The Mission at San Gabriel

The mission featured in The Great Escape, the Serrano story we're exploring, is Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. 

(That's the Archangel Gabriel, in Spanish.)

The mission was founded Sept. 8, 1771.

It was moved to another site after attacks. 

It later was nicknamed "The Queen of all Missions."

It is an active parish today in modern-day San Gabriel.

Here is a map of all the missions.

In April 1937 Henry F. Withey photographed the mission for a survey of historic American buildings. View the photos online at the Library of Congress, here.

View also the survey's amazing architectural drawings.

We'll be exploring mission life in the 1700s in our story.

The Great Escape

"Aavugan amay'," Sarah Martin told linguist Kenneth C. Hill on Sept. 10, 1963.

"I'm going to tell a story now."

"Uviht nemaativ."

"Long ago, I heard this."

Her story was so important it was passed down through her family, from generation to generation.

It is the story of an ancestor who escaped from a way of life, a marriage forced upon her by San Gabriel Mission.

And the memory was saved and passed down through time. 

Sarah Martin, an elder and Morongo Reservation leader, further saved the memory by recording the story in the Serrano language with Dr. Hill.

Now we're looking through that window of history, a window with an Indian view.

Our Serrano Language and Culture Class, led by Ernest H. Siva, is studying the recording, and learning the story. 

Many people still retain a romantic view of the California Missions. This is the story of someone who actually was there. Once she escaped from that way of life, was she found and returned to the mission?

As the journey progresses, we'll keep you updated.