CALIFORNIA GOLD

By Adam S. Eterovich

“Know then, that, on the right hand of the Indies, there is an island called California, very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise ... Their island was the strongest in all the world, with its steep cliffs and rocky shores. Their arms were all of gold. For, in the whole island there was no metal but gold.“ The name California was first applied by Hernando Cortez, referring to the domain of Queen Calafia in the novel Las Sergas de Esplandian by Garcia Ordonez in 1510. The cities of gold found by the Spanish sent them on a relentless search seeking the Seven Cities of Cibola, described as cities of gold. The search brought them to the tip of what was thought to be a large island, now called Baja California.

California is not an Island

Father Consag: Often spelled Konscak, Konsag and Konschak, was born in the city of Varazdin, Croatia, in 1703. He left Spain for Cuba in 1730, and three years later he arrived in California. He made many trips about the peninsula, seeking desirable places where missions might he established. It is said that while he was on these journeys he carried only a "walking stick and a piece of canvas." After serving on the peninsula for twenty-eight years, he died at the Mission of Bajorca in 1759.

Famous Expedition: In 1744 the Spanish king, Philip V, decreed that the missions in lower California be carried north in order to meet those of Sonora. The Jesuit Provincial, Father Cristobal de Escobar y Llamas, sent a suggestion to King Ferdinand VI that there be issued a royal order to explore the northern reaches of California in order to verify whether the place be an island or a peninsula. The immediate effect of this correspondence was the famous exploring expedition of Fernando Consag. He entered the Jesuit novitiate of Troutchin in Slovakia at the age of sixteen, taught the humanities in Buda, Hungary, and was ordained priest in Gratz, Austria he arrived at Mission San Ignacio and assumed the duties of Taraval. He and Sistiago worked together during the 1730's and expanded the sphere of Christian influence. In 1746 Consag received orders, through Juan Antonio Balthasar, Visitor to California, to make an exploratory tour by sea along the coast and by land north and northwest. The purpose of the expedition by sea was once again to verify that California was not an island. Father Konscak proved California was not an island.

Inscription on the Gates of Dubrovnik

Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro

Freedom cannot be sold, not even for all the gold

Argosy

Argosy means great merchant vessels laden with treasures and gold. The first vessels coming to the California Gold Fields and the Port of San Francisco were called by historians Argosies. This word has its origins in Aragusa-Ragusa which means Dubrovnik or the Republic of Dubrovnik.

California Gold Croatian Wine

August Senoa

God has blessed California with gold;

Gold has exalted the land far and wide;

Its rivers and brooks roll treasures untold,

Its rocks conceal gold veins in their inside.

But from whatever you have had you fill

You no more derive any joyous thrill.

When it is far, however, what a change!

The gold that leaves its native land, and sails

The ocean to Europe- is it not strange?

May a fine day roll on Austrian rails.

Well, Austrian? Gold? But where is it? Where?

My brothers, in museums. Look it up there.

And we, the gentle souls, think it meet

To be content with a sheer paper sheet.

The country of Croatia overflows with wine,

Its drops more precious than gold, crystally clear:

God Himself has consecrated our vine,

Its fame expanding world-wide, far and near,

One cannot be a prophet in his land,

Sometimes we may not drink as manners demand.

When far and away, however- what a change!

Whenever leaving your home for some time,

You prize Croatian wine- is it not strange?

You miss it under a foreign clime.

And while I drink that wishy-washy beer,

I often brush away a painful tear.

Then I remember you, my charming home,

Your fiery wine, opulent, flavorsome,

With life in it and real love beside,

With heaven in it and thunderous song.

With olden glory and national pride,

With courage and concept lucid and strong;

Sure cure for old age, bright sunshine for youth,

Proof our hospitality tells the truth.

And you, my brothers in Croatian parts,

Keep on dancing, sing from you fullest hearts;

Our wince is foaming, see it sparkle, my dear,

Let jokes be cut- let everybody cheer,

Propose a toast to too many a son

Who lacks our wine beneath a foreign sun:

Drink moderately to keep yourselves alert

Let enemies should plan an assault;

Drink boldly to be able to avert

From new-glory-bearing vines any fault;

Drink modestly this divine, fierce gift;

Drink wisely, Mirza teaches, foster thrift.

Zagreb Times Newspaper 1862 Croatia

Mat Sinu Ca Gre Put Amerik

(My Son Goes to America)

Sinko, hod zbogon,

bila ti srica,

i blagoslovjeno ti mliko koji si siso.

Bud mi dobar u daleken svitu,

imoj pomnju od zivota,

i vrat mi se doma srican i kuntenat.

Sine, ja san te karvavin zujima odgojila

i kolike noci nad tobom ucinila

sto putih i gladna i zedna

u nevoj i siuzami.

A ti si meni razgovor bi

i milosca moja,

kad ti je brat po zurnatoh hodi

bolesnu me pomico.

I sad kad gres za svojon sricon

za me ne misli,

ja cu se pasat i s manjin,

samo neka si ti dobro

i zdravo.

Hod zbogon,

bila ti srica

Marin Franicevic

Rush, Rush to California

Kruha je nestalo Bread has disappeared

Vina nemamo We don’t have Wine;

Kako preziveti, How are we going to live

Sutra neznamo. We don’t know about tomorrow

1854 Antun Pasko Kazali, Croatia

Ragusin Buys an Island with California Gold

Marko Ragusin, the first Croatian pioneer in Sacramento, California appeared in 1849, being 21 years of age and having voted that year. He listed himself as a “Slavonian” from Louisiana. He later moved to San Jose and opened a saloon, again being one of the first Croatians in that area. He married a native Californian (Mexican) and they had their first child, Perina, in 1857. He was from the Island of Losinj.

In the last century, an opportunity came to the people of the Island of Silba to get rid of their colonial liabilities and to buy off their island. The noble Morosin family was the former owner of the island. At that time, they sold the island to Marko Ragusin, a native of Losinj and a rich emigrant who returned from California in America.

Raguzin had no interest to keep the island for a cash annuity, so he decided to sell it. The people of Silba purchased the island for the amount of 5,025 Bavarian talirs. They collected money among them and the wealthier households gave money for the poor ones. In 1867 there were 94 households still in debt, some of them owing up to 180 forints.