The Squadron Under Heceta Had Hardly Got Under Way, When The
Commander Of The San Carlos, Don Miguel Manrique, Suddenly Went Mad.
Ayala Was Ordered To The Command Of The Packet-Boat, And Returned To San
Blas With The Unfortunate Officer, To Follow The Squadron A Few Days
Later.
In December, 1775, Ayala conducted a reconnaissance on the coast of New
Spain, and at its conclusion was placed in command of the Santiago, and
until October, 1778, served the new establishments of California.
In
August, 1779, he was sent to the Philippine Islands in command of the
San Carlos, returning to San Blas in 1781. In July, 1784, he returned to
Spain, and on March 14, 1785, was retired, at his own request, the royal
order granting him full pay as captain of frigate in consideration of
his services to California. He died December 30, 1797.
Zoeth S. Eldredge,
E. J. Molera,
Charles H. Crocker,
San Francisco, August, 1909. - Committee.
The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco
by
Zoeth S. Eldredge.
The popular mind accepts the oft-repeated statement that the settlement
of California was due to the pious zeal of a devoted priest, eager to
save the souls of the heathen, supplemented by the paternal care of a
monarch solicitous for the welfare of his subjects. The political
exigencies of the day are forgotten; military commanders and civil
governors sink into insignificance and become mere executives of the
priestly will, while the heroic efforts of Junipero Serra to convert the
natives, his courage in the face of danger, his sublime zeal, and his
unwearied devotion, make him the impelling factor in the colonization of
California.
Nor is the popular conception that the church led the way into
California strange, when we understand that it is to the writings of
Fray Francisco Palou, friend, disciple, and successor of Junipero, that
all historians turn for the account of the occupation. Fray Palou
details the glorious life of the leader with whom he toiled; he
eulogizes the worthy priest, the ardent missionary, as he passed up and
down the length of the land, founding missions, planting the vine, the
olive, and the fruit tree in a land whose inhabitants had often suffered
from hunger; giving aid and comfort to the sick and weary and
consolation to the dying. Indeed, the pictures of the padres are
fascinating. The infant establishments planted by the church grew rich
and powerful, but so wise and gentle was the administration of the
priests and so generous their hospitality, that life in California in
the first quarter of the nineteenth century was an almost dolce far
niente existence.
Radiant as is the priestly figure of Junipero drawn by Palou, the
careful investigator will find that the impelling factor in the
occupation of California was stern military necessity, not missionary
zeal. From the time of Cabrillo, Spain had claimed the coasts of the
Pacific up to forty-two degrees north latitude by right of discovery,
but more than two hundred years had passed and she had done nothing
towards making good this right by settlement.
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