Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard

by Zenas Leonard

  21st. This morning the ocean was calm as it was the previous evening. – All its sleeping energies were lashed into fury, and the mountain waves of the great deep would roll and dash against the shore, producing the most deafening sound. In the course of the day a detachment of our company was despatched to make discoveries, who returned in the evening and stated that they had discovered many signs of white people, whom they supposed to be Spaniards, but they were unable to come up with them. This same party also found the carcase of a whale which was ninety feet long – the tusks weighing 4 1/2 pounds. About noon of the third day after we arrived here, the attention of the company was directed to an object which could be dimly seen at a distance riding on the water, which was immediately judged to be a ship, but no one knew from whence it came, where it belonged or where going. It was now our curiosity to know more of this singular object and if possible to attract their attention and bring them to shore. Accordingly we fastened two white blankets together and hoisted them into the air on a pole. This had the desired effect. It was not long until we could tell that the distance between us was fast diminishing, and our joy and surprise may be imagined when we beheld the broad stripes and bright stars of the American flag waving majestically in the air at the mast head. The ship anchored some distance from the shore and the boats were despatched to see what nation we belonged to, and what our business was. Their astonishment was equally as great as ours when they ascertained that we were children of the same nation of themselves. On making this discovery, and a signal to that effect being given by the boats, the ship fired several salutes of cannon in honor of our meeting, which made the welkin ring. – On further acquaintance we ascertained this ship (the Lagoda) to belong to Boston, commanded by Capt. Baggshaw. After exchanging civilities by shaking hands all round, Capt. Baggshaw strongly insisted on us going on board and partaking of the ships fare, stating that he had a few casks of untapped Coneac. This was an invitation that none of us had the least desire to refuse, and accordingly 45 of us went on board the Lagoda, leaving the remainder to take care of the camp, amp;c. When arriving on the ship Capt. B., had a table spread with the choicest of liquors amp; best fare the ship would afford, which was immediately surrounded with hungry Capt's. Mates, Clerks, Sailors and greasy trappers – after eating, the glass was passed around in quick succession, first drinking after the fashion of brave Jack Tars, and afterwards in the mountain style, mixed with something of the manners of the natives, in order to amuse the sailors.

  After we got on board, the sea became very rough, causing the vessel to pitch and plunge a great deal as she lay at anchor, and consequently I was compelled to return to shore from sea sickness. The balance remained and kept up the celebration until daylight the next morning, when they all returned to land, accompanied by the ships crew to taper off on the harder fare of the trapper and hunter. The feast on the vessel was far superior to anything we could give them, although they appeared perfectly satisfied with the reception they met with from us, as it was a long time since they had tasted any fresh meat, or any thing but salted victuals; and theirs was the first bread, butter, cheese, amp;c., that we had seen for more than two years.

  After the feasting was at an end, Capt. Baggshaw gave us a description of the country to enable us to lay our plans accordingly. He said the nearest settlement was the town of St. Francisco, about forty miles north of our present encampment, situated on the south side of the Francisco Bay, formed by the river which we descended, which he calls Two Laries, or Bush river. It is about three-fourths of a mile wide at its mouth, and is considered a safe harbor for almost any quantity of vessels; and within 60 or 70 miles South of us is the town of Monterey, also Spanish, the capital of this province, amp; which is called Upper Calafornia. He also informed us that about 60 or 70 miles north of St. Francisco, and about 100 miles from our present position was a Russian settlement, which consists of about 150 families who settled in this country a few years ago for the purpose of catching sea otter, which are of great value, on account of the quality of the fur. They also cultivate the ground to a considerable extent. Captain Baggshaw went and examined the carcase of the whale which our men had found, and pronounced it to be the Sperm whale, the oil of which is of the most valuable kind. He supposed it had been washed here when the sea was rough during a storm, and was unable to make its way back over the sand bars. From him we also learned some further particulars concerning the mountain which had caused us so many hardships in crossing, parts of which was visible from the ocean, particularly the snow covered peaks. This he called the Calafornia mountain, as it runs parallel with the coast for a great distance, commencing at the mouth of the Columbia river, and extending along the coast to the mouth of Red river, or Gulf of Calafornia, forming a beautiful country from the sea shore to the base of the mountain, and extending north and south a distance of about 6 or 700 miles of rich soil, well timbered and abundantly watered by innumerable small streams heading in the mountain and flowing toward the Father of Waters.

  Most of this vast waste of territory belongs to the Republic of the United States. What a theme to contemplate its settlement and civilization. Will the jurisdiction of the federal government ever succeed in civilizing the thousands of savages now roaming over these plains, and her hardy freeborn population here plant their homes, build their towns and cities, and say here shall the arts and sciences of civilization take root and flourish? yes, here, even in this remote part of the great west before many years, will these hills and valleys be greeted with the enlivening sound, of the workman's hammer, and the merry whistle of the plough-boy. But this is left undone by the government, and will only be seen when too late to apply the remedy. The Spaniards are making inroads on the South – the Russians are encroaching with impunity along the sea shore to the North, and further North east the British are pushing their stations into the very heart of our territory, which, even at this day, more resemble military forts to resist invasion, than trading stations. Our government should be vigilant. She should assert her claim by taking possession of the whole territory as soon as possible for we have good reason to suppose that the territory west of the mountain will some day be equally as important to a nation as that on the east.

  The next day Capt. Baggshaw took leave of us and started out on his trading expedition – appointing Monterey as the point where we were to meet in a few days.

  The next morning after the departure of the ship, we were all in readiness to start for Monterey, the Capital of the Province, which lays in a southern direction. After travelling a few miles along the coast finding it very difficult in consequence of the wet, swampy ground, we found the carcase of another large fish, measuring 47 feet in length, with a horn or sword projecting from its nose 12 1/2 inches long. As travelling so near the water still continued difficult, we here concluded to strike out into the plain, where we found much better walking, the country being quite level, soil rich, and a few Indians. Some of these natives live well, as they cultivate pumpkins, beans, and some of them Indian corn – they also raise an abundance of melons, which grow to an enormous size. But all these Indians still seemed to be very ignorant and stupid.

  On the evening of the 22d November we encamped at some rough hills near a small creek. In this neighborhood there are a great number of these hills, all of which are well covered with excellent timber, and abounding with all kinds of game except buffaloe. The most of our company had become nearly bare-footed for want of moccasins, as we had wore out every thing of the kind in travelling from the Rocky mountains – and, as winter was approaching, and no one knowing what kind of a reception we would meet with among the Spaniards, it was advised that we should tarry here and provide ourselves with an abundant winter supply of shoes. Accordingly, our hunters were despatched to scour these hills for the purpose of getting hides to make moccasins, amp;c., when we would be at leisure. In the evening the hunters all returned to camp, with the tongues of 93 deer and some of the hides, and also of some wild cattle, which a
re likewise very numerous. They brought the tongues in order to show the number each man had killed. The wild cattle are very timerous, keeping hid pretty much all day and feed at night. They are much wilder than deer, elk, amp;c. Our hunters brought in some of the choice parts of the cattle they killed, which was quite fat beef, but it was much inferior to the meat of the buffaloe of the Rocky mountains. These cattle incline much to rough and hilly parts of the country, owing, it is supposed, to the Spaniards and Indians hunting them when found in the plains.

  23d. This morning we directed our course across these hills. On arriving at the foot of the hills on the South side, we found one of the horns of these cattle which measured 3 1/2 feet on the outside or bend, and one foot in circumference at the root or thickest part. This we supposed had been the horn of an ox. These cattle are much larger and look better in their wild state than when domesticated. Their horns particularly are much larger than those of our country – but this is probably owing to the softness of the climate; as here there is no winter nor freezing weather. We continued across the plain and arrived on the banks of a small creek which empties into the sea at the distance of 7 or 8 miles, where we encamped for the night. Not long after we had halted, there was eight Spaniards arrived at our camp, from whom we found it as difficult to get information of any kind, as from most of the Indians. All our efforts to make them understand signs was unavailing, and not one of our company understood a word of Spanish. – They were fine portly looking men, but looked as if they had been [out] cast from civilized society as long as ourselves. They remained with us all night.

  24th. We set out this morning for Monterey accompanied by the Spaniards as guides, who piloted us to the house of a Mr. Gilroy, who had been a brave and dutiful Tar in his younger days, when he had learned to speak a little English. – From this old man we gathered much useful information as to the country, climate, people, natives, amp;c. Here we concluded to remain for the night. The old man showed every disposition to give us all the information he could, and treated us very kindly. We ascertained that we were within 35 miles of Monterey. In the morning we started in the direction of Monterey, intending to pass through the town of St. Juan or John which lay in the course we were going. Here we found the travelling much easier, as we now had some kind of roads to travel on, although they were far from being wagon roads – running through an extensive prairie of rich soil, with here and there a lonely hut built near some grove of timber or brook. Towards evening we arrived at St. Juan, which we now found to be a Spanish Missionary station for the establishment of the christian religion and civilization among the Indians.

  Here Capt. Walker deemed it prudent to halt for a few days, in order to ascertain the disposition of the people, amp; make further inquiries with respect to the country, amp;c., lest we might be considered as intruders and treated in a way that we would not much like. It was our desire to keep on peaceable terms with the Spaniards, at least no one desired to give the least offence of any kind – knowing that Spaniards and Indians had quite a different mode of carrying on a warfare. We obtained privilege from the Priests to select a convenient place for grass, wood, water, amp;c., to pitch our encampment, and immediately commenced erecting a breast work, with which to defend ourselves in case we were attacked by Indians or anything else that chose to molest us. From information gained here, Capt. Walker thought it advisable to go no further into their country, or the inhabited parts of it, owing to the difficulty in getting pasture for our horses and provisions for ourselves – as there is no preparations of any kind made for the accommodation of travellers; besides the expense of living would be much less to remain here where game was plenty and grass good.

  To-day Capt. Walker, after getting a passport, which is necessary for a stranger to have in passing from one ward or district to another, and which must be renewed by the Alcalde or Squire in each district, took two men and started for Monterey, where he intended presenting himself to the Governor, and asking the permission of his Excellency to pass the winter in his settlements, and to inform him where we were from, our business, intentions, amp;c.

  St. Juan or St. John is beautifully situated on the banks of a small creek in a rich level plain, about 20 miles from the coast and about the same distance from Monterey, containing from six to seven hundred inhabitants – all of whom are Indians, with the exception of the Priests and 15 or 20 people, who are occupied in teaching and instructing these heathens in the ways of religion and truth; besides giving them instructions in the art of farming and rendering the soil productive – with the hope that they will eventually succeed in inculcating into the minds of the savages such a knowledge of agriculture as will greatly conduce to the amelioration of the red man's condition. Their habitations are simple in construction – mostly such as may be found in the wildest parts of the mountains. But those of the Missionary establishment are quite different, amp; plainly show the superiority of the white man over the Indian, both as regards comfort and convenience. This station much resembles a fort or garrison. The part which is called the Church, forms one side or end. The other three sides are divided into different departments like cells, each cell sheltering so many Indians, and covers near half an acre of ground, with the door of each cell opening to the inside. These buildings are the same as if they were under one roof, with the exception of a gate at each corner of the square. The buildings are constructed of brick, the principal part of which are dried in the sun. – The walls are built thick and strong when built of this kind of brick. For rafters they use poles tolerably well shaped, and for lathing they make use of poles of a smaller size. The roof is generally composed of a kind of cane grass which is carefully laid on the rafters and then covered with earth; for which purpose they generally have the roof nearly flat in order to hold the earth. But the church, or principal building, is built of handsome brick, and is well finished, being covered with tile. For the instruction of these Indians there is four hours of each day devoted to education and prayer, and the balance of the day is occupied in teaching them the rudiments of agriculture and the mechanical arts. The females are carefully instructed in the art of sewing, and other accomplishments of housewifery. Every thing in this station is under the control amp; management of the Priests, who exercise the authority of Governor, Judge, amp;c., being privileged to try and condemn all criminal acts.

  On the first evening we spent in our new encampment, we were shown the manner in which the Spaniards take wild cattle, which was quite a different practice from that used by the Indians of the Rocky mountains in taking buffaloe, amp;c. Never less than two goes at a time, who are always on the back of their fleetest horses, each provided with a strong cord with a noose fixed on one end. When the animal is started they give chase and the rider that overtakes the game first, throws the noose round its neck or horns, and begins to draw the noose tight. When the noose is found to be secure he gives the cord several winds round the pummel of the saddle, (which is made strong for this purpose) and stops his horse all of a sudden which throws the animal to the ground and frequently breaks its neck. If the animal is thrown without injury, the other hunter comes forward with his noose and fastens it round its hind foot, which enables them to manage the stoutest and most ferocious bulls. Having thus captured their object of pursuit, they sometimes have great trouble in getting them home alive. The one with the cord round the animals head goes before while he with the cord fastened to the hind foot stays in the rear. If their prisoner becomes refractory and refuses to advance, the man in the rear commences whipping, while he in front uses many devices to provoke the brute, until it in a fit of rage makes at him, when he puts off at full speed, and sometimes run two or three miles in this way without stopping. In this manner they brought a large handsome cow into our camp this evening which we purchased, and found to be good beef.

  Although they exhibit a great degree of dexterity in taking these wild beasts, their mode of killing them is far different. – When they want to butcher their beef they make
the horse with the noose round the neck pull a different way from the one with the noose round the foot, until the animal is thrown on the ground, when they dismount and cut its throat with large knives.