doc241 - Schoenherr Home Page in Sunny Chula Vista

hilltop on that fateful morning and turned his eyes to the sea as the sun rose. All day
long he watched the waste of waters as they lay there in the changing light. It was a
scene of marvelous beauty, and, as he watched and prayed, Junípero Serra doubtless
felt that he drew very close to the Infinite. So devout a soul, in such desperate need,
facing a scene of such nameless sublimity, could not have doubted that somewhere just
below the curve of the sea lay a ship, with God's hand pushing it on to starving San Diego.
And as the sun went down he caught sight of a sail-a ghostly sail, it seemed, in the
far distance. Who can ever look upon the height above the old Presidio, when the western
sky is glowing and twilight stealing over the hills, without seeing Father Serra on his
knees, pouring out his prayer of thanksgiving!
Captain Perez had made a quick trip to San Blas, but had been long delayed in
his preparations for returning. His orders were to proceed to Monterey, where it was
supposed Portolá's men would be found in need of help, and it was the merest accident
which sent him to San Diego at the last moment when his arrival could save the colony.
This accident was the loss of an anchor in Santa Barbara Channel and the consequent
need of seeking a safe harbor. He had been told by the natives at Santa Barbara that
the land party had passed south, but he would have gone to Monterey, nevertheless, in
accordance with his strict orders, except for the loss of the anchor. Thus it happened
that he reached the Bay of San Diego, four days after the missionary had caught the
first glimpse of his blessed sail.
The arrival of supplies and recruits changed the whole face of the situation. Portolá
thought no more of abandoning the settlement, and decided to renew the northern
exploration and the quest for Monterey. Father Viscaino went to Lower California to obtain
live-stock and other necessaries. Father Serra
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proceeded with his work of mission-building with a glad heart and renewed vigor.
Presidio Hill was not destined to be the permanent seat of the mission establishment.
The story of the two or three years immediately succeeding the return of Captain
Perez cannot be told with any fullness, since all sources of information are barren on
this period, and since the early mission records were destroyed by fire, but the fact that
the mission was removed supplies convincing evidence that it was not prosperous.
However, some progress was made and there is good authority for the statement that in
1773 seventy-six converts had been enrolled and some material progress made. The
live-stock at that time consisted of the following: forty cattle, sixty-four sheep, fifty-five
goats, nineteen hogs, two jacks, two burros, seventeen mares, three foals, nine horses,
four riding and eighteen pack mules- a total of 233 animals.
There was now no thought of abandoning the settlement. It had begun to take
hold both of the natives and the soil, but there were evidently imperative reasons for
changing its location. One important consideration was the fact that the presence of the
soldiers seriously interfered with the work of interesting the Indians, both spiritually and
industrially. A removal had been suggested by Commandant Fages in 1773, but Serra
opposed it. Father Jáume, however, who was in charge of the mission, threw his influence
in favor of the removal. He desired an atmosphere which should be wholly free
from the distraction of the military, yet not so far removed from the Presidio as to deprive
him of protection. In his walks about the country he had discovered the ideal location. In
fact, it must have suggested itself, for he had but to follow the river a few miles up the