CORREO
THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CALIFORNIA MISSION STUDIES ASSOCIATION
WEB SITES:
Bob Jackson has sent in the addresses of three web sites which he
thinks might be of interest to our readership.
http://www.h-net.org/~latam/powerpoints/
This is a series of PowerPoint presentations which
have been converted to Adobe .pdf files. The subject matter of the more
than 50 presentations ranges all through North and South America.
http://www.timsbaja.com/rjackson.html
This is a series of slide presentations on the
missions, plus a number of Bob's papers on mission history.
http://www.davidksbaja.com/bajamissions/
This contains a number of contemporary and recent
photographs of the Baja California missions.
OCCURRENCES AT SAN ANTONIO AND SAN MIGUEL:
Brother Bill Short of San Miguel reports that recently a portion of
mission land, east of the railroad tracks, was trespassed upon by a
bulldozer working on an adjoining property. In the process,
various mission-era artifacts were uncovered and the remains of what
appears to have been the foundation of Salinan neophyte homes. Mission
San Miguel is a State Historic Landmark and on the National Register of
Historic Places. The county has placed a "stop work" order on the
project for now. Bob Hoover (ULRICH1614@AOL.COM) has more
information.
Sadly, Mission San Antonio has again been hit by thieves (see the CMSA
website for an article on earlier incidents,
http://www.ca-missions.org/hoover.html.) Bob Hoover says that “the
famous Carbajal violin, made by a Salinan neophyte and used in the
original mission orchestra, [was] stolen sometime this month [August]
from its case in the museum. The case was opened and a
replacement child's violin put in its place. This is not the
first time this kind of craziness has occurred. It cannot
possibly be sold on the open market, as it is very well
documented. (--Sasha Honig)
SAN MIGUEL:
Br. Bill Short, O.F.M., Guardian of Mission San Miguel, writes:
Mission San Miguel has been is in the news these days!
The headline for the Aug. 7 L.A Times reads: "Fixing Crumbling Missions
Will Be a Costly Challenge;"
In San Luis Obispo, Aug. 18, The Tribune wrote: "Missions seek aid to
fund repairs: San Miguel could be first in line for help."
Those interested in supporting restoration at Mission San Miguel may
wish to mark their calendars for the annual Fiesta.
The Fiesta will be celebrated this year on:
Sunday, September 21.
11:00 AM Fiesta Mass in the Mission Church
12 PM-4 PM Traditional California barbeque, games and music.
Suggested donation of $8/adults; $5/children: proceeds benefit the
Mission Restoration Fund.
For more information about San Miguel, see
www.missionsanmiguel.org
FORT ROSS:
In its heyday, Fort Ross was composed not only of the structures (the
Chapel, the Manager’s House, etc.) which one can see today but also of
a sprawling complex of at least 59 buildings outside the walls: a
village housing a population of Russians, Alaskan natives, and Creoles
(Russian-Native Americans); a tannery; other workshops; and
two windmills. The windmills were used primarily to grind grain,
although one of them was also outfitted with a pounding machine to
process tanbark for the tanning operation. A model of one windmill is
now on is now on view in the Fort Ross Visitor Center; it was built by
Moscow historical architect Igor Medvedev based on extensive studies of
Russian windmills of the period.. The model gives visitors a more
complete idea of the true extent of the Fort*s physical appearance and
variety of economic activities. For more information on the building of
the model, see
http://www.mcn.org/1/rrparks/fortross/windmill.htm or
search for “Fort
Ross Windmill.” A series of other links on Fort Ross have
recently been posted on the CMSA Links pages (look for the red NEW
designation); one is especially for teachers and can be found in
the For and By Young Scholars section of the links page.
(From Glenn Farris and Sasha Honig)
ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO:
Larry Gould has called our attention to a very interesting article
describing the activities and findings of Barb Voss at the San
Francisco presidio in the Stanford Report:
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2003/august20/archdig-820.html
Barb also has a very important article of her own in the upcoming CMSA
Boletín on this project and what it tells us about life in early
Alta California.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Two recently published books may be of interest to our members:
Lawrence Coates
The Master of Monterey
Paperback, 273 pp., $20.00, ISBN 0-87417-529-1
University of Nevada Press (http://www.nvbooks.nevada.edu/
(An historical novel on the 1842 "capture" of Monterey by Commodore
Thomas ap Catesby Jones)
Samuel Bawlf
The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake
Hardcover, 400 pp., $28.00, ISBN, 0-8027-1405-6
Walker and Co. (http://www.walkerbooks.com/
(Another take on the location of Drake's "New Albion")