SAN DIEGO PRESIDIO -- SIGNIFICANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF CALIFORNIA -- YET IT HAS BEEN NEGLECTED! GROUP OF ARCHAEOLLOGISTS TRYING TO PROMOTE THE SITE.

“The Presidio, founded by Spanish soldiers, sailors and missionaries, and in use from 1769 to 1834, was the first European settlement on the Pacific Coast. It marks the origin site of San Diego, California. Buried beneath the grass on Presidio Hill is a large fortress about 300 feet square, with walls, bastions, living units, chapels and a cemetery where more than 200 of San Diego's first citizens are buried.

“This site needs to be studied and interpreted and brought to the attention of the world as a World Heritage site,” said Paul Chace, who is not alone in his evaluation of the importance of the Royal Presidio. Tim Gross, Ph.D., a professor of archaeology at the University of San Diego, said, “The most significant archaeological landmark in San Diego has to be the Presidio. There is a city and its history buried up there that needs to be brought to light.”

Archaeologist Jack Williams, Ph.D., who conducted the last excavations at the Presidio, called it, “One of the most important and best-preserved Spanish colonial sites in the entire Western United States.”

But if the Royal Presidio is so important, why is it buried under four feet of earth and covered with grass? Why hasn’t it been unearthed, restored, and turned into an educational and cultural center that could benefit the city of San Diego?

The San Diego Presidio was the first of four military forts (presidios) built by the Spanish military in California in the 1700s. The other presidios are at Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco, but they were built later. At its heyday, the San Diego Presidio housed upwards of 100 leather-jacketed soldiers and 500 civilians, including Native Americans from various tribes in upper and lower California. Although there were “pure-blooded” Spanish, as well as other nationalities (including English and Russian), living at the presidio, most of the soldiers and civilians were from Baja California or Sonora.

“For the first 60 years of operation,” Chace explained, “everyone had to live inside the walls of the fort made from adobe bricks. But after the Mexican Revolution, which freed Mexico from the rule of Spain, the Presidio was not funded and it fell into disrepair. Soon after that, the people of the Presidio began to move down the hill to live in Old Town. By 1835, the Presidio was totally abandoned.”

The Presidio was also the first site of interaction between Native Americans and Europeans in California. When the Spanish arrived, they were confronted with a large Native American village at the foot of Presidio Hill called “Cosoy.”

Although there were some instances of conflict, the Native Americans were soon integrated into the daily life at the Presidio. Native American expert Richard Carrico discovered that the first five marriages at the Presidio were between Hispanics and local Native American women and the first six burials were Native American.

Through the years, the fortress at the Presidio has been subject to six archeological investigations. In 1999, after the last one, the city reburied the entire site under 4 feet of earth to try and protect it from vandalism and the elements. Since then, there has not been any further excavation, but the existing collections of archaeological artifacts have been subject to a small amount of study.

There are some people who say, off the record, that the city does not want to promote the Presidio because its points out that San Diego was developed by meztizos from Baja California and Sonora, who were the first settlers and soldiers, and by the local Indian groups with who they intermarried and not Anglo Saxon entrepreneurs, cowboys and pioneers.

To confront these issues, Chace conducts a monthly sharing circle in the second-floor meeting room above El Fandango restaurant, 2734 Calhoun St. in Old Town State Park. During the gathering, 6-7:30 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month, attendees discuss the past and future of the Presidio. Attendees have included historians, archeologists, natural scientists, city officials, park rangers, Native Americans, Presidio descendants and concerned citizens.

“Everyone is invited. There is coffee and Mexican beer provided to all, free of charge,” Chace said. “We would like more of the public to come to our meetings, get involved and share their opinions about this important site.

“The Presidio should be an important historical and culture resource center in San Diego on the order of a United Nations-type of world-class site. I invite those interested in the realization of this dream to join me in my quest.”






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