from Life of Junipero Serra

by Francisco Palou (1787)

Translation by George Wharton James (1913)

CHAPTER  XVII

The Founding of the Second Mission [the First in Alta or Nueva California], That of San Diego, and What Happened in It.

That ardent zeal which ever burned and consumed the heart of our Venerable Father Fr. Junipero did not permit him to forget the principal object of his coming. And it was this which impelled him, on the second day after the departure of the expedition, to make a beginning toward the preaching of the gospel in this Mission and port of San Diego, which had been discovered since the year 1603, and which had been so named by the Admiral Don Sebastian Vizcaino. He made the service for the foundation of the Mission to consist of High Mass and the other ceremonies, which were also celebrated in the founding of the Mission of San Fernando, on the 16th of July, the day on which we Spaniards celebrate the Triumph of the Most Holy Cross. For he hoped that exactly as through the power of that sacred emblem the Spaniards had gained a great victory over the barbarous Mohammedans, in the year 1212, they might also win a victory by raising the standard of the Holy Cross, and, putting to flight all the army of hell, bring under subjection to the gentle yoke of our Holy Faith all the savage tribes of pagans who inhabited this New California; and besides, he implored the special patronage of the Most Holy Mary, who on this day is honored by the Universal Church under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Moved by this ardent faith and zeal for the saving of souls, the Venerable Father Junipero raised the standard of the Holy Cross, fixing it in the place which seemed to him most appropriate for the building of the city, within sight of the harbor. The Missionaries in charge were our Venerable Father and Fr. Fernando Parron. The few men who were well enough to be about, in the intervals when not called upon to attend the sick, were kept busy in the construction of little shacks. As soon as a place had been prepared and dedicated for the provisional church they tried to attract to it with gifts and expressions of affection the pagans who came about; but as they could not understand our language they paid no attention to anything but the receiving of gifts from us, and they took everything with eagerness except food, which on no condition would they touch, so that if any little boy happened to put a piece of sugar in his mouth he would spit it out as if it were poison. They naturally attributed the sickness of our men to the things they ate, as they were things they had never seen. This was, indeed, a singular Divine Providence, for if they had had the same desire for our food which they had for our clothing, the little group of Spaniards in the colony would surely have been left to starve to death.

However great may have been their aversion to our food, no less intense was their desire to possess themselves of our raiment, they going so far as to steal everything of this sort they could lay hands upon. They went to such an extreme that even the sails of the ship were not safe from their hands. One night the men on board found that they had come out in their canoes and were cutting pieces out of one of the sails, and on another occasion cutting up a rope, in order to carry them off. This made it necessary to put a watch of two soldiers on board (taking them from the eight which had been left) and with the fear of these men the vessel was protected. However, this diminished the guard at the Mission and especially on Holy Days when it was necessary for one of the Fathers to go on board to celebrate Mass, taking with him two of the soldiers as an escort in case he should be attacked by any of the pagans.

All these movements they watched most attentively, but were ignorant of the force of our firearms and they had great confidence in the fact that they greatly outnumbered us, and in the virtue of their arrows and wooden sabers which could cut almost like steel, and their other arms, such as war-clubs, with which they could do much damage. So they began to steal things without any sign of fear and when they saw that this was not permitted them they decided to try their fortunes with us, taking all our lives and carrying off the spoils. This they attempted on the 12th and 13th of August, but when they found they were met with resistance they had to retire.

On the 15th of the same month in which is celebrated the Great Festival of the Glorious Assumption of our Queen and Lady of the Heavens, as soon as two of the soldiers had gone with the Rev. Fr. Fernando on board ship to say Mass, leaving only four of the soldiers on shore, just as the Venerable Father President and the Father Viscaino had finished celebrating the Holy Sacrifice in which some of the men had received Communion, a great number of the pagans, all armed for battle, fell upon us and began to steal everything they could find, taking away from the poor patients in the hospital even the sheets that covered them. The corporal raised the cry, “To arms!” and when their enemies saw the soldiers in the act of arming themselves with their leather jackets and shields (a defense easily able to turn aside their arrows), and that at the same time they were taking up their guns they drew off and began to discharge their arrows. At the same time the four soldiers, the carpenter and the blacksmith discharged their weapons with great valor; but the blacksmith excelled them all for without doubt the Holy Communion which he had just received filled him with extraordinary courage and though he had no leather jacket to protect him he went about among the houses and shacks crying out, “Long live the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let these dogs of enemies die the death,” firing at the same time upon the pagans.

The Venerable Father President, with his companion, was at the time within the little house used for a chapel, commending all to God and praying that there might be no death among the men, and also praying to spare the lives of the pagans that they might not die without baptism. The Father Viscaino, wishing to see if the Indians had retired, raised a little way the agave mat which served as a curtain, or door, to the room, but he had scarcely done so when an arrow pierced his hand, and with that he let the curtain fall again and gave himself up to prayer, as did Father Junipero. Though he afterwards was healed of the wound, he always remained crippled in that hand.

The battle continued and the noise of shots mingled with the cries of the pagans. Suddenly the servant called Joseph Maria, who personally attended on the Fathers, rushed into the little shack, and, falling down at the feet of our Venerable, cried out: “Father, absolve me, for the Indians have killed me.” No sooner had he received absolution than he died, as his throat had been pierced by an arrow. The Missionaries kept his death a secret, and the pagans never knew of it. From among them several fell and when the rest saw the terrible destruction made by the firearms and the valor of the Christians, they quickly retired with their wounded, without leaving one on the ground in order to prevent us, as they supposed they could, from knowing if any had been killed in the combat. Two of the Christians had been wounded, besides Father Viscaino, one of them a jacketed soldier, an Indian from Old California and the valiant blacksmith, but the wounds were not of great seriousness and all were soon well with the exception of the servant boy, whose death was kept a secret.

From among the pagans, although they kept secret the number of the dead, we knew that quite a number had been wounded, because after a few days they came back seeking for peace, and asking to be doctored, a service which the good surgeon very gladly did them, and they recovered. This charity which they noted in us could not help forcing them to hold us in esteem and the sad experience of their unhappy attempt to rob us filled them with fear and respect for us so that they behaved quite differently than before, for while they continued to visit the Mission with frequency, they did not bring in their arms.

Among those who came frequently was a young Indian of about fifteen years, who got to coming every day and he became accustomed to eat whatever the Fathers gave him, without any fear of consequences. Father Junipero tried to favor him and encourage him to learn our language so as to see if through him he might not bring about the baptism of some of the children. Several days passed and when at last the Indian boy understood somewhat, the Father told him to try to bring to him some little baby, with the consent of its parents, as he would make him a Christian like ourselves by putting a little water on his head, and in that way he would become a child of God and of the Father and a brother to the soldiers (whom they called Cueres) who would also give him clothing that he might go about dressed like the Spaniards. With these expressions and others which the zealous Father easily conjured up for the occasion, it seems that the Indian understood and communicated the same to the rest, for within a few days he returned with one of the pagan men (accompanied by many others), who brought in his arms a child and indicated by signs that he was willing to have it baptized. Filled with great joy, our Venerable Father immediately gave him a piece of cloth with which to cover the child, invited the corporal to act as sponsor and the other soldiers to be present in order to duly solemnize this first baptism. The Indians of course were all present. As soon as the Father had finished the ceremonies, and was in the act of pouring out the water of baptism, the pagan snatched away the child and ran away to their village, leaving the Father standing with the shell in his hand. Here it was necessary for him to use all his prudence not to become incensed at the rude act and it was only respect for him which prevented the soldiers from attempting to avenge the profanation, but considering the savagery and ignorance of the poor, miserable creatures it was necessary to overlook the offense.

So great was the sorrow of our Venerable Father at having been frustrated in the baptizing of the child that for many days he went about with his countenance full of the pain and the sorrow he felt, as he attributed the failure to his own sins. Even after the lapse of years, whenever he told the story, he would have to stop to dry the tears which started from his eyes and he would generally end by saying: “Let us thank God that now so many of them have received baptism without the least repugnance.” So it was that in that Mission of San Diego the number reached one thousand and forty-six who were baptized, counting children and adults, whose salvation was due to the Apostolic labors of our Venerable President, and among them were many of those same who at the first had tried to take his life.

Very different was the lot of one of the men who had taken an important part in this attack on the Mission. Far from imitating the rest in repentance, he became set in his pagan errors and was one of the principal movers in the mutiny of the year 1775, and of which I shall speak in its place as well as of those others who had a part in the cruel death and martyrdom of the Venerable Fr. Luis Jayme. Having been taken prisoner for his part in this last crime and placed with others in the jail of the garrison, he was there visited by the Venerable Father Junipero, who had come down to that port in August of the year 1776. The Father wished to bring to the prisoners some comfort as well as to convert them to our Holy Faith. The sergeant pointed out to our Father this miserable pagan (he was with the rest in the stocks), saying that he was the same one who had tried, in the year 1769, to take the life of his Reverence and of the others in the first days of the founding of the Mission. Then it was that the ardor and zeal of our Venerable Father overflowed in a flood of exhortation and loving appeal toward this unhappy mortal, begging him to become a Christian and assuring him that in case he did, God our Lord and the King would undoubtedly pardon his crimes. But he was unable to obtain a single word from him, although the other prisoners, greatly moved to tears, begged the servant of God to intercede for them, saying they wanted to become Christians (as indeed they did later). But this unhappy gentile, having committed suicide, was found dead on the morning of the 1 5th of August of 1776 (exactly seven years from the date of the attack), it being a cause of great wonderment to all that while at the side of his companions he should be able to put a rope around his neck and hang himself without letting any one among the prisoners know of it and much less the guard. All were astonished not only at the disastrous end of the unhappy man but that it should happen on the day of the Assumption of Our Lady and just seven years from the time he and his companions had tried to kill the Venerable Father Junipero and those who accompanied him, which would have frustrated many great Spiritual Conquests, as we shall see later.