The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-12-14


told me that he would not hesitate to
trust one of them with $4,000 to car
ry to the nearest town. The Spaniards
know how to manage the Indians.
Their self-restraint and courtesy have
great effect. No vaquero addressed
the master without either touching or
taking off his hat Padrone is the
masters title. There was never any
excited ordering about, and the work
went on apparently of its own mo-
mentum.
In the evening, the mayor-domo
and the older vaqueros gathered on
the long veranda. While a lady was
singing in the parlor, where the fam
lily and visitors were gathered, | no.
ticed three or four old men-evidently
privileged characters-sitting quietly
listening, on a long bench in the hall
At mealtimes, if the long dining table
was not too full, two or three, of these
privileged characters quietly took the
vacant places, far down-below the
salt-ate and listened, or answered, if
they were addressed. Meantime, an
other long table was set, or had been
set, under a piazza roof in the quad
rangle which every California house
encloses, and here others ate. In the
day time this sheltered quadrangle
accommodated three or four Indian
women, who sat on the ground and did
the family sewing
Habits of Industry.
The happy faculty which the Span
iards possessed of cultivating habits
of industry among the Indians is illus
trated in the following sentences:
Life on one of the old Spanish
ranches was, [ am assured, not so
simple as we have been accustomed
to think. Various handicrafts had
been introduced by the priests, and
the Indians, who were mechanics,
were employed not only at the mis-
sion but by the more substantial
rancheros. They MIXED COWS and
made cheese; they dressed and tanned
sheep and calf skins for clothing; they
wove blankets; they made wine; they
raised grain enough for their bread
and the Indian women ground this
on stones; they preserved the hides
Of cattle for the Boston ships, and at
the San Fernando mission, near Los
Angeles, | saw huge stone and cement
tanks in which they melted down and
kept the tallow, which was also sold
to the Boston men,"
The counterpart to this picture of
a wholesome and industrious life-in
which the Indians wre a substantial
part, and from which they derived
great benefits-is that of the beautiful
spirit of hospitality shown by the
Spanish rancheros of those days.
Nordhoff writes the following pass
age: In those days." said my friend,
a wealthy ranchero Of New England
Spanish extraction, when | went out
to see Don Tomas he received ME at
the door; he showed me my room,
and in few minutes he came bear
| ing in his own hands a basin Of wa
| half dozen servants to show me that
what he did he did out of respect and
welcome to me and that servants were
at hand to do it if he did not choose
to trouble himself"
And again we read: TN those
days. said Dan Marco Forster, "men
used to travel from San Diego to
Monterey and never spend a cent OF
money. When night came, you
stopped at the nearest house After
supper you were shown your room
In the morning, clean shirt was a.
your bedside; and if you were known
to the family, it was customary tc
place near the bed, on a table, alst
a sum of money, a hundred or two
hundred dollars, from which the Wis
| itor, if he needed it, was expected
to help himself. (Lest my readers
might think this incredible, | will adj
that General Vallejo has fully con
. firmed to me these and other partic
ulars.) The next day fresh hors
was brought out and the travele
went his way. He usually carried witt
him blanket, hair rope to stake hi
horse, and riarta or lasso; and in
bag, tied to his saddle, a small SUP
ply of pinola Ga nourishing food, POI
corn parched and ground on stone)
Such a picture of by-gone days j
full of charm. 1t reflects light on TIL
faith which developed in the peopl
of Spanish blood those virtues whic
found their expression in such habit
and traits of character A change t
the worse came, says Nordhoff wit
the coming of the railroad. But it wa
not so much the railroad as other il
fluences which estranged the peopl
from their inherited philosophy of lif
and thus also from their former ways