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.
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| 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.”
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.” ♠
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| Statue of "The Father" at Presidio Park. |
