ARTISTS in PARADISE #1

Avi Kiriaty, though not born in  Hawaii, certainly has captured the soul of the Hawaiian landscape and peoples. He was born in Israel in 1957 but his journey through life has taken him from the Israeli Army, to a Greek Island, to a winter cottage in New Hampshire. Following the birth of his daughter Keytoe, Avi moved to Hawaii. His first year was spent on Kauai, where he experimented for a time with oil painting. From there he moved to the  eastern side of the Big Island, to begin to live “kama‘aina” with the land, farming and fishing. His son, Jazz, was born here on an old Hawaiian homestead. Avi then moved to the Puna Rainforest and began to live the life of an “artist”.

Father Damien of Molokai

While Avi has worked in many media... oil painting, linoleum block printing, lava and bronze sculpture, pencil and ink drawing, watercolors, ceramic platters, and serigraphs, my favorites are his oils. They are a feast of lush colors and bold lines,depicting the Polynesian lifestyle of every day events.  Here I present a few of my favorites, some recalling my years living in the islands.  "Kanaka Blues" reminds me of the many nights listening to the great slack-key artist, Sonny Chillingsworth  and "Soldier fish" of the many hours diving in clear blue waters as assorted rainbow colored fish swam by me.

 Here in Waimea, I visited the local museum and saw some of his paintings- colors amazing!  I could write a blog just on this museum but... the director is the aunt of my sheep shearer on Orcas  Island, and one of the artists in the permanent collection is the great uncle of our closest neighbor on Shaw. Small world!

Kanaka Blues

Soldier Fish

NEW BIRDS- IN PARADISE

Avi Kiriaty

My big birding trip for the year was the Big Island of HAWAII.  I lived for two years in Hawaii- many years ago, doing some work at the Uni. It was one of those memorable times in one’s life, especially the people and the beauty of the islands. While birding was not at the top of my priority list, I could not but help notice the varied and colorful birds that visited our yards and the hills behind us.  Today most of Manoa Valley (Oahu) is developed and many of those fabulous birds are on the endangered list or have vanished.

Native Hawaiian birds are few - and dwindling. The best birding is on the Big Island and I was lucky to have two wonderful guides, one an old friend, the other new, plus my hosts Oblate Karen and her family.

Birders come from all over the world hoping to see three Hawaiian birds, in particular: the akiapolaau, a woodpecker wannabe with a war club-like head; the nukupuu, an elusive little yellow bird with a curved beak, one of the crown jewels of Hawaiian birding; and the alala, a critically endangered Hawaiian crow that's now almost impossible to see in the wild.

Hawaii Amakihi

The state of Hawaii has over 1/3 of the plants and birds listed on the U.S. Threatened and Endangered list, and is known as both the endangered species capital and the extinction capital of the world.  But now 28% of Hawaii's 93 native bird species are extinct and another one-third are listed on that dratted list!

'I'iwi

Many birds  once filled the formerly thick forests of the Hawaiian Islands before logging, cattle ranching and feral animals introduced in the last two centuries - such as European boars, sheep and goats - razed and uprooted most of the birds' habitat.

The red and black 'i'iwi was once the most common of the endemic birds in Hawaii, but this vivid honeycreeper has disappeared from most of its former range. Their long, downward-curving bills are specialized for sipping nectar from tubular flowers, but they also feed on insects, spiders and moths.

To find native birds you need to find native habitats. Hawaiian forest birding is "jungle" birding so at times it's challenging to find or see birds. They're often in the canopy or thick understory and flit around and hide. Lighting can be terrible on overcast days- a problem we have in our own islands.

The main forest habitats are intact 'ohi'a-koa-tree fern rainforests at middle and higher elevations on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea and the mamane-naio dry forest on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea. A kipuka is a remnant island of vegetated land surrounded by a more recent lava flow where primary forest often remains undisturbed. Other habitats include beaches, sea cliffs, grasslands, urban settings, golf courses, ponds, and roadside overlooks.

Pueo (Hawaiian owl)

Lower elevation habitats consist mainly of introduced vegetation containing mostly foreign finches, sparrows, doves, gamebirds and others. Many of these birds are concentrated on the leeward side, where they were introduced as late as the 1960's. There is also an elevational line around the island at about 4,000 feet corresponding to the mosquito belt and also to the range of early human habitation, below which native forest birds are mostly gone. An exception is the Hawaii 'Amakihi that may have developed an immunity to avian malaria and pox.

The Pueo (diurnal owl)  likes to sit on fence posts or the rocky outcrops of old cinder cones now domed and covered with tall grass. I was lucky to see them often.

HOLY PARENTS of ST. THERESE

Pope Francis will canonize  LOUIS and ZELIE MARTIN, the parents of  St. Therese of Lisieux during the world Synod of Bishops on the family on October 18th.

The new saints were married in 1858. The couple had nine children, four of them dying in infancy. The five who survived, including St. Therese, all entered religious life. Zelie Martin died of cancer in 1877, at the age of 45 and her husband died when he was 70 in 1894.

The couple was beatified in 2008. They are believed to be the first parents of a saint to be beatified, highlighting the important role parents play in their children's human and spiritual upbringing.

According to the Lisieux shrine's website, a miracle being studied for the couple's canonization involves a little girl in the Diocese of Valencia, Spain. Born prematurely and with multiple life-threatening complications, Carmen suffered a major brain hemorrhage, which could have caused irreversible damage. Her parents prayed for the couple's intercession. The little girl survived and is healthy.

With Therese

Pope Francis has a special devotion to St. Therese. He used to keep a photo of the 19th-century French Carmelite nun on his library shelf when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. He has said that when he has a problem, he asks St. Therese "not to solve it, but to take it in her hands and help me accept it." As a sign that she's heard his request, he said, "I almost always receive a white rose."

Before opening the October 2014 meeting of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis venerated the relics of St. Therese, her parents and another couple, Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi (see Blog 2/4/14). The relics were brought to Rome specifically for prayers during the bishops' discussions about family life.

Louis Martin was a successful watchmaker by trade. He also skillfully managed his wife's lace business. Born into a family of soldiers, Louis spent his early years at various French military posts. At twenty-two he entered  the monastery of the Augustinian Canons of the Great St. Bernard Hospice in the Alps. The blend of courage and charity the monks and their famous dogs manifested in rescuing travelers in Alpine snows appealed powerfully to Louis Martin. But the rigorous studies failed him and he became ill and dispirited, abandoning his hopes for the monastic life.

Zelie's lace

Zelie Guerin was one of Alencon's more talented lace makers. Born into a military family, she described her childhood and youth as "dismal." Her mother and father showed her little affection. She too entered the religious life but learned the Alencon lace-making technique and soon mastered this painstaking craft. Starting her own business, she too became very successful.  

Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin eventually met in Alencon, and on July 13, 1858, Louis, 34, and Zelie, 26, married. Within the next fifteen years, Zelie bore nine children, seven girls and two boys. "We lived only for them," Zelie wrote; "they were all our happiness."

Belita William (Courtesy of Artist)

Sorrow stalked their happy life as the two baby boys, a five year old girl, and a six-and-a-half week old infant girl all died.  Though Zelie was left numb with sadness she kept her strong faith. In a letter to her sister-in-law who had lost an infant son, Zelie remembered: "When I closed the eyes of my dear little children and buried them, I felt sorrow through and through....People said to me, 'It would have been better never to have had them.' I couldn't stand such language. My children were not lost forever; life is short and full of miseries, and we shall find our little ones again up above."

Reliquary

The Martins' last child was born January 2, 1873. She was so frail that doctors feared for the her life. The family, so used to death, was preparing for yet another blow. Zelie wrote of her three month old girl: "I have no hope of saving her. The poor little thing suffers horribly....It breaks your heart to see her." But the baby girl proved to be much tougher than anyone realized. A year later she was a "big baby, browned by the sun." "The baby," Zelie noted, "is full of life, giggles a lot, and is sheer joy to everyone."  This last daughter, named Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin, would later be known as St. Therese, the "Little Flower".  She once wrote in a letter: "God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of heaven than of earth." 

OUR INDIAN MAIDEN

In a past blog we wrote of a neighboring tribe, the SAMISH. Our connection is from the early days of our foundation when  a friend donated a working copy of  The 'Maiden of Deception Pass': Ko-Kwal-Alwoot.

It is an unusual  carved wooden statue of an Indian maiden holding a salmon above her head with both hands. The pole that became the "Maiden" was carved of old-growth western cedar more than five feet in diameter and it depicts the maiden on one side, and on the other her transformation into a mermaid. The salmon she holds aloft is a gift of the sea!

The carving was done by artist Tracy Powell of Anacortes, working with Bill Mitchell, another Anacortes artist, and with Samish Indians, following consultation with members of the Samish Tribe, elders and tribal members who adhered closely to ancient tradition.

What started out as a totem estimated at about 12 feet soon doubled in size when it was discovered that the U.S. Forest Service would donate a cedar from a recent Baker Lake cut. 

In regard to objections that a non-tribal member was selected as carver, Powell said: “...I came to an understanding that I would follow tribal instructions, images and techniques. For me to do other things on my own, such as miniature totem poles – that would be wrong.”  The Maiden was completed in a painstaking carving process that took about a year.

Ko-kwal-alwoot commemorates 100 years, celebrated in 1983, of changing relations toward understanding between Indian and non-Indian communities in Skagit County.

 

30'x5' log

According to Samish  tradition, this maiden risked her life to save the tribe from starvation. 

Ko-kwal-alwoot, a beautiful Samish Indian girl lived in a village at this site. Her raven-black hair shinned like obsidian, and reached below her waist. One day, as she was gathering seafood near the shore, a young man from beneath the sea saw her. He was very handsome, and his skin shone like silver. His eyes were large and luminous. He immediately fell in love with the young woman. But when this man of the sea asked her father for her hand in marriage, he refused, for fear she would try to follow her suitor, and drown.

The young man warned the maiden’s father that he held great power, and that the seafood would disappear unless permission was granted for his daughter to marry. Her father was a chief, and not disposed to succumb to threats, especially from a fish, so he refused.

Sure enough, clams, crabs and other edibles from the sea became scarce. The nearby sweet spring water dried up, and no longer trickled down the beach. Villagers protested that they were hungry for seafood. Under pressure, the maiden's father granted permission for the marriage.

They were married at the sea's edge. Once again seafood became plentiful, and icy, clear water gushed from the nearby spring. Her father demanded that his daughter return annually so he could check on her well-being.  She returned to her people once a year for four years. Barnacles disfigured her once lovely hands and arms. Her long raven hair was intermingled with long, stringy kelp. Chill sea winds followed wherever she walked, and she seemed unhappy out of the sea, away from her husband.

Legend says her hair can be seen flowing with the tide around the Pass (not to be confused with bull kelp). She lives eternally underwater and ensures that the area has an abundance of food for her people.  She has became immortal in the hearts of her Samish people!

The Princess

Visitors to Deception Pass may look into the currents of Deception Pass and be fortunate enough to see, along with her own people, in the waters, the Maiden's hair, drifting gently with the tide!

Maiden of the Sea

NATIVE BRETHREN

Canoe Journey

"For 500 generations they flourished until newcomers came... much was lost; much was devalued, but much was also hidden away in the hearts of the dispossessed...

...Their voices insist upon a hearing and the cumulative wisdom of their long residence in this land offers rich insights to those willing to listen. The challenge now is to find a way to make knowledge of the ancient traditions, the experience of change and the living reality accessible and available..."
                                Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest: An Introduction by David M. Buerge

While we are surrounded by many tribes in the Pacific Northwest, we have no record of them on our small island.  Middens (old dumps for domestic waste consisting of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics, and other artifacts) have been found on other islands, but not here.  In spite of this we heavily "feel" the culture- past and present- of our native brethren. Due to the wealth of the area and the climate, they had an easier life than their relatives in other parts of the country.

While I was still living in CT "Native American" was the politically correct term to use when speaking of the native peoples of our country. Yet when I came back to these Western shores, I found the people themselves used the term- which I grew up with- Indians.  When I asked a native woman, she laughed and said:  oh, those Easterners- so political!  Always dreaming up something".  So in this blog I will use the term still used often in the Pacific NW.

 The Swinomish (our closest tribe- in Anacortes where we catch the ferry to Shaw Island), Tulalip, Lummi, Skagit, Nooksack, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Duwamish, tribes were known to have the most wealth. They lived on the western side of the cascades in Washington. The reason why these tribes were "so rich" was not because they were ornamented with gold or built gold statues, but it was their abundant food, and secure shelter.

The Puget Sound Indian supposedly, by cognition, could tell that there was so much salmon in the water, that they could pass the water by walking on their backs. Their environment was very heterotrophic, meaning there was natural food resources preserved.

Drying Salmon- note cloak made from bark

 The types of berries that were most familiar were blackberries, raspberries, and salmonberries. On Shaw they collected camus- with it small potato-like bulb. In spring the bright blue flowers cover the mesa the monastery sits on.

 In the waters, there were various salmon and other types of fish, such as halibut, flounder, and cod. They ate clams, crabs, seals, sea otters, sea lions, fish, herring eggs, and mussels, shellfish, sea urchins, fungus, and seaweed.

 The men hunted land animals including bear, caribou, deer, elk, and moose. The Nootka/Makah and to a lesser extent the Haida also caught whales. While most tribes lived on the coast during the summer months, when winter came many moved their camps to a more protected area like up a river or inlet.

Salish man- Tulalip tribe

In addition, cedar trees were landmarks to the region. The wood had a wide range of applications. They used it in everything from construction of houses and shaping canoes to carving out crude tools. Clothing such as blankets, toweling, and shoes came from softened cedar bark.

They did not have the methods or level of technology that was present in other parts of the world but they knew enough and were able to make it through the harsher exposure to the elements of nature. They developed a way to safely store food by drying it. Once that process was done, they took a vacation over the winter months, without having to face a renewed struggle in the fall so as to maintain their relatively rich lifestyle.

The Northwest Coastal tribes occasionally gathered together for a potlatch. The person hosting the potlatch gave away as many gifts to his guests as he could. This showed he was wealthy.  These ceremonies could last for days. Singing, dancing, and story-telling were part of the celebration and they wore masks and head dresses for ceremonial purposes.

When I first came to the islands, I attended at potlatch on the Tulalip Reservation. It was an amazing event marking the one year anniversary of a young woman who was killed.  This ceremony was the re-activating of her drums which had been silent that year.  I was given  many gifts- among which is a lovely prayer shawl I still use.  I felt like I had been given a whole department store!

Arriving for the Potlatch

The Northwest Coastal Indians took slaves which were also a sign of wealth. Children were kept close to their camp for fear that they would be stolen by another tribe and become a slave.  While much has changed since those early days, and the wealth of the native peoples is more distributed, the greatness of these people has not changed in our NW.

A NEW FERRY- AND THE SAMISH

We have a new, much needed, ferry in the San Juans this summer. It was named the  SAMISH and is the the second 144-car ferry. The total cost of the vessel was approximately $126.45 million (people wonder why we don’t have more ferries!). Who are the Samish the ferry is named after?

The SAMISH ( means “those who stand up and give) peoples were some 45 to 60 thousand strong in the 1800s throughout the San Juan Islands. They were  comprised of the Salmon Fishing People, the Planting and Gathering People, and the Shell Fish Gathering People, all nomadic tribes. Linguistically and culturally, the Tribe is grouped as Coast Salish, speaking a dialect of Coast Salish known as “Straits Salish,” rather than Lushsootseed dialect of some of our immediate neighbors to the east.





Through the years, they were assigned to reservations dominated by other Tribes, for instance, the Swinomish Indians (Anacortes)  and the Tulalip Tribes (Marysville). They are also enrolled in the Samish Indian Nation, formerly known as the Samish Indian Tribe, which regained federal recognition in 1996.

As part of a larger Coast Salish cultural complex the Samish formed a village community, which consisted of several important social groupings. These groupings can be listed as 4 units: the family, the house group, the villages, and the tribe as a whole. Samish tribal members married outside of their groupings, so as to create a network of “kinships.” These kinships regulated both the internal and external relationships between the families, the house groups, the villages, and the tribe as a whole. The Tribe relied on these relationships during bad times in order to be able to access areas of food and shelter that was not currently in their home territory.

Lawrence Yuxweluptun, Coast Salish- Scorched Earth,
 Clear-cut logging on native sovereign land, shaman coming to fix

Samish people were respected for their spiritual strength as well as their skillful carving of canoes and construction of longhouses.In 1847 the Tribe had over 2,000 members and because of the raids from Northern Tribes and epidemics of measles, small pox, and the ague (flu), the population of the tribe was decreased to approximately 150 at the time of the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855. This was a treaty in which Northwest Indians ceded their homelands in exchange for federal protection and benefits. Reportedly, 113 Samish were present on the treaty grounds for the signing. The signatories also included a dozen other tribes.

For reasons unknown, the tribe names Samish and Lummi were left off the final draft.
However, many Samish refused to go to the reservations and stayed in their traditional territory. They were often confused with the Skagit, and when they went to the Swinomish Reservation, they received only six household land allotments for the entire Tribe.

Their chief declined the US government’s offer of a reservation because they didn’t want to leave their ancestral lands. Three years later, their lands were taken from them, no deed given. Now only a handful of their tribe remain, approximately 1600 world wide and 60 here at home. Only 8 Samish people know how to speak the original language because it was forbidden once the government took over the lands Although the tribe is scattered throughout the San Juans, their home base is in Anacortes.

Many members went to Guemes Island to establish New Guemes (now referred to as "Potlatch Beach"), where they built a longhouse that housed more than 100 people. By 1912, the Samish had either moved onto the Swinomish Reservation or into other communities. They had been pushed off the island by white settlers, as the Samish had occupied the land with the only fresh water.

The Samish fished in the islands and channels off the coast of Skagit County. They had villages on Samish, Guemes, and Fidalgo Islands, and fished and harvested resources there and in the San Juan Islands.  After the Treaty, some Samish moved to the Swinomish or Lummi reservations.

The Samish Nation's historical territory includes west Fidalgo Island, Guemes Island, Samish Island, Lopez Island, and southeast San Juan Island. A 19th century promise of a reservation was not fulfilled, but the Samish Nation has been building a land base since the 1990s. The Samish Nation's land base includes 78 acres held in trust at Campbell Lake on Fidalgo Island.

Button Blankets of Coastal Salish

The Samish also were noted for their spiritual heritage. When foods were harvested, they were believed to be survival gifts from ancestors, to whom they responded with thanksgiving prayers or songs.

THE ROYAL HIGHWAY

The Spanish missions in Alta California comprise a series of 21 religious and military outposts; established by the Franciscan order between 1769 and 1833, to spread Christianity among the local Native Americans. The missions were part of the first major effort by Europeans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, the most northern and western of Spain's North American claims. The settlers introduced European fruits, vegetables, cattle, horses, ranching and technology into the Alta California region; however, the Spanish colonization of California also brought with it serious negative consequences to the Native American populations with whom the missionaries and other Spaniards came in contact.

The government of Mexico secularized the missions in the 1830s and divided the vast mission land holdings into land grants which became many of the Ranchos of California. In the end, the missions had mixed results in their objectives: to convert, educate, and "civilize" the indigenous population and transform the natives into Spanish colonial citizens. Today, the surviving mission buildings are the state's oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments. And everyone has their favorites.

Patient years of labor, heroic decades of sacrifice by St. Junipero Serra, his Franciscan Padres, and the California Indians who supplied the labor lie behind the founding era of the 21 missions. Most of the missions still stand, sources of wonder and beauty originally a day's ride on horseback apart, along 600 miles of California's beautiful coastline. By the time the last mission was built in 1823, the Golden State had grown from an untamed wilderness to a thriving agricultural frontier on the verge of American statehood.


 

San Miguel- Ferdinand Deppe (First painting of a Mission)

The first leg of El Camino Real was forged by General Gaspar de Portola on his journey from San Diego to find Monterey Bay. Tracing his path, missionaries, colonists and soldiers all traveled its dusty stretches; it was the only road between the few civilized outposts. The road was later identified with the missions because the padres maintained the roadway and offered hospitable lodging to all. It served as the north-south stagecoach route after California became a state in 1850, and in the 1920s bronze mission bells were placed along the highway to let motorists know they were traveling the historic El Camino Real.

Interesting to note, St. Junipero Serra only founded seven of the missions, the first being San Diego in 1769 and the last in 1782, San Buenaventura (Ventura).  In between came: St. Charles Borromeo (at Carmel), San Antonio de Padua, San Luis Obespo, San Juan Capistrano (my favorite), and Santa Clara.

Julius Ludovici- 1860s

Julius Ludovici- 1860s

 Father Fermin Lasuen founded nine of the missions and the remaining were found singly by other Franciscan friars.  Father Lasuen founded Santa Barbara in 1786 followed by: La Purísima Concepción, Santa Cruz, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, San José, San Juan Bautista, San Miguel Arcángel, San Fernando Rey, and lastly San Luis Rey de Francia in 1798.

San Gabriel Arcángel was founded in 1771 by Fathers Pedro Cambon &  Angel Somera and
San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores) in 1776 by Father Francisco Palóu.

Santa Inés in 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis, San Rafael Arcángel (1817) by Father Vicente de Sarria and the last mission founded, San Francisco Solano in 1823 by Father Jose Altimira.   
 

 

Capistrano- Karen Winters

The 21 missions that comprise California's Historic Mission Trail are all located on or near Highway 101, which roughly traces El Camino Real (The Royal Road) named in honor of the Spanish monarchy which financed the expeditions into California in the quest for empire. From San Diego to Los Angeles, the historic highway is now known as Interstate 5. From Santa Clara to San Francisco, the road is called State Highway 82. North of San Francisco, Highway 101 again picks up the trail to the mission at San Rafael. From there, State Highway 37 leads to the last mission at Sonoma.

Largely reconstructed after the ravages of time, weather, earthquakes and neglect, most of the missions still operate as active Catholic parishes, with regularly scheduled services. Some interesting facts about a few of the missions:.

San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, 2nd mission

Founded by Father Serra in 1770 on Pentecost Sunday, this mission was considered to be his favorite, and both he and Father Lasuen are buried here. It served as the ecclesiastical capital of California and also as Father Serra's headquarters for administrative duties as presidente of the missions. Set against the sea and mountains 115 miles south of San Francisco, this beautiful mission presents the complete quadrangle courtyard typical of mission architecture.

San Carlos- Shelley Cost

San Gabriel Arcangel, 4th mission (The mission I visited most as a child)

Founded in 1771 by Junipero Serra, this fortress-like structure with five-foot thick walls and narrow windows is a design not found in any other mission. Located nine miles east of downtown Los Angeles, at one time it covered several hundred thousand acres; one fourth of the wealth of California missions in stock and grain was credited to San Gabriel. One bell, which weighs a ton, can be heard eight miles away.

 

Edward Vischer

San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, 5th mission

The humble chapel built of logs was dedicated to St. Louis, Bishop of Tolosa in 1772, and was the first mission to use tiles extensively on the roof due to repeated attacks by Indians who used flaming arrows to ignite the original thatched roof. Situated in the fertile, well-watered Valley of the Bears, the mission produced an abundance of crops, and two water-powered grist mills processed foods normally ground by hand. The mission underwent an extensive restoration program in the 1930's and today welcomes visitors to its nearly-original condition.

San Francisco de Asis, Mission Dolores, 6th mission

On a site selected by Juan Bautista de Anza, the first mission church was a 50-foot long log and mud structure that was eventually moved to higher ground, adjacent to Lake Dolores which gives it its second name, Mission Dolores. Dedicated to Saint Francis by Father Serra in 1776, today the mission sits in the heart of San Francisco and is the oldest building in the city. Much of the original church interior is intact and the guilded reredos and colorful wall paintings are good examples of early California art.

San Juan Capistrano, 7th mission (My Mother lived just miles away after my Father died- so a family favorite).

The chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, built in 1782, is thought to be the oldest standing building in California. Known as "Father Serra's Church," it is the only remaining church in which Father Serra is known to have celebrated the rites of the Roman Catholic Church (he presided over the confirmations of 213 people on October 12 and October 13, 1783).

San Juan Capistrano

Named for Crusader Saint John of Capistrano and designed in the shape of a cross, the great stone church once held seven domes and a bell tower so tall it could be seen from ten miles away. Severely damaged by an 1812 earthquake, the ruins are currently being preserved by archaeologists and engineers.  A gilded altarpiece illuminates the Serra Chapel of 1777, the oldest building still in use in California and the only surviving church where Father Serra said mass. Each year on St. Joseph's Day, March 19, the mission celebrates the return of the cliff swallows from Argentina with a traditional Mexican fiesta.

Santa Barbara, 10th mission

Founded in 1786, the "Queen of the Missions" was the first to be christened by Father Lasuen, and has continuously served as a parish church for the local population since its founding. The church was destroyed in 1925 by earthquake; however, restorations have returned it to its original grandeur of wrought iron, terra cotta and carved wood. Patterned after an ancient Latin chapel in pre-Christian Rome, its twin bell towers and Doric facade present an imposing impression of strength. Fr. Serra was present at the founding of the Presidio of Santa Barbara in  1782, but was prevented from locating the mission there because of the animosity of Governor Felipe de Neve.

Santa Barbara- Paul Grimm 1945

La Purisima Conception, 11th mission

Founded in 1787 by Father Lasuen the mission is located 50 miles west of Santa Barbara. Considered to be the best example of mission architecture.

Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, 13th mission

The padres named this mission for Our Lady of Solitude in 1791, which fits the isolated location of Soledad. Settled next to the Salinas River in the pastures and rolling hills 45 miles south of Monterrey, this lonely outpost was cold, damp and frequently whipped by winds. The soil was rich and the water plentiful however, and by 1805 Soledad was producing more than 100,000 bushels of wheat per year, owned nearly 17,000 head of livestock, and had become well-known for its hospitality.

San Juan Bautista, 15th mission

Founded by Father Lasuen in 1797 this mission was unwittingly located directly above the San Andreas fault. Much of the original structure remains and has been restored to once again be the largest California mission church and the only one with three aisles. It was named for John the Baptist. Musical arts were taught here and the mission owned many instruments, which the Indians readily took to. Father Tapis developed a colored musical notation system and taught the Indians to read music as well as play it. Some of the parchments with colored notations still survive and the reredos behind the altar is so well-preserved that the paint is still brilliant.

 

San Luis Rey- Mary Helmreich

San Luis Rey de Francia, 18th mission

Known as the King of the Missions, San Luis Rey de Francia lies in a sheltered valley just east of Oceanside on State Highway 76. Named for Louis IX, the crusading King of France, the cross-shaped church was dedicated on the Feast of St. Anthony in 1798 by Father Lasuen. Architecturally the most graceful of California's missions, it has been restored according to the original plans and designs.

Santa Ines, 19th mission  (my second favorite- just for the memories and emoteness- at least once a year in High school, friends and I would venture there with a picnic).

Named for a 13 year-old Roman martyr, St. Agnes, who refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods in 304 AD, Santa Ines was dedicated in 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis. Amazingly, it survived the numerous earthquakes. It has lovely gardens that appear today much as they did nearly 200 years ago.

Santa Inez- Edward Vischer