The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 15, 1901, Page 2

9 THE SUNDAY CALL HE old, old Spanish highway is to be reconstructed. Already a con- ffort Is being made to re- e ancient road traveled by the days than a re will be appcaled to t ment. Man) (yf‘lhr—se acceded to the at s meeking old, located the ecting the h to soutk which was their followers most direct between their pueb ar f portions of i vere curved It was because there ades or hills to be enco: e for the sirength of th an Diego County, the State, a cent the preser es give it, a C ino Real, s to be made looking of that road to its te SAN JUA MISSION IUMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO ORIGINAL JPOAD minus From 500 or more miles to the north, t northeastward, distant a thirty miles, the original way through beautiful t > mission of San 1 is in ruins except been p rtly recon- esent dec and as one of the best n architecture to be e Stat pre e imme s a compre- of the work of tha > long tiers ve In size. directly in f an sses di- “allbrook and ance from for the San San Juan on er mi Caplistrano is perl r:nhqua) 3 r lives. The solid block of flint= ome r‘: the original paint- hel and are cimens of this countr: pel. which was construct- after the founding of the tal howeve here originally, more t There are aiso some of s indited by t g lower the east wall 2 point four miles from heim. Only three as abandoned by Tvisors for ct that n Pacific tra y for a distan eim a Ri ent town o f A thence ill in good t of the old puch- There were t miles tow center of suppl he hern mis- sions. It is fal 1 preserved to-day d its main chapel, with h tressed walls of baked adobe slabs pervi to the ra s of time roof of shingles. however of original effect, Fernando, distant twent little wesi of north from One of the finest pr roofs to he seen on is here and the founts of immense size and u = The long corridors of liar to almost all the mis here to perfection and the s scene i3 well adapted to set off the ties of 2 Here the tou first note the fantastic drapery of Span- ish moss on the live oak trees. Before approaching the mission from the south he will see, covering several miles of the journey, magnificent groves of live oak and sycamore trees. The scarcity of un- derbrush is also noticeable and the ground for the most part is clean as a lawn. Nature seems to have been in a quiescent Stete here for centuries. The leaves of the trees have been festooned with grace- ful garlands of moss, bright green, dull gray or silvery white, while swaying list- PHoros By FIERCE e FEE HOAY AT A WFrL =/ 4“/‘.' AN LS Pl lessly and fect. San Fernando, the steam from the upper branches arbutus wild smilax add to the peaceful ef- far from the noise of ds, with its wealth of rem- its inexhaustible fund of inter- story engrossed indelibly upoa 2 of its ancient ledgers, is a mis- sion well worth more than a passing glance. The road o used to_cross. the range from San Fernando to Ventura is but ill-d. t da Mining and oil prospectors have made roads and better ones; surveyors ve found o : Supervisors V' proved from county roads ble to definitely and . 1 rrect the original highway, but there are old Spanish settlers in that lo- cality who doubtless can give reliable in- formation surely re 7 on at Ventura, known still by its original name, San Buena Ventura, /s on the main street of the town and marks 1 the line of the royal road. Its main building is well preserved, having been partially reconstructed. The original tii- ing on the roof of the baptismal house in the rear of the chapel is still intact, but the main building has a modern roof of shingles. There are many mementces of former g in this mission well £. Santa Barbara County has the second 0 and three missions within its Santa Barbara mission i3 mest written about of any of scan missions, Located direct- 3 town of Santa Barbara, itself a popular tourist resort, the mission has been visited by thousands of Eastern peo- ple and has been photographed by every professional and amateur who ever vis ited it. It Is admirably preserved and its site upon the hillside, just high enough to overlook the city, is an admirable one. Its twin towers and their old bells, its immense fountain, displaying some mag- nificent examples of stone carving, its elaborate facade, its long, shady corri- dors: its wealth of historical lore, make it at once one of the most popular as well @s one of the best known of all the twen- iy-one missions. In a westerly direction thirty about SERVED PART OF Porrion OF ORIGINAL SPAN (SH HIGH- WAY miles, following “the original highway which again becomes plain from Santa Barbara on, we come to the mission of Santa Ynez, and thence northward thircy miles find the mission Purissima. These are loss vVisited than almost any of the others, being off the lines of travel and reached only through mountainous coun- try by wagen road. The original highway is still used here for the most part, although there are cut offs here and there that will prove coh- fusing until original records are gonsuit- ed. Both missions are interesting and pre- sent examples of the beautiful design of their builders, each differing somewhat from the styles seen farther toward the south. Through the Banta Marla Valley and over the mountains to San Luis Obispo the route of El Camino Real is still-used as the most direct hlghwai. The mission at San Luls Obispo has been rebuflt in part, in a style of architecture too mod- HIGHWAY 1V ern 1o please *he secker after ancleny things, but a portion ot it remains in itd original form. It is within a few city blocks of the royal road, which passeg through what ‘s now the maln strcet of the town. At San Miguel, distant thirty-one miles to the north of San Luis Mission, is the mission of San Miguel, which was ‘the half-way house in olden times on the journey_ from fan Diego to San Fran- cisco. The mission is in a poor state of preservation, but is interesting in many ways nevertheless. Its tiled roof remains upan such portions of the bullding as are stil] intact, but there are enough tiles piled around the corral serving as a wall or fence to cover another buildirig of the same size. Monterey County contains the third presidie, which was known as the royal presidio, and thrce missions. It held a ‘warm place in the hearts of the Francis- cans, for at El Carmel Mission, near HE SPANISH FRONT OF SANTA BARBARA 5510, i ;’} ~ \"/' IUSS/0N DOLORES Mouterey. Father Junipero Serra Is buried. The missions ot Soledad, El Car- mel (San Antonio) and San Carlos Bor- romeo (Monterey) lle in the order named, distant about thirty miles apart, and have Leen much described and visited of late years by tourists. They are all as inter- SAN FRANCISCO ON ORIGINAL ROAD. esting as any that have been mentioned herein. and the old road connects them all. Northwest from Monterey - the highway passes through w no the main business street of S s to the of : Juan Bau thirty and is still open and in good con v. Thence it wound nort} through the hills in t e vicinity of Pz and Watsonville to Santa Cruz was the second pueblo in scheme. The mission of Bran established here and is 3 to rame the Spa ward San Jose, wherc the next mission was _established and where the third pueblo was located, the old road becomes vague in several places, although It is be- lieved that it can be reopened and made passable all the way. The route is mag- nificent scenicaliy, for some of the most marvejous of California’s beauties are displa. h on is one of the and some of there are nesti- t will to-day \eiscan verted into lainly condition. el mission structure, vonders and will 2 of the scenio a would attrac ivaluable and inducemen oncerted action 1 flered t o ufder the pices of the Pa hibition_ As- 1 about. Miss F rganization has charge o 1 through boards have SHOWING ROYAL FFANISIH] Foh2 AT SAN JOIE M550 aldl!n this venture at ar beals to the State pi~de of the respectivé countlea through which the rosal road ;A)l]'t-gylllx;}l‘lylh pgsxed appealing to them rou he Supervisors to malntain and repair the old road. w. X 1T ‘ratner ape ROUSE. 1