Arguments and Inevitable Endings

From the time they first came into being, the twin creator gods quarreled about everything. They quarreled about how to make the people: whether they should have eyes in the back of their heads, whether they should have webbed fingers and toes, whether or not they would eat one another, and above all, whether they should die after a time or live forever.

Somehow, amidst all this bickering, the world got created. But Tumaiyowit never would accept the idea of death for his creations. Mukat insisted, saying the earth would become too small to hold everyone.

"We can spread it wider," Tumaiyowit replied.

"They'll run out of food," said Mukat.

"They can eat dirt," said Tumaiyowit.

"But then they'd gobble up the whole earth," objected Mukat.

And so on. Until the biggest argument of all, when Tumaiyowit declared he was going back into the depths of the earth and would drag down with him everything they'd created.

In the ensuing struggle, the surface of the earth (which until then had been flat as a tortilla) was heaved up into mountains and broken open into fissures and canyons.

Tumaiyowit sank down into the netherworld. Mukat stayed to carry on the work of creation. But to this day, the earth's surface remains jagged and torn with struggle, and for each child of creation, the trail of life has its ending.

For Antonio Garra, condemned by the State of California as leader of the Warner Ranch uprising, that end came January 10, 1852, at five in the afternoon.

As Garra was led to his execution, the attending priest demanded of him that he pray and ask for forgiveness. Garra merely shrugged and said, "What is the reason? I am nothing. You are nothing. This, too, is nothing."

Nothing and everything. For although the Cupeño, native inhabitants of Warner Springs, comprised only about 750 individuals and occupied an area of less than a hundred square miles, their revolt during the early years of American rule jolted Southern California like one of the earthquakes caused by Tumaiyowit as he moves about beneath the earth.

Years after Garra's execution, Americans in Southern California, recalling the attack on Warner's, spoke fearfully of an impending Indian uprising. Rumors broke out and spread like chaparral fire: the Indians are massing for an attack along the river! The Indians are banding together in the mountains! For, through letters and messengers, Garra had attempted to create a unified Indian resistance movement in Southern California, and this specter continued to haunt the American conscience.

Both in military terms and as regards Garra's own goal, the affair at Warner's was a dismal failure. The Cupeño leader had staked everything on his vision of cooperative action. In a letter to Juan Antonio, leader of the Cahuilla, Garra pleaded, "If we lose this war, all will be lost — the world. If we gain this war, then it is forever."

But, like Tumaiyowit, Garra lost all the arguments. The traditional quarrels among the various Indian groups was an older force, and it proved too strong for him to overcome. The jealousy of rival leaders prevented them from joining ranks, and Garra's vision of a massive military affront deteriorated to a single raid on Warner's.

After looting and burning the ranch, the Cupeño fled the area and retreated to Coyote Canyon. Within a matter of weeks, Garra was lured from hiding and captured by Juan Antonio, who handed him over to the Americans.

In a sense, Garra's trial and execution were mere formalities and the California authorities merely agents of the inevitable. With the death of his vision, Garra had already "gone under."

As Garra stood calmly facing the array of rifles pointed at his heart, the priest continued to insist that he seek forgiveness. Garra finally smiled and said, "Yes, gentlemen, I ask your pardon for all my offenses and expect yours in return." He was shot as he knelt above his open grave.

The following week, an announcement appeared in the steamer section of the San Diego Herald: DEPARTURES - Antonio Garra, Tierra Caliente.

Robin Hewitt, 1989