Early Explorers of Sonoma County
The Native Americans were all by themselves until the day a Spanish ship sailed north along the shores of Sonoma County.
In
1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore
what is now the west coast of the United States. He is now known as the
discoverer and first explorer of the Californian coast.
The Cabrillo expedition sailed out of the port of Navidad, near modern day Manzanillo, on June 24, 1542. Accompanying Cabrillo were a crew of sailors, soldiers, Indian and probably black slaves, merchants, a priest, livestock and provisions for two years. Three ships, the flagship San Salvador built by Cabrillo himself, were under his command.
The Spanish were looking for a shorter route to carry their riches back to Spain. They had made a long journey and landed on Sonoma County shores to rest and repair their ship. Cabrillo claimed the land for Spain and raised the Spanish flag in 1542. He and his men sailed back to Mexico to tell everyone about the country to the north.
THE ENGLISH
When the Spaniards brought back word of the land, explorers from other countries became interested. An English sea captain named Francis Drake sailed from England capturing Spanish treasure ships. He sailed up the Pacific Coast to get away from Spanish ships that were trying to capture him. He anchored in a small bay in 1579 to fix his ship the Golden Hind. They claimed the land for England and raised the English flag. They bay he founded was Drake's Bay. When he returned to England he was made a knight and was then known as Sir Francis Drake. The English never returned to settle in Sonoma County.
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| Sir Francis Drake | The voyage of Sir Francis Drake (click to make bigger) | |
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| What the Golden Hind might have looked like |
THE MISSION
A group of Spanish settlers and soldiers came from Mexico to make their homes in this land they had heard about. The Spanish padres wanted to teach the Indians about their religion and the ways of the white man. One padre, Father Junipero Serra, journeyed by land from Mexico to California. He and his followers gathered the Indians together in an area and built a mission. They built 21 missions altogether in California along the route known as the "El Camino Real".
Padre Serra
This road was originally marked with wild mustard seeds. The road ended at Sonoma where the last mission, San Francisco de Solano, was finished on July 4, 1823.
Sonoma Mission 1850
Sonoma Mission was founded by Padre Jose Altimira. With the approval of Mexico's Governor Arguello, but without official church sanction, Altimira headed into the northern wilderness to find a more healthful location for his Indians than the crowded San Francisco de Asis Mission.
Here in the Sonoma Valley he found his ideal location, with fertile soil and mild, sunny climate. He blessed the site on July 4, 1823, and started construction the following month.
The original church was dedicated on April 4, 1824. The new mission was called San Francisco Solano in honor of the missionary to the Indians of Peru.
The first crude building was a wooden structure plastered inside and out with white-washed mud. The padres' quarters, a long, low wing to the right of the present adobe church and attached to it, is the oldest structure in Sonoma, dating back to approximately 1825.
Life for the Indians changed after this. Some chose to be part of the mission but others were forced to live and work there. They were not always treated well. Indians who tried to escape were captured and punished.
The present adobe church was built by General Vallejo in 1840 for the families and soldiers of the pueblo.
Another and more tragic period of neglect began in 1881, when the church and padres' quarters were sold and used variously as a hay barn, winery and blacksmith shop. However, the mission was rescued in 1903, when it was purchased by the Historic Landmarks League. Later that year, it became State property and full restoration began in 1911.
Mission Sonoma
Mission San Francisco de Solano today
Inside Mission San Francisco de Solano