Chumash revolt of 1824 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chumash revolt of 1824 |
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 19th century painting (by Alexander Harmer) depicting Mexican soldiers under fire by Chumash forces as they advance towards La Purísima Mission. |
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The Chumash revolt of 1824 was a major uprising by the Chumash Native Americans. They rebelled against the Spanish and Mexican control over their lands. This rebellion started at three California Missions in Alta California: Mission Santa Inés, Mission Santa Barbara, and Mission La Purisima. It then spread to nearby villages. All three missions are in what is now Santa Barbara County, California. The Chumash revolt was the biggest organized resistance movement during the Spanish and Mexican times in California.
The Chumash had planned to rebel at all three missions at the same time. However, an event with a soldier at Mission Santa Inés on February 21 caused the revolt to start early. Much of the Santa Inés mission was burned. The Chumash left Mission Santa Inés when more soldiers arrived. They then attacked Mission La Purisima from inside. They made the soldiers there give up. The Chumash allowed the soldiers, their families, and the mission priest to leave peacefully for Santa Inés.
The next day, the Chumash at Mission Santa Barbara took control of their mission without fighting. They stopped a military attack on the mission. Then, they moved from the mission into the hills. The Chumash kept control of Mission La Purisima until March 16. On that day, a Mexican army unit attacked them and forced them to surrender.
Two military groups were sent to find the Chumash in the hills. The first group in April 1824 did not find anyone to fight and returned. The second group, in June, talked with the Chumash. They convinced most of them to return to the missions by June 28. In total, about 300 Mexican soldiers, six Franciscan priests, and 2,000 Chumash and Yokut Native people were involved. This included people of all ages.
Contents
Why the Chumash Rebelled
The Chumash people had lived in their lands for a very long time. Europeans first met them in 1542. This was when explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's ships landed in Chumash territory. But the Spanish did not settle in Chumash lands until 1772. That is when Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was built there.
More missions followed: Mission San Buenaventura in 1782, Santa Barbara in 1786, La Purisima in 1787, and Santa Ynez in 1804. Some Native Americans became Christians. Others used the missions to survive the big changes the Spanish brought. Some Chumash did not accept the Spanish at all.
Growing Problems and Unfair Treatment
After 1810, Spanish ships stopped bringing supplies and payments for soldiers and priests. The military forts (presidios) demanded more supplies from the missions. The priests then made the Native Americans at the missions work longer and harder. The Native people did not get extra pay for this extra work. Also, Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821. This caused money problems in the region.
After 1820, the Franciscan priests tried even harder to stop Chumash traditions. This made the Native people more angry. By the early 1820s, rumors of violence were common among both soldiers and Natives. The Chumash spent months getting ready for their uprising.
The Native Americans were helped because they had bows, spears, and machetes. They had also been trained in European fighting styles. This training was meant to help them defend the missions from pirates who attacked in 1818. The Chumash also talked to the nearby Yokut people. Some Yokut villages sent men to help with the rebellion.
Promises of Equality
The Mexican independence from the Spanish empire in 1821 also played a role. The Spanish constitution from 1810-14 said that Native Americans and Europeans were equal. It gave full citizenship rights to everyone in Spanish lands, no matter their background. It also made forced labor and physical punishment illegal. This constitution did not last long. But its ideas of fairness spread.
Later, Mexico's declaration of independence in 1821 "ended all differences among Europeans, Africans, and Indians." A Mexican law the next year said the word "Indian" should not be used. Instead, people should be called "citizen." A government official was sent to California in 1822 to share this new policy. One priest wrote that a quarter of the Native Americans at his mission liked Mexico's message of freedom.
The Chumash at Missions Santa Inés, Santa Bárbara, and La Purísima had heard both the Spanish and Mexican governments promise them equal treatment. So, being treated badly by soldiers or priests now caused much more anger. This was because those doing wrong were breaking their own country's laws.
Historian James Sandos believes the Chumash rebellion was planned to create a new society. This society would be free from the missions. It would mix Chumash and Christian religious ideas. It would also use European farming and ranching methods for money.
First Stage of the Conflict
The rebellion began on February 21, 1824. This was a time of money problems, social changes, and ethnic tensions. A young Chumash boy from Mission La Purisima was badly beaten by a Mexican soldier. This happened while the boy was visiting a relative in the Mission Santa Inés guardhouse. This act caused the Chumash people at the mission to start their planned rebellion early. They attacked the soldiers with arrows and set many buildings on fire. About 554 Native people took part in the revolt at Mission Santa Ines.
After a fierce fight, many were hurt. More Chumash arrived to help. The mission's priest and soldiers hid inside a building. They waited there until the next day for Mexican troops from the Presidio of Santa Barbara to rescue them. The soldiers forced the Santa Inés rebels into the mission's Native housing. The soldiers then burned these houses to make the Chumash come out. On the first day at Mission Santa Ines, 15 Chumash women and children died. Four men died in the fires, and one Mexican soldier was killed.
Most of the Chumash fled to the two nearest missions, Santa Barbara and La Purisima. They went to tell their fellow Chumash about the revolt and to join them. About 722 Chumash at La Purisima joined the rebellion. Mission La Purisima was captured by the Chumash. The soldiers, their families, and two Franciscan priests hid in a storeroom. One Chumash man was killed in the first fight at La Purisima. Four Mexican settlers who were passing by the mission were killed by the Chumash.
About 1,270 Chumash strengthened La Purisima. They built wooden fences and cut holes in the mission walls for guns. They armed themselves with the mission's muskets. The Chumash kept the soldiers and their families for three days. Then they let them go peacefully, along with Friar Blas Ordaz. Friar Antonio Rodriguez stayed inside the mission. The Native Americans made it clear they planned to hold and defend the mission.
At the same time, Mission Santa Barbara was also taken by the Chumash inside the mission. They made the mission's soldiers, priests, and other people go to the nearby Santa Barbara Presidio without fighting. The alcalde (a local leader) at Mission Santa Barbara used a trick to help the rebellion there. Some Chumash men took the women and children into the hills. They also took the mission's animals and supplies. The rest of the Chumash men stayed to fight the soldiers coming from the nearby fort.
As they expected, a small group of Mexican troops and priests arrived at the mission. They tried to get the Santa Barbara Natives to surrender. The Chumash refused. A battle was fought. Two Chumash were killed and three were wounded. Four Mexican soldiers were wounded. The Mexican group went back to the fort. The Chumash defenders followed the first group into the hills.
At this point, the Chumash only held Mission La Purisima. More than 1,200 Native Americans were in the mission. But only about 400 of them were warriors. They fully controlled the mission, its resources, and the fields around it. The Mexican leaders did not respond directly until March 14, 1824. On that day, 109 soldiers, including foot soldiers, cavalry, and one cannon, left San Luis Obispo. Their goal was to take back Mission La Purisima. Two Native Americans from San Luis Obispo left before the soldiers to warn those at La Purisima.
The Mexican soldiers began attacking Mission La Purisima on the morning of March 16. The Native Americans fought back with musket fire, arrows, and a cannon. The battle lasted two and a half hours. During the fight, the soldiers blocked all ways for the Chumash to escape the mission. After 16 Native people were killed and many more wounded, they asked Friar Antonio Rodriguez, who had stayed with them, to talk about a truce. The soldiers accepted the surrender of the Native Americans. They took "two cannons, sixteen muskets, 150 lances, six machetes, and many bows and arrows." The Mexicans had only one death and two wounded in the battle.
Second Stage of the Conflict
The mission had been taken back. But most of the Native Americans were still living away from the missions in the hills. They were helped by alliances, mostly with the Yokut people. They gave the Yokut supplies and goods taken from the missions. Now that the Mexicans were back in control of the settled areas, they took legal action. They held military trials for some captured Native people. A general also traveled to five missions in the area. He gave speeches to the Native Americans there, threatening them with death if the revolt did not end.
The first Mexican military trip against the rebels started on April 11. They marched for five days to reach Yokut territory. On the way, the group killed four Native American people. Three soldiers were wounded. The trip ended when they faced a bad wind and dust storm. The leader, Don Narciso Fabregat, decided they had to turn back.
Food became a problem both in the missions and in the hills where the refugees were. The missions had very few Native Americans to do the work needed to grow food. The Yokut villages had many more people to feed than they were used to supporting.
In May 1824, Friar Ripoll of Mission Santa Barbara wrote a letter to the governor of California. He defended and explained the actions of the Chumash. He hoped the governor would forgive the rebels. Ripoll's letter said that the Native Americans were like children who needed care. This was the old Franciscan way of seeing themselves as fathers to the "Indians." He did not mention Mexico's policy of equality for all people in the state. The governor accepted the explanation. He issued a general pardon to everyone who had been part of the revolt. This pardon did not include those already found guilty at military trials. The pardon was announced on May 16, 1824.
Reconciliation and Return
Three different military groups were sent to tell the Chumash they had been pardoned. They could come back to the missions in peace. The main group of 130 troops left Mission Santa Barbara on June 2, 1824. The Chumash leaders met with the expedition leaders, including General Pablo de la Portillo and Friars Sarria and Ripoll, on June 8. This first meeting went well. A second meeting was held on June 11 with a much larger group of the exiled Chumash. The pardon was explained to the gathered Chumash, who accepted it. A special mass was held on June 13 to celebrate.
For the next week, soldiers and Native American leaders traveled through the area. They looked for more exiled Chumash to ask them to return to the missions. The first returning Native people arrived at Santa Barbara on June 16. More arrivals continued for weeks. By June 28, about 816 out of the original 1,000 people had returned.
Celebrations were held at the missions to mark the peace and the return of the Native Americans. Yokuts were also invited to attend. By the next year, only "four men and two or three women" had not returned to the missions.
Images for kids
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In Spanish: Revuelta chumash de 1824 para niños
