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Show BY PATH AND TRAIL. 147 the king of Spain, took peaceable possession of the coun try. Having chosen a site best adapted for their infant city, the priests superintended the erection of an altar under the shade of a friendly tree. Father Junipero, robed in the vestments he had brought with him from his monastery of San Fernando, Mexico City, celebrated the first mass offered up in California, July 17, 1769, and before intoning the " Credo," feelingly addressed his companions. Far away on the hilltops the naked sav ages, amazed at the sight of the ship and astounded by the report of the guns, gazed with awe and wonder on the white- robed priest, the plumed commander, the uni formed soldiers, the horses and strangely horned cows and sheep. After mass the Spaniards formed in proces sion and moved towards the bay, whose waters the priest solemnly blessed, and in honor of St. James of Alcala, confirmed the name " Puerto ( Bay) de San Diego de Al cala" bestowed upon the harbor by Vizcaino, November 12, 1603. The following day they began the erection of a fort and church, selecting an old Indian rancheria, called Cosoy, as best suited for the site of a Christian pueblo. The ruins of the church and fort are here to- day; two stately palms, planted by the fathers, still wave and nod with every cooling breeze, and the dear old bell, that every morning called the Indians to prayers, hangs in its rude belfry, outside the church, reminding the money- Hiaking and aggressive American that in those days men worshiped God and believed in a hereafter. In Au gust, 1774, they changed their quarters and removed the mission and settlement six miles up the valley to a place called by the Indians Mpaguay. Here they built a |
