Finding Aid for the Collection of California Missions inventories, reports, and other material 0374
Finding aid prepared by Sue Tyson
USC Libraries Special Collections
2011 January 7
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Title: Collection of California Missions inventories, reports, and other material
Collection number: 0374
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
Spanish
Physical Description:
0.42 Linear feet
1 box
Date: 1791-1846, undated
Language of Materials: Materials are in Spanish. The collection includes one document in English and some English-language notes.
Abstract: The twenty-one documents in this collection, primarily inventories, account books, and annual reports from five California
missions, show economic and social aspects of life at the missions. The documents, written in Spanish and dated from 1791-1846,
provide information about the people living and working at the missions, including numbers of baptisms, marriages, births,
and deaths; number and kinds of livestock and crops; descriptions of property and buildings; and accountings of debits and
credits. The collection also includes documents reflecting financial and social transactions at multiple or unspecified missions.
As part of their colonial designs on Alta California, the Spanish founded missions, presidios, and pueblos in order to secure
and develop this territory; these California missions thus served as the engine for the region's economic and political development.
The missions were conceived as self-sufficient entities that, in enlisting a Christianized Native American population as their
labor force, would receive minimal financial and material support from the Viceroyalty in New Spain. As the missions grew
more productive and supply lines from Mexico dwindled, their goods and labor increasingly supported each other and the needs
of the presidios and pueblos. In the years prior to Mexican independence (1821) and secularization (1834), many of the missions
were very productive in agriculture, artisanal production, and trade, as the Native Americans grew and harvested crops, tended
livestock, and manufactured goods in mission workshops. As part of their duties, the Franciscan Fathers heading the California
missions kept detailed records about the missions and their inhabitants, sending inventories, account books, and annual and
biennial reports to their affiliated presidios and to the administrators in Mexico City. After secularization, inventories
were also conducted before missions were leased or sold.
[Box/folder# or item name], Collection of California Missions inventories, reports, and other material, Collection no. 0374,
Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections 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.
Advance notice required for access.
This collection is arranged first by named missions, in order of quantity of documents, and then by documents that either
do not specify a particular mission or that name multiple missions; these latter are arranged in chronological order. Within
these groupings, folders are arranged in chronological order.
This collection was purchased from the Historical Society of Southern California in 1988; according to acquisitions documentation,
the Historical Society of Southern California had owned the documents since 1899. Also acquired with this collection was a
Los Angeles election manuscript, entitled Los Angeles Justice of the Peace Election Results, dated November 4, 1850; this
document has been included in the General Historical Manuscripts and Ephemera collection, #6004, Special Collections, University
of Southern California.
The collection was presumably arranged and rehoused at purchase in 1988. In 2010, Sue Tyson processed the collection, re-arranging,
describing, and refoldering its documents. Ivan E. Calimano provided translation assistance.
The California Missions collection consists of twenty-one documents, primarily inventories, account books, and annual reports
(informes), dated 1791-1846. The majority of the documents were created at five of the missions: Santa Cruz (eight documents),
San Buenaventura (four documents), and one document each from San Gabriel Arcangel, Santa Clara, and Santa Ines. The remainder
of the documents describe conditions at more than one mission, or refer to financial or social transactions at unidentified
missions. All but one of the collection’s documents are in Spanish; one undated document, a descriptive introduction to and
translation of an annual report from the Santa Cruz Mission from 1791, is written in English. About half of the documents
are dated prior to the secularization of the missions in 1834, and about half are dated post-secularization.
Though limited in size, the collection shows economic and social aspects of life at the missions. Account books, inventories,
and annual and biennial reports (informes) provide information about the people living and working at the missions, including
numbers of baptisms, marriages, births, and deaths; number and kinds of livestock and crops; description of property and buildings;
and accountings of debits and credits. Some of the documents provide a great deal of detail: for example, a set of annual
and biennial reports from 1791-1833 (Folder 3) and an account book for 1792-1818 (Folder 4) each offer views of the Santa
Cruz Mission's economic activities over many years.
Along with documents about the missions named above, the collection includes other types of documents that attest to various
social and legal practices. These include a conversion statement, promissory notes, and documents concerning marriage. Many
documents refer to Native Americans as Indios; one document mentions Coras, Yuma, and Apache.
The collection contains many signatures of figures that played a role in the history of the California missions, including
Andrés Pico, Estevan Tapis, Thomas de la Pena, and Pablo Vicente de Sola; people charged with conducting inventories of the
missions, such as Juan Manso; and lessees or purchasers of the missions, including Narciso Botello and José Arnaz. Other signatures
found in the documents are mentioned in the Scope and Content notes for individual folders in the collection. In addition,
names mentioned in the documents include Juan B. Alvarado, Narciso Duran, and Concepcion Arguello.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Alvarado, Juan Bautista, 1809-1882 -- Archives
Arguello y Morago, Maria de la Concepcion Marcela, d. 1857 -- Archives
Arnaz, José -- Archives
Botello, Narciso -- Archives
Duran, Narciso, 1776-1846 -- Archives
Manso, Juan -- Archives
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.). -- Archives
Pena Saravia, Tomas de la, 1743-1806 -- Archives
Pico, Andrés -- Archives
San Buenaventura Mission. -- Archives
Santa Clara Mission. -- Archives
Santa Cruz Mission. -- Archives
Santa Ines Mission (Solvang, Calif.). -- Archives
Sola, Pablo Vicente de, b.1761 -- Archives
Tapis, Estevan, 1754-1825 -- Archives
Account books
Annual reports
Baptismal certificates
California--History--To 1846--Archival resources
Indians of North America--Missions--California--Archival resources
Informes
Inventories
Legal documents
Missions, Spanish--California--History--Archival resources
Missions, Spanish--Economic aspects--California--Archival resources
Promissory notes
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 2
[Santa Cruz Mission Translation of First Informe written by Father Baldomero Lopez] 1791
Language of Material: English
The document consists of six legal-sized pages.
Undated translation into English of a 1791 informe [annual report] concerning the Santa Cruz Mission, and an introduction
to this translation. The author of the introduction and translation is not named. The introduction comprises pages one through
three of the document, and the translation pages four through six. Based on the fact that it is on legal-sized paper, it is
assumed that this document was created in the 20th century.
The introduction mentions the Mission Dolores [Used for: San Francisco de Asis Mission (San Francisco, Calif.)] and hundreds
of neophytes residing there; it also mentions Native American populations at Aptos and Santa Cruz. The introduction describes
the founding of Santa Cruz Mission, the construction of its church, its dedication ceremony, and its partial destruction,
and the dedication of a second church, by Bishop Amat [Thaddeus Amat]. Other names mentioned in the introduction include Thomas
Pena, Hermenegildo Sal, Fathers Crespi and Gomez, and Fathers Alonso Salazar and Baldomero Lopez.
The translated informe, a copy of the report sent on December 31, 1791 and written by Father Baldomero Lopez, describes the
condition of the Mission of Santa Cruz from 1791. The informe recounts baptisms; marriages; deaths; numbers of Native Americans
living in the mission and where they were baptized; number and type of cattle, horses, and mules; amount and type of grain
sown; descriptions of the buildings and yards; and provision of tools and household goods.
Box 1, Folder 3
[Santa Cruz Mission Annual Reports (Informes)] 1791-1833
Language of Material: Spanish
Thirty pages of documentation with some sides blank or nearly blank; taped at binding with scotch tape.
Santa Cruz Mission Annual Reports (Informes). Annual and biennial reports from the mission for the years 1791, 1792, 1794,
1795, [?], 1796, 1803-1804, 1804, 1806, 1809, 1817, 1820, 1822, 1829, and 1833. Accounting includes headcounts of inhabitants
in addition to baptisms, marriages, deaths, livestock, saddle animals, and crops. Signatures include those of Domingo Carranza,
Baldomero Lopez, Antonio Rodriguez, and Jayme Escude.
Box 1, Folder 4
[Santa Cruz Mission Account Book] 1792-1818
Language of Material: Spanish
Fifty pages bound together, not necessarily in order, plus one small loose sheet with writing, mostly numbers, on both sides.
Account book with some description of inventory, dated variously between January 13, 1792 and 1818 and written by various
people; and slip of paper with gross salary information. Signatures include those of Estevan Tapis, Marcelino Marquino, Antonio
Rodriguez, Abonado Ti Carranza [?], Domingo Carranza, and Pedro Peralta.
Box 1, Folder 5
Box 1, Folder 6
Box 1, Folder 7
[Santa Cruz Mission Court Document regarding Village of Branciforte] 1817
Language of Material: Spanish
One sheet, folded to make four pages; writing on three pages, with fourth page blank.
Document regarding passage between the Village of Branciforte ("Villa de Branciforte") and Mission Santa Cruz, dated May 31,
1817 and June 4, 1817. Document includes writing by several people and is signed by Pablo Vicente de Sola, Marcelino Marquinez,
and Jayme Escude.
Box 1, Folder 8
Box 1, Folder 9
[Santa Clara Mission Conversion Statement] 1839
Language of Material: Spanish
One folded sheet of four pages, each filled with writing.
Conversion statement of Henrique Gilte, Santa Clara Mission, 1839. Document consists of two parts, each written by a different
person, and includes several signatures, including those of Henrique Gilte, Antonio Rodriguez, Antonio z. rel Real [?], and
José Maria de Jesus Gonzales. The document describes Gilte's conversion to Roman Catholicism from the Protestant faith of
his parents.
Box 1, Folder 10
[San Buenaventura Mission Promissory Note, Inventory, and Account Book] circa 1839
Documents consists of two sheets.
Promissory note, account book, and inventory dated circa 1839. Inventory covers animals, supplies, and property, including
furnishings and a description of the principal building. Names mentioned in the document include José Antonio Aguirre, José
Noriega, Juan B. Alvarado, Rafael Valdes, Carlos Antonio Carrillo, Narciso Duran, and Concepcion Arguello.
Box 1, Folder 11-12
[San Buenaventura Mission Inventory and Account Book] 1845
The document in Folder 11 consists of a folded sheet of four pages, with page 4 blank. The document in Folder 12 consists
of a single sheet (two pages), with the second page blank except for the signatures and English-language note.
Folder 11: Inventory dated July 15, 1845. Signatures on the document include those of Juan Manso and Andrés Pico. The document
inventories the carpenter's shop, the kitchen, furniture of the house, seeds and grain, and animals. Folder 1 of 2.
Folder 12: Inventory dated July 15, 1845. Final page of the real and personal property found at the mission. Signatures on
the first page are those of Juan Manso and Andrés Pico; signatures on the second page are of Narciso Botello and Dolores Valdez.
Also on the second page is an English-language note in pencil, undated, ostensibly describing the document. Folder 2 of 2.
Box 1, Folder 13
[San Buenaventura Mission Inventory] 1846
Language of Material: Spanish
Twelve pages, hand-sewn and numbered.
Inventory dated March 24, 1846, detailing property in the main building and the main house, winery, barn, shoemaker's shop,
mill, kitchen, and more. On the last page are several lines of English-language notes [undated] describing the document, stating:
"Inventory of the real and personal property turned over by Ramon Valdez, keeper, to the commissioners Narciso Botello and
José Arnaz." Signed by all three.
Box 1, Folder 14
[Santa Inés Mission (Solvang, Calif.) Inventory] 1846
Language of Material: Spanish
The document consists of twenty-two pages, with hand-sewn binding; some pages have separated from the binding and some are
blank.
Inventory of goods and furnishings, dated 1846. Inventory covers the main house, the shoemaker's and metalsmithing shops,
the gardens, croplands, livestock, farm and field tools, household goods, and more. The document lists the names of circa
eighty people. Signatures include those of Miguel Cordero, Joaquin Carrillo, Augustin Davila, and José Sinares [?]; José Maria
Covarrubias is also mentioned. The last page of the document includes an undated, unattributed English-language description
of the document.
Box 1, Folder 15
[Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) Inventory] 1846
Box 1, Folder 16
[Report on the Condition of Four Missions--Fragment] 1794
Language of Material: Spanish
Written on both sides of fragment.
Fragmentary sheet of an inventory and report on four missions in 1794, including some comparison with 1792. Along with Mission
San Juan Capistrano, names mentioned include missions in Sonora and Baja California: Mission Santo Domingo and Mission Santa
Rosalia [de Mulegé]. A mission Altamira [?] is also mentioned. The report includes headcounts of people at these missions,
including of each mission's cabinet and church council, and contains figures concerning numbers of Indians and Spaniards in
1792 and 1794. The document also details number of marriages, baptisms, and deaths of Indians and Spaniards, and discusses
the education of Indians. Native American cultures mentioned include Coras, Yumas, and Apaches.
Box 1, Folder 17
[General Accounting of the Missions] 1800
Language of Material: Spanish
One sheet, blank on page 2.
A general accounting of missions' debits and credits, dated 1800 and signed by Fray Thomas de la Peña. Missions named include
La Purisima Concepcion; Mission de San Antonio; Santa Cruz Mission; Mission San Gabriel Arcangel; Nuestra Señora de la Soledad;
Mission San Carlos Borromeo; San Buenaventura Mission; San Juan Bautista; Mission San Miguel Arcangel; San Luis Rey Mission;
San Fernando Mission; Mission de San Joseph; Santa Barbara Mission; San Diego Mission; Santa Clara Mission; San Francisco
de Asis Mission; Mission San Juan Capistrano; and Mission San Luis Obispo.
Box 1, Folder 18
[Promissory Notes (Two Items)] 1825, 1832
Language of Material: Spanish
Each documents consists of one sheet, blank on verso.
Folder contains two promissory notes. Promissory note of September 26, 1825, details funds promised by the Casas Nacionales
de la Ciudad de Chihuahua to the Colegio Apostolico de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas; this document contains several
signatures, including those of José Antonio de Anzar and José Rafael de Torres. Promissory note of 1832 also contains several
signatures, including those of Juan Antonio Aragon and José Sandobal.
Box 1, Folder 19
[Promissory Note] 1833
Language of Material: Spanish
One sheet, blank on verso.
Promissory note dated July 24, 1833, Monterrey. Document begins with stamped text that includes the names Figueroa and José
Rafael Gonzalez and is dated 1831. The document is signed by José Rafael Gonzalez.
Box 1, Folder 20
[Certificate of Baptism] circa 1840
Language of Material: Spanish
One sheet with writing on both sides.
Certificate of Baptism, circa 1840. The document includes the Mexican seal, with its image of an eagle and a serpent. Names
mentioned or appearing in signatures include Antonio Maria Orio [?]; José Maria Suarez del Real, and José Maria Aguilar, as
well as the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas.