The End of the Mission Trail

The mission trail marked 300 years of Spanish-Mexican settlement. It traveled as far south as Guatemala and traversed Mexico to advance through 11 of our present day United States. In 1825 Mission San Francisco Solano was founded marking the last and northernmost outpost on the historic mission trail.

General Vallejo, the last Mexican governor in California, made his home in Sonoma and was overthrown by the fledgling Bear Flag Republic in 1836. In 1847 the US army took over the Bear Flag territory as a part of the westward movement of the U.S.

General Vallejo's home, a modest Victorian house with much of its original furniture, the Army barracks and servant's quarters, and several old stores, hotels and saloons survive to this day in Sonoma, many of them around the large central square, where we found ourselves again this morning in order to buy the smaller version to hang beside the large candle lantern we bought yesterday. (It strikes me as a bit ironic that we elected to buy battery operated "candles" which will go on automatically at dusk, but they seemed safer, if less authentic, than the real version.)

Despite the tourists, the pizza parlors, the wine tasting rooms, and the modern cars lining all the streets , it is hard not to get caught up in the pioneer history of the West, and the indelible role the indigenous tribes of Indians, the Spanish and Mexican governments and the Catholic church played in its settlement, when visiting a place like the town of Sonoma.