The Evening News. October 4, 1916.

11. Making A Living In The Pueblo. Part II.

The first great effort of the Spanish governor was to make a success of horticulture in San Jose. Even in 1795 the climate of the place attracted attention. The Governor decided that this was precisely the spot for the cultivation of hemp. He sent a quantity of seed for sowing. The crop was lost, but five fanegas (seven and a half bushels) were saved. In 1796 thirty fanegas (forty five bushels) were harvested. The grain saved was turned over to the Indians for rations. Rude machines were sent to San Jose for preparing the fibre of hemp. It was shipped to Monterey, from there to be sent to Mexico. Hemp culture was never a success in San Jose.

Better results were had about the same time when flax was introduced. In 1800 flax was called a success in San Jose. About the same time corn was planted. That failed, but the second sowing was successful.

Horticulture never really thrived in the Pueblo. The colonists had bad luck. The dam burst and there was no reservoir. Governor Fages, very ambitious for the prosperity of the oldest Pueblo, in 1787 sent Ignacio Vallejo to make a new dam and reservoir for the Pueblo.

Vallejo was a strong man of action. He built a reservoir, improved the water supply of the town, and the Governor felt that Vallejo had put the Pueblo on a business basis.

In spite of Vallejo's sound economic wisdom he was a sad trial to the Governor, who always reproached him for his moral delinquency and the evil example he set in a community where the white light of officialdom beat upon him without ceasing. Finally Vallejo was removed from office.

The Governor urged the people in the Pueblo to industry. In 1795 he told them to tan hides for saddles, boots and shoes. If good leather products would be bought by the Presidio. During the early Pueblo days the men who could make saddles were always busy.

In 1798 La[?]los and Valesteros built a water mill in San Jose. In July, 1799, a man named Villavicinto established a loom. At the Santa Clara Mission so many blankets were made that none were brought from Mexico after 1797. In 1792 two thousand hides were tanned at the Santa Clara Mission.

The real prosperity of the Pueblo came later when the restriction against owning more than fifty cattle was removed. Then stock raising became the popular and paying occupation. Cattle were little work, and that work was adventurous and picturesque. Hides and tallow took the place of money. They could be exchanged for all necessities. Sometimes the trading ships coming to Monterey gave the colonists gold for their hides and tallow.

Early in the Pueblo days cattle became so numerous that they had almost no value. There are records of wanton, terrible slaughter of cattle when the business of cattle raising was overdone. During a drought thousands were driven into the sea and drowned. Over production was usually regulated by bears and wolves who when hungry came down from the mountain and prowled about the plain. Frequently wolves were poisoned with a deadly herb, now probably extinct, Yerba de Pueblo.

For those who wish to compare values in the early days with those of today, here is a list of the prices of a few necessities:

Rosaries......$0.03
Sack cloth, a yard......$0.25
Woolen stockings, a pair......$0.25
Silk stockings......$1.50
Linen shirts......$3.50
Ear rings......$0.25
Copper pots......$3.50
Flour, per ct......$6.00
Wheat, a bushel......$1.50
Hens......$0.25
Eggs, a dozen......$0.25
Antelope skins......$1.75
Pigs......$1.00
Bulls......$3.00
Cows......$4.00
Mules......$6.00
Horses......$9.00

Transcribed by Claire Martin, for the Santa Clara Co. CAGenWeb Project. 2007.

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