred on the local govern: bs Hie tect et proceed to secularize | ing the execution of the decree of 1833 to be sus-gf | These comprise all ths goneep acts of the autho- pout he present time, t 8, at diflerent times, between | iyent for thit puspoce, or over their temporalities, | he missions of Upper and Lower Cualitornia, pended until the arrival ef curate’, did not, as far | rities of California which T wasable to meet w.th'on. tent apers and Tnemoranda wh ad in"1829. This book | was on act of the Mexican Congress of 17th August, 2. In each of said missions shall be established a | #8 I could ascertain, induce any change in the poli- | the subject of the missions. Of the extent or man- lected'is California, and which I could ‘without | nged upon information | 1883. Such, however, wat net the case. Their parish, served by a curate of the secular clergy, | cy already adopted by the territorial authorities. ner in Which they were carried into, execution, so inasameutence and delay. and ard of thet | vor of the government to pro- | secularization—their svbversion—was looked for in | With a dotation of two thousand to two thousain _ On the 17th January, 1839, Governor Alvarado | far as the missions proper—that is, the mission. loss, With me through ad therefore registration of all the occupied lands of the | their foundation ; and 1 do not perceive thatthe | five hundred dollars, at the discretion of the go- | issued regulations for the government of the ad- | buildings and lands appurtenant—are conc: vy loeal authority-¢e ity) has ever cerned, but little information is afforded by whit 1 could sinly not the supreme author- r i find in the archives. A very considerable part, u ministrators of the missions. These regulations n without that lawful juriediction prohibited the adminetrators from contracting procured to be brought by way of the Isthmus of Panama. vernment, ok marked “7% 4. The mission churches, with the sacred vessels heok contain as im numbered | over them, unless subsequea@t to the colonization , "o e t debts on aceount of the missions ; from slaughter- | however, of the grunts made since the act of secu- sted to the subjcets embraced in yout i 9 108, of va May, 1933, | regulations of 2ist November, 1828, which tei or og pir basin aes ia a Maco ig ing cattle of the missions, except for consumption, | larization of 1838, (compri the bulk of all the | ve governors, | porarily e pi lands from colonization. 5. Foreach parish, the government shall direct | and ftom trading the mission horses or mules for | grants in the country,) are of ls previously re- F CREATING TITLES ‘To LAND, | d Gutierrez, and | I quote letter of“ instructions to the com- | ihe construction of a cemetery outside of the vile | clothing for the Indians; and likewise provided | cognised as appurtenances of the missions, and $0 PTION TO. TH A pe these grants (probably | niandant of the new establishments of San Diego | Jace, for the appointment of an inspector of the missions, | used as grazing farms, or for other pu In AS SUAUTISED BY MEXICO, WITHIN'Y ina file -of expedtentes of grants, | and Monterey,” given by Viceroy Bucareli, 17th a Of the buildings belonging to each mission, | 0 supervise the accounts of the administrators | some cases, the petitions for such grants were re- CALIFORNIA.” hereafter desevibed, marked from No. 1 to No. 579; | August, 1773. the moet fitting sha’ bis calocted fbr the dwelling of | and_ their fulfilment of their trusts, Art. 11 pro- | ferred to the principal priest at the “mission to All the grants of land mr yor village lc nts north of th reafler noti of. Mexico, and « —(Look ¢ | but the mumbers in the book do not correspond with “Art. 15, When it shall happen that a mission is " i hibited the settlement of white persons in the esta- | the numbers of the same grants in the expendieates. | to be formed into # pneblo (or villagey, the com- Heese me eune: cat iy seed cot eal bhshments, ** whilst the Indians should remain in | “Libro donde se asciertan los despae le | mandant will proceed to reduce it to the civil and | for a municipal house and schools. community.” The establishments of San Carlos sjjudieades en los atosde 1339 and 18340.” | economical government, which, accoring to the On the 2d December, 1833, a decree was publish- | San Juan Bautista and Sonoma were excepted from noting the convessions of land adjudi« | laws, is observed by other villages of this king- ed to the following effect— these regulations, and to be governed by special ; ment in California, were 1 » | cated in the years 1539 and 1810 ) dem; then giving ita name, and declaring for its “The government is authorized to take all mea- | rules. k nt political governors. The great ma) This boek contains a brief enty, by the secre- | patron the saint under Whose memory and protec- | cures thet may assure the colonization, and make | . On the first of March, 1840, the same Governor ci them were made subseonent to January, 1552, | ty Cf the department, of grants, including their | tion the mission was founded- (Cuando Hegue el | effective the secularization of the missions of Upper | Alvarado suppressed the office of ad:ninistrators and consequently under- the Mexican colo. | numbers, dates, names of, the grantees and of | caso de que haya de formarse en el pueblo waa | snd Lower California, being empowered to this ef. | end replaced them by mayordomos, with new and Jaw of 18th August, 1824, and the gc rants, quantity granted, aud situation of the land, | iision, procedera el commandante a reducirlo al | fect touse, in the manner most expedient, the fincas | more stringent rules for the management of the gulations, adopied ‘in putsnance o! the | usnally entered in the book in the order they were | gobierno civil y economico que observan, segun las | dp obras pias (property of the piety fund) of those | establichments ; but not making any change in the ist November, 1828. In January, 1532, once his book contains the grants made | leyes, los demas de este reyno ; poniendole nombre territories, to aid the transportation of the commis- | Tulesfof Governor Figueroa, regarding the lands or which the land petitioned for was attached, and his opinion taken whether the grant could be made without prejudice to the mission.. In other cases, and generally, this formality was not observed.— ‘This remark relates to the farms and grounds (ranchos) tae: ed by the missions apart the lands around mission bui _ There are, however, some grants in the immediate precincts of the missions, and some titles to Indians, pursu- ant to the regulation of Governor Figen and the reclamation of Governor Pico, of record in the fie of expedientes of ts before noticed. nization ni re Jose Figueroa’ became Governor of the th from 18th January, 1589, to Sth December, 1843, | eritonces, y declarandole por st titular el santo b: sion and families who are now ia this capital des- | other property. What I have been able to gather from the meagre ritory of California, under a commission from the | Meleiv nae sing | CUYS metuoria y venerable proteccion se funde la | fined thither.” . By a proclamation of the 20th of Merch, 1813, | records and. memoranda in the arehives, and fron government at Mexico, replacing Victoria ike very pin va to the above, and containing | mision.) ‘The commission and emigrants spoken of in this | Govemor Micheltorena, “ in pursuance (as he | private information and examination of the actual like entries of grants after having, the ye was himselt revolution. stallation of tored quiet, aft years of civil commotion, and was at at Mexico was meking vigorous efivits to red 1844, ond 300 inate meted, Detar Sth January, | ‘The right, then, to remodel these establishments | cireylur, were a colony under the charge of Don 5. File of expedientes of gran ings (except of Assen ective grants, 1, thos displaced Ke states) of an arrangement between the governor and the prelate of the missions,” directed the fol- lowing named missions to be restored to the priests, ‘as tutors to the Indians, and in the same manner state of the missions, is given below. [tis neces- sary to explain, however, still farther than I have, that in speaking of the missions now we cannot un- derstand the great establishments which they were. Since 1833, and even before, farms of great ( ad pleasure, and convert them into towns and vil- é Maria Hij te 4 all tho | laces, subject to the known policy end laws which | {cP euitac diate oF coleetate eae eapting 3 ating to | poverned settlements of that description,t we see tions to the following efiect: ‘That he should make eof each grant | wos a principle of their foundation. Articles 7 and beginnin ing all the property pertinent ly). re c for eupyin: as they formerly held them,” namely: the missions populate her distant territories, and conseq parate arked and labelled with | 10, of the same letier of instrections, show us also | 1 the Pe Pa oar in the set- | of San Diego, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, | leagues) extent,'and many of them, have ranting lands on a liberal In the act s nubber and ner file is marked from | that it was a pert of the plan of the missions that | tlements to be formed, special eare should be taken | San Gabriel, San Fernando, San Puenaventura, | the limits they enjoyed, in all cases very greatly, S24, a league square (being 4,428 402-1000 acres) | No.1 to No. 579, inclusive, and embraces the space | their condition shovld be thus changed ; that they | to include the. indigenous (Indian) population, | Santa Barbara, Santa Ynes, La Purisima, San An- | and in some instunces iato.a narrow compass; and ws the smallest measuren y | of time by n 13th M to July, 1846. | were regarded. as the nucleus and bases of commi- mixing them with the other inhabitants, and not | tonio, Santa Clara San José. The sante act | while their borders have been thus cut off, their spoken of; and of these le The numbers, however, t relation to the | nunities to be thereaiter emancipated, acquire pro- permitting any settlement of Indians alone; that | set forth, that** as policy made inrevocable what was | planting and other grounds inside are doited to a already done,” the missions should not reclaim any i numbers are missing; i some there | prietary rights, and administer th two distinet nearly 50,000 acres) mig , \ y crea) mi; ts with the | and that it was the daty of the gi he to one individual. By this law, the States com- greater or less extent private nts, The ex- tent to which this has ad the case can only be as- ir own affairs; | to eraphicel plans should be made of the squares mor to choose which were to compose the villages, and in each lands thitherto ted; but should collect the poring the federation w atithorised to make dientes are not all com- | their sites, and direct the construction and arrange- equare building lots be distributed to the colonist | cattle and movable property which had been lent | certained by the same 88 that is special provision for colonization within sce the final grant appsars to have | ment of their edifices, with a view to their coave- | fu inilies; that outside the villages there should be | out either by the priests or administrators, and settle | everywhere in California to separate public trom spective limits, and the colonization of the thon Love yarsie evidently intonbat to rmpsceceree: | Risat expansion into towns and cities.” And not | distributed to each family of colonists, in full do- | ina friendly way with the creditors; and likewise | private lends, namely, authorized surveys of the tories, * formebly to the principles of the > only was this general revolution of the establish- | yinion of ownership, four caballeriast of itrigable | regather the dispersed Indians, except such as had | grants according to their calls, which a not cherged upon the Central Gaverninent.. California | tates which have been granted, and it is probable | meits thus early contemplated. and provided for, ad ean if depaiident on ie elene Ur six. | been legally emancipated, or were at private ser- | definite, will almost always farnish some listine was of the latter deseription, be: i tq that in many or most instances the omission, ap but meantime the governor had authority to redues | (een, if adapted to stock raising, and also live stock | Vice. That the priests might provide out of the cea natural object to guide the surveyor.*— territory in the Acta Constitutiva of qhives, ds supplied by original docu | their possessions by grants within and without, and | aud agricultural implements; that this distribution he getuat condition of the estabfishments, under- M an products of the missions for the tienes expenses it i the Indians, economi- he mainte- jon, adopted 31st January, 1824, and by constitution, adopted 4th of October of the same r.* The colonization of California, and honds of the parties, or by long per- | to change their condition by detail. The same | Made (out of. the movable roperty of the mis- | Of converting, subsisting, and clot . , series of instructions authorized the governor to | sion,) one half the remainder of said property | fora moderate allowance to themsel all the record books and files be- | grant lands, either in community or individually, to | ghoutd be sold, and the other half reserved on ac- standing them in the reduced sense above was, at the time the Mexican government ce. in Californ id according to thet best information cal salaries to the mayordomos, ting of lands therein, were, therefore, sut titori«l or departmental archives, | the Indians of the missions in and about their set- punt of gov vlied t ¢ expenses | nance of divine worship; under the condition, that | ] could obiain, as follows: tothe law of 1&h An ag le to discover. tlaments on the mission lands; and also to make Prag Fea tee neg a joy Miedben4 ‘0, the priests should bind themselves in honor and | Missions. Where situated. tion and control of the Cen nment ¥, > | grants to seinen teat persons. _ wor port of schools, and the purchase of agricultural emt 2 eure the nr pest Enc San Diego........, 32°48" Sold yee Argael- overnment, as alr state ve eco! nor wrs likewise authorized at an early « 8 for i istribution ‘olo- | eight! of the unnual products of the establish- = the sam © 21st November, to thos meke grapts to seldiers who should marry 1 7 Pe ee ta Se pr ac hee the departmental government would | 8an Luis Rey... ..., 33 03 6 ——_ nd and The directions w 1 i of 1845, ex- | wemen trained in the missions; and the On the 16th April, 1884, the Mexican Congress | exert all its power for the protection of the missions, Tae tee, May 38, the governors of ty | hin mee wee tg tae vbr vord), seed an act to the following efleet :-— and the’seme in respect to individuals, and to pri- | san Juan Capistrano, 38 26 Pueblo and remainder making gran in the terms of the law—that | Hernia, and w 1, That all the missions in the republic shall be | Yate property, securing to the owners the possession fold to John Foster: ven Icagnes, oF sitios, to | them, in J Yr appo! A secularized. preservi of the lands they now hold, but and James McKinley, 5 taore properly, | Ceneral Leamy to receive I of presidio 2. That the missions shall be converted into | premising not Math osm eny new grants without con- December 6, 1845. em- | * ; gues of et posts, expressly | euracies, whose limits shall be demarked by the | *ultetion the priests, unless where the leads | SanGabriel........ $410 Sold to Julian Workman rtake, for a He Cumerny re restrains them within’ thet distance, so as to | Governors of the States where said missions exist, | Were notoriously unoccupied, or lacked cultivation, and It nd, to bring fam to the | s10Ns, or in case of necessity. Micheltcrena’s governorship was shortly after concluded. There had been sent to this depart- him, a considerable body of persons, aries, that is, criminals condemned to - kro THR ix As- | leave the territory beyond—thongh all beyond | 3 “This decree shall take efiect. within country, forthe purpose of colonization. Grants | SiGNEr Jy MAVE KEVERTED, AND | Was nominally attached to one or the other of | months from the day of its publication, of the fitst description, that is, to familjgs or single | vieswren Ix rn the missions—at the disposition of the superior | ‘The 71h November, 1835, an act of the Mexican ons, and not exceeding elev I took much p gnardions of ee property. In brief, every Congress directed, that “ until the curates men- | ment, w ne held definitively valid, to assure 1 c ; Ipro- | fuet, e net of government, and principle | timed in the second article of the law of 17th | called pres San Fernando...... 3416 by Toritorial Deputation. Those of wrietary pe ab- | of law applicable to the ease, which I have met it August, 1888, (above quoted,) should take posses- | *ervicc—usually, 48 in this case, military service | San Buenaventura... 54 36 clase, that is, empresario or colonization grants (or | lishments k as the sussiovs of California. It | this investigation, go to show that the missions of | <ion, the government Should suspend the execution | 0n the frontier—and their presence and’ conduct . 34 48 contracts), required a like sanction by the S ne bed Leen supposed that the lands they upied | t pier Californta were never, from the first, reckon- of the ether articles, and mainta ngs in the con- | gave such ofience to the iphabitauts, that they re- Goverument. In case t uurrence of the de- | Were grants, he the pi of the'chu or | ed other than government establishments, or the | dition they were before said law. volted, and erpetion. him and the presidarios trom putation wes refused a grant of the first-men- of the imission 3 corporations.— | founding ef them to werk any change in the owaer I have, £0 far, referred to these various legislative | the country. He was succeeded by Don Pio Pico, tioned the governgy should appeal, in favor Such, however, v \iithe missions | ship of the soil, which continued in and at the dis | and governmental acts in relation to the missions, | in virtue of his being the “ first vocal” of the of the gran mi ghaflseembly of the Supreme | in Upper California w dunder th Sold to John Temple, pertmental Assembly,* and also by choice of th ivocation or doubt, the re- pose! of the crown, or its representatives. This i h only to show, bey: 5 Feeticn, and mainly of the ge csition was also contirmed, if it had needed any | titty in Witch toe pavertnayt aaveninve tution: habitants, afterward ‘confirmed by the central go- 38 36 Packie” 18 rant to | ment, and t 1 never any Hranation, Ly the opinions of lich legal and | ond the rights of ownership which it exercised over | Vernment, which, at the same time, gave additional 35 48 3 t i amd use of the | effeial suthorities in 4 o. fue missions} them, My attention was next directed to the | privileges to the department, in respect to the mau- 36 30 to the Gove > p is, and at the | spesking collectively of priests and pupils—had the | changes that had taken place in the condition of | #gement of its domestic aflairs. 36 38 specifving usuaily the quan e of the s is shown by | weufruct; the priests the administrat the | those establishments, under the various provisions ‘The next public act which I find, in relation to designating its position, w history and p whele resumable, or otherwise disposabie, at the | for their secularization and conversion into private | the missions, is an act of the departmental Assem- ject or boundary, and al laws in relation to will of the crown or its representatives. prope Uly, published in a proclamation of Governor Pico, ge try, and v of the gevernny The object of the missions was t a the settle. Under the act of the Spanish Cortes of Septem- | 5th June, 1845. This act provides: 1. That the aa eek: iso (generaily at t « by the rm e Franeisc ment and paciticn f the country, snd to cons ber, ISIS, all the missions in New Spain were lia- | Yernor should call together the neophytes of the fol- 37 20. in chatge of lest, system), a rade np ¢ its mena 8 property. | vert the natives to Christianity. This accom: | pie to be secularized ; that is {their temporatities | lowing named missions : San Rafael, Dolores, Sole- 37 39 In hares of Scigst. showing its shay re he establishment of mis ine | plished, settlements of white people established, | detivered to lay administration; their character as | dad, San Miguel, and Ly Purisima; andin case t 37-58 Pueblo, other tracts, or natural o ces was t of the colonin he | and the Indi domiciliated in Villages, so as to missions taken away by their conversion missions were abandoned by their neophytes, that sees. 88.00 Mission in charge of with the petition, This 7 , however, was | Jesuits, by « license from the Vieeroy of » | subject them to the ordinary magietrites, and the ishes under charge of the s he should give them oar month's notice, by procla- lar clergy; a: of Lower | spintual care of the ordinary clergy, Ban Francisco Solano, 38 30 baton in charg» of rradually disuved, and a few of the grants made in commenced in this munner the reduetio r the missionary te pertine! » the od pod of as othe: metion, to return and cultivate said missions, which have any other than a yerbaldeseription, | Cullfornia in the yeur 1807. ‘They contunued inthe | labor was conbidered. fullilied, er ablish> | Mebotdaseit THe’ anoates: oF betting Tair tow | they'd Dot te the taloolons shosia te Miniared priest, next step W lly a reference of the spit itn i slogree of the | nient subject to be ¢ This | ty operation with regerd to the missions in Califor- | sbandoned, and the assembly and governor dispose | ‘The information above given concerning the con- tir made on the margin, by the governc tempore! until 1767, | view of their fey poses and destiny fully appears in | +:4 was at various times agitated in that province, | of them for the good of the department. 2. That dition of the missions, at the time of the cessation piefeet of the district, or other near k when the order tener of the decree of the Spanish Cortes, of | and in 18% the then Governor, Echandria the missions of Cormel, San Juan Bantista, Sen | of the former government, is partly obtained from where the | petitioned for was site there enforced, amd th September, 1513.¢ The provisions of that aet, ct for the purpose, but wi Juan Capistrano, and San Francisco Solano, should | documents in the archives, and partly from. private if it was vacent, in bends. They had | and the: reason given for it, develope, in fact, the ly the arrival of anew ‘Governor, Vietoria, | be considered as preblos, or villages, which was their | sources. What is to be traced in the archives is ird persona or the publi s om Cape | Whole theory of the mission establishments. It | gimost at the instant the plan was made public. | preeent condition; and that the erty which re- | on loove sheets of paper, liable to be lost ; ond parts if the petitioner's ac aseli f Cortes, | wes he | Victoria revoked the dectce of hig predecessor, and | Mained to them,,the governor, her ee ting suf- | quite likely have been lost; there muy also be some e. The reply (inf w Di ed | restored the missionaries to the charge of the esta- | ficient for the enrate’s house, for cuavohen 4 their | papers conceining them, which, in the sass of doc- r officer, was Written” upon ih {hat province, en account of the Indian settlements | iiishente, and in their authority over the Indians. | pertinencies, and for a municipal house, should sell | uments, escaped my examination. | have no doubt, and the w r in cha he Sul nt tothat time, and previous to the act } #t public auctic the product to be applied, first, | however, of the exactness of the statement above being factory, n iast orty, and | of eeularization of August, 1839, nothing’further to | ' paying the debts of the estab given, as fur as it goes. grant in form. On its re y years had passed since the redt Hm | that end appears to have been done in California, | tempainder, if any, to the benefit It will be seen, then, that the mivsions—the prin- cipal part of their lands eut off by private geante, but etill, no doubt, each embracing a considerable traci—perhops from one to ten leagues—have, s of them, been sold or granted under Uy government, and become private property « 3. ‘That the remainder of the missions to San Di inelnsive, should be rented, at the diseretion of governor, with the proviso, that the neophytes should be at liberty to employ themselves at their opt non their own grounds, which the govern: hould designate for them, in the se : tion even,) the party went int ion. It Was not unfreq f he formality of sending rT already px n of the Indians.” The Cortes, therefore, | Vader that net, the fitet ste Government was the expedition of Mijar, above no- (that | ticed. But the inetruchous delivered to him were , . and | not fulfilled. Hijar had been appointed Governor of 1 in parishes,) of the provinces be- | California, a¢ well as Director of Colonization, with p taken by the Central . ‘That all the new reducciones y doctri is, setulements of Indians newly ¢ net ye form \’ nN Sone raing th t € r general (cvrfeder) of New | vend cea, which were in charge of missionary nae to Te tove! m1 5 Hi. converted into villages, and conse jneatly granted directions to rel wernor Figueroa. After Hi. ‘ Wag gn cause th rant f s brow trom the King, direct- | monks, and had been ten years subjected, should | jar's de parture from Mexico, however, a revolution | Tentee, or of any other person. 4. That tl in the usual form in lots to individosts and heads of tion: Ain i se wietitnes. ap y fendi or more settlements in Sscecl eodianrion’ (hiskoen} * eitoay cnet ap | ibe oupreme, evernment i ced jars ap. al edifice of the mission of Santa Barbara. sould familice; « per ase i the ds of renises, and at ‘ as not explicit, or that | per Calif a astical ordinaries, (bishops, put resol ‘nt ae political governor ‘o revoked; an cepted from the propoved renting, amd in it the dis q nen eon cons thi pers te rvenie d, and jie iy . ny os yl pee xt, couformably to the laws and wees waa ut te Califors a te announce this Php dg i be ig ned ca Ly ea able nam expite 3 aud the remainder ai ita present dis- jer ‘ . th thee cedalas in tha pect. end with directions to Figueroa to con- | fer the residence of the bishop and his attendants, | posal. P and cov h 2. That as well these missions, (doctrinas,) as ae a cond of the governership. ‘The | end of the missionary priests then living t If it were withia my inee to suggest what tee rony be ' h thers which should be erected into cucacies, | courier arrived in advance of Hifar, who 1 | moreover, that the reits 9 wfrom the Teumin- | would be an equitable disposition of cach of the ‘The er t ' 1 te canonically provided by the ould see himself, on landing, (in September, IS4,) der of the ~ perty of said mission should be dis comery as icaee property of the government, port, or € es, (observing the laws and cedulae of the | prived c} thority he had bureed, half for the benefit of the church and | I should say, that the churches, w ithe chareh When other by lend, to the new territory , i patronage.) with fit ministers of the petted ine oynneetiig ms eoapinae wie ite ministry, the other for that of its Indians. 5. property and ornuments; a portion of the principal \ 1 " they v that month Yy Hlijar in the latter's instructions concerning the | That the ‘rents arising from the other missions | building for the residence of the priest, wah @ r ' rif " two That the missionary 1monks, relieved from the | miscions, Figueroa consulted the territorial depa- | *hould be divided, one-third tothe maintenance of | piece of fond equal to that designated in the ori t iif f converted settlements, Which should es d iy tation. That body protested against the delivery | the minister, one-third to the Indians, one-third to | nal act Pos the pong ‘ongtess for their seul v ished ot ould apply themselves to the | 4 { sro} | i tates | the government. zation, (to wit, two hundred varas t whole attached The same extension of religion ia beutit of the inhabitants bene fone mae yy ~~ On the Bth October, of the same year, (1845,) | another piece for a cemetery, shold f i t. Centitled ¢ ey n 5 peonwet - bal rxe™ | hed undoubtedly an equitable claim—into Hijar's Goverase Pico hic motice for the sale, to | a gee Catholic parishes, for tle of Figue | ‘ ; et the Coneritarion.§ | errr sf the missions derended on bis commis, | Rateels Dolores tions of land attaches for schools and saunseipel pt “ a ors, th a patter of sions, depende is commis. ~ * bree, ior A hed, for and neunecty fron is Mi nie ym Fy monksshould discontinue | WMT « qoveunel ‘whien had bet fevened, ond | tistenes Uewles, for. the sole Of the remaining | coumy parposee} aad for the, soadeaerrieh dive w ewis nat that he tv . ernment and administration | pet on his appointment (anknewn to the law) as | buildings in the pueblos (formerly missions) of | bishop, the came Jotment at the mission ef Santa pore Calf of the property of the Indians, whe shonld choose } 1 or of Colonization. As a conclusion to the | “en Luis Obispo, Car: Sen Juan Ba id | Barbora, that was mpde in the last chunation 0° é ed te) in ' ~ , t s 5 the pre rem | by means of their an , ‘pene with intervention | contestation which followed, the Governor and Juan Capistrano, after separating t es | Govervor Pico. The churches, certainly, ooght , . B | tet f ' ment Was oned i< be y shperior te itical authority, perse or Awsembly suspended Hijer om chs Jost mentioned | be * ae 7 a — ", SS eee ae Tee : — oo of the c uthonty, and continues te theme e Vane rintnent, rurned hint to Mexicot , end school houses. The auctions were wn Thave sugested il, . va Ui ‘ eal \ ne hi Pn nership, “"Hesaes, — neg had already adopted (in Aus fs inted to tuke place—those of San Louis Obispo, | equity and justice, and less than the inhabivunte. of th i ree of the 4th Janwary, | gust, 1884) a projec secularzation, which he | Purisime, and San Joon Capictrano, the first four | have elways considered and enjayed as their right. ‘ © practice | dencroinates a * provi ional regalation.” {t pro- | doys of December following, (1545); th To conclude the inquiry in the bet portion of i yt nee ae gt ef oe a aon vided that the missions should be ee averted or pen Peles, Teeny Hautista, ( melon of “ep ae es I ypeer to “ tom. Mr. Sanithy je seems the serenery 6 3 *o puebl i with a distribu and San Mignel, the “lary ants, " dl eveles ‘ ran Mexico, that the portion ofeneh of th former mission | Maly Wve, pue pol Ragen we ; wont : meanwhile, the government would receive | tical gronte. : Ry uh eat pe ag npg gre Pot ts Pee . 4 Rs each individual, head of a family, over twenty. | end take into consideration proposals in relation to 1 got find in the archive of California say t wos ¢ Mane enue square “~ ne o ¢ “ J missions. record of large grants, ia the sense | sippose 3 eneral rule. ia commenlly. mittion of an five years of age, a lot of ground not exceeding | *\« . “ Phe “4 ts w : porting a priest and mainteining divine worship. This | four hindred nor less than one hundred varas In the same proclamation, Pico proposed to rént | term to be Bere. wee Prare are « namber of , , en, and these conditions. are conformabie ta ths | square, in the common lands of the mission, with a | to the best bidder, for a period of nine years, and | frente to the full estent of the privilege accarded e né pice ef the Spanish laws concerning the allot- | eufficient quantity in common for pastutage of the | URder conditions for the return of the property in | by law to individnal concessions, and : maibly h Y ndian villages, Some interesting particulara | cuitle of the village, and also commons and lands fre! order and without waste, the missions of San | rity of the local government e. independent tee ( 3 ' ‘ of tt A — a8 progrens ag geal the by for municipal uses; likewine, a the say — Sarena ie - ater Santa Berbera, apd Slavens ~ yeoeegie > wit, of eleven sitios, New Mexico, are ec he “~ hn wEMma~ | Jividvals, oo > in, \ Senta we renting lo inelide al a “ z ‘ * ref at there > ‘ ' pain. ‘oat ‘a oxirs te fe hy M jen 1a the ~ sitechlal teatemente of = mimics that the & ky agricultnral oole, vineyards, — of i a phy mend Geena heey to efused re sp atracts from i given e pa- | OE ices, and whatever, in virtue of the inventories, wey tery gt ie “serie EOS Ot, Lies fs omitted te mpanying thie repor s < Colteation of Decrees of the Spanish Cortes,” &o., | should be appurtenant to said missions, with “the | direct from the Mexican government—one held by i P +A reveintion nal to the moder wou |» 60. This deoree provides: exception only of these small of ground | Captain Sutier, another by General Vall The . ° rity linpiies the 1 ‘That “ail the vacant or royal lands, and town | which have alwaye been occupied by some foaians archives (as far as | could discover) only show that pavcidin tale te reservations, (pronios y arbitrios, lands reserved in and | of the missiona;” likewise, to include the build Captain Sutter received, on the Ith July, 1M, ' , into puc about towns and cities for the municipal revenne) | 0) 176) u Neds from Governor Alvarado, the usual clare i H incall end nade fond in th avingt the churches, and their 3, a ual grant ot on to their ori Jude the reduction of | beta se the pentnenss on ee ermone see | the curate'’s, municipal, and sel and ex- | fifics on the river Sacramento, and this is all Lae ten proceeding : ihe melsacuan bal toe Cee eee ee tte Salt i carrersed ial. | ceptin the. iaualon of Gam where the | cettuined. ‘The archives hkewise show that Ge- ee » At Ranta sa lishments, and adm private property, provided, that in regard to town re. | Whole of the principal edifice should be reserved for | nerel Vallejo received from Governor Mieheltorena in cont Aye A cer perish eurates: a obi servations come annual rents shall be reserved the bishep and the priests residing there. The rent- | on the 22h Oetober, 1523, grant of ten sitios, eall- end nx the journals ¢ as “ n- | of wn existence in the prieet « churel of ai 2 That “in whatever mode thete landa were distri f the missions of San San Luis Rey, | ed “Petatoma,” in the district of and I ing In the ives fect ar p ry interest or right over the establishment bated, it should be in fell and exctusive ownership. so | Sun Gabriel, San Antonio, Santa Clara, and San Was informed by a respectable gentlen Cali- hardly be doubted that many grant ve re said to cover the ening spac c {Collection of Decrees of the Spam that their owners may enclose them, without preju- | Jord, it was farther announced, should take place | fevwia, thet Gen. V. had likewise a grant, from the the approval of the assembly, and no re , e next; and there were no other occupants ex puled in force in Mexico.” Mexico, 1829, p dice of paths, erorsings. watering-places, and servi- | as coon as eome arrangement Wasmade concerning | Mexican government, given for a valuable consi- fact new existe. Meny grants wer n e wild Indians, whose t nd_ conver . tudes) to enjoy them freely and: exeiusively, and des | 1 cir debts, Tt was also provided that the neophytes Va lorge tract, known by the same of - and approved by th | % chject of the establishments. The Indian | Rec adspted to; bat without tke sweeet ten teane | should be fiee from their pupilage, and might esta- end including the site of the present ring of 1846, as « they were reduce e ir i i } “ p i v4 " ~ Al Sillages near by, under the spiritual tad | / Re tsanenerey these 1 peoterroa | pervony thet the fadlans who. possessed icces of | puted tht the ‘tune geudicenee hat “earenpive a i ‘ es near by, ande on d | ranster exe lands shall be Teen; «l pie ite hat the same gentleman hee hang od orel direction of the priests, but the whole an- (or settlomenty) in nd, in which they had made their houses and | claims in the valley of Sonoma, and on Suists tery. the | der the politieal contrel of the governor of the pro- | shall ye Wi who enjo, tles, | — rdene, should apply to the government for fh order thet het lands Bight be adjudicated to | _ "1 was told by rs JR. Sores Aor eemene c accounts 4 | the come in common while they were vacant.” tnment A cabaiteria of lard ise rectangular parallelogram of vince, who decided contested juestions of right or | a pder their accounte to them, ©! { neter of 562 yarns by 1,104 varae ter of these ; 7 " a policy, Whether between different missions, between | chail in t missions and individuals, or concerning the Indians. uh ap ao appolnted territ or by “According to act of the Mexican Congress of oth of | MMO Made Furve, The eat ber of grants im the oen- ates reduce Sean toyneent try. that he had! Wttte difhoulty tw ijesto aly Republion M setion system, Bi have continued In | : ants of land began to be made to | estebliehments + admivistra- M May. 1822 to provite for eupplying the place of pro. | Wal part ef the « ye Saliforsia | individeals, especially to retired soldiers, who re. | tien Siice de le Ave Collfocalan Memincee gan, 7 O° O™ | sineial governors, in defeutt of ua incumbent, pean ne ee . i