Señor Comisionado del Pueblo
In the report you have given me, dated the 29th of last month, Reverend Father Narciso Duran, Minister of Mission San José, did not concur that the hill that you showed him was the one designated by the present Señor Gobernador of the province, or that the Place of the Skulls is presently a very necessary grazing spot for the work oxen from the vicinity, or that it belongs to the Pueblo. I advise you that you can place said oxen and the military horses at the Place of the Skulls temporarily until another solution is found to remove the Mission livestock.
If you should find it necessary, for whatever reasons, you can order the townspeople to keep watch themselves.
God keep you many years.
Monterey, October 31, 1809
José María Estudillo