Pedro Fages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pedro Fages
5th Governor of the Californias
In office 12 July 1782 – 16 April 1791
Preceded by	Felipe de Neve
Succeeded by	José Antonio Roméu
Acting Governor of the Californias
In office 9 July 1770 – 25 May 1774
Preceded by	Gaspar de Portolá
Succeeded by	Fernando Rivera y Moncada
Personal details
Born	1734 Guissona, Catalonia, Spain
Died	1794 (aged 64) Mexico City, Viceroyalty of New Spain
Spouse	Eulalia Callis
Profession	Soldier, explorer, and military Governor of Las Californias
Military service
Allegiance	Spain
Branch/service	Army of Spain
Rank	Colonel

Pedro Fages (1734–1794), also known as Pere Fages i Beleta in Catalan, was a Spanish soldier and explorer. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Californias under Gaspar de Portolá. Later, Fages officially served as the fifth Governor of the Californias from 1782 to 1791.

Pedro Fages' Early Career

Fages was born in Guissona, Catalonia, Spain. In 1762, he joined the light infantry in Catalonia. He took part in Spain's invasion of Portugal during the Seven Years' War. In May 1767, Fages became a lieutenant in a new group called the Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia. He sailed from Cádiz to New Spain (which is now Mexico). There, he and his men served under Domingo Elizondo in Sonora.

Journey to San Diego

In 1769, Fages was chosen by Inspector General José de Gálvez to lead soldiers on a ship. This ship was part of the Gaspar de Portolá expedition. The goal was to establish San Diego, California. Lieutenant Fages sailed from Guaymas to La Paz in Baja California.

On January 9, 1769, he boarded the ship San Carlos. It was headed for San Diego. Also on board were a friar, an engineer, a surgeon, and 25 soldiers under Fages. The ship sailed almost 200 miles (320 kilometers) past San Diego by mistake. It then turned back south. The San Carlos finally arrived in San Diego Bay on April 29. Many of the troops and crew were sick with scurvy.

Meeting the Kumeyaay People

After recovering from their long journey, Fages followed his instructions from José de Gálvez. He and Miguel Costansó explored the San Diego port and inland areas. They especially explored what is now Mission Valley.

Fages wrote about the local Kumeyaay Indians. He said they seemed "docile and alert." He noted that they became good friends with the Spanish. The Kumeyaay often brought rabbits, hares, and fish. In return, the Spanish gave them glass beads or cloth.

Costansó also wrote about the Kumeyaay. He mentioned that they showed great respect for Don Pedro Fages. They even invited him to be with their women, which was a special sign of friendship.

Fages also showed the Kumeyaay how powerful Spanish firearms were. The Kumeyaay first thought the Spanish guns were "simple sticks." Fages set up a leather target. The Indians shot their arrows, which had little effect on the leather. Then, Fages had his best shooters fire their guns at the same target. The loud noise and the damage to the target surprised and scared the Kumeyaay.

Exploring the California Coast

A mural showing Pedro Fages and Fray Juan Crespi in Berkeley.

On July 14, 1769, Fages left San Diego with 74 men. They were part of the Portolá expedition to find Monterey Bay. The group included Catalan volunteers, soldiers, Christian Indians, and friars Juan Crespí and Francisco Gómez. During this trip, Fages was promoted to captain.

The group explored all the way up the coast to San Francisco. However, they did not realize they had passed Monterey Bay. The 74 men returned to San Diego on January 24, 1770. They were very tired and had to eat their mules on the way back.

Second Trip to Monterey

In the spring of 1770, Fages joined a second overland expedition. This trip went from San Diego to Monterey. Friar Juan Crespí, Catalan volunteers, soldiers, muleteers, and Baja Christian Indians were also part of this group. Their goal was to build a Catholic mission in Monterey.

After Portolá left California in 1770, Captain Pedro Fages took charge of the Presidio of Monterey. He became the acting lieutenant-governor of California Nueva (New California). In 1770, this area became part of Las Californias. Later, it was separated from Baja California to become Alta California.

Building the Monterey Fort

Fages was in charge of building the Spanish presidio (fort) in Monterey. He made his soldiers work very hard. He set strict rules for how much work they had to do. Even when it rained heavily, Fages did not let them stop working. Soldiers had to walk through mud to cut wood and then pull their mules out of the mud.

They had no time to wash or fix their clothes during the week. Fages told them to do that on Sundays. On Sundays, they also had to get wood for Fages' kitchen. They had to fetch their own water from the Carmel River, about six miles away. They also had to clean their weapons and pass inspection.

This strict work schedule lasted for a year and a half. The soldiers complained about their treatment. Finally, padre president Junípero Serra stepped in. Serra told Fages that, as a Christian, he should let his men rest on Sundays.

The soldiers' weekly food was not always good. Sometimes the meat was rotten, and the corn had weevils. To get more food, soldiers gathered wild plants and hunted geese on Sundays. They also traded items like ponchos and knives with the local Indians for food. News of these tough conditions reached Mexico. Because of this, working in Alta California became an unpopular assignment.

In June 1771, Fages wrote to Viceroy Carlos de Croix in Mexico. He reported that the Monterey fort was built. He also sent a map. Fages had started a large vegetable garden with irrigation. He also grew wheat, barley, rice, and beans. He described the local Indians as having strong bodies but weak spirits. He also wrote about their clothing.

Nearly all of them go naked, except a few who cover themselves with a small cloak of rabbit or hare skin, which does not fall below the waist. The women wear a short apron of red and white cords twisted and worked as closely as possible, which extends to the knee. Others use the green and dry tule interwoven, and complete their outfit with a deerskin half tanned or entirely untanned, to make wretched underskirts which scarcely serve to indicate the distinction of sex, or to cover their nakedness with sufficient modesty.

Exploring San Francisco Bay

In November 1770, Fages led an expedition from Monterey to San Francisco Bay. Instead of following the difficult old trail, Fages found an easier way. This new route went through what is now Salinas and the Santa Clara Valley. This new trail became the preferred route. Later, missions were built along this road. These included Mission San Juan Bautista, Mission Santa Clara, and Mission San Jose.

From the southern end of the bay, Fages continued north. His scouts became the first Europeans to see the entrance to the great bay. This view was from the slopes above the bay in modern Oakland.

Fages set out north from San Diego again in 1772. He found another new trail. This trail went north over Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley. Friar Juan Crespí joined this expedition and kept a daily journal. Fages continued past his earlier stopping point on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. He saw the entrance to San Francisco Bay, now known as the Golden Gate.

The group continued north along San Pablo Bay. They could not go farther north because of the Carquinez Strait. Fages' group then climbed the slopes of Mount Diablo. They became the first Europeans to see the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the Central Valley of California, and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Since they could not cross the wide river without boats, the group returned to San Jose. They went through what is now Contra Costa County.

During their return, messengers from Monterey met the group. They told Fages and Crespí that the Spanish colony in San Diego had very little food. Crespí immediately left with food supplies. But this left Monterey also short on food. The Spanish had not been very successful hunters in California. In desperation, Fages ordered soldiers to hunt the large and fearsome California grizzly bear. Fages himself joined the hunt. He earned his nickname El Oso ("the bear") while hunting bears near San Luis Obispo.

Fages' first time as commander in Monterey ended in 1774. He had disagreements with Father Junípero Serra. Serra was the president of the Alta California missions. Fages was replaced by Fernando Rivera y Moncada.

In 1777, Fages was sent to Sonora to fight the Apache people. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1781, he stopped the Quechan (Yuma) Indian revolt. He also temporarily reopened the Colorado River crossing of the Anza trail at Yuma, Arizona. However, the Quechan successfully closed the trail again after Fages left. This meant that the two journeys led by Juan Bautista de Anza were the only Spanish expeditions to use that trail for over 50 years.

Pedro Fages returned to Monterey in 1777. He was appointed Governor of the Californias. He replaced Felipe de Neve. Monterey became the capital of the Californias that year, replacing Loreto. In 1804, Las Californias was officially split into Alta California and Baja California.

During Fages' second time as governor, two missions were founded. These were Mission Santa Barbara (December 4, 1786) and La Purisima Mission (December 8, 1787). In 1787, Fages reported on the Carmel mission. He described the local Indians as the "laziest, most brutish and least rational" of all the natives. He thought these qualities, along with the foggy weather, lack of water, high death rate, and language problems, made the mission's progress very slow.

Governor Fages was concerned about the lack of skilled workers in his area. In 1787, he suggested that artisans imprisoned in Mexico City and Guadalajara could come to California. Their sentences would be changed to exile if they served their time at forts or missions. Then they would stay on as settlers. However, the rulers of New Spain did not approve Fages' idea.

Fages was promoted to colonel in 1789. He resigned his governorship in 1791, as requested by Father Serra. Pedro Fages moved back to Mexico City, where he died in 1794.

Pedro Fages' Family Life

Fages married Eulalia Francesca Josepha Callis on June 3, 1780, in Mexico City. Eulalia was born on October 4, 1758, in Barcelona, Spain. She was much younger than Pedro Fages. She traveled to Mexico City with her mother and brother. They joined her father, Agustín Callis, who was a captain.

In 1781, Eulalia and Pedro traveled to Arizpe, Sonora. There, Eulalia gave birth to their first child, Pedrito. When Fages was reassigned to Alta California as governor in 1782, Eulalia and Pedrito stayed in Sonora. Later, they traveled to Baja California with soldiers. Fages went south to Loreto to pick them up. They left Loreto in July and arrived in Monterey in January 1783.

In the spring of 1784, Pedro and Eulalia, who was pregnant, traveled north to San Francisco. Eulalia was carried in a litter. There, they met padre president Junípero Serra. Eulalia found the weather in San Francisco unpleasant. She wanted to move to Santa Clara. Fages asked the friars at Mission Santa Clara to let Eulalia stay there. However, they felt it was not proper to host the governor's pregnant wife. So, Eulalia's second child, María del Carmen, was born in San Francisco in August 1784.

Eulalia found life in California challenging. In January 1787, Fages wrote a letter to padre Palóu. He reported that Eulalia had apologized for past disagreements. He said she admitted that her accusations had been false. He happily reported that they were now living together in peace.

California Historical Landmark

The place Fages entered in the San Joaquin Valley is a California Historical Landmark. It is number 291 and was marked on June 27, 1938. This spot is now on California State Route 166. It is about 20 miles south of Bakersfield, California.

The California Historical Landmark sign reads:

NO. 291 FAGES-ZALVIDEA CROSSING - In 1772, Don Pedro Fages, first recorded non-Indian to visit the southern San Joaquin Valley, crossed this spot on his way from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. Near this point crossed Father José María de Zalvidea in 1806, while accompanying the Ruiz expedition in search of mission sites.

Pedro Fages in Fiction

Pedro Fages appears in several fictional works:

• The novel Mistress of Monterey: A Story of Lost Romance in Eighteenth Century California by Virginia Stivers Bartlett (1933) explores Eulalia Callis's relationship with Pedro Fages. It also shows the tensions between Spanish military officers and Franciscan missionaries.
• Pedro Fages is a small character in the 1955 film Seven Cities of Gold. This movie tells a made-up story about the founding of Spanish California. Actor Victor Junco plays Lieutenant Fages. In the movie credits, Fages' name is spelled incorrectly as "Faces."
• Governor Fages and his wife appear briefly in the Isabel Allende novel Zorro.
• Pere Fages is the main character in the historical novel La última conquista (2005) by Ramón Vilaró. He is also a secondary character in Los acasos (2010) by Javier Pascual.

Images for kids

• United States Post Office, Berkeley, California - Stierch - 12.jpg

  A closer look at the mural detail.

See also

In Spanish: Pedro Fages para niños