Monterey is full of stories - many with hidden chapters or sections worth investigating further!
Since I moved to Monterey, I've been intrigued by the story of Alexo Niño, the first non-indigenous person buried in Alta California. A wooden cross currently stands on the Lower Presidio, and I wanted to know more about his story. You may have driven or walked past it a number of times without ever knowing his name.
Father Serra was unsuccessful in reaching Monterey on his first journey by land in 1769, so he left by sea with a crew in 1770 while Gaspar Portolá and Juan Crespí travelled by land with another team to find the Vizcaino oak tree that marked Monterey Bay. Serra wrote in his letters regarding the burial of Alexo Niño along with the services at Monterey on June 3, 1770: "Luego hizimos al pie de la cruz el entierro de un diffunto marinero calafate el único que ha muerto en este barco en esta 2a expedición. Y concluydo comensé la missa cantada, que llevó después del evangelio su sermón y toda fué muy acompañada de cañonasos..." or "Then we buried at the foot of the cross a dead sailor, a calker, the only one to die during this second expedition. With that ceremony over, I began the high Mass, with a sermon after the Gospel; and, as long as the Mass lasted, it was accompanied with many salvos of the cannon..." The large granite cross at Serra's Landing (end of Pacific St. and Artillery) is not the original cross, but it is the area of the Vizcaino-Serra oak tree and original landing.
Back in 1770 the waterfront near the Presidio was at a different location than it's current spot. In the 1880's much of the end of Pacific St. was infilled. "Minnie's Ditch," aka the Lighthouse Tunnel, was built in 1968-1969 to help traffic flowing into New Monterey and PG. In his book Historic Sites Handbook: Monterey & San Luis Obispo Counties, author and archaeologist Don Howard wrote that he found human remains during the tunnel excavations, near the original landing spot of Junipero Serra, and believed these to be Alexo Niño. After the completion of the Lighthouse tunnel, a wooden cross was placed on top of the Lower Presidio near the Father Serra statue.
I spoke with the Diocese at San Carlos Cathedral, and the original Book of the Dead is still in their possession. Translated into English, Serra's entry states: "At the foot of the large cross in front of the chapel and altar close to the beach, I gave burial to the body of Alexo Niño adulto, a freed black (moreno libre), a single man and native of Acapulco, who died the day before on board the San Antonio. alias the El Principe, where he received all the sacraments."
An article dated June 24, 1970 from the Monterey Peninsula Herald by John Woolfenden identified Alexo Niño as a freed black slave.
But who was Alexo Niño?
Did he have a family back in Acalpulco Mexico?
Why am I telling this story?
Monterey has a complicated history full of stories, with immigrants coming here to build the beautiful culture that people travel from around the world to experience. I'm also hoping that someone reading this has information that may help me tell more of Alexo's story. So far I've been researching in our California History Room, Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Library, PG Library, cemeteries, and San Carlos Diocese. I'm casting my net to find out more!
Warmly~
Brian
