Correspondence is between gobernador militar Ugarte and comandante general de Croix about the 1781 military expedition of Rivera y Moncada escorting recruits and settlers from Sonora California deserters granted amnesty to families and list of places of residence of their families. Transfer of soldiers between presidios and supplies and horses for recruits for expedition. Increase in numbers for military escort requested by Rivera y Moncada. (J. M. Johnson, November 1988)

Documents consist of providencias for government and new institutions in California, correspondence between viceroy and of San Diego mission; improved communication system between Mexico and frontier regions; deployment of troops from Sonora for maximum defense of Californias and eastern provinces; purposes for pacification of Indians. Ff. 419-432 detail recruitment, transportation, settlement and protection of 70 families of colonists from Sonora for Alta California, of alleviating poverty and idleness by recruitment in Mexico; safety and choices of routes in combination of maritime and land means for transportation of settlers; desirable areas for colonization in new territories regarding protection, agricultural production, provisioning, recreation, water supply yet to extend Spanish occupation, defense and pacification plans; formation of companias volantes and militia to combat Indian hostilities and need for new regulations to do so; improvement of agricultural techniques and manufacture of domestic industries; long sections on required rations of food and other necessities, allotments of cash, markets for purchasing, selling regional commerce, supply and production of cattle, horses and mules. Other folios refer to maritime transportation of mission and presidio supplies and schedules of Goleta la Sonora (Senora de Guadalupe) and Paquebot el Principe between Guaymas or San Blas. Acknowledgements of arrivals of vessels along Sonoran and California coasts. (j.m.johnson, February 1989)