CHAPTER I

(pp. 241-242)

[1] The Father--the missionary in charge of San Luis Obispo Mission.

[2] "Capeador," from "capear." Literally "to steal the cape"--a bullfighting expression. By extension, to divert with lies and subterfuge. May be translated as "liar," "cheat," or a similar term.

[3] According to the topography, the Rio del Pescadero is Old River, in the delta area, Rio de San Francisco Jabier is Middle River, and Rio de San Miguel is the main channel of the San Joaquin. Rio de la Pasion is the Calaveras.

[4] The route taken by Sal can be determined with reasonable accuracy. Fifteen leagues, or 40 mi., from San Jose would have brought him to the vicinity of Tracy. He probably crossed Old River somewhere to the north of the present town, then, bearing northeast, crossed Middle River, traversed Roberts I., and crossed the main San Joaquin R. somewhere to the southwest of French Camp. From this point "about five leagues" would put him on the Calaveras just west of Waterloo. The entire distance would have been through oak park, as indicated by Sal.

[5] In late 1776 two small expeditions penetrated the valley and crossed the San Joaquin R. The primary, and probably the only first-hand account, we have of them is contained in Palou's New California (H. Bolton, 1926, IV: 127-131; 155-156). In September, 1776, Fernando Quiros and Jose Joaquin Moraga made a joint attempt to explore the tulares. Quiros was to go by water and Moraga by land, the two parties to meet near Antioch. The plan miscarried. Quiros returned to San Francisco, but Moraga kept on for three days up the river, crossing finally somewhere near Merced (Bolton says "past the site of Modesto"). No details of what he saw or did, remain to us, however, except the statement that the east side of the river consisted of a great plain.

On November 29 (cf. Bolton, 1926, IV: 155) Don Fernando Rivera y Moncada tried it again. Palou says: "After dinner they started.... They continued their journey by the same road that the lieutenant [Moraga] had taken and crossed the great river by the same ford. But although they traveled through the plain for some distance on the other side, they did not venture to examine the other rivers, in order not to expose themselves to the contingency that the great river might rise and cut off the ford. For this reason they did not go up as far as in the preceding examination. So they set out for home...."

There is some discrepancy between the statements of Palou and Sal. If the latter is correct, Rivera reached (and named) the Calaveras, or Rio de la Pasion. If, as Palou says, he followed in Moraga's footsteps, he could have gone no farther north than Modesto, and indeed would not have crossed the branches of the San Joaquin in the delta, as Sal seems to have done. It is unfortunate that no direct report of these expeditions exists.

[6] According to all modern observation the rivers show no salinity detectable by taste above Antioch and certainly not above Rio Vista. If this is "muy adentro," then Sal was correct.

[7] San Juan Bautista Mission. The geography is somewhat distorted. The west side of the valley as far south as Pacheco Pass, east of San Juan Bautista, is by no means a "short distance" from the Sierra Nevada, nor is this region visible from San Francisco. In his ignorance of the actual terrain Sal foreshortened his distances considerably.

[8] These references to white men and priests are intriguing. There is no evidence that Spaniards crossed the high Sierra Nevada before this date, or that they had reached the eastern flank of the mountains in western Nevada. The tales here recounted could well have been derived from contact, in trading or exploration, of the New Mexico and Sonora Spaniards with the Yokuts of the upper San Joaquin V., directly, or indirectly through the Colorado R. tribes.

[9] The Julpones (or Julpunes) lived on the south shore of Suisun Bay. Quinenseat refers no doubt to the Quenemsias, who inhabited Grand Island, in the upper delta. Taunantoc and Quisitoc refer probably to other groups on the lower Sacramento or, in fact, may be merely names of persons. The words are at present impossible to identify.