Handwritten pages dated June 27, 1824 from a journal created by Captain Don Pablo de la Portilla, describing an expedition that left the Santa Barbara Presidio on June 4, 1824 to find and return neophyte Indians who had left Mission Santa Barbara earlier that year.

Pablo de la Portilla was captain of the Mazatlan cavalry from 1819 to 1838 and was stationed for most of those years in San Diego, becoming comandante of the San Diego Presidio in 1831. In May 1824, Portilla was ordered by Governor Luis Antonio Argüello to lead a group of soldiers from the Matzatlan squadron along with soldiers from both presidios from Santa Barbara to the Tulares. In 1833 he was appointed administrator of Mission San Luis Rey after it became secularized. After serving briefly under Carlos Carrillo in his attempt to take the governorship from Governor Alvarado in 1837, Portilla returned to Sonora where he became captain of the post at Guaymas in 1846. He returned to California once more in 1849 with a group of gold seekers.

1 folder (8 leaves bound)

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist-Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open to qualified researchers. For information regarding access, please contact the Archivist-Librarian.