The Economic Aspects of California Missions, Robert Archibald
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California State University, Monterey Bay Digital Commons @ CSUMB Franciscan Publications Spanish Viceroyalty [AD 1542/1769-1821] 2-1-2017 1978 – The Economic Aspects of California Missions, Robert Archibald Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_spa_2 Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, Education Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation "1978 – The Economic Aspects of California Missions, Robert Archibald" (2017). Franciscan Publications. 1. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_spa_2/1 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Spanish Viceroyalty [AD 1542/1769-1821] at Digital Commons @ CSUMB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Franciscan Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CSUMB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS ROBERT ARCHIBALD ACADEMY OF AMERICAN FRANCISCAN HISTORY WASHINGTON, D.C. t CUM PERM!SSU SUPERIORUM COPYRIGHT, 1978, BY ACADEMY OF AMERICAN FRANCISCAN HISTORY PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE WILLIAM BYRD PRESS, INC RICHMOND, VIRGINIA THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS Table of Contents Page Introduction XI Chapter I. Economic Features of Institutes of Government . 1 II. Price Regulation . 11 III. The Connection with San Blas . 2 7 IV. Mission Reports and Accounts . 6 3 V. Mission Economic Relationships with Civilians, Military and Government 74 VI. Trade with the Outside World . 115 VII. Mission Labor . 142 VIII. Mission Agriculture . 159 Conclusion . 18 3 Bibliography . 18 7 Index . 191 List of Tables Tu� �e 1. Selected Shipments from San Blas . .. .. .. .. 12 2. Prices for Goods Received at Mission San Carlos . .. .. 1 3 3. Foodstuffs in Early Shipments to California . .. .. .. 33 4. Supplies in Early Shipments in California . .. .. 34 5. Purchase Account of Mission Santa Barbara 1 78 6-1810 5 5 6. Prices of Selected Items Remitted to Mission Santa Barbara . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 57 7. Cost of Cargo and Freight on Goods Shipped to Santa Barbara and San Diego . .. .. .. .. .. 58 8. Government Subsidies to the Missions 1776-1777 . .. .. 87 9. Debts of Monterey Presidio to Mission San Carlos 1 78 8- 1821 ..... ,. .. .. .. .. .. .. 98 10. Items Frequently Purchased by Missions from Presidios 100 11. Supplies Sold by Missions to Presidios .. .. .. 104 12. Drafts in Favor of Mission Purfsima 1809-1819 . .. .. .. 112 13. Goods Given by the "Mercury" in Exchange for Otter Skins . .. .. .. .. .. .. 133 14. Otter Sold and Value of Cash and Goods Received in Payment . .. .. .. .. .. .. 134 15. Mission Population 1 78 5 -1821 . .. .. .. .. 154 16. Percentage of Wheat in Mission Harvests of Staple Crops 1785-1821 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 167 1 7. Sowings, Harvest and Yields of Wheat, Barley and Corn 1785-1821 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 169 18. Percentage of Maize in Mission Harvests of Staple Crops 1785-1821 ..................................... 171 19. Percentage of Barley in Mission Harvests of Staple Crops 1785-1821 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 172 20. Percentage of Kidney Beans in Total Mission Harvests 1,!7 85-1821 ····································· 176 21. Mission Herds of Major Livestock . .. .. .. .. .. 1 79 22. Mission Herds of Minor Livestock . .. .. .. .. 181 Introduction The three leading institutions of the northern frontier of New Spain, presidio, pueblo and mission, were active agents which planted Hispanic culture indelibly upon California. Though partners on the frontier, each served a distinct function. The presidio represented the military and secular authority essential for the success of the other two. It was integral to the grand design of the mad genius of Jose de Galvez to block Russian southward encroachment. Spain, rejuvenated under Charles 111, was engaging in what has been called "aggressive defensive expansion." Al though frequently clothed in terms of a pious mission to the natives of Alta California, the motivation for the "Sacred Expedition" to colonize the area has more to do with the international strategy of the Spanish Bourbons. The pueblo and mission were intended to secure Spain's hold upon New California. The pueblos, Los Angeles, San Jose, and for a time, Branciforte, in addition to civilian settlements which gradually grew up around presidios and missions, were intended to supplement the military with agricultural products. This, it was hoped, would relieve Spain of maintaining the expensive and uncertain supply line linking California with the Port of San Blas. Although the pueblos gradually matured into centers of Spanish civilization, they never fulfilled expectations. Frontier California offered little to Mexican civilians of the better sort and not enough was done to attract them. Furthermore, civilians could not compete with the cheap labor provided by Indian neophytes at the missions. The mission in its dual role as an institution of colonial control and as an economic enterprise became the dynamo of Hispanic California. The ordained role of the mission as a frontier institution was the Christian ization and Hispanicization of native peoples. This function implied the gathering of Indians into communities which in turn demanded economic activity for their support. To achieve this it was essential that they be trained in agricultural methods and that they acquire skills necessary to support themselves in Hispanic society. The mission theoretically belonged to the Indians with the missionary as a trustee who would oversee the mission until the natives had been Hispanicized. Ideally, the process was expected to take ten years but in practice, no mission was turned over to its Xl XU ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CALIFORNIA MISSION Indian residents during the fifty-two years of Spanish domination in California. The missionaries themselves were acutely aware of the eco nomic role of the mission. In addition to the obvious requisite of Indians, mission sites were selected with an eye to the fertility of the soil, the availability of water and the proximity of timber. After 1 780 the missions approached agricultural self-sufficiency and assumed the role of supplying the military, which it had been hoped civilian settlement would fill. The economic role of the mission was further enhanced by the dis locations caused by the Mexican independence movement after 181 o. The tenuous maritime link with San Blas was snapped and the missions became responsible for the economic survival of California. Only the missions possessed the surplus products which could be exchanged with outsiders for necessary items not produced in California. As sources for trade goods and cash loaned and given to the military, the missions became, in effect, California's first banks. Without the excess produce of the missions, commercial relations with outsiders, both Spanish and foreign, would have been impossible and the very existence of Spanish California would have been in question. As artisans from Mexico taught their skills to Indian neophytes, the missions supplied the military with their products and with skilled labor. It was the mission trained Indian who supplied clothing, shoes, saddles, weapons and a myriad of other goods in addition to building harbors, gun emplacements, homes, churches and government buildings. The California missions as frontier institutions, must be viewed as pastoral, agricultural, mercantile and financial organizations. It is the development of these economic functions which this work will explore. Abbreviations AAFH Academy of American Franciscan History AASF Archive of the Archbishop of San Francisco AGI Archivo General de lndias AGN Archivo General de la Nacion BNM Archivo de la Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico BL Bancroft Library CHSQ California Historical Society Quarterly DHM Documentos para la Historia de Mexico (AGN) DML Doheny Memorial Library HAHR Hispanic American Historical Review HL Huntington Library JAH journal of Agricultural History MNM Archivo de! Museo Nacional SBMA Santa Barbara Mission Archives SCHSQ Southern California Historical Society Quarterly UTA University of Texas Archives Xlll THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS CHAPTER ONE Economic Features of Institutes of Government l't -- -��NTH� EIGHTEENTJ:l. CENTU�Y, SPAIN CLUNG_ "D r_,;. tenac10usly to mercanulist economic theory which had � ..,, served her in the past. The idea that colonial economies ,,,_ r::, were to be complementary and supplementary to that of ::.J the mother country was extended to the frontier outpost .,...�.," ·. =-. of California. Combined with this was a long tradition of Hapsburg and Bourbon absolutism which extended royal power to the smallest detail. Hence, it is not surprising to find a series of provisions I 76 1, designed to regulate the economy of California. From 8. to 178 various reglamentos determined the future course of the California econ omy. For early Hispanic California, the regulations were crucial. A frontier situation combined with geographic isolation made every peso and every parcel shipped from San Blas of utmost importance. A bureaucratic delay or error or a shipwreck was a matter affecting survival. Con sequently, quarrels and deep concern surrounded what from our vantage point seem to be minor items. Economically, Alta California was bal anced precipitously from I 769 to I 78 1 with only a gradual improvement. It was in Lower California and under the auspices of Jose de Galvez, the great Visitor-General,