Two Centuries at Mission San Jose, 1797-1997 ed. by Philip Holmes (review)

482book reviews Two Centuries atMission SanJose, 1 797-1997. Edited by Philip Holmes. (Fremont , California: Fremont Museum of Local History. 1997. Pp. viii, 232. $15.95.) San Jose Mission was one of the three California missionary establishments celebrating its 200th anniversary in 1997. Overlooking the southern end of San Francisco Bay, fifteen miles north of thepueblo San Jose, the site was selected by Fray Fermín Lasuén for the fourteenth of the California missions on June 1 1 , 1797. Dedicated to San Jose, the mission at first consisted of small wooden structures roofed with tule and grasses stitched together by Indians. At no time was it comparable in size or magnificence with many of the other missions; yet it occupies a high place in California history. During the gold rush it was converted into a trading post for miners and was described in glowing terms by visitors. Today only a few rooms of the adobe monastery, a grove of olive trees, and a replica church remain as the living memory of the historic premises. After a slow start, the mission had nearly 2,000 Indian neophytes in 1831 together with tens of thousands of livestock. In 1837, the properties were evaluated at $155,000, but within two years after secularization its value had been completely dissipated. Sale of the land by Pío Pico was nullified by the U.S. Government , and later twenty-eight acres were returned to the Church. The name of Fray Narciso Duran will ever be associated with Mission San Jose. Arriving in 1806, he remained for twenty-seven years during which time an adobe church and workshops were built. An accomplished musician, Duran trained an Indian orchestra with instruments which provided music on festive occasions. There was never a dull moment at the mission, located as it was in a region of hostile tribes. The editor admits that this bicentennial volume was "not intended to be a scholarly production." It relies almost exclusively for its historical credibility on Francis E McCarthy's 1958 book, The History ofMission SanJose, 1 797-1835, and Raymond Wood's epilogue covering the period from 1835 to 1885. At the same time, there is much of real substance in this book's nine chapters and no fewer than ninety-five essays by a host of authors. The text ranges from such disparate topics as "Judas Day," to squatters, earthquakes, the Sociedade Portuguese Rainha St. Isabel, gasoline stations, antique shops, and restoration. There is even one informative essay about why "de Guadalupe" is not part of the mission's official title. Perhaps the most attractive aspect of this large book are its hundreds of photographs, many of which have never before been printed. An elderly historian from an earlier age used to urge his students "to put the hay down where the cattle can get at it." This book does just that and does it well. FrancisJ.Weber Archival Center ofthe Archdiocese ofLosAngeles ...