Introduction
Early Days at the Mission San Juan Bautista; A Narrative of Incidents Connected with the Days when California was Young, by Issac L. Mylar
Published: Watsonville, Calif., the Evening Pajaronian, 1929
Copy No. 22
To the Reader
ORIGINALLY appearing in the "Evening Pajaronian," Watsonville, California, as a serial narrative of Mr. Mylar's reminiscences, Early Days at the Mission San Juan Bautista, the tale was found so interesting that it was deemed worthy of perpetuation in book form by the publishers.
Accordingly, a small edition of 300 autographed copies were issued.
When this number is disposed of, the holders of this little volume will possess a book that is unique in this respect, that it is a limited edition, and no more copies will be printed.
Isaac L. Mylar AUTHOR
Jas. G. Piratsky COMPILER
Early Days at the Mission
San Juan Bautista
By ISAAC L. MYLAR
A narrative of incidents connected with the
days when California was young
PUBLISHED BY
EVENING PAJARONIAN
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA
COPYRIGHT 1929
BY
JAMES G. PIRATSKY
CONTENTS:
FOREWORD .......... 7-8
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA MISSION .......... 9-11
CHAPTER I .......... 13-17
Author's Arrival in California--Mining Operations at Shaw's Flat--Some
Incidents of Mining Operations, in Early Days--Family Starts South,
Passing Through San Juan, via El Camino Real--Salinas Valley in 1855.
CHAPTER II .......... 19-25
The Mission Bells--Secularization of the Missions by the Mexican
Government--The Little Mission Cemetery--My Terror of the Black-Robed
Padres--I Finally Get Acquainted with the Mission Fathers--A Beloved
Padre.
CHAPTER III .......... 27-34
San Juan Schools, In the Early Days--Teachers Hard To Get--Pupils Studied
Out of Various School Books--Some Pioneer Teachers--A Big School District--
When Tom Clay Quelled Castroville's Turbulent Scholars.
CHAPTER IV .......... 35-38
Pioneer Merchants of San Juan--Supplies for New Idria Quicksilver Mines
Conveyed Over Rough Roads, By Ox Teams--Why the Oxen Were Hitched Up
Spanish Style--San Benito County Takes Over New Territory.
CHAPTER V .......... 39-45
Flint, Bixby and Hollister Purchase San Justo Rancho--How the "San Juan
Lane" Came to be Laid Out--The Fatal Duel Between Spitts and Bixby--Names
of Some of the Early Settlers on the Grant.
CHAPTER VI .......... 47-49
San Juan Valley Had Bad Roads in the Early Days--Summary Justice Was Meted
Out to Criminals by Judge Lynch--Vigilantes Hang a Number of Criminals
from a Tree on "The Alameda."
CHAPTER VII .......... 51-59
How the Streets Were Laid Out in San Juan, in Its Early Days--Names of
Those Who Lived on the Principal Thoroughfares--Pioneer Merchants Carried
Large and Varied Stocks--John Forney's Wedding.
CHAPTER VIII .......... 61-68
Who Dwelt in the Many Dwellings on San Juan Streets in 1855--Brief
Description of Various Prominent Pioneer Families--John Bigley, the
Pioneer Teamster, Always Paid Cash on the Spot for What He Wanted.
CHAPTER IX .......... 69-77
"Andy" Abbe Who Was Road Overseer and Had No Money Wherewith to Do the
Roadwork--The Killing of Andrew Barker--The Prominent McMichael Family--
Roscoe Hodgdon and the Firemen's Bell.
CHAPTER X .......... 79-87
Some Noted Characters in San Juan's Early Days--Luis Chavez, the Bandit--
Bob Brotherton, the Man of Many Accomplishments--Whisky was Called
"Hardware"--Pedro Carlos Who Invented the Card Game, "Pedro."
CHAPTER XI .......... 89-96
Why Did Mrs. Page Kill Kelly Near Sargent--Vasquez, the Bandit, Commits
Depredations--Snyder's Vivid Description of the Killing at Paicines--Brief
Sketch Vasquez life--Lived in San Juan in His Boyhood Days.
CHAPTER XII .......... 97-101
The Roles that the Pioneer Mothers Played in the Early Days--How the San
Juan Folks Lived from 1855 to 1865--Grain was Ground in a Grist Mill,
located at Corralitos--Author Goes Into the Sheep Business.
CHAPTER XIII .......... 103-105
The San Juan Valley an Immense Game Preserve in the Early Days--People
Fared Well on Poultry and Fruits--Author's Father Succeeded in Buying
Fruit Trees and Started an Orchard--The Watsonville Tinware Merchant.
CHAPTER XIV .......... 107-109
How Lumber was Procurred in Early Days--First Lumber Mill was Erected on
Pescadero Creek--The Pioneer Grist Mill was Moved from Pescadero Creek to
Watsonville--The Sawmill in the Bodfish Canyon.
CHAPTER XV .......... 111-115
Some of the Doctors and Lawyers in San Juan's Early Days--Doctor
McDougall, the Typical Country Doctor--Doctor Hart, who Had Some Queer
Peculiarities--Doctor Simmons, who Ultimately Moved to Watsonville.
CHAPTER XVI .......... 117-120
When the Pony Express Started in 1860--Dissension Between North and South
Over the Slavery Question--San Juan Called a "Copperhead Town"--Why Troops
Were Sent to San Juan.
CHAPTER XVII .......... 121-126
The Old-Time Road to the Salinas Valley--Description of Fiesta Days at
Manuel Larios' Hacienda--Indian Women Did Early Day Washing--Tribute to
the Late John Breen--Settlers in the Lower End of the Valley.
CHAPTER XVIII .......... 127-130
The Starting of the Overland Stage Line to Los Angeles, in 1861--A
Perilous Trip in Bad Weather--Vivid Description of How the Stage Line
Benefitted San Juan--Some of the Early Day Stage Coach Drivers.
CHAPTER XIX .......... 131-136
The Early Day Hotels in San Juan--Opening of the Plaza Hotel was a Big
Event--Description of the Sports on the Plaza on St. John's Day--Fiestas
were Attended by Thousands of People.
CHAPTER XX .......... 137-142
The Wet Winter of 1862--The Disastrous Drought of 1864--Distressing Scenes
During the Year of the Drought--The Carcasses of Dead Cattle Poison the
Air Along Every Roadside--The Author's First Railroad Ride.
CHAPTER XXI .......... 143-146
Religious Wave Struck San Juan in 1864--San Juan Boasted of Four Churches--
Many Converts Made--Baptisms Frequent--Abraham Lincoln Assassinated--The
Interesting Story of Evans James, (Johnny Bull).
CHAPTER XXII .......... 147-150
The Smallpox Epidemic of 1868--Pitiful Scenes During that Year--Town
Quarrantined and Food Ran Low--Graphic Account of the Deadly Blow Against
San Juan's Prosperity--Pest House on River Banks.
CHAPTER XXIII .......... 151-156
A Brief Account of the Creation of San Benito County--How and Why the Town
of Hollister was Started--County Division Defeated the First Time, but
Carried Two Years Later--How San Juan Lost the County Seat.
CHAPTER XXIV .......... 157-162
How County Division was Finally Brought About--How San Juan was
Gerrymandered Out of the County Seat--Pajaro Valley Played a Big Part in
County Division--Commissioners Who Organized the New County.
CHAPTER XXV .......... 163-165
The Early Day Newspapers of San Benito County--San Juan Had Weekly Papers
from Time to Time--The New Town of Hollister Forges Rapidly to the Front
and Becomes a Great Trading Center.
CHAPTER XXVI .......... 167-171
The Author's Marriage in 1876--The Dry Year of 1877--Tired of the Drought
Author Goes to Oregon--Poor Prices for Stock--Roads Crowded with Families
Migrating from the Southern Portion of the State.
CHAPTER XXVII .......... 173-177
Some of San Juan's Notable Characters, in the Early Days--Mark Regan, the
Noted Stage Driver--The Disappearance of the Elder Sanchez--Varied
Treasure Stories Become Rife--Jake Beuttler's Famous Brewery.
CHAPTER XXVIII .......... 179-183
Wages Low in 1876--Long Hours Worked--Farmers Suffered from Hard Times--
Some of the Old Settlers--A Tribute to "China Jim"--How Jim Stanley
Demonstrated that the Irish Could Raise Cattle.
CHAPTER XXIX .......... 185-195
Flint, Bixby Companies Various Enterprises in Early Days--Haydon Dowdy,
one of San Benito County's Early Day Politicians--The Zanetta Family--Old
Time Settlers in the Valley and Town--Tribute to the Pioneers.
Foreword
I TAKE this method of stating that I make no pretensions to being a writer
and would not have undertaken this task had I not been urged to do so by
my friends and acquaintances. I have set down here faithfully, as memory
serves me, many incidents of my life in San Juan from 1855 until 1880.
After that date (1880) there are many living who, possibly, could relate
better than I the incidents connected with San Juan up to the present
time. I have told my story briefly and simply. If I have made mistakes in
these memoirs, I trust that I may be pardoned, for it is rather difficult
to look back and remember things correctly for seventy or seventy-five
years. I hope that these little incidents that I have set down will prove
of interest not only to the descendants of those grand old pioneers that
stood by San Juan from the beginning to the present time, but that
everyone may enjoy its reading as much as I have enjoyed reciting it to my
friend, Jas. G. Piratsky, Editor of the Evening Pajaronian, Watsonville,
California.
I send my little message out with keen enjoyment, for its telling brought
back to me the many happy days I spent in San Juan Bautista.
I have not, in my "Recollections," attempted to give any history of the
Mission of San Juan Bautista. I feel that I would not be able for the
task, so leave that pleasant duty to someone better fitted than my humble
self.
ISAAC L. MYLAR.
I desire to add to the above that I have never engaged in a more pleasant
task than in listening to Mr. Isaac Mylar's reminiscences connected with
the Mission San Juan Bautista, San Benito county. Mr. Mylar told his story
tersely and so much to the point that I felt that I would be doing him an
injustice if I endeavored to clothe his simply told story with flowery
language or rhetorical flights.
A matter of wonderment too, is Mr. Mylar's remarkable memory. Although now
eighty years of age he relates incidents connected with his boyhood, in
San Juan, with a clearness that is certainly remarkable for a man of his
age.
JAS. G. PIRATSKY.
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[image caption: John C. Fremont, known in history as "The Pathfinder." He
played an important part in the early history of this state in connection
with the annexation of California by the United States.
Fremont, with a small band of men, fearing an attack from the Mexicans,
retreated to the highest peak in the Gabilan range, and, after fortifying
his position to the best of his ability, awaited an attack by the
Mexicans, which failed to transpire.
This peak, a few miles from San Juan, has, ever since, been known as
"Fremont's Peak".]
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San Juan Bautista Mission
BUT LITTLE was known of the interior of California prior to the
commencement of the Mission era, or 1769, although various navigators had
sailed along the California coast during the period intervening between
the time of its discovery by Cabrillo in 1642, and the advent of the
Franciscan missionaries.
The Indians had roamed through the mountains and plains of this western
coast for unknown ages, living a degraded life, but little above the level
of that of the wild animals indigenous to this region. Of their origin or
history there is no record. Aside from the story of the rocks, and the
vague lessons taught by the topography of the country, we know absolutely
nothing of Alta California prior to 1642, nor, indeed, very little until
the latter part of the eighteenth century. The historical period,
therefore, may be said to commence with the founding of the Missions.
During Father Junipero Serra's noble administration nine Missions had been
founded in Alta or Upper California. These Missions had gathered many
Indians into their fold, or had brought them under their control, and they
had also acquired considerable wealth in the form of cattle, horses, sheep
and other useful animals, and grain, etc.
In November, 1795, Friar Danti and Lieutenant Sal and party set out from
Monterey to explore the San Benito valley, and they found one site on the
San Benito river and the other near the site of the present town of
Gilroy. President Lasuen reported these to Governor Borica, who embodied
the same in his reports to the Viceroy. As two sites had been recommended
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for the Mission between San Carlos and Santa Clara, a further examination
was ordered, and a site on the San Benito river was chosen.
Here, on St. John's day, June 24th, 1797, was founded the Mission San Juan
Bautista (St. John the Baptist), so named to distinguish it from the
Mission already established, of San Juan Capistrano, which was named after
an entirely different personage or saint.
A few years after, or on the 13th of June, 1803, the corner stone of the
church building was laid. Among the names of the persons who took part in
the ceremonies of laying the corner stone of this church, over 100 years
ago, were Padre Viader, conductor of ceremonies, Jose de la Guerra,
Pardino and Captain Font and Surgeon Morelas. The record of the
proceedings and a few coins were deposited in the corner stone. An image
of the patron saint of the Mission, St. John the Baptist, was placed on
the high altar in 1809, and on the 25th of June, 1812, the church was
dedicated, the records of the Missions noting the contemporary facts to
Fernando the VII and others.
Probably the buildings, including the church warehouses, etc., as they
exist at the present day, afford a fair idea of the Mission establishment
as it appeared during the early part of the century, less the busy and
numerous neophyte actors, and the missionary fathers under whom they
labored. These buildings, of course, show the effect of time and action of
the elements; nevertheless, they are still in a fair state of
preservation, and they show plainly, even to this day, that their
designers and builders were wise managers in temporal affairs.
The San Juan church was built of adobe and slack-burnt bricks--the latter
being 12 by 8 inches and two inches thick; and being baked in a slow fire,
were very durable. The plan of the building was in the form of a cross,
being 140 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 40 feet to the ceiling, with a tile
roofing. There were three altars, the principal one dedicated to St. John
the Baptist, with a life-size statue of this titular saint at the end of
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the nave of the church, and an altar on each side of the transept. The
walls are four feet thick, braced with brick abutment outside over 20 feet
long, and plastered with lime mortar. The church formerly had a chime of
nine very fine-toned bells, cast in Peru, only one of which now remains in
the building.
The Mission of San Juan Bautista owned in 1820 over 40,000 head of cattle,
nearly 1,400 tame horses and about 70,000 head of sheep. Indians, under
the control of the Mission, employed more than 300 yoke of work oxen in
carrying on extensive farming operations.
In 1813 and again in 1828 the Spanish Cortez decreed the secularization of
Missions in all Spanish colonies. The Mexican congress, August 17th, 1833,
passed a secularization law which was effectually enforced within two or
three years thereafter.--[The foregoing history is taken from "The
Memorial History of the Coast Counties of Central California."]
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[Image of side entrance to the Old Mission building]
Early Days at the Mission San Juan Bautista - End of Introduction