Page:Dawn and the Dons.pdf/252

230

DAWN

AND

THE DONS rediscover the Harbor of Monterey. The genius and unflagging zeal of Serra wrought the miracle that converted suspicious pagans into friendly Christian converts. The skill and daring of Anza blazed the historic trail through desert sands and mountain snows that brought to this far off frontier its early settlers with their small droves of horses, cattle and sheep that multiplied

in California with such astounding rapidity. The Spaniard brought his love of home and family, his love of outdoor life, his love of spirited adventure, his love of gay and joyous pleasure, and his love of colorful dress and polite and ceremonious customs. Soon the Anza trail was closed, the curtain was rung down on California and, in her distant isolation, she be-

gan the weaving of that unique and dramatie story that has no parallel in the romance of history. In this great

drama, running through three centuries of time and concluding with the transformation of a Mexican province into an American commonwealth,

the Monterey Penin-

sula was the stage upon which the drama was enacted. Here the drama was unfolded; here the principal actors played their parts; here the curtain rose and fell upon the successive scenes that wove themselvs into a great historic romance;

and here, at Colton Hall, the curtain

rose upon the final scene that disclosed our own beautiful and glorious California. And here, in all the witchery and beauty of that elder time, still abides that peculiar charm that captivated Vizcaino and made glad the heart of Serra; that