bajaamy - 4-1-2009 at 12:12 PM
I just finished reading (well, the Baja parts) "The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie, of Kentucky" on Google Books. You can find it in full
text at this link here
The Baja parts begin on page 221. From a review in the Journal of San Diego History:
"Few early visitors to San Diego have interested local historians as much as Sylvester Pattie, the mountain man who died here in a Mexican prison.
Much of our information about him comes from his son's account, The Personal Narrative published in 1831.
The account was written by twenty-six year old James Pattie upon his return from an excursion from St. Louis to Santa Fe to Chihuahua to Yuma, across
Baja California to San Diego, up the coast to San Francisco, and home by sea and Mexico. The party underwent encounters with nature, Indians and
Mexican officials--all of which Pattie described with verve. Unfortunately, many scholars have clearly shown that Pattie's account was more of a tall
tale than an historical account of the trip . . [the] Narrative, then, is perhaps more important in bringing back into print a rousing good story,
than in the reissue of a major historical document."
Still, quite interesting for those seeking more information about the northern (Dominican) missions on the frontera.
Amy