Adventure 49/101, Mission 17 - Mission San Jose

 Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 101 – 17 : Mission San Jose, 14th mission

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  August 30, 2012

Location: Fremont

Description:

We were going to San Francisco today via BART. We will embark at the Fremont BART Station. What is close to this station? Mission San Jose! So off we go to visit this mission. We find the mission pretty quickly, but cannot spend a lot of time here. So we look around the exterior and then it is off to the BART station.

From Wikipedia site:

The first Mission San Jose chapel was dedicated on June 11, 1797. However, no Indians came forth for baptism over the weeks that followed. The Saclan, a Bay Miwok-speaking group of present interior Contra Costa county to the north, had fled Mission San Francisco (Dolores) two years earlier and were threatening to go to war against any nearby groups that joined the mission. Spanish soldiers and townsmen from San Jose attacked the Saclan and arrested their leaders on July 20, 1797, ending that threat to the success of the mission. The first baptism took place on September 2, 1797, when 24-year old Gilpae from the Palos Colorados (redwoods), probably the San Leandro area, was baptized. The new Franciscan priests, Fathers Isidoro Barcenilla and Agustín Merino, succeeded in attracting more converts from villages to the north and east of the mission, so that by the end of the first year it had population of 33 newly-converted Catholic Indians, known to the missionaries as neophytes (McCarthy 1958).
Father Narciso Durán became the pastor of the mission in 1806, and remained until he was replaced by Father José González Rubio in February 1833 as part of a post-independence policy requiring the replacement of Spanish-born clerics with those born in Mexico. Durán trained the neophytes in music, organizing both a choir and a 30 piece orchestra that became famous throughout California. While at San José, Father Durán twice served as Father-Presidente of the Franciscan missions

During the 1848 California Gold Rush, H. C. Smith converted the Mission to a general store, saloon and hotel. The town of Mission San José became a thriving provision center at the gateway to the southern mines. The names of many pioneer families prominent in early California history: Livermore, Peralta, and Alviso (to name a few) were closely linked to the Mission.

On October 21, 1868 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on the Hayward fault which runs through the grounds of the Mission shattered the walls of the Mission church and broke open the roof. Other Mission buildings, including the Tienda, the Priest's Quarters, and the Mission itself were also damaged by the earthquake.
Two of the original statues have been placed on the two side altars. Ecce Homo, a figure of Christ clothed in a scarlet robe and crowned with thorns, stands on a balcony above one of the side altars. The other statue of Saint Bonaventure was carved from wood and then painted. The original baptismal font of hammered copper on a turned wood base has been returned to the church, as has the bell wheel used by the Ohlones during the sacred parts of the Mass.

From California Missions Resource Center site:

Prominent Missionary Leaders: Frs. Buenaventura Fortuny and Narciso Duran were assigned to San Jose in 1806, and these talented, energetic padres worked together with the Indians for 27 years to build one of the most prosperous missions in California.
Significant Event(s): Estanislao, a San Jose mission neophyte, led a large scale Indian uprising in 1828-29. Several military expeditions were required to put down the revolt. Stanislaus County is named after Estanislao

Interesting Facts: 

A devastating epidemic of smallpox and measles took a terrible toll on the neophytes (over 150 died) in 1805-06.
The mission was renowned for its orchestra and choir, developed and led by Fr. Narciso Duran.
Mexican Franciscans from the Colegio de Zacatecas replaced the Spanish Franciscans in 1833.
The nearby Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe was established in 1777 as an agricultural settlement for provisioning the presidio garrisons at San Carlos de Monterey and San Francisco.

From California State Parks site:

The most recent mission to have its church restored, the work truly captures the look and feel of its 1830's prosperity. Founded in 1797 by Father Lasuen, the fertile site was chosen because of its view of Mission Dolores and Yerba Buena Island. At one time the mission lands reached north almost to Oakland and east to include the Sacramento Delta. The mission was named after Joseph, spouse of Mary and while nothing remains of the original church, the $5 million remodel has closely reproduced the 1809 structure. A parish church now stands on the site with relics including a hammered baptismal font, altar bells and vestiments
 43300 Mission Blvd., Fremont, 94539, (510) 657-1797