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Jose Panto, Captian of the Indian Pueblo of San Pascual (15 pages)
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Page: of 15
154 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY
the Indians who may be settled there I do not
know in what part of this tract of land he can
establish himself.
With regard to the conduct of the inhabitants
of San Pascual although I was told before the
date of this petition that these Indians did not
behave well, I have endeavored to inform
myself as far as I know from the two (?)
adjoining neighbors, and all has proved the
contrary; the very ladies whom I found alone at
San Bernardo and at the Rancho of José Maria
Alvarado remained there so from the confidence
they reposed in the Indians of San Pascual,
which ladies, whenever they felt any fear called
upon Panto for the services of three or four
Indians, which is confirmed by the large and
small cattle they keep on halves with Don
Eduardo Stoques [Stokes] in the former and with
Don José Maria Alvarado in the latter.
It is known that these settlers make their
contracts of so many men for the job, and
arrange the matter with the Capitan Panto for an
exchange of cattle, horses and mares receiving
nothing until the work is done, when they share
the profits equally and with this and their sales
of young cows, heifers, mules which they call
cocos, do they support themselves. At present
they are at work on a dam for Lorenzo Soto
some four hundred varas in length and five in
width [1,100 feet long by 13.5 feet wide],
collecting the product of the labor of those that
work outside they share it with those in some
way as they say who take care of the pueblo.
In reference to the establishment of the
pueblo, it was formed by Superior Order, in
accordance with the regulations of secularization
of the year °33, agreeably to two Official
communications I was able to obtain on the
subject, which I requested of the Father, the
Minister of the Mission . . . [Spanish Archives
n.d.:8:50].
Unfortunately, the location of the map mentioned in this report is unknown.
SAN PASQUAL UNDER THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Panto is reported the following year
(December 1846) as chief of the San Pasqual
Pueblo during the Battle of San Pasqual. He is
said to have aided General Kearny against the
Mexican force commanded by Andres Pico.
His daughter, Felicita, credited him with an
important role in supporting the Americans in
the battle.
Early one rainy morning we saw soldiers
that were not Mexicans come riding down the
mountain side. They looked like ghosts coming
through the mist and then the fighting began.
The Indians fled in fear to the mountains on
the north side of the Valley from where they
looked down and watched the battle. All day
long they fought. We saw some Americans
killed and knew they were in a bad way.
That afternoon Pontho, my father, called his
men together and asked them if they wished to
help the Americanos in their trouble. The men
said they did. When darkness was near Pontho
sent a messenger to the Mexican chief telling
him to trouble the Americans no more that night
else the Indians would help the Americans. And
the Mexican chief heeded the message and the
Americans were left to bury their dead and to
rest because of my father’s message. The
Americanos do not know of this but my people
know of it [Roberts, quoted in Peet 1949:90].
In an eyewitness account of one of the participants in the battle, it is stated that the troops
under Kearny were in desperate straits, surrounded by the California forces on Mule Hill
when, on the second evening, an Indian from
San Pascual reached the hill, and no person in
the command being able to talk to him, except
Kit Carson, in Spanish. This Indian guided Lt.
Beale and Carson that night, from the hill, to
San Diego. They passed through a strong guard
of Mexicans right on the road--by the Indian
directing them what way to take . . . [Dunne
n.d.
Panto has been credited as the person who
performed this heroic deed (Smythe 1907:220).
Whether it was indeed him or someone sent by
him, it supports Felicita’s assertion of the aid
offered by the San Pasqual Indians to the
American forces.
In the following year (1847), Panto lent
Commodore Stockton a number of oxen and
horses to aid in the assault on Los Angeles.
The U. S. government never remunerated him
for these animals (San Diego Union 1874:3).
On January 7, 1852, Panto signed a ‘“‘treaty