Conflict at Monterey: Indian Horse Raiding, 1820-1850'

SYLVIA M. BROADBENT

URING the Spanish-Mexican occupa­ Miwok were at least involved in the raiding. D tion of Monterey, California, the This matter will be discussed later. relationships of Indians with the whites un­ Monterey was by no means the center of derwent a sharp transition from peaceful, these raids, which were general throughout hospitable acceptance to outright hostility. the area that could be reached from the San To accomphsh this transition, a remarkable Joaquin Valley, wherever Cahfornio^ ranche- change in a brief period of time had to take ros had settled and kept horses. In fact, place in Indian culture. Within forty or fifty Monterey was on the periphery of Tulare years, the Indians changed from a relatively attacks and probably never felt the maximum peaceful hunting and gathering population to effects. However, even there these raids were efficient and troublesome horse-raiding guer- troublesome enough to worry the Mexican riHas or as Cook (1943a:35) described them, authorities. Monterey was chosen as the focus "fast, shifty, and quite clever cavalrymen." of this study because, being both the capital The Indians involved in suchguerriHa raids and the principal port of the province, the were not those actually from the environs of record there is more complete. Most foreign Monterey (the Rumsen, a Costanoan group). voyagers to Cahfornia stopped at Monterey, There is no account of any hostile activity on and many left descriptions of the port and their part; they were fairly quickly and accounts of the state of affairs there. In effectively absorbed into Mission San Carlos. addition, there are the accounts of the pro­ The Indian raiders were those of the Central vincial governmental authorities, and those of Valley or Valle de los Tulares, usually referred such residents as Thomas C. Larkin, the to by writers of the period as Tulare Indians. American consul, and others. This term probably has no direct tribal significance, but means simply that the In­ HISTORICAL BACKGROUND dians came from the direction of the Tulare valley. They may have been Yokuts, who Sebastian Vizcaino is generahy regarded as inhabited the whole of the San Joaquin the first European to reach the site that was Valley proper, except for the northem end. to become Monterey, although it is probable They may have been Plains Miwok, who that Cabrillo and Cermeno also visited it inhabited the northem end of the valley, or briefly in 1542 and 1595, respectively. How­ Sierra Miwok of the westem slopes of the ever, despite Vizcaino's glowing descriptions Sierra Nevada, or they may have come from of the port and the affability of its Indians, all three groups. The evidence suggests that no attempt was made to colonize Upper CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 87

Indian horseman on the plain between the San Joaquin and King's River. From Lt. R. S. Williamson's "Report of Explorations in California for Railroad Routes to Connect with the Routes Near the 3Sth and 32d Parallels of North Latitude" (1853). Sketch by Charles Koppel. Lithographed by A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore.

California until 1769, when an abortive ex­ move into Cahfomia, though never in very pedition was sent under Gaspar de Portola large numbers. The soldiers of the presidios and Junipero Serra to find Monterey again often married neophyte women or brought and establish there a mission and a presidio. It wives from Mexico, and were given grants of was a fuh year before the efforts to relocate land. A few American settlers began to arrive, and colonize Monterey were successful. A and there were also quite a large number of mission, San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey, sailors who deserted from foreign ships and was founded, together with a presidio for the settled in the country. The economy of these protection of the mission and the port. The settlers was based largely on cattle. Immense mission was moved to the Carmel Valley the herds roamed almost wild over the ranges. next year. These formed the basis of the hide and tahow Once the mission and presidio were estab­ trade with Boston, pioneered by the firm of lished and settled, the Spanish occupation of Bryant and Sturgis. This trade flourished in California was well and tmly begun. Monterey the 1820s and 1830s and is excellently was the capital, and for a long time the described in Dana's Two Years Before the principal port. Further missions were estab­ Mast and Robmson's Life in California. lished; they started bringing in converts, and Mexican independence had some repercus­ began to grow. Famihes of settlers began to sions even on the backwater province of 88 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

Califomia. For the Indians, the biggest event They brought with them an attitude of the Mexican period was the secularization towards Indians which was fundamentally of the missions by decree of Governor Figue- different from the Spanish one. Both may be roa in 1834. The Franciscans had to tum the observed throughout the histories of Anglo- missions over to secular priests, and their American and Spanish colonization in the affairs were to be handled by govemment New World. The Spaniard tended to see the officials. In effect, the officials simply appro­ Indian as a potentially valuable vassal, worth priated the missions and their extensive lands, protecting if only to be exploited and mled and allowed the buildings to fah into min. over. This attitude is reflected in document The Indian neophytes were supposed to be after document concerning the governing of freed from the tyranny of the padres, and the Indians, beginning with the New Laws of become independent Mexican citizens. Many 1542. The Anglo-Americans, however, had of them returned to their aboriginal life, some gone into the New World to get land, not joining tribes which were stih unconverted in people. The consistent trend in the eastern the interior. Many, however, remained near United States was one of settling as farmers the Californio settlements, and became per­ and laborers rather than as mlers of con­ sonal servants to Californio families or vaque- quered peoples. This involved the movement ros on the ranches. of larger numbers of people. The Indians In the 1840s, Americans began to show an already there were not regarded as vassals, an increasing interest in Cahfornia. More Ameri­ important exploitable resource; they were can settlers began to arrive. In 1842, a simply in the way, occupying space that the misunderstanding led Commodore Thomas Americans wanted for themselves. Many In­ dians were simply killed by the Americans on ap Catesby-Jones, of the U. S. Navy, to raise any pretext or none at all. Besides sheer the American flag over the Monterey Custom homocide, however, there were other more House and "conquer" the town. He soon subtle effects on the Indian population which reahzed his mistake and gave the town back. Cook (I943b:92) has discussed. He stated, "it In 1846, however, the American conquest is apparent that impact of settlement from began in earnest. The country was in turmoil the United States was three times as severe as with the activities of Fremont and the Bear that of pre-American colonization." Flag Revolt at Sonoma. In 1848 Cahfomia was ceded to the United States. In the same year gold was discovered by THE HISTORY OF Marshall on the American River. The Gold CONFLICT AT MONTEREY Rush was on, and within months thousands of immigrants arrived at the gold fields. The As the missions were established, the effect for the Indians was little short of Spanish began to draw the nearby Indians disastrous. They had been driven farther and into them, at first by peaceful means such as farther into the interior, first by the mission offering them gifts and other inducements. As settlement of the coastal strip, and then by easily accessible Indians became scarcer, ex­ the establishment of ranchos further inland. peditions were sent into the Central Valley to At this point, the only secure and peaceful bring in more converts, frequently by force. place where the Indians could live was the Many Indians did not like mission life. It Sierras. And the Sierras were precisely where meant a complete disruption of every aspect the swarms of gold-seeking immigrants of their life, from social organization to diet. converged. The Spanish pattern of work was completely CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 89 new to them, and they had great difficulty (1891:110) reported that in 1831 two Indians adjusting to it. were shot at Monterey presidio for cattle- The reaction of the dissatisfied Mission stealing. He did not mdicate whether these Indians, however, was not direct violence or were local Indians or captured raiders. revolt. They simply tried to mn away. As From 1836—two years after seculariza­ Cook (1943a:31) remarked, mstead of at­ tion—on, the record is more complete. In that tempting to remove the disturbing part of year, Ruschenberger visited Monterey from their environment, they removed themselves October 24 to October 30. With regard to the from the environment. However, running Indians, Ruschenberger (1838:507) stated: away was often not a satisfactory solution. "They plunder the farms of the colonists of The Califomios were not content to let them horses, which they eat in preference to beef, go. They sent expeditions after the escaped though horned cattle are more abundant neophytes, who often took refuge with " Belcher (1843:116), who visited Mon­ friendly tribes m the Tulares. The whites terey from the second to the sixth of Decem­ descended on the rancherias of the host ber, 1837, stated: "[The Cahfornios are] tribes, and besides carrying off the escapees, harassed on all sides by Indians, who are now often did a great deal of damage, and killed stripping them of their horses, without which and kidnapped many other Indians as a their cattle are not to be preserved . . . . " punishment for sheltering the mnaways. Not And again (p. 117): "The Indians are robbed unnaturally, this did not make for good [of mission property]; they do nothing but relations between the Califomios and the rob when they can, run away to escape interior tribes. punishment, and then form themselves into The reaction of the free Indians to this gangs, and set their masters at defiance." hostile treatment was more violent and posi­ In 1838, Jose Castro reported to Alva- tive than that of the Mission Indians. Early in rado, then govemor, that several ranchers had the nineteenth century, they began to raid been kihed in Indian raids, and that an Spanish settlements and mn off horses, at expedition would have to be sent out to first to eat, and later to seh. As early as 1816, punish them (Castro 1838). In 1839, Laplace Father Payeras of Santa Barbara Mission was (1854:290-291) reported a Scottish resident pleading for the establishment of an inland of Monterey as saying: " . . . ne sommes-nous chain of missions to stop stock-stealing (Beat- [the foreign residents] pas les meiheurs defen- tie 1930:17). However, Roquefeuil (1823), seurs du pays contre les tribus des sauvages, during a stay at San Francisco in 1817, made dont sans cette protection les attaques sans no mention of Indian raids, although he did cesse renouvelees depuis quelques annees, describe Californio raids to recover neo­ auraient porte la desolation au sein des plus phytes. In 1818, during the Bouchard affak (a riches cantons!" Farnham (1850:83, 86) gave French pirate raid on Monterey), Mission a brief and rather vague account of an Santa Cmz was evacuated. Ord (n.d.:f. 3) attempted raid on Monterey on April 21, suggested that during this evacuation the 1840. About 50 Indians arrived to "lay mission was raided by Indians and others. tribute upon the mules and horses of the The 1820s are marked by a lack of Cahfornians." It seems that warning of then- documentary sources on Monterey. No impor­ approach was received in time for the Spanish tant voyages stopped there during this time. to take defensive action. Famham provided By the 1830s the hide trade was weh estab­ no real description of the action taken, lished, and provides some material. Robinson beyond describing a state of general confusion 90 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

and consternation. tion that it was actually a peak year By this time the Mexican authorities were for raiding. Larkin (1917:72-73) reported: becoming seriously disturbed by the raids. On "Some few farms are being vacated by the July 4, 1840, Alvarado drew up a document Cahfornians from fear of further depredations to establish a force of twenty men to patrol of the wild Indians, who yearly steal thou­ the area between San Jose and San Juan de sands of horses even out of the enclosed yards Castro (San Juan Bautista). The preamble of near their dwelling houses. They are now this decree may be translated as follows (almost every week) committing depredations (Alvarado 1840:f. 86): "The desire to prevent of this kind. The whites but seldom follow in some way the continuous robberies which them to regain their property. The Indians are are made in the countryside by the wild losing ah fear of the inhabitants and with Indians and other evildoers in the 1st district their arrows have shot several of them during of this Department, causing the min of the the years 1845 and 1846." A correspondent proprietors of ranches, and menacing the lives (Lewis 1934:41) known only as "The Far­ of the defenseless families, has obliged the thest West," writing from Yerba Buena (San Governor to organize a force of twenty men, Francisco) on June 26, 1846, reported: "The to be divided into two parts, who must Indians are inveterate horse thieves, and dur­ remain ready at the points where these evils ing six days in May, while I was making an are frequently committed . . . . " This was to excursion of three hundred miles on horse­ have been a permanent police force, on cah at back, they stole over four hundred horses ah times to aid the ranchers in preventing from the farms I visited, or the immediate incursions of raiders. The change in policy neighborhood, until the distressed farmers represented by this move will be discussed thought they would lose every horse in their later. According to Cook (1943:35) it was 'Caballadas'." This may refer to either the San never put into effect. Joaqum or the Santa Clara Vahey. In 1842, Simpson visited Monterey from Walpole (1849:213), who was in Mon­ the 15th to the 19th of January. Simpson terey in late July, 1846, had the following to (1847:194-196) made extensive reference to say with regard to raids: "Before the Ameri­ Indian raids: "... a systematic course of can came (and even since) the Indians fre­ savage depredation . . . the constant pilferings quently prowled about, and committed out­ of cattle and horses . . . under these circum­ rages of all sorts, stealing horses, to eat stances the two races live in a state of warfare, chiefly, for they say they are the best meat that knows no tmce. The Indian makes a possible " Walpole (1849:214) also regular business of stealing horses, that he makes the following statement: "In one of may ride the tame ones and eat such as are the side-chapels [at Carmel Mission] is a small wild." statue of the Virgin, with three cannon-balls Another attempt was made on the part of on her head—a votive offering from a person the Cahfornios to establish defensive measures who was three times saved from being shot by in 1843. Governor Micheltorena proposed the the interposition of the Virgin in an attack on establishment of a fort in Pacheco Pass. It was the Mission by the Indians." This is the only never built (Cook 1943a:36). known reference to an attack on the mission Numerous accounts are available from the itself, and it sounds as if some confusion is year 1846, owing to the American conquest. involved. Although this is probably the reason for the On December 14, 1846, however, a raid large number of reports, there is some indica­ occurred of which there is a more trustworty CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 91 account. "W.G.," an American resident of kin (Lewis 1934:9) beheved that the exis­ twenty-two years' standing, wrote on Decem­ tence of the raids might facilitate American ber 16, 1846: "On the 14th inst. a large body conquest: "The deplorable state they [the of Indians came down and swept every horse Cahfornios] are now in, arising from the they could find in a circle of twenty-five or robbery of thek horses, and so forth, will thirty miles, and left the farmers without a hasten the result [American conquest]. They single horse to hunt up thek working cattle" are convinced that a proper administration of (W.G. 1924:204). This raid wiH be discussed affairs would put down the Indians, and there in more detail later. are sufficient Califomians to drive them out, In 1847, the military situation in Califor­ but the energetic aid of govemment is re­ nia had settled down somewhat. Wiss, who quired, which they cannot obtain from the was in California from January to October of Mexican authorities." that year, and who made several visits to According to "The Farthest West," it was Monterey in that time, made no mention even believed that the Indians were taking an whatsoever of Indian raids. However, they active part in the American-Californio conflict. probably did not stop so abruptly. In May, This correspondent remarked: 1851, Hutton (1942:60-62) gave a detailed account of a raid on Rancho Santa Manuela in . . . lately the topic has become current that San Luis Obispo County. This is outside the Castro had excited the Indians against the Monterey area, but it serves to indicate that foreigners generally, and made promises of raids stih happened even three years after valuable presents if they would burn the crops and destroy the people. In conse­ California was ceded to the United States. quence of this belief, they [the foreigners] This history of raiding may be summed up have attacked the Indians three times in the as follows. During the earliest period of valley [San Joaquin?], and killed nearly two Spanish settlement and the establishment of hundred in the three fights. And now they the missions, the Cahfornios were not trou­ assert that the Indians confess that they agreed to do this, and were to be rewarded bled by raids from interior tribes. Before for it. The Indians are inveterate horse 1820, however, such raids were beginning to stealers . . . [Lewis 1934:41]. occur. The events of the 1820s remain un­ known. In the 1830s they were becoming a The tone of this correspondent, however, serious problem, so much so that by the early is distinctly skeptical. 1840s defensive measures were being con­ The 1840 raid reported by Farnham sidered by the Spanish. A peak seems to have (1850:83, 86) took place when the Cahfor­ been reached in 1846, when the Americans nians, worried about the intentions of certain were stmggling for power in California; after Americans in Monterey, had incarcerated that there was a dechne. The Americans did some of them. Famham suggested that if the not, however, succeed in stopping the raids Indians who came down to raid had known of immediately. the plight of the Americans, they might have It is perhaps no coincidence that the been interested in the matter, but that sounds conflicts between the Indians and the Cahfor­ like one of his frequent exaggerations. nios and the Americans and the Cahfornios To sum up this point, it seems possible reached a peak at approximately the same that the confused state of military affairs in time. W.G. (1924:198) suggested that the California in 1846 made it easier for the distracted attention of both American and Indians to raid Cahfornio settlements, and Mexican authorities made raiding easier. Lar­ that they took advantage of the opportunity. 92 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

The damage done to the Cahfomios by Indian horses to confuse the trail. They were pursued raiding may have facilitated the American by nine white men, recmited from Santa conquest to some extent. At one point the Manuela and neighboring ranches, who were Americans beheved that the Indians had well armed and mounted on horses that had actually been induced to take an active part in not been left in the corral and thus had not the conflict on the Cahfornio side, and been taken. They caught up with the Indians punished the Indians for it. However, it seems on the moming of the second day after the unlikely that such actions ever took place. raid. The Indians by this time thought they Farnham's attitude suggests that not all Amer­ were safe from pursuit, and were unprepared icans beheved it, and it does not seem very for the attack, their bows unstrung, and some probable that the Indians would take the part on foot. A white man fired a shot at them, of those with whom they had been in a state which hit no one but came close. This was of active hostility for at least thirty years. their first warning that they were pursued. They made no attempt to fight. Those on THE PATTERN OF CONFLICT foot hid in the bushes; the five Indians who were mounted started to flee. Two of these Although there are many general refer­ were driven into the bmsh, while the other ences to raiding in the literature of the period, three escaped. This apparently satisfied the the number of descriptions of specific raids is whites for the time, and two of them retumed very limited. The best yet located is Hutton's to see that the Indians who had hidden did (1942:60-62) lively account of the 1851 raid not escape with the horses. Apparently they in San Luis Obispo County. Although this made no attempt to do so. The three horses raid took place outside the Monterey area, of those who had escaped were missing, plus and the date is later than most, it is probably four others. No more mention is made of the fairly representative. Indians who hid in the bmsh; they may The main facts of this narrative may be account for the missing horses. Three colts had been killed and eaten. Hutton says the summarized as follows. At a date probably in whites beheved the horses had been stolen for the first half of May, 1851, at least five sale to travellers rather than for food. Indians came down at night on Rancho Santa Manuela, and removed about fifty horses The horses regained, the white party from a corral at some distance from the retumed to their previous camp for the night, house, where it was not customary to leave keeping a strict watch over the horses. The them overnight. Although Hutton does not next day seven of them—i.e., aH but Hutton suggest it, the complicity of one or several of and one other-were still angry enough to the vaqueros, who may well have been In­ want to go to punish the Indians at their dians, might be suspected. It seems like a rancheria. Hutton decided that he "had noth­ rather odd coincidence that the horses should ing to do with killing wild Indians in Tulares," have been left so conveniently on the very and so helped take the horses back to the night when the Indians made their raid. They ranch; retaking the horses was right, he felt, drove the horses by an indirect route—at least, but further punishment was none of his affair. not the shortest—over towards the San Joa­ The majority of the party followed the trail quin Vahey. Shortly after leaving the ranch, into the valley until they lost it, probably they left a "medicine," a plume of crow somewhere near Goose Lake. They then feathers, in the road to give bad luck to theh retumed. Apparently they were after the real pursuers. At one point they scattered the raiders, and not simply planning to mete out CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 93 punishment indiscriminately to any Indian refugees; this group set out to show that they who came their way. There is no mention of were by no means helpless. their attacking any Indian village whatsoever. The explanation given for the fact that The next best account of a specific raid is previous raids had taken only horses is inter­ the 1846 raid mentioned above. This is esting. Other, more general accounts say that described by W.G. (1924:204). On Decem­ the Indians preferred horseflesh to beef. While ber 14, 1846, "a large body of Indians came horseflesh is excellent meat, cattle were more down and swept every horse they could find abundant, and it is not easy to see why they in. a circle of twenty-five or thirty miles . . . ," were so consistently and completely ignored leaving the farmers without horses either to by the Indians. W.G.'s explanation may be work their cattle-ranges or to chase the right. Indians. Most of these were taken from the A third specifically-described raid took ranch of Francisco Pacheco, who had thirteen place April 21, 1840. Famham (1850:83, 86) or fourteen thousand head of cattle. It was stated that on that day news of a band of believed that the culprits were Indians who about fifty Indians about to attack was had hved in Monterey for years, and who had brought to Monterey by a half-breed horse­ taken off for the Tulares; in hopes of a better man, who first spoke briefly with the prison reception there, they took the horses with guard, then went to see the Governor (Alva­ them, which had the additional advantage of rado), and then Castro, who went in his tum providing transportation for the refugees. to see Alvarado, while the horseman hurried Their departure was attributed to unaccus­ to the "Castello" (the presidio? or barracks?). tomed restrictions due to near-martial law in Alvarado came out on the balcony, and Monterey on account of the Mexican conflict ordered the dmms to beat to arms. The result with the Americans. The Indians were blamed was violent activity, and it appears as if the because some of them were seen on Pacheco's people of Monterey were badly frightened. ranch. As a result of this raid, it was feared Farnham thought such raids were due to that the Indians would start raiding in larger mistreatment of Indian and white fur-traders, numbers, and would start steahng cattle, as but stated that they came down to "lay had often been threatened. The reason they tribute upon the mules and horses of the had not done so before was that cattle travel Califomians." He seemed to think the Indians slowly, and could easily be overtaken by involved were Plains Indians from the eastem horsemen. Now that all the available horses side of the Rockies—about a thousand miles had been stolen, this would no longer be a to the east of Monterey! Farnham's accounts problem. tend to be melodramatized and probably This account has a number of interesting exaggerated. What can probably be relied on aspects. First, it was beheved that the thieves is the following: Waming of a possible Indian were local Indians, and not raiders from the attack was received in Monterey on April 21, wilds. If this raid was really so efficiently 1840, and this news gave rise to considerable executed, it indicates a detailed knowledge of concem and activity. The number of Indians the locale. It is suggested that the free Indians involved may be exaggerated, since it is out of were, or had become, none too hospitable to line with other reports. mnaways. Given the trouble they had re­ One further fairly well-defined account of ceived from the Cahfornios for sheltering raiding remains, contained in Castro's letter to mnaways, such an attitude would be reason­ Alvarado, dated September 26, 1838, at Mon­ able. They wanted no dealings with helpless terey (Castro 1838). Only a summary of this 94 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

letter is available, in the notes on the Califor­ chose eight or nine out of many volunteers. nia archives made by Bancroft's workers, now Their informant led the party. They reached located in the Bancroft Library. It may be the ranch a day ahead of time to reconnoiter. translated as follows: "That everything is They crept up on the house after its inhabi­ quiet; only some Indians have committed tants were asleep, and posted one or two thefts and have killed some ranchers; that an sentries by each door to keep them in; they expedition will have to be sent to punish were known to have killed several people who them . . . . " These events probably took place had tried to get out. The rest went to the within a few weeks of writing the letter, since corral, quietly let down the bars of the gate, it is a report on the immediate state of affairs and stood, kneeled, or lay down ten or fifteen in Monterey. Probably, therefore, there was at paces away on the opposite side of the gate least one raid somewhere close to Monterey in from that on which they planned to drive the about September, 1838, in the course of horses. The horses soon walked out. The which several ranchers were kihed. Apparent­ Indians then drove them slowly to about half ly no very strong retahation was made, but it a mile from the house, where the sentries was contemplated. rejoined the party. All bows were strung. Half In view of these accounts, what was the the party had arrows ready for defense; the general pattem of Indian raiding? I cannot other half had arrows with cross-sticks tied describe this better than did W.G. (1924:194- onto the point or half an inch below it, to 198) in 1846: shoot at straying horses to bring them back into the herd. One such punishment was December 9, 1846.—This country has for a usually enough. long time been distracted by excursions of When they were well clear of the house, the wild Indians from the mountains, com­ they drove the horses into a deep ravine, monly called Tularenos [sic], and even yet, although this part of the country is under where the best lasooer caught some to ride the government of the United States of while the rest of the party kept the herd America, and they are well aware from what surrounded. Lacking a ravine, this was done they have formerly experienced from Ameri­ under a tree branch by dropping the lasso can trappers, that such depredations wiO around the horses' neck. As soon as all were meet with the most vigorous punishment, mounted, they set off at a full gallop until they occasionally pay a visit, taking off with them any stray horses or mares that have daybreak, taking the worst and most devious been left by either of the parties now at war course to deceive their pursuers. If all was safe [the Americans and the Spanish]. at daybreak, the horses were driven into a hiding-place, and the party breakfasted and He goes on to say that a farm-dwelling let the horses breathe. A fat colt or preferably Indian, who knew the grazing-grounds of the a mule was slaughtered for breakfast. If it horses of a well-supplied rancher, would go seemed safe, the party would stay all day, and tell a friendly tribe in the Tulares this preferring to travel at night. If they were not fact, first stipulating what his share of the overtaken on the second night, they were loot was to be. He would then supply usually safe. information on the numbers, risks, road of If the rancher had left his horses loose at entry and return. The tribe then made grass night, he usually had some left after the raid, ropes, moccasins, and bows and arrows, to due to the difficulty of rounding them all up. have them ready before the full moon, plus If they were left in the corral, the Indians two quarts of meal per man. The chief then could get them easily, but the rancher knew CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 95

immediately that they were gone, and could down the guilty for exemplary punishment, get on the trail at once; if he did so, five out they destroy every native that falls in their of six times he would recover his horses. way, without distinctions of sex or age. The If the Indians knew they were pursued, blood-hounds, of course, find chiefly women and children, for in general, the men are they drove as fast as possible to a thick wood better able to escape, butchering their help­ or a bad pass. One or two of them went ahead less and inoffensive victims after the blasphe­ with the horses as rapidly as possible. The rest mous mockery of baptism .... I subjoin a dismounted and waited in ambush for the more detailed description, on the authority whites. If these were few, the Indians fought of an eyewitness. When the incursions of the it out, or simply shot at the first horseman savages have appeared to render a crusade necessary, the alcalde of the neighbourhood from ambush; he would then often decide summons from twelve to twenty colonists to that he would rather lose his horses than risk serve, either in person or by substitute, on his neck. The Indian party would then re- horseback; and one of the foreign residents, gather at a prearranged spot, and continue. when nominated about three years before, When they reached the village, they traded the preferred the alternative of joining the party himself, in order to see something of the horses to a trapping company for blankets or interior. After a ride of three days they cloth, or slaughtered them, keeping only the reached a village, whose inhabitants, for all fleetest to hunt elk. that the crusaders knew to the contrary, This general description agrees weU with might have been as innocent in the matter as themselves. But, even without any con­ the known facts of specific raids, and gives sciousness of guilt, the tramp of the horses more detail of events on the Indian side. As to was symptom not to be misunderstood by immediate white reactions, contemporary ob­ the savages: and accordingly all that could servers (admittedly biased) report differences run, comprising, of course, all that could between Spanish and American. According to possibly be criminal, fled for their lives. Of "The Farthest West" (Lewis 1934:71-72): those who remained, nine persons, all fe­ males, were tied to trees, christened, and "The foreigners invariably pursue the Indians shot. With great difficulty and considerable and retake their horses, but the lethargic danger, my informant saved one old woman Cahfornian reports 'los malditos Indios' to by conducting her a short distance from the Alcalde, and the Priest, if there is one near, accursed scene; and even there he had to and quietly submits to his loss." Larkin adds: shield the creature's miserable life by draw­ ing a pistol against one of her merciless "... there are sufficient Califomians to drive pursuers. She ultimately escaped, but not them [the Indians] out, but the energetic aid without seeing a near relative, a handsome of govemment is required, which they cannot youth who had been captured, slaughtered obtain from the Mexican authorities" (Lewis in cold blood before her eyes, with the 1934:9). outward and visible sign of regeneration still glistening on his brow . . . under these cir­ Simpson's remarks (1847:194-196) are cumstances the two races live in a state of more extensive: warfare, that knows no truce. The Indian makes a regular business of stealing horses But the Indians of ah descriptions are, from .... In his turn, the Californian treats the day to day, rendered more audacious by savage, wherever he finds him, very much impunity. Too indolent to be always on the like a beast of prey, shooting him down, alert, the Cahfornians overlook the constant even in the absence of any specific charge, as pilferings of cattle and horses, till they are a common pest and a public enemy .... roused beyond the measure even of their patience by some outrage of more than ordinary mark; and then, instead of hunting W.G. (1924:198) said that the Cahfornios 96 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY killed many Indians, raiders as well as non- Tulares needs not be taken so literally, at least raiders, which infuriated the Indians, and in this context; it probably means only that moved them to further raids. They had begun the raiding Indians came from the direction of coming in parties of one or two hundred. the Tulare Vahey. A robbed rancher was These statements of not unprejudiced foreign­ hardly likely to take precise observation of ers can be supplemented by the remark of a what tribes his attackers belonged to even m Califomio, Castro (1838), who, reporting on the unlikely event that he could teh a Miwok the Indian raids of that year, said: "an from a Yokuts at a glance. The raiders might expedition will have to be sent to punish have come from the Valley, or from farther or them." nearer, but from that general direction. The These statements suggest that the charac­ nearer Indians, in the Coast Range, had teristic Califomio reaction was to do nothing almost all been brought into the missions, and about any particular raid, but to wait until there were very few of them left. Those that conditions had become nearly intolerable, and remained hved around the Spanish settle­ then send a punitive expedition into the ments working for the Spanish, and from aU Tulares, which did not necessarily punish the accounts they were rather badly demoralized. raiders, but simply any Indians they could lay On the other side of the Vahey, however, their hands on. This would be a continuation were the Sierra Miwok, and the Plains Miwok of their reported behavior towards escaped in the northem end of the Valley. The Miwok neophytes. The Americans, on the other were far from demoralized; in fact, they gave hand, felt that a "crime" committed by a the Cahfornios a great deal of trouble under despised Indian called for immediate retribu­ their brilliant leader Estanislao (Cook 1943a: tion. If Hutton's (1942:60-62) narrative (see 33). Moreover, BidweU (1948:47-48), describ­ above) is representative, however, the Ameri­ ing an encounter just before his emigrant cans were generally after the real "culprits." party entered the San Joaquin Valley from the Sierras, reported: "Afterwards we found One general point of some importance is that these Indians were always at war with the that the Indians themselves do not seem to Califomians. They were known as the Horse have been out to inflict direct physical vio­ Thief Indians, and lived chiefly on horseflesh; lence on the persons of the whites; they were they had been in the habit of raiding the simply after horses. They were prepared for ranches even to the very coast, driving away violence if the Cahfornios put up any resis­ horses by the hundreds into the mountains to tance, but only in this case. Bloodshed seems eat." Bidwell's party lost a number of horses to have resulted rather from Californian and to these Indians, and when Bidwell first American retaliation, and it was Indian blood encountered them, they were slaughtering rather than white. It wih be remembered that some horses that the emigrants had had to Hutton's party was weh armed, and that the leave behind owing to difficult terrain. seven who went on after the horses were recovered were out to kill. This suggests that the Sierra Miwok were Who were the Indians who were making at least involved in the raiding, and may have these attacks? The accounts caH them Tulares been the principal raiders. There is no reason or Tularenos, or "wild Indians from the to suppose, however, that the Yokuts never Tulares." The Indians who inhabited most of took part. The Miwok would have to cross the Tulare or San Joaquin Valley were the their territory to get to the Cahfornio settle­ Yokuts, and the term "Tulare" is usually ments, which presupposes a friendly relation­ taken to refer to them. However, the name ship, and at least no disapproval of the CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 97 raiding. The Yokuts received the brunt of What is particularly interesting is the form white retaliation. that Indian hostility took. There was not much of a tradition of warfare or of inter­ CONCLUSIONS group hostihty with personal violence in the pre-contact Califomia Indian culture, as there The first contacts made between the was in the Plains, or, nearer home, among the Spanish and the Indians of Central California Colorado River tribes. In such areas, hostility were, on the whole, peaceful and friendly. to whites developed quickly, with much However, after some forty or forty-five years, personal violence—homes of settlers were at­ a pattern of almost continual conflict devel­ tacked, priests were killed in mission upris­ oped. The Indians stole horses from the ings. Not so in Central California. There, Cahfornios; they, and later the Americans, conflict took the form mainly of alienation of retaliated with bloody raids on Indian settle­ property—stealing horses. The Indians found ments. Why did relationships change? that with suitable tactics this was fairly easy One factor in the change was undoubtedly to do, and that it was exceedingly annoying the Cahfornio reaction to neophyte runaways. to the Cahfomios. The more Indians found It is hardly unnatural that the free Indians this out, the more they attacked. But they should have become hostile to the Cahfornios resorted to physical violence only when there in the face of such treatment. Cook (1943a: was active resistance. It was a guerrilla cam­ 32) described the Indian reaction as "a paign of mainly economic and nuisance value, common response to a uniform style of not an attempt to exterminate the enemy. As treatment." such, it came close to achieving a degree of Another factor is an ecological-economic success that such campaigns can rarely attain. one: the introduction of the horse. Horses In the early 1840s a drastic change in were very common throughout the Spanish Cahfornio policy was being contemplated, area. Almost every writer of the period represented by Alvarado's plan for a perma­ comments on the fact that a Cahfornian nent police force and Micheltorena's plan for rarely walked, he always rode, and that a fort in Pacheco Pass. These were essentially excellent horses, beautiful, swift animals of defensive measures, and stand in sharp con­ Arab descent from Andalusia, were cheap and trast to the offensive, retaliational measures plentiful. By the early 1800s, large herds of previously in use. They were to keep the these animals were roaming wild in the Indians out, not to punish them. Other, Central Valley, along with the immense herds non-official writers suggested similar mea­ of elk that were already there. To the Indian, sures. Simpson (1847:196), who visited Mon­ they were simply an added food resource, an terey in 1842, reported that "... a band of excellent new kind of wild game. He also fifty resolute horsemen . . . would hold at bay learned to ride them, which meant swifter all the savages, with thek wretched bows and mobility, which helped in hunting the elk. It arrows, between Sonoma and San Diego ..." also helped when he began to seek his (italics mine). W.G. (1924:198) said that but horseflesh farther afield, on Californio for the insurrection in Los Angeles drawing ranches. And there he could obtain horses the attention of the Governor General and already trained for riding. Economic motives Fremont, the raids would have been stopped were therefore added to psychological ones, by "eighty riflemen set aside to quell the and the stage was set for the development of a invasion" (itahcs mine). The implication is pattern of hostility. that further Cahfornio expansion had 98 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY stopped; it was becoming difficult to hold valley itself. This had worked effectively m onto what they already had. It took the other places; the farmers seeing the Indians different colonial approach of the Americans only as competitors for land, simply got rid of to add to white holdings in Cahfornia. them. It was quite different from the charac­ Another Cahfornio approach had been teristic Spanish method of missionizing the suggested earlier. This was the favorite Span­ Indians and converting them into servants, if ish frontier technique of "reducmg" the high death rates did not ehminate them. Indians by missionization. Father Payeras of The example of conflict discussed here Mission Santa Barbara as early as 1816 began has been "explained" by correlating it with a to plead for the establishment of a second series of fairly simple historic phenomena: the chain of missions, to be placed in the Central Spanish treatment of the Indians, the intro­ Valley (Beattie 1930:17). Such pleas con­ duction of a new element into the faunal tinued for many years. Father Payeras seems ecology of the Valley, with a consequent to have been the main proponent, but others economic change, and an Indian discovery of joined him in constant requests for mission­ the possibilities of particular hostile behavior. aries, money from the Pious Fund, and The ultimate quelling of hostihties has been soldiers for presidios to defend the proposed related to divergent colonial policies. It is missions. The akeady existing asistencias of debatable whether these particular explana­ San Antonio de Pala, Santa Isabel, and San tions are of any broader significance, since Bernardino were to be converted into mis­ they refer to a specific and unique coexis­ sions as part of this proposed chain. Concem tence of events. There are, however, some for the spiritual welfare of the natives aside, interesting comparisons that might be made. these missions were specifically the mission­ There is probably a noteworthy difference aries' answer to the raiding problem. If they between the response of the free Indians and had been established, they might weh have those in the missions to the Spanish invasion. been successful, if only by reducing the The free Indians developed an active, hostile number of Indians through the usual high response; the Mission Indians became apa­ mission death rate. However, the necessary thetic, died, or ran away. They hardly ever help never came, and the missions were revolted. They also declined more rapidly in fortunately never established. numbers. Cook (1943a:35) felt that this The ultimate answer to the conflict was difference was due to the Mission Indians American settlement. W.G. foresaw this: he being protected and the free Indians not, thus hoped that the raids would be stopped by being forced to make thek own adjustment to getting the Indians to work for the Americans a changed situation, and finding a more viable and "forgetting their misery." Then, after the one. Furthermore, the Mission Indians were successful raid of December 14, 1846, he subjected to far more radical cultural changes stated, "I am sorry to be of the opinion that than the free Indians, and seem to have been nothing but the extermination of many of the unable to adapt to them. The rapid and Indian tribes will ever prevent these out­ effective adaptation of the free Indians to a rages . . . the Tulare valley will be the first far less radically changed situation is remark­ place for setthng, and these impunitous out­ able enough, and speaks well for their percep- rages will come to an end in a few months tiveness and courage for change. Cook ..." (W.G. 1924:197, 234, 235). The Ameri­ (I943a:35) described it as "an adaptation can solution was the establishment of a to new conditions of the first order of permanent, settled farming population in the magnitude." CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 99

The few occasions when Mission Indians made more leisure available, which meant did revolt in Cahfomia are interesting. There more time to fight. Horses undoubtedly was a violent revolt at San Diego mission in changed the character of warfare to some 1775; Father Jayme was kiHed, and the extent, just as cavalry warfare is different mission was temporarily abandoned. There from infantry warfare anywhere. These ef­ was a threat of further trouble there in fects of the advent of the horse on Plains August 1777, and one soldier was killed. In warfare may be summed up thus: an added July, 1781, the Yuma Indians attacked mis­ motive, increased leisure, and changes in sion establishments on the Colorado River, form. They are changes within a system which were wiped out and never reestab- already present. hshed. These are the only known instances of In the case of California, the advent of the conflict in the early mission period. Revolts horse, with other factors, led to the develop­ also occurred in 1824 at Santa Barbara, Santa ment of a raiding complex where there does Ynez, and La Purisima as a result of a kind of not seem to have been one before. However, messianic movement. the raids were not made with the specific The Yuma and the Mohave were the only intent of kiUing the Cahfornios, or simply for Cahfomia tribes with a well-developed war the sake of fighting, or because fighting complex. The Diegueno were thek hnguistic brought honor. Actual fighting appears, rath­ relatives, and shared some of thek traits. Here er, to have been avoided if possible. The then appears to He the decisive difference: a immediate, and probably the sole conscious cultural one. The Santa Barbara revolt is reason for making raids was to get horses to much later, and I am unwillkig to hypothesize eat, and later to sell just as wild animal hides on the effects of messianic movements. were sold to trappers. The raiding complex in Since one of the factors in the develop­ Cahfornia can therefore be seen as an exten­ ment of conflict in Central California appears sion of the already-present hunting complex. to have been the introduction of the horse, Again, the changes were within an existing another possibihty for comparison presents system. On the surface, then, there seems to itself. In the Plains area, the introduction of be some similarity between the effect of the the horse brought cultural changes. First, it horse on the Plains and on California, but on made for greater mobility. It meant that the deeper analysis, the similarity disappears. possible hunting range could be larger, and Deeper still, a new similarity tums up: people this increased wealth. The use of the horse tend to keep on behaving the way they have instead of the dog with the travois meant that always behaved, and when they change, they more goods could be transported, and hence change in ways consistent with their old that more goods could be owned, and, inci­ behavior. dentally, that the tepee could be larger- University of California which the larger number of buffalo hides Riverside available from the increased hunting range had also made possible. Then horses them­ selves became a form of wealth, one which NOTES had the advantage of being self-perpetuating 1. This paper was written in 1953 as a seminar report and self-increasing. However, they could be for Sociology 21 OB, Historical Sociology, taught by stolen, and among some groups stealing one's Professor Kenneth Bock at the University of Califor­ enemies' horses became a war honor. The nia, Berkeley. It has been revised only for purposes of greater ease of hunting on horseback probably stylistic improvement. It seemed to me that although 100 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

this paper was written so long ago, it is still of Fresno: Academy of California Church sufficient interest to present here, albeit with apol­ History. ogies for gaps due to materials published since it was Farnham, T. J. written. 1850 Life, Adventure, and Travels in Cahfor­ 2. Californio means a Spanish-speak ing inhabitant of nia .. . to which are added the Conquest California before it was ceded to the United States. of California, Travels in Oregon, and His­ This is what they called themselves, and it has the tory of the Gold Regions. New York: advantage of being applicable under both Spanish and Nafis and Cornish. Mexican rule. G.,W. 1924 Letters from California, 1846. The Maga­ REFERENCES zine of History, with Notes and Queries, No. 103. Paginated at top of page, pp. Alvarado, Juan Bautista 153-205; at bottom of page, pp. 221-273. 1840 [Bando]. Departmental State Papers, Hutton, William Rich Monterey, Vol. 3, ff. 85-90. July 4. 1942 Glances at California, 1847-1853: Diaries Bancroft Library, Archives of California, and Letters of William Rich Hutton, Sur- Vol. 43. Berkeley. veyer, with a Brief Memoir and Notes by Beattie, George William Willard 0. Waters. San Marino, Cahfornia: 1930 California's Unbuilt Missions: Spanish The Huntington Library. Plans for an Inland Chain. Los Angeles: Laplace, Cyrille Pierre Theodore The author. 1854 Campagne de circumnavigation de la fre- Belcher, Edward gate I'Artemise, pendant les annees 1837, 1843 Narrative of a Voyage Round the World, 1838, 1839, et 1840 Vol. 6 of 6 vols. Performed in Her Majesty's Ship Sulphur, Paris: Arthus Bertrand. During the Years 1836-1842. Vol. 1 of 2 Larkin, Thomas Oliver vols. London: Henry Colburn. 1917 Larkin's Description of California. Robert Bidwell, John G. Cleland, Ed. Historical Society of 1948 In California Before the Gold Rush. Los Southern California, Annual Publications Angeles: The Ward Ritchie Press. 10(3): 70-74. Castro, Jose Lewis, Oscar, Ed. 1838 Castro to Alvarado. Departmental State 1934 California in 1846, Described in Letters Papers, Vol. 4, p. 231. September 26. from Thomas 0. Larkin, "The Farthest Bancroft Library, Archives of California, West," E. M. Kern, and "Justice." San Vol. 29. Berkeley. Francisco: The Grabhorn Press. Cook, Sherburne F. Ord, Angustias de la Guerra y Norriega de 1943a The Conflict Between the California In­ n.d. Ocurrencias en California. Manuscript in dian and White Civilization: II. The Physi­ the Bancroft Library, Berkeley. cal and Demographic Reaction of the Robinson, Alfred Nonmission Indians in Colonial and Pro­ 1891 Life in California During a Residence of vincial California. Ibero-Americana 22. Several Years in that Territory .... With 1943b The Conflict Between the California In­ an Appendix; Bringing Forward the Narra­ dian and White Civilization: III. The tive from 1846, to the Occupation of the American Invasion, 1848-1870. Ibero- Country by the United States. San Fran­ Americana 23. cisco: William Doxey. Culleton, James Roquefeuil, Camille de 1950 Indians and Pioneers of Old Monterey. 1823 A Voyage Round the World, Between the CONFLICT AT MONTEREY 101

Years 1816-1819 . . . in the Ship Le Bor- During the Years 1841 and 1842. Phila­ delais. In New Voyages and Travels, delphia: Lea and Blanchard. Vol. 9, No. 6. London: Richard Phillips Walpole, Fred and Co. 1849 Four Years in the Pacific in Her Majesty's Ruschenburger, W. S. W. Ship "Collingwood" from 1844 to 1848. 1938 A Voyage Round the Worid, Including an Vol. 2 of 2 vols. London: Richard Embassy to Muscat and Siam, in 1835, Bentley. 1836, and 1837. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea Wise, Lieut. and Blanchard. 1849 Los Gringos: or, an Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Simpson, George Chile, and Polynesia. New York; Baker 1847 An Overiand Journey Around the World, and Scribner.