Frontier Settlement in Lower California

American Geographical Society

Frontier Settlement in Lower CaliforniaThe Dominican Mission Frontier of Lower California by Peveril Meigs, 3rdReview by: H. F. RaupGeographical Review, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan., 1937), pp. 167-168Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/209676 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

various types of agriculture and grazing, paying special attention to an area with which the author is particularly familiar: the Gravenstein-apple country near Sebastopol, in the California Coast Ranges. It is a matter of regret that space did not permit the inclusion of more detailed studies of this type.

Some errors have been overlooked in the printing: Sir Francis Drake was not on the coast of northern California in 1558, nor had he been knighted at that time. On the whole, however, the study stands as a genuine contribution to the history of California's economic geography. We should have such writings available in translation. H. F. RAUP

THE SPANISH OCCUPATION OF TEXAS

EDWARD W. HEUSINGER. Early Explorations and Mission Establishments in Texas. xvi and 222 pp.; maps, ills., bibliogr., index. The Naylor Company, San Antonio, Texas, I936. $2.50. 9 x 6 inches.

Mr. Heusinger's intention in this book is to provide an interesting, clear, and entertaining sequential account of the Texas explorations and mission establishments. This, he asserts, has not been done, at least it had not been done before 1915, when his research apparently ended. The first few chapters present exceedingly condensed accounts of the itineraries of the Texas explorers and Spanish and French ambitions for the conquest of the area. The remaining chapters are devoted to the history of the founding, occupation, and abandonment of the various Texas missions until the secularization of the last mission property in I794. Unfortunately, all the maps of mission structures and enclosures lack scales, and some lack compass directions.

The entire book is a summary, contributing little to existing knowledge of the Texas frontier. The manuscript sources used in its preparation were principally the church records of the missions, and no manuscripts were used other than those available in Texas. The author is greatly indebted to the publications of Bolton, Bancroft, Hodge, Winship and Winsor for his subject matter.

The book ends abruptly, without summary paragraph or chapter to show the significance of the mission establishments and their relation to subsequent historical and geographical developments in the state. Such a relationship certainly exists and should be treated adequately to round out this study. H. F. RAUP

FRONTIER SETTLEMENT IN LOWER CALIFORNIA

PEVERIL MEIGS, 3RD. The Dominican Mission Frontier of Lower California. vi and 231 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogr., index. Univ. of California Publs. in Geogr., Vol. 7, I935.

The key positions in the northward advance of missions in Baja and Alta Cali- fornia were under the control of the Jesuits and the Franciscans; but a third group, the Dominicans, entered the field in Baja California in 1772, by arrangement with the Franciscans. The few accounts of the Dominican missions have been obscured by the interest of the historians in the greater material achievements of the Fran- ciscans in Alta California. The recent appearance of a most thorough study in historical geography brings welcome and needed attention to a neglected phase of Lower California settlement.

The first part of the work deals with the responsibility of the Dominicans for a frontier stretching from latitude 30? N. to the present international boundary between Mexico and the United States. This area, the northern third of Lower California, had no mission settlements between the Jesuit outpost at Santa Maria and the Franciscan beginnings at San Diego. Within the gap the Dominicans planned and founded ten missions. About half of the book describes the details of























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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

cultural landscapes that were the result of this enterprise. From the first mission, at Nuestra Sefiora del Rosario, in 1774, to the last, at Guadalupe, in 1834, the site and ground plot of each mission are described and mapped from a strictly geographical point of view. A "summation" follows, in which the ten missions are compared in population, wealth, and communications. It is immediately apparent that these missions, established on a belated frontier, never rivaled in size or importance the settlements in Alta California; for Santa Catalina, the largest and most powerful station, had little more than 600 inhabitants working on its land. Each one of the missions was active for half a century before decay set in; but by 1855 all the structures and sites had been sold or granted to private individuals. "The fundamental cause for the deterioration of the missions was the spread among the Indians of diseases introduced into Baja California from outside, in the form of frequent, severe epidemics of smallpox and other ailments, and in the ceaseless attack of syphilis." A brief chapter on the post-mission landscapes concludes this valuable addition to the meager literature on Lower California.

It is hoped that similar geographical studies will be undertaken for the missions of Alta California, though the field has been covered to some extent by the work of Father Zephyrin Engelhardt. Special commendation is due Dr. Meigs for the numerous excellent maps and lilustrations. H. F. RAUP

PICTURES OF NORWAY

KARL FISCHER, edit. Norway To-Day: Glimpses of Modern Norway: Its Culture, Scenery and People, Science, Literature and Art, Travel, Sport and Exploration, Natural Resources, Trade and Industries. 2nd edit. revised. I59 pp.; maps, ills. Sverre Mortensen Forlag, Oslo, n. d. $4.00. I I x 8/ inches.

A good idea of Norway is conveyed by this book. The rocky wastes of fjeld are depicted here on page 119, "Crossing the mountains from Setesdal into Ryfylke," high enough for many a patch of summer snow; a dreary solitude, yet with a fiord or fiord-like lake in sight that doubtless has men by its shores. The Hardangervidda (p. 120) reveals a hunter taking aim. His skis make him an impermanent item. He does not belong. No one belongs here. The Dovre moors (p. 144) have no life on them but the finely photographed dwarf plants and mosses. We are some 3000 feet above the sea, and snow patches abound, though it is summer. And here are the strong slopes of Gratangen (p. 154). These four pictures are not impressive in them- selves. The feeling of vast solitude one gets up on the fjeld is difficult to photograph. But they do record the facts of this vast empty top of Norway.

But vast as are these upland wastes, few points on them are more than 50 miles from inhabited farmsteads, so closely are they strewn in fiords in the west and in the great valleys of the east.

In the west towns crowd to the very border of the sea. Here are Krager6 and Arendal (p. 13), clinging to the edge of S6rlandet, and Halden (p. IO), on the Swedish frontier. Bergen, too, and incredible Alesund. So Kristiansund and Molde (p. i6). Bod6, north of the Arctic Circle (p. 15I), and Hammerfest, the world's northernmost town, turn their backs squarely on the land. This intimacy of the people with the sea is unique with Norway. The land dweller is the Lapp (p. I54), of other race and other culture.

The great eastern valleys in the fjeld contain lakes like Mj6sa, in Gudbrandsdal. These are shallower than the western fiords, and the slopes that drop down from the fjeld are gentler. To these shores, too, cling towns like Hamar (p. I9). Where the valleys open out to the south toward Skagerrak, sits Oslo, the capital (p. 93), at the shore of its lake-like fiord, encircled by pleasant wood-clad hills. The farms of Gud- brandsdal (p. 103) have tiny fields along the river, small pastures higher up, and

cultural landscapes that were the result of this enterprise. From the first mission, at Nuestra Sefiora del Rosario, in 1774, to the last, at Guadalupe, in 1834, the site and ground plot of each mission are described and mapped from a strictly geographical point of view. A "summation" follows, in which the ten missions are compared in population, wealth, and communications. It is immediately apparent that these missions, established on a belated frontier, never rivaled in size or importance the settlements in Alta California; for Santa Catalina, the largest and most powerful station, had little more than 600 inhabitants working on its land. Each one of the missions was active for half a century before decay set in; but by 1855 all the structures and sites had been sold or granted to private individuals. "The fundamental cause for the deterioration of the missions was the spread among the Indians of diseases introduced into Baja California from outside, in the form of frequent, severe epidemics of smallpox and other ailments, and in the ceaseless attack of syphilis." A brief chapter on the post-mission landscapes concludes this valuable addition to the meager literature on Lower California.

It is hoped that similar geographical studies will be undertaken for the missions of Alta California, though the field has been covered to some extent by the work of Father Zephyrin Engelhardt. Special commendation is due Dr. Meigs for the numerous excellent maps and lilustrations. H. F. RAUP

PICTURES OF NORWAY

KARL FISCHER, edit. Norway To-Day: Glimpses of Modern Norway: Its Culture, Scenery and People, Science, Literature and Art, Travel, Sport and Exploration, Natural Resources, Trade and Industries. 2nd edit. revised. I59 pp.; maps, ills. Sverre Mortensen Forlag, Oslo, n. d. $4.00. I I x 8/ inches.

A good idea of Norway is conveyed by this book. The rocky wastes of fjeld are depicted here on page 119, "Crossing the mountains from Setesdal into Ryfylke," high enough for many a patch of summer snow; a dreary solitude, yet with a fiord or fiord-like lake in sight that doubtless has men by its shores. The Hardangervidda (p. 120) reveals a hunter taking aim. His skis make him an impermanent item. He does not belong. No one belongs here. The Dovre moors (p. 144) have no life on them but the finely photographed dwarf plants and mosses. We are some 3000 feet above the sea, and snow patches abound, though it is summer. And here are the strong slopes of Gratangen (p. 154). These four pictures are not impressive in them- selves. The feeling of vast solitude one gets up on the fjeld is difficult to photograph. But they do record the facts of this vast empty top of Norway.

But vast as are these upland wastes, few points on them are more than 50 miles from inhabited farmsteads, so closely are they strewn in fiords in the west and in the great valleys of the east.

In the west towns crowd to the very border of the sea. Here are Krager6 and Arendal (p. 13), clinging to the edge of S6rlandet, and Halden (p. IO), on the Swedish frontier. Bergen, too, and incredible Alesund. So Kristiansund and Molde (p. i6). Bod6, north of the Arctic Circle (p. 15I), and Hammerfest, the world's northernmost town, turn their backs squarely on the land. This intimacy of the people with the sea is unique with Norway. The land dweller is the Lapp (p. I54), of other race and other culture.

The great eastern valleys in the fjeld contain lakes like Mj6sa, in Gudbrandsdal. These are shallower than the western fiords, and the slopes that drop down from the fjeld are gentler. To these shores, too, cling towns like Hamar (p. I9). Where the valleys open out to the south toward Skagerrak, sits Oslo, the capital (p. 93), at the shore of its lake-like fiord, encircled by pleasant wood-clad hills. The farms of Gud- brandsdal (p. 103) have tiny fields along the river, small pastures higher up, and

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Frontier Settlement in Lower California