| From Classbrain.com Santa Clara de Asis Mission Santa Clara de AsisFather Junipero Serra, first Father-Presidente of the Alta California Mission Chain, founded the Mission Santa Clara de Asis on January 12th, 1777. It was the 8th of California's 21 missions and it was the only mission named for a woman.Mission Santa Clara was the second mission to be founded in the San Francisco Bay area. The first was Mission San Francisco de Asis, or Mission Delores, which was settled north of the grasslands of Santa Clara. Both missions were intended to help protect the San Francisco Bay area.
The mission was also in close proximity to the Pueblo San Jose. Ownership rights concerning water, land, and other resources emerged between the two establishments and caused friction for a time. Relations remained civil enough that many people from Pueblo San Jose went to Santa Clara for church services every Sunday. The Indian population at Mission Santa Clara was extremely friendly. They helped the padres build the mission, raise crops, and harvest fruit from orchards. The mission's economic success was due in large part to the efforts of the Native Americans at Santa Clara. In spite of their eventual cooperation, the Indians were not always so welcoming. Father Jose Viader gained the respect and cooperation of the Natives one night after he was attacked. An Indian named Marcelo and two of his friends attacked Father Viader one night while he slept. Being very athletic, the Father warded off the attackers and even bested Marcelo. He then forgave the men who attacked him. From that day onward, the defeated Indian was the father's most trusted and devoted companion. The mission itself is now 100 feet long, 44 feet wide, and 25 feet tall. This was not the original mission though. Flooding in the valley where the church was originally established required the padres to relocate. They built four different churches, each destroyed by either flood or earthquake, before they built the fifth and final church in 1822 in their present location. Like most California missions, the Mission Santa Clara de Asis supported itself and the Native inhabitants of the area by growing crops of wheat and corn. They also raised herds of horses and cattle, and cultivated grapes in a vineyard. The mission was best known for its prosperous fruit orchards. The harvests from Santa Clara were the best of the mission chain. Suggested Reading© Copyright 2004 by Classbrain.com |
