The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-10-18
GRASS-GROWN MOUNDS.
Only These Mark the Sites Of the Old Santa
Clara Missions.

From Oakland to Santa Clara. in Santa
Clara County, runs one of the finest county
roads in this State. 1t is well known TO
cyclers, numbers of whom may be seen on
any Sunday morning during these delicious
autumn days making the "run" from Oak
land to San Jose. A column might be filled
with "reminiscences of the more famous of
these runs, "but that" as Rudyard Kipling
would say, sis another story"
After leaving Milpitas, and before reach
ing San Jose, narrow road strikes the
highway, which, if followed, leads the trav-
eler to Santa Clara depot. This road
crosses the Guadalupe creek by bridge.
just below which there Is a slight rise IN
the ground, hardly perceptible eminenre,
which the casual observer would scarcely
give second thought to; small hills are
common enough sight anywhere.
In recent sketch in the Los Angeles Ex-
press, however, S. A. Widrey relates con-
VeIsati0n held. as a boy, with one of the
old padres of the Santa Clara Mission that
throws some light on this mound. and
is of sufficient interest to be reproduced.
According to this account the early padres
built on that spot their first adobe church;
but the floods of winter came, the creek
rose and spread all around the church, the
adObes melted in the water, and all that the
current left is that little rise of ground, Just
below the place where the bridge has been
since built Each successive flood takes
away some more of the earth, and in few
years no trace at all will be left.
will remark i'll passing, adds Mr.. Wild
ney, that the padres words came true. The
floods of the years have passed over that
spot, and to-day not one trace can be
found Of the first mission de Santa Clara"
The padre further related that an earth
Quake destroyed the second building. DO
you remember" he asked his nearer. "a
rise If ground that you often drive over
when you go down Franklin street to the
depot? The rise is Just in front of the old
Redmond estate not far from the old
'Alcaldes' mansion"
Eyes, | remember the place."
"Well. that is the ruin of the second mis-
sion" The priests were so afraid CT an
other possible flood that they built nearly
two miles away from the Guadeloupe and
to make all as safe as possible they deter
mined to have stone foundation. Now, If
you were to dig down into that little mound
you will find large number of rocks as big
as a bulls head and they were brought all
the way from the foothills on the east ten
miles off, just to be used in that foundation,
for there are no rocks to be had nearer.
"To get the rocks the priests made a lot Of
hand-carts; aud for wheels they cut the
trunks OF trees into cross sections. rounding
the edges, and boring holes in the centers
for the axles to go in. They creased the
ing and squawking carts the Indians hauled
those rocks ten miles to be used in the foun-
dation. They were told to select rocks as
big as bulls head
Like the first mission, they built with
adobe bricks (Suu-dried bricks, but they
made the walls four feet thick, SO as 10
withstand any reasonable flood should one
come No fluod came to trouble them,
however, but they did meet with something
far worse. for an earthquake one day shook
the building down aud completely ruined it.
"ln searching among the ruins for such
of the fixtures as could be used again they
found this old parchment book. 1t had evil
IDENTIFY been built into the wall. inelOsed in
wooden box strongly made. No one knows
who put it there, nor for what reason. Here
is the book. 1t came from those ruins.
That is all we know about it. The rocks
are down there yet"
"1'he present church came next, but not
as you see it just now. Like the other two
churches, it was built of adobe. but
they made this one larger than either of the
others. They built strongly and carefully,
and so far no accident nor calamity has be-
fallen US. But as the years went by the old
tile roof began to be too heavy for the sup
port under it, and the roof became very
irregular and leaky. We proposed to take
off the old tile roof and put on a modern
roof. but the Indians and the older Mexi-
can and Spanish families we're so much
opposed to changing the old mission that we
Just left the old tile roof as it was and built
roof on uprights clear of the old roof en-
trely. Then, too. when it came 10 remodel
ing the front they opposed that also, so we
Just left the old adobe front and built
modern front outside of the old one"