Missions of Baja California

You know how I said I'd be interested to know what happened to 15-year-old Michael Claringbud White when he was stranded in Cabo? Well, I still am!

I feel like I'm a little closer, though.

Unlike today's teenager on spring break, young Mike was probably in a pretty bad way when he got to Cabo. No "Girls Gone Wild" and body shots of tequila, I'm guessin'.

And I have to be candid, folks; there ain't much about the Spanish mission system I like. They were set up to enslave and kill indigenous people, and that's what they did. The only thing you can say that's positive is that at least the padres were sometimes a

San Jose del Cabo

mitigating influence on the soldiers, and that ain't much to commend it. But we have to know our history, or there's no way we can get past it.

The history of the Alta California Missions was shaped by the Baja California Missions, and young Mike was right smack in the middle of it. San José del Cabo wasn't exactly an urban hub when he landed there, but we can imagine that he was welcomed at the mission and that probably caused him to look favorably on missions as the center of the community from that day forward. He probably started learning Spanish at that time, and he probably started appreciating Mexican culture and food right about then too. Maybe he even started calling himself Miguel.

Mission

After being born in Kent, raised on English cuisine and getting pawned off on a whaler, the sunny shores of Cabo must've been pretty nice in comparison.

Now all that is pure conjecture, but here's what we know about the local mission, Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití:

And here's the reference: Vernon, Edward W. 2002. Las Misiones Antiguas: The Spanish Missions of Baja California, 1683–1855. Viejo Press, Santa Barbara, California.

Mission San José del Cabo was the southernmost of the Jesuit missions on the Baja California peninsula, located near the modern city of San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

The southern cape of the Baja California peninsula had been an often-visited landmark for Spanish navigators (as well as English privateers) for nearly two centuries when a mission was finally established at the Pericú settlement of Añuití in 1730 by Nicolá Tamaral. Initially located near the beach, the station was subsequently moved inland about 8 kilometers.

In 1734 the Pericú Revolt broke out, Tamaral was killed, and the mission was destroyed. In 1735–1736, the reestablished outpost was moved back closer to the coast, but it served as a visita for Mission Santiago and as the site of a Spanish presidio. In 1753, San José del Cabo was again moved inland. In 1795, under the Dominicans, the surviving native population of Mission Santiago was transferred to San José del Cabo. The mission was finally closed in 1840.

Here's a list of the 33 Baja California missions (there are 21 up north, plus Pala) 

· Misión San Bruno (1683)

· Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó (1697)

· Visita de San Juan Bautista Londó (1699)

· Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó (1699)

· Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat (Misión Liguí) (1705)

· Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé (1705)

· Misión San José de Comondú (1708)

· Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó (1720)

· Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí (1720)

· Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Huasinapi (1720)

· Misión Santiago de Los Coras (1721)

· Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá (1721)

· Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán (1728)

· Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití (1730)

· Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas (Misión Todos Santos) (1733)

· Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui (1740)

· Misión Santa Gertrudis (1752)

· Misión San Francisco Borja (1762)

· Visita de Calamajué (1766)

· Misión Santa María de los Ángeles (1767)

· Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá (1769)

· Visita de la Presentación (1769)

· Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Viñacado (1774)

· Visita de San José de Magdalena (1774)

· Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera (1775)

· Misión San Vicente Ferrer (1780)

· Misión San Miguel Arcángel de la Frontera (1797)

· Misión Santo Tomás de Aquino (1791)

· Misión San Pedro Mártir de Verona (1794)

· Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir (1797)

· Visita de San Telmo (1798)

· Misión El Descanso (Misión San Miguel la Nueva) (1817)

· Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte (1834)

Las Misiones Antiguas: The Spanish Missions of Baja California

Edward W. Vernon

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Sabre Tooth and Raven Jake

I'll be givin' a little talk about how Raven Jake came to be for the Hi-Desert Museum's First Wednesdays program in February. Don't worry - it's not gonna be all technical, just tellin' some stories about the desert and some of the adventures we've had, so come on by and support the museum and the Morongo Basin Historical Society! 

Raven Jake Dawes: A Man, a Vision, a Blog.

Did you know that:

• The superintendent of the San Marino school district keeps a grizzly bear in his office?
• The man who built California’s first boat was a pirate?
• An attractive red-headed beetle, Lytta magister, secretes blister-forming blood from its joints?
• The majestic Joshua Tree is a giant lily?
• Johnny Lang’s skull has gone missing?

These topics and many others will be addressed by Jeryd and Jane Pojawa at the Hi-Desert Museum First Wednesday program on February 3^rd, as they discuss the creation and evolution of “Raven Jake Dawes, Desert Rat,” and his exploits.

Two years ago, Jeryd and Jane Pojawa created a character, Raven Jake Dawes, as an online persona for Jeryd’s poetry, photography and travel. Raven Jake’s forum was the Internet, his medium, a blog. It was, in essence, a digital scrapbook to be shared with the world. Since then, Raven Jake has attracted several thousand fans and been called to hundreds of adventures, from identifying unusual bugs to saving a 150-year-old adobe from the bulldozer.  

If you’re ever wanted to meet the owner of an abandoned gold mine, encountered a banded alder borer, played the dijereedoo at the Integratron, dug for rare salt crystals in Trona, eaten a piece of Alien Fresh Jerky, wondered about the history of a weird old building, or are an ornery desert rat, Raven Jake is your kind of guy.

If you’ve ever wondered about how to share your stories with the world, are curious about blogging, and don’t have an operating budget, Raven Jake might give you some inspiration.

Jane Pojawa serves as the secretary for Cabot’s Pueblo Museum Foundation in Desert Hot Springs. Her extensive research into the extraordinary life of Cabot Yerxa has made for some fascinating discoveries about one of the Coachella Valley’s earliest pioneers. Jeryd Pojawa, aka Raven Jake, is a two-time Academy Award winner for motion picture special effects productions and is an inveterate desert rat and raconteur.

This informal presentation will be held at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum

February 3, 2010

$5 Donation

57090 29 Palms Highway

Yucca Valley, CA 92284

Adventure awaits – and it might be much stranger (and cheaper) than you think. No computer experience necessary!

http://ravenjake.vox.com/

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Space Cowboy

Alien Sign

I was travelin' around Death Valley last week (more on that later) and felt moved to send a shout out to Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker, California. Now the Alien Jerky stand has been there a while - you've probably seen the signs on your way out to Las Vegas - but it's really come up in recent years.  

Mars Rover

Luis and Martin Ramallo have really hit on a niche market - this wacky souvenir stand dedicated to all things alien (generally of the "Grey" variety) and shoppers can select T-shirts, olives, honey, an astonishing

Store Detail

variety of hot sauces, and, of course, any kind of jerky you can think of.

There's a mechanical alien fortune teller who sounds a lot like Yoda, some actual serious UFO/alien books and DVDs, a

Distances to the Planets

certain amount of science, and a lot of humor.

I don't know if the aliens are making jerky out of the cattle they mutilate, but it's real good, so stay the course, I reckon. Prices are a little steep, but in keeping with the area, and selection is great.

The actual town of Baker is pretty much a truck stop - the last outpost to get a meal or a tank of gas one your way to Las Vegas or Death Valley or Area 51. It also boasts the world's tallest thermometer and the Mad Greek restaurant.

Baker California

Alien Fresh Jerky Store

Alien Fresh Jerky is well worth a look around, especially for alien-related impulse buys. 

72242 Baker Blvd., Baker CA 92309. 760) 733-4180

Alien Fresh Jerky

Alien Jerky Official Greeter

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Latinos in Pasadena (CA) (Images of America)

Roberta H. Martínez

Shout out to our friend Roberta Martinez, of Latino Heritage for her new book "Latinos in Pasadena." The event is being held on Thursday, December 10th, 2009; 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Vroman's Bookstore  695 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, California 91101

And this is what her press release had to say: Complete with over 200 vintage photographs, Latinos in Pasadena chronicles the legacies of Mexican Americans and other Latino men and women who lived and worked in Pasadena.  The Latino community has been an integral part of the San Gabriel Valley, and here is a book that gives it its rich due. In this groundbreaking volume a fuller story of the Pasadena area is provided from vintage images and the accompanying information culled from anecdotes, masters’ theses, newspaper articles, formal and informal oral histories, and the Ethnic History Research Project compiled for the City of Pasadena in 1995. Among the stories told is that of Antonio F. Coronel, who served as California state treasurer from 1866 to 1870 and whose image graced the 1904 Tournament of Roses program.

The other book Vroman’s is promoting is Pasadena 1940 - 2008, by Patrick Conyers.

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Our Lady of Guadalupe

Historic Anchor

Y’all know I’m partial to our Lady of Guadalupe, aka

Raven Jake with Guadalupe's Anchor

Now we’ve already seen in the Joseph Chapman posts and the facts about Miguel Blanco that they built the Guadalupe (probably named after Chapman’s wife, Maria de Guadalupe Ortega) out of the remains of the brig, Danube, which ran aground in a storm on Christmas Eve, 1828. The vessel was built for the padres of the San Gabriel Mission to be used for sea otter hunting off Catalina Island (probably through other parties). Some reports indicate that the schooner was put together at Goleta Point in 1830.  And we know that White sailed the Guadalupe to Mazatlan and returned in 1832 and married Rosaria shortly after that.

Here’s what the sign at the mission says about it:

"Historic Anchor

Anchor of the 99-ton top-sail schooner, “Guadalupe” built here in 1830 by Joseph Chapman Michael White Thomas Paine and Mission Indians. Dismantled, she was hauled to the roadstead of San Pedro on carretas (carts) re-assembled and launched… the first ship in California from native materials [you’ve got to count the remains of another ship as “native materials”]

In 1831 Don Miguel Blanco, Master, sailed her to Mazatlan and San Blas Mexico with mission goods.

Mission blacksmiths have since melted and cut off pieces of the anchor to made hinges, hoes, nails and other such articles."

The McLane 1832

Can you believe what a huge undertaking salvaging, re-building, transporting, re-building again, and then sailing the ship must’ve been? It makes me tired thinking about it. I haven’t been able to find and drawings of the “Guadalupe,” but this one is similar. It was called the McLane and she was a little smaller – 73 tons rather than 99 tons, and a Yankee ship, not a Spanish one, but the idea’s the same: a top-sail schooner made of wood in the Age of Sail.

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La Baleine

18th_century_arctic_whaling

Spending more time at the Michael White Adobe has me thinkin' about lots of stuff, and one of the things that I think about is how to tell the story of his life in such a way that kids don't think that it's an advanced form of torture. Plus, it's an exciting true story with a lot of action and adventure - it doesn't "need" to be boring!

For example, at the age of 13 (around 1815), our boy, Michael Claringbud White was apprenticed on a whaling ship, the "Perseverance." So you can see why he eventually changed his name to Miguel Maria Blanco - he was provoked!

In 1817, he was stranded in San Jose del Cabo, in Baja, which is a story I'd like to know more about. And then, from 1817 to 1829 he made several trips between the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and California. 

The song "Rollin' Down to Old Maui" is a real oldie about whalers dividing their time between hard duty on the Kamchatka Sea and the relatively good times they had in Hawaii. The song has been changed over the years, and some versions are more PG-13 than others. The earliest written version (that anyone knows about) dates from 1858 and it is tempting to think of Michael White, Joseph Chapman, and other whalemen singing a precursor to the song we know now.  

Don't get me wrong - I think killing whales is completely barbaric and I don't condone it for any reason any more than I'd give a thumbs up to slavery. Historic wrong is still wrong. But you do have to understand the context and Michael White killed whales in an era when whale oil was used for all sorts of stuff like petroleum oil is today.

Here's a nice a cappella version performed by Blue of a Kind. I tend to like it at double time with musical accompaniment, but this one had the cleanest recording and no camera work that mimicked being on the high seas during a storm.  Personally, I like a cover of this ol' chanty done by a bunch of scurvy dogs called the "Poxy Boggarts" from a CD of theirs called "Lager Than Life", which contains some fun drinking songs and such.  I sing it myself with much gusto in the shower. . .

It's a damned tough life, full of toil and strife
We whalermen undergo.
And we don't give a damn when the gale has stopped
How hard the wind did blow.
We're homeward bound! 'Tis a grand old sound
On a good ship taut and free,
And we don't give a damn when we drink our rum
With the girls on old Maui.

Rolling down to old Maui, my boys,
Rolling down to old Maui.
We're homeward bound from the arctic ground
Rolling home to old Maui.

Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Through the ice and sleet and rain.
And them coconut fronds in them tropic lands
We soon shall see again.
Six hellish months we've passed away
In the cold Kamchatka sea,
And now we're bound from the arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

We'll heave the lead where old Diamondhead
Looms up on old Wahoo.
Our mast and yards are sheathed with ice
And our decks are hid from view.
The horrid tiles of the sea-cut ice
That deck the Arctic Sea
Are miles behind in the frozen wind
Since we steered for old Maui.

How soft the breeze of the tropic seas
Now the ice is far astern,
And them native maids in them island glades
Are awaiting our return.
Even now their big black eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails running 'fore the gales
Rolling down to old Maui.

And now we sail with a favoring gale
Towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam.
Our stuns'l booms are carried away
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound!

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

If you haven't read this book, it is absolutely the best account I know of about the hardships faced by whaling crews. It has it all: vengeful whales, shipwrecks, cannibalism, unlucky sea captains, psychotic first mates... And it's a true story. 

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Gary Woods and the Enforcer

Well, Folks, I just want to take a few moments to thank all of you who pitched in to help save the Miguel Blanco Adobe.  At least, for now, it isn't going under the 'dozer.  I had a meeting with San Marino's beloved (13 years) ex-mayor, Eugene Dryden a couple days ago.  He's a great guy who's committed to the cause and is someone who makes things happen. Tonight I attended a meeting of the "Friends of the Michael White Adobe" committee to figure out how to proceed.  We talked about motivating students to participate in the process. This is a favorite cause of mine because I figure if you can get kids interested in the textbook known as the past, y'all can keep 'em interested in making the future a place we might all wanna live in.  This idea was brought to the table by Dr. Gary Woods, Superintendant of San Marino City School District.  A big shout out for that.  Any guy who has a nine foot bear in his office is okay by me.  No, he didn't shoot it, he received it as a gift and spruced it up so kids could see how big a grizzly really is.  More on that later.  Dr. Woods thinks 'kid's first' and 'How can the kids use this to learn?' with everything he comes in contact with and that, folks, is a good thing.  In fact everyone (almost) that I've had a chance to palaver with from San Marino seems to be very pro-active where it comes to educating and enriching the experiences of the kids.  Awesome!  Now I know that getting the adobe polished up is gonna take time and, well, money.  Here's the deal, soon, there's gonna be a way that anyone that wants to put up a couple bucks to help save a California landmark and teach kids a little bit more about our rich California history at the same time, can do so.  I'll keep you posted.  Also, you may have noticed that there is a counter we put in to find out how many people are checkin' up on me. . .  Believe me, the more the merrier.  Anyhow, Thanks so much for your support.  Video is coming.  C  U  soon.   Jake

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Ribbonwood

Bark

Last week, I was cruising up Highway 74 from Palm Desert up to Anza in the San Jacinto wilderness area and met a new plant, the Ribbonwood. According to Neltje Blanchan’s Wild Flowers Worth Knowing (1917, 1922), Adenostoma sparsifolium aka Redshank, Ribbon bush, or Ribbonwood, “is a multi-trunked tree or shrub native to dry slopes or chaparral 

Leaf Structure

of Southern California and northern Baja California. Shaggy falling shanks or ribbons of bark are one of the strongest characteristics of the tree, hence the common names. Redshanks are closely related to the more abundant Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum).” It is also a member of the rose family, and a darned attractive chaparral plant.

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Red drummer

About this time of year, I get all sentimental and think back on what has come before. Then I start lookin' at old photos and before you know it, I feel compelled to post stuff that might not be strictly up-to-date. Case in point: "Night of the Red Drum" is a painting I made about 10 years ago just before Halloween. And at about the same time, I posed for this panoramic photo in Big Tujunga Canyon (and I haven't seen if this part is still there post-Station Fire, I hope so) with nine of my brothers - see if you can tell which one is me.

Red drum

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Cobb Estate 1930

First off, I want to send a shout out to my new friend, Kathy Hoskins, at the Altadena Historical Society for sending over this digital newsletter.

It is so appropriate right now: Here in the foothills we're slowly coming to terms with the destruction wreaked by the Station Fire. I just discovered the remains of the Cobb Estate and lovely Flores Canyon just a few months ago,  and of course, our local history is always worth mentioning: real stuff that happened to real people, just like us.

Raven Jake on the Front Steps

So the timing is right. And this is what some old guy (who happened to be a self-made millionaire) did when his house was in danger: he fought back.

Here's what the newsletter (which was written by Jane Brackman, Altadena Historical Society President) says: "And speaking of fires…The 1934 Brown Mountain fire scorched 3000 acres above Altadena. One year later high winds fueled a fire that burned La Vina Sanatorium to the ground. The 1935 La Vina fire blazed across the foothills from Millard Canyon to Las Flores canyon, almost destroying the home of Charles H. Cobb. His Spanish style mansion, elegantly appointed with imported exotic hardwoods, was landscaped with eucalyptus, palm trees and lodge pole pines - fuel just waiting for a fire. But the 83 year-old Cobb, with help from his 200,000 gallon reservoir was prepared for the fight.

According to the October 24, 1935 issue of the Altadena Press, “About two o’clock in the morning [Cobb] was awakened to find that not only his property, a mansion nestled against the foothills of Las Flores canyon, but his life and that of his household were endangered. Due to the water system installed on the Las Flores ranch 20 years ago, Mr. Cobb, with the aid of Andrew Anderson, was able to save all of his property with the exception of damage done to a few trees and shrubs. Mr. Cobb handled a water hose bearing 100 pounds pressure, playing it upon a blazing furnace within a few feet of his garage and other buildings, the point first threatened.”

Cobb made his fortune in lumber, starting off as a lumberjack in his home state of Maine and later Washington. Prior to retirement he served as president of International Lumber Company.

In 1916, he and his wife, Carrie, purchased a substantial part of Las Flores ranch and built their dream home in the shadow of Echo Mountain.

The newspaper article continued, “Mr. Cobb stated that he has contended for many years that the canyons and foothills above Altadena should be periodically burned off by the forestry department to eliminate dangers to property and loss of life… This statement coming from a man who has spent a lifetime in the woods is significant and deserving of careful study.”

Cobb died in 1939. About 20 years later the house was torn down due to neglect and vandalism. Cobb’s estate, at the top of Lake Avenue, is now a park managed by the U.S. Forest Service."

Sources: Altadena: Between Wilderness and City by Michele Zack (2004); Altadena’s Golden Years by Robert H. Peterson (1976); Altadena Press, October 24, 1935, p 1

Altadena Historical Society: From our Files, “Fires” September 13, 2009

Home of Carrie and Charles H. Cobb, about 1930. (Photo reprinted

from Altadena’s Golden Years by Robert Peterson, p. 37)

Altadena Historical Society 730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena CA 91001

(626) 797-8016  altadenahistorical.society@yahoo.com

Open Monday and Tuesday 9:00 am to 12:30 pm and by appointment

Stop by for a visit

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