Author: Sealtiel Enciso Pérez
The written history of events in Old California is a source of reference that we can access through the documents kept in the Historical Archive of Baja California Sur "Pablo L. Martínez." In the case that concerns us today, fortunately, the statements and legal proceedings that give an account of the details of this event and its outcome have been preserved.
The event we are going to mention took place at the Mission of San Vicente Ferrer (currently in the state of Baja California) during the year 1810. At that time, the missions on the Baja California peninsula were languishing due to the neglect they suffered from the Spanish Crown and its representative in New Spain. The native population had dwindled to the point of disappearing in the southern half of the peninsula, and in the north, the indigenous groups stubbornly resisted living in mission centers or serving the priests in the missions. The peninsula was divided into Upper and Lower California, and by the end of the 18th century, a Military Command of the Borders had been established on the limits between these two territories, with its headquarters at the Mission of San Vicente Ferrer. The veteran cavalry lieutenant José Manuel Ruiz Ibáñez had been appointed as Commander of this Department, so it was his responsibility to resolve any extraordinary situation that occurred, as was the case here.
At approximately 4 or 5 p.m. on June 25, 1810, two "gentile" (unbaptized) women came to the attention of Lieutenant Ruiz to report that they had found the body of a young man "lying in a pass" in San Jacinto. The women went to see what had happened and realized he was dead, so they immediately reported it to the authorities. Commander José Manuel ordered Sergeant Juan Ibáñez to be accompanied by soldiers Juan Pedro Caspio and Diego Camacho and go to the location described by the women to verify the truth of the situation and, if it was true, to carry out the necessary procedures to transport the body to the mission. Sergeant Ibáñez carried out his orders, and upon arriving at the site, they found the body of a young man of about 15 years old, who in life was called Ildefonso López and was a resident of the Mission of San Vicente (a baptized Californian). Upon superficial inspection of the body, they found bruises on the face and back (apparently inflicted with a rope) and a "crushing" on the chest, perhaps caused by a horse's hoof. No other belongings were found on the deceased except for the loincloth he was wearing. Finally, Sergeant Ibáñez transported Ildefonso López's body to the mission, where the priest buried him.
As the investigation progressed in the case, an eyewitness was found, a kind Californian neighbor of the Mission named Diego Almud who had a particular feature of lacking one eye (one-eyed). In September, Almud was questioned and for this, another inhabitant of the mission, Pedro Benito Barrera, was asked to serve as an interpreter, as Almud claimed not to speak Spanish. In his statement, Diego Almud claimed that the deceased Ildefonso López had stolen a horse belonging to the guards of the presidio and fled with it towards "a rancheria of gentiles that was above the stream of the alisos." He also mentioned that he had left the Mission of San Vicente that day in the same direction as the deceased Californian. Upon arriving at the rancheria, he observed that the soldier José María Salgado was pursuing Ildefonso and upon catching him, proceeded to tie him up with a rope he had brought for that purpose. Once he immobilized him, Salgado interrogated him about the whereabouts of the horse and when Ildefonso refused to confess, Salgado pulled his hair and hit him several times in the face with the rope. Finally, Ildefonso confessed that the horse was hidden next to the rancheria. Without describing the reason, Almud commented that the soldier Salgado took his bow and broke it on his head and then proceeded to tie him up with the same rope that was used on Ildefonso and finally led them back to the Mission in chains.
In this interesting statement, Diego Almud mentioned that throughout the journey, the soldier Salgado beat them on the back with the rope and when he demanded that he stop because he would report him to the Lieutenant or to the father, the soldier yelled at him: "even if you complain, they won't do anything to me, I am cursed!" On several occasions, Ildefonso threw himself to the ground, perhaps due to the discomfort he felt from the rope tied around his neck. At that moment, the soldier Salgado decided to release him and the prisoner took advantage of the opportunity to escape quickly. The soldier rode his horse in pursuit and caught up with him, and began to beat him with the rope. It was at that moment that the horse ran over young Ildefonso, stepping on his chest. Almud concludes this part of his statement by claiming that "then (Ildefonso) began to cough up blood from his mouth and nose as if he was already dying." Soldier Salgado abandoned Ildefonso and took Almud to the Mission of San Vicente "with beatings and kicks." When asked why he believed Soldier Salgado had arrested him, he said that "he had done nothing."
Later, on September 24th, the soldier Jose Maria Salado, accused of murder, was questioned. Some personal background information about the young man was gathered from this document: "Jose Maria Salgado, son of Jose Maria, a retired corporal from this company and Maria Concepcion Morillo. Born in this Loreto prison, dependent on the government of Baja California and living in the aforementioned prison. His occupation is camper; his height is five feet four lines; his age is seventeen years; his religion is Roman Catholic; his physical features are as follows: black hair, brown eyes, black eyebrows, long and slightly bulging face, broad and long nose, and dark complexion. He voluntarily enlisted for ten years in the company of the royal prison of Loreto on August 1, 1806."
In his statement, Salgado said that after leaving two horses tied up behind the soldiers' guard post, he went to check on them and realized that one of them was missing. He thoroughly searched the area and discovered that the horse had been stolen. He immediately reported the incident to the Guard Corporal and requested permission to search for the horse. The corporal not only gave him permission but also ordered him to bring back any Californians who had committed the theft to the mission. Soldier Salgado began to follow the trail of the horse, which led him to a rancheria. Upon arrival, everyone there fled, but he noticed a covered bundle and upon ordering it uncovered, he realized it was a Christian from the mission named Ildefonso Lopez. He gave him a superficial inspection and found that he was sweaty "in the groin area" (from riding without a saddle or cloth) and covered in horse hair. He immediately proceeded to tie him up "with pity," according to his statement. While he was occupied with this, another Californian approached whom he recognized as Diego Almud. He concluded that Almud had been Lopez's accomplice, so he ordered him to drop his weapons. However, Almud resisted somewhat, so Salgado hit him several times in the head with his own bow until he broke it, which resulted in the subjugation and imprisonment of the Californian. Salgado then rescued the stolen horse and set out on the return journey, leading the alleged thieves while they were tied up and walking.
According to the statement given by soldier Salgado, as the two captives were advancing, they began to "blame each other for who had stolen the horse." According to this soldier, "both were speaking Spanish, so I could understand them," but according to what is known, Diego Almud did not speak or understand Spanish, which is why an interpreter had to be appointed for him. It was during this interval that Ildefonso fell to the ground twice, and as Salgado suspected he was a distraction, he hit him several times with a rope to force him to get up. He hit him on the back and face, causing Ildefonso to grab the rope to prevent him from hitting him again. In response, Salgado hit him in the face, and the Californian "fell into the hands of the horse, and since the horse was very lively, I couldn't stop it, and it passed over him and stepped on him." At that moment, he noticed that Ildefonso "was bleeding from the nose," but distrusting him, the soldier hit him several times with the rope, causing him to get up, and proceeded to tie his hands behind his back. As they continued walking, Ildefonso "fell on his head again. I hit him with the rope from the horse to make him get up, but he didn't want to get up. I got off the horse and lifted him up. After I let him go, he fell again. I told him that if he wanted to ride the same horse he had gone on, I would let him. Then he sat down, I moved the horse closer to help him up, told him to stand up, but he didn't. I lifted him up again, and as soon as I put him on the horse, he fell again. I was very thirsty, the sun was very hot, so I decided to leave him. I untied him and came to the mission alone with the one-eyed heathen, and when I arrived at the mission, I handed him over to the guard, reporting what had happened."
José María Salado Morillo's statement concludes by saying that when he left Ildefonso López, he was alive. He highlights a very interesting question that appears in the record of the soldier's statement: "Asked: do you hate Indians, sir? He answered that no, he has always seen them with love and charity."
It is important to note that this trial was conducted in a formal and professional manner, following the rules dictated at that time. José Manuel Ruiz recognized Salgado's right to appoint a lawyer from among the people he trusted, with Juan Ignacio Seceña (as written in the documents), the sixth corporal of the company, being designated for this purpose. In addition, a confrontation session was held between the accused and the only witness, where both confirmed their statements. It is interesting to note that among the documents of this case is a letter that the accused soldier delivered, in which he reports that on the day of the incident, this military man went to the church of the place around 5 p.m. "to take the sacred" (perhaps confession). This document was issued by "Reverend Father Fray José Duro, Dominican religious and current minister of this San Vicente mission." It is also worth mentioning that on September 27 of that year, Corporal Ignacio Manuel Seseña appeared before Lieutenant Ruiz and resigned from the role of lawyer that Salgado had elected him for.
Finally, the case was resolved on September 28, with the verdict recorded as follows: "Having seen the statements, charges, and confrontations against José María Salgado, a soldier in the Loreto presidio company accused of accidentally running over an Indian from this mission named Ildefonso López, which resulted in his death. Although convinced of this accident, I do not contemplate that he should be sentenced to the penalty that those who intentionally commit this crime deserve, as His Majesty commands in his royal ordinances, and I conclude on behalf of the King that he should be sent to continue his services at the San Diego presidio for the time he has left to serve." With this, the accused was set free and it was simply decided to move him to another mission.
Today, we can analyze this case from a different perspective, and perhaps our conclusion will be very different from that reached by Lieutenant Ruiz Ibáñez. However, it should be considered that at that time, the "value" given to the testimony of a mestizo was higher than that of a native Californian. It is also important to mention that in those years, soldiers were responsible for carrying out the punishments that Californians "deserved" for crimes committed, many of which were corporal punishments such as whippings and keeping them in the stocks until it was deemed that they had expiated their wrongdoing. This resulted in many soldiers feeling entitled to exercise physical and verbal violence against Californians and a certain tolerance on the part of their authorities.
These stories still wander among the boxes of the "Pablo L. Martínez" Historical Archive, waiting for some diligent researcher to take note of them and bring them to the present so that we can have a clearer idea of our past and draw our own conclusions based on them.
Bibliografía:
Proceso José María Salgado, Loreto, 25 de junio de 1810 - Archivo Histórico de Baja California Sur “Pablo L. Martínez”. Acervo documental del Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, doc. 207, inv. 4.19, folios 697-718. Transcripción del documento por Melissa Rivera Martínez y Luis Eduardo Gomara Chávez.
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