The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-21

TnIe-onIy known Foundation
for the Legend.
Five prospectors are Quitting at San
Diego, Cal, for a quest similar to that
for the Holy Grail or the Golden Fleece,
and without doubt will be as barren Of
results. The expedition IS Gre of search
for the tabled three consecrated bells Of
the last mission of Santa Ysabel, in Baja
Oower) California
The mission of Santa Ysabel was found
ed by the padres in 1903 as a sort of over
flow from the parent mission of San Fer
nando, established in 1869
The famous gold placers of the PENN
sula, then a virgin field, are said to have
produced the precious metal in such
quantities that the strong boxes of the
padres were soon filled to OVERLOOKING
The altar ornaments were of pure gold
cast in crude molds designed and made
by the monks. 1t was the reported rich
ness that originated the first raids by the
brigands and outlaws from the mainland
They had no computations against loot
ing the mission treasury, foraging on it's
larder and. orchards, and driving off the
hocks. but they are said to have had a
holy fear of consecrated vessels. Know
Ing this, according to the legend, the pa
ores cast their chests of virgin gold into
chalices, crucifixes, fonts, etc, until they
had as many as they could possibly find
excuses for and still they had a, large
amount of bullion on hand Finally they
decided to cast the remainder into three
bells for the mission and the legend has
II that about $50 pounds troy, possibly val
ued at $50 in gold, was cast into the three
pells, and these bells consecrated with
great pomp and solemnity.
The peace of God that had so long on
Veloped the cloisters gave way to the
strife of man, and the fiint-lock musla+
was more often in evidence about the
walls than was the prayer book, as the
priests repealed raid after raid of bri-
gands and Indians.
BURIAL OF GOLDEN Bells
Finally, by an act of the state tho
padres were driven from their noesas-
sions, and the mission of Santa ysabo1
Is said to have experienced the hardest
luck OF al A drought of several wears
oried their irrigation bitches, their In
dian converts deserted them, and in +,7rn
became dsspeilers of the5tlocks and herds
uhtlf the padres, to escape faminine and
perhaps worse, we7Frlas tfQq9Gleed to abandon
the quiet home. they had constructed to
the wilderness ls They packed all their
movable. Possessions on mules and turn
ed their faces again toward the coast
leaving Beblnd the. three bells. which
fhey are Said 20 have buried in secret
place against their return, leaving as a
guard few trusty Cocopah Indians. The
padres never returned, and some have
1t mat the Indians, or rather some of
their descendants, are there yet, keeping
faithful watch and ward over their
trust confident in their simple belief that
the beloved padres Of their fathers viii
yet return. to claim their own.
Further, The fable says that the walls
Of the mission have been leveled, the site
covered by the drifting sands of the
desert, and that the location is OnIv 2
matter of Surmise, from the fact that
outside of a certain small district men
may come and go unframed, but within
that district they receive a warning TO
go at once, and if the warning is not
Obeyed they disappear forever. Organ
made raids on the locality within com
parativeiy recent years, but always have
been beaten off by the Indians, who sig
naied from the surrounding mountains
for others of theirst Tribe to come to their
assistance. At times these armed con-
flicts have assumed such proportions that
local chrOniclers say the government was
forced 10 serld company OF 1urales
(border police to keep the peace Now.
the n thnsa-
the object Of the five prospectors They
claim foundation of fact for their ro-
nance by saying that one man has seen
the bells, but was driven away by the
Indians, glad enough to escape with his
. life.
Now. some of the statements in this
legend are true, but the main features
are much to be doubted.
ONLY FOUNDATION FOR LEGEND.
There was a Santa Ysabel mission:
any one living in the central part of the
peninsula will point out it's location. or
one can hire an Indian for 81 a day, Mex
lean money, to guide one directly to the
mission. 1t was abandoned by the pa
dres owing to the secularization act That
it was often raided by brigands and the
thieving CocOpahs cannot be questioned.
but the statement that the site of the
mission is not known is not true The
drought story is also fiction and the
golden bells-huh!
The site of the mission is in a park In
the mountain. Although the meadowlike
spot is cultivated no longer, it still fur
nishes rich pasturage for deer and noun
tain sheep, and is not at all what the
legend describes it to be-a waterIess.
desert waste. The mission building. or
rather the chapel, is in a misera BILE state
of decay, and the walls of the corral or
Enclosure of the cloisters, are almost level
with the ground. One building is in a
comparatively good state of preserva
ton. evidently having been used at one
time as a stOrehouse. A few Santa Ca
ants of the neOphytes of the mission
make the park their home and keep VI
the repairs to the mission storehouse.
In the storchouse are a few relics
some old missals, and a Spanish Bible
200 years old, few old and battered can
delabra and altar ornaments of bronze
and some worn and discarded prfestly
robes. An old Indian that carries the
pOnderous siX-inch iron key will show the
entire outfit for a 10-cent package OF
smoking tobacco, and will tell you the
whole story and more for dos reales. "
two bits, or, as you say back there, "a
quarter" Ask him about the bells OF
gold and he looks at you with surprise
and envy-yOu know a better story about
his trust than he does
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