DIVISION ONE — PRK-PASADENIAN. 35 



severity, until all Indians who had pluck and grit enough to rebel were 

 either killed, or escaped to the mountains or broken in spirit — for it must be 

 remembered that the Indians had only clubs, wooden spears, bows and ar- 

 rows, or stones for weapons, while the Spanish soldiers on guard duty at 

 the Missions had muskets ; and this is why so few could overcome and hold 

 in servitude so many. In fact the Indians at the Mission were not allowed 

 to keep in possession weapons of any sort. Nevertheless, Zalvidea's iron- 

 handed harshness of rule here was no worse than had been carried on by 

 Spanish ecclesiastics against heretics or heathens in Europe and Mexico and 

 South America, or by Americans in the slave-holding portions of the United 

 States prior to i860. Hence it is not for us to throw stones at this austere 

 padre. His policy resulted in a most brilliant and famous commercial suc- 

 cess for this particular Mission ; the blood and sweat of his enslaved 

 "neophytes " (the "converted " Indians were always thus called) was ver- 

 itably coined into money. He finished the stone church ; built the great 

 dam, saw mill and stone grist mill at Wilson lake ; brought water in ditches 

 from the San Gabriel river beyond Monrovia to irrigate field crops, orchards 

 and vineyards ; established numerous distinct mechanical trades to manu- 

 facture or prepare for market the products of flocks, herds, fields, and the 

 chase, and assigned Indians to each kind of work, with a taskmaster over 

 them ; carried on a large trade with ships at San Pedro from Mexico, South 

 America, Spain, United States and other countries, selling them hides, tal- 

 low, soap, candles, wines, grain, peltries, shoes, etc. But the settlers at lyos 

 Angeles, and the ranch people of the region round about, and the people of 

 other Missions, were also large purchasers from the San Gabriel work- 

 shops.* To give an idea of the extent of the business carried on by Zal- 

 videa (with the very efficient aid of his famous major domp^ CJ.^dipXpoez) , 

 I have compiled a schedule of the different trades : X«-i'0'/^OC> # 



Butchers — Slaughter men, who killed, skinned and dressed beeves, 

 sheep, etc. , separating the hides, tallow and meat to the different workers in 

 each article. Theodore lyOpez pointed out to me the place on the banks of 

 the Arroyo west of the village where one hundred cattle were slaughtered 

 every Saturday as rations for the 3,000 to 4,000 Indians during the ensuing 

 week, when his grandfather was major domo there. 



Hide-dressers — who prepared hides, sheepskins, deerskins, etc., for sale 

 or shipment. 



Tallow-workers — who operated vast iron cauldrons procured from whal- 

 ing ships, for trying out tallow by the ton and running it into underground 

 brick vaults, some of which would hold a shipload of it in one solid mass, 

 keeping it there safe from becoming rancid or being stolen until some ship 



* " The town of I,os Angeles was formally founded September 4, 1781— just ten years (less four days) 

 after the establishment of Sail Gabriel Mission. * * For many ytars afterward Los Angeles was but a 

 countrj' outpost of San Gabriel Mission ; and its iew people were always fflad enough to visit the Mis- 

 sion, there to purchase its weekly supplies, and witness the Sunday festivities,' — 7. & IV. Hiit Los A. 

 Co., p. 2^. 



