the California Missions

[yamchild]

So I was flipping through a little book I had on the california missions, and I realized I have visited 10 out of the 21 missions. Perhaps I am so interested in missions because I live two blocks down from one....

Anybody else like looking at missions? Any favorites? :)

My favorites are the one in Carmel (small but very quirky and charming) and the one in San Juan Capistrano (well-preserved and unique, with some cool-looking ruins).

The most underwhelming mission I've seen is the one in San Fernando (bland bland architecture).

[angoraphobia]

i really like the one in capistrano as well....but ive only been to that one and another in san diego i think.....

a friend of mine was telling me that the missions in california are all within a days walk of each other and that she wanted to do a trip where she walked from mission to mission.......i wonder how long it would take......

[yamchild]

your friend is correct. the missions are built at precisely one day's journey from each other because this was the only lodging available to the spaniards back then. that sounds like a very very neat plan, to walk from one mission to another, but i think biking between them would be a bit more feasible....

<<<< misison nerd

[liquid mass]

Originally posted by yamchild
your friend is correct. the missions are built at precisely one day's journey from each other because this was the only lodging available to the spaniards back then. that sounds like a very very neat plan, to walk from one mission to another, but i think biking between them would be a bit more feasible....

<<<< misison nerd
That's funny. I was just thinking of something very similar to that last night.

[shammy718]

i have very mixed feeling bout missions. the architecture is cool. but they also evoke a lot of painful history and indoctrination. i used to work in a museum that once served as the chinese mission in my town so my thoughts are bittersweet.

[stryfe]

do any of the missions still have whipping posts standing?

it's been a while since i've gone to san juan, would a tour of the mission be more than an hour long?

[yamchild]

shammy, i know what you mean. i feel that way a bit too. the missions were definately tools of oppression. the san gabriel mission in particular had a rather troubled history.

stryfe, the tours are usually fairly brief, usually less than an hour. or you can just skip the tour altogether and just wander about by yourself. the san juan capistrano mission has tons of signs so it's very suitable for self-guided touring.

i forgot to mention another favorite: la purisma in buellton. it's out in the boonies and is one of the few missions (maybe the only one?) no longer in use. i think now it's part of a state park. it's very nice and quiet there. and they keep farm animals on the property!

[slackerbot]

i've only been to one or two missions. if you watch PBS, i think Huell Howser did a mini-series where he visited all the missions in CA. it was quite interesting.

[akuma]

carmel gives me the creeps. it's got magnificent views and is a pretty little town- but the uber-rich, smug contingent there makes me feel like im in the hamptons. and i felt that all the hyped up art there was nothing more than diner decorations.

[Final Boss]

Originally posted by yamchild
The most underwhelming mission I've seen is the one in San Fernando (bland bland architecture).

Well, duh! It's in San Fernando! *shrugs*

Originally posted by yamchild
your friend is correct. the missions are built at precisely one day's journey from each other because this was the only lodging available to the spaniards back then. that sounds like a very very neat plan, to walk from one mission to another, but i think biking between them would be a bit more feasible....

<<<< misison nerd

So which mission is one day's travel from the San Fernando Mission?

[yamchild]

mission san gabriel and mission san buenaventura are each within a day's journey of mission san fernando.

and for lm, here's an accout (http://www.rawbw.com/~cmi/) of a bike tour of the missions.

[slackerbot]

ohhh.. i must get a bike now.
this looks fun.

[YelloKitty]

i've been to a couple of missions as well, but i forget all their names since i was a wee'un on road trips with the fams.

i live near mission dolores, the first church in SF.

[YelloKitty]

i think the most interesting part for me about the missions were the cemetaries. the one in mission dolores is small, but contains a lot of history. i think i recall seeing a lot of native american names there, who were undoubtedly enslaved by the missionaries.

i think there's a scene in vertigo with the cemetary.

[Robocon^^]

That sounds like fun.
Pilgrimages for non pilgrims.
Seeing the 88 temples in Shikoku, Japan by bicycle sounds like a nice one too.

[cabbagechild]

please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are missions? someone mentioned whipping posts, which perked my interest. but really, what were they used for?

[kamenriderv3]

i went to the san juan capistrano mission when i was a teenager. i fed the birds there.

[cabbagechild]

by chaining them to whipping posts and flogging them?

[cabbagechild]

WTF. why'd you delete your post, key loser?

[key_loser]

It dawned on me that I don't know if it was a project of the church, or of Spain.

[cabbagechild]

yes you did. i read your post (the one you deleted).

[yamchild]

the building of the missions were authorized by king juan carlos III of spain. the missions served the dual purpose of colonizing and converting the native americans of california, exploiting them as cheap labor. as such, they were religious centers/ lodging/ plantations. some of the missions, such as mission san gabriel ("queen of the missions") generated a considerable amount of wealth.

[YelloKitty]

here's a short description from www.missiology.org/dictionary.htm
the plans of committed believers to accomplish the mission of God

so basically they were started up by spanish missionaries in order to convert natives to christianity. some like to say that they were responsible for the start of civilization but it's much deeper than that. a lot of people were killed for not converting.

[YelloKitty]

yamchild got that shit locked down!

[kamenriderv3]

Originally posted by cabbagechild
by chaining them to whipping posts and flogging them?

no.

that option cost more. i was too poor to pay for that.

[yamchild]

Originally posted by YelloKitty
yamchild got that shit locked down!

/\ teehee i googled.

but here are some non-googled factoids about mission san gabriel:

- the city of los angeles was founded by a band of settlers who walked from the san gabriel mission to present-day olevera street in LA

- the san gabriel mission served as the background for the novel Ramona by helen hunt jackson. the novel romanticized the image of los angeles, and this romantic image was used to sell land in southern california.

[Denstradamus]

there were missions outside of california (TX, FL, and AZ) but the ones in California were the most successful. with slave labor (the Native Americans) they became major manufacturing and farming centers. they were the "proto-cities" to what we now know as the major cities of California (SF, LA, SD, SJ, etc...) indeed whenever you look at the "oldest part" of a california city you would most likely find a mission there.

most missions were built close to major indian settlements (it makes sense, the native Americans were no fools- they knew the best lands) so you can sorta trace the path of old Native settlements.

YK, Mission Delores was much larger. It was a plantation. there's a reason why the Mission District is called the Mission District. El Camino/Mission was all one road - "the King's Highway" that connected the Nocal missions to the Socal Missions. All the roads lead back to Mexico City which was then the administrative head of New Spain. Mexico City weilded so much autonomy that even Manila was administered more from Mexico City than it was from Imperial Madrid.

[fmstlr]

don't forget, the mission were the only places where weary travelers could get some alcohol in the vast desert. The monks were some bitching brewers.

[YelloKitty]

Originally posted by Denstradamus
YK, Mission Delores was much larger. It was a plantation. there's a reason why the Mission District is called the Mission District. El Camino/Mission was all one road - "the King's Highway" that connected the Nocal missions to the Socal Missions. All the roads lead back to Mexico City which was then the administrative head of New Spain. Mexico City weilded so much autonomy that even Manila was administered more from Mexico City than it was from Imperial Madrid.

den you're truly keeping it EL CAMINO REAL! :heart:

Originally posted by fmstlr
don't forget, the mission were the only places where weary travelers could get some alcohol in the vast desert. The monks were some bitching brewers.
monks=old school fratboys

[Denstradamus]

how many of you guys remember fourth grade? remember the "mission/native american village" project? is that still compulsory to all california 4th grade students?

i built a Miwok village. :D

yk> another factoid, sf galleria and stonestown were major Costonean settlements...and Daly City was a desert! :-O

[fmstlr]

Originally posted by Denstradamus
how many of you guys remember fourth grade? remember the "mission/native american village" project? is that still compulsory to all california 4th grade students?


Yes.

[YelloKitty]

i made a mock mission out of flour and water. afterwards i ate it. :D

DALY CITY WAS A DESERT?!?!

den, you ever consider taking up more history classes for fun? i think you'd be a great CA history teacher. my favorite class was a SF humanities course and our homework was to visit a lot of historical places and write papers on them. off-topic, but my final project was on grace cathedral.

[Denstradamus]

Originally posted by fmstlr


Yes.

good. i want them to suffer like i did.

yk> i think history is my hidden passion. thanks for the compliment! some people would argue that Daly City is still a desert albeit a cultural desert now. :(

[fmstlr]

Originally posted by cabbagechild
please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are missions?

that's when you are copulating, and the woman is flat on her back with the man on top.


someone mentioned whipping posts, which perked my interest. but really, what were they used for?

after you get tired of 'the missions', then you can try the whipping post for some pizzazz!!1!11!

[YelloKitty]

i remember going to this one, which was a lil haunting, especially when you're 8 years old and your imagination goes crazy.
http://www.californiamissions.com/cahistory/images/SLIDE30.JPG
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad

[invictus]

My seventh grade history teacher had us do an extra credit assignment over the course of the year. The assignment was to go to every historic landmark in Ventura County. My parents and I went to all but two. We saw a ton of missions, old trees, museums -- a bunch of stuff that we never would have found on our own. It was really worthwhile and I learned tons and tons.

[yamchild]

re-visted the misson at san juan capistrano this weekend. the garden was in full bloom, and the weather was quite nice. but apparently metrolink has been giving out free train tickets to san juan capistrano, so it was hella crowded. :(

http://images5.fotki.com/v72/photos/7/78855/890874/010arch-th.jpg (http://images5.fotki.com/v72/photos/7/78855/890874/010arch-vi.jpg)
here is the original stone church.

http://images5.fotki.com/v72/photos/7/78855/890874/022chapel-th.jpg (http://images5.fotki.com/v72/photos/7/78855/890874/022chapel-vi.jpg)
and here's the present-day chapel, featuring one of the most elaborate alarpieces amongst the california missions

more pics here (http://public.fotki.com/yamchild/mission_san_juan/)

[angoraphobia]

nice yam! i really like that buds picture especially.....

[YelloKitty]

great work yam!

[yamchild]

http://images5.fotki.com/v89/photos/7/78855/1106755/Purisma003-th.jpg (http://images5.fotki.com/v89/photos/7/78855/1106755/Purisma003-vi.jpg)

http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106755/Purisma012-th.jpg (http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106755/Purisma012-vi.jpg)

more (http://public.fotki.com/yamchild/la_purisma_mission/)

[yamchild]

http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106829/Ynez001-th.jpg (http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106829/Ynez001-vi.jpg)

http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106829/Ynez004-th.jpg (http://images6.fotki.com/v87/photos/7/78855/1106829/Ynez004-vi.jpg)

more (http://public.fotki.com/yamchild/mission_st_ynez/)

[offwhite]

What's the name of the small mission north of San Luis Obispo? It was very colorful , and a bit creepy, but I enjoyed my tour. I love the gothic feel of the missions.

[650lex]

Originally posted by Denstradamus
how many of you guys remember fourth grade? remember the "mission/native american village" project? is that still compulsory to all california 4th grade students?

i built a Miwok village. :D

yk> another factoid, sf galleria and stonestown were major Costonean settlements...and Daly City was a desert! :-O

i remember going to Mission Dolores in the 4th grade - that's the model i did for class

all i can say is that Tanforan Mall in south city was a duck farm (?) and i think a Japanese Internment camp - could be wrong about that one - that's what i heard

[650lex]

Originally posted by YelloKitty
i made a mock mission out of flour and water. afterwards i ate it. :D

DALY CITY WAS A DESERT?!?!

den, you ever consider taking up more history classes for fun? i think you'd be a great CA history teacher. my favorite class was a SF humanities course and our homework was to visit a lot of historical places and write papers on them. off-topic, but my final project was on grace cathedral.

i know - hard to believe!
especially when our summers are engulfed by dense fog in DC

[Denstradamus]

Originally posted by 650lex

all i can say is that Tanforan Mall in south city was a duck farm (?) and i think a Japanese Internment camp - could be wrong about that one - that's what i heard

yeah it was an internment camp and then a race track, and then a ghetto fabulous mall.

speaking of which they're rebuilding it. i hear they're going to make it super fancy now with bebe and shit.

mal, i think i told you this but they want to make tanforan super classy. (*stifles a laugh*) the new tanforan is supposed to open up one year from now.

i sorta miss the old tanforan. remember stone soup? remember shady south city high pouple and cholos and cholas in ben davis?


another find: 15nth and Market (sorta near chow's on church street) was an Native American Village. that area close to that Safeway and that US Mint Installation.

[peko-chan]

Originally posted by Denstradamus


yeah it was an internment camp and then a race track, and then a ghetto fabulous mall.





Tanforan has bad mojo, period.

It was a race track before it was an internment camp - Seabiscuit raced there. But during the War, they kept internees in the horse stables. :(

http://www.secondrunning.com/Historic%20Tanforan.htm

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist8/tanforan2.html

[peko-chan]

Originally posted by Denstradamus


i sorta miss the old tanforan. remember stone soup? remember shady south city high pouple and cholos and cholas in ben davis?



Stone Soup was in front of the entrance to Emporium Capwell on the first floor right? Kind of hidden away in that corner.... I remember the food court being across from it and those tacky sunglass kiosks.

[Denstradamus]

my bad. thanks for the correction peko.

*meditating on it for a second*
you know what? i think tanforan is cursed.

[peko-chan]

^^^
It's like the movie Poltergeist, I tell you!

[650lex]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Denstradamus
[B]

yeah it was an internment camp and then a race track, and then a ghetto fabulous mall.

speaking of which they're rebuilding it. i hear they're going to make it super fancy now with bebe and shit.

mal, i think i told you this but they want to make tanforan super classy. (*stifles a laugh*) the new tanforan is supposed to open up one year from now.

i sorta miss the old tanforan. remember stone soup? remember shady south city high pouple and cholos and cholas in ben davis?


yeah, classy with a "k"

i saw one of the Friday the 13th movies there at the jacked up movie theater.

[650lex]

stone soup was in Serramonte wasn't it?
does anyone remember Stonestown back in the day?

[650lex]

also,
Historic Tanoforan just sounds like an oxymoron to me.

[YelloKitty]

dennis!!!!

stone soup creeped me out... it was all dungeony like (there was a round table pizza on the upper floor too that was pretty dark and scary, if i recall correctly).

remember how they had that movie theater and i think tickets were like a buck or two? and then they had to close it down because of rat infestation? man that was good times.

i can't wait for the new tanforan to open. i mean come on, i can't miss out on a NEW BEBE STORE!
eek!

*running away in black platform shoes*

[Denstradamus]

Originally posted by 650lex




yeah, classy with a "k"

hahaha. more like "assy". :-p


Originally posted by 650lex
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Denstradamus

i saw one of the Friday the 13th movies there at the jacked up movie theater.

yeah. someone got shot there!


Originally posted by 650lex
stone soup was in Serramonte wasn't it?
does anyone remember Stonestown back in the day?

yeah. that's old school right there. that's like remembering when all the Target's were Gemco's.

there was a stone soup in stonestown too. :)

stonestown was always a step above because it's San Francisco. I think anything with a Nordstrom has to be more classy by default. :p

Serramonte and Tanforan were for mere plebians like myself. :(

[Denstradamus]

Originally posted by YelloKitty
dennis!!!!

stone soup creeped me out... it was all dungeony like (there was a round table pizza on the upper floor too that was pretty dark and scary, if i recall correctly).

i can't wait for the new tanforan to open. i mean come on, i can't miss out on a NEW BEBE STORE!
eek!

*running away in black platform shoes*

the yellow sign in stone soup scared me.

in a weird way...i'm sorta excited about the new tanforan too. i bet it's gonna look like hillsdale.

[YelloKitty]

^i was thinking the same thing!

it was so weird going to hillsdale as a child... going to tanforan and scareamonte and stonestown, you'd always see, you know, people of color... and it was when we would go to hillsdale that i would start noticing that d.c. and surrounding suburbs was special. :heart:

remember when tower records at stonestown was open til midnight every day of the week (except holidays)? that was cool. when i was in high school, and we had nothing to do on friday nights (which was often), me and my friends would go to tower and read their magazines until closing.

man did we jack this thread or what!

[YelloKitty]

Originally posted by Denstradamus
another find: 15nth and Market (sorta near chow's on church street) was an Native American Village. that area close to that Safeway and that US Mint Installation.
i totally missed this. this is just up the street from me. hopefully now that they're digging up my backyard (okay who am i kidding, i have no backyard!) for the new overpass, they'll find remnants of this village and they will have to stop construction! maybe!

[650lex]

who here use to watch movies at Serramonte 6 theaters before it became Bev'Mo? I watched Breakin and Breakin 2, Electric Bogaloo there! Remember, Drug Barn use to be the Record Factory - then a furniture store?

[Denstradamus]

Originally posted by 650lex
who here use to watch movies at Serramonte 6 theaters before it became Bev'Mo? I watched Breakin and Breakin 2, Electric Bogaloo there! Remember, Drug Barn use to be the Record Factory - then a furniture store?

can you believe there are two Target: greatlands les than half a mile away from each other within five minutes of each other?

only in d.c....

[650lex]

i am surprised we didn't close down Cypress Lawn to build a Walmart!

[ja.net]

I know there's a Cypress Hill joke in here somewhere.

[atomicscissors]

Knock knock...

[650lex]

Originally posted by ja.net
I know there's a Cypress Hill joke in here somewhere.

well Cypress Lawn is a big-ass cemetary
so the line "how I could just kill a man..."
is very fitting..

[ja.net]

I was thinking more along the lines of

Cypress Hill has disbanded and key members have reformed into a new 'smooth jazz' combo, Cypress Lawn.

[650lex]

that works too....

[YelloKitty]

Senate OKs mission bill
Critics of using federal funds for religious projects may file suit
(http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/12/MNGV597GL11.DTL)
http://sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2004/10/12/mn_earthquake1.jpg
Brother Bartholomew Mitchell, 80, stands in front of quake-damaged Mission San Miguel.

Washington -- The Senate has approved Sen. Barbara Boxer's legislation authorizing up to $10 million in federal funds to help restore California's 21 historic Roman Catholic missions, but critics are threatening a lawsuit, saying the measure violates the doctrine of separating church and state.

An earlier version of the legislation, approved Sunday night without a roll call vote, had cleared the House in October 2003. The Senate bill needs another House vote, which could come in a lame-duck session after the Nov. 2 election, before being sent to President Bush.

The legislation requires the California Missions Foundation, which has begun a $50 million fund-raising effort, to match the federal money. State funds are also expected to help restore the string of adobe missions established from 1769 to 1823 by Franciscan monks. These funds are from Proposition 40, approved by voters in March 2002, which set aside $267 million for historic preservation projects.

"This is something very special for the people of California and this nation,'' Boxer, who is running for re-election on Nov. 2, said on the Senate floor Monday. "It's been a long, hard road.''

More than 5 million visitors a year tour the missions, which were established from San Diego in the south to Sonoma in the north. The missions need extensive renovations to keep them from crumbling from the ravages of time, insects and earthquakes.

But Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Monday that taxpayer money shouldn't be spent on buildings with a religious function. Nineteen of the 21 missions are operating churches, owned either by local dioceses or the Franciscans.

"We're very concerned about the constitutionality of it,'' said Joe Conn, a spokesman for the group. "Our legal department will look at it and consider a lawsuit. I don't think the Founding Fathers intended for Congress to maintain these buildings in this way.''

The bill was endorsed by 48 of the 53 House members from California and co-sponsored in the Senate by the state's other Democratic senator, Dianne Feinstein. The lawmakers stressed the missions' role in California history as the main reason for getting funds for preservation.

The missions played a key role in the European settlement of California and the early interactions with American Indians. Seven of the 21 missions are national landmarks, and they are all state landmarks studied by the state's public school fourth-graders.

To deal with the church-state issue, the Senate bill was amended to say that the Department of Justice will review all applications for grants to certify that they do not promote religion with public funds and that money will only go to preserve the missions' historic features. Similar requirements have been attached to earlier legislation providing federal help for restoring missions in San Antonio, Texas, Boxer's staff said.

In addition, under President Bush, federals funds have gone to restore Boston's Old North Church and the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I.

The Bush administration's position on the bill isn't entirely clear, even though it passed both houses with overwhelming Republican support.

Knox Mellon, the mission foundation's executive director, said he thought the bill passes legal tests. Mellon, whose group so far has raised only $3.6 million of its $50 million goal, said the federal help, which would be spread out over five years, should motivate private giving.

He said the foundation is awaiting a ruling from state Attorney General Bill Lockyer on the legality of using Prop. 40 funds for restoring church- owned property before it applies for grants. But he is optimistic because state and federal grants have gone to the missions already for earthquake repairs.

[Robocon^^]

hey, so any mission missions going down?

[YelloKitty]

http://sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/06/04/pk_nbmissions_jl.jpg
Joe Sundquist of Conifer, Colo., visits the California Missions Museum. Chronicle file photo, 2005, by Jerry Telfer
California Missions Find Home in Winery (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/04/PKG85J4JL11.DTL)
When Nancy Cline learned that models of all 21 California missions made for the 1939 World's Fair were going to be sold piece by piece at auction, she decided the collection needed to stay together, so she bought the entire lot herself.

Nearly eight years and more than $500,000 later, the collection has become the centerpiece of a new North Bay museum, showcasing the intricately crafted models as well as the history of the missions, an integral part of California's past and an oft-studied topic in the state's elementary schools. The California Missions Museum on the grounds of Cline Cellars, the winery owned by Cline and her husband, celebrated its grand opening in September.

"It feels wonderful," says Cline, who shepherded the project to fruition. "As far as we know, this is the only place where you can witness (models of) all 21 missions under the same roof."

It was serendipity that brought Cline in contact with the models, which had been exhibited at the World's Fair on Treasure Island and later at the Cliff House in San Francisco before going into storage in 1971.

Coincidentally, the Clines' 350-acre vineyard outside Sonoma is the site of the original settlement that became Mission Sonoma. Father Jose Altimira, who founded the original settlement (named Mission San Francisco de Solano), erected a cross on the property and set up camp for three to four months in 1823 before church officials -- miffed that he hadn't consulted them -- ordered him to relocate five miles north to the site where the mission was eventually built.

Because of that connection and Cline's long interest in California history, she was contacted about buying the model of Mission San Francisco de Solano and learned about the sale. She wasn't able to be at the San Rafael auction house in person; her sister-in-law informed her by phone that she had won the lot with a bid just topping $20,000.

"My heart started pounding," she recalls. "I thought, 'That's nice. Now what do we do? "

At first, Cline set up the models in the winery's barrel room, where people who came by for tastings got a chance to look them over. Many visitors shared stories of seeing the models at the World's Fair and at the Cliff House, as well as their childhood memories of building their own mission replicas as part of the California history curriculum usually taught to fourth-graders.

"We were just blown away by people's responses, and we realized how significant they are," Cline says.

A key part of California's history, the missions were founded beginning in 1769 as settlements to convert American Indians to Catholicism and to the Spanish way of life, according to Jeffrey Burns, director of the Academy of American Franciscan History in Berkeley and a member of the California Mission Studies Association.

"It was the first sustained contact between the native people and the European settlers," Burns says. "That really became the touch point of the two cultures coming together, for good or for bad."

The missions blossomed into significant enterprises, raising crops and livestock and turning out goods such as tanned leathers, rope and iron implements.

In the mid-1830s, the Mexican authorities, then in charge of California, stripped the missions of most of their land and they became simply churches. Many fell into disrepair until the 1880s, when a movement began to restore them as an important part of the state's history.

...

The California Missions Museum, Cline Cellars, 24737 Highway 121, Sonoma. (707) 939-8051, www.californiamissionsmuseum.com. Open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily during the school year, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in summer. Free admission.

[YelloKitty]

Originally posted by Denstradamus
another find: 15nth and Market (sorta near chow's on church street) was an Native American Village. that area close to that Safeway and that US Mint Installation.
Originally posted by YelloKitty

i totally missed this. this is just up the street from me. hopefully now that they're digging up my backyard (okay who am i kidding, i have no backyard!) for the new overpass, they'll find remnants of this village and they will have to stop construction! maybe!
funny, i can't find the article but they did happen to unearth some shit... :eek:

[Denstradamus]

funny, i can't find the article but they did happen to unearth some shit... :eek:


I also found out that was the site of the old San Francisco Seals Stadium.

[Denstradamus]

Saw a segment of this on the tv and immediately thought of Yammy.

Pictures:
http://winwithwynne.wordpress.com/old-adobe-mission-santa-eulalia-californias-lost-and-last-mission-found/



Santa Eulalia

Cordelia area history.

The speculation is that the Spanish may have had a rancho or at least an asistencia (branch of a Spanish Mission) in the general area of Nelson Hill.

The earliest Spanish settlement in the Cordelia and Nelson Hill area appears to have been about 1824. Friar Altimira is said to have established ranchos as far east as Suisun, although according to Rudolph Rulofson in his history column, "California Echoes" in The Solano Republican, there was no positive proof of their exact locations.

Nelson's Hill in 1946. At the site of the Nelson quarry on the eastern side of Bridgeport Hill near Cordelia, while excavating, workmen broke through and discovered a pear-shaped olla or cistern, embedded in the side of the hill. The olla was approximately 8 feet across and at least 10 feet in depth.

The olla was formed from a cement, brownish in color and consisting of sand and small pebbles, and a white cotton-like substance, which appears under a microscope to be minute particles of seashell.

"Quarrying operations have been conducted at this site since the early 1850s and there is no knowledge or record of any habitation or structure antedating the quarry operations ... "

Friar Altimira may have set up one of his ranchos near Cordelia. If this should ever prove to be true, then perhaps that olla and an adobe in nearby Rockville were the oldest structural objects of Spanish origin in Solano County.

In a Rockville discovery in 1957a large stone object, which served as a horse trough for many years, was determined by local historian and archaeologist, Rulofson, to be a baptismal font. In his research, he discovered that an unknown asistencia had existed in Rockville. Records revealed that an adobe had been demolished in 1935 to make way for a new house. His research indicated the adobe had been used by Christianized Indians as a branch of the Mission San Francisco Solano at Sonoma.

In 1823, the rebellious Friar Altimira, stationed at Mission San Francisco de Asis, decided to take it upon himself to find a more suitable location to establish a mission to take care of sick and dying Indians. The weather at the mission in San Francisco was too damp and cold and there was the added problem of disease brought in by the European settlers who were dying in droves.

Altimira set out to explore the northern inland regions for a more suitable location, which resulted in the establishment of the Mission San Francisco Solano at Sonoma.

"Father Altimira expressed a desire to locate a rancho at Suisun Valley, and, there is some evidence that he may have done so in order to establish a center for the baptism of the Suisun Indians whose population base was near the present town of Rockville.

"Local tradition speculates that this adobe (no longer standing) was occupied by a padre for many years. There are two interesting points about this adobe on the Suisun Rancho. One is, that it was formerly owned by the Chief of the Suisun Indians, Francisco Solano. Also, within a few yards of the adobe site there is located, in the ground, a huge rock bowl that resembles the baptismal fonts found in other missions.

Meanwhile, back at Nelson's Hill ... Rulofson made note in his diary on May 24, 1957, "Read over digest - John Dos Passol - The Spaniards were here before us. Mentions introduction of almond in California by padres. Bitter almonds found at Rockville 'Esistancia' site, also near 'Olla' at Nelson's. Check if bitter almonds are throwbacks - were they seedlings several generations removed from original plants?"

As a final piece of evidence that there was a Spanish settlement, I finally found what I was looking for: The name of the rancho/asistencia. Clyde Lowe, a superb historian and researcher in Solano County, wrote an article debunking many of the myths about Chief Solano. In the article he wrote, "It should be noted that mission farm or 'rancho' called Santa Eulalia had been established at Suisun (Valley) before the end of 1824, with a house for the padre's visit, a corral for the horses, and a neophyte (Christianized Indian) in charge."

In addition, the 1837 diseno (a crude map) that was used to identify the boundaries for Chief Solano's land grant clearly shows a cultivated field just east of Nelson Hill. Quite likely, the olla was used to store water for the crops grown there.

Source: Jerry Bowen

from
http://www.missiontrailtoday.com/code/mission_ae.htm

[yamchild]

Saw a segment of this on the tv and immediately thought of Yammy.

Pictures:
http://winwithwynne.wordpress.com/old-adobe-mission-santa-eulalia-californias-lost-and-last-mission-found/




from
http://www.missiontrailtoday.com/code/mission_ae.htm

a secret, renegade california mission? neat.