Dawn and the Dons/SPANISH MONTEREY
CHAPTER XIII
SPANISH MONTEREY
FOR centuries, nature had been fashioning the Monterey peninsula into a fitting habitation for the beauty loving people who would be led by their heart’s desire to wander into this nae of dreams. Along the shores of its two bays, the ocean ebbed and flowed, fingering “the long keyboard of the beach” with the giant hands of a master musician. On its seaward side, rocky fortresses lifted undaunted heads to hurl defiance at the waves, born in the vastness of the Pacific, that never ceased to hammer and pound at the impregnable rock foundations.
Back from the sea, fringing the sandy stretches, rose gently undulating slopes, studded with sturdy oaks and pines, among whose shadows the California poppy, arrayed in the yellow uniform of the Spanish Don, creptback in springtime to bury its gold in the dark forest beyond. The uplands stretched back from the valleys to give green pastures for the cattle and sheep that would come, or make fields and fruitful orchards, where neophytes might labor till the Angelus called. And narrow, gurgling streams gave their waters for irrigation. In sentinel groups along the peninsula’s seaward shore stood the Monterey cypress, elsewhere unknown, whose weird and fantastic forms fascinated and charmed, and whose origin is a botanical mystery. Above, on the forested heights, the beautiful Monterey pine, itself peculiar to the peninsula, held queenly sway, attended by the wild and purpled lilac, the picturesque and colorful manzanita, the sedate buckeye, and other arboreal courtiers; while in the cloistered ravines, miniature for-
ests of bewildering and fascinating ferns paid silent tribute to their woodland queen. Lights and shades, and the varying tints of sunlight cast a spell by day that was transformed into a mystical charm when moonbeams danced across this playground of the fairies; while the scent of resinous saps, the pungent odor of the moss, and the faint and subtle perfume of wild flowers mingled their aromas with the salt tang of the sea. But beautiful as was the setting designed and prepared by nature;
romantic
as were
the adventures
of those daring and intrepid explorers who found—and lost— and found again—this ocean bay; and fascinating as are the tales of the padres, it was the people who lived there, those courtly scions of lordly Spain, that gave the
final touch of charm and color to Spanish Monterey. And what a picture it was! Here were gathered the wealth and beauty of California in that wonderful time when every face wore a friendly smile, and no one looked beyond a joyous present, filled with a sense of leisure, of plenty, and of gladness. Here were seen the brilliancy and gold lace of the military; proud, smiling, aristocratic Sefiores, who bore the stamp of chivalrous
courage; coquettish, dark-eyed Senoritas, peeping from behind vine-draped windows at dashing cavaliers and their attendant vaqueros from the ranchos, as they galloped through the town; gray-frocked friars, who moved noiselessly over the trails, mission-ward;
and solemn-
faced Indian children, who added dusky splatches to the colorful picture. Many elements entered into the community life of Spanish Monterey. There was always a military force to be reckoned with, that made up in glitter what it lacked in numbers. Though rarely exceeding eighty men, including officers, its Commandante was always a person of vast importance. Presidial architecture displayed itself in quadrangular barracks, and in the walls of certain outlying defenses. The enclosed square, an area of about seventy-five hundred square feet, was situated a gun-shot from the water’s edge. One small cannon at each of the four corners, with the seven that guarded the bay, constituted the entire artillery defense. The special pride of the garrison was a gun mounted on the brow of the rise edging the beach. It is said that four hundred pounds of silver were molded into its massive frame, and the voice that on grave occasions issued from its cavernous throat boomed a reverberant tribute of welcome. Garrison life centered about the cuartel that formed the residence barracks for the soldiers and their families.
It was a long, two-storied adobe building, with double porches its entire length. An outside stairway led to the upper story, and from its red-tiled roof issued two squat chimneys that evidenced the huge fireplaces within. Military drill every afternoon following siesta was the great event of the day, with accompanying social features. It was ever a welcome delight to the small boy, and equally enjoyed by his grownup sister. In the open plaza, opposite the verandas, where the entire population gathered, the proud and courageous warriors, attired in colorful uniforms, marched and countermarched to the strains of martial music. Following this Hives display of intricate military Panciverds the flag of Spain was saluted with due ceremony, and the cannon boomed an explosive farewell to the sun. Civil life was then resumed in the various patios, where wine, laughter and
gossip shared the hours with music and love making. Monterey was adjudged by the travelers of that day to be the most delightful, as well as the most civilized looking place in Spanish California. Her pueblo grant covered four square leagues, and the- pueblo proper, in accordance with the usual plan of Spanish architecture, was built around a central plaza, where were located the public buildings and the business section. But business to these pleasure loving Dons, whose money bags were but shining dreams, was a means rather than a pursuit. The side of the plaza facing the harbor was not enclosed, but was sufficiently guarded by the Custom House, an imposing building that kept watch and ward over the comings and goings along the water front. Monterey was the principal port for the marketing of hides and tallow from the ranchos, and for the purchase
of cargoes brought by occasional trading vessels that came that way. And wonderful cargoes changed hands. These adventurous pioneer traders, mostly Yankees from Boston, had shrewdly learned just what was most desired in far off California, and came abundantly prepared to supply the demand. The low adobe stores of Monterey were piled high with beautiful and costly goods, for the Spanish residents were a proud and showy people, and the satin slippers, high combs, lace mantillas, embroidered jackets, gay rebosos, silverembossed hats, and all that went to make up the colorful
attire of that time, found ready purchasers. The choice building lots about the plaza were always ata premium, and once occupied, remained in the same family for years, often for generations. As new residences were required, they were built farther back from the center. There was little need for streets, as there were no vehicular conveyances save an occasional ox-drawn
cart. Everybody rode horseback, and selected the way of least resistance. Each householder built his house where his fancy dictated. If it happened to obstruct a bridle-path, no one questioned; simply went round. So the narrow thoroughfares zigzagged, in keeping with the care-free attitude of the inhabitants. The buildings were mostly adobe, painted white and roofed with red tiles. There was plenty of adobe soil close at hand, from which the Indians could make bricks, grinding the lumps of clay in crude wooden mills, named arastras; treading it to proper consistency with bare feet, mixing it with cut straw to give it tenacity, then drying in the sun. Tiles, too, were native made and fired, and nearby quarries gave a white stone, known locally as chalk-rock, of which the more pretentious buildings were constructed. The mortar used for both adobe bricks and rock was clay. Often the adobe bricks were given an added artistic value by pressing into them, while still moist, pebbles, small colored stones, and even
shells from the beaches, in ornamental designs. Timbers for joists, cross beams and rafters were hewed and shaped by hand from redwood, mostly, and the planks for floors and roof-boards were split with wedges from the straight-grained logs of the same great trees, growing in nearby canyons along the coast. Door frames and window casings were built in as the house grew up, and were strong and massive pieces of the enduring wood. Finally the whole building, inside and out, was plastered to give it finish and additional protection against the weather. Curious stones were often brought many miles to serve as steps or gateposts. The more pretentious houses were built around an inside court, the patio, upon which all the rooms opened. Wide verandas were across the front of the house, and
on the inside around the patio, and these, covered with tile roofing, gave shaded seclusion where the family spent the greater portion of the day.
The patio was a sun-flooded enclosure, gay with flowers, and filled with palms, blossoming trees and ornamental shrubs.
Giant ferns, sweet Castilian roses and
fragrant jasmine framed nooks and fairy bowers. In the center was a sparkling fountain, the drops as they reached the sun, falling back in rainbow bubbles upon the lily-pads and the moss colored water in the stone basin below, while the spray wafted a sense of delicious coolness. The garden beds were filled with flowers whose seed was brought from old Mexico; roses, pinks, holly-
hocks, sweet peas and orange lilies. No garden was considered complete without some form of cactus, usually a
sharp-thorned century plant, with a stiff, flowered stalk towering up into the blue, a straight, unbending sentinel guarding the plant world at its feet. Birds unmolested built their nests in the heavy rose-laden vines; white and yellow butterflies fluttered among Spanish bayonets; and kittens chased the sunbeams in the dappled shade of
trees. It was in the patio that the sun lingered longest, making the life within drowsy with its brightness. But the house was only a stage, set by the stage carpenter, for the acting of the drama of home, and it was in their homes that these romantic dwellers in Spanish Monterey made dreams of an ideal life come true. With them, family life was an affair of dignity and formality, interwoven with a deep and lasting affection. “There were lovely ladies, gallant gentlemen, dashing cabal leros, troops of laughing children, and the touch of divine comradery over all.” Great stress was laid on family connections, with reverence for the founders of the province, and for all others in authority, while
a
strong religious flavor permeated it all.
“At break of day, the tongues out a clear, silvery summons for all souls to arise and worship.” The earliest service was for the laborers, and following this, mass was said hourly throughout the morning. For the most part, the women were the daily church-goers, once a week being deemed sufficient for the men. Spanish etiquette required that each lady be attended by her servant, who carried an embroidered rug for her use. As there were no seats in the church, these rugs were an indispensable part of the lady’s belongings; even the poorer members of the congregation used mats of tules, woven by the Indians. The dress for church wear was extremely simple, and always of black, the material being inexpensive, and made up in much the same style for rich and poor. One of the lessons taught by the padres was that “all ranks of men and women are alike in the presence of the Creator,” and so at morning service no finery was worn. The homes of Spanish Monterey were marked by simplicity, but everything about them was kept scrupulously neat and clean; and
the same
rule applied
to
wearing apparel and household furnishings. “Objects of pride with the California housewife,” says Richman, “were the family garments, stitched and embroidered to a nicety; but objects of extreme pride were the beds. Not less than luxurious must they be, with ticks filled with down, silken counterpanes, and satin pillows, edged with
lace or embroidery.” The wide verandas that faced the patio were the real living rooms, where much of the family activity was carried on. Kitchen work, other than cooking, was done here; babies slept, played and were bathed; Senoritas took their naps, said their prayers, and gossiped over their lace-making; and the master of the house smoked,
dozed, and chatted with his dark-eyed sons here. veranda
was
also the family
council-chamber,
The where daughters were given in marriage, and the settlement of wedding portions was arranged. Here servants were admonished, instructions for the day given to the Major Domo, and Jos muchachos were reprimanded when occasion required. Here stern duenhas watched with vigilant eye the attempts at love making that were sure to be inaugurated when some silver-tongued caballero wandered in, but which Spanish custom forbade. Instead, the young lover must publicly proclaim his preference through nocturnal devotions with his guitar. Through the _ sweetly scented air of the night, picturesque caballeros, loving
love
and _ life,
strummed their guitars beneath the windows of the seforitas of their choice, ardently wooing them by singing in rich, soft voices the appealing songs those Spanish sehores could make so effective. Happy was the outcome of his wooing if a token of his beloved’s approval fell at his feet. But it was the parents who received him, and accepted or rejected as they saw fit. The happiest events staged in the patio. This was the Arcadia of the home, a little world of peace, harmony and beauty, a melody of sweet sounds, the twitter of birds, the hum of bees, the splashing and murmur of falling water, and the merry laughter of children. Visitors were received and entertained, the mellow cadence of Spanish conversation blending with the harmonies that filled the air. “In the long summer evenings, there were soft strains of Spanish music from mandolin and guitar, and the hard, earthen floor resounded to the tap-tap of high-heeled slippers, the swish of silken skirts, and the jingle of silver spurs.” Although Spanish custom made love-making a complicated process, Monterey rejoiced when it culminated in the marriage ceremonial that was universally made the occasion of a town fiesta. Nothing was more attractive than the wedding cavalcade on its way from the bride’s house to the Mission church. The horses were richly caparisoned, and the bride’s nearest male relative,
or. family representative, carried her before him, she sitting on the saddle with her white satin shoe in a loop of gold or silver braid, while he sat on the bear-skin
saddle-cloth behind. The groom and his friends, on the best horses obtainable, accompanied the bride’s party. After the ceremony, the bride rode on the horse with her husband, and the cavalcade, usually attended by the. entire village, returned to the home of the bride for luxurious feasting and dancing, which often lasted for several days and nights.
The senoritas looked forward to their wedding day from the time they were able to talk until it arrived, accompanied always by beautiful gifts of jewels and rare laces from the bridegroom. One of the customs observed was the winding of a silk-tasseled cord or sash about the necks of the bride and groom, thus binding them together as they knelt before the altar. Another charming custom was the making of satin shoes by the groom for the bride. A few weeks before the wedding, he obtained the needed measurements, and made the slippers with his own hands. The groomsman presented them to her the night before the wedding.
The festival spirit—so possible in California, where all nature lends itself to every form of outdoor amuscment—was the particular heritage of Spanish Monterey. Their joyous temperament led the people to seek amusements in the open in the form of fiestas, picnics, rodeos, barbecues, horse racing and dancing. Reminiscent of far-off Spain, Monterey had her Plaza de Toros, amming the old world sport by substituting a grizzly bear for the matador, a combination which afforded more excitement to the audience, and was just as destructive to the bull. In the scale of social entertainments, the fandango, or general dance, ranked second only to the rodeo. It was of such frequent occurrence that Spanish Monterey seemed to spend all its time riding horseback and dancing. The dance-floor was laid in some sheltered spot out of doors, and at night was lighted by great knots of pitch-pine fastened to the tops of slender poles. Seats placed around the floor were occupied by the senoritas, while their duenas huddled at their feet, or stood behind
them.
Spaniards of all ranks walked about or engaged
in conversation until the music began.
First came low, enticing strains, then as the sensuous melody increased, the dancers gathered on the floor in the circle illuminated by the torches. How fragrant with youth and love was such a gather-
ing, where beauty and symmetry of form, with rythmic grace and harmony of sound combined with a perfect evening in a brilliant setting! Where the salt air was tinged with the odor of burning resin from the torches!
Where the ceaseless flow of the surf mingled its bass with the measures of the instruments! Where stars
sparkled through a film of mist! And where an intoxicating sense of delight came from the joining of strains of music with strains of merry laughter! Thus, on through the hours, these happy people danced and sang, and on through the years they lived their story of love, laughter and happiness.