Mission Santa Cruz

An exterior view of the reconstructed half-size Mission Santa Cruz chapel in December, 2004.
HISTORY
Location:	Santa Cruz, California
Name as Founded:	La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz
English Translation:	The Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Nickname(s):	"The Hard-luck Mission"
Founding Date:	August 29, 1791
Founded By:	Father Fermín Lasuén
Founding Order:	Twelfth
Military District:	Fourth
Native Tribe(s): Spanish Name(s):	Awaswas / Ohlone, Yokuts Costeño
Primordial Place Name(s):	Uypi
SPIRITUAL RESULTS
Baptisms:	2,439
Marriages:	827
Burials:	1,972
DISPOSITION
Secularized:	1834
Caretaker:	Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey
Current Use:	Chapel / Museum
Coordinates:	36°58′42″N, 122°1′46″W
California Historical Landmark:	#342
Web Site:	http://www.holycrosssantacruz.com/mission.html

Mission Santa Cruz was consecrated on August 29, 1791 and named for the "Celebration of the Sacred Cross," the name that the explorer Gaspar de Portolà had given to the area when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769 and erected a wooden cross. As with the other California missions, Mission Santa Cruz served as a site for ecclesiastical conversion of natives, first the Ohlone, the original inhabitants of the region, and later the Yokuts from the east. The settlement was the site of the first autopsy in Alta California. Today, Mission Santa Cruz functions as a museum open to visitors; the replica chapel, located near the original Mission site has weekday masses and is available for weddings and funerals. The Holy Cross Church on the site of the original church is an active and busy parish of the Diocese of Monterey. "Plaza Park," which is situated at the center of the former Mission complex, was at one time the site of 32 buildings.

History

Mission Santa Cruz was originally established in 1791 on the floodplain of the San Lorenzo River. That winter, the mission was flooded as the San Lorenzo swelled with the rains. The padres set out to rebuild the mission on the hill overlooking the river. On the night of December 14, 1793 Mission Santa Cruz was attacked and partially burned by members of the Quiroste tribe who inhabited the mountains to the east of Point Año Nuevo. The attack was purportedly motivated by the forced relocation of native Indians to the Mission. On October 12, 1812 Father Andrés Quintana was beaten to death and his body disfigured (allegedly, his testicles were smashed) by natives angry over his use of a metal-tipped whip in the punishment of Mission laborers.

In 1797, the Spanish governor of Monterey founded the secular pueblo (town) of Branciforte, across the San Lorenzo River from Mission Santa Cruz. The frequent gambling and smuggling which occurred in and through Branciforte brought what the padres of Mission Santa Cruz considered an unwelcome element to the area. In 1818, the Mission received advance warning of an attack by the "pirate" Hipólito Bouchard and was evacuated. The citizens of Branciforte were asked to protect the Mission's valuables; instead, they looted the Mission. A series of earthquakes in 1857 destroyed the Mission. The lands were put up for sale, but no buyer was found. In 1858, a wood-frame church was built on the old Mission property. In 1889, the current Gothic style Holy Cross Church was built on the original adobe site. There is nothing left of the original Mission except for a row of buildings which at one time housed local Yokut and Ohlone Indian families, and a protected remnant of the mission wall standing behind the current Holy Cross Church. In 1931, Gladys Sullivan Doyle proposed to construct a replica of the Mission; she used her own funds to build a half-size replica of the original church.

Other designations

• National Register of Historic Places #NPS-76000530 — Mission Hill Area Historic District