and his
battalion reached here in January, and remained until the signing of the
treaty of Cahuenga, which closed all serious hostilities against the
United States in its conquest of California.

Connected with the Mission of San Fernando is the first discovery of
California gold. Eight years before the great days of '49 Francisco
Lopez, the _mayordomo_ of the Mission, was in the canyon of San
Feliciano, which is about eight miles westerly from the present town of
Newhall, and according to Don Abel Stearns, "with a companion, while in
search of some stray horses, about midday stopped under some trees and
tied their horses to feed. While resting in the shade, Lopez with his
sheath knife dug up some wild onions, and in the dirt discovered a piece
of gold. Searching further, he found more. On his return to town he
showed these pieces to his friends, who at once declared there must be a
placer of gold there."

Then the rush began. As soon as the people in Los Angeles and Santa
Barbara heard of it, they flocked to the new "gold fields" in hundreds.
And the first California gold dust ever coined at the government mint at
Philadelphia came from these mines. It was taken around Cape Horn in a
sailing-vessel by Alfred Robinson, the translator of Boscana's _Indians
of California_, and consisted of 18.34 ounces, and made $344.75, or over
$19 to the ounce.

Davis says that in the first two years after the discovery not less than
from $80,000 to $100,000 was gathered. Don Antonio Coronel, with three
Indian laborers, in 1842, took out $600 worth of dust in two months.

Water being scarce, the methods of washing the gravel were both crude
and wasteful. And it is interesting to note that the first gold "pans"
were _bateas_, or bowl-shaped Indian baskets.

The church at San Fernando is in a completely ruined condition. It
stands southwest to northeast. The entrance is at the southwest end and
the altar at the northeast. There is also a side entrance at the east,
with a half-circular arch, sloping into a larger arch inside, with a
flat top and rounded upper corners. The thickness of the walls allows
the working out of various styles in these outer and inner arches that
is curious and interesting. They reveal the individuality of the
builder, and as they are all structural and pleasing, they afford a
wonderful example of variety in adapting the arch to its necessary
functions.

[Illustration: SHEEP AT MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]