SLO Mission Controversy re: Annihilation of the Grizzly Bears in 1772

My time on the Dave Congalton show on 3/6/2024 with fellow Mission SLO docent John Ashbaugh. You can listen to the podcast at the Congalton Show web page: https://www.920kvec.com/show/dave-congalton-hometown-radio/

During the discussion on the show, an issue came up that I want to elaborate on. I am very aware of the many controversies about the Spanish California Mission System, which was operational from 1769 (when Mission San Diego del Alala was founded as the first California Mission) to 1834 (when Secularization of the Missions occurred after the Mexican Wars for Independence ended in 1821).

A person texted in to the Congalton Show, who was critical of a comment I had made about my interpretation of Mission SLO history. I intend to set the record state here. Thanks for listening.

I commented that in 1771 - 1772, Mission San Antonio and Mission Carmel were in dire straights, and were starving. Lt. Pedro Fages, commander of the Presidio of Monterey, lead an expedition to San Luis Obispo to harvest bear meat. It was written down in the contemporaneous Spanish records that the local indigenous people were grateful for the Spanish "Soldados" who were able to kill 103 grizzly bears in "Los Osos Valley" (Valley of the Bears!). Many of the Indians had the tell-tale scars from surviving vicious grizzly bear attacks. Apparently, the local Indians were not able to hunt and kill the big, scary, aggressive grizzlies.

A person texted in a critical comment about my statements of "apparent" fact. For some reason, as I am re-listening the the podcast of our show with Dave, it does not record the critical comment, so I'll have to paraphrase it. The texter criticizes our statement that the natives were grateful for killing the bears, and that we were somehow condescending in making that statement.

Did the Spanish come to SLO and harvest grizzly bears? Yes. That is a historical fact that nobody disputes.

Did the local Indians bear scars from frequent violent encounters with grizzly bears? Yes. That too is a historical fact that nobody disputes.

Were the local Indians grateful for the extermination of so many Grizzlies? That is the historical fact that is in dispute. Though Spanish contemporaneous record this as fact, is it actually true? IMHO only, it is HIGHLY LIKELY that this was true. Given
(1) the apparent abundance of grizzlies in Los Osos Valley,
(2) the likelihood that the Indians could not get rid of them,
(3) the bears posed an ongoing threat to the lives of the Indians,
it is likely that the Indians were indeed grateful for the Spanish, at that point in time. Am I 100% certain that the Indians grateful for this act of annihilation? Nope. I'm maybe at 90% certain.

I would love to hear from the local native American communities about their opinion on this topic. That is one of the many reasons that we would benefit from the local tribes participating in presenting the Spanish Mission History to the Public.

In general, I always point out to the public that just because the Spanish wrote down their thoughts and impressions of the events as they occurred, it doesn't mean what they wrote was actually true!

**************************Steve McDonough

Thought you might enjoy this background information on the California Grizzly. I am amazed how many there were. I know Portola was attacked moving up Los Osos Valley. Seems like they were very aggressive to anyone they spied. https://www.naturespeace.org/grinnell1938grizzlysierra.htm

 

**************************Tim Waag

Quote from the "Grinnell Essay" referenced above (this quote proves the abundance of Grizzly Bears in and around San Luis Obispo): " Another purpose in bear killing is in evidence in the reminiscences of George Nidever. In the year 1837 he shot 45 grizzlies in the neighborhood of San Luis Obispo; and altogether during his wanderings up and down the California coast he thought he had killed "upwards of 200 grizzlies. Judging from the tone of his narrative, Nidever's chief motive in killing these bears was to demonstrate thereby his accurate markmanship and his cool-headedness. His superiority in these respects over his fellow frontiersmen was a matter of great pride with him. "At this time," he says, "there was no sale for bear skins, so that we never took the trouble to skin them unless for our own use or to make a present to some friend or acquaintance."