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Published: April 11th 2009
FR. SERRA
Statue at the site of his historic founding mass.(Excerpted from my book; OUR SUMMER IN CARMEL Amazon.com)
When Portola returned to San Diego he found a deplorable situation. A third of his men had died, mostly from scurvy; six more had died from an Indian attack. With no provisions and no sign of the supply ship he was ready to scrap the entire project and return to Mexico. However, almost as in a Hollywood script, just as his self imposed time limit was approaching, the San Antonio sailed in with fresh supplies. With this encouragement, Portola was reenergized to continue his quest.
Undaunted, they set forth again in April 1770, dividing his party once more into a seaborne expedition that carried Fr. Serra among others, and a land excursion led by Portola following the route he had blazed the year before. This time, arriving in Monterey on May, 24, they recognized the signs in Vizcaino's 160 year old report and also discovered the cross they had left on the beach the previous December. They were surprised to find the the cross had been adorned by the natives with clams, meat, and sardines. The natives must have witness3d Portola's ceremony when erecting the cross and attributed some special meaning in having it placed there.
On Sunday June 3, 1770, with the ringing of bells and a beautiful morning sunrise, the entire party, land and sea, gathered near the same mighty oak under which Vizcaino and the Carmelites had celebrated mass years earlier. On this occasion the Spanish explorers celebrated the founding of Monterey and claimed all California in the name of King Charles III. At the same ceremony, The Mission San Carlos de Borromeo was proclaimed. A name specifically requested by the King of Spain in honor of his patron saint. Spain, 228 years dating from Cabrillo, and 168 years following Vizcaino's landing, had come to stay. Finally!
A statue of Fr. Serra seen stepping from a small boat in Monterey gazing out on the harbor today from a deserted clearing at the US Army base, at the original Spanish Presidio of Monterey, the very site of the historic Mass that Sunday long ago.
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