C-A 53 · State Papers, Missions and Colonization, Tomos II

Manuscript scans: this volume on the Internet Archive (digitized microfilm of the Savage transcripts).

Printable finding aid (PDF) — the full one-line record list with provenance, for offline use and circulation.

Notable documents

• 1831-09-27 · Baron F. von Wrangel (Novo-Arkhangelsk / Sitka) → Gov. Victoria *(in French)* — Wrangel thanks Victoria for receiving Klebnikov (per Victoria's 5 Mar 1831 Monterey letter); welcomes Mexico's wish for 'relations amicales et commerciales avec Sa Majesté l'Empereur de Russie' & proposes commercial relations with the RAC; but — the keystone — 'quant à la reconnaissance par l'Empereur de Russie l'indépendance du Mexique,… (orig. p. 322–324 (Sav. pp. 494–?)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1836-06-23 · Gov. Mariano Chico (Los Ángeles) → la Junta Departamental — the full Chico–Durán church-state expediente: Chico's 11 June query to Padre Narciso Durán on whether unsecularized missions owe the government *auxilios*, a copied *oficio* narrating the padres' cold snub of the government agent at Santa Inés (Padre Victoria excepted), Durán's 15 June reply asserting the missions' near-total… (orig. p. 368–373 (Sav. pp. 621–34)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1847-04-05 · M. G. Vallejo (Monterey) → Gen. S. W. Kearny *(US military governor)* — the US-conquest transition — under the new American regime, Vallejo transmits to Kearny copies of the Figueroa instructions that authorized his colonization of the northern frontier & the founding of a *ciudad* in the Valley of Sonoma: he alone empowered to grant land there, charged (a 'Muy Reservado' note) to make 'la población Mexicana… (orig. p. 405–408 (Sav. pp. 686–92)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1828-11-21 · Reglamento de Colonización — the 17-article general regulations implementing the 18 Aug 1824 Colonization Law — Jefes Políticos grant *terrenos baldíos* to empresarios/families (Mexican or foreign); petition w/ a diseño (map); grants need Diputación Territorial consent (else → Supreme Govt); empresario colonies (≥12 families) need Supreme-Govt approval; a… (orig. p. 1–5) manuscript scan ↗
• 1829-06-04 · Mariano G. Vallejo (San José) → Comandante of the Port of San Francisco — Vallejo's battle report of his (2nd, successful) 1829 campaign — the ESTANISLAO REVOLT — set out 26 May w/ 107 armed men + a cannon + 2,500 cartridges; burned the rebels' wooded river stronghold, artillery firing *bala rasa* + *metralla* across the river; the Indians fought from interconnected pits & trenches; a 2nd stronghold stormed… (orig. p. 24–36) manuscript scan ↗
• 1829-05-16 · José Sánchez (San José) → Comandante Ignacio Martínez — report of the FIRST (failed) expedition against Estanislao, May 1829 — the rebels fortified on the Río de los Laquisimes (Stanislaus R.) in an 'impregnable wood'; the *pedrero*'s carriage broke on the 1st shot; ⭐⭐⭐ Estanislao (named 'cabecilla principal') came to parley but refused to surrender ('había provocado… y morirían'); the… (orig. p. 37–44) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-05-17 · Secretaría de Estado / Vice-President (México) → Gov. José Figueroa — federal critique & REVERSAL of Echeandía's secularization bando — Echeandía invoked the 1813 Spanish Cortes decree (missions 10+ yrs reduced → handed to the ordinary) but proceeded 'opuesto y contrario' to it: the law wanted the Indians themselves to name their administrators & distribute their own lands, which Echeandía usurped… (orig. p. 33–35) manuscript scan ↗
• 1831-01-06 · José Mª Echeandía — THE SECULARIZATION DECREE — 'Ley secularizando las Misiones, declarándolas pueblos, y señalándoles nueva administración y régimen,' 33 articles (Echeandía's pioneering 1831 secularization, ahead of the 1833 national law; full text copied verbatim elsewhere by Manuel Reyes) (orig. p. 120–128) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-05-17 · José Mª Echeandía (San Diego) → Gov. Figueroa — Echeandía's long apologia DEFENDING his 6 Jan 1831 secularization bando (a major statement of liberal-secularization ideology, n38–50+): (a) legal argument — the 1813 Cortes decree has TWO aspects, ecclesiastical (Divine Worship) vs. temporal government (binding on the CIVIL authorities) — so as Jefe Político he was *obliged* to… (orig. p. 131–166) manuscript scan ↗
• 1832-11-18 · José Mª Echeandía — companion secularization brief / circular to the San Diego-department friars — reprises Doc 32's argument (the Recopilación / 'Leyes de Padilla' on neophyte liberty & property; the 1813 Cortes decree; ayuntamiento administration; the 6 Jan 1831 bando published at Monterey/SF/San José, secularizing 'todas las misiones desde San Francisco… (orig. p. 168–178) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-10-05 · Gov. José Figueroa (Santa Bárbara) → Secretary of Relaciones — Figueroa's comprehensive report against TOTAL / foreign-favoring secularization — (a) general secularization is 'inmatura'; do it 'parcialmente' & 'insensiblemente' ('el remedio peor que el mal'; the neophytes 'tan salvajes como si acabaran de salir de los bosques,' 'like children' to lead by the hand); (b) ⭐⭐⭐ his emancipation… (orig. p. 70–75) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-09-24 · Fr. Francisco García Diego (Santa Clara), Comisario-Prefecto (Zacatecan college) → Gov. Figueroa — the Zacatecan friars' formal *parecer* AGAINST secularization (answering Figueroa's 4 questions, cf. Doc 37): (1) of his missions only San Francisco Solano nears the 10-yr threshold of the 13 Sep 1813 law; (2) ⭐⭐⭐ none can yet be secularized — the Cortes legislated 'sin conocimiento… del carácter é ignorancia de estos infelices… (orig. p. 191–200) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833 [Sept–Oct] · Fr. Narciso Durán (President of the Missions, Santa Bárbara) → Gov. Figueroa — Durán's *Manifiesto/Informe* on the secularization of the missions — his reply to Figueroa's 29 Aug 1833 charge to report which missions qualify under the 13 Sept 1813 law, in two points. (1) All Alta-California missions except San Francisco Solano exceed the 10-year rule (most by 20–30 yrs) → by the letter all could be secularized, but… (orig. p. 84–96 (doc's own pp. 201–6)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-11-06 · José Mª de Híjar (Monterey) → Figueroa — Híjar's formal PROTEST & rebuttal — denies ever conceding the Diputación's authority ('Nunca he tenido tal presunción; lo que he hecho es negarles la facultad de subsanarse á las Leyes'); protests Figueroa's disposition; declares he will still establish the Colony, on 3 grounds: the families' committed fate; that destroying it would… (orig. p. 126–130 (doc's own pp. ~217–313)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-08-09 · José Figueroa & Agustín V. Zamorano — 'Reglamento Provisional para la secularización de las Misiones de la Alta California' (*Doc. impreso*) — the foundational secularization decree: per the spirit of the 17 Aug 1833 law & the Supremo Gobierno's instructions, the missions partially converted to pueblos beginning Aug (10 first, then the rest); the padres relieved of… (orig. p. 253–257) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-04-23 · Primera Secretaría de Estado, Depto. del Interior — THE Híjar Instructions — 'Instrucciones á que deberá arreglar su conducta D.n José Mª de Híjar, Gefe Político de la Alta California y Director de la Colonización de esta y de la Baja.' Art. 1: 'Dará principio por ocupar todos los bienes pertenecientes á las Misiones de ambas Californias' (occupy ALL mission property of both Californias;… (orig. p. 270–273 (Sav. pp. 383–6)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-04-12 · José Figueroa (Monterey) → Ministro de Guerra y Marina — reports founding the strong detachment at Mission San Rafael + another, and the Russian-threat rationale: the hidden agents' 'miras… á apoderarse de esta parte de la República son ya bien conocidas'; cites SF-commander reports (English/Europeans seeking provisions; the Sitka governor waiting at Ross to found a new establishment at Santa… (orig. p. 302–306 (Sav. p. 462+)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1827-06-06 · Gómez Pedraza, Secretaría de Guerra y Marina (México) → Comandante Gral de California — the 1827 supreme order (the dossier's legal root): on the Russians of Ross violating 'el derecho común de las Naciones' along the territory's demarcation line & coasts, drawing away (voluntarily or forcibly) the Mexican Indians of Mission San Rafael, and occupying the Farallon Islands of S. Francisco for sea-lion hunting — orders the… (orig. p. 307–310 (Sav. pp. 478–80)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-03-31 · M. G. Vallejo (San Francisco) → Figueroa — reports the Russian governor comes from Sitka to visit Ross; said to be about the change of missionaries, but Vallejo opines it aims 'avanzar el establecimiento á esos rumbos' (Russian inland/northward expansion) — a direct Russian-intelligence report (⚠ this is the survey's long-flagged n220 marquee, now item-read) (orig. p. 310 (Sav. pp. 482–3)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-05-05 · M. G. Vallejo (San Francisco) → Figueroa — reports his visit to the Establecimiento de Ross — the good treatment he & his troop received; Governor Kostromitinoff's desire that his government open diplomatic communications with México; and the purchase & contracts of arms & military goods he made there (a distinct 5-May report from Doc 45's reconnaissance) (orig. p. 311 (Sav. pp. 489–93)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-04-10 · General José Figueroa (Monterey) → Gobernador de los establecimientos de Sitka y Ross — Figueroa's diplomatic overture to the Russians — introduces himself (took the political & military command 15 Jan 1833), sends Vallejo to Ross bearing his respects, and, 'animado de los sentimientos de benevolencia y filantropía… del Gobierno Mexicano,' seeks to cultivate friendly relations and, if possible, through the Governor's… (orig. p. 312–313 (Sav. pp. 377, 494–5)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-04-11 · General José Figueroa (Monterey) → Comandante del establecimiento de Ross — the companion diplomatic letter (to the Ross commander, day after Doc 112 to the Governor): even more explicit — seeks 'un convenio entre el gabinete de San Petersburgo y el de México,' friendship & commerce especially with neighboring nations; notes he has commissioned Vallejo to contract some armament & other articles at Ross, asking… (orig. p. 314–315 (Sav. pp. 386, 496–7)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1833-11-25 · Fr. Jesús Mª Vásquez del Mercado (S. Rafael Arcángel) → Figueroa — grievance against the Russians of Ross: they gravely harm the mission by sheltering fugitive Indians (advising them to hide when reclaimed); the Ross commander has grown so bold he sends Kodiak Aleuts (*Codiacas*) to the Ranchería de Tamales to lure away the neophytes (married men abandon their families); the Russians buy cattle stolen… (orig. p. 319 (Sav. pp. 513–16)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1834-11-19 · Baron F. von Wrangel (Novo-Arkhangelsk / Sitka) → José Figueroa — having concluded his administration of the Russian colonies, Wrangel plans to return to Europe overland across the Mexican Republic; asks Figueroa for route information for his comfort & safety — the documented prelude to Wrangel's 1835–36 journey through Mexico (and his unofficial California/Ross negotiations) (orig. p. 320 (Sav. pp. 519–21)) manuscript scan ↗
• 1831-09-27 · (contemporary Spanish translation of Doc 122) — the Spanish rendering that accompanies Wrangel's French letter (how the Californios read it): the RAC no longer 'en la obligación de molestar al gobierno de California,' and on 'reconocimiento por el Emperador de Rusia de la Independencia de México y evacuación del establecimiento de Ross y demás proposiciones,' Wrangel deems those… (orig. p. 324–325 (Sav. pp. 524–8)) manuscript scan ↗

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