California State Military
Department
As early as the 1790s, Spanish authorities realized
the defenseless condition of their California ports, and began
to issue orders to take steps to keep foreigners from becoming
cognizant of the fact.
Under Spanish rule foreign vessels were prohibited from trading directly with any California port except Monterey. The Spanish had restricted trade with foreign countries in an attempt to reduce the influence that foreign settlers might have on the local population. This rule, proved inadequate, as only two supply ships per year, laden with goods from Spain's House of Trades, were permitted to exchange their cargos for hides and tallow from the mission. Nevertheless, during this period of settlement, San Diego received a couple of foreign visitors who were making scientific voyages of the Pacific. One of the first visitors was Captain George Vancouver of the British Navy.
The matter of San Diego's inadequate defenses was brought home forcibly by Captain George Vancouver, who entered San Diego harbor in 1793 on a return trip from the Pacific Northwest. He noted in a letter to London how poorly the port was guarded, in which he deducted:
"With little difficulty it might be rendered a place of considerable strength, by establishing a small force at the entrance of the port; where at this time there are neither works, guns, houses or other habitations nearer than the Presidio, five miles from the port and where they have only three small pieces of brass cannon."
Vancouver's observations as to the advantages of fortifications on Ballast Point, then called Point Guijarros (Spanish for "cobblestones") because the point was covered with smooth stones (1), was well heeded by the Spanish.
The Spanish immediately strengthened the presidio and began construction of a fort at Ballast Point. The site of the fort was selected because the peninsula guarded the only access to the Bay. Workmen and materials were sent from as far away as Monterey and Santa Barbara. Brick and tile were hauled from the presidio to the beach and taken across to the point by a small flatboat. The Spanish engineer, Captain Alberto de Cordoba, recommended changing the fort from the proposed circular design at the end of the point to a fort made of adobe with two wings mounting ten guns, sited near the shore end. Completed in 1797, the fort on Point Loma was indeed made of adobe and was armed with a nine-pound cannon. The fort was built on ground later to be occupied by Fort Rosecrans' Battery Fetterman.
It was not until 1800 that the first American ship, the brig BETSY, made its way into San Diego Bay. According to the census reported to the Viceroy that year, the presidio had a population of 167, consisting of officers and soldiers, with their families.
Word of profitable trade opportunities with China and other countries in the Pacific was spreading to the East Coast of the United States.
Three years later two American fur-trading ships, ALEXANDER and LELIA BYRD, attempted to smuggle otter skins out of San Diego. This event proved to be Castillo Guijarros' baptism by fire in what has been called the ‘Battle of San Diego Bay'. On March 22, 1803, the brig LELIA BYRD, mounting six small guns, after some contraband dealings with the local inhabitants, was seized and her crew put under armed guard. The crew managed to overpower their guard and raised anchor and stood out to sea, carrying the captured guard with her. The fort opened fire, scoring several hits. Abeam of Ballast Point, the LELIA BYRD returned fired from her six 3-pounders. This action lasted nearly an hour. Once out of range, the crew of the LELIA BYRD put their captured guards (who had been forced to line the rail during the engagement) into a small boat and let them row ashore. The event was the only time that the guns of the fort were fired in defense of San Diego Bay.
The visit of the two American fur-trading ships, ALEXANDER and LELIA BYRD, marked the beginning of an increase in foreign ships entering the Pacific Ocean and pursuing trading activities along the California coast.
Up to the year 1825, with very few exceptions, the whole civilized population lived with the presidio enclosure or just under the protection of its guns. The presidio being maintained up to 1837, when, in a petty revolution, the troops marched to Los Angeles, where they disbanded themselves for want of pay, and never returned. As time passed, the presidio was abandoned after San Diego became a pueblo. Castillo Guijarros also fell into disuse and disrepair.
By 1839 only two serviceable cannon were left. One of these guns was later mounted on a pedestal in San Diego's Old Town Plaza, another is at the site of Fort Stockton on Presidio Hill.
Footnotes