Foreigners in Their Own Land

FOREIGNERS IN THEIR OWN LAND

The Lugo Family from Bell Gardens.

Be curious insightful historians.We are working in chapter 10 and we are trying to understand Manifest Destiny and the expansion of the United States into the west. If you have time you might look at the list of topics you have been studying since kindergarten [1]. I also hope that you might learn more about the Spanish period and the Californio period. The Ranchos and the culture that was present is sometimes not known by many residents of the Golden State. I hope you can also check out the maps on the missions and California native Americans.[2, 3] Understanding the geography of the areas we live in can help us to understand why things are the way they are at time. Scientific study of human interactions is very important.[4-10] The Mission period and the Mexican families that came up after the fighting against the Spanish and French to free Mexico in 1821. The human interactions that are happening in the Pacific region that we are studying is very complicated and nuanced.[11] We hope we can better understand then to compare to now. Below are many links that will be assigned for homework. These links will help you in many ways with your Chapter 10 interactive notebook.[4-6] Please do not forget your online textbook too. You can use it on many devices. Be curious insightful historians. You should almost be done with the chapter notes.

CAPTAIN JUAN SEGUIN, SON OF A LEADING MEXICAN FAMILY
IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WAS A SURVIVOR
AMONG THE DEFENDERS AT EL ALAMO IN 1836.
[GUNFIRE AND MEN SHOUTING]
Man as Seguin: TRAVIS, BOWIE, CROCKETT ARE OUR BROTHERS.
Narrator: SEGUIN BECAME A HERO, MAYOR OF SAN ANTONIO,
AND A SENATOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
BUT HIS STORY WOULD BE BURIED
ALONG WITH THE ASHES OF HIS FALLEN COMRADES.
Montejano: HIS ANGLO ALLIES WILL SELL HIM OUT.
THEY WILL NOT PROTECT HIM WHEN HE NEEDED PROTECTION.
Narrator: MORE THAN A CENTURY WOULD PASS
BEFORE A GENERATION OF LATINOS,
SEARCHING FOR THEIR IDENTITY,
WOULD UNEARTH THE MEMORY OF JUAN SEGUIN
AND THE STORIES OF THE EARLIEST LATINOS IN AMERICA.
Montejano: WHAT IS OUR HISTORY?
WHAT IS OUR PAST? WHAT IS THE CLAIM THAT WE HAVE
TO BEING MEMBERS OF THIS SOCIETY?
Narrator: THEY DISCOVERED THE MEMOIRS OF AN ORPHAN GIRL
THAT SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE LONG-FORGOTTEN WORLD
OF SPANISH CALIFORNIA.
THEY REVEALED THE STORY OF MARIANO VALLEJO,
THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN MEXICAN CALIFORNIA.
VALLEJO WELCOMED AMERICAN SETTLERS,
ONLY TO FIND HIMSELF THEIR PRISONER.
THEY RECLAIMED THE LEGEND OF LAS GORRAS BLANCAS
OF NEW MEXICO.
RIDING UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS,
THE WHITE CAPS TORE DOWN FENCES AND BURNED RANCHES
TO PROTEST THE TAKING OF THEIR LANDS.
Madrid: WE DISCOVERED THAT, IN FACT,
THERE HAD BEEN RESISTANCE
AND SOME OF IT EVEN ARMED RESISTANCE.
Montejano: WE'RE TRYING TO CONSTRUCT
THE HISTORY THAT HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN.
WE HAD A BLANK SLATE THAT HAD TO BE RECAPTURED,
RECOVERED.
Narrator: APOLINARIA LORENZANA WAS AMONG 21 ORPHAN CHILDREN
SENT BY THE SPANISH COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO
TO POPULATE THE FARTHEST REACHES OF ITS AMERICAN EMPIRE.
BY THE TIME APOLINARIA SETTLED IN MONTEREY,
THE SPANISH HAD DOMINATED THE NEW WORLD
FOR MORE THAN 3 CENTURIES.
Ruiz: MANY PEOPLE HAVE THIS POPULAR VISION OF LATINOS
AS PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY.
BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE FIRST EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT
IN WHAT WOULD BECOME THE UNITED STATES,
IT'S ST. AUGUSTINE IN 1565.
THAT PREDATES JAMESTOWN IN 1607.
THE FIRST EUROPEAN LANGUAGE SPOKEN
IN WHAT WOULD BECOME THE UNITED STATES, IT'S SPANISH.
[THUNDER RUMBLING][THUNDER RUMBLING]
Narrator: 100 YEARS AFTER COLUMBUS' ARRIVAL
IN THE NEW WORLD, SPANISH CONQUISTADORS AND PRIESTS
PUSHED INTO NORTH AMERICA,
CROSSING THE RIO GRANDE TO SEARCH FOR GOLD
AND SPREAD CATHOLICISM.
IN 1610, THEY ESTABLISHED SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO,
BRUTALLY CRUSHING A REVOLT BY THE PUEBLO INDIANS.
THE BRITISH AND THE DUTCH SETTLED
ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST IN PLYMOUTH AND NEW AMSTERDAM.
THE FRENCH ARRIVED AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1682,
WHILE THE RUSSIANS MADE THEIR WAY SOUTH FROM ALASKA
AND WELL INTO CALIFORNIA.
Suarez: SPAIN IS VERY KEENLY AWARE
OF OTHER EMPIRES THAT ARE ROAMING ACROSS
WHAT'S NOW NORTH AMERICA
AND WANTS TO PROTECT ITS NORTHERN BORDER.
SO THEY HAVE TO SEND PEOPLE NORTH
TO BUILD OUT A SPANISH CIVILIZATION
IN THESE PLACES THAT HAD BEEN THE SPANISH EMPIRE ON A MAP
BUT HADN'T REALLY HAD ANY MORE DURABLE CLAIM TO THE LAND.
Gonzalez: WHO WAS GOING TO POPULATE
THESE FAR-OFF FRONTIER SETTLEMENTS
IN ARIZONA, IN TEXAS, AND IN CALIFORNIA?
IT WAS THE MISSIONARIES.
IT WAS THE FRANCISCANS. IT WAS THE JESUITS.
IT WAS THE DOMINICANS. THEY ALL WENT OUT TO FOUND
TOWNS AND SETTLEMENTS AND ESTABLISH MISSIONS.
Narrator: IN 1808, APOLINARIA LORENZANA,
NOW IN HER TEENS, WAS BROUGHT TO MISSION SAN DIEGO,
THE FIRST MISSION FOUNDED BY SPANISH PRIESTS
AS THEY MOVED NORTH THROUGH CALIFORNIA.
NEARING THE END OF HER LIFE AND ALMOST BLIND,
APOLINARIA SHARED HER MEMORIES WITH THOMAS SAVAGE,
AN AMERICAN HISTORIAN, AS SHE RECALLED
THE ONCE-FLOURISHING WORLD OF CALIFORNIA'S SPANISH MISSIONS.
BUILT ALONG EL CAMINO REAL FROM SAN DIEGO TO SONOMA,
3 DAYS' HORSEBACK RIDE FROM ONE ANOTHER,
SPAIN'S 21 MISSIONS WERE THE BIRTHPLACE
OF THE GREAT COASTAL CITIES OF CALIFORNIA.
Gonzalez: ALL THESE PEOPLE
WHO LIVE IN THESE TOWNS IN CALIFORNIA--
SANTA CRUZ AND, UH... SAN FRANCISCO--
ALL OF THESE WERE MISSION TOWNS.
Narrator: IN THE 1800's, MISSIONS WERE THE CENTERPIECE
OF SPANISH COLONIAL LIFE.
Beebe: A MISSION IS A LOT OF THINGS.
IT'S A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY WHERE THEY ARE HOPING
TO CHRISTIANIZE THE NATIVE PEOPLES,
BRINGING THEM INTO THE SYSTEM
TO MAKE THEM GOOD SPANISH CITIZENS.
IT'S AN ENTERPRISE WHERE INDIANS ARE BROUGHT IN
TO WORK OUT IN THE FIELDS,
TO WEAVE, TO DO BLACKSMITH WORK.
Ruiz: YOU THINK OF THE MISSIONS,
AND YOU THINK OF THE-- THERE'S, LIKE, ONE PRIEST,
AND THIS ONE PRIEST HAS THE POWER
TO HARNESS NATIVE AMERICAN LABOR,
UH, TO EDUCATE.
BUT ACTUALLY PRIESTS, PARTICULARLY IN CALIFORNIA,
RELIED ON LOCAL WOMEN.
YOU HAD PEOPLE LIKE APOLINARIA LORENZANA.
THE PADRES TRUSTED HER TO BOARD SHIPS,
TO GET THE NECESSARY SUPPLIES FOR THE MISSIONS.
SHE SUPERVISED INDIAN SEAMSTRESSES
OR SUPERVISED THE COOKING.
Pitti: TO UNDERSTAND THE POSITION
OF NATIVES IN THE MISSION SYSTEM,
YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE TREMENDOUS LOSS OF LIFE
THAT INDIAN COMMUNITIES IN CALIFORNIA HAD EXPERIENCED.
WHEN THE SPANISH COME AND INTRODUCE DISEASE,
UM, THOSE POPULATIONS GO INTO ENORMOUS DEMOGRAPHIC DECLINE,
LEAVING THEM VERY VULNERABLE.
THE MISSIONS OFFER THE OPPORTUNITY
FOR INDIAN COMMUNITIES TO HAVE BREAD ON THE TABLE.
SOME INDIANS WERE TAKEN BY CATHOLICISM
AND BY THE PROMISE OF SALVATION,
BUT WE KNOW THAT MANY INDIANS
OFTENTIMES REBELLED.
[BELL TOLLING]
Narrator: IN 1821, NEWS REACHED CALIFORNIA
THAT AFTER A HARD-FOUGHT 10-YEAR WAR,
MEXICO HAD WON ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN.
Pitti: LIBERAL IDEAS ABOUT GOVERNANCE AND ABOUT EQUALITY,
ABOUT OPPORTUNITY WERE VERY MUCH IN THE AIR,
IN WHICH THERE WERE LOTS OF QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE POWER OF INSTITUTIONS.
IN THAT ATMOSPHERE, PEOPLE BEGIN TO LOOK AT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
WITH A CRITICAL EYE, THINKING,
"WHY DOES THIS CHURCH, WHY DOES THIS INSTITUTION
OWN SO MUCH LAND?"
Narrator: THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO
CHALLENGED THE POWER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
IN 1833, IT ORDERED ALL MISSIONS SECULARIZED,
THEIR LAND HOLDINGS BROKEN UP.
THE VAST MISSION HOLDINGS WERE DIVIDED INTO RANCHOS
AND GIVEN AS LAND GRANTS TO A FEW HUNDRED FAMILIES,
MANY OF THEM THE ORIGINAL SPANISH SETTLERS OF CALIFORNIA,
CALIFORNIOS, AS THEY WERE CALLED.
Beebe: THE INDIANS WERE SUPPOSED TO
GET THE MISSION LANDS.
THAT WAS THE PLAN WITH SECULARIZATION.
BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, AND MANY OF THE INDIANS
WERE...WERE LOST.
SOME OF THEM WENT BACK TO THEIR PREVIOUS WAY OF LIFE.
OTHERS WENT TO WORK ON THE RANCHOS.
Narrator: AND AS THE PADRES FACED THE END OF THEIR DOMINION,
THEY ENSURED THAT SOME OF THE MISSION LANDS
STAYED WITH PEOPLE THEY TRUSTED.
FOR HER DEVOTION TO THE MISSIONS,
APOLINARIA, KNOWN AS THE PIOUS, WAS GIVEN TWO RANCHOS.
SHE BOUGHT A THIRD.
Narrator: BY THE EARLY 1800's,
AMERICANS WERE MOVING WEST, DRIVEN BY THE BELIEF
IN A GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO EXPAND ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
Gerstle: THIS VISION OF CONQUEST
WAS TIED TO VISIONS OF LIBERTY AND DEMOCRACY.
IT WAS A PROVIDENTIAL MISSION. IT WAS A PROTESTANT MISSION.
THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER, WAS
THE LANDS THAT AMERICA WANTED TO OCCUPY,
IN THEIR IMAGINATIONS, THEY WERE EMPTY,
BUT IN REALITY THEY WERE NOT.
THEY WERE FULL OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
OF ONE SORT OR ANOTHER,
AND IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE

(ca. 1892)^^ - View showing ten members of the Vincente Lugo family (includes two women and a small child) posing at the ranch house (Rancho San Antonio, Baker Avenue stores on Telegraph Road opposite Laguna School House), on the balcony and ground below. Pictured on the porch (left to right): Vicente Perez Lugo (sister), Victoria Avila Lugo (sister), Annie Lugo Smith (niece), A.E. McConnell, Vicente Lugo (older brother), Andres Lugo. Pictured below (left to right): Felipe Lugo, Toney Lugo (nephew), Pedro Lugo, Governor Argullo (not a family member), B.A. Lugo (brother) [identifications by Pedro Lugo, 15 July 1924].

(Early 1900s)^^ - View showing Don Pedro Lugo and friend who are both mounted on horses in front of the Lugo home. The men are wearing cowboy-like outfits. Vines partially cover the walls of the two-story home behind them. Location: 7000 E Gage, Bell Gardens.

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