the presidio commandants' joint petition on inadequate pay (with Borica's endorsement). — The Alta CA presidio commandants jointly petition the viceroy over the penury of their limited salaries (memorial carried by Capt. Grajera). ⭐⭐ Gov. Borica's endorsement (29 Dec): it is all true — their short pay keeps them 'en las mayores estrecheces,' not enough 'para comer y vestir ni medianamente'; their children often go barefoot; their wives wash other people's laundry, sew, and bake bread to help support the family; same for the alféreces of the 5 presidios and the Loreto teniente; recommends +$150/year. Closes: *'Conozco las graves atenciones del Erario, pero me juzgaría culpable si no expresase ingenuamente mi sentir.'* ⭐ Vivid evidence of the material poverty of the Spanish officer corps in California. → the presidio-decay dossier, the Sal papers, the Bay Area borderlands dossier.
| Date | 1799, Dec 15, Santa Barbara (year) |
|---|---|
| From | Goycoechea |
| To | Gov. Borica |
| Series | State Papers, Sacramento |
| Tomo | I |
| Original tomo page | pp.757–9 |
| Savage copy page | 124–125 |
| Scan leaf | n123–n124 |
| Document type | Transcription |
| Source | Savage abstract |
Read this leaf on the Internet Archive ↗ · leaf n123–n124
Goycoechea to Gov. Borica, 1799, Dec 15, Santa Barbara, State Papers, Sacramento, I, pp.757–9, Archives of California, C-A 54, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Cite the document by series, tomo and original tomo page, as the literature does; the C-A number locates it in the repository. To cite this catalogue entry itself, use https://archivesofcalifornia.com/record/ca54/ca54-d93.html