ITS CULTUEE IN CALIFOENIA. 



T 



ground their bows and arrows, the two 

 captains came running witli great haste to 

 lay the beads which they brought about 

 their necks at the feet of the sovereign 

 queen, as proof of their entire regard; 

 manifesting at the same time that they 

 wished to be at peace with us. They then 

 informed the whole of the neighborhood 

 of what had taken place; and the people 

 in large numbers, men, women and chil- 

 dren, soon came t© see the Holy Virgin; 

 bringing food which they put before her, 

 thinking she required to eat as others. In 

 this manner the Gentiles of the mission of 

 San Gabriel were so entirely changed that 

 they frequented the establishment without 

 reserve, and hardly knew how much to 

 manifest their pleasure that the Spaniards 

 had come to settle in their country. Un- 

 der these favorable auspices the Fathers 

 proceeded to found a mission with the ac- 

 customed ceremonies; and celebrated the 

 first mass under a tree on the nativity of 

 the Virgin, the eighth of September, 1771/" 



In the order of establishment San Ga- 

 briel was fourth among the missions of 

 Upper California. By reason of its rich 

 soil and abundance of water, and its large 

 number of neophytes brought i nto service, 

 it soon advanced to the front rank in pro- 

 ductiveness and wealth. 



At San Gabriel Mission was formed the 

 nucleus of California orange-growing. As 

 to the time and circumstances of the first 

 planting, history is silent. The archives 

 of the Mission church, which alone could 

 be accepted as absolute authority, are lost. 

 Tradition even is not much to be relied 

 upon among that class of people who have 

 lived longest in and about the Mission. 

 An old gardener, whom the writer found 

 in the Mission orchard on the occasion of a 

 recent visit, shrugged his shoulders in the 

 aggravating, non-committal way of his 

 race when questioned as to the age of the 

 trees. 



'* Tienen ynultos, nudfos anos, Senorf' 

 They are many, many years old, sir. I 

 don't know how many. I think more 

 than seventy. He underestimated their 

 years. 



Father Bot, the priest of the Mission, 

 fixes the planting of the first orange or- 

 chard at about the year 1S04. The present 

 church building was erected in that year, 



and, reasoning from analogy, he concludes, 

 that the site of the grove must have been 

 chosen with reference to the building. He 

 thinks the trees were propagated from 

 seed brought from San Rafael in Lower 

 California. 



Col. J. J. Warner, our " oldest inhabit- 

 ant,'' settled in Los Angeles county in 

 1S31. At the time of his coming the or- 

 ange trees in the Mission garden were- 

 twenty-five or thirty years old and had 

 long been in bearing. Tliis agrees with 

 Father Bot's calculation as to the lime of 

 their planting. 



Three several Fathers Sanjhex admin- 

 istered the afiairs of San Gabriel Missioii 

 at different periods, and to the first of 

 these. Father Tomas, belongs the distinc- 

 tion of introducing the orange. That h& 

 had an abiding faith in tlie success of his 

 horticultural venture is attested by the 

 fact that he imported iron with which to 

 enclose the orchard. This iron, however,, 

 was never used, owing probably to the 

 death or removal of the enterprising; 

 Padre, and after rusting in uselessness for 

 some years at the Mission, a porliou of it 

 was purchased by Don Luis Vignes {1834) 

 and brought to the city of Los Augeles.- 

 Here it was used to enclose the second 

 orange orchai-d iu the vState. It is said. 

 Ihat Don Luis procured from the Mission, 

 thirlj^-fiye large trees, which he trans- 

 planted to his place on Aliso street, near 

 the historic Aliso (sycamore) tree, from, 

 which the street derives its name. He es- 

 tablished at tirst a sort of exotic garden,, 

 enclosing his clump of oranges tightly 

 and rooting the space with wire-netting. 

 Within the enclosure he kept a flock of 

 quail. Later, the Don increased the num- 

 ber of his trees until he was the possessor- 

 of a considerable grove. But he did not 

 follow his expensive method of fencing 

 and roofing throughout. 



Other orchards followed. The most no- 

 table was that of William Wolfskill, plant- 

 ed in the city of Los Angeles, seven years 

 after that of Don Luis Vignes. There was- 

 another four or five miles north of the 

 Mission, known as La Uuerta del Cucde,. 

 The Garden of the Twin, which, with one 

 or two intermediate transfers, finally pass- 

 ed into the hands of Don Benito Wilson j. 



