University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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-€= P A ' i €m y redwdqo been perfoniK ' d. 1 )urin.i the year 177 ' ' the construction program was seriously ham])ere(l liv two llciods. After the first had subsided an attempt at restoration was made, but the second inundation ])ut an end to these efiforts. iVnd so it was necessary to move from the location of the first Mission. ( )f the few things we have left to remind us of that earliest settlement, one is the cross which stands today at the end (tf the driveway leading into our campus. When the second Mission was erected during the years from 1781 to 1784 the two bells so recently destroyed were presented by the king of Spain. Down through the century, side by side, cross and bells have witnessed a struggle that has come out glori- ' ously in the face of overwhelming odds. Protected by a covering of pine wood the cross now stands alone, while on the other side of the drive we still gaze in sorrowful contemplation on the broken bits that were once a bell. They had first found their ])lace in the belfrv .)f that secf)nd Mission Church which Serra, I ' alou, and Pena dedicated on May 15, 1784. The structure was located about 150 yards southwest of the present Southern Pacific depot. Adobe walls have l)een dis- covered there and a cross marking the exact spot reverently set up. Vancouver, who visited the Mission in 17 ' ' v , descril)es it as forming an incomplete square of about 100 by 170 feet, though the church itself was later lengthened about twenty-four feet and in 1795 was improved with tile roofing, ddie land upon which the buildings stood, however, was marshy and high waters (jften caused trouble. Yet in 1800 the Mission seems to have enjoyed considerable sitccess ; spiritually, since its faithful numbered about 1250; and materially, since we read that its livestock numbered close to 5,000 head. As if it were not enough t(j find themselves beset by the malign attacks of those whom they had come to hel]), nature herself seemed in league against the padres and in 1818 the second chiu ' cb fell ictini to an earthquake. Once again the bells found a new resting place. They were removed only a short distance to that third Mission Santa Clara, whose ruins may be viewed in the heart of the campus of that University which a grateful posterity has erected to the memory of the first structure where true wisdom was taught to the inhabitants of Santa Clara Valley. And so it is that the subse(|uent history of Mission Santa Clara is dearer to us. Third Cliiircli of Mission Erected 1822 ' Yl .jCCi G - ' m-mrm n i ( w r i r-n-r f22| S. ..sB - ' k.. 1 11 tli ntMUlJMi -

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tHEREDWDQo SIa ( Mission Santa Qlara By Alvin J. Wolf ' 28 At half-past eight o ' clock on the evening of Octoher 25, 1926, there rang out across the campus the stirring peal of a hell. For more than one hundred and twenty-five years that bell had sent forth its music laden tone to the faithful, who heard and were thus reminded of souls departed. During the hours preceding that evening, about which we speak, flames had en- veloped and destroyed the third Santa Clara Mission Church. In the ruins lay three bells. With painstaking care and expert manipulation one of these was recovered, a temporarv lielfry erected, and at the usual hour its encouraging, hoijeful, unconquerable toll again rested sweetly upon our ears. Not so with the other two ! The end of their mission had come! And as we gaze sadly into the heated ashes to catch through the fitful smoke a glimpse of their cracked and broken forms the imagination carries us awav to dream (jnce more about how well and how long they had performed their task. When did they first call the faithful of the Mission Santa Clara to jirayer? Ainio Duiniiii 1779! Just two years before on the banks of the Guadalupe River a Mass was celebrated. In Old Mission Cross Preserved Si nee 1777 attendance were about ten soldiers and their fam- ilies, a colonist and a certain Lieutenant Moraga. The celebrant was the Franciscan Father Thomas de la Pena. Thus it was that the Mission Santa Clara was founded on the morning of Jan. 12, 1777. To those but partially acquainted with the Santa Clara Valley it will be of interest to learn that th s early .settlement on the Guadalupe was near the present site of Alvis(j, at the headwaters of San Francisco bay. It was then called So-eo-is-u-ka by the Indians and is today known as Laurel li ' ood. The chief advantage of this position was that it afl ' orded immediate contact with the many natives who came to the river to fish. Consefjuently a small church was erected and plans for the usual arrange- ment of btiildings begun. As a result of the first year ' s endeavor sixtv-seven baptisms had been ad- ministered, and twenty-five Christian burials ha l: 1 riiird Mission Bell Toivcr Burned (Jet. 25. 1926 ' m jixax - ■. M n M o t, uxnf

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' YHE REDWDOZ) ijL. When the Ijells tolled in the year 1820, a neophyte population of 1357 heard them. Perhaps even the 12,060 sheep pricked up their ears a bit, to say nothing of 5,746 head of stock. Seven years later the same bell tolled for 1464 eager listeners. From 1777 to 1834 the deaths were 6950, the baptisms 8640. Nor were these things accomplished peacefully. So unfriendly did the Indians become at times that it was necessary to place guards around the wheat fields to prevent the ruination of the crops by some hostile band. On one occasion a guard was killed, though the attackers were captured and punished for their deed. Severe measures were en- tirely obligatory in order to present to the native a graphic example of what would hai)pen if such a crime was repeated. The year 1843 witnessed one of those attempts, which succeeded more or less, in depriving the Missions of their wealth, either in real property or cattle. Between four to six thousand sheep were taken by M. J. Vallejo, legally, in the aid of the government. A little while before this an Indian uprising influenced many of the converts of the Mission to desert its j rotecting walls, so that Pio Pico ' s decree of June 5, 1845, gave evidence to the fact that but 130 ex-neophytes were within hearing distance of the liells. The padres attributed the demoralized condition of the irresponsible natives to the eiTects of strong drink obtained from the white settlement at San J(jse. The ((uarrels were almost disastrous to the Mission. The years 1846 to 1851 are related clearly enough in that history of California which tells about its mighty goUl rush. What the Mis- sion Santa Clara suffered was no more than that of others of her kind. Possessed of com- paratively extensive lands, a considerable num- ber of buildings, and a very convenient stock of animals — no wonder then that there were en- croachments by immigrants. Possibh ' the timelv interference of the governor averted another catastrophe ; at any rate the bells continued to ring. Then came the pas.sing of the Mission from the able hands of the Franciscans to the willing ones of the Jesuits. The first move of the latter was the establishment of a college for the mold- ing of upright character ; for the teaching of Catholic principles ; in a word, for the purpose of preparing young men who are to serve their country as its most dependable citizens, and their Ciod as His most dutiful creatures. The foundation for such a high and noble undertaking was begun by Father Nobili in 1851. The rights and privileges of a college were granted in 1855. Let us pause for a moment to reflect that the history of the Mission is nothing more than the life storv of interesting and wonderful men. Fathers Pena and Bell Presented by Kin;) of Sixain 17 ' S r y { -3}