Sebastián Tarabal, Indian Guide
Alias el Peregrino
Sebastián Tarabal was, an American Indian, from the Cochimí tribe in the vicinity
of Mission Santa Gertrudis in Baja California. Records show that he married
Maria Dolores Kinajan at the Mission of Santa Gertrudis in 1764, where she bore
him a child named Juana Maria on May 27, 1769. A baptismal record of
December, 17 1769, shows that Maria Dolores stood as godmother to a newborn
girl and states "wife of Sebastián Tarabal who is in Monterey" giving credence
that Tarabal was on the Portolá Expedition when it had left Santa Gertrudis on
the 26th of April 1769.
Several years later in 1773 Fray Francisco Palóu recruited Sebastián and Maria
Dolores and took them to the newly found mission of San Gabriel de Arcángel in
the Los Angeles area. Records there show that he served as a godfather on July
11 1773. After several months at the mission of San Gabriel he became
disillusioned with the mission way of life and fled with his wife and another
companion. Going east and towards the Colorado River they encountered the
Colorado Desert where it is said that his wife and the companion perished. Finally
Sebastián reached the Colorado River where he was given succor by the
Yuma Chief Salvador Palma and taken to the Spanish authorities in Altar and
ultimately Juan Bautista de Anza.
As Don Juan was in the process of linking the routes to Monterey and knowing
that he would have to cross the same desert he recognized an opportunity, when
he saw one, and quickly added Sebastián to his command.
Here, from my point of view, it appears that Salvador Palma could have thought of
the idea himself, nurse Sebastián back to health, took him to Anza and suggested
that the Gran Capitan could take advantage of Sebastián’s knowledge of the
road. If this is so and future findings are discovered to this effect the
relationship between Anza and Palma was far closer than what we have been led
to believe.
While on the exploratory expedition on March 09, 1774, at camp near a dry
arroyo, Fray Juan Díaz says “here we were assured by the Indian Sebastián
Tarabal that on the next day he would lead us to a watering place at which he
had stopped when he went out to Sonora”. The following day he guided the
expedition to the spring and camp site which took the name “San Sebastián” in
his honor. Ironically this is the same area that on December 14, 1775 the
colonizing expedition held a fandango to celebrate the reunion with the third
division, after a terrible snow storm, and where Feliciana Arballo sang and
danced some songs which were not nice.
As mentioned above in 1775 Tarabal again guided Anza to the Colorado River
and it was here that he joined Fray Francisco Garcés on his many southwest
journeys which are another story in themselves. In one instance when their
travels took them back through Mission San Gabriel, on April 7, 1776, Sebastián
stood as testigo (witness) to the marriage of Juan Francisco Lopez and none
other than Feliciana Arballo.
But as history would have it, it appears that some of Garcés’s guides were
unwilling to guide him, and Sebastián had evidently had enough as well. For
Sebastián was unwilling to follow “for all that I begged him to do so” says Garcés.
Garcés then ordered Sebastián to await him at the Jalchedunes and he
continued on his journey. However, upon his return, at the Jamajab settlement,
he was informed, that Sebastián had a bad heart that he had given away the
shells and other things left by him in his care and by now Sebastián was no
where to be found.
As you have probably gathered, el Peregrino had participated in the first entrada
into Alta California with the Portolá Expedition of 1769, had been part of the
Juan Bautista de Anza Exploratory Expedition of 1774, the Juan Bautista de Anza
Colonizing Expedition of 1775/76 and had become Garcés companion on
his many travels through out the southwest. But just as quick as he had gained
fame and fortune he disappeared from the annals of history never to be heard
from again.
In regards to giving away the shells and things, Bolton puts it this way, “with this
charge against him, el Peregrino disappears into what Diedrich Knicherbrocker
calls the voracious maw of history”.
P.V