44 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



Guadalupe. The Mission soldiers from Santa Barbara and Los Angeles 

 succeeded in capturing some of these men, one of whom was Joseph Chap- 

 man, a sailor, from the state of Maine.* Corporal Don Antonio Maria IvUgo 

 of lyos Angeles became surety for Chapman so that he need not be executed, 

 and brought him to Los Angeles as a prisoner, riding behind him on the 

 same horse, for the sailor chap couldn't keep his balance on a horse without 

 somebody to hold onto, f Chapman was a tall, strong, bright fellow, with a 

 good deal of Yankee ingenuity, and skillful with tools. He didn't know a 

 word of Spanish, nor Lugo a word of English ; yet in a few days the prison- 

 er had picked up enough Spanish so that with the addition of signs he could 

 make himself understood, and now he went with Lugo to the mountains to 

 help get out timber for building the church, the one which still stands there 

 near the plaza in Los Angeles. X 



Stephen Foster, writing from his father-in-law Lugo's statements, says 

 the timbers were being cut in "church canyon, away in the mountains,'' 

 but gives no hint or clue as to whereabouts this particular " church canyon' 

 was located, and I found no written record to help me. However, I remem- 

 bered that in July, 1893, I had noticed in Grand Canyon, about a mile be- 

 low Crystal Springs of the Mount Lowe itinerary, some evidences of timber 

 work done there long ago. There were some large old pine stumps, much 

 decayed ; one big tree chopped down, but never trimmed or hewed ; and 

 some graded spaces that looked like remnants of an old wagon road. Dun- 

 can Cameron and Alex. McDonald were with me. § And taking this for a 

 glue, I followed it steadily for eight months, as a possible chapter in the lost 

 record of the Los Angeles "church canyon," before the links of evidence were 

 all found which made a chain of circumstantial proof strong enough to af- 

 firm. I inquired of the oldest living settlers, both Spanish and American, 

 but they were as blank as the empty records. Old Francesca only knew that 



*A row boat in which Chapman and others were rowing ashore was capsized in the surf. Com- 

 niandante Lugo had his men concealed in a clump of willows near by, and shouted to them, •" Now's 

 our time! " They all rushed out and fired their blunderbusses at the struggling men in the water, kill- 

 ing two or three ; then some swam back to a second row boat and returned to ship, while Chapman and 

 a West Indies negro came ashore through the surf. A vaquero now ran down on the beach and lassoed 

 him ; but he, half drowned though he was, jumped up and commenced hauling in the riata hand-over- 

 haud, in sailor fashion, pulling the vaquero along, who yelled with fright and terror, for he had no horse 

 now to help him out ; and two others ran to his rescue, throwing two more lassoes over Chapman before 

 they could hold him. He was a tall, muscular and dextrous man. and pushed the vaqueros around like 

 puppets, which greatly astonished and pleased old Lugo, and made him admire the lusty Yankee. 



J. Albert Wilson, Hisl. Los A. Co. iS8o, calls him a native of Pennsylvania ; but Hon. Stephen C. 

 Foster, who knew Chapman personally, says he was from New England; and Bancroft and J. D. Mason 

 say from Maine. 



tThe History of Santa Barbara county says : " Lugo, the grandfather of Senora de la Torre and 

 Senora Pico, was the Lugo who assisted in beating off the pirate ship commanded by Bouchard, which 

 made an attack on the Refugio rancho in 1818, and carried John [ Joe] Chapman (who was one of the 

 pirates) on his horse behind him as a prisoner— he being the same man who subsequently married one 

 of the noted beauties of the Ortega family." 



tTo aid in building this church, there were donated by citizens, 500 cattle ; by friars, seven bbls. 

 brandy, worth $575 The labor was done by neophytes from San Gabriel and San Luis Rey, at one real 

 [12)4 cents] per day as their wages. — Hist. Cal. VoL II. p. 75/. 



§" I was with Dr. Reid and Alex. McDonald in July, 1893, when we saw some remains of grading 

 or terracing which looked like an ancient road, in Grand Canyon, a short distance below Crystal 

 Springs.— We also saw some very old and deca\ed large pine stumps where trees had been chopped 

 down ; and one large old tree chopped down and left lying. And it was a great mystery to us how these 

 things came to be in such an out of the way place. Duncan Cameron. 



Echo Mountain, May 28, 1895." 



