July 31, 2013
Tattered Tidbit
Our,Back Country In 1795
In the mission archives of
Santa Barbara there is a faded
manuscript by missionary Juan
Mariner. It's not an easy read,
but it is readable.
This Franciscan friar reported
the first expedition with six San
Diego presidio soldiers led by
AIf6rez Don Pablo de Grijalva,
to the valley around present
Lake Henshaw. AIf6rez is
an old Moorish officer's rank.
They went by way of Rancho
San Luis[Santee], Cafiada de
los Alisos[Sycamore Canyon],
Pamo (Ramona) and Samptay
Luscat, where he counted 109
men. Maybe that was around
Mesa Grande.
On August 19, 1795, their
third day out, they came to the
valley whose lower portion is
now occupied by Lake Henshaw.
Mariner named the valley San
Jos6 and estimated its size as
9 by almost 4 miles. The name
endures; the estimate was good.
Even in summer they found
a large gully of water and three
springs below the Indian village
of Tawee at the base of Monkey
Hill. Downstream was much
good land.
Tawee was similarly described
by later missionaries in 1821 and
much later was precisely located
by U.S. federal surveyors. On an
early Spanish-language map, the
rocky Monkey Hill was indicated
as "pico pedragoso," i.e. rocky
peak. Look for it right next to the
lake; you can't miss it.
Much farther upstream the
Indians showed them a very
large swamp with three very
large springs of water which
bubbled up high, as if boiling (3
ojos de agua grandissimos..
.como si estuviese hirviendo).
Mariner observed that this
water could be conducted to very
arable land in the valley called by
Indians Jatir Ja. J& (pronounced
"ha") meant water in the Mau
language (Dieguefio Kumeyaay),
and is found in place names like
Jamul, Jamacha, Japatul, and
Jacumba. Missionaries heard
by Albert Simonson
the word "mau" a lot. It meant no,
and it must have rankled them.
It seems that Mariner did
not explore as far as Warner
Springs (Cupa, or Jacopin, or
Agua Caliente), where a different
language was spoken, but he
explicitly called it by the Indian
name Jacopin, so he must have
known of it. The question arises
as to where these particular
artesian springs were situated.
Santa Ysabel real estater
Donn Bree knows back country
ranchland. I gave him the exact
text of the Mariner manuscript
and asked if he knew of any
such springs that would flow
abundantly in late summer.
Mariner wrote: "It is so good
a place that everybody said,
and I say also, that it is not only
suitable for a mission but also for
a presidio and a mission."
It seems that relations with
the native population were so
good that a military presidio was
deemed optional. It is generally
true that natives were initially
tolerant of newcomers until cattle
threatened their food sources.
Donn responded that the
likeliest site is Chimney Lake
about 2 miles west of Warner
Springs. That is the confluence
of Cafiada Agua Caliente and
Cafiada Verde. Highway 79
loops around to the north of
Chimney Lake near a landing
field.
Even with modern deep wells
drawing down groundwater, these
springs are still artesian with
verdant vegetation. Evidently,
water at Warner Springs is not
impeded orwithdrawn sufficiently
to dry up these lower springs.
Upstream at the head of the
gully, Lieutenant Emory with the
1846 Army of the West measured
45 and 137 degrees in adjacent
streams. Indians ofAgua Caliente
had already dug out pools where
these streams could be mixed
to a desired temperature simply
by redirecting streams in the
gravel by hand. On cold nights,
they slept in the mixed waters,
Tawee or "Monkey Hill / Monkey Island" at Lake Henshaw
Photo by Laramie Huffman
a prototypical heated water
bed with natural circulation for
unexcelled personal hygiene.
Acenturylater, thetemperatures
were still unchanged. Natives
valued cleanliness and found the
immigrants to be a tad stinky.
Mariner's soldier escort noted
that the trip from San Diego
could be made in one day if only
a road were fixed up.
Mariner did not linger; they
followed the present alignment of
Highway 76'down to Pala, which
already was known by that name.
In doing so, he left the 26
villages where Mau was spoken
and entered "Luisefio" territory.
Near Lake Henshaw's dam
was Curila. Downstream were
the villages Topame, Quque,
Cupame,, and then Pauma.
Years would pass before
the padres would have any
significant effect upon this part
of the country. Cattle with San
Diego Mission's SD brand were
pastured there but opposition by
native people caused the mission
later to withdraw the cattle.
Flocks of sheep were pastured
as well. The mission of San Luis
Rey, too, kept animals there.
One of the leatherjacket
soldiers, Corporal Vicente
Feliz, is regarded as the most
important in Los Angeles history.
On orders from Governor Fages,
he commanded the founding of
the pueblo Nuestra Sefiora la
Reina de Los Angeles.
Don Pablo, who came with the
Anza expedition from Sonora,
was married to an "Espafiola"
and kept his own diary of the
expedition. Both men were in
their fifties, deemed old for the
time. Don Pablo was the original
ranchero of (Santiago de) Santa
Ana.
Padre Mariner was buried
at San Diego Mission in 1800,
remembered for his good
relations with Indians. In
contrast, another padre, Jos6
Pan,o, flogged his Indian cook
so many times in one day that
the disgruntled cook put poison
in his soup. Many Indians were
quite expert at that.
Think about that the next time
you fussily tell a waiter to return
your food to the cook. You never
know what he,ll do to it back
there.
The Indians of Valle de San
Jos6 and Agua Caliente were
not as profoundly affected by the
mission and its herds and flocks
as were Santa Ysabel Indians.
There is scant evidence of grain
fields, an orchard and buildings
around 1830.
The old and sickly were
attended there by famous
curandera "La Beata" Apolinaria
who devoted her saintly life
to both Christian natives and
"gentile" pagans on her long and
frequent visits. As in Europe and
even at ancient Greek "asklepia"
[clinics], water therapy was part
of the cure.
The padres were fondly
remembered by Indians in 1846
after the mission had been
supplanted by private rancheros
and traders and they were
found to be living in squalid
"feudal" conditions. The Indians
remembered better conditions
from mission times. They
expected better treatment by the
invaders from the states in 1846.
Instead, they were driven off the
land to a camp at Pala.
Grijalva's account supports and
amplifies Mariner's account, and
names more rancherias. Most
cannot be located with certainty.
His account was summarized bY
Bancroft, but not preserved. The
Mariner diary original is in Santa
Barbara mission archives,
Mariner's writing is that of a
pioneering agronomist, with only
one pro forma rnention of religion.
In this, he is unlike the fanatical
Junipero Serra who reveled in
shed blood and in mortification
of his own flesh.
Mariner cast an appraising eye
The Julian News 9
upon our back country to locate
building materials and water and
to estimate acheivable harvests
in fanegas (Spanish bushels) of
beans, maize, and wheat, staples
to better the lives of natives.
Spiritually, the "gentile" (pagan]
Indians were doing just fine with
their western-hemispheric faith
and I think Mariner was okay
with that for the time being.
Their religion made sense. Their
technology, though, needed
upgrading, and it was to come in
the form of irrigation, cattle, sheep
and good new jobs as Spanish-
style vaqueros and farmers.
Vaqueros (cowboy English:
buckaroos) were wellsprings for
our western jargon like lariat,
lasso, hoosegow, bronco, rodeo,
corral, chaps, sombrero, etc.
Our gringo "western" culture
and early Hollywood would have
been poorer if we didn't have
all that. Without it, we might not
even have any culture.
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