Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-05-15
OLD eABR1EL

The Old Indian Who Died in Call
fornia After Century and a Half
of Life.
Old Gabriel, who has Just died, was
one of the most remarkable characters on
the coast So far as can be learned from
tradition he was born about 1740, though
there is no record of his birth, and even
in the early days when California was
still the rowing ground of the Mission In
dians, around whom so many romances
have been built, Gabriel was too aged for
the old men of the time to remember his
childhood. As q venerable chief, who
died few years ago at the age of 115,
put it, "Gabriel was an old man when
the Indians of his age were still boys.n
The story of the old fellows life is in
teresting, chiefly on account of the length
of years it covered, and not by reason Of
lvalorous deeds of relentless warfare. He
was on the whole peaceable creature,
ignorant and faithful.
The story of his life has been handed
down among the Franciscan missionaries,
who came into California more than a
century ago, and when Father Junipero
arrived in Monterey in 1869 Gabriel, then
a grandfather, was among the little band
who received him. The missionary took
an interest in the man, who was at the
time strapping fellow of six feet, and
not long after baptized him and guided
him into the Catholic faith He worked
for the Church, conscientiously continu-
ing his devotions until few years since,
and one of the few things which during
his last days brought back the old light
in GabriePs dim eyes was the mention of
Father Junipero's name.
It drew out from him in broken Span
ish the story of Father Junipero's first
mass under tree, and the building of
the Carmelo mission of adobe, its obliter-
alton, and its reconstruction in stone,
much of which was cut by old Gabriel's
own hands. His services were also
demanded during the building of the
Soledad and San Antonio missions in
1891.
From that time on his life seems to
have been unusually quiet, and though
Father Sorrentine made search of the
records and gathered together all the
current stories of the remarkable fellow,
little of sensational nature ever came
to light, though his great age was clearly
established. Gabriel lived in Monterey
for years, but toward the close of his
career he was familiar figure on the
streets of Salinas, well known for his love
of bright colors, with which his clothes
ware patched from shoulder to shoe.
His personal habits were worthy cul-
tured white man, and to them no doubt
was partially due his long life. His food
was Of the simplest character, and his
practices model of regularity. He paid
particular attention to bathing, and, as
old age and circumstances deprived him
of the means of attending to this custom,
in lieu of his bath he scraped his skin
with an old knife, thus keeping the
pores open. There are some old resi-
dents of the county who we'll remember
the sweathouse that old Gabriel had on
the bank of creek where he lived many
years ago and the persistency with which
it was used.
His memory up to about five or six
years ago was very g0od ana was equal TO
what it had been for the fifty years pre-
ceding; but since then, and more par
ticularly during the last two years, it
gradually failed, as did his speech.
The Indians all attribute Gabriel's
longevity to his having been the first to
submit to the priests baptism. They
looked upon him with great reverence,
and even to white men be was remark
able character, for had George Washing
ton lived he would have been scarcely
older, and in all modern history there are
few such cases as that Of the old, ignor-
ant Mission Indian Gebriel San Fran
cisco Chronicle.