Ingersoll's Century History Santa Monica Bay Cities (Being Book Number Two of Ingersoll's Century Series of California Local History Annals), 1908a, 1879-1805
Settlement
What is commonly know as the Santa Monica Bay region includes portions of four land grants, Malibu-extending twenty-two miles along the coast to the north; Boca de Santa Monica, including the mouth of the Santa Monica Canyon; San Vicente y Santa Monica, which has an ocean frontage of a mile and a half and extended back four miles from the coast, covering an area of about 40,000 acres; and La Ballona rancho, with an ocean frontage of four miles.
For nearly three quarters of a century after the first settlement was made on the Malibu tract in 1804, or possibly earlier, this entire region was given over to grazing herds of cattle and sheep and to grain raising, on a small scale. The haciendas of the grant owners were each a little community in itself and the simple, pastoral life of the Spanish occupation lingered, to an unusual degree until the final breaking up of these ranchos, during the past twenty-five years.
But life in those slow-moving days, while not as strenuous as in our day of perpetual rush and change, had its occupations, its interests and its amusements. Most of these rancheros were also residents of Los Angeles and took an active part in municipal and territorial affairs. At their country homes they were surrounded by a large retinue of relations, retainers and servants, the latter mostly Indians. All of these were under the protection and command of the head of the house and all were fed, clothed, and provided for. The number of people about his place was a matter of pride with the ranchero.
[p. 125] And the days on one of these large stock ranges were not all siesta by any means. Herds and flocks must be guarded from thieves and the ravages of wild beasts; they must be shifted from plain to valley, from coast to mountain-side, as the season demanded. There were rodeos, the annual rounding-up of stock, to attend and sometimes a large cattle owner must be present at several of these affairs in order to secure all of his stock. Then matanza, or slaughtering, was a busy season requiring a careful selection of animals and good judgement in bargaining with the trader of the hide droghers [sic] [drovers?]; sheep-shearing was another period of arduous labor; the tanning of hides, the rendering of tallow and the harvesting of grain all demand due attention. There were dry seasons when losses were heavy, and cold, wet years which were disastrous to cattle and especially sheep.
The greater part of the necessary supplies were raised upon the rancho, but yearly the hides and tallow were traded with the sailing vessels that put into San Pedro, for such supplies and luxuries as were brought from the Orient, or from Boston. Certainly the life of those years was not without its interests. The unstability of political affairs, the constant bickering and jealousy of Monterey and Santa Barbara on the one hand and Los Angeles and San Diego, on the other; the frequently changing and very uncertain orders and officials sent from Mexico, all of these afforded pretty steady excitement in Los Angeles. And Los Angeles seems never to have been a really dull place-even in its sleepiest days. There were generally something doing-if it was only a murder before breakfast. For amusements there were balls and weddings, horse races and bull fights and the various fiestas of the church.
The ranchos near the coast were not as exposed to depredations from the dreaded "desert" Indians as were the more interior locations, but there are still traditions of lively scraps wtih bands of thieving Indians on the Malibu and the San Vicente, and there is at least one encino del Indias located on the palisades where an Indian horse thief was hanged without legal preliminaries.
[p. 127] . . . Señor [Tiburcio] Tapia was something of a politician, or so it would seem now-a-days; but we are assured that in the early days of Los Angeles the office had to seek the man and sometimes went begging for an occupant, so we must put Señor Tapia down as one of the most self-sacrificing and public spirited citizens Los Angeles ever had. He was re-elected vocale twice. In 1831 he was alacade (mayor) of Los Angeles; in 1833 he was sindico, (recorder); in 1835 encargado de Indians; 1836, alcalde-second alcalde-it took two mayors to keep things moving; In 1839 he was alcalde again and was also confirmed in the grant of the Cucamonga Rancho by governor Alvarado. In 1840 he was one of the five substitute judges elected by the junta, or superior court. In 1844 he again served the city as alcalde.
He must have been a busy man, as the leading merchant of the town and as one of the owners of the Topanga Malibu and, at the same time he was making extensive improvements on the Cucamonga Rancho, where he built a residence. It is said that as rumors of the American design upon California became rife, Don Tiburcio became alarmed for his store of coin, which was unusually large for that period. He is said to have carried much of it to Cucamonga and buried it, and there are also stories of other chests of it hidden on the Malibu. Whatever treasures of silver and gold he may have stowed away, did him no good, for he died suddenly in 1845 and it seems to have been lost to his family. He left one daughter, Maria Merced, who later marries Leon V. Prudhomme, one of the early French settlers of Los Angeles, and who is still living in the city.
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[p. 180] Chapter III. From Town to City. 1880-1890.
[p. 180] "José Raymundo Carrillo, a native of Loreto, who came to California in 1769 . . . married Tomasa Ignacia Lugo and their sons, Carlos, José and Domingo, were among the most prominent citizens of the Mexican period of Califoria history. Their only daughter, Maria Antonia, married Captain José de la Guerra y Noriega, one of the most brilliant figures in Santa Barbara history.
[p. 181] Carlos Antonio Carrillo [1783-1852], grandfather of Juan J., was born at Santa Barbara in 1783. He began life as a soldier and was engaged in many military affairs. In 1830 he was elected a member of the Mexican Congress and worked earnestly for the interests of his country and the preservation of the mission. One of his speeches, "El Exposicion sobre el Fondo Piadoso" was the first production of a native Californian, printed in book form. In 1837, his brother José Antonio, who was an active politician, secured for Carlos an appointment as governor of California, with the privilege of locating the capitol of the state at his pleasure. In consequence of this document, the original of which is now in the possession of Mr. Juan J. Carrillo, Señor Carlos Carrillo chose Los Angeles as capitol and was inaugurated there with an elaborate ceremony-the only time that Los Angeles was ever made the capital [sic]. The distinction was short-lived, however, as Governor Alvarado refused to recognize the authority of his Uncle Carlos and after a brief and bloodless campaign, Don Carlos retired from the field. He was the grantee of the Sespe Rancho and of Santa Rosa Island. He died in 1852. Bancroft says of him: "In person Don Carlos, like most of his brothers and cousins, was large and of magnificient presence, distinguished for his courteous and gentlemanly manners. In all California there was no more kind-hearted, generous, popuar and inoffensive citizen than he." His wife was Josefa Castro; his sons José, Pedro C. and José Jesus; his daughters, Josefa, wife fo Wm. J. Dana; Encarnacion, wife of Thomas Robbins; Francisca, wife of A.F. Thompson; Manuela, wife of John C. Jones, and Maria Antonia, wife of Lewis Burton.
[p. 181] "Pedro C. Carrillo [ - 1888], father of Juan J., was born in Santa Barbara and was educated in Honolulu and Boston. On his return to California he took an acitve part in affairs, filling various offices in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and being the grantee of Alamos y Agua Caliente, Camulos ranchos and San Diego island. During the American conquest, he favored the Americans and was active in their behalf. In 1847 he was the guide who led a messenger from Stockton to Fremont through the enemy's country. He was made receiver of the port of San Diego, after the American occupation and later served as receiver of the port at Santa Barbara and at San Pedro. His wife was Josefa Bandini, a sister of Mrs. Arcadia de Baker and the oldest one of the famous Bandini sisters. It was she who made the American flag which was used by Commodore Stockton at San Diego-the first American flag raised in Southern California