During the mid 1960s, Paul H. Ezell directed San Diego State College
archaeology field school investigations at the Royal Presidio de Cosoy in San Diego,
California. Located on a hill overlooking what is now the City of San Diego,
the Presidio served Spain and Mexico as the governing city from 1769 to 1835.
During that period, Spanish, native, Mexican, and American citizens died and
were buried adjacent to the 1782 chapel at the south wall. After Mexico closed
the Presidio and retired the soldiers in 1835, the community moved south about a
mile. The old Catholic cemetery continued in use through the 19th century and
even some paupers were buried there in the early 20th century. Through local
Progressive Party politics, the Presidio became a city park in 1928 and
landscaped with grass, cactus, and shrubs.

Ezell excavated the chapel in 1968-1970 and exposed a number of burials. He
arranged with the Catholic Diocese to conduct a ritual to de-sanctify the
cemetery and worked with the coroner to conduct investigations. Although he said he
worked with Native American leaders, some later claimed he did not and filed
suit against the City of San Diego for repatriation. Most were in coffins laid
under the tile floor, but some were found in the gardens and a few were
buried after the chapel fell into ruin. One 20th century body was excavated into
the chapel wall, laid on a board, and found with a rail spike in the head
(thought to have been a murder). Just after Ezell retired in 1975, he arranged to
back-fill the Presidio excavation and, following his field map, reburied the
skeletons (though not loose bones found throughout the site). Native Americans
later filed suit for the loose bones when the issue of repatriation became
public in the early 1980s.

Ezell presented his data at numerous SHA conferences prior to his death in
the mid 1980s. Little has been published from his investigations and nothing on
the cemetery. His only article concerned the 1849 burial of Henry Delano
Fitch, who came to California as a sea captain, eloped with a 16-year old Spanish
girl, married in Peru and converted to Catholicism, then returned to become a
key citizen during the end of the Mexican regime. Ezell invited a large number
of Fitch descendants to visit the grave and help decide whether to relocate
the remains of the 6-foot 4-inch man. Family members brought a bible with
information indicating Fitch died of poisoning in San Francisco, was shipped back to
San Diego, and buried adjacent to his daughter, Natalia (who was found the
following year). The family decided to leave Fitch in situ and Ezell directed
the grave covered with 6-inches of sand, then 400-pounds of concrete.

Many of the exposed burials revealed nothing more than two Proecesser buttons
and a Catholic medallion at the throat of the skeletons. Many skeletons were
reduced to powder as a result of landscaping fertilizer leaching down through
the soil (from Presidio Park since 1928). Outside the "toe-pincher" coffins,
bones were routinely stacked, as evidence of disturbed earlier graves. Ezell
arranged for Lois Lippold to conduct analysis of the skeletons, though that
report was not published and apparently can no longer be found.

The field notes, reports, and extensive collections from the Presidio remain
largely unanalyzed, unreported, and unpublished. Had this material been
available, it would have been a great source of contribution to this HISTARCH
discussion.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.