My Childhood Memories

My most vivid memories are of my grandmother, since she was the one who raised me after the death of my mother, when I was three months old. 

As the account was related to me, when my mother was very ill, she couldn't take care of me, so my father took me to my godmother's home. At this time my father was superintendent of a large

cattle ranch, and wasn't able to care for me, so he left me in my godmother's care. Not long afterwards, my mother died. While my godmother was out shopping for the new baby, who she had left with her husband, my Uncle Joe, my grandmother arrived at their house, bundled me up and took me home with her.

From that time on I lived with my grandmother and her two bachelor sons in a small farm house on the outskirts of Davis, California.

Over the years I remained very close to my Godparents, as they lived only a few blocks from my grandmother's house. My godmother's name was Mary Pena,

 but I always called her "Nina". She had a daughter named Josephine, who was about eight years older than I. When I was a baby she enjoyed wheeling me around in a baby buggy, and later as I grew older, we often played together.

I had a wonderful home life, loving attention from family members, not to mention that I became very spoiled by two bachelor uncles, who catered to my whims! Often they would get between me and my grandmother so she couldn't spank me for being naughty.

Spanish was always spoken at home, that was my grandmother's choice. I learned to speak English from he neighbor's children, that I played with. Whenever I brought friends home I would speak to my "Nana" in English, because I was too embarrassed to speak Spanish in front of my friends. Whereupon she would ignore me until I finally addressed her in Spanish. No matter how I tried, she persisted and I finally gave in.

Our closest neighbors, the Phillips, had two children my age, Dorothy and Donald. We played together daily. Mrs. Phillips was a kind, soft spoken woman. It was through her encouragement that I had the opportunity to meet other children. I attended Sunday School with her children, and enjoyed other activities with them.

My grandmother was always fearful for me, and never wanted me to be too far from her sight.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Pena," Mrs. Phillips would say, "It's good for Philipa to play with other children too."

Whenever I climbed the tallest tree in their yard, my grandmother would excitedly yell at the top of her lungs (In Spanish) "Get down from that tree right now!"

Mrs. Philips felt that climbing was good for young boys and girls. The more she defended me, the braver I g ot. My grandmother was livid! When I returned home, I could be sure that I'd get my britches tanned, but it never kept me from climbing trees.

Vaca Pena Story

The Vaca and Pena families played a prominent role in the romantic, if brief, history of Spanish California. This romantic period continued for a few years, even after the first discovery of gold, less than seventy mies away.

The news of gold spread like prairie fire, although gold was not found on the Vaca Pena Rancho. Their homes were on the way between the gold fields and San Francisco, where the gold was exchanged for money.

The title to the Vaca Pena land grant, known as "Los Putos", was signed by President James Buchanan, on June 4th 1858. John Curry, was a pioneer who settled south of Rancho Los Putos. He later became Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. He represented the Vaca Pena interests 

against abuses by gringo squatters and unscrupulous lawyers. 

The 

Vaca adobe home was destroyed in the earthquake of 1892. The Pena adobe, however, still stands and has been restored as a memorial to the pioneer Vaca Pena Families.

The city of Vacaville had its origin in 1850 when Manuel Vaca, in a single deed, sold most of his land to an enterprising American. One of the provisions was that 900 square acres of land was to be deeded back to Senor Vaca for a townsite to be named "Vacaville". Senor Pena sold off his holdings piecemeal.

Within twenty years the entire area became an agricultural community, mostly for fruit production. By the turn of the centry it was producing half the deciduous fruit in California.

As a child I remember my Dad telling us st ories about the "olden days" on the big Rancho.

"But Dad" I remember asking, "How could your Grandpa and Grandma take in total strangers into their homes, weren't they afraid of being robbed?"

"No, in those days towns were far apart and travelers were few. Often it was a welcome relief to see another person. Most often the people were also pioneers wishing to settle in the new land of California."

I especially remember a story that he told us. Dad said, "Late one night a traveler appeared at the family home. He had been riding his horse hard all day. Grandfather met him at the door.

'Senior, I am in need of lodging and I'm afraid that I'm ill. If you would keep me for the night I promise I'll pay you, and be on my way in the morning.

"With that he turned and tied his horse to a nearby ree, unsaddled, watered and fed him. Grandfather, meanwhile, noticed he man was carrying a heavy leather pouch. This indicated to Grandfather, that the pouch might be filled with gold. When the man came inside the house, Grandfather noticed that he no longer had the pouch with him. Perhaps he had hid it, or buried it for safekeeping.

"That night the man died in his sleep. They never learned the man' name, where he was from, or what his business was.

"As for the leather pouch, many hours were spent digging around the yard, but no gold was ever found."

This particular story we heard many times, but never tired of hearing it.

"Was he a thief, Dad?" we speculated.

"Who knows! If we had found the gold, we would all be rich today."

Ranching and Cattle Raising (1841-

Ranching conditions were almost perfect in California. Abundant pastureland and water existed, in addition to a large supply of Indian labor. Mild climate made it possible for animals to live year-around without shelter and there was no necessity for fencing in the herds.

Ranching was popular for the Spanish Californians who loved the outdoor life on horseback. Most of the California herds were developed from a small head of 200 cattle which was brought to California in the early 180's. As bridges were non-existent, a deep stream had to be crossed. Old vaqueros (cowboys) talk of accounts where cattle were forced to swim when a ford (or shallow place ) could not be found. They selected a shallow spot, one with sand bars, and bunched the cattle on the river bank. One rider would lead them into the stream, while the other vaqueros forced the rest of the herd to follow. When the depth for swimming was reached, the riders would slip out of their saddles and grasp the pommel, so that their weight would not submerge the bronco's head. If by chance they lost their grasp on the saddle, their last resort was to grab for the horse's tail and hope their mounts would reach the shore.

At times the vaqueros who were swimming their horses on the flanks of the herd were not able to get them onto the opposite shore so attempts to reassemble them had to be made. At times the frightened cattle would swim around in circles and never reach the shore line. Captain John Sutter reported the drowning of 200 cattle out of a herd of 2,000 which he had purchased from the Russians at Fort Ross near New Helvetia.

Early Californians called their large land grants "ranchos" if used for cattle-raising, and "haciendas" if used for agricultural purposes.

The official survey of Rancho Los Putas in May 1857 confirmed the grant to be 44,383.78 acres in size or 10 leagues in all.

Cattle were the real wealth for the owners, even though they were slaughtered for their hides and tallow. The meat had little value until the "gringos" came west searching for gold. Some meat was salted and sun-dried, called "carne seca", or what we call jerky today. It had good food value on long journeys.

The dried hides and tallow were transported by the Dons to the seacoast and then traded for luxuries brought in sailing vessels. Silk from China, silver from Mexico, which the Dons used to decorate their saddle and horn trappings. Non-perishable foods and rare household furnishings were also available although sugar was in short supply.

The lager herds which could not be domesticated were called "ganados" many of which were seen only once or twice a year by their owners. Annual slaughterings were known as "matanzas." The cattle were herded into a central valley where the vaqueros killed and skinned the animals selected by the Dons. The hides were pegged to the group, flesh up, and left to dry in the sun. These hides became known as California bank notes with a trading value of three dollars apiece.

The tallow (or suet) from the slaughtered animals was melted down and poured into a laced bullock hide called a "bota" and weighed up to 500 pounds, more or less. A stick was placed through the melted tallow which served as a handle after the tallow hardened. About 25 pounds of allow, called "arrola" had a trading  value of $2.00. A fat animal could yield 50 to 100 pounds of tallow. The meat was discarded except for an occasional choice cut.

The "matanzas" were held during the Spring or fall months of the year, which was also an occasion for a fiesta, horse races and rodeos.

In the spring, the young calves were branded, each calf was given the brand of its mother. THe "fierro" or iron brand was used to sear the hide, and a second mark called "senal" was slit in one ear of the animal. The brand called "vesta" was the selling brand to designate the hides when sold, and also to determine ownership whenever an argument arose.

It was Spanish custom for daughters, at the time of marriage, to be given their inheritance in cattle and their own family brand.

Perhaps the first heads of cattle purchased by the Vacas and Penas came from Commandante Vallejo who helped the settlers. It was reported that the owned form 12,000 to 15,000 head of cattle at the time. Family accounts later tell that more cattle were purchased. Antonio Pena, a brother of Senor Pena, accompanied by Vaca brothers, journed to Old Mexico, via Los Angeles on horseback. They purchased and drove back, with help of Indian vaqueros, an unknown large number of cattle, some horses and four Jennys. 

Links:

Historical Articles of Solano County

The Hastings Adobe

History of Vaca-Pena Rancho, Part I

My story begins with the early history of my ancestors who left in 1840 from Santa Fe, New Mexico, which at that time was still a Mexican province. Political strife was rampant, trouble with the Indians, as well as governmental problems, gave reason for their leaving for California, the land of promise. Stories of lush cattle, feed, ample water, and warm climate had reached them from settlers who had made the journey before them.

Juan Manuel Vaca and Juan Felipe Pena were members of prominent Spanish families in the region around Santa Fe, New Mexico. As early as 1835 the Mexican government had authorized Commandante Vallejo

to offer free lands to settlers north of San Francisco Bay, as a protection against Russian encroachment from Fort Ross. By 1837 it was possible that our families had been in touch with Vallejo to colonize some of the land.

By 1830 trappers and traders had blazed a trail across the mountains and deserts from Santa Fe to Los Angeles, California, which was known as the Old Spanish Trail. It started northward towards Salt Lake from Santa Fe, crossed the Colorado and Green Rivers above their junctions in Utah, turned south-west through the mountains, across the Nevada deserts, through the Mojave Desert in California and into Los Angeles. The trail was 1200 miles that could be traveled only by horseback or pack mules.

For 18 years this route had been used by traders who used it to carry goods to California. Travelers to the Pacific coast joined these traders for protection from hostile Indians. 

On September 6, 1841, some 25 immigrants joined the group and left Abiquiu, New Mexico, north of Santa Fe. Among them were the Vaca and Pena families. History now records this as the Workman-Rowland party. William Workman and John Rowland were prominent merchants who had joined the party at Abiquiu in time to escape accusations as traitors by Governor Manuel Armijo of New Mexico.

Because of the size of the caravan, they did not suffer from attack from hostile Indians. Due to desert conditions the trip was made in the Fall when there was feed for the animals to graze on, as well as water-holes along the trail.

According to family accounts of the journey, 150 sheep were purchased to be driven along and killed as needed for food. Also, a grand-daughter named Nestora, at the age of three, was carried at times on a pillow on her father's horse. Also, another daughter, age two, rode on a balanced saddlebag opposite Nestora, on a gentle mule.

After their arriva at the Mission San Gabriel (Los Angeles), they followed El Camino Real to Monterey, then on to Death Valley near Sacramento.

It is not known how the families crossed the waters of San Francisco Bay or the Straits of Carquenz as no ferry large enough was available for transporting horses or mules. An earlier account relates that the animals were tied to rafts and forced to swim across.

General Vallejo, in 1840, was using a small ferry to cross San Francisco Bay, but it did not cary animals. It is possible that the early settlers may have left their horses south of the Bay and were given fresh animals by Commandante Vallejo. At that time Vallejo owned 1,000 broken horses and from 6,000 to 8,000 unbroken.

The hospitable Commandante vallejo kept the women and children at Sonoma, his home, while the men continued on their way to guild homes on their new land grant, a distance of about 40 miles, less than a day's horseback ride to what became known as Laguna Valley.

Two months after leaving Abiquiu, New Mexico, the arrival of the Workman-Rowland party is recorded by historian Bancroft as November 18, 1841.

There were six children in the Juan Felipe family, and eight children in the Juan Manuel Vaca family.