MY TRIP TO SONOMA

YESTERDAY I WENT TO VISIT SONOMA WHERE IT WAS QUITE WARM FOR A WINTER DAY -ABOUT 60 DEGREES. I HAD NOT VISITE GENERAL VALLEJO'S HOUSE AND THE MISSION FOR OVER 10 YEARS.
MARIANO VALLEJO WAS BORN IN MONTERREY IN 1810 FROM A SPANISH FAMILY. BEFORE COMING TO SONOMA HE HAD BEEN A MEXICAN COMMANDATE GENERAL.

THE MISSION SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO WAS BUILT IN 1823 AND CONSECRATED BY FATHER JOSE ALTIMIRA. THIS MISSION WAS BUILT UNDER MEXICAN RULE AND IT IS THE LAST BUILT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. THE MISSION GREW INTO A COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS WITH OVER 10,000 ACRES. IN 1832 THE MISSION HAD ITS MOST PROSPEROUS YEAR WITH 900 INDIAN WORKERS HERE. IT SERVED AS A CHURCH UNTIL 1881 WHEN IT WAS SOLD. TODAY IT IS A HISTORICAL MONUMENT FOR STATE PARKS. IN 1826 INDIAN TROBLES DROVE FATHER ALTIMIRA FROM SONOMA. THEN FATHER FORTUNA CONTINUED TO LEAD THE MISSION. IT HAD ABOUT 21 ROOMS ORIGINALLY, BUT ONLY THREE REMAINED IT WAS BUILT OF THICK ADOBE BRICKS TO KEEP OUT THE COLD IT HAS VIRGIL JORGENSEN'S BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS OF ALL THE MISSIONS IN CALIFORNIA ALONG THE WALLS OF THE DINING ROOM.

THE CHAPEL WAS BUILT IN 1840 TO 1841 TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL CHURCH FOR THE MISSION. THE COURTYARD HAS BEEN REPLANTED, HOWEVER IT LOOKED QUITE BARREN IN WINTER WITH SOME CACTI. THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS WERE LOCATED WHERE THE CACTI IS GROWING. THEY HAD A TANNERY, HIDE VATS, VINEYARDS, ORCHARDS, CROPS, AND LIVESTOCK AS WELL. THEY HAVE A PLAQUE THAT HONORD THE INDIANS WHO WORKED HERE AND ARE BURIED IN THE MISSION CEMETERY DURING THE 11 YEARS IT EXISTED.

THE MISSION WAS BUILT HERE AFYTER CLOSING THOSE IN DAN FRANCISCO AND SAN RAFAEL. FATHER DURRICA, THE ADMINISTER OF ALL OF CALIFORNIA MISSIONS,HAD A SOLUTION TO KEEP ALL MISSIONS OPEN BY USING INDIAN LABORERS AS VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS NEW MISSION. THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE WAS PLASTERED WITH WHITEWASHED MUD. SOME HISPANIC WERE DISCUSSING THIS WITH ME.

THE SONOMA BARRACKS WERE NOT OPEN ON A SUNDAY. THEY WERE ORIGINALLY TWO STORIES TALL. THE BARRACKS WERE COMPLETED IN 1841. IT WAS BUILT TO HOUSE MEXICAN ARMY TROOPS UNDER GENERAL VALLEJO IN 1834. VALLEJO WAS COMMANDER OF THE PRESIDEO AND MOVED HIS GARRISON TO SONOMA. FROM 1834 TO 1846 SONOMA WAS HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMANDANT OF THE FRONTERA DEL NORTE .

AFTER 1835 OVER 100 EXPEDITIONS SET OUT TO SUBDUE THE THE WAPPOS WHO SEVERAL TIMES WANTED TO OVERTHROW THE MEXICAN DOMINATION IN SONOMA. THE WAPPOS REMAIN STRONG. AFTER THE BEAR FLAG TAKEOVER OF SONOMA IN 1846, THE U.S. FLAG WAS RAISED. ONLY 50 MEN LIVED IN THE BARRACKS. SOMEONE WAS AN IMPORTANT ARMY POST. IT WAS NOT OPEN WHEN I VISITED IT ON SUNDAY.

MARIANO VALLEJO WAS FORMERLY A MEXICAN COMMANDANTE. HIS FIRST HOUSE IN SONOMA WAS BURNT. IN 1850 HE PURCHASED THIS LAND WHERE THERE WAS ONCE A SPRING. THEY HAD SEPARATE BUILDINGS FOR SERVANTS. IN 1851 - 1852 THE HOUSE WAS BUILT AND THEY CALLED IT LACHRYMA MONTIS. IT WAS BUILT IN A STYLE CALLED THE BOSTON HOUSE. THEY HAD A CLOSE BUILDING FOR A KITCHEN. THEY HAD MANY FOLKS VISIT THEM. THE COOK WAS CHINESE AND HE HAD INDIAN WORKERS. HE HAD A GRAND PIANO COME FROM EUROPE. SOME OF THEIR ELEGANT ROSEWOOD FURNITURE ALSO CAME FROM EUROPE. HE AND HIS WIFE FRANCISCA HAD 16 CHILDREN. THEY HAD SEVERAL FIREPLACES HEATED BY COALS. IT WAS MADE IN A GOTHIC STYLE WITH GERMAN LIKE CARVED LATTICE WORK ON THE ROOF. THIS HOUSE IS NOT THAT LARGE. HE PLANTED A VARIETY OF TREES IN HIS PROPERTY WHICH HAD A GOOD SPRING AT THAT TIME. THE TREES INCLUDED OLIVES, APPLES, PEARS, PEACHES, ORANGES, PLUMS, NECTARINES, FIGS, AND LEMON TREES. HE HAD ABOUT 8,000 ACRES OF WINE GRAPES.

THEY HAD A WAREHOUSE BUILT AS WELL FOR STORING FOOD AND WINE. IT WAS BUILT FROM TIMBERS FROM EUROPE AND WAS LINED WITH ADOBE BRICKS. TODAY THIS SWISS CHALET IS THE VISITOR'S CENTER WHICH HAS A RESTORED CARRIAGE FROM FRANCE. THERE WAS A BIG RESERVOIR CONSTRUCTED IN THE EARLY 1850'S TO COLLECT WATER FROM THEIR SPRING. THEY CALLED IT MOUNTAIN TEARS OR LACHRYMA MONTIS IN LATIN. HE LIVED HERE FOR 38 YEARS. TODAY THE POOL HOLDS KOI AND RIVER TURTLES. THE FAMILY HAD OTHER PETS.

DURING VALLEJO'S LIFE HE FOUND TIME TO WRITE MANY VOLUMES OF HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA