History
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Founded: 4 July 1823 by Padre Jose Altimira
Named for: St. Francis Solano,
missionary to the Peruvian Indians
Number in Series: 21st
Indian Name: Thought to be Sonoma
Brand: 
August 1819: One of the last Franciscans educated in Spain, Padre José Altimira arrived in Monterey. He was assigned to Mission San Francisco de Asís. He quickly became disenchanted with the conditions and developed an ambitious plan for a new mission...
1822/1823: ...but Padre Altimira bypassed his church hierarchy and, instead, discussed it with the new Governor, Don Luis Argüello. Governor Argüello was the military commander at the San Francisco Presidio before becoming Governor so he was aware of conditions there. Additionally, he saw political positives in Padre Altimira's plan which was to close both Mission San Francisco de Asís and Mission San Rafael Arcángel and open a replacement north of San Rafael. The Russians were pushing south and the Governor saw the new mission as a way to keep them from advancing and even to push them out of the province.
1823: The Governor presented the plan to the Territorial Assembly in Monterey. They approved it and Padre Altimira made plans to implement it. However, everyone forgot that the only people with authority to create the new mission were the ecclesiastical authorities, headed by the President-General of the Missions: Padre José Francisco de Paula Señán, who was dying. Padre Señán was against the plan and directed his successor, Padre Vincente Francisco de Sarría, to rebuke Padre Altimira. The rebuke reached Padre Altimira at Sonoma where he had already started the Mission. Work stopped and negotiations between the parties started. A compromise was worked out...
4 July 1823: Mission San Francisco Solano was dedicated, Padre Altimira was allowed to stay there in charge of construction and the other two missions stayed in operation. [Side note: This was the only mission started under the rule of the Mexican Governors of California.]
1824: The Mission church, a building of poles plastered with mud and whitewashed, was dedicated. Mission San Francisco de Asís donated materials necessary to get the new Mission started. And, the Russians even donated bells and useful items. The Mission was well established by the end of the year.
1825: The first vineyard in Sonoma Valley was planted by the padres this year. It was used for sacramental wine. Also, this year, the Convent, a long adobe wing, was completed.
1826: An angry group of Indians stormed the Mission. While Padre Altimira was good at building, he was poor at working with the Indians. Most padres treated their charges with the kindness and discipline one would use with a child. Padre Altimira, instead, relied on the more drastic measures of flogging and imprisonment. The revolt against these techniques forced Padre Altimira to flee to the San Rafael mission. From there his reputation spread rapidly and he was no longer welcome at any mission. Unable to work in California, he eventually returned to Spain.
1826: Padre Fortuni, an assistant to Padre Durán at Mission San José, arrived to take over the Mission and try to rebuild after the destruction of the riot. He spent seven years at the Mission.
1827: The second Church started construction. It was 150 feet long and about 30 feet wide and high.
Spring 1833: A sudden rainstorm caused much damage to the new Church. It may have even made the Church unusable.
1833: When Padre Fortuni retired there was a new adobe enclosure, the damaged adobe church, and the 5-room convento was a 27-room structure. There were 30 buildings in total at the Mission. Upon Padre Fortuni's retirement Zacatecan priests were assigned to the Mission. At this time, the overall Mission grounds might have looked something like this...
Picture taken 2:35pm 29 Aug 2003
1834: Mexico's Secularization Laws were ratified in 1834. Mexicans at the Mission, unwilling to live under secular authority, moved to San Rafael.
1835: Governor José Figueroa directed Military Commandant Mariano Vallejo to carry out the secularization of the Mission and distribute property to the Mission Indians. He was also directed to establish a garrison in the area in order to continue to check the Russian settlement advances. Vallejo, however, saw an opportunity for personal profit. While saying he was acting to benefit the Indians, he actually added the Mission properties to his own holdings in the area and put the Indians to work for him. He never allowed the official appraiser to enter the Mission properties.
With the old Mission as his headquarters, Vallejo established a pueblo named Sonoma (Valley of the Moon). In order to man his position and perform his task of keeping the Russians in check Vallejo moved forces from San Francisco. He also downsized Fort San Joaquin, leaving only artillerymen to care for the guns. He also enlisted the Indians into his cause by forming an alliance with Solano, chief of the Suisunes. This gave him the help of the northern Indians who were treated well so long as they showed no indication of hostility. There was peace on the frontier and Vallejo was given the rank of General.
While headquartered in Sonoma, General Vallejo's property was the Petaluma Adobe; now a California State park. See here for additional information: http://www.parks.sonoma.net/adobe.html
Vallejo kept the Church in repair for awhile but eventually the locals removed roofing for their own use and the adobe walls, unprotected, essentially dissolved in the rains.
1840: Needing a parish church, a new adobe church was constructed on the original site of the Mission church.
1845: As he did with other Mission properties, Governor Pio Píco attempted to sell the property before the Americans came. Nobody bid on the property.
14 June 1846: Sonoma became a player in the American takeover of California from the Mexican government. Captain John Frémont launched the Bear Flag Revolution and occupied Sutter's Fort. From there, he took over Sonoma and imprisoned General Vallejo. He fashioned a flag with the likeness of a bear and the words "Republic of California" on it and raised it over the plaza. Before the local Mexican supporters could rally against Frémont, Commodore Sloat landed in Monterey and the war with Mexico moved into California.
1881: Up until 1881 the church had been a parish church but it had fallen into ruin over the years. In 1881 it was sold by Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany to Solomon Shocken and the building was subsequently used as a hay barn, winery, and blacksmith shop.
In the early 1900s an immigrant from Italy, Samuele Sebastiani, with his wife Elvira, purchased the vineyard. You might recognize the brand name "Sebastiani" which continues to produce fine wines in the area to this day.
1903: The Historic Landmarks League used funds from William Randoph Hearst to purchase the Mission property. Their objective was to restore it.
1906: The work performed by the Landmarks League was largely undone by the Great 1906 San Francisco Quake.
1911-13: The state provided funds for the restoration and it quickly proceeded.
1926: The League deeded the Mission property to the state to be used as a State Historic Park.
1943-1944: Additional reconstruction took place.
September 1953: The first systematic historical archeological investigations at Sonoma were begun; one of the first half-dozen such California investigations. The research showed that the 1913 restoration is a small part of the original Mission.
|
Navigation for Mission San Francisco Solano: Mission Home :: History :: Museum :: Chapel :: Courtyard :: Exterior |