Mission San Francisco Solano

The last of the missions was the last for us as well.  Mission San Francisco Solano was a great way to end our journey.  It was the 21st mission under the leadership of Fr. Jose Altimira in 1823.  After a span of 54 years, the mission era was quickly coming to a close but the efforts of the padres continued.

I suppose every system needs its controversies.  With the missions so closely related to the government and military, it should not be surprising.  However, this mission began due to a padre trying to make his own way on the mission trail.  Padre Altimira arrived in California and was not impressed with his surroundings, so he wanted to create a new mission further north.  Instead of going to the mission director, he chose to go to the governor with his plan.  Not only did the padre want to start the new mission, but in order to do this he would need to have two other missions closed (Mission San Francisco de Asís and Mission San Rafael).  The governor thought this was a great plan because he was concerned that the Russians were planning to push their way south into the newly acquired Mexican territory.  This new location would create a better stronghold in California.

Work on the new mission began; however, the mission director (Fr. Senan) found out the plan and put a stop to the construction.  The governor had no authority to create a mission.  The mission should have ended there.  Unfortunately, Fr. Senan became ill and decided to choose his successor (Fr. Vincente Francisco de Sarría) giving the orders to him with the determination to end this mission.  However, the new director decided to negotiate new terms for the mission with a new location further north selected for this final mission in the series.  Funny side note...the Russians that everyone was so worried about actually donated the original bells that rang at this mission!

Somehow Fr. Altimira was allowed to stay at the mission during the construction period.  It is sad to say that he was not kind to the natives, using flogging and other brutal punishments to force them into labor.  This led to uprisings and revolts at this mission and others.  He did not last long in the mission fields of California and eventually returned to Spain.  

In 1834, General Vallejo was ordered to carry out the secularization of the Mission and distribute property to the Mission Indians.  However, he saw an opportunity for personal profit. While saying he was acting to benefit the Indians, he actually added the Mission properties (44,000 acres) to his own holdings in the area and put the Indians to work for him.   Vallejo laid out the town of Sonoma in 1835.  He had a large plaza made in front of the old mission chapel. But then he took tiles from the church roof and put them on his own house. In poor shape the mission church later was torn down. In need of a church for the town he made, in 1840 Vallejo had a small chapel built at the location of the original parish church.

One cannot say that life was not exciting on the mission trail.  The Bear Flag Revolt, which led to the introduction of California as a republic (and eventually to statehood), took place directly across from the mission.  In June 1846, a group of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza, proclaimed a Republic of California, and raised the Bear Flag (the inspiration for the state flag of California). A president was elected for the new republic and he declared independence from Mexico. On July 9, 1846, the Bear Flag was replaced by the flag of the United States.  General Vallejo was captured and put in prison.

Fast forward 170 years and here we arrived in Sonoma on the afternoon of December 28 (Monday) and were surprised to see the activity of tourists and locals bustling around the area.  We had a hard time parking in this small active town.  Thankfully, we found a parking lot dedicated for visitors to the mission, which is now part of the state park system.  Our admission to the mission would also allow us access to the military barracks next door and the Vallejo homestead nearby.

The museum was small but full of artifacts.  The best part of the museum was that it showed the overall view of the mission trail with maps and timelines.  It was a great way to synthesize the fullness of information that was jammed into my head from the last two weeks.  I think this mission was also helpful in seeing the transition from the Spanish missions era to the Mexican secularization period and then into the early statehood of California.  Many changes took place throughout this vast area in just a few years.  The missions throughout California provided a way to bring unity to the people regardless of the changing governments and cultures.

We entered the mission church from the back.  At first it is a shock to see as there are no pews so the children were soon running around the large open room.  I had to remind them that this was a church and museum.  If we had lived during the mission era, this would have actually been common to see.  There would not have been pews and the parishioners would have stood or knelt throughout Mass with the men on one side and the women and children on the other.

The decorations were minimal with only a few paintings on the wall and the main altar with statues.  The walls were white washed with a simple design painted in the traditional vibrant colors we have grown accustom to seeing in the missions.

Micheal did take the children to see the military barracks next door, while my mom and I found the van.  He also looked for a geocache in the area which took them to a statue across the way in a park.  The children enjoyed some time on the playground before gathering for a picture at the spot where the bear flag was raised for the first time.  Yeah...that is where the cache was located!  Have I mentioned how much I love geocaching?

We also visited the Vallejo home (Lachryma Montis).  It turns out that General Vallejo was freed from prison and became the first State Senator of the newly formed state of California.  His home was built on a natural springs.  In the 1870s, he would continue to provide for his family by selling water from this spring to the city (the first organized water company in California).


Although the Vallejo land grab from the natives is controversial, his home is a historical building and was very interesting to view.  The original home actually had an interesting beginning, as it was a prefabricated home from the northeast.  It was taken apart and shipped around the Horn to be rebuilt at this location.  Vallejo seemed to have a problem with local builders, as a second building known as the Swiss Chalet (now the museum) was also built from pieces of wood from Europe.

The home was beautiful and we enjoyed learning about his large family who grew up in the home.  It was actually a small home (4-6 bedrooms) when you consider the fact that he raised 16 children (10 survived into adulthood).

Also, there was a guest house that was such a cute little dollhouse.  In between these buildings was an interesting swan fountain.  Behind the main house was the servant's quarters and kitchen.  And above the main house and water reservoir was the Hermitage (also known as Napoleon’s Cottage as it was used by the youngest son and his menagerie of pets; numbering at one time 14 dogs, 2 monkeys, several cats, and a parrot).
















And, so we come to the end of our amazing trip through the missions.  We found a plaque just outside of Mission San Francisco Solano that read:

The End of The Mission Trail

1523-1823

The Mission Trail marked three hundred years of Spanish-Mexican settlement. It travelled [sic] as far South as Guatemala and traversed Mexico to advance through eleven of our present day United States. In 1823 Mission San Francisco Solano was founded, marking the last and northernmost outpost on the historic Mission Trail.