Descriptive Summary
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Helen and Robert W. Long Collection of Moreno Documents
Dates: 1818-1974
Bulk dates: 1839-1869
Collection Number: mssHLG
1-1132
Creator:
Moreno, José Matías
Extent:
Approximately 1,500 items in 26 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists mainly of the
original correspondence (1839-1869) to and from José Matías Moreno (born ca. 1818), with the bulk of
it dating from 1850s and 1860s when Moreno was an important agent, merchant, and
political figure in San Diego and Baja, California. There is also some later material
dealing with the subsequent history of his Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja,
California.
Language of Material: The records are in Spanish and
English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Helen and Robert W. Long Collection of Moreno Documents, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Helen P. Long, May 1988.
Biographical Note
José Matías Moreno was born about 1818 in Baja, California, the son of a Scottish
whaler and a Mexican mother. As a youth he participated in various revolutionary
movements, and eventually became the secretary to Governor Pío Pico in Alta
California in 1845. A strong supporter of Mexico all his life, he fled to Baja
California with Pico in 1846 in the face of American forces to continue the fight
there against the U.S. After the war he came to San Diego, where he married the
natural daughter of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, thereby becoming related to many of
the major californio families. He was vocal in his opposition to the californios who
had backed the U.S. in the war, and defended the interests of his fellow Hispanics
in their dealings with American Anglo businessmen. At the same time he acted as an
agent, promoting the development of Baja California and soliciting American capital.
He was also long active in Mexican internal politics in Baja and served in 1861-1862
as political chief of the border region of the territory for the Mexican government.
His frequent extended absences from home resulted in an extensive correspondence
with his wife which lasted throughout their marriage until his death in 1869.
José Matías Moreno and Prudenciana López de Moreno had at least nine children: José
Matías Moreno III, Carmen Carmelita Moreno, Dolores Moreno, Constatina Moreno, Mateo
R. Moreno, Regina Moreno, Manuel Constantino Moreno, Constantino Moreno II, and
Carmen Carmelita Moreno II. Dolores Moreno married George Anson Flower. Dolores and
George had seven children: Andrew Flower, George Constantino Flower, Maria Nancy
Flower, Dolores Flower, Sarela Flower, Lucinda Jane Flower, and Flora Cheatum.
Lucinda Jane Flower married Percy William Barré. Lucinda and Percy had four
children: Myron George Barré, Katherine Dolores Barré, Harriet Eugenia Barré, and
William Percy Barré.
Scope and Content
This collection consists mainly of the
original correspondence (1839-1869) to and from José Matías Moreno (born ca. 1818), with the bulk of
it coming in the 1850s and 1860s when Moreno was an important agent, merchant, and
political figure in San Diego and Baja, California. There is also some later material
dealing with the subsequent history of his Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja,
California.
Boxes 1-17 consist mainly of correspondence, documents, and manuscripts to and from
José Matías Moreno. Some subjects include the history of his Rancho Guadalupe in
northern Baja California; politics in Baja California and American economic and
political influence there; filibustering; ranchos and land sales; commerce and
shipping along the California coast; mining; and the social and domestic history of
the Californios. Boxes 23-26 consist of additional oversize correspondence,
documents, and manuscripts at the end of the collection.
Note: At the end of Box 15, there are facsimiles, translations, and a
group of loose notes and fragments. The notes and fragments appear to be a working
translation. These folders do not have an HLG call number.
Box 18 consists of papers regarding Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja California.
There are correspondence, documents, empty envelopes, miscellaneous financial
records, negatives, printed matter, sketches, and maps from the 1880s-1948.
Correspondence consists of mainly letters to and from Percy William Barré, Sarela
Flower de Mygrant, Ella Mygrant, and two attorneys.
Box 19 consists of the Flower family genealogy and photographs. The photographs are
primarily reproductions. Also in Box 19 is Robert W. Long’s dissertation:
Life and Times of José Matías Moreno.
Box 20 consists of appeals, applications, circulars, correspondence, instructions,
and notices to and from the United States Department of the Interior General Land
Office from 1911 to 1968. The miscellaneous printed matter folder includes a
newspaper clipping, a Baja California Travels Series list by Dawson’s Book Shop, The
Journal of San Diego History, 1970, Old Main Towns of Northern Part of the Frontier
of Lower California and Their Significance in English and Spanish, and a photocopy
of Gabriel González, Last Dominican in Baja California by Peter Gerhard.
Boxes 21 and 22 consist of index cards corresponding to the correspondence,
documents, and manuscripts. The information found on these cards vary from only a
name and a date to subject matter. The cards in Box 21 are arranged chronologically
from 1850 to 1868. The cards in Box 22 are arranged alphabetically.
Note: Not all of these cards are accurate. They appear to
be a reference resource for the collection that was never completed.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Altamirano, José Antonio,
1835-
Alvarado, Juan Bautista,
1809-1882
Argüello, Santiago,
1791-1862
Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe,
1808-1890
Arnabar, Cándido
Bandini, Juan,
1800-1859
Buchanan, James,
1791-1868
Burton, Henry Straton,
-1869
Castro, José, 1807-1860
Coronel, Antonio Franco,
1817-1894
Cota, Leonardo, 1816-1887
Couts, Cave Johnson,
1821-1874
Crosthwaite, Philip,
1825-1903
Del Valle, Ignacio
Estudillo, José Antonio,
1803-1852
Gibert, Félix
Flower, George Anson
Flower family
Forbes, James Alexander,
1804?-1881
Forster, John, 1814-1882
Franklin, Luis A.
Franklin, William Buel,
1823-1903
Guerra, Pablo de la,
1819-1874
Hayes, Benjamin,
1815-1877
Juárez, Benito, 1806-1872
Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob
Primer), 1809-1892
Limantour, José Yves,
-1885
Long, Helen P., former
owner
López de Moreno,
Prudenciana
Manasse, Joseph S.,
1831-1897
Moreno, José
Matías
Maximilian, Emperor of
Mexico, 1832-1867
McClellan, George B.
(George Brinton), 1826-1885
Meléndrez, Antonio Ma. (Antonio
María), 1830?-1855
Mendoza, Juan Bautista
Moerenhout, J. A. (Jacques Antoine),
1796-1879
Morse, Ephraim, 1823-1906
Mugarrieta, José Marcos,
1822-1886
Olvera, Agustin, 1818-1876
Pico, Antonio Maria,
1809-1869
Pico, Pío, 1801-1894
Porter, Rufus King
Riveroll, Teodoro
Rojo, Manuel C., 1823-1900
Rosecrans, William S. (William
Starke), 1819-1898
Ruiz de Burton, María Amparo,
1832-1895
Ruiz de Esparza, Feliciano
Serra, Junípero, Saint,
1713-1784
Stearns, Abel,
1798-1871
Sutter, John Augustus,
1803-1880
Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe,
1808-1890
Vischer, Edward
Williston, Edward Bancroft,
1837-1920
Yorba, Bernardo, 1800 or
1801-1858
Corporate Names
United States.
Department of the Interior
United States. General
Land Office
Yankee Blade
(ship)
Subjects
Bull Run, 1st Battle of Va.,
1861
Cattle
Cigar industry--California
Copper mines and mining
Diplomatic and consular service,
Russian
Filibusters--Mexico
Gold mines and mining
Indians of North America
Land tenure--California,
Southern
Legislators--California--Correspondence
Mercury mines and
mining--California--New Almaden
Mohave Indians
Mines and mineral resources
Pony express
Ranches--California
Salt industry and trade
Salt mines and mining
Small pox
Water supply
Whalers (persons)
Whaling ships
Geographic Areas
Baja California (Mexico
: Peninsula)--History--Sources
California--Economic
conditions
California--History--Sources
California--Politics and
government--1850-1950
Guadalajara
(Mexico)--Politics and government
La Paz (Baja California
Sur, Mexico)--History
Mexico--Economic
conditions
Mexico--Foreign
relations
Mexico--History--European intervention, 1861-1867
Mexico--Politics and
government--1861-1867
San Diego
(Calif.)--History--Sources
San Francisco
(Calif.)--Economic conditions
San Francisco
(Calif.)--Politics and government
San Quintín (Baja
California, Mexico)
United States--Foreign
relations
United
States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United
States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Economic aspects
Genre
Letters
(correspondence)--California--19th century
Letters
(correspondence)--California--20th century