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(MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS.) Salvatierra, Juan María de. Request for aid in establishing the first permanent mission in the Californias. Document Signed, 2 pages, 12 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches, on one sheet of stamped paper; moderate worming and dampstaining , slight loss at intersection of folds, moderate edge wear without loss of text. Guadalajara, 27 February 1697
In 1697, the Italian-born Jesuit missionary Juan María de Salvatierra (1648-1717) established the first enduring mission in the Californias at Loreto, following on the short-lived effort of Eusebio Kino in 1684. Offered here is his formal request to officials in Guadalajara to be allowed to proceed with his mission to California. He wrote this message in February 1697 and laid the foundation for the Loreto mission in Baja California that October. Salvatierra writes: "Juan Maria Salvatierra de la Compania de Jesus como mas aya lugar. Digo que Vr'o Ex'mo Virrey de la Nueva España expidio la licencia y despacho que con devida solemnidad presento para la entrada combercion y asiento de las Provincias de California y para que los medios de obra tan del servicio de Dios y de su Mag'd se apliquen. A V.A. pido y sup'co se sirva de handar se cumpla y execute dho despacho y que las justizias de este distrito concurran y cooperen por lo que les toca a todo lo que pueda conduzir a la entrada prog[r]eso y conserbacion de dha combersion y que sentado dho despacho se me buelua orig'l pa los efectos que me combenga y en lo nesesario &c." Translated, his message reads in part "Your Most Excellent Viceroy of New Spain issued the license and communiqué that, with all due solemnity, I present, for the expedition to, conversion, and establishment of the provinces of California. And so that the means of achieving this, as much in the service of God as the king, be implemented, I ask and beg Your Audiencia [of Nueva Galicia] that it be used to proceed forward, and that the said communiqué be obeyed and executed, and that the justices of this district agree and cooperate, through what pertains to them, with all that could lead to the initiation, progression, and preservation of the said conversion. And once the said communiqué is read and understood, may the original be returned to me, for whatever purposes should suit me and as necessary." This document was apparently returned to him as his personal copy. On verso is a response from the Royal Audiencia of the province of Nueva Galicia, approving his request and adding "May the original copy be returned to Father Juan María Salvatierra, so that he may make use of it." It is signed by Francisco Dominguez de Riezu. The document is in rather worn condition, but is well-preserved if we consider that it may have accompanied Father Salvatierra to the peninsula, as yet unsettled by Europeans, where he and his small military escort faced substantial resistance from the indigenous Monqui population.
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