Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society

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California fought each other or the Americans in
1846, war lacked the sense of annihilation that
inflamed the spirit.
Only battles against infidels required the services
of pious warriors. When Father Palóu spoke
about the establishment of Mission San Diego
in 1769, he declared that “exactly as through the
power of that sacred emblem the Spaniards had
gained a great victory over the barbarous Mohammedans,
in the year 1212, they [i.e., the priests]
might also win a victory by raising the standard
of the Holy Cross, and putting to flight all the
army of hell, [and] bring under the subjection to
the gentle yoke of our Holy Faith all the savage
tribes . . . who inhabited . . . California.” Later,
when Indian converts rebelled at Mission San
Diego in 1775, Palóu praised a “blacksmith [who
surpassed all other Spaniards in the fight] for
without a doubt the Holy Communion which he
had just received filled him with extraordinary
courage and though he had no leather jacket to
protect him he went out among the houses and
shacks crying out, ‘Long live the Faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and let these dogs of enemies die
the death.’” 76 When Bouchard raided settlements
along the coast, Father Mariano Payeras, rector
of Mission La Purísima Concepción, used terms
that echoed the Muslims’ willingness to fight
and die for their faith, writing: “Long live God,
long live [our Catholic] religion, long live the
king, long live the fatherland [in whose] precious
defense we will conquer or die.” 77
The settlers used similar terms. Luis Arguello,
when describing an expedition to recover fugitive
neophytes, reported to the governor that he had
confronted “heathen overwhelmed with error”
whom God “has placed under the conquering
banner of the most Catholic and pious monarch.”
In the interest of “propagating our holy religion,”
Arguello announced, “I am ready to sacrifice
my comfort and my life and all the power of my
mind.” 78 When troops marched from Los Ange-
California History • volume 90 number 1 2012
les to pursue the Indians who participated in the
Chumash rebellion, they serenaded each member
of the expedition with such lyrics as “Sergeant
Carlos, who for the Trinity, dressed for war.” 79
But above all, the shadow of ribat lingered. It
bears repeating that the legacies of ribat dwelled
beyond memory. Nonetheless, the strategies and
ideas of ribat provided lessons that Christians in
Spain did not find in their own doctrines. After
borrowing and then changing certain elements
to reduce any reference to Islam, Christians
reimagined ribat as a religious exercise that
could include the warrior’s labors in battle. In
California, the image of the warrior and pilgrim
conflated into one personage, thereby bequeathing
to believers a repertoire of behaviors that
could sanctify the most violent deeds. When
enemies lurked, who, for the most part would
be Indians, the priests and settlers also found
the opportunity to abolish the sin and imperfection
that engulfed their hearts. Like Spanish
Christians centuries before, California’s warriors
believed that for the duration of their quest, the
slaying of enemies would serve as penance or
professions of worship.
And so they marched. In 1806, when describing
an expedition to pursue fugitive neophytes,
Father Pedro Muñoz wrote in his diary that
on the first day the men set out, they “were
informed in a formal address of the purpose
toward which God was guiding them in the present
expedition and the merit they would acquire,
if following the Voice of God as transmitted
through their chief, they fulfilled their duty.”
Twenty years later, Sergeant José Dolores Pico
said of another expedition that the men “recited
the rosary” at least twice during their hunt for
fugitive neophytes. The rosary, whose prayers
include multiple recitations of the “Hail Mary”
where believers ask the “Mother of God to pray
for us sinners,” testified once more to the penitential
qualities of a military effort. 80