Funeral at Carmel-by-the-Sea

We entered the Carmel Mission and were told that all of it was open to the public, except the chapel, which was closed for another forty-five minutes due to a funeral. That immediately piqued my curiosity and as I entered the little courtyard I gravitated toward the heavy wooden doors of the chapel. 

One door was propped open, but there was a sign indicating a private service: Do not enter. I stood back and observed from a distance. My view inside was obscured at best, but I could sense a full congregation and could see all the way to the front at the altarpiece. 

I wondered for whom this funeral might be. Was it a priest, or a worker at the mission? Could anybody choose to have their final services here, or did you have to have a connection? 

As I watched I could hear hymns being played on a pipe organ, accompanied by singing. There were several hymns in a row, all familiar, but only one I knew for sure, "Ave Maria."

Just outside the chapel stood three Marines in dress blues, patiently waiting for the service to end. I decided to take a leisurely stroll around to the north side of the chapel into the old cemetery. Here there were many graves from the late 1700's. As I passed the graves, many of them decorated with abalone shells, I could still hear the vibrant music of the organ. What a beautiful setting! 

For a short time I wandered to other places in the mission. This included the museum and a larger courtyard. Relics from the past were put on view for all to see. Set at a table were ceramic bowls and jars and two wooden chairs, displayed to give the appearance of a humble Spanish home over 200 years ago. 

In a gallery next to the chapel sat a travertine marble sarcophagus with a life-size bronze sculpture of the deceased Father Junípero Serra resting atop. Father Serra is clothed in the Franciscan habit, with crucifix, cord and rosary, as he would have been upon preparation for burial. His bare feet rest upon a grizzly bear cub. Father Juan Crespí stands at the head of Serra, bending forward in an attitude of veneration. Father Crespí died two years before Father Serra, so this represents him ready to meet his friend in the spirit world. The sculpture is a cenotaph, meaning that it is just a memorial, and that the body is buried elsewhere. 

Junípero Serra was born in Mallorca, Spain in 1713 and came to the New World as a Franciscan Priest. He established nine of the 21 missions in California, including the one at Carmel. He presided over the mission from 1770 until his death in 1784. He was buried beneath the floor of an old adobe chapel.

Then I returned to the courtyard. It was lovely there, with beds of flowers and cactus flanking the plaza. I knew the funeral was about to end because now the military men were getting into position. One stood near the doors of the chapel with a trumpet while the other two at a strategic point in the courtyard. They held a tightly-folded flag. 

One by one the family and friends of the deceased filtered out of the chapel and into the courtyard. All were dressed in Sunday best with suits and ties for the men and dresses for the ladies. 

When all were out, they created a quarter circle around the Marines. As Taps began to play, the two servicemen unfolded the flag until it stood as one sheet, taking in the rays of sun and held firmly by the white gloves of the men. 

They held it taut, horizontal to the sky, then with ceremonious attention, they tilted it to a forty-five degree angle so the tiny crowd could see. Then they returned it to horizontal and proceeded to fold it again. They folded it precisely and with duty, their white gloves tucking it in and making sure all was snug. 

One of them took the folded flag and walked it to the widow. He handed it to her and with the utmost respect gave a slow salute. All was silent in the courtyard. 

And with that the funeral was over. Family and friends walked over to hug the widow. The servicemen walked to the gate and left the courtyard. I watched in awe, taking in the beautiful ceremony. 

Within five minutes, much of the crowd had cleared and all was returning to normal at the mission. For the first time I entered the chapel. It was long and narrow with two rows of pews and one aisle that ran toward the altar. The altarpiece was elaborate, with several sculptures, including one of the crucified Christ at center. 

At the front of the chapel on the left side of the altar, etched into the floor, were the grave markers of three burials. The middle one read: “Fr. Junípero Serra, Apóstol de California, 1713- 1784.” 

The little adobe chapel where Father Serra was originally interred was torn down and in 1797 a bigger, more magnificent basilica was placed in its stead. His body remained beneath the floor of the sanctuary, precisely below where I now stood. I wondered how many funerals over the years had been held in this very hallowed spot. ♠

 

Jewel by the Sea

"And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.  And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas: and God saw that it was good." - Genesis 1: 9-10

"In the beginning there was no land or earth. There was nothing except salt water.  This covered everything like a big sea.  Two brothers lived under this water; the oldest was Teaipakomat.  Both of them kept their eyes closed, for the salt would blind them.  The oldest brother, after a while, went up on top of the salt water and looked around.  He could see nothing but water.  Soon the younger brother too came up.  He opened his eyes on the way and salt water blinded him.  When he got to the top he could see nothing at all, so he went back.  When the older brother saw there was nothing, he made first of all little red ants.  They filled the water up thick with their bodies and so made land." - From the Kumeyaay Creation story.

"Over the mountains,

And over the waves,

Over the fountains,

And under the graves;

Over the floods that are deepest,

Which do Neptune obey; Over the rocks that are steepest,

Love will find out the way."  

- Thomas Percy (Bishop of Dromore)

"On the following Tuesday, the 3d of the month of October, they departed from this port of San Miguel, and on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, they held their course a matter of eighteen leagues along the coast, where they saw many valleys and plains, and many smokes, and mountains in the interior.  At nightfall they were near some islands which are some seven leagues from the mainland, but because the wind went down they could not reach them that night." - From the voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542.

"We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those on this coast of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsistence on various seeds and by fishing." - Junipero Serra, Spanish Priest (1713-1784).

 

"Flowers were plentiful that spring because of the winter's heavy rains.  The dunes were covered with mats of sand flowers, which are red and have tiny eyes that are sometimes pink and sometimes white. Yuccas grew tall among the rocks of the ravine.  Their heads were clustered with curly gloves no longer than pebbles and the color of the sun when it rises.  Lupines grew where the springs ran.  From the sunny cliffs, in crevices where no one would think anything could grow, sprang the little red and yellow fountains of the comul bush." - From Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.  

"This being the spring season, San Pedro, as well as all the other open ports upon the coast, was filled with whales, that had come in to make their annual visit upon soundings.  For the first few days that we were here we watched them with great interest, calling out 'There she blows!' every time we saw the spout of one breaking the surface of the water, but they soon became so common that we took little notice of them.  They often 'broke' very near us, and one thick, foggy night, during a dead calm, while I was standing anchor-watch, one of them rose so near that he struck our cable, and made all surge again.  He did not seem to like the encounter much himself, for he sheered off, and spouted at a good distance." - From Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana, in 1835.

"We rode out to the Indians' huts.  The little children were running about the huts, stark naked, and the men were not much more; but the women had generally coarse gowns of a sort of tow cloth.  The men are employed, most of the time, in tending the cattle of the Mission, and in working in the garden, which is a very large one, including several acres, and filled, it is said, with the best fruits of the climate.  The language of these people, which is spoken by all the Indians of California, is the most brutish, without any exception, that I ever heard, or that could well be conceived of.  It is a complete slabber.  The words fall off of the ends of their tongues, and a continual slabbering sound is made in the cheeks, outside of the teeth." - From Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana, in 1835.

"The country seems to be alive with cattle, horses, mules and jackasses.  Passing the San Luis Rey Mission we turned left and marched up a mountain, from the top we could see the ocean, we judged it to be about 5 miles away.  This was the first time I ever saw the ocean and it was the case of many of my comrades, all felt to rejoice to know we were so near the end of our journey.  In the evening we camped in a little valley near the seashore.  We could hear the roaring and dashing of waves all night.

"The whole face of the country is alive with cattle, bands of horses, mules and donkeys.  One of the guides said he knew one man who owns twelve thousand head of cattle.

"The earth is carpeted with green grass and wild oats and any amount of wild mustard and white clover.  I see some mustard stalks high as ten or twelve feet and six or eight inches thick." - From the journal of Henry W. Bigler, member of the Mormon Battalion, on January 27, 1847.

" . . . several very heavy gusts of wind came driving madly along, completely filling the whole atmosphere with thick and impenetrable clouds of dust and sand, so much so, that one who was in the street could no more see around him than if he was surrounded by an Egyptian darkness; this continued for a considerable length of time, the violence of the wind still increasing, until about one o'clock, when it came along in a perfect hurricane, tearing down houses and everything that was in its way." - From the Daily Alta California on the October 2, 1858 hurricane.

"For how many thousands of years did it lie alone? How long did the great gray waves batter at its granite shore, its sandy beaches, its clay cliffs? How long did it wait for men to come with their dreams, their ships?"- From Frontier by Louis L'Amour.

 

“The aisle of autumn sunlight settling on 

The mobile corrugations of the sea 

Fragments and forms at once, is here and gone, 

A durable, elusive energy: 

Pure presence and repose—mere lovely being, 

To feel which is as natural as seeing 

The dog that dashes up the beach and back 

Or, to a pair of onlookers' applause, 

Goes skidding to a posture of attack 

And leaps to snatch a Frisbee in his jaws.” - Poem by Timothy Steele.

“The wind dies, and the cloud Alps disappear, 

And where the sun now sets, the sky's so swirled 

With smokey colors that the atmosphere 

Seems like the abstract beauty of the world. 

The swells more regular, there floats at rest 

A pelican, long beak tucked to its chest.” - Poem by Timothy Steele.

"The sea lions felt it and their barking took on a tone and a cadence that would have gladdened the heart of St. Francis." — John Steinbeck

"All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best." - John Muir

"Took my chances on a big jet-plane
Never let 'em tell ya that they're aw-ooh-all the same
Hoh, the sea was red and the sky was grey
I wonder how tomorrow could ever follow today-hee
Mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
The children of the sun begin to awake." - From Going to California by Led Zeppelin.

 

“Flashing between curved sea plants in the sand 

There darts a shining company of fish. 

Swirling through the sea's green depths they go, 

Gleaming like silver ripples in a pool 

That dance and sparkle in the moon's cold light. 

Then they are gone, as quickly as they came, 

And the wildly waving seaweeds move 

More slowly and at last are still once more. 

Now through the silent forests of the sea 

There slowly drifts in shimmering radiance 

A lustrous jellyfish. Suddenly, 

From pale pink opalescence swiftly changed, 

It turns translucent and is almost gone, 

Only to gleam once more, far off, against 

Black rocks where shadowy forms move hazily. 

There at last it melts into the distance— 

Ghostlike, drifting slowly out of sight.” - Poem by Everett Ruess.

Old Town San Diego

The Church of the Immaculate Conception is a quaint-looking building, just the type that I hoped to find in Old Town San Diego. The façade is adobe in color and curves in the old Spanish style with a picturesque bell tower, topped with a sea-blue dome. The innocent-looking place of worship made national news with the Presidential election in November when it warned local voters that if they voted Democrat, they would go to hell.

A flyer inserted in the October bulletin cited issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage as part of the reason that casting a vote for the Dems could be a mortal sin. The pastor of the church later apologized for the comment and stated he was unaware of the flyer.

Our visit to the Church of the Immaculate Conception a month later showed no indication of voter persuasion. All was peaceful as we perused inside the chapel and loitered around the steps in front of the church. A subtle warm breeze stirred on this December evening, being well appreciated by our hardy family from snow-clad Utah. This old Catholic church was our introduction to Old Town.

La Casa de Estudillo

Built in 1917, the church isn't quite old as the “original” Old Town. In fact, structures from San Diego's original settlement are few in number. Most of what exists today are modern re-creations of the old ambiance. Over the years I have asked people what they thought of Old Town, and I would get responses from “very cheesy and touristy,” to “worth visiting.” So, I had to come and see for myself.
 

Old Town is not where one might suspect it to be. Instead of being near the harbor with all the modern skyscrapers, it is located inland and to the north. When Richard Henry Dana landed in the harbor during the hide trade of 1835, he wrote: “There was no town in sight.” Later, when he had a free day to explore the area, he stated: “[we] set out on our walk for the town, which was nearly three miles off.”

Gift shop in Old Town San Diego.

The first European settlement on the west coast of the present-day United States was a military outpost, or Presidio, built in 1769 on a hill just above where Old Town is today. Father Junípero Serra also established a mission there. Spanish soldiers began building homes below Presidio Hill using sun-dried adobe bricks, as wood was scarce. By the 1820's, a small pueblo began to form. It became known as El Pueblo de San Diego. In those days a river passed near the town and flowed into the harbor. (Eventually the river was diverted and now runs into Mission Bay.)

Dana gives a description of the pueblo: “The small settlement lay directly below the fort, composed of about forty dark brown looking huts, or houses, and three or four larger ones, whitewashed, which belonged to the 'gente de razon.' This town is not more than half as large as Monterey, or Santa Barbara, and has little or no business.”

The layout of today's Old Town replicates that of the original with wide, organized streets and plazas. Although most of the structures are replicas, a few of the originals exist, including La Casa de Estudillo and La Casa de Machado y Stewart. Many of these places were locked up for the evening when we arrived.

There was no shortage of souvenir and gift shops. They sold everything from wooden roses to painted skulls commemorating Mexico's Day of the Dead. On an outdoor patio, within one of the buildings, we found a group of kids taking swings at a piñata. Above them, inside an upper room, we spied Santa and Mrs. Claus waving at us through a glass window. We walked through the patio before coming to another gift shop that sold authentic Mexican candy.

The environment at Old Town is colorful and fun. It is easy to get lost in window shopping and strolling around, forgetting that you are looking for a piece of authentic San Diego history. Old Town is a great place for wanna-be history buffs like myself, as well as couldn't-care-less-about-history people like the rest of my family. 

Mormon Battalion Historic Site. Our short December sunlight dipped below the hazy horizon. The dome and the cross and the palm trees at the Church of the Immaculate Conception now silhouetted against the pink hues of sunset. We made our way across the street to the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.

Coming from Mormon stock myself, this was a piece of my heritage. My third great-grandpa, Andrew Jackson Workman, marched with the battalion.

Most have probably never heard of the Mormon Battalion. In 1846, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or Mormons) had been driven from their beloved town of Nauvoo, Illinois. Just two years earlier, their prophet and leader, Joseph Smith, had been killed by the mob, along with his brother Hyrum. Brigham Young now led the group, and desired to migrate to the west where they could settle in the Salt Lake Valley and find a new beginning.

Presently, however, the Mormons had crossed the Mississippi River and were camped near Council Bluffs, Iowa amongst the Potawatomi Indians. Having been forced to leave their farms and homes in Nauvoo, the Saints were in difficult circumstances to make the trip.

Young sent one of his men to Washington D.C. to seek assistance from the government in fleeing the mob. The result was an agreement that if the Saints could enlist a few hundred men to assist the newly declared war on Mexico, then each man would get paid a uniform allowance, as well as pay for his services. As was custom of the church, each man kept the bare minimum he needed, while the surplus was put into the funds of the church, which was used to purchase teams, wagons, and other necessary items for the trek west. Members of the church saw this as a blessing from heaven. 

Statue at Mormon Battalion Historical Site.

The battalion, consisting of over 500 men, walked from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. They are the only religiously based military unit in United States history. Although never engaged in a true battle, the battalion's efforts supported the United States in their victory over Mexico, and established a southern wagon route to California.

They arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847, where they stayed for five months until their discharge. While in San Diego they were beneficial in many projects, including the building of a courthouse, and making bricks and building several houses. They also assisted in building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, and after being discharged, some battalion members were present at Sutter's Mill when gold was discovered.

Our visit to the historical site lasted well over an hour. This is not your basic, walk-though and read-the-plaques type of visitor's center. All of the workers are volunteers for the church, and they bring you into a presentation that's a bit cheesy, but makes you feel as if you were there. It was very educational and my kids loved it. Afterward, they brought the kids outside and let them pan for (fake) gold.

Andrew Jackson Workman

At the end of our presentation I found a kiosk that could pull up information on members of the Battalion. With curiosity I typed in my grandfather's name and found this small biography:

Andrew Workman

Born: July 15, 1824; Bourbon County, Kentucky

Enlisted: July 16, 1846

Company: B

Rank: Private

Description: 5 feet 7 inches tall, brown hair, gray eyes

Occupation: Farmer

Family: His brother, Oliver Gaultry Workman, also served as a private in Company B.

Discharged: July 16, 1847; Los Angeles. Reenlisted for six months. Discharged on March 14, 1847; San Diego. Traveled to the goldfields. Travel route to the Salt Lake Valley unknown and may not have left California until 1855.

Died: June 15, 19096; Hurricane, Washington, Utah.

Junipero Serra Museum on Presidio Hill in San Diego.

Presidio Hill and Junípero Serra Museum. Two days later, we returned to Old Town, but this time to Presidio Hill. This is the place where it all began, the location of the military outpost established by the Spanish in 1769. Atop the hill is the Junípero Serra Museum, a whitewashed building with Spanish architecture. Around the building are trees and a few memorials, giving a peaceful and secluded feeling to a place that is relatively close to Old Town and the Mission Valley Freeway.

Many assume that the museum is the old Presidio, but that's not true. The outpost has long fallen to ruins and the mission that was once there moved several miles up the valley. When Richard Henry Dana visited in 1835, he observed that the Presidio was already in decay:

“The first place we went to was the old ruinous presidio, which stands on a rising ground near the village, which it overlooks. It is built in the form of an open square, like all the other presidios, and was in a most ruinous state, with the exception of one side, in which the commandant lived, with his family. There were only two guns, one of which was spiked, and the other had no carriage. Twelve half-clothed and half-starved looking fellows composed the garrison; and they, it was said, had not a musket apiece.”

Father Junípero Serra was a Franciscan priest who came from Mallorca, Spain. He established the mission on Presidio Hill in 1769, which was the first ever in California. The museum, which bears his name, wasn't built until 1925. Admission is free, and the collection inside is modest.

Outdoor patio at Junipero Serra Museum.

From the information at the museum, I learned that the first inhabitants of Presidio Hill were the Kumeyaay Indians, who had lived there for centuries. They made their homes in small huts called ewaas, and used the nearby river, ocean, and mountains to hunt and fish. They were skilled basket makers and wove nets for fishing.

When the Spanish came, the Kumeyaay way of life was altered forever. European practices of grazing soon depleted the native grass and forced the wildlife onto higher ground. The natives were forced into labor to help build new structures such as the mission. The Kumeyaay eventually lost their lands and were placed on reservations.

From atop the tower in the museum, one can gaze through the window see the grand expanse of Mission Valley, with the busy four-lane freeway, the San Diego River, Mission Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. Within view are hotels, a baseball field, and golf course. The eternal southern California haze weighs heavily.

Inside the Junipero Serra Museum.

It is difficult to imagine what this area may have looked like nearly 250 years ago. Before the Europeans came there may have been scattered villages with small wooden huts and thin plumes of smoke rising in the air. After the arrival of the Spanish, there would have been several adobe houses, and the river would have bent southward and flowed into the harbor.

Whether one believes that change has been good or bad, Father Junípero Serra has left his mark on California, and it will forever be altered because of him. Although some have been critical for his treatment of the Natives, there are numerous positive aspects of Serra's life. He established several Catholic Missions in California and left a legacy of honor. In 2015, he was canonized by Pope Francis during his visit to the United States. There is a statue of the Father in the United States Capitol. Nearly three decades before his canonization, Pope John Paul II said this of Junípero Serra: “He sowed the seeds of Christian faith amid the momentous changes wrought by the arrival of European settlers in the new world. It was a field of missionary endeavor that required patience, perseverance, and humility, as well as vision and courage.” ♠

Statue of "The Father" at Presidio Park.