San Pasqual Battlefield Site Location Project

Letter from the Director

January, 1998

Long before the Civil War ever occurred in this country, there was the Mexican-American war. The San Pasqual Battlefield is part of that U.S. history; part of the infamous saga of "How the West was Won." Long before California saw the Gold Rush, the outbreak of boom-towns, famous outlaws, the railroad, and its shipping ports opened to the world, ... long before the Great San Francisco fire, and the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana, there was the fight by the United States to take the western part of this country from what was then Mexico.

The Battle of San Pasqual is indeed a true part of how the West was won. In the effort to take California from Mexico, President James K. Polk sent the U.S. Army west from Fort Levenworth, Kansas, on what was considered at the time the longest U.S. military march in history. Almost 2000 miles later, and before the Mormon Trail to San Diego was created, on December 6, 1846, a small contingent of these soldiers fell into an engagement with Mexican cowboys called cabalarros at a place called "San Pasqual".

The small group of about 100 Mexicans, then called Californios, (and nicknamed the Greyhounds) engaged approximately 169 Americans, most of which were comprised at the time of one of the most elite fighting units in the United States Military Arsenal, the 1st U.S. Dragoons. The Mexicans fought ferociously against the foreign aggressors and despite their being out-numbered and out-gunned almost two to one, the Mexicans inflicted tremendous casualties against the Americans. In less than an hour, the battlefield found at least 25 dead from both sides and over thirty wounded.

The battle is unique in that it touched three separate cultures that morning, the Euro-American, the Hispanic, and the Indian. Often forgotten is the fact that the Mexicans had camped inside the village of the San Pasqual Indians. When the battle occurred, the Indians fled up into nearby mountains. After the battle, it was the San Pasqual Indians who helped bring American wounded in to their camp and possibly help to construct travois for the wounded soldiers. The battle is also unique in that it is one of the few military battles in the United States that involved elements of the Army, Navy, Marines, and civilian volunteers, all in the same skirmish.

Although the battlefield and nearby Mule Hill have been identified as historical sites, no formal archaeological work has ever been done at either location pertaining to the battle. Owned by the City of San Diego and left to the care of the California State Department of Parks and Recreation, both sites have been savagely pilfered by treasure hunters. To date, over 500 artifacts (many of which have been photographed and documented) have been recorded lost from these sites. They have been lost forever, to private collections and in some cases, to museums (Serra Museum in San Diego and the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History) who have suspiciously lost artifacts from this battlefield which were in their possession.

While a museum today sits at the battlefield, it has not one artifact from the battle that it was built to commemorate. To make matters worse, both the Battlefield and Mule Hill sit in the middle of a very rich, environmentally protected habitat preserved by the City of San Diego called the San Dieguito River Park Project. Every time treasure hunters attack these sites for more artifacts, they destroy native habitats from endangered and fragile plant life, to nesting sites for endangered bird species in the area. The question became: how can we save the artifacts from these sites, save the environmentally sensitive habitats, and for the first time in the history of the San Pasqual Battlefield Museum, be able to provide artifacts from the battle for public display?

The answer became the creation of the San Pasqual Battlefield Site Location Project. Born of a grass-roots movement by concerned citizens in the community to save the battlefield and Mule Hill, it has become an answer to all three major concerns. Only by finally conducting major archaeological digs at these sites can we once and for all retrieve any remaining artifacts from this historical event. With all the artifacts finally retrieved, the treasure hunters will have nothing more to dig for at these sites. This will, in turn, help stop the uncontrolled digging and thus help save the environmentally protected areas. Finally, it will provide artifacts for public display at the Battlefield Museum which should be their final resting place. Such artifacts belong to the people of the County of San Diego, to the people of the State of California, and to all Americans as a rich part of our history and heritage. Such artifacts do not belong boxed away in museum basements or inside a closet or garage of some treasure hunter.

Also, such archaeological evidence will help yield valuable information to scholars and historians alike about much unknown information concerning this battle. Much is not really known about this battle as to where it exactly occurred or to the events that happened there that morning. Only by understanding what exactly happened there, can we begin to understand how one of the most elite fighting units of the U.S. military suffered defeat at the hands of a group of Mexican cowboys who fought both courageously and heroically to defend their homeland.

This web site has been created to inform you as to the progress of the Site Location Project. In addition, it will attempt to dispel a number of myths about this event: erroneous information that continues to be put out about this battle. Also, for the first time we hope to create a public, on-line database for resource information to be used by historical researchers and others interested in this battle to help stimulate future discoveries concerning the Battle of San Pasqual. Rather than in the past, where certain historians have hoarded important pieces of information, the Site Location Project will share and make public all sources of information. This project believes that such information does not belong in the private collections of certain said historians but to the people of this State and Country for whom these men died at San Pasqual.

We hope you enjoy this site and we welcome any questions, comments, opposing views, and new information concerning this battle. Thank you!

George H. Hruby

Director

(Click here to send mail to George Hruby)